Author note: Updated
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"Please!"
Baek Saheon looked like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Yet at the same time, he kept his voice as low as possible, as if he just wanted to escape the strangling supernatural disaster without being noticed.
But Agent Bronze did not release him from his restraints.
He just glanced at the golden stick I was holding, which I'd taken from Baek Saheon's pocket, and asked a question. The special prize.
"What does drawing that mean?"
"What do you mean, what does it mean? It means I'm absolutely fucked! That's why I have to get out before the last day of the festival. Right now, from here…"
"Will you die?"
Baek Saheon froze. I asked, cutting in.
"But earlier, I saw the person who drew that stick being congratulated. And I heard that at next year's event, they're given an important role…"
"..."
Baek Saheon's lips parted but he couldn't say anything.
Still, his eyes were filled with fear and anger.
'A binding?'
I met Agent Bronze's eyes.
He gave a slight nod, then asked in a calm tone,
"If that's the case, then explain how you got HQ's direct rescue number."
"Ha! Isn't that one of the numbers you people hid all around the village?"
"...!"
"Everyone here knows about them. The whole village knows. They just leave them alone. But how do you think anyone calls that number?" Baek Saheon spit out his words sarcastically.
"Wait a minute. You noticed the Bureau's instructions, but you just leave them lying around?"
"That's right! Whether outsiders drink shinsanju, reach enlightenment and hang themselves, drown themselves in the river, or rot at the bottom of the well, whether they all forget and go back to living their lives, nobody cares. It doesn't matter if a few manage to escape. The only thing they care about is not getting contaminated by misfortune, so they just manage things for that!"
"'Contaminated by misfortune'? What kind of misfortune?"
Baek Saheon clamped his mouth shut again.
Sweat dripped down his jaw.
'Another binding.'
Watching him suffer under supernatural fear and pressure left me with a strange feeling of gloom.
'…Is it because it reminds me of myself?'
But that was just my perspective.
"Looks like you can't answer."
Agent Bronze clearly felt no sympathy for Baek Saheon.
At the end of the day, he was the one who, as part of his job, killed those who possessed the tapes at the mountain lodge.
And this other guy was selected as a villain by the Disaster Management Bureau.
Baek Saheon had the tape.
"If you know so much, walk out on your own."
"I said I can't!"
At Agent Bronze's cold words, Baek Saheon seemed to assess the situation, glancing around.
But in the next moment, his voice turned calm.
"Look, you know that thing, right? I know it too.
The pile of stones in front of the village pine tree. If you put a stone on top, pray, and the agents walk with their arms linked on either side, you can leave the village safely, right?"
"...!!"
He was exactly right.
If you walk ninety-nine steps east from the well, there's a withered pine tree. You have to place a small stone on the stone pile in front of it.
Then you recite 'Turn back and grant us your protection' three times, and as long as everyone links arms, with the agents on the ends and the rescuee in the center, you can all return safely to the real world… That's the current rule.
You always need at least three people for this, which is why two agents are dispatched.
So, don't forget. Agents on the left and right, link arms with the rescuee in the center!
"E-Everything's been discovered. They've been discovered for decades. That's the rescue method, right? Please, do it for me! I'm the one who reported this! That's how it's supposed to work!"
Baek Saheon's voice was desperate and resentful.
But…
"That doesn't work for villagers."
Baek Saheon stopped.
"...What?"
"I mean, for someone who lives in this village, it won't work."
That's right.
– I'll say it again, this doesn't work on villagers during the festival, so don't try it recklessly. If you try without being prepared, you might get lost between the village and reality.
"Villagers can't leave safely by that method."
"…I don't live here anymore. I live in Seoul."
Agent Bronze didn't answer.
Baek Saheon's voice grew desperate, almost pleading.
"I-I only come here once a month, no, just every two or three months for a few days, that's all. I don't live here! I'm not one of these crazy shitheads!"
"The standard is whether you're wearing a feather during the festival."
"…!"
Baek Saheon's gaze dropped to his own chest, where he was still wearing a rooster feather.
"~!!"
He twitched, as if trying to tear it off, but then stopped, as if realizing it was impossible.
And then he muttered,
"It won't come off?"
"..."
"No, that can't be. I'm an adult and I don't live here, so I'm an outsider. Then… then there must be another way. You're supposed to save civilians, right? You're supposed to help the person who reported it."
Agent Bronze declared in a cold voice,
"At present, it is impossible."
...
...
"Then die."
...
What?
"Then you'll all die too."
Baek Saheon opened his mouth.
"O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks!
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks!
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks!
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countle
—mmph!"
I hurriedly covered Baek Saheon's mouth.
A sharp pain shot through my hand as the flesh was torn.
"…!"
He bit me.
"Agent Grapes!"
"These people are stealing the Chosen One! They're stealing the Chosen One! They're bringing misfortune!"
Agent Bronze quickly pulled my hand away, and the instant the pressure on Baek Saheon's mouth loosened, his voice burst out again.
And then—
"O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks…"
Figures appeared behind the abandoned house.
No, several figures.
I realized it.
"Don't make such a fuss in the village."
"That's right. Sheesh, what are you all doing in the middle of the night? The bathwater here is excellent, why not take a nice warm bath and get some rest?"
"Couldn't sleep? Maybe you haven't eaten enough."
Now I understood why Agent Choi said that if you think you've been spotted by the villagers, you need to hide immediately or subdue them and stash them in the abandoned house.
The treatment had changed.
"Here's some food~"
After our meeting at the well was discovered…
The ever-friendly villagers led us back to the tile-roofed house.
And instead of the small, cramped room where we had originally been staying, they moved us to a luxurious, spacious room with sliding paper doors.
Nobody outwardly agreed on it, they just did it naturally.
Then they encouraged us to bathe and brought out more festival food and drinks.
"Drink up, it's medicinal wine."
"These are herbs, wild greens, and ginseng from the mountain! Very nutritious and good for your eyes~"
Just like the ones who had flocked to the troublesome guest who threw the cucumber on the ground.
Baek Saheon was nowhere to be seen.
The villagers had led him somewhere.
"..."
Feeling a chill, Agent Bronze and I exchanged glances.
Had those who found the hidden Bureau instructions and sent a rescue request felt the same sense of unease?
The villagers set the food down and left the room, leaving just the two of us, but I could still sense people lingering outside the door for a moment.
And then, they were gone.
"..."
Agent Bronze approached the door and pressed his ear against it.
He waited until he was sure there was no sound, and then, very carefully, reached to open the door just a crack to check outside…
Wait.
I grabbed Agent Bronze's shoulder, stopping his movement.
Then I rummaged through the table and picked up a flat candle used for warming food.
I held it up close to the sliding paper door.
Shadows of people pressed right up against the other side of the door.
"…!"
They were eavesdropping.
They hadn't left and disappeared after all.
'Shit.'
A shiver ran up my neck.
I quickly put the candle back down as naturally as I could and instead tipped a bit of water from my glass, wetting my fingers to switch to writing notes.
– Is it impossible to just put everyone here to sleep and quietly slip out?
– It would be difficult.
Agent Bronze answered quickly.
– In a ghost story with overt religious themes like this, sleep is not usually a good method.
"..."
As expected.
This was a ghost story that had been observed for a very long time, and they must have tried all sorts of methods by now.
The manual from Agent Choi can't have included every attempt, only the most effective and safest ways would have become the official rules.
…But even so, not a single method for rescuing a villager from the disaster had ever been confirmed.
Even so…
– How exactly do outsiders who visit this village festival end up disappearing?
I had to ask.
But…
– It's unknown.
…!!
– After the festival, the villagers immediately send outsiders away.
And there are quite a few records of people who only stayed one night insisting on leaving in the middle of the festival and actually leaving.
– The problem is… some of them never make it home.
"..."
– Sometimes, even after making it home safely, there are numerous cases where people suddenly choose to end their own lives a few weeks later.
It was usually by means involving natural objects.
A chill ran down my spine.
– The cause of this phenomenon is unknown, but a common procedure has been confirmed.
It's this: after entering this ghost story, if you follow the kind villager's guidance to bathe, eat, and drink alcohol, you're provided with those three things.
– They haven't determined exactly which one is the trigger, but it looks like we've gotten a hint this time.
I recalled what Baek Saheon had shouted.
– Outsiders drink the sacred mountain liquor, realize the truth of the world, then hang themselves, drown in the river, or rot at the bottom of the well…
So that's it.
'At least the alcohol is clearly a factor.'
I looked at the alcohol on the table.
Clear liquor in an ordinary white porcelain bottle.
But…
'If drinking this makes people 'realize the truth of the world' and then die, what does that even mean?'
What sort of 'truth' could do that?
In ghost story settings, things called 'truth' often end up being brainwashing or hypnosis that ruins people's minds.
Of course, that's frightening.
But what's even scarier is this.
…If it really is the truth, and just knowing it makes a person choose death.
A case where a human learns something they should never have known.
'…I have a bad feeling about this.'
A coldness settled in my chest.
…It seemed safer to just leave.
My nerves were signaling that digging any deeper would be unwise.
And there was still one reliable method left.
The escape method provided to agents by the Disaster Management Bureau.
The five-colored sneaker laces.
"..."
I saw that Agent Bronze had already glanced into his jacket, clearly conflicted.
– Are we going to leave, just like this?
But even if they weren't the ones who requested help, there were definitely people who would not be able to return home after the festival ended if left here like this.
Agent Bronze was a stickler for the rules, but as an agent, he couldn't ignore that.
– If we can't find a way to quietly slip out of this room before the festival ends today, we'll do that.
Then, with a tired and guilty look, he added,
– I'm sorry. I was too forceful, and that gave him an excuse to act out.
No, that's not it.
'I should've known Baek Saheon would act out like that…'
I'd seen it enough times on the wiki, and even lived in the company dorms with him.
…I'm just too tired, my judgment's getting dull.
I shook my head, then slumped down in the corner of the room.
It was already dawn.
'The festival will probably start soon.'
And then.
Heeyaaaaaah!
Outside, the festival music and noise gradually grew louder and reached a peak, but we couldn't leave the room.
'They're not leaving.'
Even after the festival started, someone would occasionally come to our room to bring heated food and drinks.
And there were always at least two people standing right outside the door.
Persuasion or coaxing had no effect.
They were friendly, but it was clear they had no intention of actually talking to us.
'They're going this far?'
It was unsettling.
'Just how far did Baek Saheon snitch on us to the villagers?'
Something was seriously off.
At this rate, we really would have no choice but to use the sneaker laces and leave.
I could tell Agent Bronze was leaning more and more toward that decision as well.
But just then.
We heard a commotion outside.
'There were people making a fuss over there… Should I tell them here?'
'Yeah, they were fighting. Threw food around… huh?'
We heard the sounds of people chatting and then the noise of a crowd rushing off somewhere.
A few moments later—
Drrrk.
The sliding door opened, and a familiar face appeared.
"Knew there'd be people in here."
"…!!"
It was Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
Agent Bronze's eyes widened.
"You…"
"Shh."
She put a finger to her lips.
Then, frowning, she muttered,
"What is this, some kind of human trafficking hub? They're trying to lock up every family member and problematic outsider. Anyway. You want to get out of this room too, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's go."
Assistant Manager Eun started leading us skillfully out of the tile-roofed house.
For some reason, there were barely any people left in the house.
"Why did everyone suddenly disappear?"
"They were already short-handed because of the festival preparations, and then a fight broke out between the villagers outside, so everyone rushed out to break it up."
"…Did someone incite that fight on purpose?"
"Who knows?"
Then Assistant Manager Eun winked at me.
'It was her doing.'
I felt a surge of emotions. On one hand, I wanted to yell at her to stop doing dangerous things, but on the other, I felt immensely grateful.
"Anyway, you should get going. This isn't an ordinary village."
"...Thank you."
"For what?"
And then, following the back door Assistant Manager Eun Haje seemed to have scouted, we stepped out into a scene no different from yesterday.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
The village, with a festival in full swing.
Hiyahhh!
"It's still total chaos."
Assistant Manager Eun scratched the back of her head and looked back at us.
"Don't get caught and dragged back to that room again for no reason. In this mess, you should be able to quietly slip out through the entrance without being noticed…"
"Wait a minute."
Agent Bronze frowned, then said firmly to Assistant Manager Eun,
"Let's go out together."
Of course, Assistant Manager Eun looked baffled.
"Hey, I have other business to take care of. I have to work if I want to eat, yeah?"
"It's dangerous."
"I'm the one who just saved you from danger though?"
Agent Bronze sighed, frustrated by the wasted time but still trying to convince her. It was obvious he was worried that someone who'd helped them this much might go missing here, and wanted to bring her out if possible. But for me…
'I am worried, but I can't be sure which is actually more dangerous.'
If I dragged Assistant Manager Eun out just because this village seemed dangerous, Director Ho might retaliate, saying I neglected my duties.
It was something I'd just gone through not very long ago.
'Huu.'
My head was a mess.
And one more thing was bothering me.
'Is it really okay to just leave Baek Saheon behind like this?'
Of course, Baek Saheon would survive and keep getting promoted all the way to section chief. If this is his hometown, my presence as a variable doesn't change what was meant to happen, so according to the wiki, he won't die here.
'But… that fear he showed was real.'
Is it really okay to leave like this?
I looked around on instinct, and then I saw him.
Baek Saheon.
"…!"
He was still helping out with village chores, carrying food and guiding people.
His eyes were hollow, but his face looked surprisingly calm.
And at that moment.
DENG DENG DENG DENG DENG!!
[Everyone! It's time for the raffle! Come get your prizes and enjoy the fortune of Jisan!]
It was time for the raffle draw again.
The villagers began moving quickly with the raffle boxes, just as before.
"We need to go."
"No, I mean…"
Agent Bronze's urgent words and Assistant Manager Eun's reply overlapped.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
Villagers scattered among the outsiders.
'…At this pace, even if we'd run straight for the entrance, we probably would've been caught.'
There was no way to avoid it.
One of them approached us.
And naturally, our turn came quickly.
[May the fortune of Jisan be with you!]
A raffle box was offered to us.
"…"
Wouldn't it look more suspicious not to draw?
There were too many villagers.
'I don't think it'd be good to make a scene.'
If we wanted to get out without being noticed by the people from the tile-roofed house, we couldn't refuse or draw attention by raising our voices.
'Even if I win, I just won't take the prize with me when I leave.'
After much anxious deliberation, I finally reached out and grabbed the nearest stick in the box…
But then—
I saw the golden tip.
"…!!"
A stick with a golden end.
The same one I had pulled out of Baek Saheon's pants pocket yesterday.
The special prize.
"...."
Suddenly, everything went eerily silent.
Even without looking, I could feel everyone's gaze on me.
And then.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
"Aaaaah!"
[He's here! He's here! the fortune of Jisan has arrived!]
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks
O Chosen One deliver unto us the blessing of Jisan of the countless peaks
The chanting echoed.
I tore my eyes away from the stick and looked up.
And I saw.
On the other side.
With the lottery box in his hands, Baek Saheon smiled, his face filled with ecstatic delight.