Chapter 8

The hairs on the back of Mugyeong’s neck stood straight up.

Startled, he turned to look at Unho.

Unho’s calm black eyes silently met his.

“W-what was that?”

The livestream chat exploded instantly.

[Anonymous#556: holy shit]

[Anonymous#7708: goosebumps]

[Anonymous#94320: That’s a Bible verse. Is this secretly a Christian stream?]

[Anonymous#62222: No, that’s not the issue. Why that verse specifically?]

[Anonymous#92507: There must be ghosts crawling around like cockroaches.]

[RealTonic: This is too scaryㅠㅠ I’m muting the sound while watching. Sorry oppa….]

“N-no, maybe the machine’s broken? The signal here is terrible already.”

Still trying to deny reality, Mugyeong hurriedly turned on the EMF detector.

At most, maybe two or three lights would turn on.

But all five lights immediately lit up bright red.

Whatever the source was, the machine was detecting an extremely strong electromagnetic field.

“Ah, shit…. All five bars….”

Mugyeong looked seconds away from crying.

“No, but this is just an EMF detector, right? There’s filming equipment everywhere in here, body cams too. Maybe the machine’s just picking up those electromagnetic waves instead?”

[Anonymous#62222: The mental gymnastics are insaneㅋㅋ]

[Anonymous#94320: The equipment was there earlier too.]

“And just because there’s electromagnetic activity doesn’t automatically mean it’s a ghost.”

Tick—

The instant Mugyeong finished speaking, a small sound echoed behind them.

Like a pebble bouncing lightly across the floor.

“AAAH!”

Mugyeong screamed in absolute terror.

Why did a sound have to happen at that exact moment?

It genuinely felt like a ghost answering his question.

“Seems like a poltergeist phenomenon. There’s definitely something here.”

PD Park explained calmly.

Maybe because she had extensive experience filming paranormal content, she remained composed throughout the entire situation without showing much fear.

But for Mugyeong— who had never experienced anything like this before— calming down was impossible.

In a trembling voice, he turned desperately toward Unho.

“Y-ya, Unho. Hurry up and answer me…. Are there really that many ghosts here right now?”

“Remember earlier when I compared the ghost pathway to a stream?”

“…Yeah?”

“After seeing it directly, I’d say it’s closer to a river than a stream.”

“….”

“And these mirrors covering the room are making things worse.”

Unho’s gaze swept slowly across the endless mirrored walls.

“Remember the ghost that supposedly asked for directions earlier? Spirits get trapped in mirrors easily. Once they enter this place, they probably can’t leave very well.”

Mugyeong’s face visibly paled by the second.

“So this isn’t a stream anymore.”

Unho spoke quietly.

“It’s closer to a dam.”

“A place where water flowing from the river gathers.”

“T-then how many are trapped in here exactly? T-the ghost teachers?”

Unho looked thoughtful.

“Hm… before we leave, would it be better for you to know that number, or better not to know? I’ll leave the decision to you.”

“Haha…. Then I think I’d rather not know.”

Mugyeong forced out an awkward laugh.

He tried to appear calm, but the corner of his mouth trembled uncontrollably.

[Pentatonic55: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Mugyeong oppa]

[Anonymous#98354: scaredy-cat]

[Anonymous#410122: ‘Ghost teachers’ㅋㅋㅋㅋ he’s terrifiedㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Anonymous#62222: ghostㅋㅋteacherㅋㅋㅋ what even is that]

“This exit right here is where the haunted house intersects directly with the ghost pathway.”

Unho pointed toward the exit door.

After hearing there were countless spirits gathered here, even the glowing green “EXIT” sign looked eerie.

Unho unzipped his backpack and pulled out over a dozen yellow talismans covered in red cinnabar writing.

“For now, I’m going to place several Baekgwi Bulchim Bu talismans here.”

“These should prevent spirits from entering for the time being.”

Carefully, Unho began attaching the talismans to both sides of the doorframe, above the entrance, and directly in the center of the door.

“For the time being…? So this won’t solve the problem permanently?”

“Attaching talismans is like building a dam to block water.”

Unho pressed another talisman firmly into place.

“But if the current is strong enough, the dam eventually breaks. Talismans are only temporary solutions. They can’t completely fix a problem caused by the location itself.”

“Then… does that mean this building can’t really be used anymore? The owner’s going to be disappointed.”

“If they absolutely must continue using this building, it would be best to permanently close the Mirror Room nearest the exit and move the exit elsewhere.”

He glanced calmly toward the northern side.

“People can’t change the direction of a river. You have to adapt yourself to it instead.”

I see.

So no matter how hard people try, some things simply can’t be fixed.

For some reason, Mugyeong suddenly thought about himself desperately struggling to save the dying idol group Hexatonic.

Maybe from other people’s perspective, he looked exactly the same.

The thought made him feel strangely depressed.

Unho quietly watched him.

“Teacher Cheongun, then what happens to all the ghosts trapped here?”

“They’re spirits that were going to leave eventually anyway. Unless something unusual happens, they’ll either disappear over time or pass on to the afterlife.”

He continued calmly,

“If the owner wants to send them away more quickly, he could hire a shaman to perform a Cheondojae ritual. But whether to do that is entirely his choice.”

While Unho spent several minutes attaching talismans, the livestream viewer count gradually dropped from five hundred down to around one hundred.

“We’ve successfully resolved the issue requested by the owner today. Thank you everyone for watching.”

Mugyeong addressed the camera brightly.

“We’ll do our final goodbye outside!”

The instant he finished speaking, he sprinted toward the exit faster than anyone else.

He had the horrible feeling that ghosts might grab his legs at any moment.

The moment he pushed open the door, humid night air wrapped around him.

Just moments ago, he’d thought the outside weather felt oppressively hot and sticky.

But now that same air felt warm and comforting.

Mugyeong internally sighed in relief.

Then—

he spotted someone familiar nearby.

“President Kim!”

Mugyeong immediately brightened and shouted proudly toward the livestream camera.

“Everyone! See? I told you the owner would be waiting for us outside!”

But instead of responding happily, President Kim immediately exploded at them.

“No, seriously! I held back because it looked like you were filming inside, but how could you people just enter on your own like that?! I told you I’d unlock it after coming back from the bathroom!”

“…What?”

“You waved us in earlier!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You unlocked the haunted house and gestured for us to come inside. Then you went in with us and left early from the Mirror Room. I saw you myself.”

“What nonsense is this?”

President Kim looked genuinely furious.

“I came back from the bathroom and there wasn’t even an ant standing outside the building. I never entered that place once. Why the hell would I go in there at night when I’m scared to death of it?”

“…You’re serious?”

“Of course I’m serious! What, do you think I’m joking? How did you people even open a locked door? And how did you turn on the lights and AC?”

Seeing Mugyeong’s confused face, PD Park cautiously added,

“The door was already open when we arrived. The lights and music were already on too, so we assumed you’d turned everything on beforehand….”

“Why the hell would I do that? I can barely afford the electricity bills.”

Grumbling angrily, President Kim marched toward the haunted house exit and yanked the door open.

He only poked his head inside briefly before recoiling and slamming it shut again as though he’d seen something disgusting.

“Why is it freezing in there? Feels like the damn North Pole. God, what a waste of money. I invited some YouTuber ghost hunters because they said they’d chase ghosts away for free, and now my electric bill’s gonna explode too.”

At his complaints, Mugyeong completely lost the ability to speak.

The man looked genuinely wronged.

He really didn’t seem to be lying.

The comments exploded again.

[Anonymous#98354: what the fuck]

[Anonymous#410122: Wait, didn’t he wave you guys inside earlier?]

[Anonymous#410122: This is getting good.]

[MugyeongMugyeong: The owner’s being kind of rude though…]

Suddenly Mugyeong’s eyes widened.

“Wait! The body cam!”

He turned excitedly toward PD Park.

“The body cam should’ve recorded the owner waving us inside earlier!”

With PD Park’s help, they rewound the footage recorded just before entering the haunted house.

The video replayed.

“PD-nim, the owner just opened the haunted house for us. Let’s go in first. Come on, Unho.”

The footage clearly showed the front entrance of the haunted house from Mugyeong’s point of view.

The timestamp displayed normally.

But—

throughout the entire recording—

there was nobody standing in front of the haunted house.

Not once.

No matter how many times they replayed it, the footage remained exactly the same.

…Then who exactly had Mugyeong seen earlier?

His face gradually turned deathly pale.

The livestream chat piled upward in silence.

[Anonymous#556: insane]

[Anonymous#7708: legendary]

[Anonymous#62222: I can’t believe I’m watching this live.]

[Anonymous#1258115: holy shit]

[Anonymous#99897: no way]

[Anonymous#44445: this is crazy]

Only the soundless flood of live comments continued filling the screen.

 

• 천도제 (Cheondojae) → A ritual meant to guide wandering spirits peacefully to the afterlife.