Chapter 168: Level 3.5 (3)

Boom-boom-pow—

Giganoto was a lizard with a good sense of rhythm.

As always, it ran while emitting a strange beat. Usually sluggish, it was like a black flash when it ran at full speed.

Pop!

Giganoto clung to the Rhythm Ghost's face.

Gecko—

"Gyaaa! Aaah! What is this! What is this!"

The Rhythm Ghost writhed left and right in apparent panic. With its long neck, it looked like a snake going crazy after being stung by a bee.

Seeing Giganoto jump out of Dahee's school vest and attack the Rhythm Ghost was quite satisfying.

"You old maid ghost! How does dinosaur taste?"

Giganoto was one of the few ghosts I couldn't exorcise. I could only chase it away before.

"Feel the wrath of the Cretaceous period!"

Though we ended up living together by chance, Giganoto's true nature might be something terrifyingly powerful that we couldn't comprehend.

Faced with this unidentified creature's attack, the Rhythm Ghost seemed helpless, collapsing on the floor and thrashing about.

"You brats! You brats!"

What mattered was that Giganoto had cleared a path for us. The presence of the men approaching from behind was getting closer.

"Dahee! We need to go now!"

I shouted at Dahee, who seemed slightly dazed. She was feeling her school vest, which had noticeably decreased in volume.

"I think it's gotten smaller!"

"It's just your imagination! Let's go! Hurry!"

Whoosh!

I grabbed Dahee's hand and ran. Soon, we heard the men's voices from behind.

"W-what kind of ghost is this? Isn't this the Piano Ghost? It looks exactly like what we've heard about!"

"It's an evil spirit. An evil spirit!"

"Let's catch it! Get it! Hit it hard! It looks weak! Now's our chance! Now!"

Are these men really crazy?

Believing in their numbers, it seemed like they were going to fight the Rhythm Ghost. Were they trying to take advantage of the opening Giganoto created?

"Aah! Shit, I'm caught! Help me! Something's entering my ear!"

"Hehe! Delicious."

"You crazy ghost bastard! Youngbok! Youngbok!"

Taking advantage of the chaos caused by people's screams and a woman's hate-filled shrieks shaking the old school building, Dahee and I ran towards the third floor.

But of all things, the Dancing Ghost was waiting for me at the entrance to the third floor.

"Hahahahaha!"

As always, it was stuck to the ceiling with its mouth wide open, laughing. It looked incredibly evil and full of malice. It felt like it was sneering, "Hehe! You can't pass!"

It was truly one obstacle after another.

I suddenly felt angry.

Why is the world making things so difficult for me? Nothing ever goes smoothly. I can't keep being pushed around and robbed forever.

A cornered rat will bite the cat, and right now, I was an angry squirrel. For reference, a hungry and angry squirrel can even eat snakes.

"You bastard!"

I lunged at the Dancing Ghost, swinging the ritual knife I was holding.

The blunt ritual knife that would only leave bruises on humans was said to be effective against ghosts. If what those crazy men said was true, this knife should be an effective weapon against ghosts.

Slash!

And it seemed to be true, as the hand reaching out to me from the ceiling was deeply cut.

"Eeeeeeeek!"

The evil spirit let out an incredibly loud scream of pain. It quickly hid its form in the shadows cast on the ceiling.

Seeing this, I felt my blood boiling like hot oil.

"I did it! Come down! You bastard! Where did you go, you son of a bitch?"

I had cut down a ghost with one stroke.

Did I have a talent for wielding knives? I never knew I had such a talent waiting to bloom. I've really experienced all sorts of things in life.

"Young-won, let's go!"

"Right!"

I ran towards the third floor before my newly found courage could fade. Taking two steps at a time, almost flying up the stairs, I was greeted by the imposing door that swung open wide as always.

Whoosh—

It was still an intimidating place.

I peeled off one of the talismans stuck to the entrance and entered through the massive pillar door without hesitation.

Then I felt a dizzying impact, as if many worms were crawling in my head. A quirk was starting to take over my body.

"Young-won, snap out of it!"

Slap! Slap slap slap!

Dahee repeatedly slapped my cheeks.

Thanks to her 《Elegance》 trait, Dahee wasn't affected by the quirk, which allowed me to take out a talisman from my pocket and chew it.

My vision cleared instantly.

Before me stretched the view of the third floor, full of red shrines. Now that we were here, I started to feel overwhelmed.

Would Yang Juhee be somewhere here? Could we find her and return safely?

Grip—

I tightened my hold on the ritual knife. I was planning to swing it if necessary, but honestly, I doubted if this blunt knife would be effective against the demons that appear in this place.

Buldan Temple, where ancient monsters exist. In this place full of malice and curses, Dahee and I were like hamsters in a tiger's den.

If it weren't for finding Juhee, I wouldn't be exploring a place like this.

Grip—

I held the talisman I had peeled off from the third floor and looked around.

Our goal was to hand this talisman to Juhee. Keeping this in mind, I was about to step towards the dark shrine when—

"Over here."

I heard someone calling me. It was a woman's voice, but it was an unfamiliar voice I had never heard before, which was disconcerting.

"Dahee, did you hear that too? Someone just called us."

"I heard it too."

If Dahee heard it too, it wasn't just my imagination.

I felt slightly relieved, but also curious and wary.

In this world, there were many beings trying to lure me into a pit of despair. I couldn't be sure that the voice we just heard wasn't one of them.

Ring-ring-ring-ring!

Just then, the bell-less chimes hanging all around Buldan Temple started ringing loudly.

This could only mean one thing. It was a signal that the Gandara Priestess Demon was about to appear.

"Quickly! Over here! Come this way!"

Just then, I heard someone shouting again.

If we stayed here, we'd face the terrifying spider woman. Feeling like we had no other choice, I ran towards the shrine where the voice was coming from.

***

There were several buildings in Buldan Temple.

The shrine I hid in was one of them.

The peculiar thing was that there was a hole in the shrine wall connecting to what looked like a cave, and the voice was coming from beyond that.

"Over here."

The voice was guiding us towards that dark cave.

A voice from the cave, and the jingling bell sound from outside the shrine.

Caught between these two choices, I decided to explore the cave, holding Dahee's hand.

After going deep into the cave, we came upon a plaza littered with what looked like dead animal carcasses.

Burning candles were everywhere, and the walls were covered in strange patterns written in what looked like filth. Clothes were scattered on the floor.

They looked like traditional clothing, but not Korean - more Japanese style. I could tell this place was related to the six-fingered Yin-Yang Master.

After all, the scattered clothes belonged to that Yin-Yang Master.

"...This is that bastard's lair."

This cave was clearly the Yin-Yang Master's dwelling. In other words, a lion's den.

Did we enter the lion-like Yin-Yang Master's den to avoid the tiger-like Gandara Priestess? The voice from the cave was surely trying to trick us.

Oh god, we're definitely going to die now.

As I was trembling in fear with these thoughts, Dahee patted my back.

"Stay calm. That Yin-Yang Master doesn't seem to be here."

"...Really?"

As Dahee said, when I calmed down and looked, there were only traces of the Yin-Yang Master, but he wasn't actually here. Had he gone out somewhere?

Whatever the case, it was fortunate for us.

And since we didn't know when that demon-like Yin-Yang Master might return, we needed to make a quick decision or achieve something.

I quietly asked the cave.

"What do you want from us?"

There must be a reason the 'voice' led us here. It could be a trap to fool us, but it could also be a stroke of luck.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, I asked again.

"Why did you call us?"

"Over here."

Then, I heard the voice again.

Near the cave wall, there was something like a rusty iron door and what looked like stairs. There were stairs going up.

"...Could these be stairs going to the upper floor?"

It was very surprising. I never expected to find stairs to the upper level at a time like this.

"Ugh!"

Creak, creak—

I tried to open the iron door, but it was firmly locked and I couldn't open it with my strength alone.

"You can't open that door by force."

The voice came again from the other side of the iron bars.

"You need to bring the key from the shrine on the opposite side. A woman is guarding that key. You probably just met her."

"The spider woman? You mean the Gandara Priestess, right?"

I found myself using polite speech for some reason. Soon, a thin voice came back like an answer from beyond the iron bars.

"Appearance or name isn't important. What matters is the role. The role of guarding the taboo. You can't escape from that woman as you are now. Normally, you wouldn't have been able to enter this Yin-Yang cave either."

The voice beyond the bars seemed to know a lot.

"The Yin-Yang Master has been away for a long time. It's the first time he's been away for so long. That's why I was able to talk to you."

The Yin-Yang Master was away?

Could it be because of our confrontation with him in the operating room? I couldn't think of any other reason. It must be because of that.

So our actions back then weren't meaningless!

Feeling happy, I asked.

"Excuse me. Do you know Yang Juhee? A girl wearing a uniform similar to ours. She must be wandering around here somewhere, but we can't find her!"

"Yang Juhee... I don't know. But if you've looked everywhere and can't find her, she might have entered Level 3.5. They say those who enter there never return."

Never return?

As I felt dizzy at the thought, a hand suddenly shot out from the dark, shadowy space beyond the iron bars.

It was a woman's hand. Judging by the sleeve that came down to the wrist, she seemed to be wearing a school uniform.

It looked like a Yeongji High uniform.

"Take this. With this, you should be able to find the missing person. It's a compass of desire that guides its owner to their wish. The needle of this compass doesn't point north, but towards what you desire."

There was a compass on her palm.

It was an incredibly old and worn compass, like something people from the Joseon era might have used. Looking closely, I saw it had Japanese writing, not Chinese characters.

"I came to this place to find someone and ended up trapped. Who was I looking for...? After so much time has passed, I've forgotten even who I was."

A woman who had lost her identity.

I carefully examined the thickness of her wrist, the shape of her fingers, and the feeling that came from her voice.

"Just a moment."

Swish—

After receiving the compass, I also held the woman's palm.

It was an incredibly hot palm. A soft and hot hand.

Having felt this sensation somewhere before, I asked the iron bars.

"Could you be Yang Do-hee noona?"