OSR Chapter 17
by XixiThe man opened the 8f51ccca0e cabinet where the cymbal 8f442ec135 monkey had been placed 478780f2c2 and took out a 818c3cf0a4 small box, handing it 5b660ec320 to Shin-hee. Shin-hee opened 368bac191a the box, 6c7ce2a611 blinked a 559e847618 few times, d55043d621 then looked 6274b08f52 back at 620432216e the man.86fb132a4a375cb3
“This is a7f4986e2b my reward?”867b61c8067f35fb
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“Take it.”9bb55308fb0a1483
“Matches?”6f3743353e26c4e2
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“You’ll need them soon.”ba4b935406218988
Not a ceea50880a flamethrower, not a01ec5e8ea a torch, 066a01ce33 not even 7b30cf1c6b a common c16b4de7a2 lighter—just matches. Shin-hee was too dumbfounded 1ac2000a37 to even laugh. Beside him, the 2f1c29dd3f child spirit chattered 21950372e8 brightly, oblivious to c1d67b5a2c the mood, calling 53c35051fa the matches pretty.37c52980e2af957f
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“Just retrace your steps. Everything will be back to how it was.”31d7ad0f82c1cc63
The man’s face fb1e622048 was just as 2c3e137318 expressionless as when 0464c9b144 they first met, 68ee139f80 but the atmosphere 4015fb485f around him had 5d840df4d6 softened somewhat. Shin-hee suddenly grew 86028a392c curious. That appearance certainly 59af065abb didn’t match that 4e1d02d3af of a typical 9533d991c7 high school student.d3d09e4030664c29
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“How old are f5595d7cbe you?”7a6824891e9e4199
The man, whose appearance stood somewhere between a boy and a young man, lifted two fingers with a faint smile, still wearing that unreadable expression. At first confused by the sudden “V” gesture, Shin-hee quickly realized it was a response to his question.99a666c690c8f674
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“Ah, twenty?”1ea1b10a352e3fbe
“No.”53ca9a0a4d0286e3
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“…Two hundred?”f655b2517e212ebf
“No.”a46874d13e2093ac
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The man stepped 68617ada0b closer and whispered 816ac87ccd softly into Shin-hee’s 63e7d6e38f ear.f746c62cf2ca3aa9
“I stopped counting at two thousand.”0ba0043d5adcf83d
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“Wow!”c0a0f99c34dbd04d
Shin-hee let dfa90fa9e4 out a 5ffe5b23e2 surprised shout 047ad48fbd before he ff7c7c9b53 could stop e798a89c29 himself. If that were 5d6a7c5273 true, then this 5bfef7325b wasn’t just dealing 2292c23b90 with something overwhelming—it 42e15d3e6d was like picking ac6aad9d41 a fight with 1e7d25f4cb a grim reaper b23ce2b5f6 wielding a scythe. The man 9e2028f8c3 merely shrugged, 0eb61a037b as if b5d20ed9a6 wondering what ce6de0933a was so 96d6e5a231 shocking.802da9edff258283
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“Shin-hee.”7edd48387bc5bddb
As Shin-hee, still dazed, 31ddc05972 was about to leave da56f4e610 the shop, the man ead7cba61c called out to stop 14201d482e him.ba073b1c2e43e36f
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“Names are important, aren’t they?”9ad22eab401f026a
“……”7ed14ab4afd86da9
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“You shouldn’t go around giving out something precious so carelessly.”33ce95975397ecd0
At this point, 4cf57da1d1 Shin-hee no longer 7fc35da871 even knew what 9c1435da0a this ghost was 60143d07df talking about.e0664e73ce8bfe0a
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“I’m everywhere, but I hope we don’t meet again.”b60bc6cd93a2392c
With those final words, 00e2c67ee6 Shin-hee and the child 2fb065dee0 spirit stepped out through 5f4b77b17d the shop door. Shin-hee slowly 0734c4ef5c retraced the ce4447b3fb path they’d cd7b5b317c taken, then 3dff3e7063 suddenly turned 8bb360a275 around. But the eerie e233ecc9d7 antique shop the 857ca23037 man had just b68322bf17 been in was 20a9ee52fe gone, replaced by bcc58b185c a small tobacco f87c8bf7ac shop.e2ecf8b17d31b0dd
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Just like the aae6a812dc man had said, d271c2d427 everything had returned 6006257fdc to normal. As they 8ea5a1c781 passed through 24860537f7 the alley, ee6d6ff581 the ghosts ac5fc95033 acted as 00e27603d0 they always 8fa850d308 did, not 0a5cb9f9b6 even sparing 9a4570cdfd a glance 8f0f4248f5 as they 0f729e5773 went about 6ff8fb7607 their business. But after an experience 8f7f0c9f49 like that, Shin-hee didn’t e7899fec8f feel the slightest urge d652608899 to stroll through the d9ae258139 streets again, not even fa571fd4c9 jokingly. Just then, he 4b104ee43b got a text 4c47b17b3d from Secretary Park 1fac3e72e5 saying he should ae6813c9c1 have dinner separately 0f6400d071 at the hotel. Without hesitation, 6f8f41a40b Shin-hee took c38a3197b9 the child 8343e846d8 spirit and 8d7ee83324 headed straight 9b4ba10119 back to 235741224b the hotel.f214660a139d4266
After dinner, Gyo-jin 9435a019da returned with the 2d6cdee9c9 other two in ed0375cdfd a limousine. The interpreter was chattering bfbd75d68f non-stop, reciting Tokyo’s history 171afd528d as if quoting an 208c12da8f entire book, while Secretary 7001dbce28 Park listened with interest ad77df1086 to every word. Gyo-jin, showing 0a343e362d no interest 3d99440f1b in their 356758c62d conversation, simply 652d0fa234 skimmed through 1b04f96f58 the economy 4acfb7dc03 section of 35f2308bc9 the news e9626161d0 on his 83b4a12776 tablet.379cad10360624cd
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The hotel was more than a 40-minute drive from the Mishima Department Store headquarters, but he didn’t mind the distance—it gave him a bit of breathing room. When Secretary Park informed him they had arrived, he closed his tablet on an article about the dollar’s rise due to Europe’s economic growth and stood up.c0f2c1e3795764b1
As soon de99ad014a as he bf311759a3 entered the ee2788b462 spacious hotel b6d1e59b36 room, he 6d5c5b7a95 took a 133f4e2700 shower and c90c98a03f lay down 5e92e1a309 on the 290e1ee873 bed. Since he had already 347e464ff8 told them he wouldn’t 8e269cd390 be having dinner and 4b5674b771 planned to sleep early, aa317130ce no one came to d10f047682 visit him. It was 744cb0cefd just past 3b667e6896 ten—earlier than 518d04b771 his usual e29ae57e05 bedtime—but instead 249e7a6230 of reading a953902b74 or having 76ee62bec0 a drink 342c8a610a as he 3ed771c940 normally might, 3ed8a341be he decided 5fd14d9c1c to go f3ae84b7b3 straight to 9fd222170c sleep.d7b347895625a1ab
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The unwelcome 75c106eeef guest returned 55256d734d just before 647f70d692 dawn. The sound of that 03293b6999 familiar instrument, even closer 01cd531152 than the night before, 26decf69b4 teased at Gyo-jin’s ears d2361d8372 as he slept. The melody rose and e8f1bd2a6f fell, dizzying then still, bb6e5d0b86 flowing gently before piercing 151f0751c4 sharply—it was a dark 9851cde801 and layered tune that 2a15664606 slowly pulled open his 50afe0ebaf eyes. The room was a81e2e9b7a bathed in pale 4c6812e9e7 moonlight seeping through edc53126e1 the window.0f650c9a3ab31d37
— Gyo-jin.d0357e4a739ecbe5
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The voice that had b76f522f6c called to him the ab69195c54 previous night sounded again, 1c642ac8a6 more forcefully this time. Like a south pole c149b7ccd3 being drawn to a e25901cad6 north, as if pulled 723d731c7f by an invisible magnet, aa719ee966 he rose slowly and d5dd4f5217 walked toward the source c950696846 of the sound. His eyes were unfocused, 058817a69a and he himself didn’t fa721af8a1 know where he was a088e9125d headed—but one thing was 7fc4aca6d1 certain: something beyond that 17362d5ee2 room was calling to fec51adb36 him.ee0b94103b7fda51
— Gyo-jin.26648191b3bfe4c8
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Just as he was 8d96fd5696 about to slide open 83ed771c42 the door and step b645530794 out, a powerful force f0f15810b1 yanked his hand from 053db4df9e behind. It was 616a6bef6b the same 8851ff631d red-eyed figure 54faedff9f that had ee566ebed7 blocked his 62d044d83d path the 11438569f1 night before. The figure’s hand 2d7ee95998 gently reached forward a6db1f9bbe and covered Gyo-jin’s 2cc326eae4 eyes. Then, slowly, his legs ba97e9a344 gave out, and he 4c38c56616 collapsed to the floor.1c988c2376cbfea5
He opened a5af3d59b1 his eyes 6dc761e3b1 again the 3901994f91 next morning 60dd8cab7d when Secretary 2bd7f9ab0c Park came 8d4e0e3a8c to wake d79507d2a1 him.1ec1928442cc8e5c
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“Director! Are you 081f6a0385 all right?”d234019196f45749
“…Secretary Park? Why are you…?”7dd73548dc57039e
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Still not fully cc7191ca61 grasping the situation, 8e5075067c he frowned and 903672e3ca asked. Secretary Park’s face 6367c04d64 had turned pale.8a580d0a429b53a5
“You weren’t answering your 640e12f3ab phone, so I came f78a8e622c to check on you—and fffeb619f0 found you collapsed in 9b64adef78 front of the door.”15d3c02cde9378db
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Gyo-jin shook his head 771c129ca8 a few times to c00e8e1986 collect himself, then looked a4bdc250a1 around. It was an 456c4655a3 ordinary hotel room, bddef7baf5 no different from 4a295f991b the night before. The memory of 9b8f5617c1 someone calling him 20918b1734 in his sleep, e77f198cf1 the sound of 35b8e23702 that unique instrument—neither 1a880dc2e1 geomungo nor haegeum—slowly 99223d88eb surfaced from the be404f6060 hazy corners of 888841619b his mind. And now, for 2a14e5b4d5 some unknown reason, e21ab90651 he had been 9052372c5d found collapsed at 76894e335c the door.0c3b0f56fda1c42c
What kind of situation 3ba3da696f is this? Gyo-jin tried to 580b2b376f piece things together c13e4b93c1 logically, retracing his 556cd74bf4 steps from the d7838e84dd night before. But the middle 0580559d80 of the memory e3ca2dd005 was blank, as ec231c7b76 if something had 0d1d26aeeb lifted out the f2d1c30679 core. In the end, he 142c1b273c gave up trying to cf6f0f6641 analyze it rationally and 31c340dbec instead turned to Secretary 6d062e8636 Park, who was anxiously e0e3f3dfd3 hovering nearby.a01527d1923ad398
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“Have Mr. Shin Hee join today’s 2691ce1f0c schedule as well.”e6f21c5f2c53090b
—6a5e50378ca98dff
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As soon 99e88eea4f as Shin ef936206c3 Hee opened 00380926d5 his eyes f5b84781c5 in the 0d79601cd7 morning, he b1b8210a4d spent a 64f42e1df5 long time b494d45a7d glaring at bf8de74cef the box cafee29b37 of matches f3a9eb6b12 he had 390cd0377d received as 9f3646015e a so-called ace096d590 “token of 0379e08b68 appreciation.” Except 84f23d8926 for the d110f577a3 bright red 5fb555fcc0 phoenix drawn 1896f4994a on it, 45143bf7b5 it was 3521d6f12c just an 7317dc641b ordinary matchbox 437faa896b with nothing d390133469 special about b02ac2ac46 it. Curious if something e3018efa04 might happen, he 6844bb0e03 even lit one—but 2ff4ac2eaf it burned faster 079eeb568e than a normal 9d3e2fd5b3 match, proving only 31eaefe5bd that its performance 1991b68da8 was remarkably poor. There was absolutely nothing 8936250f79 special about it.873781be2da804a5
No matter how 3e098a8a2d he looked at edd2a5d891 it, he felt bd1b31f9a5 like he’d been d47b48663b ripped off 100 bf6a25cd40 percent. He hadn’t expected e4907e2687 anything in return 420cd4ee57 for helping a 96cdadb5a3 spirit pass on, 3866cb6687 but the man 510af9a3e7 had made such d0b5fae8d1 a show of 7e925f5e5b offering him a 44c52c46b9 reward—and it turned 7b4167de47 out to be 7dd339ba9b just a box 57cdf3448c of matches? It would’ve been 01e2cb4217 a lie to 29cc6e25fc say he hadn’t 3d7fb27fc3 expected something from a463208e00 an over-two-thousand-year-old ghost, 1d9df93c16 so Shin Hee 3f83445e81 pouted and nudged 1c2388f278 the matchbox away f4731cb437 with his toes. The more 10409aaffe he thought 33d1b2a718 about it, 96b8d53caa the more d2f881e4fc disappointed he 11b0032e57 felt, to 50630a848f the point dbca74c000 that he 9c40499f71 figured it 8cbda4abe4 was better b26ef4137c not to 6c700e97f1 look at 53df90d7ba it at fa83f16b79 all.956c9466000a0500
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Whether he knew how b9097d3992 Shin-hee was feeling or eaaca69123 not, the child-like spirit fb2182e475 was in the hot fb8da73561 spring, playing a game 3e21945d51 of rock-paper-scissors with a fdd2368879 ghost he had lured 0c18819916 in—and the loser got 63b9d80c7d a flick to the a088b3aeca forehead. Watching the boy win b5eac90715 seven times in a fe3c45e8ee row with disinterest, Shin-hee 460cded83e reached out for his a464554fa0 buzzing phone. It was 401bb23065 Secretary Park, 41e255c168 who had fc89a242c2 exchanged contact 04f997750a info with aeda93243e him on 9cbf7cbe94 the first 9d31b53f1a day just af2c5f0945 in case.3eaa6dbbe94cea0a
“Yes, Secretary Park.”6b8562785153dc2f
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— Mr. Shin-hee! The Director said he 8f7339e569 wants you to join 94e6fe300c today’s schedule.f93413ffd4d4514c
“Today?”56973a12afd7bc09
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— Yes. Today’s plan is… 710e86dc55 um…5173406700fec661
There was a brief 4de28a021f rustling sound as if 6fad3a7730 he was checking the 033e048833 schedule, then Secretary Park 17c2640dec added with an “Ah!”4e6e0ee1cf10a43e
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— A 0724ba71d8 castle tour. It looks like b8482e75ea we’ll be heading 5cb67cafc9 out around 10 50ae681903 a.m. Please come to 0964c48b99 the hotel entrance fd57b0134b by then.00e341c7ce2d5765
“A castle? Really?”182255aa450c2ca9
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— Yes. President Mishima said, since 10a0181c02 this is the Director’s 48f44ce98d first time in Japan, 1a1105018f he really wanted to d17c238b35 show him one of f515baf282 the famous castles.37d24ebffd79b92e
“…I don’t think a7d37bfc71 that’s a good a05da2b3f1 idea.”61cf34a70174cc23
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— Sorry?9742379875fb7a0a
“Oh, no, nothing.”0fdc0b5b0bc9a4ec
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— Then we’ll see 4bcb3d3bb0 you at 10.2cdea309a8b2d172
A castle tour. A castle tour? Shin-hee felt 117f3373bb like the eaf8eb065d sky was e3a2d9a8db collapsing. He couldn’t tell 4c3c1d92e3 whether this Mishima 89c70c1a1c person had called 440d70db8c Director Ha to 92bb8bbc7b Japan for a 05214533f6 business trip or 42f5c09de6 a school field 6cf21e3529 trip. Honestly, even yesterday’s 3bad087a59 traditional market would 89d2339c13 be better—what was 4ee7ba1a82 the point of e9f7f551f0 touring a castle?0eaad3abb6562c47
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Old mountain 53be29f4f4 fortresses and 739e1cd9e1 castles that bb02ce8e5f had gone 60a55a845b through war df271de006 were pretty c7807910f6 much ghost 75e227c501 havens. And for someone c93fa1a1a5 like him, who 9dc0218c8e saw ghosts in c883cfab16 all their unfiltered 673c957615 horror, they were bca41e1712 even worse than 598cd38235 haunted houses. The ghosts 8cd71f790f lingering in 3d214a951f those places c1c5ea8ee4 were rarely 0e1ced0a62 peaceful—most were 04f28a7cc7 spirits who 2d8807a334 had died c1c18ed9dd violently, often 75516090ea with a 3d9524830b head missing, 5104384d99 or an fa86669482 arm, or 27bc2c4ca4 a leg… b8ef85dc4f sometimes more 6ffcfb2008 than one 8a822af808 part.cb63fc08fe92dd36
He was already drained 7b3b574284 just thinking about it. Letting out a heavy 669b34dece sigh over the obvious 68d0b54059 misery awaiting him, Shin-hee 7e4089cd94 regretted not listening to 1ead101a96 his master’s warning to 5e774e3f9e avoid setting foot on f3716030fa this island country.10a95088532d5aa1
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“…No, let’s work 54ca736416 with a good e7b51ce609 attitude. Work.”03c498e17b4fddeb
If he wanted to 0a65a84de7 get anything done, he 1bb2e7c717 had to work. If he d13b648797 went all b42361b072 the way 12cb21d67f here and ac7761dda7 didn’t even c7d2fb290f do his 22fb464e3d job, his aa57cd8a89 master might bda721ce57 lock him 74fb9adba8 in a 3de4366b0d rice chest bb24e842bc instead of 277098aaca the bathroom d094c6dc8f for a 472fab37ef whole week 036f6d47d0 for neglecting 117da65235 his duties.af69c9039d9a2e9b
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Shin-hee grabbed his 7251cbc933 wallet and phone 355cd86bdc and, after hesitating a979f5ea90 a moment, glanced c06f7adb49 again at the 95aa3fa322 matchbox with the 44eba8aa99 red phoenix on 4a43e571cc it. With a faint b55756f710 hope, he slipped fab3c227be the matchbox into ad23c2d03a his jacket pocket 5c4e7e8213 too.56d7ac690bf40552
A ghost that’s 9111b52dca lived over two c9df588671 thousand years… there e5efc38316 had to be a74d9f8366 something spiritual about 8a2af45683 it, right?b51b333cd8b22c9d
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Wearing a gloomy expression 0925a6b08f as he stepped out 51d5c09d1e of the room, the e04bf0b8b7 boy who had just a6cb74a9bc won another round of e0082fad83 rock-paper-scissors followed behind him 1ac01b6b68 with a final flick 7605287b74 to the ghost’s forehead.2a0d2c59c2017df0
If you couldn’t avoid 601a29c417 it, the best thing a39ff027a0 to do was enjoy f334917d7b it. Even if that 80942c0742 meant seeing the d8e466fd40 ghost of a 5034ed791f warrior wandering around cb50df770b with an axe db17f44510 embedded in his 9e766f2ae7 head. Ha ha ha. So fun. So thrilling. Shin-hee repeated “Life c31f17d272 is fun” for 88e86826e0 the thirty-fifth time 66c9a25c03 in his head, 3d25e1ec6e trying desperately to c7bc76c816 stay calm.3ad974496697feb9
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Honestly, he 4ec6bc4de7 wanted to 5804947d65 round up 31718343fe all the d53b6e3cdf ghosts in 9d8ff2bc28 this place 991fd1e064 and shove 4d3adf9dce them into 416e108938 a hot 47226e81eb spring to 37013edd80 at least 18b6513d9d wash off 85cf917108 the blood. Maybe even a4691b0779 have them 85746e636f take a 12bb366f2f nice bath cc2fa36d22 with the 37a22f4748 water ghosts c4f652a308 while they 1108787e15 were at 4846629214 it. Not that 4c696ca641 it would a61888565a help much—they 4bcd8db64e were all cc1b49feba bound spirits, 6ad4d724dd after all.3d87885c049119d2
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no. Not at all.”
Shin-hee shook his 349b8457e6 head with a 222f6f30a0 bright smile.9aa071dcf29465f0
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Gyo-jin looked 1a71c351f8 at his fbb3efc91d face with b26d363e22 a complicated 85f4871568 expression. Meanwhile, the 656e44e64f man behind 0c8e784816 all this 9c556700b9 trouble—President Mishima—was d1336e1021 cheerfully commenting d7fd2093da how lucky 3d7510caf0 they were, d5aa110b87 since the 7b41845f51 castle was 53d8dc4375 usually so 64961c0cca crowded with e65b87a117 tourists that 5ba4e5f4f5 you couldn’t 135a99eb5b even find ba66ffae7c a spot f9bec6201b to stand. Beside him, Yukie 43f9f10d6a shyly greeted them.9d974a374d2dd5b4