The Shaman Ghost Who Laughs and Dances (3)

Ghost!
The ghost has appeared!
With three people lying there with their eyes open and faces pale!

“Run away! Let’s run!”

I grabbed the hand of the girl next to me and ran away!
This is a strategic retreat!

“My, my daughter! My daughter Juhui!”

While hurriedly running down the stairs, the woman shouted.
It seems the hand I grabbed wasn’t Yang Juhui’s after all!

“Oh no! Mother-in-law!”

“Mother-in-law!?”

“No! Mom! No, I mean, not Mom! Deaconess! I will bring Juhui back! You run away! Run! Fucking hell, there’s a real ghost up there! A real ghost! Oh fuck!”

“I…I’ll go to the church and bring people! People!”

As I started climbing the stairs again, I felt so wronged and scared that I felt like crying my eyes out.
First, a death game, now a shaman ghost!
Is it normal to encounter ghosts twice in one day?

“My life is ruined.”

I really hated the idea of going back into Yang Juhui’s house, but I was scared that if Yang Juhui died by the shaman ghost, she would become a “delinquent ghost” and come looking for me.

Then I would really die!
A delinquent ghost is really, really scary.

“Um… Juhui…”

I slowly entered the house.
My face automatically scrunched up because the house, which until just before had a strong scent of flowers befitting a high school girl’s home, now reeked of a foul stench.

*Cough, cough.*

Ugh, what the hell is this smell.
As I slowly advanced into the house, the lights of the already dark house suddenly went out.

“Oh, shit…”

The interior was pitch black.
I really wanted to turn back right away, but…

“The peace like a river. The peace like a river. The peace like a river overflows in me…”

“Bullshit.”

“Ah!”

I was really startled.
Even a cat that saw a cucumber while eating wouldn’t have been more surprised than me.

When I shone my phone’s light, I saw Yang Juhui standing alone in the darkness, drooling some strange liquid from the corner of her mouth.

“Hey…! Let’s get out of here! Quickly! Yang Juhui!”

“Where are you going. This is my house. This is my house. My house. But these bitches never invite me over for Chuseok or New Year’s! Bitches who look down on our ancestors, believing in some desert demon.”

Her face and voice were definitely Yang Juhui’s… but it didn’t seem like Yang Juhui at all.
I was really scared and wanted to run away, but I decided to ask.

“Um… I’m really sorry but… who are you?”

“I’m this kid’s grandma. This bitch never even offers her grandma an ancestral rite meal. How annoying. So I’m going to take her with me. Kekekekeke!”

*Bounce bounce bounce-.*

Yang Juhui suddenly began dancing crazily.
She laughed as she danced and made jangling bell sounds with her mouth.

*Jingle jingle jingle jingle*

A shaman ritual…
Is she performing a shaman ritual?

Suddenly, the fact that Yang Juhui’s maternal family had been historically shamans of the shrine Seongangdang came to mind. It was definitely her real grandmother’s ghost possessing her!

“Do you know the two ghosts that even shamans avoid? One is the laughing ghost! The other is the dancing ghost! And scarier than that is a shaman ghost! Kekekeke! Then what is a shaman ghost that dances and laughs?”

I don’t know, fuck!
How would I know that!

Why the hell am I even here?
I was so scared but also angry.
When a person gets too scared, at some point, they snap and go insane.

Maybe after facing many ghosts, I’ve developed a fighting spirit.
So I squeezed out my courage and asked.

“Um… so… if you’re a real shaman, can you like… summon dead ghosts and stuff?”

“Yes! Kekekekeke!”

“Then… can you summon Hitler too? I heard Hitler hid a ton of gold…”

“…Foreigners don’t work!”

“Then what about my dad? Can you summon my dad’s ghost, too?”

“Just wait and see. Ha Youngwon, you bastard! Never listening to your dad and fooling around all day!”

“Dad? Is that really you, Dad? Sing the military song!”

“……”

“Hey, you piece of shit, actually, our dad isn’t even dead!”

I never believed in shamans or fortune-telling from the beginning.
How can you summon my father, who isn’t even dead?
It’s all fake!
At this point, I was more angry than scared.

“You fucking bitches! If you’re really our ancestors, you should tell us the lottery numbers, thinking of your descendants! You’re trying to kill people just because we didn’t hold ancestral rites?”

*Jingle jingle jingle*

“The descendants who are really blessed by their ancestors go on overseas trips during Chuseok and New Year’s! You’re not even our real ancestor! If everyone who dies becomes a ghost, then what about the tyrannosaurus!”

“……”

Yang Juhui furtively averted her eyes to the side.
I shouted at Yang Juhui.

“If people really become ghosts when they die, the tyrannosaurus ghosts that died earlier would have eaten them all! Tyrannosaurus! Allosaurus! Velociraptor! Pteranodon!”

I vividly imagined dinosaur ghosts.
Then, from somewhere, I really heard dinosaur roars, and Yang Juhui screamed.

“Hieee! Wha, what is this! What is this! Ack!”

*Thud*

Yang Juhui’s body collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.
Soon, letters appeared before my eyes.

Congratulations!

You have won against the ‘Placebo Effect’!

Settlement for the survival of 3 people will begin.

You have acquired 300P.

The placebo effect.
Does it mean that if you genuinely believe in something fake, you get real effects?

It seems that because Deaconess Kim Yeook, Yang Juhui’s mother, spoke so vividly about ancestral ghosts, it manifested like a placebo effect.
…Wow, the things I go through.
I really feel like crying.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

I think this much settles the debt I left in the hallway.

Yang Juhui collapsed on the floor, panting *haa-haa*. Her chest heaved, and her long, pale legs were still stretched out under her school uniform skirt.

I managed to drive away the placebo ghost.
But seeing her unable to come to her senses, I got scared.

“Hey. Try to get up.”

*Poke poke*

I poked Yang Juhui’s thigh with my finger.
Even though she gained weight, her legs were firm and toned with muscle.
Perhaps because she learned taekwondo as a child.

“Ow, my head.”

My touch seemed to have an effect as Yang Juhui got up, holding her head.
Soon, Yang Juhui looked around, frowning.

“What the. What happened? Where’s Mom?”

“Your mother went to church. Do you remember what happened to you just now? What’s the last moment you remember?”

“……”

Yang Juhui frowned as if suffering from a hangover.
After pondering for a while, Yang Juhui spoke haltingly.

“I don’t know. I remember Mom yelling up until that point. I think I had a really scary dream. Someone was screaming… and suddenly dinosaurs appeared, it was funny… scary but funny…”

I see.
She has no memory from the point before the picture frame broke when the deaconess had a fit.

“Reverend! We’re over here! Here!”

“Deaconess Kim. Oh my, Deaconess Kim. Just a moment… whew, I’m out of breath…”

Then, a deaconess and an unfamiliar man entered through the front door.
The man was holding a Bible and wore glasses, giving a gentle impression.
He seems to be someone the deaconess brought from the church she went to.

“A shaman ghost has possessed my daughter, Juhui! My daughter Juhui! Reverend!”

“…She doesn’t really look possessed?”

Unlike the flustered deaconess, the pastor from Youngkwang Church examined Yang Juhui up and down with a rather calm attitude. Of course, the deaconess was reckless.

“She’s possessed, I’m telling you! Trying to take my daughter away! The ancestral ghost has possessed her! Those bitches! They already took Dohee, and now they’re trying to take Juhee, too! Aaah!”

She must be going crazy.
I wonder what I can do in this situation.
Just then, something soft grabbed my hand.
It was Yang Juhui.

“Ha Youngwon, let’s get out of here! Quickly!”

“Huh?”

Behind us, the pastor and deaconess shouted something, but Yang Juhui grabbed my hand as if it didn’t matter and led me down the apartment stairs.

She could at least tell me where we’re going.
Yang Juhui, walking ahead, was silent.

After walking for a while, Yang Juhui stopped at a playground inside the apartment complex. It was an old playground with peeling paint and rust, making it impossible to tell when it was last repainted.

*Creak, creak*

Yang Juhui sat on the swings.
And then she swung her long legs back and forth, soaring towards the sky and sinking back down.

“You saw it too. My mom is totally crazy about church. She goes to church all week. It wasn’t this bad before. It got really bad after losing my sister.”

“Your sister? Why?”

“At first, we thought my sister had just run away from home. But now we don’t even know if she’s alive or dead. My family used to be better off.”

Why the hell do so many people go missing in this city?
Yang Juhui continued.

“My mom went crazy trying to find my sister, giving money and selling our house. She went to all the big churches in Seoul and asked the pastors to find my sister. My mom thinks a ghost took my sister away.”

That doesn’t make sense, but it didn’t sound like a joke to me.
No, if it was just a few days ago, I would have taken it as a joke.

But there were secrets and horrors hidden in the world that were unfathomable to the reason of a high school boy and girl, and I was right in the middle of it.

Is it too precise to be a coincidence?

“I might transfer schools soon. Following my dad. He said he got a job in Seoul and told me to come. Honestly, I don’t think we’ll be able to find my sister anymore. She’s probably dead.”

“…Why do you think that?”

“I don’t know if it was a dream or reality. But I think I saw my sister’s ghost. She was standing in a dark hallway.”

A dark hallway.
That was a story I wanted to hear more details about.

“Can you tell me more about that story?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to Seoul now. This is the end with this shitty Gaeryong too. I hate everything now. I hate my mom. I hate this ant-infested apartment. I hate the church bastards taking advantage of my poor mom.”

Seoul…
Seoul isn’t that great of a place, either.
No, actually, Yang Juhui probably just wants to leave this place, whether it’s Seoul or anywhere else.

Yang Juhui and I had a few things in common.
That commonality lowered my guard towards Yang Juhui a little.

“Juhui, if it’s true that you saw your sister in the hallway, you might be able to meet her again.”

“Youngwon, it’s nice of you to comfort me, but you shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly.”

“No. I’m serious.”

I was at a crossroads of choice.
Honestly, the burden I carried was too heavy for me to bear alone.
It would be nice to have a trustworthy companion.

“Yang Juhui. Take my hand. If you take this hand, you might be able to meet your sister. But in exchange, you’ll go through things scarier than you can even imagine.”

“What, is this like an extension of an April Fool’s love confession?”

“It’s not a joke. So please take my hand.”

Yang Juhui stared at the hand I held out for a long time.
About 30 seconds passed.

“…So, who’s that ex-girlfriend you said dumped you?”

…Are you still on about that?
I looked up at the sky.

Stars shone above the old playground.
I quite liked this city of Gaeryong.

It had just the right amount of shabbiness.
It had a charm that seemed like it would embrace me even if I lived as a loser.

I thought Yang Juhui and I, both rough around the edges and twisted, would make good partners.
Like a midget and a blind man relying on each other.

*Slip*

A soft touch grasped my hand. It was a small, delicate touch I had felt before.
I gripped it tightly, afraid that warmth might slip away.

“Ah, tsk… Youngwon, you really are a dork, even grabbing my hand like a pervert.”

“How do you know what it’s like to hold hands with a pervert? Have you held hands with one before?”

“I have. Right now.”

Either Yang Juhui or I, one of us laughed first, and we burst into laughter together.
After that, we played on the swings and seesaw and even went down the old slide in the playground.

It was a night more unbelievable than ghosts or the teacher’s hallway.

“Me playing with Yang Juhui at a playground. The sun will rise from the west.”

On the way back home.

*Buzz*

My phone rang.

Yang Juhui: So how can we meet my sister?

Yang Juhui and I had exchanged KakaoTalk earlier, and Yang Juhui had already contacted me.
I decided to give a suitable answer.

Let's meet in tonight's dream, LOL. Don't be surprised if you see me in your dream. I'll explain the details then.
Yang Juhui: Ew cheesy lol Yuck lol.

Today is the second entry into the hallway.
Unlike last time when I knew nothing and had no comrades, today I will get a “hint,” at least.
I can do it. The current me can!