Subdued Soul Chronicle

Seol Young took the lead.

“The fear and pain felt by the dead were deeply imprinted into his belongings that it was difficult for me to see his actual thoughts. We better try again after calming him down. Especially this time…”

In the middle of talking, with everyone being elated, he sensed something in his arm.

The ghost mask that he had brought with him.

The reaction it was giving was stronger than before. And it almost fell out.

Not yet!

Seol Young was startled and pressed it hard.

It had a strong will to punish the demon. It didn’t seem to understand who was stopping it or why. So it continued to vibrate even though Seol Young was already pressing it.

‘No. I get to decide when you can come out.’

Seol Young carried the thoughts of the seal and suppressed them.

Finally, the mask went silent.

“…?”

Zaha, who watched this, said,

“Did you forget to pray for the dead man this time? Is that why he is angry?”

“…”

“I knew it. Even if it is a keepsake of the dead man, I knew that stealing it would never do any good.”

It seemed like he misunderstood something, but Seol Young didn’t correct him.

“Anyway… as you may have already guessed, it was the work of a ghost this time. And it seems like a vengeful one.”

A vengeful ghost was a ghost that had a hard time leaving a certain place.

Zaha asked,

“And what about the place?”

“I don’t know. It looked like an abandoned house.”

“Abandoned house….”

“Or maybe an abandoned building. If it dared to lure and kill the victim there, then that place must have an important meaning.”

Seol Young looked around before stopping.

“Where do we do it? It should be a quiet place where no one can disturb us…”

“That house?”

“That would be nice.”

Seol Young found a place and pointed at it.

It was a place called ‘Light Hand Pavilion.’ Almost all the buildings in the area had the word ‘hand,’ which meant a gambling hall.

“Do you have no shame?”

Zaha said, but Seol Young just continued to walk ahead.

Gambling halls are normally noisy, but this place wasn’t like that. There was no way anyone would not notice them here. This place was quiet, like a temple.

And even if it was quiet, there were curtains around each place so the others wouldn’t see the other side. Even if a man was stabbed here, no one would know.

They sat down, and Zaha said nothing. Seol Young looked at the table and reached out his hand.

“Here it is.”

The fourteen-sided dice.

And he set it down with the ‘drink and laugh out loud’ punishment facing upwards.

“Let’s start.”

Seol Young took out the things he needed.

“First of all, we have to purify the pain of the dead man that’s in this keepsake.”

A talisman was placed on top of the pocket knife, and it burst into flames. A soft, warm light slowly engulfed the knife.

“Next is fear.”

He took out two empty yellow talisman sheets and wrote something on them. He combined it with the three pre-written talismans he had and threw all five of them into the air in five directions—east, west, south, north, and center.

Zaha noticed what it was.

“Defense?”

Seol Young nodded.

Thoughts had no soul, so he was trying to neutralize the fear with a defense talisman.

After waiting for it to happen, a dark aura began to dissipate. The fear and pain of the dead man could never be fully eliminated. Still, it was better than before.

“Then let us start.”

Seol Young looked at Zaha.

“I will explain what the place looks like, so listen carefully. Maybe it is somewhere that you know.”

“Fine.”

“Then we can begin.”

Seol Young put his hands on the pocket knife and closed his eyes.

Memories began to rush in through his fingers, and now the scenes were displayed better than before.

“The dead man walked out of the brothel house and suddenly walked faster.”

“Was he chased by someone?”

“No. He is the one chasing someone….”

“Who?”

Seol Young watched into the darkness in the vision.

“No one.”

“He is going after someone who isn’t there?”

“It is all darkness. It’s as if that part was erased.”

The man was surely looking at something, but the thing that should have been there was not visible. Zaha also thought it was strange.

“It could be just a simple thought. Did it get blocked? Does this happen often?”

“No. Not until now.”

Then, the scene changed.

“River.”

Black water flowed ahead, and Zaha asked,

“Which river?”

Just then. The dead seemed to be looking around. A small island was visible where his eyes could reach.

“There is an island in the middle of the river.”

“Island?”

“A man-made one. A pavilion has been built there. But this…”

Seol Young stopped talking.

The dead didn’t seem to realize it, but there was no reflection in the river. The shadow of the pavilion didn’t exist.

“This isn’t real.”

“What do you mean?”

“This place doesn’t really exist. The island and the pavilion were all created by the ghost.”

“Where is this river?”

Zaha asked again,

“Are there any buildings nearby? What does the riverside look like?”

“Wait!”

The dead man was looking around for a boat.

It was dark everywhere, and on the cliff, a pavilion was built to appreciate the beauty of the river.

The pavilion was on the cliff by the river?

Wasn’t this one of the attractions in the capital?

“…Golden Pole Pavilion.”

“Golden Pole Pavilion? Gul Yeon.”

Zaha said right away.

“I get it now. The place where this incident happened was at Gul Yeon.”

He got the information he wanted.

Seol Young stopped and opened his eyes.

But then.

The scene changed.

He wasn’t back yet. He saw cobwebs and dried blood stains around the walls and the floor, and it seemed like something terrible had happened.

“Seol Young-rang? What is it?”

“Wait.”

The dead man was looking out the window from which the moonlight came in.

Who was standing there?

“He is watching the ghost.”

“What?”

Darkness covered the figure, and Seol Young clenched onto the keepsake.

“I will try to take a closer look.”

He raised his spiritual power and began to chant the mantra of light.

And the surroundings turned brighter.

The darkness around the murderer was lifted, and someone’s figure was revealed.

His heart sank right then.

‘I shouldn’t look!’

Seol Young realized it then.

The darkness wasn’t caused by the opponent. It was made by Seol Young himself.

The opponent showed his identity from the start, but Seol Young was the one who stopped it.

To protect himself.

‘NO!’

He tried to stop the spell, but he couldn’t open his eyes.

This was no longer his spell. It had been taken over by the opponent.

A woman.

The figure of the woman’s back with undone hair turned toward him. At the same time, the dice rolled around. The fourteen-sided dice with penalties spun round and round.

NO! If that stops…!

Seol Young tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t, as if something was stopping him.

If the dice stop, I die!!!

The penalty dice continued to turn.

‘Dance without sound.’

‘Don’t move no matter how much you are touched.’

‘Call yourself a goblin.’

All the penalties would bring terrible deaths.

‘I need to move before it stops…’

But he couldn’t lift a finger.

“Seol Young-rang? Are you sleeping?”

His heart felt cold.

The dice was slowing down. It was going to stop any moment now, and before that, the keepsake had to be destroyed.

Seol Young did all he could, and his tongue loosened.

“Knife…!”

All he could do was say one word.

“Knife?”

Zaha asked curiously.

“Not sure what it is about. Break it, I guess?”

A powerful force struck Seol Young’s hand. And he could tell even with his eyes closed that it was the Dead Slayer sword.

The keepsake broke.

With the medium gone, the bond to the evil spirit was gone, and he was back to normal.

Seol Young opened his eyes.

[ACKKKKKK!]

A desperate scream came from the knife, which was broken in half. Thoughts couldn’t scream, but it seemed to be the pain of the dead man.

It was his agony at the moment of his death.

The talismans that were floating everywhere fell, burning into white ash.

A bunch of red things poured out of the keepsake, which was broken.

Peach blossoms.

An unbelievably huge amount poured out and spilled all over the table.

Peach trees were known to have the power to exorcise and defeat evil…

Each of these flowers seemed to harbor a deep grudge, though.

It was an indescribably horrifying sight to see.