The First Judgment

Just as people are all different, so too are the ghosts we know. There are vengeful spirits who died harboring grudges, wandering ghosts who perished far from home, and the spirits of maidens or bachelors who died before their time. Even if you cross over to the West, the names they use—like the Boogeyman—are all different.

Of course, I’m the type who absolutely loathes such complicated classifications. I prefer to call them as intuitively as possible, and among them, the most annoying existence is that Jibangryeong—a land-bound spirit—right in front of me.

A Jibangryeong. Literally, a vengeful spirit bound to a place, unable to leave. So, why is this annoying? Because this is Earth. Unlike the other world, this is an advanced civilization ruled by science and reason, where people don't believe in supernatural phenomena.

Think about it. If I called the police and said, "A ghost was crying here, so I searched the abandoned motel and found a corpse," what would they say? Would they praise me, saying, "Wow, you're amazing!"? No. They’d slap handcuffs on my wrists immediately. I’d have my grand debut on the 9:00 PM news that very night.

Something like that sensational headline. Just thinking about it is terrifying.

'This is screwed.'

Setting aside the fact that the broadcast was ruined, I sighed at the reality that I was now entangled in a massive headache. After all, I had mentioned during the stream that there was a corpse on the third floor.

Jina seemed to notice the situation unfolding, as she cautiously spoke up.

"O-Oppa, what do we do?"

"Our business ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is ruined."

"Why is it ruined? The chat is going crazy!"

Ah, my little sister. How truly innocent you are.

"If Oppa says it's there, then it's there!"

That pure belief that 'Oppa's word' is the absolute truth, as if the severity of the incident or the facts didn't matter at all. She’s just as naive about the world now as she was back then. While I was rolling through the other world for ten years, experiencing all sorts of hell, my sister grew up like a flower in a greenhouse. Well, a greenhouse with a very leaky roof, perhaps.

"If Oppa finds the corpse, we'll hit the jackpot, right?"

Seeing her eyes sparkle while her face was deathly pale, it seems she didn't grow up in a greenhouse, but out in the wild, enduring torrential rain. 'How am I supposed to marry her off?' My shoulders felt heavy.

I sighed and scolded Jina. "Let's assume we found a hidden corpse. What are we going to do next?"

"Report it to the police, obviously?"

"And what will the police think of us? As wonderful people who found a hidden body like ghosts? Or as the first discoverers and the most likely suspects?"

But my sister was apparently incredibly pure.

"Wonderful people, of course."

"What? No, Jina. Think about it. Finding a hidden corpse is, in itself, a suspicious act!"

"That's only if Oppa were a normal person."

It was a shock, like being hit in the head with a hammer. "We can just show it to the police. Won't they find the body themselves then?"

That was it. She was right. Why couldn't I think of something so obvious? After returning from the other world, I had been subconsciously trying to force myself to fit into the common sense and rules of this 'Earth.' Since when did I ever care what others thought? I am the one who insulted Oranis, the goddess, calling her a motherless mother.

I am the first servant of Oranis, the only god. The one called the miracle of humanity in a world on the brink of destruction.

"Right. It's not me who should adjust; the world should adjust to me."

Wee-woo, wee-woo, wee-woo!

The stage was set just in time. The faint sound of sirens from outside the building was becoming clearer.

"O-Oppa! Isn't that a police car?"

Someone in the chat must have already reported it. "What do we do!" As the police actually arrived, Jina turned pale, grabbing my arm as if it were a real crisis.

"What do you mean, what do we do? The stage is set, so we have to go up."

A moment later, footsteps approached us, accompanied by flashlight beams. Soon, two exhausted-looking police officers reached us.

"Did you report this?"

One officer scanned us with a skeptical gaze, his eyes glued to his phone as he continued. He wasn't talking to us, though. "We got a report from the 112 broadcast center about an internet stream. We came because it was filed, but you know that making false reports is punishable, right?"

The officers seemed to think the report was a prank. In truth, that is the normal reaction. Unless, of course, I am present.

"No. There is a corpse."

At my firm statement, the officer looked flustered. "Sir, if you do this, it makes things difficult for us. People are already saying this place is ominous—"

"No. It's really here. Please be quiet for a moment."

"I was trying to let this slide, but if you keep—"

Ignoring their protests, I slowly approached the land-bound spirit, who was weeping tears of blood. I stood before it and bowed my head in respect.

"You, poor soul who has lost your reason. My powers are humble, so I do not even know your name. However, your injustice is plain to my eyes. I intend to break the chains that bind you, so I ask for your understanding as I reveal your form to the ignorant for a brief moment."

"Sir? What are you doing right now?"

The officers whispered, looking bewildered. I ignored them, closed my eyes, and placed my right hand over my chest.

"Oranis, the Embrace of the Beginning, Mother of all existence and the Nameless. I, Kang Jinwoo, your first and only servant, pray in your name."

With the prayer, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my right wrist glowed faintly. The seal that had been erased was drawn once more.

"For this poor soul who has lost its way, open the closed eyes of the ignorant for a moment. Under your glory alone, I reveal a fragment of the hidden truth."

The light of the seal, responding to my prayer, weighed down the surrounding air. And then:

"I call a spirit bound to a place a Jibangryeong. This spirit is the same. It is bound somewhere on the third floor of this motel, weeping."

When I finished the prayer and turned around, everyone looked like they had lost their minds. I could understand the police, but Jina?

"Ugh...!"

Oops, I think the prayer was a bit too strong.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to use so much power. Are you okay now?"

"Ugh...!"

I hurriedly retracted my power, adjusting what was visible. Jina's expression improved. The police, however...

"D-Don't move! If you move, I'll shoot!"

I don't know when they pulled it out, but they were aiming a taser at me and the spirit. I haven't paid taxes yet, but still—the police, who are supposed to protect the citizens, daring to aim at a good citizen? Of course, I am a very understanding person, so I let it slide.

"I know you're surprised, but you realize now that I wasn't lying, right?"

"..."

"Believing is your choice, but I have shown you clear evidence."

"W-What should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we do?"

Lacking a manual for supernatural phenomena, one of the officers asked for my opinion. I gestured toward the room the spirit was staring at. "See the room the spirit is looking at? Search it thoroughly. It's probably buried somewhere in there."

"O-Okay. We'll search it. Do you happen to know any clues about the culprit?"

"If it were capable of conversation, I'd ask it directly, but it has lost all its memories, so that's impossible. Please recover the body as quickly as possible and contact me. If you leave it like that, I won't be able to do anything more."

"...What does that mean?"

"It has suffered for a long time, so we must send it off comfortably. If time passes, it will be impossible."

"Yes!"

As soon as I finished, the two officers split up their roles. The older-looking officer picked up his radio with trembling hands, and the younger one pulled yellow police line tape from his waist.

Crackle!

"This is Officer Kim from the OO Precinct. Incheon abandoned motel scene. Code Zero, Code Zero. Requesting immediate support from the Violent Crimes Unit and the Forensic Team. I repeat. Presumed burial of a corpse. Requesting immediate support from the Violent Crimes Unit and the Forensic Team."

While urgent voices exchanged over the radio, the young officer began taping off the entrance to the third-floor hallway. This place had now become an official crime scene.

A while later, the officer who finished his report looked at me with trembling eyes and asked, "Sir, i-is that person over there going to keep doing that?"

At the end of his gaze, the spirit was still staring at the room, weeping tears of blood.

"I suppose so? My sister and I will be going now."

"S-Sir. What are we supposed to do if you leave?"

He was around my father's age, so I felt a moment of sympathy, but I am a person who clearly distinguishes between public and private matters.

"You must do your best to catch the culprit. Good luck."

"S-Sir!"

"You won't be able to see it anymore. It's gone now, right?"

"T-That's even scarier. Is what we saw really a ghost?"

"Who knows? I'm not the type to force my beliefs on anyone."

I left the stunned officers behind and approached Jina, who was wiping her mouth. "Jina, let's go home."

"H-Huh? Already?"

"We have nothing left to do here. Oh, right."

If you finish a job, it's only natural to receive fair compensation. "See that? Everyone, pay up accordingly."

"Thanks, GhostHunter."

"It's a bit early, but whatever. Have a good night, everyone."

With that, I pressed the broadcast end button without a shred of regret.

A few days later. The area around the abandoned motel in Incheon was surrounded by yellow police lines, blocking access to the public.

"Salute!"

"Right, thanks for your hard work."

Just then, a detective with a stern impression received the salute from the officers controlling the scene and crossed the line. The man's name was Lee Jintae. He was the team leader of the Cold Case Team at the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency.

"Team Leader, you're here."

"What's the situation?"

"We're waiting for the first forensic results from the National Forensic Service. The scene is being preserved as much as possible."

Lee Jintae nodded ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at his team member's words and headed to the third floor. He saw the agents moving busily.

"Did you find anything?"

The forensic team leader, who was directing the scene, spotted Lee Jintae and approached to report. "Team Leader, the situation isn't good."

"What's wrong?"

"The scene is too old and the damage is severe. No meaningful bloodstain reactions were found around the skeleton."

Lee Jintae's brow furrowed. "So you're saying it's difficult to determine whether the murder happened here, or if the body was murdered elsewhere and then abandoned..."

"That's correct. If it's an abandonment site, then the real crime scene is somewhere else... If that happens, the scope of the investigation will expand uncontrollably."

As the forensic team leader said, it was a troublesome situation. 'Damn it.' Lee Jintae looked for a cigarette without a word, then realized he was at a crime scene and lowered his hand.

A case where only a skeleton remained. From the start, it felt like walking through a fog where nothing could be seen ahead.

"Anything is fine, so report it as soon as you find it."

"Understood."

While he was looking around the scene, beep, beep. His phone rang. It was a call from the National Forensic Service.

"This is Lee Jintae. Yes? What?"

But then...

"No, how...? Yes, I understand."

Lee Jintae, who had taken the call, looked shocked, as if he had received devastating news.

"Team Leader? Who was that call from?"

After hanging up, he didn't answer, but instead asked the forensic team leader who had approached him with a troubled face. "...Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Excuse me?"

"The identity has been confirmed."

"What? Already? No, how?"

"I don't know either."

Lee Jintae let out a hollow laugh. To think that the contents of that absurd initial report, which he thought couldn't be true unless they were on drugs, were actually real.

"Damn it, I'm supposed to retire next year..."

With a detective's intuition, he realized that his peaceful retirement had sailed far away.