– Good riddance, a brute right to the core. If this had been my show, I’d never let it on as a guest!
I’d never been so grateful that only I could hear Braun’s voice.
I mustered a calm voice and addressed the sergeant, who was still gripping Go Seonha’s head.
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
“Urrgh…”
– He says he’s tired. How rude!
You’re scarier for translating that monstrous growl…
But then, at that moment.
A faint, muffled sound came from under the sergeant’s hand.
It was a human voice.
“W-Wait, please…”
“……!”
Somehow, Go Seonha’s face had returned to normal, her expression one of pure terror as she moaned weakly.
“P-Please help me… save…”
Leave this child here…
“Uh, ugh…”
Her eyes rolled back, and the changgwi’s voice took over again.
Only you need to die… Hm? Right? You deserve to die. You killed people. You tried to kill the children. I know everything. You deserve to die.
Go Seonha struggled.
“No, no…”
Just leave her behind. Leave her, yes? Hmmmm?
“Please, save me, save me! Aaaah!”
At that moment—
“Tell me,”
The sergeant’s voice, now sounding human, asked,
“Did you formally request emergency rescue from <Daydream Inc.>…?”
I couldn’t see his face beneath the monstrous form, but his voice clearly posed the question directly to Go Seonha.
“This is an official request requiring a signed contract… isn’t that… right?”
Something about it felt off.
Go Seonha, dazed, looked up, then seemed to snap back, responding in a desperate tone.
“Ri—”
Wait.
“No, it isn’t.”
I intervened, forcing the words out.
“This Darkness isn’t under Daydream Inc.’s jurisdiction, we didn’t enter to rescue civilians, and more than that, there was mutual assistance on both sides.”
“Huh…? Weird…”
The sergeant’s voice dropped, dangerously low and growling.
“Wasn’t she trying to prevent us from escaping…?”
Gaaasp.
“…That doesn’t matter, sir. In the end, she helped us.”
I spoke firmly.
“Which makes this cooperation.”
“……”
The sergeant stared at me, then looked down at Go Seonha…
“Ah… is that so…”
“……”
“Maybe that’s correct…”
Srrrk.
His voice relaxed, falling back to its usual tone of casual indifference.
‘Huuu.’
I’d intervened because something felt off, and it seemed I’d made the right call.
‘It’s best not to get entangled with Daydream Inc…’
Especially to end up indebted to them. Just the thought gave me a terrible feeling.
“Hm… so what should we do now…”
“One moment please.”
I approached Section Chief Lee Byeongjin, who was standing back with his eyes closed, holding onto the kids. He flinched at the sound of my footsteps.
“Eeeek! Are you here to… take me instead…?”
“The incense burner.”
“Huh…?”
“Hand it over.”
I took the incense burner from him. Although the peach incense had already burned away, the ashes remained intact inside.
‘The changgwi didn’t like the peach branches.’
If that’s the case…
I poured the ashes over Go Seonha’s shoulder.
AAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Sizzle.
Though the ashes weren’t especially hot, the smell of burning and salt filled the air as smoke rose from her shoulder.
I won’t go! I won’t! I’ll cling on again! I’ll cling on… Aaaaagh!
I poured the remaining ashes over her head.
Her body, possessed by the changgwi, convulsed wildly and then—
Gaaasp—
Her eyes flew open, filled with clarity and relief.
It was Go Seonha.
“I-I’m okay now! I think I’m… fine…”
“No, you’re not.”
“Excuse me?”
“This is a place we were lured into by the changgwi, so there’s a chance it could come back for you anytime.”
“T-Then…”
“Let’s make sure it can’t possess you again, just in case.”
“……?”
I had brought an extra pack of the apple juice with me.
I handed the sealed pack to Go Seonha.
“Uh…?”
“Drink it all at once.”
I insisted, and although she looked confused, she reluctantly took it and began gulping down the juice while lying subdued on the ground.
And a moment later—
She slumped over, falling into a deep sleep like the ginseng.
Phew.
“At least that’s taken care of…”
“You can let go now.”
“……”
The security sergeant released his grip and, with a faintly amused voice, asked,
“Thinking of switching departments…?”
“No thank you, sir.”
Please, spare me.
After thanking the security sergeant once again, who had thankfully returned to a more human appearance, I went over to check on Section Chief Lee and the kids, who were still tightly shutting their eyes.
“You can open your eyes now. It’s safe.”
“Ah…!”
Relief washed over Section Chief Lee’s face, but he quickly shot a worried glance at the kids and whispered to me with a desperate expression.
“But now what? How are we supposed to find the way out…?”
“……”
“Dawn is almost here!” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
I looked up at the sky.
Through the hazy fog, it seemed like a faint light was beginning to filter through…
The full moon was nearly setting.
‘There’s no time to redo the ritual.’
But…
“We’ll be fine.”
“…What?”
“I believe we succeeded in at least half of the ritual.”
I remembered how the path changed with each step as we sang and how the incense burned properly.
‘Everything we prepared was correct.’
The ritual, strictly speaking, had two purposes.
To avoid the changgwi.
And to seek an escape route by appealing to Sangun-nim.
“It seems we fulfilled the second purpose.”
While the first purpose failed due to the changgwi’s possession of one of our group members, bringing us close to the water’s edge…
“Maybe there’s an exit somewhere nearby.”
“……!”
We clustered together and began searching in the dense fog, moving away from the water’s edge toward the open clearing closer to the mountain.
We searched around where the ritual path had ended.
– ‘If you find a small snake hole in a place with no grass, express gratitude for Sangun-nim’s mercy and reach inside. Make sure your hand is coated in well water mixed with salt.’
‘A place with no grass… a place with no grass…’
And then, a few moments later—
“I-I found it!”
“……!!”
One of the middle schoolers spotted a small hole under a tree.
A shaft of moonlight pierced through the fog, shining directly onto the dark hole, as black as ink.
“……”
The snake hole.
I quickly had everyone dip their hands in the saltwater, not caring about the fear or hesitation that gripped us.
“Hurry, hurry.”
Just before dawn, we each reached our hands into the snake hole.