“I was curious if you guys were doing well, so I came by, but the door seems broken—it won’t open.”
Click-click.
The doorknob kept turning.
The harsh sound of metal scraping metal gave him chills for no reason. Kim Joo-won muttered quickly, “Ah, I’ll open it, I’ll open it,” gripping harder. Someone was unusually in a hurry today. Kim Joo-won chuckled to himself, thinking maybe the visitor needed to use the bathroom.
Well, the annex was a very old building, worn and corroded in many places. That’s why earlier, when he came in, he had briefly worked on the front door—lubricated it, surely…
He froze.
‘Did I?’
Strength drained from his hand. The hand holding the doorknob slipped down.
“Joo-won? The door won’t open. Try opening it.”
Now that he thought about it, it was strange. Kim Joo-won recalled Lee Kyunghak teasing while holding a bottle of alcohol.
Usually, that meant they were hiding their location from the teachers.
The smile faded from Kim Joo-won’s face in an instant.
“The door… won’t open?”
Click-click.
“Yeah—it won’t.”
“Really…?”
Kim Joo-won’s replies grew slower. Beyond the frosted glass on the front door, a black shadow swayed.
Kim Joo-won, staring at the strange shadow, said,
“Ah, sir. Perfect timing. I’m going to buy alcohol, but I don’t have my ID.”
From the other side came a faintly amused reply after a brief pause.
“Alcohol? Just go buy it with me, what’s the problem? But first, open the door!”
<Drinking and partying are strictly prohibited in Bonryeong; alcohol is only used during rituals.>
“Joo-won?”
“Joo-won.”
“Open the door.”
“You have to open it to get in.”
“Open it.”
“The teacher said to open it!”
Click.
Click-click.
Click-click. Click-click.
Click-click. Click-click.
Click-click. Click-click.
Bang bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang bang! Bang bang bang bang!
The door shook violently as if it would break.
“Joo-won, Joo-won. Open? Open the door. Open it. Joo-won? Joo-jo, open.”
Thud thud thud… the banging gradually stopped.
Heheh heh!
Heh heh!
An unpleasant laugh was heard.
At that moment, the black shadow’s neck stretched long and thin.
As expected… it wasn’t human.
At that moment, while Kim Joo-won fidgeted with the spiritual energy in his pocket,
“It opened?”
The door—opened?
A message flashed through Kim Joo-won’s mind.
‘[Don’t confuse the main and back gates]’
…Damn it, the back door!
“Are we not, by chance, following the trope ‘I can’t hurt the people I care about’?”
“How much more sincerely can we fight than this?”
Lee Kyunghak and An Seo-myeong, hiding behind the large table like shields, gasped for breath. All they wanted was to have a glass of soju with some grilled pork belly… Lee Kyunghak burst into a bitter laugh, clutching his side where blood was leaking. “Hey, Seomyeong.” His voice trembled.
“If I die first, make sure to bury me with that bastard.”
“Self-burial.”
An Seo-myeong blocked sharply.
The ‘bastard’ they were talking about was none other than Kim Joo-won.
More precisely, Kim Joo-won possessed by a spirit.
“What the hell… ugh!”
Another attack came flying.
Currently, the annex was a disaster zone. All entrances were sealed, and all the kids were either severely injured or cursed.
“Hyung, the signal’s working, right?”
“Huff huff, huh, no… fine, no good.”
Lee Kyunghak pointed near the window.
“That might work… ugh.”
“Let’s go.”
“What?!”
“I’ll be the bait, so go.”
“No! I’m bleeding all over, and you want me to crawl there?!”
“That side?”
Lee Kyunghak and An Seo-myeong glared at each other like demons. “Hyung, are you serious? You’re the one!” They soon lowered their voices and bickered.
“Then do you want us all to die here? Get a grip. We have no way to solve this ourselves! The only way is to contact the master.”
“What if the master can’t help either?”
“We’ll bring the elders! Hyung, there’s no time!”
An Seo-myeong scolded him with a frustrated face.
“Ah, seriously… ah! This is crazy! Seriously! Kim Joo-won! Why did you get possessed when it never happened before!”
“You know Joo-won’s protecting us by taking the hits.”
“I know! That’s why I’m even more pissed!”
Lee Kyunghak suddenly stopped complaining and secretly glanced at Kim Joo-won. His eyes were full of undeniable worry.
‘That bastard won’t hold on much longer either.’
Yes. The ‘spirit’ inside Kim Joo-won claiming to be ‘Jisin’ was actually not a difficult opponent. Aside from its nasty temperament, it was a minor spirit that stayed put, cursing and lightly injuring passersby. Even its curses were weak enough to be easily broken.
Yet.
‘Why?’
That spirit could possess. And its curse was strong.
The cursed kids first vomited, then convulsed. Some even turned purple-faced.
A ‘Jisin’ spirit with that kind of power was absurd. How many years had it been holding a grudge?
Fortunately, Kim Joo-won actively endured possession to keep others from being taken over.
If he hadn’t done that, several kids would already be on their way to the afterlife.
Only someone like Kim Joo-won could endure.
When possessed by a strong vengeful spirit, the moment the body is taken, the ‘self’ is lost. Not only that, over time bones decay, skin rots, and the person slowly dies.
In other words, becoming a living corpse.
Even if freed with an exorcist’s help, serious aftereffects remain.
So even Kim Joo-won was nearing his limit.
Just holding on to his identity against a spirit beyond the usual was all he could do. His body had long since been lost.
The spirit toyed with Kim Joo-won thoroughly.
He staggered like a puppet on strings, bleeding profusely from every hole—eyes, nose, mouth. The more his handsome face twisted in pain, the more his mouth curled upward in a grotesque grin. Bleeding tears, the man laughing looked utterly bizarre.
Probably more than anyone, Kim Joo-won, truly devoted to his ‘people,’ was tormented by the fact he was hurting his friends. And the spirit enjoyed reading those feelings.
If someone died here… Kim Joo-won might never recover.
So they had to find someone to save him as soon as possible.
“Hyung, signal when ready.”
“Ugh, I think I’m gonna piss myself.”
“One… two… now!!”
An Seo-myeong slammed the table and charged out to draw the spirit’s attention. Lee Kyunghak darted toward the distant window.
‘Burst, damn it, burst!’
With trembling hands, he desperately tried to find the [Master] and send an SOS signal…
Luckily, the signal connected.
“Hyung!”
“Huff!”
Bang!
Before he could even press send, an attack flew.
By a hair’s breadth, they survived, but the phone was shattered. Damn, it’s still on installments. Lee Kyunghak trembled, staring at the possessed Kim Joo-won approaching. His legs gave out and he collapsed.
“Hey, hey… Joo-won, c-could you put in a little more effort?”
“Huff, huff… ugh, run… haak, uh, heh… heh heh.”
“Get a grip, man!”
That was just before the first casualty.
-Creak.
Surprisingly, footsteps sounded from below the stairs.
“...?”
The spirit stopped moving.
-Creak creak.
It wasn’t a mistake. Someone was coming up.
The spirit shook its head left and right, full of question marks.
Of course. The annex was completely sealed by curses.
But who broke the seal?
All eyes turned to the one who appeared holding a cheap doll in one hand: Jae-eon.
“Ah…”
An Seo-myeong suddenly recalled the message he had sent before coming here. Unlike the careless message to Kim Joo-won, this one was written carefully, pressing each character down with care. Yes, Jae-eon had deliberately left the doll at the door to his room, along with the message...
[Hyung, it’s Seomyeong. Come anytime if you’re hungry. It’s the annex.]
[(emoticon)]
[Oh, and if you see my talisman, please bring it back. I can’t find it anywhere haha]
“Message…”
An Seo-myeong moved his lips.
Someone else was surprised too.
“Jae-eon?!”
“Ah!! I’m alive!!” shouted Lee Kyunghak, while An Seo-myeong’s face went pale. He clearly remembered how Jae-eon had fought Bulgwoechulsa before.
Of course, Jae-eon was the one who eventually exorcised Bulgwoechulsa.
‘No time to hesitate. If he convulses again… no. No. We have to trust the exorcist.’
An Seo-myeong quickly shook off his doubts. Nothing could be done now.
‘We have no choice but to hope.’
At this point, there was no one else to rely on besides Jae-eon. If he didn’t do his part, the only ending left was a direct ride to the afterlife train.
‘Let’s trust him.’
An Seo-myeong looked at Jae-eon, sweating cold sweat.
‘Even if just for a moment, it’s enough.’
If he could block the spirit’s movements… then they could send an SOS signal outside.
Now all they could do was pray.
That he really was a talisman.