Chapter 173
There's a story passed down in the Japanese archipelago like a myth or legend.
Long ago, there was an enormous snake that devoured people indiscriminately.
"From the snake's perspective, wasn't it just eating people because it was hungry? Isn't it a bit much to call it an evil snake?"
Bong Ji-yeon made a very rational point. Jung Seok, weak to Ji-yeon, stammered before continuing his explanation.
"Anyway, the villagers summoned a powerful priestess to defeat the snake. The priestess fought endlessly with the snake until she finally showed an opening, and the snake devoured her lower body."
Despite losing her lower body, the priestess fought the snake with incredible skill.
But the villagers, thinking the priestess had no chance of winning with half her body gone, betrayed her and made a deal with the snake.
"The deal was to offer the priestess as a sacrifice if the snake would calm its anger and stop eating the villagers. The people even cut off her remaining arms to make it easier for the snake to eat her."
"Why did they do such a terrible thing? She came to help them. I feel so sorry for the priestess."
Kwon Sua was saddened as if it had happened to her.
They say women have great empathy. In Sua's case, it seemed even greater. She might have a pouch storing sensitivity and empathy in her body.
"In the end, the snake that ate the priestess disappeared, and the village found peace. But that peace was temporary, and one day people started disappearing. And their arms too."
The priestess devoured by the snake.
That's how the natural disaster 'Gandara', a fusion of the priestess and the snake, was created.
"So the Gandara priestess appears as a woman half-eaten by a snake. With multiple arms. Anyone who sees this form dies without fail. But what we saw was only the upper body, right? We never saw the snake part."
That was true. We never saw anything like a snake in Buldan Temple on the 3rd floor.
As I racked my brain, Jung Seok added more explanation.
"If you see the priestess part, your survival chances are supposedly quite high. It might be because of the priestess's compassion or mercy for protecting the villagers, which remains as a whim in her."
It was strange to hear Jung Seok, who had died most horribly to the Gandara priestess, talk about her compassion or mercy. Jung Seok died so horribly.
I couldn't believe such a priestess had any mercy.
"There's something that always appears in the Gandara priestess urban legend. Matchsticks. At the altar sealing the Gandara priestess, matchsticks are arranged in a winding snake shape. If you damage it, you receive a great curse, but if you restore it, the priestess's anger subsides a bit."
Jung Seok finished his explanation.
"It's just my guess, but I think that 'matchstick altar' might be in the eastern area where the priestess is guarding the key. It's likely to be damaged."
"So if we restore it, we might be able to defeat the priestess!"
Kwon Sua stood up, clenching her fist. Her resolve looked quite bold.
"It seems a bit pitiful."
Bong Ji-yeon commented. As everyone's gaze turned to her, Ji-yeon shrugged.
"Being sacrificed to a snake and losing her life. If it were me, I'd kill all the villagers too."
I see.
Soon, Ms. Hong Mi-ri chuckled.
"Women being sacrificed as offerings are always like that. It's not just a story from elsewhere. There's a famous legend here in Gaeryong City too. About sacrificing women from a certain family for generations to a tree to prevent floods..."
It was a creepy story. It sounded even creepier coming from Ms. Hong Mi-ri, a veteran in ghost matters.
"Long, long ago, when this Gaeryong had a different name, there was a huge flood that killed many people."
People planted a tree and offered women's blood to it. Somehow, they believed this tree would prevent floods.
"They sacrificed women to the tree once every 20 years. They say the tree was bright red from drinking so much blood. It's been cut down now, though."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri opened her narrow eyes slowly.
I thought it was quite primitive that human sacrifices happened in Korea too. And I realized this wasn't just some distant story.
This is about Dahee's family.
Dahee's family was the lineage of sacrifices, offering women for generations. Didn't they say the head shaman died suddenly when Yeongji High was built in Gaeryong?
That was about 40 years ago.
And about 20 years ago, Yoo In-na, Dahee's mother, hanged herself at school. Now, Yoo Dahee is the only descendant left.
I remembered what Uncle Kang Bada had said before.
— The water vein of this Gaeryong has periodically burst, causing repeated floods since ancient times. So the land shamans would calm it by hanging themselves just before a flood. That blood closes the opened door.
Does this mean Dahee should die too?
Like the priestess sacrificed to the snake. I shook my head to dispel the frightening thought.
That won't happen.
"Let's take a break now. Today, let's gather points during the day and enter the corridor as soon as the cooldown is over to seal the Yin-Yang Master or whatever we need to do."
***
"There are so many ghosts near my house!"
During the break.
As we were sunbathing outside the building, Kwon Sua chattered beside me.
Sua had an extraordinary ability to see ghosts, and she said she'd been struggling with the ghosts wandering near her house these past few days.
"...They're definitely after my dad."
"Your father? But your father is... a ghost."
Sua's father had passed away. But due to the aftermath of opening the door on the 3rd floor, he appeared as a ghost by Sua's side.
Though they couldn't communicate, Sua said she liked being with her deceased father. That's why we didn't exorcise Sua's father to turn him into points.
But there are ghosts targeting Sua's father?
"What do you mean? Explain in more detail."
"I discovered that ghost... not too long ago."
Sua said she discovered that thing yesterday.
She was terrified to see something so horrific that she'd never seen before standing in front of her house, but fortunately, it didn't seem to notice her.
"It looked really terrifying. I've seen many ghosts, but I've never seen anything like that. It crawls on all fours like an animal. Sometimes it even attaches to people and moves around."
A ghost of a woman crawling on all fours. That's what was wandering near Sua's house.
"But it didn't seem to harm people. Instead, it was catching and eating the ghosts wandering around our house with its long hands."
A ghost that doesn't harm people but only eats other ghosts? I'd never heard of such a thing before. Is it like an antivirus that catches viruses?
I thought if such a being really existed, it might be good for us, but Sua was very worried.
"My dad's been going out lately! It'd be terrible if he gets caught and eaten by that tree monster! He doesn't understand when I tell him not to go out. And I can't keep him locked up because he's a ghost."
Sua seemed incredibly worried about her deceased father's ghost. I tried to imagine how I'd feel if my mom died and appeared before me as a ghost.
Mom's ghost. Would it be scary?
It would be scary, but I might also miss her. If I thought about someone eating my mom's ghost... I could understand Sua's feelings.
'There's about a day left until the next corridor anyway. It's good to gather as many points as possible. If it's a ghost that eats other ghosts... wouldn't it give a lot of points?'
"Alright. I'll tell everyone, and we'll go together."
"Really? As expected, only Young-won understands my feelings!"
Whoosh—
Sua hugged my arm. The pressure on my arm was so intense that I couldn't think straight.
She has a talent for taking people's breath away, just like those terrifying ghosts. Not just anyone can become a genius idol, it seems.
With that in mind, we decided to explore near Sua's house. It was to gather a lot of points.
"Let's take Giganoto too."
We first stopped by my house to pick up my pet dinosaur, Giganoto. With Giganoto, we could easily drive away and defeat most minor ghosts.
That would lead to point duplication.
Vroom—
On the way to Sua's house in Ms. Hong Mi-ri's car. Sua chuckled as she looked at Giganoto clinging to my shoulder.
"I thought reptiles were scary, but this one seems cute because it's so well-behaved. Doesn't it run away without a leash?"
"It doesn't."
One day, my mom took Giganoto for a walk. I didn't know why she'd take a lizard for a walk, but mom said, "Don't animals need walks?"
My mom didn't finish high school, so there's a lot she doesn't know. But she said she lost Giganoto while walking in the park.
"After searching for a long time and not finding it, she finally came home late at night, but Giganoto was already there."
It was an amazing dinosaur that could even find its way home.
It's surprising that this guy used to cling to Jung Seok's childhood friend, Jin Seo-yeon. Suddenly, I became curious.
"Jung Seok, how's Jin Seo-yeon these days? Is she doing well?"
"Well, so-so."
Oh. It seems Jung Seok is still in touch with Seo-yeon? Are they doing well? I wanted to ask more, but I felt awkward because of Bong Ji-yeon.
Of course, Ji-yeon wasn't paying attention to Jung Seok and was looking at her phone with Yoo Dahee.
"Dahee, look at this. It's a new tint that just came out. The color is pretty, right? Let's go buy it together later."
"Where?"
With that atmosphere, the car stopped.
Now it's time to release Giganoto in this ghost-infested area and earn a ton of points. Thinking that, I was startled when I faced the giant ghost.
"So that's the ghost."
It looked scarier than I imagined.
As Sua said, it was crawling on all fours and lumbering around, looking more beast than human. It was muttering strange things too.
"Hello? Hello? Lunch grateful rooster."
Its black hair was so thick it looked like fur had grown, and its glass-like broken eyes were grinning and looking in different directions.
Ms. Hong Mi-ri said.
"Ghosts that crawl on all fours are as scary as dancing ghosts or laughing ghosts. They've lost even a shred of humanity, so they're completely unpredictable."
An unpredictable ghost. It sounded very creepy, but it seemed true that it didn't harm humans.
People were walking around it, but no one noticed its presence, and it remained still. However, Ms. Hong Mi-ri spoke as if tense.
"To think such a thing is wandering openly on the streets. It's not good. You'd usually only see creatures like this in the depths of Jukai Forest, a famous Japanese spiritual spot. Or maybe on the 2nd floor of Yeongji High..."
An evil spirit on par with the rhythm ghost.
It was worrying to have such a thing roaming the city, but Ms. Hong Mi-ri wasn't finished speaking.
"What's more serious is that this thing seems like an artificial curse deliberately released by someone. There's a sorcerer controlling this ghost. Whoever it is, they can't be normal."