Chapter 91: Damp Water Ghost (1)

I grew up in a Christian family. And Korea was a conservative Confucian country just a century ago.

Christianity and Confucianism.

While these two are hard to reconcile, they have one thing in common. they both emphasize women's respect for men.

It's in the Bible too. The man is the head of the woman, so women should submit to men.

Of course, this was a mutually respectful relationship where men were also told to love women as their own bodies, but...

Until the 21st century, women were pitiful beings discriminated against and ignored without human rights. What more in the Joseon era?

I was someone who saw women's existence as beautiful, loving my mom and having countless crushes on girls, but men in the Joseon era probably didn't.

And that fear of 'men' would fundamentally remain in Joseon female ghosts. I wanted to use that fear to attack the Joseon female ghost who would have grown up seeing 'men' as the sky, brainwashed from childhood.

"You outdated Joseon wench! How dare you dance so impudently in front of a man as great as the sky, mocking a great man! Don't you know boys and girls shouldn't sit together after age seven! You ignorant wench!"

If the tomb ghost was a Joseon-era woman, my attack would surely work. I was certain of that.

"You wench! Come here and pour me a drink! No, come here and serve me in bed!!!"

I yelled out angrily. And as if those words had some effect, the ghost dancing on the tomb stopped dancing and stopped laughing. And she looked at me with contempt, like how Bong Ji-yeon looks at Jung-seok.

I had succeeded in upsetting the ghost who had been mocking me! I had manipulated the ghost's emotions! I can control ghosts!

Just as I was feeling a strange elation at the ghost's contemptuous gaze-

The tomb ghost suddenly disappeared, and all the ghosts in white mourning clothes disappeared too.

It was night. I shouted, breathing heavily.

"Hey! Don't run away! Don't run away! Then I win! I won! I won! Just try coming out again! Hey! I warned you!"

Of course, no text appeared saying the ghosts had been exorcised. Nevertheless, I felt the joy of being a victor in not being helplessly overwhelmed.

"Hey! Let's go quickly! Guys! Let's go quickly!"

I encouraged my dazed team members and we all got in the car. Completely exhausted.

I felt like a salted mackerel. Ms. Hong Mi-ri, who was starting the car in the driver's seat, laughed at me.

"Wow, Young-won, you were the epitome of a Confucian man. Are you the type to hit women too? Like Kwon Suho? I'm scared to drive next to you."

"...Teacher, you know that wasn't my true feelings."

I didn't have the energy to explain more than that. I just wanted to sleep.

Everyone seemed to feel the same, including Ms. Hong Mi-ri who was driving.

Are we all going to die on the highway like this-

As I was thinking this, Yoo Dahee said.

"Why don't we all rest at my grandfather's villa first? It's nearby. I think it'd be better to sleep at the villa for a day than dangerously going home like this..."

A villa... the villa where the water ghost appears?

***

The villa had two floors, was larger than expected, and had better facilities than expected. There was even a swimming pool.

"Wow, look at the swimming pool."

The most materialistic Bong Ji-yeon was interested in the swimming pool.

"Yang Juhee, want to bet lunch at the rest stop by swimming with me tomorrow?"

"Hey, you can't beat me. My nickname in kindergarten was Little Mermaid of the Children's Swimming Class."

"Can I join too? I'm good at swimming too! I even got an award in a competition in elementary school!"

Giggle giggle-

As the girls laughed cheerfully, my mood, which had been gloomy because of the ghosts, improved a little. Women's laughter is something that makes the world so beautiful. A world where women laugh happily is truly a right world.

That's when I noticed a fence set up at a place quite far from the swimming pool.

It was a pond. The width of the pond was about 3 meters. It was a pond that was large if you call it large, small if you call it small.

"They say many young women drowned to death in this pond. So it's called Falling Flower Pond, meaning flowers falling. They say that's why there's a water ghost and stuff."

Yoo Dahee spoke eerily, looking at the pond.

Maybe because it was pitch black night, the pond looked like a hole punched in the ground. It also looked like a section of an unfathomably deep sea.

"Water ghost..."

Maybe because we had just seen the queen ghost at the tomb, the water ghost didn't seem that scary. No, that's a lie, it was too scary.

What if I get bewitched and drown too?

Water would enter through my nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and my lungs would fill with water, and I'd die in excruciating pain. It was horrifying just to imagine.

"Hello."

"Oh my, it's Dahee. When did you grow up so much? You've become a complete young lady. You're ready for marriage!"

"Honey, don't say that, let's have the kids wash up and eat first."

There was a kind-looking middle-aged couple in their late 40s at the villa.

They said they were the caretakers who usually stay at this villa, managing the facilities and cleaning.

For us, who looked like salt-shocked mice, the ajumma and ahjussi brought gowns we could change into and prepared everything we needed to wash up, including towels and toothbrushes.

Swoosh-

Jung-seok and I entered the spacious shower room and washed up. Jung-seok nudged my side.

"Hey, you were really amazing earlier. Not even flinching in front of that scary tomb ghost."

"Well, I do what I have to do when the time comes."

Creating opportunities in crisis situations.That was the role of an ace and a leader. Soon, Jung-seok nodded.

"That's true, but it's surprising that such a method worked."

"Still, this incident was my mistake. I underestimated the tomb ghost too much. We should have prepared more before fighting. It's a miracle no one got hurt. But I've got a sense of how we can win. I've got a good feeling. If I just had points, the tomb ghost would have been nothing. We just need to earn points."

"Really? I had no idea what to do at all."

When I went to the living room wearing the new tracksuit given by the villa caretaker ahjussi, the girls who had washed up earlier were sprawled out in massage chairs set up in what could be called the reception room or living room on the first floor.

I was so tired that I wanted to sit in a massage chair too, but no one seemed likely to give up their spot. Everyone was exhausted.

I was wondering what to do when suddenly I had a good idea.

"It'd be nice if Juhee, who's prettier and dances better than idols, would give up her massage chair spot."

"......"

Yang Juhee, who was lying there like a dried pollack, glared at me. Then she slightly got up and gave up her seat.

Brrrr-

The massage chair that seemed to be pummeling my whole body felt really good. I wish we had one of these at home.

Suddenly, I felt thirsty too.

"It'd be nice if Juhee, who's prettier than idols, would pour me a glass of water too."

"......"

Yang Juhee glared at me. Then, she headed towards the water purifier over there. Watching this, Bong Ji-yeon said to me.

"Wow, you're so patriarchal. When you were yelling at the ghosts earlier, half of it was genuine, right?"

"Oh, come on. I told you it wasn't."

I wasn't in my right mind then.

Thinking about it now, I was acting recklessly without fear, like someone whose heart or liver had popped out of their body. But thanks to that, didn't we somehow survive safely?

"Who would have thought the caretaker ahjussi was a ghost too. If the sharp Yang Juhee hadn't noticed, I don't know what would have happened to all of us."

Swish-

I expressed my honest thoughts as I received a cool glass of water from Yang Juhee. I had no idea the caretaker ahjussi was a ghost.

Yang Juhee has quite good instincts, like how she was the first to understand the baby ghost's crying sound too. However, Yang Juhee asked me a bit grumpily.

"What now. What do you want me to do this time?"

It seems my honest praise sounded like flattery. I extended my feet towards Yang Juhee and said.

"Juhee, who's the sharpest and most dependable among us, could you massage my feet a bit too?"

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Ow!"

Squeeze-

Yang Juhee pinched my thigh hard and quickly disappeared far away. I felt like the praise strategy wouldn't work anymore.

Anyway. We really enjoyed the ramen the caretaker ajumma made for us. It was truly the most delicious ramen I'd ever had in my life.

Salty ramen eaten after sweating a lot really made me feel alive.

Those ghost bastards can't taste something like this. How pitiful.

"Kids, I'll prepare the blankets for you, so go to sleep. And it's better not to wander outside at night if you can help it. You might fall into the pond because it's dark."

The kind ajumma prepared our beds well too along with a warning not to approach the pond. She said there's always at least one animal like a deer, bird, or wild boar that drowns in the pond every month.

Everyone was exhausted and went to sleep early without even having time to look around the various things in the villa. 

The bed was so soft and comfortable, but strangely, I couldn't sleep. Maybe it's because today's events had fully charged my adrenaline. So, I ended up fiddling with my phone for no reason.

"...Tomorrow is Sunday."

While fiddling with my phone, I thought again about the events of today.

We came to exorcise ghosts and gain points today, but the ghosts were stronger than we thought and things didn't go well.

Indeed, the Jang Hee-bin ghost that even shamans are said to avoid. It's not a ghost easy enough to take down without any countermeasures.

On the other hand, I also felt a desire to collect. If I could recruit her into my mercenary group, it might help in conquering the second floor.

How can I defeat the tomb ghost…?

As I was thinking this,

Splash-!

I heard the sound of something making water splash.

When I lifted my head and glanced out the window, I saw something floating on the pitch-black pond below the second-floor window. It had long hair and was wearing a sky-blue robe.

Splash, splash splash-

"Oh, that..."

Feeling a familiarity with the person floundering in the water, I quickly ran out towards the pond. When I got to the pond, wasn't it Yoo Dahee floundering in the water!

"Dahee! What on earth happened!"

"Young-won! Help me! I fell in!"

Yoo Dahee falling into the pond!

I wondered what on earth happened, but as I was about to reach out my hand thinking I should quickly save her-

...Wait, what if it's not Yoo Dahee?

They said there's a water ghost in this pond. What if it's the water ghost?

"...You said you're good at swimming. Didn't you say you even got an award in a swimming competition in elementary school?"

"......"

As if the splashing just now had been a lie, Yoo Dahee's floundering stopped. Yoo Dahee's body floated up a bit more above the water surface.

Yoo Dahee, revealing herself above the water surface up to about her navel. The silk robe she wore instead of pajamas clung to her wet body, revealing elegant curves.

Unlike Bong Ji-yeon who did track and field, she didn't give a sturdy impression, and she wasn't long and slender like Yang Juhee, but she had curves that were slender like a crane's neck and as elegant as porcelain.

Yoo Dahee chuckled.

"Actually, it's a joke. It's fun teasing you, Young-won. Young-won, you come in here too. The water is really cool and feels good."

For some reason, Yoo Dahee, wet from the water, tried to pull me into the pond. And I wasn't foolish enough to not know the reason at all.

Water ghost!

The identity of the woman in the water now was clearly a water ghost pretending to be Yoo Dahee and was trying to deceive me.

I got goosebumps. And I got angry.

Do I look easy? Why are ghosts so desperate to torment me? Why won't they leave me alone!

But... this was also an opportunity for me.

You get points if you exorcise a ghost, right? I desperately needed points right now. So how should I exorcise the water ghost?

I thought hard for a while.

Not knowing or caring about my thoughts, the water ghost Yoo Dahee splashed water on me.

"Ah, cold!"

"Doesn't it feel good because it's cold? It feels even better inside. Come in. I'll do something nice for you. Something you've never even imagined. I might do it if you come into the water."

She'll do something I've never even imagined?

I really couldn't imagine what on earth it could be. But her attempt to seduce me was annoying.

I won't just keep getting pushed around by ghosts all day today.

"I might go into the water if you show me your chest."