Chapter 27
“By no means. I never called you here, elder.”
Why would I be crazy enough to call something like this over here?
Something I wouldn't do even if they paid me a fortune and stuck blonde beauties on both arms.
“Your wishes are not what matters.”
The elder's withered finger pointed toward my pants pocket.
I was sure I'd put it in there....
“Th-this thing, you mean?”
I took the terminal out of my pocket and showed it.
The word terminal was a later term, so I didn't have the nerve to say it outright.
I didn't have enough information.
Tick, tick, tick.
“Yes. That.”
His wrinkled index finger drew a circle in the air.
“This is standard equipment issued to everyone who comes here.”
The only difference was that my terminal could also open the Gallery.
The elder's gaze shifted from me to the sky.
“I don't know what it is, but in this village nothing can leave without my permission.”
The fog at my feet rose up to my calves.
“From what you call entities to humans, animals, plants... hmm.”
Click, click, click.
“Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times.”
“Hup!”
The air that had been rushing into my nose suddenly stopped entering my body, as if it no longer existed.
I couldn't breathe... I couldn't breathe!
“Guhk—guhk! Hahk!”
Click, click, click.
“Within this village, I can do as I please with not only the air, but even the blood flowing through your body.”
“Kyaahak! Hahk, hahk, hahk....”
As soon as the clacking sounds and the elder's words ended, the blocked airway opened.
I inhaled like mad, with no room to think about anything else.
“Do you understand what this means?”
“Hahk... I definitely... hahk, understand what you mean.”
“However.”
The terminal I'd dropped when I couldn't breathe slowly floated up into the air and settled into the elder's hand.
“This thing you're holding keeps letting something slip out and come back in, even though I never allowed it in.”
Creak, creak, creak.
The elder, holding the terminal, began twisting his head at grotesque angles with a strange creaking sound.
“Right now, nothing is coming out or going in.”
Thud!
“Hup!”
The terminal in the elder's hand flew at me and slammed into my chest.
“When it comes to your side, something again goes in and out. Even now, you still say you didn't call me?”
“I think... I understand what you're talking about now.”
Thanks to the kind explanation, which had spared me from having my neck twisted again, I could finally get the gist of it.
The reason the elder had come looking for me.
“That's right~. Make your calls and texts now. Once you go in, you'll be out of range~.”
The signal should have been blocked from the start.
But the Gallery was working regardless.
Even in a liminal space, and even after entering the village where time had stopped.
That point drew the elder here, making him feel the strangeness of territory where his influence should have been absolute.
I'd been happy just knowing a lifeline still remained, only for that to be wrong.
That's too much of a raw deal, isn't it?
“So what is it that goes in and out of that thing?”
“...Opinions.”
“Opinions, huh.”
“You can exchange letters in real time with people of similar abilities who are far away.”
Grrrk!
“I appreciate your honesty.”
With the sound of bones resetting, the neck bent at ninety degrees returned to normal.
I had been bent so far that a world seen straight on felt awfully strange.
If I could just rotate both arms properly, I should be able to return to Park Seongbin, pre-use.
“Then I should see whether I can send a letter too.”
The elder straightened his hunched back all the way.
Clack, clack, clack-clack-clack-clack-clack!
The mask's teeth rattled at a terrifying speed.
The elder, stretching his whole body straight as a rod and staring up at the sky, looked like a white tower.
“Take a look.”
The terminal, which had struck my chest and fallen, floated up and was placed in my bent left hand.
“I'll check.”
My arms were twisted and bent, but it didn't interfere with movement.
I lifted the terminal with my twisted right hand and opened the Gallery app.
The topmost post.
[What Are You]
Author: Elder
Within the forbidden land, to exchange private letters—are your lives really so cheap?
If this were the reckless antics of ignorant children, I could still forgive it, but do you not know that it is forbidden?
I cannot sit by and watch such a strange sight, with people nowhere to be seen and only letters coming and going.
From now on, private correspondence shall not be permitted, so each of you had best be careful.
[Comments]
EntityFucker: What the hell is he talking about?
DadIsAMartialArtist: If you translate it, he's basically saying, “Quit screwing around and close the Gallery,” right? Who does he think he's fooling?
Udadide: Stop with the grandpa act and get lost, lol.
WhiteHacker: That username—isn't that the entity the newbie was asking for information about?
ㄴAutoSaveIsMandatory: But entities can't come to the Gallery, can they?
ㄴGayWeirdGay: ? They've come here plenty of times.
ㄴAutoSaveIsMandatory: For real....
[I brought a translation]
Author: GalleryBrowsingForPay
Why are you shitposting on my land? Do you want to die?
Don't you know you're not supposed to do that on private property?
All you do is shitpost, and from my perspective that's pretty damn gross.
If you don't want to die, close the Gallery.
[Comments]
DadIsAMartialArtist: Aside from the part about shitposting, that's about right.
ㄴGalleryBrowsingForPay: So what was it originally?
ㄴDadIsAMartialArtist: If you say it's weird to exchange letters without even a messenger, that's probably it.
ㄴTrappedAtHome: Ah, got it. But how did you interpret it?
ㄴDadIsAMartialArtist: I have Level 2 Hanja certification.
ㄴResidentGhostNo.1: You got a certificate while working for the Bureau too?
ㄴDadIsAMartialArtist: My grandpa said Hanja was important.
“You insolent little brats.”
As if sharing the elder's anger, the entire mountain began trembling.
“If you live on this land, I can snuff out your breath with ease.”
Faced with the overwhelming pressure crushing my whole body, I couldn't even make an excuse.
I could only try to brace my trembling body by forcing strength into legs that wanted to give out.
For a moment, that was all.
The elder bent his back, which had been held perfectly straight, and looked at me.
“My boy.”
“Yes, elder....”
“Do you know where those people are?”
“I do not know, except for one of them.”
“Is that so? From the letters, it seemed you were already on familiar terms with people.”
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack.
The five fingers on my left hand bent in five different directions.
As expected, there was no pain.
“It is not only dokkaebi who can detect lies.”
I really didn't know. I only knew, from the head mod's words, that most of them were dead Administration Bureau employees.
How was I supposed to know where the afterlife was?
“I really do not know where they are, except for one person. I've never even seen their faces.”
WhiteHacker, who was presumably a living employee, was only making inferences from a few pieces of hard evidence and didn't know their identities at all.
Put bluntly, if their souls were drifting around some cyberspace on the internet, I wouldn't even be able to meet them.
“How strange. To exchange words without knowing each other's faces or anything about one another.”
“These days, that's accepted as normal.”
“These are the end times. Truly the end times. What is this country coming to?”
Click.
The pressure weighing down my whole body eased, and the fog that had risen to my waist receded down to my ankles.
“Check that place again.”
At the elder's words, I turned on the terminal to check the Gallery.
I didn't open the app right away, but pretended to while glancing toward the side where the time was displayed.
[12:01 AM]
This couldn't be. It had definitely been past one o'clock when Yeon-nyeon came.
“Have you checked?”
“No. I'm checking now.”
Crack.
My right thumb bent backward at the joint.
There was no pain.
[Temporary Gallery Freeze Notice]
Author: ManagingManagement
At the request of the entity 'Elder,' estimated to be Level 4 or higher, this Gallery will be temporarily frozen shortly until the user GalleryingIsEasy leaves the village where time has stopped.
What the entity demands is that the GalleryingIsEasy user be prohibited from using the Gallery in the village where time has stopped, but since that cannot be applied immediately, we will implement the following measure instead.
In the meantime, users will not be able to access posts or comments, and the freeze will be lifted once a post is made indicating that the GalleryingIsEasy user has left the village.
If you have any inconveniences, please tell me, the administrator, after the freeze ends.
This has been carried out solely at my discretion, as I judged that saving lives comes first, and criticism of the GalleryingIsEasy user will not be permitted.
That is all.
[Comments]
HuntingDog: We have to do what has to be done....
WhiteHacker: If the newbie doesn't send any updates, what happens?
ㄴManagingManagement: If there's no news by noon, we'll assume he's dead and reopen the Gallery.
PistilSurgerySurgery: Wow, what am I supposed to do if I'm bored?
ㄴConfigTweaker: It's not like there's nothing to do just because the Gallery is off for half a day... No!!!!!!! Way!!!!!!!!!!!!
ResidentGhostNo.1: Why is the newbie even getting caught up in one of the rare entity invasions in Gallery history?
OrphanCrusher: Newbie, hurry up and post already. My hands are already shaking.
The Gallery was closed by the head mod's authority.
An action unlike the Administration Bureau's usual disregard for human life.
“Looks like you understood me, since I can no longer feel anything coming and going.”
Click, click, click, click, click.
The mask kept making light scraping sounds over and over.
“It says it won't function until I leave the village.”
“From now on, every time you come here, you will not be able to use it.”
A seal on the Gallery limited to the village where time had stopped.
If I thought about it deeply, it might have been a serious problem, but that didn't matter to me right now.
There was no telling when the question-and-answer session with the elder would end.
If the interrogation ended with my neck bent even once, I'd die instantly.
There were simply too many things threatening my life right now.
“Since this is my first time coming out of the village, I have many things I wish to ask you.”
Creeeeak!
The elder's neck stretched out long, coming right up to the tip of my nose.
Through the empty space of the Hahoe mask's mouth, I could see nothing but darkness, yet to my eyes it looked as if he were smiling.
“Yes, three days should be about right. A human can live three days without eating.”
I'm screwed. Was he going to wring me dry until I was just about dead, then let me leave with only my life intact?
Even now, due to the whims of an entity, a living speck like me naturally had no choice.
Internally resigning myself, I slowly tried to nod in assent.
Just then.
“Eldeeeeer!”
“Grandpaaaaa!”
“Did I not tell you to call me Grandfather?”
From behind the elder, a dokkaebi with Yeon-nyeon on his shoulders came running over.
“You said Grandpa would be back soon, so when is he cominggg!”
“It'll be over soon, so if you wait just a little longer....”
“No! No! Last time you said 'soon' too, and then you just played baduk with the executioner uncle all day!”
“...I said I wanted the jangseung to return as well.”
The elder watched Yeon-nyeon, who was throwing a tantrum, for a moment before tilting his head to look at me.
“What a pity, my boy. We'll have to end our conversation here.”
“Understood.”
“Come visit once before the day turns over.”
The elder was asking for another visit.
Was I crazy? Walk back here of my own free will just to hand over my life?
“If you do not, then I will go outside.”
“I will be sure to come pay my respects before the deadline passes.”
I thought I'd either have to somehow get life insurance or quit.
“Very well. Let's go, Yeon-nyeon. Grandpa will carry you.”
“Waaah! Grandpa's the best!”
The elder stretched out his long arms and hoisted Yeon-nyeon, who had been riding on his shoulders, onto his back.
“Heehee!”
Yeon-nyeon, sitting on the elder's back, looked at me and gave a wink, closing one eye.
It seemed I'd somehow ended up owing Senior Kang Chaeyeong without even realizing it.
“I look forward to our next meeting.”
“Take care on your way.”
“Bye-bye, big brother! Say hi to big sis for me too!”
The fog that had risen to my ankles spread to cover the entire mountain.
The elder, the dokkaebi, and Yeon-nyeon.
The three of them turned around and slowly walked into the fog toward the village.
The fog gradually concealed their forms, then disappeared without leaving a trace.
It was over. The long, nerve-wracking Level 1 entity support duty was finally over.
“Huuu....”
My legs went weak, and I sank into the chair as if collapsing.
As the needle of fear that had never once stopped began to slow bit by bit, a tremendous fear started surging back.
Just as I was unable to control my trembling body.
Clunk.
The door opened, and Kang Chaeyeong appeared.
“Oppa! What were you doing that you didn't wake me even once until sunrise? Don't say you're tired—... oppa?”
I wondered how I looked in Kang Chaeyeong's eyes.
As I thought that, I basked in the morning sunlight that had already begun to rise and tried to close my eyes... but couldn't.
“KRAAAAAAAAGH!”
“Kyaaaaaagh! Oppa, are you okay!”
Because that goddamn old-fart bastard hadn't fixed my arm.
notes":"Aligned the chapter title to the nearby established format as Old Man (2). Kept 'elder' as the respectful internal address for 어르신, and used names/roles where context was ambiguous. Also normalized a few awkward phrasing choices and avoided any accidental repeated-word issues."}]}