138.
“Is this here… ?”
The place I arrived with the elk was a small facility in the mountains of Gangwon-do.
However, the appearance of the facility was very different from what I thought.
The name attached to the slightly chipped nameplate is a hazardous biochemical waste treatment facility.
And behind it was an old, dirty factory, like a garbage dump.
It also smells strange for some reason.
But it didn’t seem like a mistake.
There was definitely a level sign in the shabby guard room at the entrance.
“Where are you from?”
One of the guards who happened to spot us came this way.
Although he is acting drowsiness, his gaze seems to be wary of this side.
I immediately got out of the truck, handed out my police ID, and revealed my name and affiliation.
Then the guard’s expression softened a little.
“Ah, notice received. I am Superintendent Kim Su-seong of the management department. The dragon that came today… Dispatched as a support task to the White Rock handover and management department, is that correct?”
I nodded.
Then his words continued.
“Baeklog will be guided by us. Inspector Kang can come this way.”
Guard colleagues rushed to the truck, and the elk began to whimper and cry.
I went to the back of the truck to quietly listen and glared at the elk, only then did the grotesque cries stop.
Then I followed the guard into the facility.
The inside of the dirty factory building was just as dirty.
Garbage and rubbish thrown away randomly are rolling around here and there.
Next to it are rusty machines that are questionable whether or not they work.
“Is this your first time here?”
The guard asked if he had noticed that I was observing my surroundings.
“Yes, it is.”
“Then you might be surprised. This look is camouflage. It’s a place where dangerous items sensitive to magic are also brought in, so you can’t use the barrier to bite ordinary people. The real facility is in the basement.”
“I see.”
I said so, but I already knew it was camouflage.
Yes, it’s like the name of the biochemical waste treatment plant here.
This guard is also a member of the police force, but is not wearing a police uniform either.
It was obvious that he was trying to hide something.
Before long, we stood in front of the elevator inside the factory.
A clunky old elevator with walls barely made of plastic, as if on a construction site.
As soon as I stepped into it, it shook as if it would fall at any moment.
Thinking that even this was camouflage made me a little dumbfounded.
“It’s well made.”
“hahahaha, right? It’s because I’ve been paying attention to the strange things.”
The elevator had three buttons numbered 1 through 3.
But instead of pressing the button, the guard took out the card key and put it on it.
Then the elevator started going down to the basement.
“The person in charge will be waiting for you below.”
As soon as the guard’s words finished, we arrived at a white space.
First of all, a clean, dust-free lobby, 180 degrees different from the factory just before, caught my eye.
An underground facility of considerable scale.
And on top of it, people in pure white gowns were walking here and there.
“You are here now.”
As I was in the elevator, someone approached me.
It was a woman with glasses.
Are you around 40 years old?
On the outside, he was a calm and intelligent person.
Meanwhile, the security guard left me and went up the elevator again.
“Are you Inspector Kang? My name is Ha Soo-jung. I belong to LB Academy… The management department is doing the work of figuring out the risk of ghosts.”
As soon as she met me, she familiarly introduced herself and held out her hand.
A strangely stretched tone.
I already knew her name.
“You are the one who sent the request for cooperation.”
“yes… that’s right. then… Should I tell you a little about the facility first?”
Then she took me to the facility map in the lobby.
Looking at it, she began to explain the role of the management department and the structure of the facility.
The facility was divided into three major sections.
First, Shinsu-dong, who manages Shinsu and spiritual objects.
The Baekrok I brought this time and the Imoogi I met last time seemed to be here.
Next is Gwimul-dong, which manages gwimul.
Finally, there was the Miscellaneous wing, which managed things not included in those two.
And again, each building was divided according to the degree of risk from the safest 1st floor to the most dangerous 3rd floor.
Also, the management department had a few other notes.
Among them, there was one that she particularly emphasized.
“There are quite a few rules here. It will be difficult to memorize right away because there are so many… I’ll follow you. You should never go alone. Then, if an accident happens, it’s hard to look good.”
It’s about following the facility’s rules.
I heard that there are not only dangerous ghosts, but also among spiritual creatures that cannot be stimulated, so they have set precautions for them.
“… yes. I’ll get it right now.”
“Then there’s nothing to do… Let’s get started. There’s something I want to check first. Do you really have strong resistance to curses… ?”
Ha Su-jeong said in a relaxed voice, with only her eyes shining.
It was a somewhat burdensome look.
“yes. Yes.”
“Is that a tradition? Or is it the power of miracles?”
“transmission… It’s the same thing, what.”
It’s a skill, but I answered like that.
Then Ha Soo-jeong shook her head.
“It’s a succession. that’s kinda… That’s sad. If it’s a miracle, I wanted to ask you to borrow it for a while.”
As she said that, she took out a tablet and wrote something down.
“Then this way.”
The first place Ha Su-jeong took me was the second floor of Gwimul-dong.
The second floor of Gwimul Building is a straight line with a wide hallway running in a straight line.
There were also rows of doors along that hallway.
The spacing between the doors, as well as the material, shape, and size of the doors, were all different.
“Don’t go near the door… Each and every one of those rooms contains ghosts. No, it would be easier to think of each ghost as having one room.”
Ha Soo-jung slowly opened her mouth as she walked down the hallway.
Besides her, there were several other researchers and security guards in the hallway.
“The rooms are all designed according to the characteristics of the treasures to be kept. That’s why the size and safety measures are different. Those at the beginning of the second floor are at least low risk. The deeper you go, the more dangerous things are.”
“then… What can I do here?”
“The first job is… You just need to get rid of one of the ghosts.”
be the first
In other words, I opened my mouth bitterly at the words that there could be a second or a third.
“Are you going to get rid of it?”
“yes. before… I saw a report that you destroyed a werewolf’s fangs.”
Did that report flow all the way here?
It was a report I wrote without much thought at the time, but it had an unexpected repercussion.
“I even made a separate room to keep it, can I get rid of it?”
“Yeah… Basically, the ghosts here can’t be removed, so they’re sealed. And it has no value as a research material anymore.”
And then she stopped walking.
He pointed to a plain-sized iron door with a small glass window.
“That one.”
I looked inside through the window.
What’s there… is it a tree
No, it’s not a tree.
Looking closely, it was someone’s hand, as dry as a mummy.
“What is that?”
“Monkey hand… Do you know the ghost called?”
“Ah, yes. I know.”
If you make a wish, it will come true, but it was a monster related to a ghost story that it comes true in a very wrong direction.
Ha Soo-jung’s words followed my answer.
“That subspecies… Same thing. It’s also made by human hands. It is probably assumed that it is the hand of someone who has inherited the monkey hand, but as a result of the experiment, there were several differences.”
“An experiment?”
“yes. In order to measure the degree of risk, inevitably. First of all, the strength of the curse established by the act of making a wish is weaker than the original. At best… It’s like an intermediate state law.”
Ha Soo-jung then brought up a story about a specific experiment.
To put it simply, it meant that I had made various wishes to that ghost.
And, like an experiment, the wishes were all bizarre.
“A wish beyond a certain level… All had the same result. For example, in requests to prove the Riemann Hypothesis or to eliminate the wave nature of light, they simply killed the person with the wish. That means it’s impossible to meddle with the laws of the world or require too much intelligence. or not… Didn’t understand the wish itself.”
“Who is involved in such an experiment?”
“hmm? yeah… Death row inmates, captured mines. But these days, such test subjects are so rare… Inspector Kang, if you have time at the site, please capture the mines alive.”
“what… Let’s try.”
And Ha Su-jeong continued the explanation of the monkey hand subspecies with a disturbing request.
To put it simply, the curse is weaker than the original, but on the contrary, it has physical resistance, so it does not burn in fire or dissolve in acidic solutions.
It seemed to possess indestructible properties.
“In this situation… Is it possible to dispose of that precious thing… ?”
Ha Soo-jung asked me.
Of course I had a way, but I wasn’t sure.
So I answered negatively.
“Let’s try it. But you need something with spiritual power. There is no need to go all the way to Shingi.”
“If it’s something… what… ”
“Anything, worthless. It could be lost.”
“All right. then… ”
She left for a moment and then brought back a small amulet.
It was a general consumable grade item that glowed lightly white.
“This is enough.”
At my words, she brought the card key that was hanging around her neck to the door where the treasure was kept.
Then the lock on the door unlocked, and I opened it and entered the room.
“hmm… ”
A square room measuring about 3 meters in width and height.
All that was there was a disgusting hand on a small chair.
Even just looking at it, black light emanating from it is unmistakable.
I immediately pulled out the human sword, wrapped the white flame around it, and slammed my hand down.
but.
Crack!
As expected, along with the sound of metal scraping, the monkey’s hand was not cut at all.
Is this an indestructible property?
Unfortunately, I don’t know if it’s immortality or regeneration.
Among the skills I had, there was nothing that could pierce the non-destructive characteristics.
however… What I wanted to try from the beginning was not to pierce that indestructible by force.
“… … ”
I picked up the subspecies of the monkey’s hand in my hand.
And I’m in that state… I selected the magic cube icon.
A magic cube that can use synthesizing, crafting, and strengthening functions.
From there, what I chose was, of course, synthesis.
＜Composite＞
– You can combine 2 or more ingredients.
– Grades higher than the average grade of the material are randomly output.
I selected the monkey hand, the item and amulet I had received from Ha Soo-jung in advance, and pressed the synthesis button.
Then, along with the bright light, the monkey hand and the amulet disappeared, and a new item was created in my hand instead.
＜Commendation of Dawn＞
magic item
When the monkey hand and the amulet were put together, a commendation came out.
As explained in the synthesizing function, the word random is a fitting result.
In addition, it was a weapon of a not-so-great grade, perhaps because it was a combination of a very low-grade item and a monster, but it was actually good.
It clearly served the purpose of getting rid of the monkey hand.
So I took the commendation and leisurely left the room.
Ha Soo-jung, who was watching me get rid of the monkey’s hand, had her eyes wide open.
“The report… It’s according to the content. In fact, I thought I didn’t trust you that much.”
Frankly, she said so.
“How did you do it?”
“It is my ability. Of course, not all ghosts are possible.”
“Still useful… No, it is a great ability.”
Some artifacts can be destroyed.
In fact, it was an ability that the exorcism police did not consider very important.
But as if that wasn’t the case here, Soo-jung Ha constantly wrote something on the tablet.
And the questions followed.
“By the way, what is that commendation? Why is that… Wasn’t it just annihilating it?”
“uh… It’s like a byproduct. This is what I meant earlier when I needed something with spiritual power. By combining a monster and its items, you create something completely different.”
“… … ”
Ha Soo-jung looked at me with eyes that seemed to ask what that meant.
It must be because, as someone who has been researching ghosts, he knows how absurd that is.
However, I didn’t bother to explain further, so I immediately changed the topic.
“Rather than that, what next? Is this the end?”
“Oh, no. No way. Come over here.”
Then she led me to several ghosts.
Among them, from the sleeping bag cursed that the person who uses it will die, to the Hahoe mask that speaks.
There were many strange things of all kinds.
Hahoe mask in particular was a very noisy guy.
The man whose soul was carved into the Hahoe mask by a certain magic spell claimed to be a nobleman of the Joseon Dynasty and an exorcist with deep knowledge in exorcism.
As a ghost, his voice contained a curse.
Even if you just listened to that voice, or if you listened to the recording, everyone lost consciousness.
Therefore, Ha Su-jeong asked me to do the investigation because a proper investigation was not conducted.
and.
“Here it is.”
After a candid 30-minute conversation with Hahoetal, I searched for answers to the list of questions she passed on to me.
However, Ha Soo-jung tilted her head while looking at the answer.
“commons… Is that it?”
“yes. He was good at lying.”
In fact, he was neither a nobleman nor an exorcist.
He was just an ordinary person caught up in someone’s sorcery, and it seemed that he was caught in reverse by a bad sorcerer while cheating in his lifetime.
But I had the skill to discern lies, so I didn’t fall for his words and eventually got all the right answers.
Hearing that explanation, Sujeong Ha sighed.
“… It’s a lying Hahoe mask, so I guess I should change the name.”
She said with a slightly disappointed look on her face.
It was getting closer to work time.
So I asked Ha Soo-jung with a little hope.
“Are you done with this?”
“yet… I have one more left.”
That was a negative answer, but it was also positive at the same time.
It meant that if I finished just one more thing, I would be off work.
“But it can be dangerous, so be careful.”
Where she went next… 3rd floor of ghost building.
The third floor of the ghost building, which is connected only by stairs from the end of the second floor, is only the third floor in name.
In fact, the number of floors leading down was much higher.
However, each floor was kept one by one.
Sujeong Ha took me to the 14th floor of the third floor.
The only thing missing is the heavy door.
“Here. Looking inside is permitted behavior, so take it easy.”
At her words, I looked at the small window in the door.
Then inside… I saw a familiar space that wasn’t too big.
“kitchen?”
It was an old kitchen.
But otherwise, nothing was visible.
So I looked at the little sign on the door.
What is written there is
＜3-14: Snailfish＞
It was a familiar name for some reason.