---

Something’s off…?

The division chief looked as if he had just been struck hard on the back of the head with a frying pan after hearing the words that came out of Park Jinseong’s mouth.

The shaman said something’s off?

“…Please, elaborate. Tell me more.”

Considering that North Korea had ended up in such a state due to magic, the words ‘something’s off’ coming from a shaman were… indeed significant and heavy.

With a serious expression, Park Jinseong continued as he observed the division chief’s face.

“Do you see? The appearance of these ghosts.”

“Right. It’s a shape made from limbs all tangled together.”

“The essence of a person’s mind is…”

Park Jinseong tapped the table lightly, continuing his discourse.

“What truly separates a being called a person?”

It was a question directed at the division chief, yet also sounded like a soliloquy.

“It is the flesh, the soul, the spirit. A distinctly defined body with separable features. The soul residing within that body. An ego that differentiates itself through varied experiences. All of that defines a single person and distinguishes them from others.”

The division chief quietly listened to what Park Jinseong was saying.

“But much like how a pot with three legs can topple if one leg is broken, the components that make it up are both robust and incredibly fragile. Everything performs its role, and without skin, one could succumb to unbearable pain. Just as someone with torn flesh becomes vulnerable to outside illnesses and infections, these ghosts cannot withstand the turmoil without a body.”

The flesh itself is something precious.

It is a shield, a frame, a barrier that solidifies the formless and gives it shape and distinction.

But what happens if it is lost?

If there is no vessel to contain oneself, the contents will spill out onto the ground; if the shield disappears, arrows will pierce through uncontested; if the barrier vanishes, it is only natural to be torn apart by beasts.

Ghosts too, are just like that.

Thus, evil spirits and malevolent ghosts cannot escape the realm of thoughts, crumbling and degrading under the onslaught of chaos, ultimately losing their sanity.

But look at that.

“See? That is not composed of a single entity.”

Aggregation.

Many come together to form one shape.

It’s not just like making a statue out of colorful modeling clay or constructing a structure with Legos; it’s a different dimension altogether.

The human mind, the soul, finds it difficult to mix.

It strives to distinguish itself and maintain the qualities of an ‘entity.’

Yet, despite that, they are stuck together like this.

“There could be various hypotheses. It could be that multiple thoughts have adhered due to diminishing clarity, lacking resistance, or it could be that something with strong mental power has become the core, utilizing them as materials to form a shape. Or perhaps it has devoured other thoughts to grow in size.”

It was as if to imply there was reason behind it.

“Wait. That sound…”

And that ‘reason’ was like a bolt from the blue to the division chief.

What Park Jinseong had put forth as various hypotheses was pointing to one thing.

“That sound, it’s that.”

“Right.”

It possessed qualities different from those seen in previously encountered ‘special entities.’

It could recover.

It could grow its body faster than it could degrade.

“…This is a disaster.”

Yes.

It was a danger that could rightly bear the prefix ‘great.’

If conditions were favorable, it was an entity that could evolve into a calamity.

“Oh my, my….”

The division chief couldn’t help but be aghast.

A Great Evil Spirit.

A term that carried an unimaginable weight.

Just three characters, yet it had more gravitas than North Korea’s advertisements touting ‘biological weapons that could cover the entire southern land’ or ‘the people’s flames capable of annihilating cities.’

The Great Evil Spirit was a monster that could be rightfully called a national calamity.

Even now, the countless evil spirits and malevolent ghosts swarming North Korea were hard enough to suppress…

And now, a Great Evil Spirit might emerge?

It would be apocalyptic.

The Great Evil Spirit would effortlessly breach into the Republic of Korea, trampling across the land, while countless ghosts would flood through the breached DMZ, turning all of South Korea into a ghost-infested realm.

Terrifying.

Just the thought of it made one want to vomit.

The division chief felt a sense of bleakness wash over him.

But despair and hope often coexist.

While he felt despair, he was also relieved.

‘That was close.’

According to his instinctive warning, he had summoned Park Jinseong, the shaman.

That was one hope and light he held onto.

If he had thought, ‘Hmm. A peculiar entity has emerged. I should strengthen our vigilance,’ and had brushed it off as trivial, merely filing a short report like usual and calling it a day…

If that had been the case, he would have wasted precious time without realizing what immense danger or potential threat lay within that peculiar entity.

What if.

What if that evil spirit truly became the Great Evil Spirit?

Then, promotions would be the least of his worries.

It would be a matter of taking responsibility and possibly even losing his life…

Thus, the division chief was determined to act immediately.

To raise awareness of the peril posed by that peculiar entity.

But Park Jinseong halted his movements.

“However,”

He said with seven words that only served to deepen the division chief’s unease.

“…There’s more?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Park Jinseong wore a bitter expression and pointed to the screen.

[To-ong.]

On the screen, what flowed out was the peculiar entity throwing something towards the sea.

It was the scene depicting it hurling something mixed with metal, creating a small splash.

“This action was quite strange, so I observed it closely.”

“…Observed closely…?”

“This doesn’t seem to be just metal.”

With a serious face, Park Jinseong paused the footage, rewinding it a few seconds back.

Then, he began playing the video slowly at 0.01 speed.

“Watch closely.”

The video resumed.

Bizarrely entangled hands and feet were moving.

They twisted and contorted, exuding an unmistakable sinister aura even through the screen.

Seemingly with or without elasticity.

Much like wood bending in a fierce wind, its body coiled into curves, with its limbs thrusting downwards as if tied by ropes, it picked up an old, rusty kitchen knife from the ground and firmly grasped it to attach it to its own body.

Despite being gripped by the blade instead of the handle, not a single drop of blood spilled; rather, it seemed joyous, almost savoring the sensation of embedding it into itself.

And then, it shook.

The body that had bent to the left twisted to the right, and its branches swayed in accordance with that movement.

It contorted as if its body were a catapult, and its grasp on the blade gradually revealed its form…

Thus, the blade that entered and exited the ghost’s body cleaved through the air…

[To-ong.]

Despite loving to throw things, it seemed it had no knack for skipping stones.

The thrown knife, soaring in a parabolic arc, fell into the sea, stirring up splashes as it went under.

It seemed to vanish as it was swallowed…

“Did you see?”

“Oh my god. Oh Buddha. Ah….”

And then.

You could see it.

Only by watching in slow motion did one catch a faint glimpse.

The scene distorted the division chief’s facial features, releasing a deep sigh.

That scene.

“The knife, why is it swimming?”

The thrown knife didn’t sink into the sea.

It advanced forward as if it were a fish.

Forward.

Indeed.

To be specific…

Towards Japan.

* * *

What followed the discovery was chaos.

It was aptly described as ‘horrific.’

A horrifying revelation.

A terrifying confusion.

Oh.

An emergence of a peculiar entity that could evolve into a Great Evil Spirit.

Throwing objects that it ‘dipped itself in and pulled out’ towards Japan.

And the unbelievable fact that items suspected of housing spirits or curses were swimming through the sea, heading towards Japan…

All of that was sufficient enough to shake the Republic of Korea’s government back to its core.

It was the kind of situation that could be called a calamity.

“A Great Evil Spirit, Japan….”

Along with the national crisis, a diplomatic one was added…

To have multiple headaches over a single issue.

Nobody wanted to face monumental crises, yet things had gone too far.

It was something that made one wish they could just lose their mind.

Moreover, the situation was dire.

Even though complications arose when entangled with Japan at the best of times… wasn’t the current situation more serious than usual?

Not long ago, they had come perilously close to outright war, only to see it fizzle into a reconciliatory atmosphere.

And wasn’t the U.S., whom they should call for help, acting as if a screw had fallen out?

Wouldn’t it make one wonder why things had stopped just before Korea and Japan were ready to go to war?

Thus, it was plain to see that the hope for assistance from the U.S. was dim.

Then, where else could help be sought?

Well…

It might be possible to request assistance from China…

But calling them in would likely bring calamity of another sort.

Uncertain of how much they would demand in return.

While the government was plunged into confusion…

Contact from Japan arrived.

 

---