Chapter: 08
The Memorial Ceremony
“This place.”
When I approached, I was certain.
The soil itself was glowing with a bluish light.
‘It feels like magical power mixed with spiritual energy.’
The magical power emanating from the island itself was already quite strong.
That was why I might have simply passed it by, but the energy here was definitely different from anywhere else.
Then it happened.
Flash─!
A status window appeared with an intense burst of light.
<Guide 1 has been completed.>
Whoooosh─!
I felt a warm energy enveloping something like my heart.
<In accordance with causality, Guide 2 is being generated.>
<Causality verification complete. The area where Guide 1 was completed is Korea.>
<Guide 2. Find and eliminate the wandering spirits scattered when the Tower collapsed ten years ago.>
-Distribution Areas
Uninhabited island, Ganghwa Island, West Coast.
-Reward for completing Guide 2: Entry to the Tower Event Stage.
-Hint: Monsters belonging to the Tower.
Tower Event Stage?
This was the first time I had heard that there was such a thing as an Event Stage.
But if it was being given as a reward, it would obviously be better than the ordinary floors, right?
Once I entered the Tower, the spirits at home would automatically be dragged along with me as well.
And coincidentally, my next destination was Ganghwa Island.
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense.
The distribution areas of the scattered spirits were the same as the areas affected by the Tower.
If I couldn’t find them all today, I could bring Cha Junhyuk and Chae Seonhwa back over the weekend and search again.
When I closed the status window, the bluish glow disappeared from the soil.
“This soil should do.”
Soil suitable for a memorial ceremony.
I didn’t know why, but that was what came to mind.
I put some soil into a ziplock bag and was heading back toward the flagpole when—
“What the hell is this on a public holiday?”
“You little punk, since when have Hunters ever gotten holidays off?”
“Hey, but we’re civil servants now, aren’t we? Aren’t civil servants supposed to leave work on time?”
The three men were smoking while looking out toward the distant coastline.
They were the same three Hunters who had been specially recruited.
But there was one thing they were mistaken about.
Something like this needed to be corrected immediately.
“Surprisingly, civil servants often have to work on holidays.”
“Uh, uh…?”
The rookies hurriedly turned around and stubbed out their cigarettes.
I continued.
“In the event of a national disaster, various commemorative ceremonies, events, festivals, elections, and even when there’s heavy rain or snow….”
Especially when abnormal weather occurred, civil servants belonging to local governments had to somehow make it to work and help deal with the aftermath.
Surprisingly, being a civil servant meant you had to maintain a good relationship with the Meteorological Administration.
And even then, if the damage became severe, you could end up receiving enough abuse to last a lifetime.
Even though I hadn’t summoned the rain by holding some kind of rainmaking ritual.
While the three men stood there dumbfounded and stammering, an apology came from somewhere else.
“We’re sorry.”
It was Assistant Manager Choi, who was apparently a candidate for section chief.
He stepped between us with an embarrassed expression.
“We’ll be more careful from now on.”
The other three immediately apologized as well.
“We’re sorry!”
“We didn’t know!”
“This is our first time, so we’re inexperienced.”
“It’s fine. However….”
Regardless of what they thought, they had no reason to apologize to me. But repeatedly making remarks like that in public was troublesome.
Moreover, our next destination was the memorial event in Ganghwa Island.
Even if we weren’t involved, there would be plenty of eyes and ears there.
As a senior with more experience, I needed to warn the rookies.
“Please be careful about what you say and do from now on.”
“Yes, understood!”
And there was one more thing.
Something had been bothering me for a while.
“Assistant Manager Choi.”
“Yes, Section Chief.”
Assistant Manager Choi stared directly at me.
But he wasn’t the one bothering me.
Rather, what I was concerned about was the thing directly behind him.
‘There’s a ghost behind Assistant Manager Choi.’
…But I couldn’t just say something like that straight to someone’s face.
I definitely hadn’t seen that ghost when I met him at the Hunter Management Agency before.
Had something happened in the meantime?
“…….”
“Did you call me for something?”
“No.”
Later.
If it still looked like that after we returned to Seoul, I could exorcise it or do something to get rid of it.
Jingle─
A gloomy bell rang from somewhere.
It was the sound coming from the blood-red bell around the ghost’s neck.
I gave the child ghost who continued staring at me a cold look before turning away.
It was a kind of warning telling it not to do anything foolish for the time being.
“Is everyone here? Did everyone collect the soil? Then we’ll move to the next location by helicopter.”
The memorial ceremony site in Ganghwa Island.
The forces of the past and the forces of the future had met in one place.
“Good to see you, Director.”
“Chairman.”
The Chairman of the Hunter Association and the Director of the Hunter Management Agency shook hands warmly.
Their clasped hands showed no sign of separating for quite some time.
Reporters diligently captured the scene on their cameras.
The memorial ceremony site in Ganghwa Island was filled with representatives from the Hunter Management Agency, the Hunter Association, various guilds, and government officials attending on behalf of the government.
Among them, one person stood out above all.
“Thank you for joining us on this meaningful occasion.”
The President of the Republic of Korea, Lee Youngsoo.
After exchanging brief greetings with the key figures, he went to his seat behind the podium and sat down.
Along with him, the 10th 821 Tower Disaster Memorial Ceremony began.
“…We will now observe a moment of silence to honor the victims who lost their lives in the Tower disaster.”
When the host stopped speaking, the military band began playing the memorial song.
A slow, sorrowful piece in a minor key.
Amid the people who had closed their eyes, the sobs and sighs of the bereaved families could be heard.
“Changhyun! Changhyun…!”
“Mother! Father!”
They cried as they called out to the people they missed, people they had buried deep within their hearts.
Meanwhile, the people from the Hunter Management Agency had something to do.
“One person at a time. Just come up here and pour your soil into this incense burner.”
Behind the altar, white chrysanthemums had been placed without a single gap between them.
In front of them stood a large incense burner filled with ten years’ worth of soil.
“May you be reborn in paradise.”
One of the specially recruited Hunters poured in his soil and then clasped his hands together.
But there was something strange about the soil he had brought.
Dark, muddy soil that looked saturated with moisture.
In some ways, it looked like soil scooped straight out of a swamp.
The soil brought by the other specially recruited Hunters was the same.
They carefully poured the soil they had brought directly beneath the spot where the incense sticks had been placed.
What on earth were they intending?
Finally, it was my turn.
I sprinkled the soil I had collected earlier directly on top of the soil they had poured.
Then the ceremony proceeded.
A staff member came out and tried to light the ten incense sticks placed in the incense burner.
But the incense stubbornly refused to catch fire.
Not even the slightest wisp of smoke appeared in the silence.
Whispers arose from the people who saw the scene.
“It was always like that.”
“Their grudges haven’t been resolved yet.”
“Ha, shit. That’s creepy! Look at my goosebumps!”
“This place is a haunted spot. Definitely a haunted spot.”
“How resentful must they be? They died without knowing anything, just like that, overnight.”
“Still, I thought it would be different this time.”
“Different, my ass. The Hunter Association and the Hunter Management Agency are exactly the same.”
“Hyunseok! Hyunseok!! Are you here? Are you here? It’s Mom. Mom’s here!”
“Mom, stop! That’s not him! That’s not Oppa!”
“Subscribers! Did you see that? This is proof that ghosts really exist!”
“You can’t livestream here!”
Amid all the commotion, a monk with a serious expression and a shaman wearing a white ceremonial hat stepped forward toward the altar.
They stood side by side with their hands clasped in prayer.
Beside them was a priest holding a rosary and a silver cross.
But….
“…….”
I could see them.
Three bluish-green goblin ghosts.
They were clinging tightly to the incense burner.
And every time someone brought a candle over to light the incense, they repeated the exact same action.
[Whoosh!]
Their cheeks puffed out as they fixed their eyes on one spot, then forcefully blew toward the candle flame.
The Chairman of the Hunter Association watched the usual chaos of the 821 Memorial Ceremony with satisfaction.
‘Just as I thought.’
It was exactly as expected.
There had been no anomaly.
No matter what the Hunter Management Agency tried, those incense sticks would not catch fire.
He didn’t know why.
They had always been like that.
Still, just in case, he had taken one precaution in advance.
He briefly stared at the trash who had joined the Hunter Management Agency through special recruitment before turning his gaze elsewhere.
‘Vermin.’
Those men had been caught by the Hunter Association.
They had committed crimes against ordinary people and, naturally, had been caught by the vigilante organization operated by the Association.
Even so, the venerable Association had shown mercy.
This time, they had decided to let them off with a generous heart.
Instead, they were to spend some time reflecting on their actions.
For example, by doing things like working as spies.
Today, he had personally designated the place where those pieces of trash would collect their soil.
A swamp on an uninhabited island, specifically.
And he had ordered them to sprinkle the soil taken from the swamp into the incense burner.
So that the incense would absorb the moisture.
So that there would be absolutely no chance of the incense catching fire.
He had prepared this safety measure in advance.
‘It’s more than those bastards deserve.’
From the Chairman’s perspective, this was an honorable activity.
A noble undertaking to preserve the venerable Hunter Association and its long history.
Such an undertaking required a person of dignity.
Not those common street thugs who could be found anywhere.
And the person who perfectly fit the Chairman’s standards was A-rank Spearman Choi Hyungwoo.
‘And he’s merely a candidate for section chief?’
On top of that, he was apparently only an assistant manager right now.
When the Chairman first heard this, he had been genuinely incredulous.
Those idiots in the Hunter Management Agency had the audacity to judge people.
And then they had the nerve to conduct a public-service aptitude evaluation.
He almost laughed in contempt.
“Arrogant.”
Who were they to evaluate whom?
Did they truly not understand their own position?
This was why new organizations were no good.
Their perspective was fundamentally different from that of the Hunter Association, which had endured every kind of hardship and experience.
To make a proper judgment about anything, one first needed an objective assessment of one’s own capabilities at the present moment.
In other words, it was time to know one’s place.
But those people had been wrong from the very beginning.
In truth, the Chairman had never felt any sense of crisis over the launch of the Hunter Management Agency.
There was only one thing that bothered him….
‘The Tower Buff.’
The attack and defense buff that had been applied exclusively to Korea’s Tower, making it the first Tower in the world to receive such a buff immediately after the Hunter Management Agency was established.
That was why he had wondered if there might be something to it.
But this, too, had turned out exactly as expected.
‘It has nothing to do with this.’
The crow flies and the pear falls.
Just one of those situations where two unrelated events happened at the same time.
Now it was almost laughable.
To think he had entertained even the slightest expectation of such worthless people.
Therefore, the only thing left to do was….
Find the owner of the Tower Buff and recruit them first through the Association.
Naturally, if that person had any brains, they would accept the offer from the Hunter Association, which was at a level appropriate to them.
The offer had justification and practical benefits.
Because behind the Hunter Association was….
Ring-ring-ring─!
An international call came in at precisely that moment.
The Chairman was certain that that person was watching the scene live.
“Yes, this is the Chairman.”
He quietly stood up and blended into the excited crowd.
For the time being, he needed to conceal the truth amid the confusion.
However.
“…What? Who… who died?”
He asked again to confirm what he had heard.
But the same words continued to come from the other end of the phone.
“No, is that really true…?”
Something that absolutely should never have happened had occurred.
“Choi’s younger sister… No, why on earth!!”
An arrow appeared above the goblin ghosts that were blowing out the candles.
At the same time, a status window appeared.
Flash─!
It was appearing like a self-service feature without me even having to go looking for them.
Did that mean there were that many Remnant Spirits that had spilled out from the Tower?
Anyway, all I had to do was catch those things with my skill, right?
‘The skills I have.’
Summon Spirits, Exorcism, Materialization, Eye of Truth.
Of these, the one I could use right now was Exorcism.
<Exorcism: Returns a Remnant Spirit to where it originally belongs.
However, it may fail.
The success rate varies according to the level difference between the Remnant Spirit and the caster.
Restriction: Can be used once per day.>
Level difference?
I looked at the goblins for a moment.
Three ghosts were laughing and having a grand time blowing out the candles.
“…….”
They didn’t look much different from the goblins that appeared on the first floor of the Tower.
If anything, they looked slightly more cheerful.
Exorcism.
This should be enough.
The memorial ceremony site was still in chaos.
Some people were even cursing both the Hunter Association and the Hunter Management Agency together.
‘That won’t do.’
My stable career as a civil servant was already being shaken from the very beginning.
“Director.”
“Ah, Section Chief Lee. I need to get used to this, but I still can’t quite adapt. It’s going to keep being like this from now on.”
The Director was sweating nervously.
“I’ll try lighting it.”
“The incense? Can you do it?”
“I think I know how.”
“All right, Section Chief Lee. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself even if it doesn’t work.”
A new candle and incense stick were soon handed to me by one of the organizers.
As I approached the incense burner, one of the goblins came rushing toward me like a moth drawn to a flame.
“Stop.”
The goblin’s foot froze mid-step.
The goblin stared directly at me.
[Keek?]
“What’s with the ‘keek’?”
[Kehhek???]
The goblin’s eyes widened.
The other goblin ghosts all turned to look this way as well.
“I’m warning you. If you put out this candle….”
[…?]
“I’ll make sure you disappear from this world too.”
[?!]
I could have simply gotten rid of them right away, but there was a reason I was warning them first.
I didn’t know how many ghosts the Exorcism Level 1 skill could affect at once.
[Kikiki]
[Kekek!]
But naturally, the goblins didn’t listen to me right away.
Fine.
I expected that.
They probably needed an example.
“Exorcism.”
<Exorcism can only be used once per day. If you use the skill now, you will be unable to use it again until tomorrow. Would you like to cast Exorcism?>
“Cast.”
<Please select a target.
Goblin Ghost
Goblin Ghost
Goblin Ghost>
One red arrow bearing a number appeared above each goblin’s head.
As expected, it worked like this.
“Number 1.”
Whooooooosh─!
The sound of a typhoon came from somewhere.
Then a black space appeared beside the incense burner.
But nobody reacted.
It seemed that this, too, was visible only to me.
And soon, from that space—
[Grrrrrrrr….]
A beast that looked as though it had emerged from hell appeared.
Its entire body was pitch black, with only its eyes and mouth glowing red.
The moment it saw the goblin ghost, red, lava-like saliva began dripping from its mouth.
[Kwaaooooo!!!]
[Ki… eeek, keng! Kekek!!]
A massacre unfolded in an instant.
The beast sank its fangs into the goblin’s back.
The goblin ghost’s flesh was torn apart like rags, and before long, it vanished without a trace with a gulp into the beast’s mouth.
The remaining goblin ghosts froze in place when they witnessed the scene.
I calmly placed the new incense stick into the burner and lit the tip.
And then…
The alarm I had been waiting for rang out.
<You have defeated a Remnant Spirit scattered from Korea’s First Tower.>
