The next morning, I stopped by a restaurant at the crack of dawn to deal with the hangover.
But all I could do was stare blankly at the steaming bean sprout soup in front of me.
"...How's the hangover treating you?"
"You drank that much—think your stomach's fine?"
"It's not."
By sheer coincidence, my neighborhood and Gam Doyeong's turned out to be in the same district.
And by sheer coincidence, Gam Doyeong happened to be at the soup shop I always went to.
And as the final nail, on a morning when this place was inexplicably packed, the only seat left was a two-person table.
"Did you hear? About us going into the ghost story together."
"I'd have to be brain-dead not to."
"Haha, right. Turbulence and a leak damaging a talisman—it's absurd."
"Stop scraping for things to say and just eat."
"Okay."
Gam Doyeong said I was trying too hard and picked up his spoon. I'd been attempting to break the awkwardness, but apparently sitting in silence was the better option.
At least during the luxury hall ghost story, when he'd used his chance token, I'd briefly thought he was a decent person, but—
"...Maybe not."
"What?"
"Talking to myself. It's a habit."
"Bullshit. Look at this."
Gam Doyeong clicked his tongue and pulled a stack of papers from his messenger bag.
Ghost Story Briefing Report
[Cheonsu Airlines / no. 457]
1. GN: Chinese Talisman Ghost Story
2. T / H: Type 2 / 8 persons
-Chinese pharmaceutical company D sent a gift to Korean biotech company M. Among the gifts was a talisman inscribed with '天長地久' (tiānchángdìjiǔ).
[Photo attached]
-Water damage caused the talisman to deteriorate. The talisman's meaning changed, triggering a ghost story.
-Evade ■■ and recover the talisman.
-Damage restoration desired.
3. TL: 5 hours
4. Item: Brush, cinnabar ink
Report Prepared by: [ Gam Doyeong ]
'Evade ■■'.... It's been redacted?
"There are photos with this report too."
"Yeah, take a look."
Two sharp photos accompanied the report.
One showed the talisman before it was shipped to Korea—pristine condition. Red pigment characters written on yellow talisman paper, housed in an elaborately crafted wooden case.
The other showed the damaged talisman. The wooden case was cracked, and roughly two-thirds of the talisman was soaked.
Just as Naviq had said, the '長地久' was smeared beyond recognition. The only Chinese character still partially legible was...
夭.
The strokes of '天' (heaven) had warped.
"That's... '夭'—'to die young.'"
The smeared, distorted character had an ominous meaning to match.
"You get the picture, right? The talisman's power activated from this character. With a meaning like that, imagine what the ghost story's going to be."
Gam Doyeong let out a hollow laugh.
Now I couldn't eat for a different reason entirely.
"By the way, what's this '■■'?"
"Where's the fun if the report tells you everything?"
"Are you serious?"
"The report only previews a limited amount. It's not a perfect prophecy. What more do you want, you idiot?"
I was coming to realize that catching this man in a genuinely kind moment was about as likely as hitting the single-slot jackpot on a roulette wheel.
"Oh, Cheongho. You came with the senior?"
Jeong Siun greeted us warmly.
6:50 AM.
At an hour when hardly anyone was around, eight crew members assembled for the ghost story entry.
"We happened to run into each other and came together."
"Man, I wonder what this ghost story's going to be. Hope it's something simple."
"Let's pray it is. By the way, Siun—your outfit's a bit different?"
Jeong Siun wore the Cheonsu Airlines uniform on top, but his bottoms were cotton sweats with sneakers. The laces were double-knotted tight.
"I heard that for GS or DD days, you can dress like this as long as the passengers don't see. You never know when you'll have to run or roll around."
Jeong Siun pumped his fist with a "Gotta be prepared!" The former track team member had come equipped with perfect athletic gear.
"Snake-eyes, your outfit's annoying as hell, but you came prepared."
"That's just how I roll."
"Heh."
On closer inspection, Gam Doyeong was also in uniform but had swapped his dress shoes for sneakers.
Watching the standoff between Jeong Siun—ready to hurl an insult any second—and Gam Doyeong openly looking down on him made me dizzy for a moment.
The clock struck 7:00, and the briefing began.
But the assembly point was odd—not headquarters, but the entrance to the airport food court.
Just as I was wondering why we'd gathered here—
THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
'What is that sound?'
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
From deep inside the dark food court, an irregular sound echoed—as if someone were lightly hitting an empty wall.
『...■...■■』
Then something like a voice followed, but it was completely unintelligible.
It's Type 2, and the sound is already audible in reality?
It could have been a foreign language, or it could have been random gibberish.
"A, a machine running?"
"The restaurants aren't even open yet. What would be running?"
"An animal then? A cat?"
"...Does that make any sense?"
Everyone offered theories, each laced with tension. Without knowing what it was, no one dared go in.
"You all know why we gathered here. It appears the damaged talisman itself has become the ghost story. Let me run through the briefing quickly."
Gam Doyeong distributed the reports and continued.
"Supervisor is me, Gam Doyeong. GN is Chinese Talisman Ghost Story, Type 2, five-hour time limit. Given that the items are a brush and cinnabar ink, 'damage restoration desired' seems to mean we need to fix the ruined characters on the talisman. Let's move."
""Understood.""
Before entering Type 2, people re-tied their hair or double-checked their shoelaces.
I looked toward the food court where the sounds had been coming from.
THUMP-THUMP,
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
The unidentified sound continued sporadically.
"What could that be...."
Not quite rhythmic—heavy yet somehow light—
"Get over here, you little shit. I let you off easy and now you're taking your sweet time gawking. Stop wandering and move."
"Whoa—"
Gam Doyeong grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me along.
And then—
WHOOSH—
I'd been through it about four times now, but this headache and nausea never got easier.
My clear vision went black in an instant, like flipping a light switch.
『...捉...迷藏。』
While my vision hadn't returned and my body felt like it was floating—
A man's voice played.
Cavernous and low, with a raspy, cracking quality that set my teeth on edge.
『...捉迷藏。』
『...捉迷藏。』
『...捉迷藏。』
'Chinese?'
The sound felt like it was bypassing my ears entirely—prying open my skull and speaking straight into my brain.
"—COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!"
After listening to the incomprehensible words for what felt like ages, a sudden rush of cool clarity hit and my vision opened up.
"Blech— Cheongho, you okay? No matter how many times, this feeling never gets easier......"
"Why do you look so—...... huh?"
Jeong Siun, who'd been patting my back, went speechless mid-sentence. I raised my head too, and what spread before us was—
"A marketplace?"
"Every sign is in Chinese characters."
"Could it be... because of the talisman?"
Everyone who'd entered the ghost story was struck dumb by the surroundings.
First of all, this was obviously not the third-floor airport food court where we'd assembled.
A dirt road with sand blowing across it, and a night sky with a luminous blue full moon.
All around us stood tall shops built from wood, packed tightly together.
In front of the shops sat baskets overflowing with fruits, fabrics, and tea leaves. But what stood out most were the red lanterns and the signboards covered entirely in Chinese characters.
Between the shops, cold wind and thin mist drifted eerily, and the chill was tangibly real.
In front of a food stall, skewers coated in spicy seasoning were still steaming—freshly made. Yet no matter how hard I looked, there wasn't a single person, or even a fly, in sight.
People aside, this was unmistakably the middle of a Chinese market.
'Never thought I'd visit China like this....'
"Hey, did you all hear it? The Chinese when we were entering Type 2."
Gam Doyeong stared at the report and addressed everyone.
"Yes, we heard."
"Heard it."
Gam Doyeong tapped the report in his hand.
"Everyone, look at the GN on the report again."
"The report name?"
"It says '捉迷藏' now, under 'Chinese Talisman Ghost Story.'"
At Gam Doyeong's words, everyone scrambled to recheck their reports in alarm.
Ghost Story Briefing Report
[Cheonsu Airlines / no. 457]
1. GN: 捉迷藏 with the 僵尸
2. T / H: Type 2 / 8 persons
-Chinese pharmaceutical company D sent a gift to Korean biotech company M. Among the gifts was a talisman inscribed with 天長地久 (tiānchángdìjiǔ).
[Photo attached]
-Water damage caused the talisman to deteriorate. The talisman's meaning changed, triggering a ghost story.
-Tie bells to your feet. Evade the 僵尸 and recover the talisman.
-Damage restoration desired.
3. TL: 5 hours
4. Item: Brush, cinnabar ink
Report Prepared by: [ Gam Doyeong ]
The report name and special conditions really did change...!
"The '捉迷藏' in the title—that means hide-and-seek."
At that exact moment, something dropped out of the sky with perfect timing.
JINGLE!
A cluster of silver bells tied with blue thread.
And '僵尸'—that was...
'Jiangshi.'
THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP...
.......
The same sound we'd heard at the airport began again.
FLASH,
FLASH,
FLASH.
The red lanterns went dark one by one, and a massive silhouette drew closer.
"Looks like we tie the bells on to start."
"But—if it's a jiangshi, then this is a Chinese ghost story. And if it's hide-and-seek, wouldn't it be better not to wear the bells?"
A tall female attendant swallowed hard as she spoke.
"And what happens if you don't follow orders and something goes wrong? Gutsy, aren't you."
"I think it's best to do what the report says. I've already tied mine on."
Jeong Siun backed up the point, extending his ankle to show everyone the silver bell he'd already fastened.
"Good judgment. What are the rest of you waiting for? Tie them on."
Everyone had been watching each other nervously, but at Gam Doyeong's command, they started fastening the bells one by one.
Jingle, clink, jingle.
With tense hands, I tied the bell firmly to my left ankle.
Last of all, Gam Doyeong secured his bell to his right ankle. As he looked up at the sky, everyone's eyes went wide.
"The moon...."
The moon, which had been glowing an ethereal blue, turned blood-red—as if soaked in crimson—signaling the start of hide-and-seek.
WHOOOOSH—
The thin mist that had been drifting low grew much denser. The red lanterns in front of the shops went dark one after another, turning the atmosphere deeply ominous.
THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP.
The sound we'd been hearing all along was unmistakably the heart of this ghost story—the jiangshi.
With every lantern extinguished, its shape was still hidden, but the sounds approaching seemed to be getting faster.
"...It's coming."
"Nobody space out. Stay calm. All we need to do is find the talisman and fix the character. Split into pairs."
At Gam Doyeong's order, Jeong Siun and I slipped between the shops.
JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE.
The bells on our ankles shook frantically, flooding the dark, silent streets with noise.
Every step sent cold sweat trickling down.
Jeong Siun and I hurried to the second floor of a restaurant as far from the main road as possible and ducked inside.
"Cheongho, look."
Jeong Siun peered through the gap in the window and spoke.
THUMP,
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
CRASH!
A heavy thud—then sudden silence.
Holding my breath, I peered through the crack in the window. Through the hazy mist, the seeker of hide-and-seek stood motionless.
'...!'
Its black Qing-dynasty mandarin robe was dark as pitch. Both arms stretched rigid into the air, and it stood stock-still like a boulder.
Its stiff hands and the neck barely visible in the red moonlight couldn't be seen clearly, but what showed was bluish-pale—unmistakably a corpse.
And the distinctive detail: the problematic talisman was stuck right on its forehead, in plain sight.
From what I knew, jiangshi were supposed to be stopped by sticking a talisman on them.
Was it different because this was a ghost story?
『...捉迷藏。』
Its pallid lips—as if wearing purple lipstick—slowly opened and closed.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—
'Shit.'
The jiangshi began jumping in place—frantically, maniacally.
It hopped so violently that the dirt beneath it cratered into a deep hollow.
JINGLE—
'!?'
Just then, from the building directly in front of the inn where Jeong Siun and I were hiding, a bell shattered the silence.
THUD.
The manic hopping finally stopped.
Then the jiangshi wrenched its body toward the shop where the sound had come from. Its body was so rigid that when it turned, the sound of bones and muscle tearing echoed—CRACK—like something being ripped apart.
THUMP,
THUMP-THUMP,
THUMP-THUMP,
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP,
THUMP—
The jiangshi hopped toward the shop without a moment's hesitation.
A wooden door blocked its path, but the jiangshi didn't falter.
CRASH!
It charged straight through, smashing the door to pieces with its entire body!
SMASH-CRASH.
The door splintered and wooden fragments rained down.
The jiangshi, having forced its way inside, was no longer visible.
Only the THUMP, THUMP, THUMP of its hopping echoed slowly from within.
"Two people went in there. Are they going to be okay?"
"Supposedly, jiangshi can't see. As long as they don't make any more noise...."
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—.
The jiangshi's footsteps came to an abrupt halt, and a chilling silence fell.
The heavy, suffocating quiet didn't last long.
JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE!
""!?""
Loud enough to reach us clearly in the building across the way, the bells began ringing without pause—wildly, relentlessly.
THUMP, THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP—
JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE!
"KYAAAAAH!"
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP—
"N-no, don't, don't come!"
"Get away!"
JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGLE!
Silver bells, frantic footsteps, and screams blended into a horrific cacophony that filled the streets and froze everyone in their hiding places.
JINGLE-JINGLE-JINGL—.
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The two female attendants' piercing shrieks ripped through the night.