My foot, stepping over the Sacred Rope, touches the ground.
In gaming terms, it felt as if I had entered a special field.
As if by magic, the fog vanished, and the landscape revealed itself properly.
But….
‘…It’s huge.’
The field in the mountains under the full moon was much larger than expected.
A massive field, vast enough to cover the entire ridge.
Quiet, dark greenery swayed under the indigo moonlight.
However, it didn't feel particularly peaceful or pleasant.
It felt ominous and eerie.
-It has a peculiar fragrance.
It was just as he said.
Furthermore, those tiny red berries visible between the swaying greenery are…… Wa-Wait a minute.
‘…Ginseng?’
That’s right.
Is this a ginseng field?
Wait, ginseng is called ‘insam’ when it's cultivated artificially by humans, but strictly speaking, this doesn't seem to have been grown by humans….
‘…Mountain Ginseng?’
All of these are Mountain Ginseng??
‘No way….’
I hurriedly looked around the field and saw a signpost stuck at the edge.
[Thousand years]
“…….”
I immediately tried to turn around and cross back over the Sacred Rope.
-Mr. Roe Deer?
‘Let’s run.’
Thousand-year-old Mountain Ginseng?
It felt like opening a pencil case to borrow a pen from a Friend, only to find it filled with gold bars instead.
The moment I was about to cross the Sacred Rope.
[Honored guest!]
“…!”
[Ah, honored guest. Please, do not go….]
A delicate, sobbing voice was heard from behind.
Very slowly, I turned only my head halfway back.
[A ghost attached to a tiger is coming to plunder me! A future approaches where a terrifying tiger will sever my limbs, chew them up, and spit them onto the ground! Please save me, please save me…!]
One of the clusters of berries rising from the field was swaying gently.
Then, perhaps noticing that I was looking at it, its leaves drooped.
[Ah, now it is my turn. I shall be ruthlessly torn to pieces, with not even a scrap of flesh remaining….]
“…….”
I turned my body and looked at the Mountain Ginseng in question.
Under my gaze, the cluster of berries swayed fervently.
[Rather than being carried away by an evil tiger, I would rather be eaten by an honored guest! Take me and boil me thoroughly in a large cast-iron pot; it will cure all diseases, and even aged parents will rise like young men to exert great strength!]
Come to think of it, Mountain Ginseng… has been depicted in folktales as a virtuous and mystical existence.
A reward given to a good person.
I bent my knees toward the Mountain Ginseng swaying its berries.
[Honored gueeeest!]
And I reached out my hand toward the Mountain Ginseng…….
Then I stood back up.
[…?]
“Liar.”
The berries froze.
Then, the ground shook as if vibrating, and a sinister, cracked, deep voice surged out.
[You noticed! You maggot-like thing!]
Yeah.
‘I heard this was the Sangun’s Burial Site.’
Have you ever heard the story that ghosts do everything backward?
But this is a place I came to because I was bewitched by a ghost, and the name is a burial site?
‘There’s no way Mountain Ginseng growing in this neighborhood would be normal.’
It wouldn't be strange if its attributes were completely reversed. I knew it would be like this.
[Hehehehe, hehehehe!]
The Mountain Ginseng began to squirm and rise.
Hieeeeek!!
Its half-emerged form was a pallid purple, looking exactly like a zombie miniature.
It was even vomiting out something like dark red fluid!
‘I prepared myself mentally, but it’s still scary!’
[You get buried too! You be buried here and become ginseng too! Let your hands and feet be cut off and rot so you can't escape! Feel the pain of dying while alive!]
Even the surrounding leaves twisted like tentacles, squirming their roots out of the soil together. Aaaah!
Without delay, I immediately pulled something out from my waist.
‘S-Snow White Apple!’
It’s an Item with a strange effect: ‘Falling into a death-like sleep immediately upon consumption.’
But what was I going to do with this?
‘I thought it would be hard to chew on an apple in an emergency anyway….’
So I ground it all up into juice!
Splatter.
I took out the sealed pack containing the juice made from the ground Snow White Apple and sprayed it all over the field in front of me.
The Mountain Ginseng….
[Keehehehe! It won’t work! It won’t work! You fool! I’ll tear off your limbs….]
Zzz.
It fell into a dead faint.
“…….”
The Snow White Apple… definitely has a certain effect.
I carefully moved my feet.
The hideous Mountain Ginseng, half-emerged from the soil, remained motionless on the ground, unconscious.
It felt strange—as if a cockroach had been hit by pesticide and was sprawled on the floor, or like a dog or cat had fallen into a deep sleep and was showing its belly.
-Oh! He was a rather interesting fellow, though rude! How about taking him as a souvenir?
Normally, I would have asked if he was crazy.
But I carefully looked into the Mountain Ginseng.
It spoke, expressed emotions, tried to deceive me, and calculated the situation. It seemed like something like fluid was flowing inside it too.
If so, this….
‘An intelligent being… right?’
Found it, a substitute for the Sacrificial Lamb.
“…So, you’ve obtained all the materials, finished the ritual preparations, and as for the Sacrificial Lamb, we can just use this strange Mountain Ginseng… is that it?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
The faces of the people in the haunted house turned blank as they heard the summarized version of ‘What Kim Soleum (impersonating the security team) went through outside~’.
Did I summarize it too much?
But it couldn't be helped. Since I couldn't explain exactly how I did it, it ended up being ‘Anyway, I got it’.
‘I’m a bit worried about having dug up the Mountain Ginseng… but it’s better for my mental health than killing a random person.’
I don’t know whose field it is, but I think if there were a real problem, Braun would have sounded an alarm.
Anyway, I looked at the people with the most nonchalant face possible.
People still stood with their mouths agape, looking back and forth between me, the materials, and the Mountain Ginseng.
But it worked well enough.
“A-As expected of the security team…. To even do something like this!”
No, I’m not.
Feeling unnecessarily guilty, I looked at the actual security team, but the Sergeant was just lying among the middle schoolers with an expression that said everything was a bother.
The kids were huddled around him, chatting away—I wonder when they introduced themselves.
“Hyung, Hyung, you don't look that strong.”
“No… I’m totally strong.”
The kids are laughing. Their tension must have eased a bit now that there are more people.
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin looked at Go Seon-ha, whose face had brightened while checking the materials, and then at me with an anxious face, swallowed hard, and said.
“T-Then, are we all going to the Divine Shrine now? To perform the ritual…?”
“Yes.”
“…The Divine Shrine is nearby, so we should be able to move carefully. Nothing happened while I was in the Divine Shrine….”
Go Seon-ha turned back to me with a stiff face.
“By any chance, did you visit the Divine Shrine when you went out?”
“Yes.”
While Braun was masking my presence, I went and burned the peach wood branches.
I was so nervous I almost cried about three times.
“…Then it’ll be easier. Just walk quietly and quickly without making a sound. We’re in the darkness, so as long as we don't make a mistake, we'll be fine.”
“Understood.”
“…Then, let’s go to the Divine Shrine together.”
The time has come.
We caught our breath for a moment and prepared ourselves mentally, then lined up in front of the closed door.
“Kids. You must never stop. Keep walking.”
“Yes…….”
At Go Seon-ha’s words, the kids nodded with terrified faces, but soon, comforted by the adults, they shut their mouths and squeezed into the line.
“…….”
But why am I the one standing at the very front…?
Everyone, why are you naturally moving to the back?
‘Did I summarize the process of getting the materials too much…!’
Everyone seems to think of me as some kind of world-class braveheart and a capable person full of inquisitiveness. Oh, please….
‘They wouldn't believe me even if I said I was scared now, right?’
……Still, is it better than being at the very back?
Resigned, I opened the door again.
Creak.
The mountainside, once again enveloped in within the darkness and fog, revealed itself.
Gasp.
“Ugh,”
“Shh.”
The kids shut their mouths with terrified faces.
We moved our feet slowly and as quietly as possible.
Thump, thump.
With every small sound, the pace of our footsteps quickened.
I could feel the pressure enveloping the whole group, as if a Changwi would call out from behind and chase us at any moment.
-Friend! You don't have to hurry so much. Don't forget that this Braun is always here even in the worst-case scenario….
And fortunately, that ‘worst-case scenario’ did not happen.
Beyond the darkness and fog, old roof tiles are visible.
An old house in red and blue, bent at a strange angle.
It’s the Divine Shrine.
Thud.
“Phew.”
“E-Everyone’s in, right?”
The people who safely entered the shrine caught their breath.
The Sergeant, who was the last to enter at a leisurely pace, closed and locked the green door made of traditional paper.
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin hurriedly tried to paste the Talisman he picked up from the floor of the haunted house onto the door, but Go Seon-ha stopped him.
“It might cause a problem with the ritual. Let’s just leave it. We just need to do it quickly and get out!”
“R-Right.”
In the meantime, I looked around the Divine Shrine.
Eyes adjusted to the darkness showed outlines through the shadows.
The inside was strangely clean, but very old.
A broken incense burner between two rusted Maitreya statues without heads.
And above them, a moth-eaten wooden tablet was visible.
-That must be the wooden tablet where the ritual was written. It has quite an atmosphere….
I read along with the contents of the wooden tablet that Braun told me.
“…The person with the most bold mind and body shall come forward and conduct the ritual.”
Wow, first of all, it’s not me.
“…….”
No, you two, don’t look at me, seriously.
I naturally turned my gaze and looked at the Sergeant. Then the gazes of the two people followed, but…….
“I can’t do it.”
“…Yes??”
“I can’t do it, so don’t ask me to…….”
“U-Understood.”
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin cowered and then looked at me.
I stared blankly at the Section Chief.
“…….”
“……Well,”
“You do it.”
“Y-Yes…….”
Even if you’re a nervous wreck, you’re probably less of a coward than I am….
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin stepped forward with trembling steps, then looked back at me and Go Seon-ha with a horrified face.
“W-Wait a minute! Sanjunghogeol!”
Go Seon-ha was also horrified.
“Right! ‘A tune to offer to the Sangun’!”
“Yeah, that! We don’t have anything to replace that tiger nursery rhyme or folk song! No matter how many materials we have, without that….”
Ah.
“I have it.”
“……??”
“Just a moment.”
I called the middle schoolers.
And I asked very politely.
“Kids. You said you were on a school trip, right?”
“Yes….”
“Is there any friend who kept listening to music in the car on the way down? Or a friend who knows celebrities well.”
The kids looked at each other and gestured toward a student without bangs.
I quickly asked that student.
“What’s your name?”
“L-Lee Na-yeon.”
“Okay, Na-yeon. I have something to ask you.”
I tried to put on a very kind expression. Question marks appeared on the adults' faces all at once.
“…?? Excuse me, what are you doing right now….”
“Among famous idol songs, are there songs with a tiger in the lyrics?”
“…!!”
I turned back to the adults.
They had dazed expressions.
“B-But, c-can we use a pop song? Something like an idol song….”
“It’s possible.”
I held up the ritual note Go Seon-ha had written for me.
“If you look, it just says ‘tune’. It means there’s absolutely no need to use something like a folk song or a nursery rhyme.”
“…!”
This isn't a ghost story wiki entry section, so there’s no need or reason to select a song that fits the ghost story atmosphere.
Human prejudice had narrowed the scope.
“Ah….”
I turned my gaze back to the child.
“Na-yeon. So, is there a song you remember? Sangun, tiger, something like that is fine too.”
“Ah!”
And Na-yeon immediately answered with a brightened face.
“I have one! Saint-U’s Peek-a-boo!”
Bingo.
“A-And there’s also a VTIC song….”
“Is there a song among them that you know all the lyrics to? And one that’s famous at the same time.”
“Yes! Saint-U’s Peek-a-boo!”
Okay.
I turned back to the adults and made a solemn declaration.
“We will use Saint-U’s ‘Peek-a-boo’ as the tune to offer to the Sangun.”
Take an idol song, tiger!
Inside the quiet Divine Shrine.
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin, who walked forward from the darkness, poured ashes into the incense burner with trembling hands.
It’s the ash from burning peach wood branches.
-First.
-‘The one conducting the ritual, come forward and burn peach wood branches in the incense burner and inhale the scent.’
-‘After carefully closing the lid of the incense burner, open it again once the scent has drifted away.’
The Section Chief covered the top of the broken old incense burner with an equally old lid with trembling hands, then waited for a few seconds before removing the lid.
Amazingly, the pile of ashes had vanished.
In its place, a single, intact piece of incense was burning.
The fragrance of peaches wafted strongly from the small branch-shaped incense.
“…!!”
-‘If the incense is burning, the Sangun has recognized your sincerity’…. Oh, it’s going exactly according to plan. Marvelous!
“Ugh.”
Perhaps the scent of the incense was too strong, as Go Seon-ha covered her nose and stepped back.
The Section Chief hurriedly performed the next movement.
-Second.
-‘Open the traditional paper door.’
Rattle.
Beyond the open door, the dark forest came into view. The children hid behind the adults.
-‘Crush three plums in a bronze cup and sprinkle them on the soil below the wooden floor. The remaining cup must be thrown to the east and never looked back at.’
I handed the three plums to Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin. After crushing the plums in the bronze cup with his fingers, the Section Chief sprinkled them on the soil.
A scent as sweet and sour as syrup wafted up.
Go Seon-ha, who had been backing away, came forward, her complexion improving slightly as she sniffed.
Then she gestured to Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin.
It meant it was time for the third step.
-Third.
-‘Prepare a tune to offer to the Sangun. The more well-known it is to the world, the better its effect.’
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin picked up the lyric sheet he had written in advance, carefully rolled it up, and put it in the drawer under the Incense Altar.
-‘Write the lyrics and put them in the Incense Altar, sing at the top of your lungs, clapping at every step and bowing every thirty steps.’
People stepped out of the open door one by one.
Section Chief Lee Byeong-jin began to sing the lyrics taught by the student named Lee Na-yeon.
“…Peek-a-boo. Here I come.”
The middle schoolers sang in chorus.
The tune dedicated to the Sangun.
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