Chapter 33.2
“Wait here for just a moment. Iâll go check it out.”
“O-OkayâŠ!”
Of course, Iâd already loaded a 500-won coin in case I needed to activate the remote hand at any moment.
And I had a flashlight ready too.
âGood thing itâs attached to the uniform.â
Relying on the thin beam of light, I moved forward.
AaaahhhâŠ! No, stopâŠ!
âŠSave me, save meeeeee!
As I got closer, I could make out the words and phrases.
The desperate screams echoed clearly from beyond the dark walls of the abandoned house.
âS-Stay calm.â
I was so terrified that my spine tingled, but I forced myself to press on. As I rounded the cornerâ
“This crazy fucking world! Crazy fucking companyâŠ!!”
I recognized the face.
“âŠThe manual evaluator?”
In front of a wooden board plastered with talismans, a middle-aged office worker was struggling. When he saw me, his eyes went wide.
It was the missing section chief, Lee Byeongjin.
“S-Security TeamâŠ??”
Ah, right.
Iâm wearing a Security Team uniform.
“T-Thank the heavens! Are you from the Security Team, sir?!”
The manâs face lit up, and he began trembling as he approached me.
“You came to find me!!”
No, I got dragged here, too.
âBut why is he being so deferential?â
Oh, right. Heâs mistaken me for a Security Team member.
Since I ended up here, this was the first time Iâd seen a company employee act this submissively.
I glanced down at the borrowed security uniform I was wearing.
ââŠThe administrative staff tend to look down on people from the Field Exploration TeamâŠâ
More specifically, the ones at the bottom of the barrel. They didnât bother with us, treating us like we were disposable and likely to die on the job.
I remembered the administrative staff who changed their attitude once they found out I nearly made it into the elite team.
And now, standing before me, sweating and nervously trying to smile, was Section Chief Lee Byeongjin.
Hmm.
Might as well take advantage of this.
I clasped my hands behind my back and spoke like a Security Team member would.
“A missing person report was lodged from within the company, so a search is being conducted.”
“R-Really? Haha! Ha, hahahaâŠ! I knew it!! The company didnât abandon meâŠ!!”
Actually, yes they did.
“Sooo, um⊠y-y-youâre going to break down this Darkness? Right?? Youâre with the Security Team after all, so⊔
I deliberately responded with a detached tone.
“The Security Team isnât in the business of break down Darkness.”
“âŠâŠ!”
“The teamâs role is to contain disturbances.”
“RâŠRight. Of course, haha⊠Iâve just, n-never had much experience with field exploration like this, you see, um.”
Okay, the tone was set.
“Explain the situation.”
“Pardon??”
“Describe what happened since your disappearance in chronological order.”
I needed to compare this with what the kids had told me and figure out exactly what kind of creepypasta we were dealing with!
“Ah, yes! Yes, sir!”
The man scrambled to his feet and quickly started babbling.
“Well, I⊠I came across this very rare-looking scroll at a souvenir shop near Mount Jiri⊔
It was almost exactly what Iâd heard in the office.
Heâd bought the suspicious scroll after the shop owner hinted that it âgrants wishesâ, and afterward, his luck with money noticeably improved.
“I was told to keep it close to water and not to touch the scroll⊠and believe it or not, I struck big at the lottery! Second place!!”
But thenâŠ
“I began to hear⊠strange whispers⊔
Lee Byeongjinâs eyes twitched as he dug his fingers into his palms, spitting out his words.
“I-It⊠whispered that since my wish had been granted, it was, uh, only proper to repay the debt, that it was the way of a true scholar⊠those whispers, every night⊠every night, the sound of water, and then⊠cries⊠animal cries creeping closer and closerrrr!!”
Eeeek.
“It became⊠completely unbearable! So⊔
“âŠSoâ”
I recalled the scroll Iâd seen in the restroom, shredded and stained with what looked like blood.
“You tried to tear it up?”
“âŠYes.”
So, during the middle of the day, heâd gone to a place other than his own home, where there would be no witnesses but where he could escape immediately after ripping it up. A place likeâŠ
âAn unused restroom in the company.â
Heâd found a spot like that and tore up the scroll.
“That was the plan, but⊔
“And then you got dragged here.”
“âŠHuff! Yes⊔
Lee Byeongjin panted heavily.
I rubbed the back of my neck.
ââŠWhat am I supposed to say to that?â
Heâd done all the typical things people do to get themselves killed in a horror storyâŠ
And going so far as to pick a restroom in the basement of Daydream Inc.âs building just to avoid witnesses? Honestly, that deserves some applause.
âTo be frank, at this point, if he dies, he canât really complain.â
Suppressing a sigh, I looked up.
In front of where Lee Byeongjin had been rolling around was a wall plastered with talismans.
There were noticeably more torn talismans here than elsewhere.
âWhy was he freaking out in front of this spot?â
I shone my flashlight on the wall.
And then I realized why.
“âŠIs that a door?”
Through the torn talisman, I could see a door handle.
And judging by the lock on the handleâŠ
âA door that leads outside?â
“I-It comes here every day!”
“What does?”
“The ghost! It comes here every day!”
Section Chief Lee Byeongjin, with bloodshot eyes, crawled over and grabbed onto my pant leg, mumbling.
“It⊠it comes to devour us. It comes to devourâŠ! And the, the talismans! Theyâre falling off every day!”
“That means⊔
“I-Itâll come again today⊔
Knock, knock.
“âŠâŠ”
“âŠâŠ”
Knock, knock, knock.
From the doorâ
There was a sound.
Knockknockknockknock.
“Itâs here again⊔
I clamped a hand over Lee Byeongjinâs mouth.
Excuse me, sir.
“âŠâŠ”
Itâs really cold out here, so could you open the door for me?
“âŠâŠ”
Ahjussi, donât you remember me? Iâm Na-eun, the seven-year-old girl who lived next door in Somang ApartmentsâŠ
A young childâs sniffling, sobbing voice drifted from beyond the door.
Please help me. Itâs so cold, and Iâm so tired⊠I donât know where I am. Please, just open the doorâŠ
The voice carried a strange, pitiful tone that made you forget your fear and feel genuine sympathyâŠ
In a daze, a trembling voice spoke up beside me.
“N, Na-eun-ah.” [1]
Ahjussi.
The talisman on the door started to smolder.
The sobbing voice mixed with a faint laughter.
You answered again?
“âŠâŠ!”
“N-No!! Ahh!! No, I didnât! I didnât answer!! Go away! Go away!!”
The section chief, snapping back to his senses, started to scream in terror.
But.
I donât wanna though?
IdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwannaIdonâtwanna
“Eeeek!”
Thud.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
The door began to shake violently, as if it were about to break.
The smoldering talismans fell off.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
The talismans were falling off in heaps.
Bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang
I barely managed to move my arm.
Thud.
I tossed a coin into the air and summoned the hand.
Thud.
Then, from among the scattered talismans on the floor, I gathered up as many of the intact ones as I couldâŠ
Bang.
I placed those talismans over the doorknob.
BANG.
The talismans immediately started falling off again.
“Haaah⊔
ButâŠ
.
The knocking stopped.
Out of all the talismans Iâd slapped onto the doorknob, only one remained.
“âŠâŠ”
“âŠâŠ”
Close one.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Hiic, sob⊠sooobâŠ
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away beyond the doorâŠ
“Hah⊠haaaaahh⊔
Section Chief Lee Byeongjin collapsed onto the floor.
I clenched and unclenched my sweaty fist.
âIâm going nuts.â
I almost fainted from fear with the door pounding like that.
I hid my trembling hands behind my back.
A creepypasta about trapping prey.
Shamanistic atmosphere, talismans, devouring, luring, calling voices, horrorâŠ
ââŠâŠâ
I know now.
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Sangun-nim]
: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code â Qterw-C-51
An ominous Darkness depicted in a traditional ink wash painting featuring changgwi spirits.
Exploration Records indicate a total of up to 17 entries.
This⊠is a Jangsanbeom-type ghost story. [2]
Note/s:
[1] Adding -ah (or -ya, -ee) to the end of a personâs name indicates closeness between friends or family, or when one is talking to someone younger. In Japanese, the closest equivalents are -chan and -kun. â©
[2] Sangun (ć±±ć), translated literally as Lord of the Mountain, is a mountain spirit or deity often depicted as a tiger.
Jangsanbeom (ì„ì°ëČ), from folk tradition, is the tiger of Mt. Jang (in Busan) that has the ability to conjure hallucinations, imitate peopleâs voices and possess their bodies. It is often depicted as a white-haired ghost or a tiger/cryptid with crimson skin and long, silvery fur. Read more about it here https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Jangsan_beom or here https://en.namu.wiki/w/ì„ì°ëČ#rfn-3/
Changgwi (ì°œê·), from folk tradition, are spirits who have either drowned to death or have fallen prey to a tiger, becoming resentful ghosts who further create more victims. Read more about it here: https://en.namu.wiki/w/ì°œê· â©
Instead of trying to translate them to fit a more Western point of view, Iâve decided to keep the terms as is given that weâre dealing with a traditional Eastern folktale/ghost story this time. Translating them as Mountain Lord, Jangsan Tiger and Vengeful Ghosts might be fine, but they donât exactly retain the original contexts of their respective folktales.
Side note, if youâre up for something spooky, hereâs a 2013 webtoon one-shot featuring the Jangsanbeom: https://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail?titleId=574303&no=6&week=finish
Iâm not sure if thereâs an English translation out there, but do let me know if there is!
