“Wait here for just a moment. I’ll go check it out.”
“O-Okay…!”
Of course, I’d already loaded a 500-won coin in case I needed to activate the remote hand at any moment.
And I had a flashlight ready too.
‘Good thing it’s attached to the uniform.’
Relying on the thin beam of light, I moved forward.
Aaaahhh…! No, stop…!
…Save me, save meeeeee!
As I got closer, I could make out the words and phrases.
The desperate screams echoed clearly from beyond the dark walls of the abandoned house.‘S-Stay calm.’
I was so terrified that my spine tingled, but I forced myself to press on. As I rounded the corner—
“This crazy fucking world! Crazy fucking company…!!”
I recognized the face.
“…The manual evaluator?”
In front of a wooden board plastered with talismans, a middle-aged office worker was struggling. When he saw me, his eyes went wide.
It was the missing section chief, Lee Byeongjin.
“S-Security Team…??”
Ah, right.
I’m wearing a Security Team uniform.
“T-Thank the heavens! Are you from the Security Team, sir?!”
The man’s face lit up, and he began trembling as he approached me.
“You came to find me!!”
No, I got dragged here, too.
‘But why is he being so deferential?’
Oh, right. He’s mistaken me for a Security Team member.
Since I ended up here, this was the first time I’d seen a company employee act this submissively.
I glanced down at the borrowed security uniform I was wearing.
‘…The administrative staff tend to look down on people from the Field Exploration Team…’
More specifically, the ones at the bottom of the barrel. They didn’t bother with us, treating us like we were disposable and likely to die on the job.
I remembered the administrative staff who changed their attitude once they found out I nearly made it into the elite team.
And now, standing before me, sweating and nervously trying to smile, was Section Chief Lee Byeongjin.
Hmm.
Might as well take advantage of this.
I clasped my hands behind my back and spoke like a Security Team member would.
“A missing person report was lodged from within the company, so a search is being conducted.”
“R-Really? Haha! Ha, hahaha…! I knew it!! The company didn’t abandon me…!!”
Actually, yes they did.
“Sooo, um… y-y-you’re going to break down this Darkness? Right?? You’re with the Security Team after all, so…”
I deliberately responded with a detached tone.
“The Security Team isn’t in the business of break down Darkness.”
“……!”
“The team’s role is to contain disturbances.”
“R…Right. Of course, haha… I’ve just, n-never had much experience with field exploration like this, you see, um.”
Okay, the tone was set.
“Explain the situation.”
“Pardon??”
“Describe what happened since your disappearance in chronological order.”
I needed to compare this with what the kids had told me and figure out exactly what kind of creepypasta we were dealing with!
“Ah, yes! Yes, sir!”
The man scrambled to his feet and quickly started babbling.
“Well, I… I came across this very rare-looking scroll at a souvenir shop near Mount Jiri…”
It was almost exactly what I’d heard in the office.
He’d bought the suspicious scroll after the shop owner hinted that it ‘grants wishes’, and afterward, his luck with money noticeably improved.
“I was told to keep it close to water and not to touch the scroll… and believe it or not, I struck big at the lottery! Second place!!”
But then…
“I began to hear… strange whispers…”
Lee Byeongjin’s eyes twitched as he dug his fingers into his palms, spitting out his words.
“I-It… whispered that since my wish had been granted, it was, uh, only proper to repay the debt, that it was the way of a true scholar… those whispers, every night… every night, the sound of water, and then… cries… animal cries creeping closer and closerrrr!!”
Eeeek.
“It became… completely unbearable! So…”
“…So—”
I recalled the scroll I’d seen in the restroom, shredded and stained with what looked like blood.
“You tried to tear it up?”
“…Yes.”
So, during the middle of the day, he’d gone to a place other than his own home, where there would be no witnesses but where he could escape immediately after ripping it up. A place like…
‘An unused restroom in the company.’
He’d found a spot like that and tore up the scroll.
“That was the plan, but…”
“And then you got dragged here.”
“…Huff! Yes…”
Lee Byeongjin panted heavily.
I rubbed the back of my neck.
‘…What am I supposed to say to that?’
He’d done all the typical things people do to get themselves killed in a horror story…
And going so far as to pick a restroom in the basement of Daydream Inc.’s building just to avoid witnesses? Honestly, that deserves some applause.
‘To be frank, at this point, if he dies, he can’t really complain.’
Suppressing a sigh, I looked up.
In front of where Lee Byeongjin had been rolling around was a wall plastered with talismans.
There were noticeably more torn talismans here than elsewhere.
‘Why was he freaking out in front of this spot?’
I shone my flashlight on the wall.
And then I realized why.
“…Is that a door?”
Through the torn talisman, I could see a door handle.
And judging by the lock on the handle…
‘A door that leads outside?’
“I-It comes here every day!”
“What does?”
“The ghost! It comes here every day!”
Section Chief Lee Byeongjin, with bloodshot eyes, crawled over and grabbed onto my pant leg, mumbling.
“It… it comes to devour us. It comes to devour…! And the, the talismans! They’re falling off every day!”
“That means…”
“I-It’ll come again today…”
Knock, knock.
“……”
“……”
Knock, knock, knock.
From the door—
There was a sound.
Knockknockknockknock.
“It’s here again…”
I clamped a hand over Lee Byeongjin’s mouth.
Excuse me, sir.
“……”
It’s really cold out here, so could you open the door for me?
“……”
Ahjussi, don’t you remember me? I’m Na-eun, the seven-year-old girl who lived next door in Somang Apartments…
A young child’s sniffling, sobbing voice drifted from beyond the door.
Please help me. It’s so cold, and I’m so tired… I don’t know where I am. Please, just open the door…
The voice carried a strange, pitiful tone that made you forget your fear and feel genuine sympathy…
In a daze, a trembling voice spoke up beside me.
“N, Na-eun-ah.” [1]
Ahjussi.
The talisman on the door started to smolder.
The sobbing voice mixed with a faint laughter.
You answered again?
“……!”
“N-No!! Ahh!! No, I didn’t! I didn’t answer!! Go away! Go away!!”
The section chief, snapping back to his senses, started to scream in terror.
But.
I don’t wanna though?
Idon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twannaIdon’twanna
“Eeeek!”
Thud.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
The door began to shake violently, as if it were about to break.
The smoldering talismans fell off.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang
The talismans were falling off in heaps.
Bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang
I barely managed to move my arm.
Thud.
I tossed a coin into the air and summoned the hand.
Thud.
Then, from among the scattered talismans on the floor, I gathered up as many of the intact ones as I could…
Bang.
I placed those talismans over the doorknob.
BANG.
The talismans immediately started falling off again.
“Haaah…”
But…
.
The knocking stopped.
Out of all the talismans I’d slapped onto the doorknob, only one remained.
“……”
“……”
Close one.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Hiic, sob… sooob…
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away beyond the door…
“Hah… haaaaahh…”
Section Chief Lee Byeongjin collapsed onto the floor.
I clenched and unclenched my sweaty fist.
‘I’m going nuts.’
I almost fainted from fear with the door pounding like that.
I hid my trembling hands behind my back.
A creepypasta about trapping prey.
Shamanistic atmosphere, talismans, devouring, luring, calling voices, horror…
‘……’
I know now.
========================
Dark Exploration Records / Ghost Story
[Sangun-nim]
: A ghost story featured in <Dark Exploration Records>
: Daydream Inc. identification code – Qterw-C-51
An ominous Darkness depicted in a traditional ink wash painting featuring changgwi spirits.
Exploration Records indicate a total of up to 17 entries.
========================
This… is a Jangsanbeom-type ghost story. [2]
Note/s:
[1] Adding -ah (or -ya, -ee) to the end of a person’s name indicates closeness between friends or family, or when one is talking to someone younger. In Japanese, the closest equivalents are -chan and -kun. ↩
[2] Sangun (山君), translated literally as Lord of the Mountain, is a mountain spirit or deity often depicted as a tiger.
Jangsanbeom (장산범), from folk tradition, is the tiger of Mt. Jang (in Busan) that has the ability to conjure hallucinations, imitate people’s voices and possess their bodies. It is often depicted as a white-haired ghost or a tiger/cryptid with crimson skin and long, silvery fur. Read more about it here https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Jangsan_beom or here https://en.namu.wiki/w/장산범#rfn-3/
Changgwi (창귀), from folk tradition, are spirits who have either drowned to death or have fallen prey to a tiger, becoming resentful ghosts who further create more victims. Read more about it here: https://en.namu.wiki/w/창귀 ↩
Instead of trying to translate them to fit a more Western point of view, I’ve decided to keep the terms as is given that we’re dealing with a traditional Eastern folktale/ghost story this time. Translating them as Mountain Lord, Jangsan Tiger and Vengeful Ghosts might be fine, but they don’t exactly retain the original contexts of their respective folktales.
Side note, if you’re up for something spooky, here’s a 2013 webtoon one-shot featuring the Jangsanbeom: https://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail?titleId=574303&no=6&week=finish
I’m not sure if there’s an English translation out there, but do let me know if there is!
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