Chapter 92: Crossed Paths (2)

Su-myeon’s question came out of nowhere, so the reaction he got back was all the clearer.

“What? No, what do you mean.... Of course! You saved my life. If nothing else, I want to become someone you can trust, Mr. Su-myeon.... Ah, no. Chief.”

After all, the reason he had decided to work in a field connected to that horrific ghost story in the first place was because of the old-fashioned but clear desire to repay the favor.

“How do you know Director Jang Bok-eum?”

“Ah! That’s because, when I was discharged, I got this business card....”

Ji-hoon rummaged through his pocket, looking for something.

What he pulled out was a slightly crumpled business card.

The same business card of Director Jang Bok-eum that Su-myeon had.

And written on it, plain as day, were the words.

[If you want to work on this side, contact me.]

Su-myeon remembered that the person who had taken the recovered Ji-hoon home had been an ordinary National Intelligence Service agent assigned by Jang Bok-eum.

At Ji-hoon’s explanation, Su-myeon took off his glasses and wiped them with the T-shirt he had casually thrown on.

It was not an unbelievable story, nor did Ji-hoon particularly look like some kind of pawn of the Director.

It was simply that, because Su-myeon had a secret to protect, he could not bring himself to trust him so readily.

“Besides, ......like the Director said, I’d have some difficulty trying to live an ordinary life now.”

Ji-hoon earnestly explained himself to Su-myeon.

There had been no improvement whatsoever in his father’s abnormal condition, so he remained hospitalized in a psychiatric ward.

The rest of his family had all died inside the ghost story.

Because piles of skeletons had been found, he had moved out of the house, but even after escaping the ghost story, his old life had already been completely ruined.

The only small comfort was that he had one friend who understood everything that had happened.

It would be difficult to return to an ordinary life.

After listening to Ji-hoon’s entire explanation, Su-myeon turned his gaze away.

“What do you think, Team Leader Lee?”

When Su-myeon asked Hwi-yeon, she also looked at Ji-hoon with a complicated expression.

Ji-hoon could not understand the situation, but Hwi-yeon let out a short sigh and nodded.

Truthfully, suspecting Director Jang Bok-eum at all under the current circumstances was already an excessive degree of caution.

In reality, he was supporting the Governance more reliably than anyone else.

Even regarding Mu-yeon, if he found out, the worst-case scenario they feared probably would not happen.

That was what Hwi-yeon believed.

“Yes. He’s part of the same team now. I don’t mind if you tell him about Mu-yeon.”

At Hwi-yeon’s words, Mi-ae stood up from her seat.

A door in the corner of the office had a sign on it that read Laundry Room.

Standing in front of it, Mi-ae carefully opened the door.

“.......”

Ji-hoon looked over with a puzzled expression, wondering what was going on. At first, he tilted his head, then suddenly shot to his feet.

A huge black wolf padded out from inside.

A third eye opened on its forehead....

“WAAH! Th-that thing...!”

“That! Is Team Leader Hwi-yeon’s younger brother!”

Before Ji-hoon could put his foot in his mouth, Mi-ae shouted at the top of her lungs.

“We don’t know what the Director would say, so it’s still a secret, but he ended up like that inside a ghost story...!”

At Mi-ae’s rapid-fire explanation without even taking a breath, Ji-hoon froze.

Mu-yeon, who was able to move thanks to the Tag Su-myeon had given him, let out a small whine and flattened himself against the floor.

Despite his intimidating appearance, he looked docile, while Hwi-yeon stood beside the wolf with one hand pressed to her forehead.

Ji-hoon had already seen another survivor whose body had grotesquely swollen up, so it was not that difficult for him to understand.

“Ah...! Ahh! Ah! That’s.... I see.......”

'I’m sorry you were rescued looking like this? Or, I’m glad you were rescued even if it was like this?'

Neither response seemed right, so Ji-hoon floundered, unable to continue.

“......You don’t have to say anything. I understand. Then, let’s start over a little. We should formally introduce ourselves.”

Seeing Ji-hoon like that, Su-myeon stepped in.

“I’m Han Su-myeon, part of the field response team here. Technically, I’m second after the Director, but almost all field command authority is mine.”

After that came introductions for the other team members.

Field response and office support had not yet been clearly divided, but the positions of exactly four people were firmly established.

First was Su-myeon, who was given top priority for field assignments. And then.

“Manager Park Du-pal and Assistant Manager Mi-ae are on the office support team. Manager Kim Young-cheol handles medical support.”

There was no helping it, considering their ages and the fact that some of them had unusual circumstances.

It was certainly an extremely unusual workplace. Even so, not everyone was expected to risk their lives doing the job.

“I look forward to working with all of you.”

And so Ji-hoon’s first day at work passed.

***

And the next day.

Mu-yeon and Cheshire were still sleeping together.

Was it some kind of aftereffect from coming out of a ghost story?

For some strange reason, Cheshire simply would not wake up.

He had briefly woken up around the time everyone was leaving work yesterday, eaten, and immediately passed out again.

According to Han-su, who had worked the night shift partly to keep watch over him.

“He woke up at dawn, but he ate and went right back to sleep.”

Apparently, he had ordered a huge late-night meal, eaten it, and fallen asleep again.

Mu-yeon had also apparently done nothing but sleep ever since leaving work with Hwi-yeon.

“There’s nothing physically wrong with them, so for now, I think it’s best to let them rest.”

That was what Young-cheol said after examining them, so everyone felt awkward about forcing them awake.

Both of them had suffered for many years in places like ghost stories.

Their memories had not merely crumbled away; more of them were gone than remained, and yet neither of them had lost their sense of self.

Even if they possessed extraordinary mental strength, the relief of returning to reality must have been enormous.

“But how did you take something that big home?”

Mi-ae’s completely unfiltered question was directed at Hwi-yeon.

Mu-yeon was far too large to carry around, and at a glance, he simply looked like a huge wolf.

They could lie and say he was a wolfdog and take him outside on a leash, but the eye on his forehead would draw attention.

“...Honestly, if it weren’t for the eye, his appearance is normal enough that we could explain it away somehow.”

As she said that, Hwi-yeon hesitated before taking something out of her bag.

It was a cheap-looking but cute yellow sun visor.

She slipped it over Mu-yeon’s head as he slept curled up beside Cheshire.

Even though it was made for a person, it fit perfectly and completely covered the eye on his forehead.

“There are plenty of people raising rare dogs these days.”

A huge pitch-black wolf wearing an adorable sun visor.

The effort to offset his intimidating appearance would probably make people think he was merely a little unusual.

“Whine....”

Just then, Mu-yeon suddenly opened his eyes and raised his head.

At first, it seemed like Hwi-yeon’s actions had woken him up, but his reaction was a little different.

Mu-yeon stood and stared straight toward the office entrance.

“I think someone’s outside.”

As Hwi-yeon spoke as though she understood what Mu-yeon was trying to say, Ju-hee went outside.

When faint voices could be heard through the door as she spoke with someone, Mu-yeon’s ears perked up.

“Um, we have a visitor.”

At Ju-hee’s words, Su-myeon tilted his head as well.

This was not exactly the kind of office people casually dropped by.

Ju-hee knew that too, so what kind of visitor would make her call them a guest?

“Who is it? What do they want?”

When Su-myeon asked, Ju-hee answered with a slightly confused expression.

“She says.... she’s a shaman.”

***

The meeting room was a small space near the office entrance enclosed by translucent glass.

Su-myeon sat there facing an unfamiliar woman.

She looked about Su-myeon’s age, perhaps even younger.

She was a beautiful woman with pale skin and a stylish, feminine appearance.

But a shaman....

“This is a good spot.”

At the woman’s abrupt comment, Su-myeon looked around.

Here? No way.

There was a ghost story coiled up beneath the building, and outside there was even a coffee machine that endlessly dispensed coffee all by itself.

And that was not all. Upstairs, there was also a bizarre computer under the influence of a ghost story.

Su-myeon’s reaction was so transparent that the woman let out a small laugh.

After staring at the coffee placed in front of her for a while, she pushed the cup aside and spoke.

“Even among wicked things, the stronger ones sometimes covet good places instead.”

Was that how it worked...?

While Su-myeon remained wary, unable to decide whether she genuinely sensed something or was simply a fraud, she introduced herself.

“My name is Baek Sa-rin. I received a god when I was in high school. I’m 21 now, so I’ve been working as a shaman for three years.”

At Sa-rin’s introduction, Su-myeon hesitated for a moment.

Then she added first.

“You do secretive work, don’t you? You have the fortune of living on government pay and doing honorable work, but you don’t have the fortune to enjoy its benefits generation after generation. This place doesn’t have a sign either, and everyone here is careful about what they say they do.”

When Su-myeon continued looking at her with uncertainty, Sa-rin kept talking.

“A lot of the great shamans established around here are angry. The energy of the land has changed, and something keeps devouring its energy.”

Then, with a firm expression and a tone that somehow sounded anxious and impatient, she began spilling out her words.

Was it because Su-myeon was simply staring at her as though trying to figure her out?

She rattled off her business and her purpose so quickly that she seemed almost desperate.

“I absolutely need to know what’s down in the basement here. That’s why I came. What exactly are you keeping trapped down there? What are you people managing?”

After watching her for a long time while trying to size her up, Su-myeon let out a long sigh at Sa-rin’s words.

Whether she really was a shaman who could see something or not was secondary.

She clearly knew something.

That was probably why Ju-hee had not been able to brush her off with some vague excuse and had instead treated her as this awkward sort of visitor.

Having reached that conclusion, Su-myeon took out his business card.

At first, he had wondered why they had even bothered making business cards for them, but he ended up using his far more often than expected.

“I’m Chief Han Su-myeon of the Unnatural Threat Governance.”

“......?”

At Su-myeon’s words, she looked startled and checked the business card again.

Whatever she had expected when she came here, she clearly had not anticipated something like this.

“You said I had the fortune of living on government pay, didn’t you? This is a government agency, so you’ll need to keep this confidential.”

Though even if she went around telling people about it however she pleased, no one would believe her.

“There’s a passage beneath this building that leads somewhere else. Many people have disappeared there, and we’re guarding this place to prevent any more victims.”

“......The Backrooms?”

Well, there was a famous internet ghost story like that....

Amused that a young shaman knew about things like that, Su-myeon gave a faint chuckle and answered.

“It’s similar in some ways and different in others....... Anyway, that’s an American ghost story, isn’t it?”

Though that was not really the issue.

Su-myeon was being vague as well.

Even if she knew something, he had no obligation to give her any more information than this.

Showing White Night Land to someone who knew little about ghost stories was something he should not do even for her own sake.

“So, you focus on your side of things... and we’ll protect our own territory.”

“No, what I’m saying is.... It’s not that simple....”

Sa-rin stammered in surprise when Su-myeon spoke as though he intended to end the conversation there, then suddenly flinched before continuing.

“Things that came rolling in from who-knows-where keep disturbing the energy. How can I just stand by and watch?”

At the sudden change in both Sa-rin’s tone of voice and manner of speaking, Su-myeon paused too.

When he looked at her again, even her expression had changed slightly.

Her eyes themselves were different from when she had looked anxious and nervous moments ago.

“And you’re strange beyond belief too. Why can I see your future, but not your past?”

If Sa-rin really was a shaman.

Then perhaps that was because the existence of his parents, who had occupied the largest part of his past, had been cut away.

But even if she made remarks that were that eerily accurate, he still could not show her the basement.

“I wouldn’t know. So, for now, I can’t show you what’s down there.”

If anything, if she really was a shaman.

Considering what Bell had told him, there was something he wanted to ask her.

The Dokkaebi AI he knew about. Could she possibly know anything about it?

“More importantly, perhaps....”

“Fine, I understand that you don’t intend to show me. But if what’s beneath this place is really something like that and you’re guarding it, then you need to guard that place too.”

Sa-rin cut Su-myeon off, and an unexpected location came from her mouth.

“That place?”

“Seoul Shinui Hospital.”

This time, Su-myeon furrowed his brow.

That was the university hospital where Young-cheol had worked.