124.
next week.
Choi Eun-young and I were at Incheon International Airport to leave for Peru.
Fortunately, it was an evening flight, so unlike last time, I arrived at the airport leisurely.
There, he joined the person who served as the guide for this business trip.
“This time they are young people. Nice to meet you, my name is Song Yun-ju.”
It was a woman in her 50s who introduced herself as Song Yun-ju.
On the outside, she has the impression of a warm-hearted neighborhood lady.
She also said that she was supporting exorcism police on their business trips around South America, but she was not affiliated with the police.
“I used to be an exorcism police officer, but now I have retired and have no affiliation. Like a freelancer, what. Actually, my kids must have grown up too, I was just going to rest, but the police asked me so much-”
To summarize Song Yoon-joo’s story, he was working as a contract worker at the request of the police because there were no adequate personnel to support his business trip to South America.
The level above her head is 52.
It was a fairly high level for a simple guide.
Looking at it now, she’s just a talkative lady.
The fact that he was originally an exorcist cop doesn’t seem to be an exaggeration.
Meanwhile, she even boasted about her son that he had recently passed the tax accountant exam, and suddenly clapped his hands.
“Oops, I talked too much. Rather, did you get the mail? I told you to bring something.”
That is, clothes and electronic devices, considering the Peruvian weather and local conditions.
It was an email that told me what to prepare in advance.
I nodded.
“Yes, I brought everything.”
“I… me too!”
Choi Eun-young, who brought a suitcase much larger than mine, also answered with her eyes shining.
From the size of the bag, it was clear that he was excited about his first foreign trip.
Song Yun-ju smiled at Choi Eun-young.
“Good job. I hear there are people who sometimes send e-mails but don’t even look at them? Oh, there is no such thing as altitude sickness, right? Well, since everyone is an exorcist, it should be fine.”
Are exorcists free from altitude sickness?
It was new knowledge.
“Then let’s go now. I can’t be late for my flight.”
So we headed to the departure hall and soon boarded a plane heading to Peru.
Thirty hours, a tedious flight that takes over a full day.
In the meantime, I asked Song Yun-ju about the destination written on the plane ticket.
“Where is Cusco International Airport?”
“Cuzco is the closest city to Machu Picchu.”
The site of the incident, that is, the recently discovered site was near Machu Picchu.
Of course, even if it was nearby, it was said that it was the top of a mountain that was several tens of kilometers away.
Fortunately, because Machu Picchu itself is a world-class historical site, it seemed that there was an airport in a nearby city.
“Is it close to Cusco?”
“It is far from there. Even to get to the hotel, it takes a few hours by car. Besides, you said you were going to the ruins discovered this time?”
“yes.”
“I don’t even go there by car. Maybe I should go up some mountains?”
It was a sigh of relief.
But her advice didn’t end there.
“In addition, did you hear about the place we are going this time and how it was discovered?”
I shook my head.
I didn’t pay much attention to the discovery process of the ruins.
Then Song Yun-ju was excited and continued.
“Well, they say it was originally a cave that was blocked by ice caps because it was near the mountain peak. However, it was discovered when the temperature rose due to global warming and all the ice melted? So how high would it be? It is a mountain peak, and that is also the mountain peak of the Andes Mountains. In fact, it’s a place where you have to risk your life to climb unless you’re like us.”
Ho-ho- said Song Yun-ju with a smile.
It is the peak of the Andes Mountains.
Hearing that, I finally realized what kind of place I had to go to.
there… Isn’t it such a place that sometimes climbers die while climbing?
“… … ”
This means that it cannot be compared to the previous hikes.
Because of that, my expression hardened.
However, regardless of this, Song Yun-ju continued to chat.
It was only after the in-flight meal was served that she finally became quiet.
After such a boring 30 hours.
Arriving at Cusco airport, this place was just lunch time.
“and… ”
Choi Eun-young, who left the airport, made that sound.
My eyes only saw a small dark blue airport building.
Her reaction was that everything she saw was strange.
“Come this way! Let’s drop by the hotel first, drop off our luggage, and move on.”
Before I knew it, Song Yun-ju was in the car and beckoning towards us.
After driving for several hours, we arrived at the hotel.
However, only the name is a hotel, but it was a place that looked like an inn.
Maybe that’s why Choi Eun-young, who had been taking pictures with her smartphone since arriving at the airport, tilted her head and opened her mouth.
“here… Is it a hotel?”
“A little shabby, right? I can’t help it. In this mountain, this is enough for a hotel, well.”
It was as Song Yun-ju said.
The hotel, which is said to be near Machu Picchu, was already in the middle of the mountain range.
“And I have someone to meet here.”
“Who are you meeting?”
“Peruvian exorcist. Oh, there you go.”
Song Yun-joo waved at a certain man.
Then a man who seemed to be a local came over pretending to know.
“I am an exorcist certified by the Peruvian government. My name is Carlos. He is a Peruvian who will support us in this case.”
Carlos, who looked to be in his thirties, smiled cheerfully and shook my hand.
I couldn’t speak anyway, so I just smiled and accepted the handshake.
According to Song Yun-joo, this person was an agent of the Peruvian government who requested a request from the Korean government, and was the person who provided the hotel and vehicle.
So, after a short greeting with Carlos, we set off to the site.
Of course, it was in a vehicle driven by Song Yun-ju.
After riding on the road for a while, she soon started driving on a mountain road where there was no road.
“It will shake a little.”
And as she warned, the car shook violently and went up the mountain road.
After a while, we reached the bottom of an unknown mountain peak.
“We have to walk from here. There’s no place for cars to roll around here.”
It seemed that way to me too.
Even around the hotel, I could see high peaks in all directions.
But here it was more than that.
Clouds passed like mist over the white peaks, and the road to the top was covered with ice caps.
It’s not to the extent that I can’t climb because I have the ability of an exorcist.
The memory of fighting a large army of monsters in the northern mountains passed away, and I didn’t feel very good.
“Does it look good?”
“… The air is nice.”
“Yes? Mountains in Korea are good, but the scale here is different, so the scenery is spectacular.”
Song Yun-ju laughed while saying that, while Choi Eun-young was busy taking pictures.
“This way.”
And Song Yun-ju led us up there.
A cold wind blew fiercely.
When I arrived at the airport, the weather was similar to the spring weather in Korea, but it was completely winter here.
After walking for a while, I finally saw the scene of the incident.
The entrance to the cave in the middle of the cliff going further up.
“Is that it?”
Part of the entrance to the cave was still buried in snow.
It seems to know why it has not been discovered until now.
However, it was wide enough for a person to enter, so we went right into it.
“Here… ”
The entrance to the cave was a natural cave, but the true color of the ruins was revealed upon entering.
The walls and ceiling leading to the interior were made of artifacts in the form of stones piled up and fixed from a certain point.
“Be careful from here. I haven’t found out anything other than that the inside is connected like a maze.”
“I-I’ll use the summons.”
At the warning of Song Yun-joo, who had changed seriously, Choi Eun-young stepped forward.
She summoned the Watcher, a giant eyeball monster floating around in her sketchbook.
The Watcher is a reconnaissance monster I told you about, and it was perfect for investigating a cave like this because it secured sight and could glow in the dark.
We put the watcher in front of us and entered the ruins.
Unlike the small entrance, the corridor leading to the inside was quite deep.
And on both sides of that hallway were rooms with altars.
On the altar was a dried-up offering.
“Mummy… ?”
One at each altar, a small corpse was placed.
Seeing that, Song Yun-ju said like a scholar.
“They are victims of human sacrifice. Mummies found frozen in snowy mountain caves are mainly children dedicated to Apu, the god of the mountains in Inca mythology. however… ”
“Is there a problem?”
“It’s a bit strange. There are very few ruins of this type among the Inca ruins.”
She moved closer to the altar.
The altar, which was buried in thick snow and was well preserved, still had clear letters and patterns engraved in the past.
Song Yun-ju looked at it and tilted her head.
“Here, this pattern has nothing to do with Apu. It’s not Viracocha or Inti… ”
Viracocha is the creator and main god of Inca mythology, and Inti is the sun god.
Since they are the two most revered gods in the Inca civilization, there are many relics and historical sites related to them.
However, according to Song Yun-ju, this place seemed to have nothing to do with the two.
“miss. Come over here and take a picture of this.”
“yes… yes?”
“Why, you took a lot of pictures earlier. I guess I’ll have to ask the local exorcist about this.”
Choi Eun-young took a smartphone and took pictures of the altar at the direction of Song Yun-ju.
In the meantime.
“hmm?”
Something caught my eye.
Further inside the ruins still shrouded in darkness.
There, a level indicator of 48 was visible.
“… What comes?”
At my words, Choi Eun-young’s watcher, which was illuminating the room, moved.
The Watcher took the lead and illuminated the corridor leading inward.
Then, what appeared there was a large distorted flesh-like monster.
It was coming this way, crawling on its four short legs.
“aaagh!”
When the light shone, it made a noise like the cry of a child.
“Hick… !”
Eunyoung Choi saw it and held her breath.
It was because of its grotesque appearance that reminded me of the flesh golems I saw in another world.
“That… ”
“Do you know what it is?”
“It’s one of Peru’s oddities. It is a monster that is born when the devil swallows a baby. Oh, it seems that such a young thing was dedicated here.”
Song Yun-ju said like a sigh.
After hearing the story, it looked like a baby with a big head.
In response, I nodded and drew my sword.
“How does it attack?”
“Health attacks are his specialty. Even though it looks like that, it’s pretty strong. And watch out for their cries, and that big head is a trap. Its real weakness is the huge worm on the back of its head. also-“
Then she poured out information about the monster.
As expected of a South American expert, the contents were detailed enough to be helpful.
“Hey, this is me… ”
“it’s okay. We have to clean things up here.”
I pushed back Choi Eun-young, who was about to step out.
If it was her summoned beast, it wouldn’t be lacking in abilities.
Whatever summons he used, they were not suitable for battle here.
Above all, this place is a historic site that needs to be preserved.
So it was important to catch him as cleanly as possible, and if that was the case, it was my job too.
A monster of that size could be finished with just a few cuts.
“Police Choi light the fire well.”
So I said that and rushed to Goi.
Then, the goi cried loudly and ran towards me like a hungry ghost.
Plump and fat, short but big hands.
It fell from above to crush me.
bang!
It was not difficult to avoid his attack, but as Song Yun-ju said, the monster’s power was considerable.
At once, part of the ground collapsed and the ceiling of the cave shook.
If the monster continued to rampage like this, the ruins would not be able to withstand and would collapse.
“Tsk… !”
I clicked my tongue and held out my sword.
A pure sword attack without fire or electric shock.
It cut off Goi’s short arms at the same time.
“aaang!”
Then, the goi howled as red blood poured from its large body.
He had a seizure, and this time he rolled his entire body to try to hold me down.
But my second sword-light that follows,
Chew!
In one fell swoop, that thick body was cut open.
A huge piece of flesh, two meters in diameter, splits on both sides.
Then, for the first time, I saw the bug in the back of the head that Song Yun-ju pointed out as a weakness.
It formed like a parasite, burrowing into the thick flesh and controlling its bloated body.
“It looks bad too.”
I immediately stretched out my sword and tore the parasite to pieces.
At last, the flesh monster stopped moving and sprawled across the floor.
Song Yun-ju’s voice continued in the cave, which quickly became quiet.
“Oh, did you say Inspector Kang Jin-woo? Your skills are amazing!”
She even clapped her hands and said to me who defeated the monster.
“It’s not something that can be easily captured. Really good job.”
“Sue, thank you for your hard work.”
“No, no.”
I waved my hand at the words of Choi Eun-young and Song Yun-ju.
The back of the fallen monster.
It was because another level indicator caught my eye.
“It’s not over yet.”
After that, it was a series of battles for a while.
As expected, this site where the deaths of countless people had been buried for hundreds of years was infested with just as many ghosts and monsters.
In addition, because of the maze-like structure, it was to the extent that I wondered if I had entered the magic area moment by moment.
Instead, because the enemy was not so strong, we were able to advance faster than we thought.
We finally found something that was waiting for us at the end.
“door?”
It was a door driven downward at an angle of about 45 degrees.
The stone gate is two meters high and half that wide.
It was made of an ominous black stone and had an unknown pattern engraved on it.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a door like this… ?”
“Don’t touch that.”
I stopped Song Yun-ju from approaching the door.
Then Song Yun-ju looked at me.
“Why, what is there?”
At that question, I nodded.
It was no ordinary artifact.
The stone gate I could see was emitting black light in all directions.
In other words, that door is entirely a treasure.
And to put it more bluntly.
“It is cursed.”
“I beg your pardon?”
At my words, Song Yun-ju hurriedly stepped back.
I stared at the cursed door.