Chapter 3
Lee Kyeong-su’s thick lips twisted strangely. The smile that appeared on his face was clearly a sneer. He still saw me as the same weak pushover and was enjoying the situation. Toward him, who was clueless and bewildered, I deliberately raised my spiritual energy. If a human was directly exposed to spiritual energy—the same energy that could destroy a vengeful spirit in one hit—even the boldest person would end up half out of their mind, weeping and snotting, begging for forgiveness.
*Thump!*
Struck by the spiritual energy, Lee Kyeong-su collapsed to the floor, his eyes completely glazed over, and he pissed himself. The stench of urine filled the air. The fact that he’d completely let go, soaking the floor, meant he was deep in a hallucination, experiencing extreme terror. At this point, he’d probably have a seizure just from hearing my voice.
Afraid of getting piss on my shoes, I quickly stepped back and pulled out my smartphone, turning on the camera. Modern camera quality is so good that it came out perfectly clear.
What’s this?
While recording the video, letters appeared on my retina. Not only was it strange that letters were appearing on my retina, but the content was also unusual.
[Lee Kyeong-su]
J-Entertainment, Road Manager, 2nd year.
Personality: Lazy and cunning (Evil > Good)
Special Notes: In a state of extreme fear.
<<Appearance: 52/58, Acting: 48/63, Singing: 57/66, Dance: 32/36, Rap: 11/17, Wit: 58/68, Charm: 23/49>>
‘Why is this happening?’
The letters appearing before my eyes seemed to show Lee Kyeong-su’s current situation, stats, and potential. Following the ability to see ghosts and emit spiritual energy, this phenomenon also seemed to be an aftereffect of having visited the afterlife.
‘Will stats appear for other people too?’
I raised my smartphone and filmed a passerby. Contrary to my expectations, there was no reaction. I immediately filmed another person, but the result was the same. Curious, I filmed Lee Kyeong-su again. The moment I pointed my smartphone at him, letters appeared on my retina once more.
As those few seconds passed, Lee Kyeong-su came to his senses. Toward him, who was at a loss, ashamed and embarrassed, I shook my smartphone and said:
“Lee Kyeong-su, it’s all recorded, so behave yourself from now on.”
Lee Kyeong-su, meeting my eyes, looked frightened and lowered his gaze. Just as I expected. From now on, he wouldn’t even dare to look me in the eye. Like a mouse before a cat. As I told him to get lost, he hesitated, then slowly got up, took a few steps, and soon dashed off toward the parking lot. Running away without looking back, he seemed thoroughly terrified.
‘He’s a wimp who can’t even handle that, yet he was acting so tough. Anyway, what’s the trigger for this?’
Even after Lee Kyeong-su left, I continued experimenting with my smartphone. I filmed several people, but no stats or potential were revealed. Just as I was about to give up and stand up, a plausible possibility came to mind.
‘Could it be that it only appears when exposed to spiritual energy?’
As a test, I emitted a wisp of spiritual energy toward a passing medical staff member. If anyone took a direct hit from spiritual energy, an unexpected emergency (?) like with Lee Kyeong-su could occur. Gently. Minimizing the output. I released spiritual energy as thin as a thread. As soon as the thin stream of spiritual energy lightly touched their shoulder, letters appeared on my retina. I can never mention the two mistakes I made in the middle. To those who made unintended errors because of me, I’m sorry.
‘It wasn’t the smartphone, it was this.’
I finally found the cause, and the more I looked at it, the more it resembled a game’s status window.
[Jeong Sang-hoon]
Baekje University Hospital, Surgical Resident, 1st year.
Personality: Diligent and calm. Slightly tenacious. (Evil < Good)
Special Notes: Severely sleep-deprived. Heavy drinker.
<<Appearance: 47/61, Acting: 32/63, Singing: 65/69, Dance: 32/42, Rap: 19/23, Wit: 45/71, Charm: 42/62>>
The name and affiliation appeared. But once again, the stats and potential displayed were concentrated in specific areas.
‘I thought for a doctor, medical knowledge or surgical skills would appear, obviously?’
The things appearing now were things an entertainer would need. This was thoroughly tailored for a manager. I’d heard that grim reapers had tools called Jeokpyeji (Record of Misfortune) and Eumyangpan (Yin-Yang Board) that could reveal a person’s current state, past, future, all stats and potential, and even their good and evil deeds in detail. The current phenomenon seemed similar to those functions.
“No way…”
I had a hunch and checked on other people too. I confirmed over ten people, but they were all the same. Only content related to the entertainment industry appeared. In the process, I also discovered I could see multiple people at once.
Seeing ghosts and spirits, using spiritual energy, and being able to see stats and potential related to the entertainment industry—I thought these were all aftereffects of visiting hell. But what King Yama said about having already given me much seemed to be referring to this.
‘From now on, I’ll call this ability the Status Window.’
—
* * *
—
The day after my discharge, March 24th.
I squeezed onto the packed subway early in the morning.
J-Entertainment is located in Yeouido. With a quite impressive eight-story building, J-Entertainment isn’t quite at the level of the Big Four that represent the Korean entertainment industry, but it’s just one step below them.
‘It’s nice to see the company after so long.’
I stood at the entrance, looking at the building’s front covered in blue-tinted glass windows, then went inside. I took the elevator to the 4th floor and headed to Management Team 1. Management Team 1 was the department in charge of singers, with a total of 4 sections. I belonged to Section 2.
“Hello.”
“Oh! You’re here?”
“Welcome back, Su-ho.”
“Su-ho, are you okay? Good to have you back.”
As I approached my seat, Section 4 Manager Lee Woo-seong ran over and hugged me. Very enthusiastically. Despite his appearance looking like he was in his late 40s due to his receding hairline from hair loss, he was actually a sprightly 37-year-old bachelor. He was warm-hearted and always looked after those around him; he was even one of the people who visited me in the hospital. On the other hand, none of the Section 2 staff came. Of course, Lee Kyeong-su had come, but that wasn’t a hospital visit.
“Hello, Manager Lee Woo-seong.”
“Wow, you must have rested well in the hospital—you’ve gotten bigger, and your skin looks so good, it’s glowing!”
“Probably because I ate three square meals a day and slept well.”
“Your eyes seem bigger and your nose seems sharper too. You didn’t get plastic surgery, did you?”
“Haha, why are you like this so early in the morning? Let me buy you a coffee.”
Even the day before my discharge, I had devoured a fully-formed vengeful spirit. Thanks to that, my spiritual energy and body had grown considerably, and it seemed to show. Accumulating merit was important, but for expanding spiritual energy and changing my body, I’d need to continue hunting vengeful spirits from time to time.
“I’ll buy. Let’s go to the coffee shop on the first floor.”
“I’m fine.”
“I have something to say, so just come.”
I ended up going back down to the first floor. Lee Woo-seong handed me a steaming Americano and said:
“Su-ho, let’s do well from now on.”
“Yes, let’s.”
“Byeong-cheol has gone AWOL.”
“…You can’t reach him?”
“He disappeared around 3 PM yesterday, and his phone has been off ever since.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“He’s been acting off for a while.”
Section 4, consisting of Manager Lee Woo-seong and Kim Byeong-cheol, manages the hip-hop artist Curls, the 5-year girl group Lovely, and the male duo J&K. Kim Byeong-cheol, who was the roadie among them, going AWOL meant he’d done a moonlight flit. A considerable number of roadies quit this way. That left Section 4 with only Manager Lee Woo-seong.
‘No wonder he hugged me so enthusiastically.’
“Am I filling in until you find a new roadie?”
“I’ve already talked it over with the team leader and the Section 2 manager. How about you join Section 4 permanently? You’re in your 2nd year now; it’s time you learned the job properly.”
It was wiser to move to Section 4 than to stay in Section 2, where they’d ostracized me, worked me mercilessly, and never properly taught me anything.
“Who will I be in charge of?”
“There are only two, so we’ll have to rotate, but you’ll be in charge of Lovely exclusively. To learn the job properly, you need to be in charge of a girl group.”
“Lo-Lovely?”
“Yeah. Why, don’t you like it?”
*Thump-thump.*
My heart pounded with joy at the words that I’d be in charge of Lovely. With those conditions, I had to go for it.
“No, I like it! Can I move today?”
“If you’re okay with it?”
“I’m fine.”
“Once you go up, pack your things and come over.”
“I’ll work hard.”
Back in the office, I busily packed my belongings. Right after I moved my desk, Section 2 Manager Park Hyeon-su, along with Chae Won-tae and Lee Kyeong-su, came in. The strong smell of cigarettes suggested they’d come down from the rooftop. The three of them were alumni from the same university. Graduates from the Management Department of the Korean National University of Arts, they belonged to a faction that wielded considerable influence within J-Entertainment.
“Section 2 Manager, I’ve moved to Section 4. Thank you for everything so far.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh, okay. Go on. Good work.”
They had always looked at me with displeasure and made their dislike obvious, so I didn’t particularly feel grateful, but I gave my final greetings. As I greeted them, I looked at Lee Kyeong-su, who was desperately pretending not to see me. I even called his name, pretending to say goodbye while gently shaking my smartphone. His angular face twisted mercilessly, which made me feel oddly good.
I sat down at my new desk and checked the status and monthly schedules of the artists belonging to Section 4. Currently, the male duo J&K were active individually, and the hip-hop artist Curls was focusing on label activities while also doing small-scale performances. Only Lovely’s schedule was completely empty.
“Manager, when is Lovely’s comeback?”
“Originally it was supposed to be the last week of this month, but it’s been postponed because we couldn’t find a satisfactory song.”
“Until when?”
“Early May, the first week. We’ll definitely be active then.”
“Even if the schedule’s been postponed, if the song isn’t confirmed yet, isn’t it going to be tight?”
“Right. There’s no special schedule today, so let’s go look for songs together in the afternoon.”
“Understood.”
—
And so, I spent the entire day with Manager Lee Woo-seong visiting the studios of various composers, but there was no particular result. Around 5 PM, we headed to KS Studio in Yeouido. Though it had decreased compared to the past, recording studios were still scattered throughout Yeouido.
But the moment I stepped into the studio, a chill ran down my spine.
‘Why do I feel like this?’
I tried to ignore the strange premonition and went inside. There were Section 2 Manager Park Hyeon-su and Chae Won-tae. They said they’d come with Blue Velvet, who were about to debut. They were probably in the middle of recording their debut album. After briefly exchanging greetings, I watched the recording waiting room and saw a young composer mixing with a serious expression.
‘His name was Jayco, I think.’
Jayco, who had appeared like a comet last year, was a famous composer who had produced three consecutive big hits. The songs he’d released with girl groups in particular had received good responses.
‘Listening to it, it seems like it’ll do well this time too…’
As I watched Blue Velvet’s recording session, a man’s irritated voice seeped through the music.
*\- This singing is really garbage. Do you even call this a song? And they probably got paid a ton for this, passing off trash for money—they’re outright bandits.*
‘Who is that?’
*\- Ugh! It’s so irritating I can’t stand listening to it. Even if I scribbled something down with my eyes closed, it’d be better than this song. There are a lot of kids who write decent songs these days, but this bastard is just…*
‘Isn’t that a bit harsh?’
At first, I thought someone had misspoken. So I thoroughly scanned my surroundings. In the waiting room were me, Lee Woo-seong, Park Hyeon-su, Chae Won-tae, two engineers from the studio, and Jayco. I stared until my eyes were about to pop out, but there was no one speaking such harsh words. Yet the insults kept getting worse.
*\- Seriously, just all flash and no substance, scratching out some weird beats. The result of releasing garbage like this is obvious, yet they’re recording this—tsk tsk tsk…*
‘Who on earth?’
Just as I was meticulously scanning the waiting room again out of bewilderment, I felt a cold energy from inside the studio.
‘This…!’
Amazingly, it seemed there was something other than a human inside here. I raised my spiritual energy toward the direction where I felt the cold energy and emitted it. The spiritual energy passed through the wall and spread throughout the recording booth, but I couldn’t find any ghost. Thinking I might have been mistaken, I focused on the recording again, and the problematic insulting words came through once more. This time, the voice was so clear.
The moment I looked up at the ceiling, I made direct eye contact with a man in his thirties hanging upside down in the air. With long hair covering his ears and a delicate face, judging by the energy he gave off, he was no ordinary ghost… he wasn’t.
