The Vengeful Ghost's Deception
I reached out toward the lightning beast, the shikigami that had dragged the vengeful ghost right up in front of me. I gently stroked its head.
"Good job."
The lightning beast purred at my touch and spun once in a satisfied circle. With a simple wave of my hand, its form slowly dissolved into nothing.
"Hey, hey, what the hell was that? I thought you said you weren't an exorcist!" Seol-hwa had come right up beside me and was now demanding answers.
"You're not even an exorcist, so how are you controlling a shikigami?!"
Shikigami. They were anomalies far stronger than humans, entities summoned by exorcists to chase down souls that no human could pursue alone. Even exorcists were still only human, after all, and this system had been created because it was nearly impossible for them to defeat powerful yokai on their own. Using the monstrous to hunt the monstrous. It was the very definition of fighting poison with poison.
The bound anomalies knew this perfectly well, yet they cooperated willingly. Hunting yokai alongside exorcists wasn't a bad deal for the shikigami either. They could steadily draw spiritual energy from the yokai and spirits they eliminated together, and in return their own lives would no longer be threatened by the exorcists. A good arrangement for both sides.
That was why nearly every active exorcist commanded shikigami. Even in my short year of activity I had bound several, and now the connection between exorcist and shikigami had become inseparable.
"I'm still from that clan even if I'm not an exorcist. I can handle shikigami at least. You already figured out I was from an exorcist family anyway."
"I know that, but... didn't you say you'd never actually become one?"
At Seol-hwa's question I let out a hollow laugh. An old memory had surfaced after a long time.
The year I was a high-school senior. The year my parents told me about my destiny after I'd already become a college examinee.
I had been forced to follow my exorcist parents and take part in their work. As a minor with no real freedom, I had no choice but to endure that single year. Thanks to it, even if I hadn't gone deep, I had still picked up the basic qualifications of an exorcist.
"I had to do it for a year. By force."
"By force?"
"It's a long story. Anyway, is she all right?"
"Ah, yes. She lost consciousness, but... it seems to be because the ghost that had been clinging to her for so long was torn away. Her body itself doesn't seem to have any problems."
I nodded, relieved. Then I took out a yellow talisman and placed it on the forehead of the still-unconscious vengeful ghost. It was the same spirit-sealing talisman I had once stuck on Seol-hwa.
"What are you going to do now?"
At Seol-hwa's question I studied the vengeful ghost, who still hadn't come around. With the ghost fainted, the hallucination had lifted and her true face was visible. The grotesque features that had been painful to look at were gone, replaced by the face of an ordinary young woman. She looked quite young. She could have passed for someone my own age.
I stared at her a moment, then spoke decisively.
"We'll have to wait until she wakes up. Then we'll get to the bottom of this properly."
I pulled out one more talisman. When Seol-hwa saw the red character for thunder written on it, she flinched. It was the Lightning Strike Talisman I had taken out in front of her before.
"W-what are you planning to do with that?"
"What do you think? If she was trying to hurt people, I have to annihilate her."
"A-annihilate her?! She hasn't even done anything yet! That's too harsh, you cold-blooded jerk!"
I looked at her, utterly dumbfounded.
"...When did I say I was just going to annihilate her outright?"
"...Huh?"
"I'm going to listen to her story first. If it's something I can help resolve, I'm willing to help her."
"That's what you meant?"
"But if, after hearing her out, I decide I can't just let her go, then there's no mercy."
Seol-hwa couldn't argue any further. If a vengeful ghost tried to resolve her grudge by indiscriminately harming people, she would turn into an evil spirit. I wasn't taking the humans' side, but I couldn't simply allow an evil spirit to be born. Those vicious entities often became problems for yokai and other spirits as well.
I checked the time.
"Looks like I'll have to cancel class myself."
How much time had passed? Even after we moved to an empty area, the vengeful ghost showed no sign of waking. Finally she stirred, eyelids fluttering open.
She looked around in confusion, as if she couldn't understand why she was lying here.
"You're finally awake."
"Ugh... Where am I...? Did you do this...?"
We could communicate. Fortunately she didn't seem so consumed by resentment that she had lost all reason. Still, when I remembered how she had already shown hallucinations and latched onto a single target...
There might not be much time left.
It was lucky we had found her when we did.
I glanced at Baek Seol-hwa, then turned back to the vengeful ghost.
"So?"
"...If you don't release me right now, you'll regret it."
Wow. She really was terrifying.
"Is that so?"
Of course, bound by the talisman, she couldn't move. She could only lie there and move her mouth.
"But what exactly can you do in that condition?"
"Ugh... Don't get cocky..."
She seemed to have quite a strong sense of pride. There was no way she didn't understand her situation, yet her spirit remained unbroken. Dealing with someone this stubborn was exhausting, so I decided to get straight to the point.
I held the Lightning Strike Talisman up in front of her eyes.
"You see this, right? It's called a Lightning Strike Talisman. Stick it on anything, whether minor ghost or yokai, and it sends them straight to the afterlife in one shot."
"...W-what...?"
"If you cooperate nicely, I won't have to use it. But if you act uncooperative, I'll slap it right on your forehead."
"Who the hell do you think you are to decide...!"
"No need to get so worked up already. Like I said earlier, if you talk to me cooperatively, nothing bad will happen."
Even a vengeful ghost seemed to fear annihilation. She nodded with a much more docile attitude. Still, just to be safe, I added a warning.
"Don't think you can try anything just because of the talisman."
"......?"
"See the one next to me?"
I pointed at Baek Seol-hwa. Ignoring her slightly dazed look that seemed to ask why she'd been dragged into this, I warned the ghost.
"She's a thousand-year-old fox yokai. Even if you somehow mess with the talisman, you won't be able to escape, so don't even think about it."
"Did you call me?"
...I didn't call you.
When I waved her away, Seol-hwa went back with a slightly pouty expression. The vengeful ghost's eyes narrowed as she watched.
"...That thing is really a thousand-year-old fox?"
"...It's an unnecessary suspicion. More importantly, shall we hear your story now?"
I started with the question that interested me most.
"What was your relationship with that student you possessed? Why did you try to use her as a host?"
"......"
No answer. When I lifted the Lightning Strike Talisman slightly, she flinched and quickly spoke.
"She's... someone I don't know."
"What?"
She's more malicious than I thought.
Possession might not sound serious, but for a ghost to push out a living soul and take over a body was extremely dangerous, of course for the owner of that body. The body a ghost had inhabited might have its constitution permanently altered, and the biggest problem was that the original soul could not return until the ghost abandoned it. Sometimes the soul had been away so long it could no longer settle back in and became a wanderer instead.
So I had assumed they must have known each other in life or had a bad relationship, but trying to possess a complete stranger with no connection at all was impossible to view favorably. She had tried to turn an innocent person who knew nothing and had done her no wrong into a victim.
How could I look at that positively? I considered just attaching the talisman, but decided to let it slide once more and asked again.
"What did you want to do by taking over even a stranger's body? Was there a reason you chose a student from this school?"
For some reason the vengeful ghost didn't answer right away. After a brief pause, she finally spoke.
"...I needed the body of a girl from this school. I chose her simply because her soul's resistance was weak."
"You needed the body of a female student from our school?"
"Yes. To be exact, I needed the body of a humanities student who frequently visited the humanities building."
The vengeful ghost continued.
"That way that bastard would take interest and approach her."
The moment I heard those words I was surprised. The voice that had been merely blunt until now suddenly carried a piercing, bone-deep grudge.
That bastard?
"What do you mean by 'that bastard'?"
"...The crazy bastard who, even with me right there, would look at other girls and hit on them. The trash who cheated on me every single time no matter how much I begged him not to."
Not only her voice, but her eyes burned with that same deep resentment.
"I'm going to get revenge on that bastard."
I hadn't heard the full story, but I could roughly guess the situation. And I could tell this spirit's grudge was quite dangerous.
If I leave her alone, this is really going to get ugly.
"...Let me ask you one thing."
"What?"
"Is revenge the only option?"
I asked as carefully as possible, trying not to provoke her.
"The revenge you're after ultimately means you want that person to realize their mistake and feel sorry, right?"
"...So?"
"If that person sincerely apologizes to you... if he truly repents and begs for forgiveness, how would you feel? Would your heart become even a little lighter?"
The grudge this vengeful ghost carried was heavy, but the content itself was a painfully common human relationship problem. A boyfriend who cheated while he already had a girlfriend. He was definitely trash as a person, but I couldn't simply allow her to harm him.
There were several reasons, but the most important was to prevent her from turning into an evil spirit. If she harmed him in the name of revenge and became an evil spirit, it wouldn't end with personal vengeance. She would likely begin seeking out men similar to the one who abandoned her and continue harming them, causing secondary and tertiary damage.
So it was better to resolve this through non-violent means if possible. That was why I had made the suggestion. If she accepted, I planned to meet the man and make him apologize somehow. I would help her as much as I could.
But if the vengeful ghost refused, I would have no choice but to annihilate her to prevent further harm. Once a vengeful ghost tasted human blood, she would eventually lose her reason and become nothing more than a beast that harmed people.
Knowing that, how could I just let her go?
At my question the vengeful ghost seemed to ponder for a moment. I was hoping her thoughts would end positively when she finally spoke.
"...If that guy really knelt in front of me and sincerely apologized, I might be able to forgive him."
"Really?"
"Yes."
That was a relief. Then all I had to do was help her earnestly.
"Then can you tell me about him? And about yourself too. I need to know if I'm going to talk to him."
"...Seo Jae-woong, class of 2020 in the Korean Literature Department. He's a little taller than you, with a pretty big build. He's got some muscle... his face is a bit angular but he's fairly handsome, and he doesn't wear glasses."
A typical popular-guy type. Well, at that level it made sense that he'd hit on girls and cheat.
"Then tell me about yourself too."
"...You probably don't know my name."
"...Huh?"
What did that mean? As I wondered, the vengeful ghost continued.
"If you just say 'the girl in the black skirt who always waited at the humanities building entrance,' he'll roughly understand."
......What was this now? Earlier she had talked about him cheating. That implied they had been lovers, so no matter how much of a scumbag he was, how could he not know his own girlfriend's name?
Suggesting that the playboy had simply forgotten... didn't feel right.
"Still, just in case, tell me your name."
"...Jin Chae-young."
"Got it."
Something feels off. It definitely felt off, but I couldn't confirm it here. I would have to go see this Seo Jae-woong and check.
I turned to Baek Seol-hwa.
"Baek Seol-hwa."
"...What?"
Why is she still pouting? I didn't know the reason, but now wasn't the time to worry about it.
"Stay here with her. I need to go somewhere."
"You keep ordering me around to do this and that lately?"
"...Isn't it good for you to gather spiritual energy too? Just think of it as doing your afternoon chores now."
Even after I said that, she still looked a little sulky, so I had no choice but to soothe her mood a bit.
"Just watch her for me. With your power you can easily stop a vengeful ghost of that level from escaping. The talisman is on her too. I was originally going to take her with me, but I feel like I can trust you with her."
By subtly expressing trust and praising her strength, she...
"Hmph, I guess I have no choice~! Then I'll watch her for you!"
As expected, she's easy.
"The sealing talisman loses its effect after about an hour, so if it looks like she's trying to escape, hold her down with your yoki."
"Okay, got it."
After finishing the conversation with Baek Seol-hwa, I looked back at Jin Chae-young.
"Wait here."
"...All right."
Leaving Jin Chae-young with Baek Seol-hwa, I headed for the humanities building. To get an apology? No. I had told her that, and at first I really had intended to do so, but...
...There are too many suspicious points to count.
First, the lover relationship itself was suspicious. What kind of lovers didn't even know each other's names? No matter what kind of trash Seo Jae-woong was, it made no sense that he couldn't remember the name of someone who had been his girlfriend.
Second, I had never heard any rumor that someone had recently died at our school. Given that the other party was a class of 2020 student and that she had waited for him at the humanities building, it meant she had been alive until recently. Of course, if she wasn't a student but still came to school every day for her boyfriend, that could make sense, but there was no way he would forget the name of a girlfriend that devoted.
Yet describing herself as "the girl in the black skirt who always waited in front of the humanities building" was also extremely suspicious.
Still, the reason I was going to meet Seo Jae-woong was because the grudge Jin Chae-young carried was undeniably real. So I had to confirm it.
...What the hell is going on here.
I turned on my phone and sent a KakaoTalk message. He must have been fiddling with his phone, because the reply came almost instantly.
I asked her to just pass the message to Seo Jae-woong, and she immediately agreed.
Time passed. A little after 1:50 p.m., the person who appeared before me as I waited in front of the humanities building was...
"Ah, there he is. Jae-woong, that's him."
"Yeah."
I told you not to come together. Why did you come together again?
Short orange-pink two-tone hair and a lively face. She had been quite close with me in middle and high school, but now she lived in a slightly different world.
"Se-hwan~!"
"Jeong Se-a, you..."
Jeong Se-a. A female friend I'd hung out with since middle school. We had gotten along incredibly well back then, attended the same high school, and spent a lot of time together. Somehow we had ended up at the same university too, but unlike me, whose life was packed with part-time jobs, she enjoyed a rather flashy campus life. Popular versus loner, I suppose. Anyway, she now lived in a world slightly different from mine.
"...I told you to send him alone."
"I had to come out anyway, so what could I do? Jae-woong, this is the Se-hwan I told you about. Yoo Se-hwan, same age as us."
I turned my gaze to Seo Jae-woong. Just as Jin Chae-young had described, he was a little taller than me with a solid build. Not just fat, but clearly muscular.
"Hello. Sorry for calling you out so suddenly."
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. Since we're the same age, can I speak casually?"
The fact that he tried to drop formalities with a smile from our very first meeting told me he was in the same department as Jeong Se-a. I could see why they were close. Not that I minded. Actually, this was more comfortable. People with maxed-out social skills always made the first suggestions, which was convenient.
"...Sure, go ahead."
"There we go. Speaking formally with someone the same age is awkward anyway."
"Right~."
Jeong Se-a chimed in supportively. I glanced at her.
"Aren't you leaving?"
"Wow, so cold. Se-hwan, when did you become so heartless? I brought him, so I can stick around a little, can't I?"
"I told you not to come together in the first place."
"What do you want to talk about?"
"...I just have something I want to confirm."
At my words both Jeong Se-a and Seo Jae-woong tilted their heads.
"...Jae-woong."
"Yeah."
It felt pretty awkward calling someone I'd just met by name. Seo Jae-woong, on the other hand, didn't seem awkward at all.
"I just have one question. Do you know the girl in the black skirt who used to wait for you every day in front of the humanities building?"
"......What?"
Seo Jae-woong's expression instantly darkened. It didn't look like anger so much as deep discomfort at the memory.
"So you do know her."
"...I don't know how you know about that, but it's not exactly a good memory for me."
"Can I ask what your relationship was?"
"...Why the hell are you suddenly asking that? Honestly, I don't want to talk about it. Ugh, just thinking about it pisses me off again."
Something's off. If he had really cheated, he seemed far too calm. Yet he didn't seem brazen either. His attitude wasn't like that.
"Jae-woong, Se-hwan is talking about her, right?"
"Yeah. Who else could it be? Haah, I have no idea how he even found out and came asking."
"Did something happen?"
When I asked, Jeong Se-a answered with a slightly troubled expression.
"Se-hwan, let's talk about that later. It's a really bad memory for Jae-woong. She was kind of... to him..."
"Let's stop talking about it."
The nuance in her voice was strange. Seo Jae-woong's expression looked extremely uncomfortable too. I had no choice. It seemed Jeong Se-a knew the rough outline, so it would be better to ask her separately later.
I immediately apologized to Seo Jae-woong.
"...Sorry. I didn't know it was a sensitive memory."
"...It's fine. People outside the humanities department or our major might not know. Was that all you wanted to ask?"
"That's all. Sorry for asking something weird. I really am sorry."
"It's okay."
Contrary to his appearance, he was extremely calm and had a rather gentle personality. The impression was quite... no, very different from what Jin Chae-young had described.
Their stories don't match at all.
Jin Chae-young had said Seo Jae-woong abandoned her, cheated, and acted like trash. Yet the real Seo Jae-woong looked like he suffered just remembering it and hated even thinking about it. It wasn't the suffering of guilt. It was more like someone tormented by mental trauma.
It seemed one of them was lying. And the one more likely to be lying was...
...Damn it.
"Jeong Se-a, sorry but I have to go. I'll message you later."
"Huh? You're leaving already? We haven't seen each other in so long..."
"Jae-woong, I'll buy you a meal next time. I really am sorry."
I left the humanities building and headed back to where Baek Seol-hwa and Jin Chae-young were waiting. The sealing talisman would soon lose its power. I needed to get back quickly, renew the seal, and then either ask Jin Chae-young for the truth or message Jeong Se-a to hear the story from her side.
The moment I reached the place where they were, I felt an overwhelmingly powerful yeong-gi. The instant I looked up, every window in the building shattered at once and glass poured down like rain.
I tapped the pendant at my neck. The changed vision showed a powerful evil spirit devouring the wandering spirits around it. Its appearance was vastly different from before. The ordinary human form was completely gone. With grotesquely long, thin arms it snatched and devoured the nearby spirits. It was unmistakably an evil spirit.
"...Jin Chae-young. So your words really were lies after all."