CHAPTER 036
The foot that crossed the sacred rope touched down on the ground.
If I had to compare it to a game, it felt like entering some kind of special field.
As if it were a lie, the fog vanished, and the landscape revealed itself properly.
But…
‘…It’s huge.’
Under the full moon, the field in the mountains was far bigger than I had expected.
A vast field, large enough to cover the entire ridge.
Quiet, dark green stalks swayed beneath the black-blue moonlight.
It didn’t feel especially peaceful or pleasant, though.
It felt ominous and uncanny.
“It has a strange scent.”
Brown was right.
And those little red berries peeking out between the swaying green stalks…
W-wait a second.
‘…Ginseng?’
It was.
This is a ginseng field?
Hold on. Ginseng is what you call cultivated sam, but strictly speaking, this doesn’t look like it was cultivated by humans, so…
‘…Wild ginseng?’
All of this is wild ginseng??
‘No way…’
I hurriedly looked around the field, then spotted the sign planted at its outer edge.
[Thousand Years]
“……”
I immediately turned around and tried to cross back over the sacred rope.
“Mr. Roe Deer?”
‘Let’s run.’
A thousand-year-old wild ginseng?
It felt like opening your pencil case because you wanted to borrow a pen from a friend, only to find it stuffed full of gold bars instead of pens.
The moment I tried to cross back over the rope.
[Honored one!]
“…!”
[Ah, honored one. Please, don’t leave….]
From behind me came the sound of a frail voice sobbing.
Very, very slowly, I turned only my neck halfway back.
[A ghost attached to the tiger is coming to steal me away! A dreadful tiger will tear off my limbs, chew me up, and spit me onto the ground! The future is rushing toward me! Save me, save me…!]
One of the berries rising from the field was swaying gently.
Then, perhaps noticing that I was looking at it, its leaves drooped limply.
[Ahh, it is my turn now. I will be torn apart mercilessly, until not even a shred remains….]
“……”
I turned my body and looked at that wild ginseng.
The cluster of berries receiving my gaze shook fervently.
[Rather than be dragged away and bitten by that wicked tiger, I would rather be eaten by you, honored one! Take me with you and boil me thoroughly in a great iron cauldron, and all illnesses will be cured, and even your aged parents will rise like sturdy men and work with strength!]
Come to think of it… wild ginseng had often been portrayed in folktales as a benevolent, mysterious existence.
A reward given to good people.
I bent one knee toward the wild ginseng shaking its berries.
[Honooored one!]
And I reached out my hand toward the wild ginseng…
…then straightened back up instead.
[… ?]
“Liar.”
The berries froze.
Then the ground shook as if vibrating, and a thick, eerie, split voice burst up from below.
[So you noticed, you wormlike thing!]
Yeah.
‘This is supposed to be the Mountain Lord’s gravesite.’
Have you ever heard the saying that ghosts do everything in reverse?
And this is a place I was lured into by a ghost, on top of being called a burial ground?
‘There’s no way wild ginseng growing in a place like this would be normal.’
Even if everything about it had been turned completely upside down, it wouldn’t have been strange. I knew it would be like this.
[Ihihihihi, hihihihihi!]
The wild ginseng began to writhe as it rose up.
Eeeeeek!!
Its half-emerged appearance was a bluish purple, like some kind of miniature zombie.
It was even retching up something like dark red sap!
‘I braced myself mentally, and it’s still terrifying!’
[You should be buried too! You should become sam and be buried here too! Let your hands and feet be cut off so you cannot run away and rot! Feel the pain of dying while still aliveaaaaa!]
Even the leaves around it twisted like tentacles and began wriggling out of the soil, roots squirming upward. Aaaahhh!
Without delay, I immediately pulled something from my waist.
‘The S-Snow White apple!’
It was an item with the bizarre effect: “If eaten, you immediately fall into a sleep like death.”
And what was I going to do with that?
‘It already seemed like it’d be hard to chew an apple in an emergency situation anyway…’
So I had ground it all up and made juice!
Splatt.
I pulled out the sealed pack full of apple juice made from the Snow White apple and drenched the field in front of me with all of it.
The wild ginseng…
[Kkihihihi! It won’t work! It won’t work! You foolish thing! I’ll yank out your limbs and—]
Thunk.
It fell into a fainting sleep.
“……”
The Snow White apple… its effect is definitely real.
I moved my feet carefully.
The grotesque wild ginseng half-emerged from the dirt was still lying there, unconscious and motionless.
It felt bizarre, like a cockroach stretched out on the floor after being sprayed, and at the same time like a dog or cat fast asleep with its belly exposed.
“Oh! It was rude, but quite an entertaining fellow! Why not take it as a souvenir?”
Normally, I would have asked if he’d gone insane.
But I looked at the wild ginseng carefully.
It talked, displayed emotions, tried to deceive me, and calculated the situation. It even seemed to have something like sap flowing inside it.
If that was the case, then this…
‘It is sentient… isn’t it?’
Found it. A substitute sacrificial offering.
“…So, you’re saying you gathered all the materials, completed the ritual preparations, and this strange wild ginseng can be used as the sacrifice… is that right?”
“Yes.”
“……”
The faces of the people in the abandoned house turned blank after hearing the summarized edition of “What exactly happened to Kim Soleum (currently impersonating Facility Security) out there~.”
Maybe I had summarized too much.
But it couldn’t be helped. Since I couldn’t explain how I had done any of it, it had all turned into, “Anyway, I got it.”
‘Digging up wild ginseng does bother me a little… but it’s still better for my mental health than randomly picking one person and killing them.’
I don’t know whose field that was, but if there were really a huge problem, I figured Brown would have sounded an alarm.
Anyway, I looked at everyone with the most natural expression I could manage.
They were all still staring at me, the ritual materials, and the wild ginseng in turns, mouths hanging open.
Still, it worked well enough.
“A-as expected of Facility Security…! They even do things like this!”
No, they do not.
Feeling inexplicably guilty, I glanced at the real Security Team captain, but he was just lying there among the middle schoolers with an expression that said everything in the world was a bother.
Apparently they had introduced themselves at some point, because the kids were gathered around him, chattering away.
“Hyung, hyung, you don’t look that strong.”
“No… I’m super strong.”
The kids were laughing. Maybe they had relaxed a little now that there were more people.
Manager Lee Byeongjin checked the supplies, then looked anxiously between me and Go Seonha, whose face had brightened, swallowed, and spoke.
“Th-then… are we all going to the shrine together now? To perform the ritual there…?”
“Yes.”
“…The shrine is nearby, so if we move carefully, we should be all right. Nothing happened while I was in the shrine…”
Go Seonha turned toward me with a stiff face.
“When you went out… did you happen to visit the shrine too?”
“Yes.”
While Brown had erased my presence, I had gone and burned the peach tree branch.
I had been so nervous I’d nearly cried about three times.
“…Then it’ll be easier. Just walk quietly, don’t make a sound, and move quickly. Since it’s in the fog, we’ll be fine as long as we don’t make any mistakes.”
“Understood.”
“…Then let’s go to the shrine together.”
The time had come.
We took a moment to steady our breathing and prepare ourselves mentally, then lined up in front of the closed door.
“Kids. No matter what happens, don’t stop. Just keep walking.”
“Yes……”
At Go Seonha’s words, the children nodded with terrified faces, but soon, after being soothed by the adults, they pressed their lips shut and squeezed themselves into the line.
“……”
But why am I the one standing in front…?
Everyone, why are you all naturally drifting to the back?
‘Did I skip over the process of getting the materials too much when I explained it…!’
They all seemed to think I was some kind of iron-nerved, endlessly curious powerhouse. Ah, please…
‘If I said I was scared now, they wouldn’t believe me, would they?’
…Still, I suppose it’s better than being at the very back.
Resigned, I opened the door again.
Creeeak.
Once more, the mountainside wrapped in darkness and fog revealed itself.
Gasp.
“Ugh,”
“Shh.”
The children clamped their mouths shut with frightened faces.
Slowly, as quietly as possible, we began to move.
Step, step.
Each time a small sound rang out, our footsteps quickened even more.
I could feel that the entire group was wrapped in the pressure that a changgwi might at any moment come running from behind, speaking to us.
“Friend! There is no need to hurry so much. Even if the worst should happen, never forget that this Brown is always here….”
And fortunately, that “worst” never happened.
Beyond the darkness and fog, old roof tiles came into view.
An old house, warped at a strange angle, red and blue.
The shrine.
Thunk.
“Hoo.”
“D-did everyone make it in?”
The people who entered the shrine safely took a moment to catch their breath.
Last of all, the Security Team captain sauntered in, shut the green paper door behind him, and latched it.
Manager Lee Byeongjin hurriedly tried to paste the talisman we had picked up from the floor of the abandoned house onto that door, but Go Seonha stopped him.
“What if it causes a problem with the ritual? Let’s just leave it. We’ll do this quickly and get out!”
“O-okay.”
In the meantime, I looked around the shrine.
My eyes, adjusted to the darkness, traced the outlines in shadow.
The inside was strangely clean, but very old.
A completely shattered incense burner between two rusted Maitreya statues with no heads.
And above that, I could see a worm-eaten wooden board.
“So that must be the wooden board with the ritual instructions written on it. It has quite the atmosphere….”
Following Brown’s reading of the board, I read it out loud.
“…The human with the strongest body and mind shall step forward and conduct the ritual.”
Wow. That’s definitely not me.
“……”
No, seriously, you two, don’t look at me.
I naturally shifted my gaze and looked at the Security Team captain. Their gazes followed mine, but then…
“I can’t do it.”
“…Pardon??”
“I said I can’t, so don’t make me do it……”
“Ah, a-all right.”
Manager Lee Byeongjin shrank back, then looked at me.
I stared right back at him.
“……”
“…Well,”
“You do it.”
“Y-yes……”
Even if you’re on the verge of neurosis, you’re still less cowardly than I am….
Manager Lee Byeongjin stepped forward on trembling legs, but soon whirled back toward me and Go Seonha with a horrified face.
“W-wait! Mountain Tiger Hero!”
Go Seonha also looked horrified.
“That’s right! ‘The tune to be offered to the Mountain Lord’!”
“Right, that! There’s no substitute for that tiger nursery rhyme or folk song, is there? No matter how much we have all the materials, if we don’t have that…”
Ah.
“We do.”
“……??”
“Just a moment.”
I called over the middle schoolers.
Then I asked them very politely.
“You said you were on a school trip, right?”
“Yes….”
“Did any of you keep listening to songs in the car on the way down? Or maybe you know idol songs well.”
The children exchanged looks, then gestured toward one student with no bangs.
I quickly asked that student,
“What’s your name?”
“L-Lee Nayeon.”
“All right, Nayeon. I have something to ask you.”
I tried my best to put on a very gentle expression. Question marks rose across all the adults’ faces at once.
“…?? Um, what exactly are you doing right now…?”
“Among famous idol songs, there are songs with tigers in the lyrics too, right?”
“…!!”
I turned toward the adults.
They all looked dumbstruck.
“B-but, um, can we write down pop songs? Idol songs and things like that…”
“We can.”
I held up the ritual note Go Seonha had written out for us.
“If you look here, it only says ‘tune.’ That means there’s absolutely no need to use a folk song or nursery rhyme.”
“…!”
This wasn’t some Ghost Story wiki submission field. There was no need, and no reason, to pick a song that matched the creepy atmosphere.
Human prejudice had simply narrowed the range.
“Ah….”
I turned my gaze back to the child.
“Nayeon. So, is there any song you remember? Something with Mountain Lord, tiger, anything like that is fine.”
“Ah!”
And Nayeon’s face immediately brightened.
“There is! Saint U’s ‘Peekaboo’!”
Jackpot.
“T-there’s also a VTIC song…”
“Of those, is there one you know all the lyrics to? And that’s famous too.”
“Yes! Saint U’s ‘Peekaboo’!”
Okay.
I turned toward the adults and declared solemnly,
“We are going to use Saint U’s ‘Peekaboo’ as the tune to offer to the Mountain Lord.”
Take this, tiger, an idol song!
Inside the silent shrine.
In the darkness, Manager Lee Byeongjin stepped forward and, with trembling hands, poured the ashes into the incense burner.
They were the ashes of the peach tree branch I had burned.
“First.”
“‘The one conducting the ritual shall step forward, burn a peach tree branch in the incense burner, and inhale its scent.’”
“‘After carefully closing the lid of the incense burner, open it again once the scent has dispersed.’”
Manager Lee Byeongjin covered the top of the shattered old incense burner with an equally old lid, waited several seconds, then removed it.
Amazingly, the ashes had disappeared.
In their place, a whole stick of incense was burning.
From the small twig-shaped incense, a fragrance mixed with peach rose richly into the air.
“…!!”
“‘If the incense is burning, the Mountain Lord has recognized your sincerity’… Oh, everything is proceeding exactly according to plan. Splendid!”
“Ugh.”
Perhaps the scent of the incense was too strong, because Go Seonha covered her nose and stepped back.
The manager hurried into the next step.
“Second.”
“‘Open the paper door.’”
Rrrk.
Beyond the opened door, the dark forest came into view. The children hid behind the adults.
“‘Crush three plums in a brass cup and scatter them onto the dirt beneath the porch. Throw the remaining cup eastward, and you must never look back at it.’”
I handed the three plums to Manager Lee Byeongjin. He crushed them clumsily with his fingers inside the bronze cup, then scattered them onto the soil.
An overpoweringly sweet and sour fragrance rose up.
Go Seonha, who had been standing back, stepped forward, sniffed, and looked a bit better.
Then she gestured to Manager Lee Byeongjin.
It meant it was time to proceed to the third step.
“Third.”
“‘Prepare the tune to be offered to the Mountain Lord. The more widely known it is, the better its effect.’”
Manager Lee Byeongjin took the lyrics sheet he had written in advance, carefully rolled it up, and placed it into the drawer beneath the altar.
“‘Write down the lyrics and place them in the altar. Sing at the top of your lungs, clapping once with every step, and bow once every thirty steps.’”
One by one, people stepped out through the open door.
Manager Lee Byeongjin began to sing along with the lyrics taught to us by the student named Lee Nayeon.
“…Peekaboo. Here I come.”
The middle schoolers joined in chorus.
The tune being offered to the Mountain Lord.
