Ch.176176 – The Snake’s Tail 5

# 176 – The Snake’s Tail # 5

The key to the fourth floor was held by the Gandara Shaman in the eastern part of Buldansa.

According to Ms. Hong Miri, that “east” referred to the real world.

This meant there was a key guarded by the Gandara Shaman in Buldansa, located beneath the Old School Building in the real world. To obtain the key, we would have to face the shaman in reality.

“The more people we have, the better, so she’s perfect as disposable bait.”

The suggestion was to use the virgin shaman Kim Miryeong, who had been targeting Kwon Sua’s eyes, as bait for our approach to the Gandara Shaman. If she could buy us even a little time, she would have served her purpose.

We weren’t trying to kill or enlighten that snake shaman, just secure the key she was guarding.

Getting that “key” alone would be our victory.

“What do you think you can do there? What can you possibly do?!”

Of course, Kim Miryeong struggled and thrashed despite being completely tied up.

The furry ghost clung to her like a puppy.

“Sisssster—”

“Hey! You useless bitch! Kill them all quickly! Hurry!”

“Eeeeeeng.”

It really bothered me that the furry ghost called Kim Miryeong “sister,” but Ms. Hong Miri snorted derisively at Kim Miryeong.

“So you killed your younger sister to create an easily controlled spirit. She’s still obedient even in that state because of the blood connection between sisters.”

What a horrifying story.

That thing was her sister!

“You cruel woman. How could you do that to your own sister?”

Ms. Hong Miri was angry.

Perhaps because of her own memories of being betrayed by her twin, she seemed to empathize with the sister. However, Kim Miryeong had her excuses.

“My younger sister was dying anyway. If that was the case, wouldn’t it be better for her to die in a way that helps me! That’s what family is for! To help each other! Now hurry up and kill them!”

“Eeeng.”

Despite the sharp command, the furry ghost only rubbed its fluffy body against Kim Miryeong. Apparently, Kim Miryeong’s younger sister had been an extremely kind person.

“Areong is smart. She thinks if she harms us, we won’t leave her sister Kim Miryeong alone. That’s why she’s behaving. You’re still inferior to your sister.”

“Eeek!”

Struggle, struggle—

Since Kim Miryeong was screaming while thrashing about violently, we had no choice but to gag her. Anyway.

To think such a crazy woman had been living above Kwon Sua’s house. If we had realized it even a little later, it could have been disastrous in many ways.

It’s a miracle no one got hurt.

Yang Juhui’s appearance was quite dramatic.

The message I had sent her must have helped.

“How are you feeling?”

I looked Yang Juhui over from head to toe.

Her body, which had remained in the corridor, had fallen into a coma in the real world. I thought there might be some aftereffects, but at a glance, she seemed fine.

“I’m perfectly fine.”

She’s tough.

# # #

We quickly loaded Kim Miryeong into the van before anyone could see us.

Jeongseok, who had been grunting with effort while lifting the woman, wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up at the dazzlingly bright summer sun.

“To think we’d go as far as kidnapping a woman. We’re perfect criminals now. I wonder what my mom and dad would say if they knew I was running around like this.”

Jeongseok’s mother was the daughter of a renowned professor who had lived like a lady without ever experiencing hardship, and his father was the son of the Gaeryong mayor, a prosecutor, and the current mayor who was considered a presidential candidate.

Born between them, Jeongseok should have naturally walked the golden path of privilege, but now he was kidnapping people, killing and being killed.

In other words, he had strayed from the predetermined road.

“What are you saying, Jeongseok? Don’t suddenly act all righteous. If you don’t want to do this, then leave. Why are you pretending to be the only good one? I need to make a lot of money.”

Bong Jiyeon frowned. Having successfully found her sister’s head, the reason Bong Jiyeon was hanging out with us was simply to make a lot of money.

With my ability, matching lottery numbers would be no big deal.

“Hmm.”

Jeongseok mumbled and then fell silent, as if Bong Jiyeon had caught him at a weak point.

But I understood how Jeongseok felt.

Compare who we were at the beginning of the first semester to who we are now.

Now we were complete scholarly bandits.

Swoosh—

I put my hand on Jeongseok’s shoulder and said:

“Hey, your parents would be proud. We’re protecting the world right now, aren’t we? Of course, we also caused the problems. But if things work out in the end, everything will be better than before.”

Slide—click—

As the car door closed, the cool air conditioning made it easier to breathe. The sun was murderously hot, and it was amazing that people were walking around outside in this weather.

Tap tap—

Yang Juhui, sitting in the back seat, tapped my shoulder and asked:

“You said you saw my sister?”

“I’m not completely sure, but I think it was your sister. At the gateway? Door? Iron bars? Something like that on the opposite side. I don’t know what she was doing there, but anyway, I think we can meet her if we go there.”

“Finally…”

Yang Juhui’s expression seemed to strengthen with resolve, as if she could see her goal in sight.

The fluffy-haired ghost sitting in the back seat behind us also spoke softly.

“Sisssster—”

Come to think of it, there are a lot of younger sisters here.

Ms. Hong Miri, Bong Jiyeon, Yang Juhui, and even the furry ghost.

They all had siblings.

As an only child, I wondered what it would have been like to have siblings.

Vroom—

The car finally departed.

After driving for a while, we each put a drink to our lips from a drive-through cafe. It felt somewhat surreal to be sipping cafe drinks through straws inside a van carrying a kidnapped person.

“I don’t want to go outside. It’s hot.”

We had arrived at the school.

Dahui groaned while looking outside through the car window. The scorching summer sunlight was blazing as if it would melt us like ice cream.

The news had been going on about how this summer was the hottest ever and warning people to be careful of heat stroke.

“Then you stay in the car. Don’t you know complaining about the heat only makes it feel hotter?”

Yang Juhui snapped a few words at Yu Dahui as she got out of the car.

“Juhui, you…”

Yu Dahui frowned and moved her lips, as if she wanted to curse but either didn’t know any curses or didn’t want to damage her elegant dignity.

I wonder if Dahui’s trait, “Elegance,” has a restriction that prevents her from using profanity.

More importantly, no matter how much time passed, Juhui and Dahui showed no signs of becoming friends. I wish they could get along better.

“Come on, everyone, let’s hurry and get out.”

Ms. Hong Miri clapped her hands like someone hurrying kindergarten children and guided us.

Jeongseok and I grunted as we carried Kim Miryeong, who had been lying in the back seat, and moved toward the Old School Building.

Whoosh—

Unlike the weather, which was hot enough to melt asphalt, the Old School Building was cool as if we were standing in front of an open refrigerator.

It was cool enough that I thought it might be good to wear a long-sleeved shirt or outer layer over my short sleeves.

This place was clearly a different world.

“…”

I found myself looking around nervously.

I thought there might be other people in this school besides us. Wang Jahyeon’s group had been like that, and Kim Miryeong and those men we encountered in the nightmare were exactly such unwelcome guests.

“No one’s here.”

Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone.

Of course, we couldn’t let our guard down. Just in case, I took a photo as a save point.

“Look here! There’s blood!”

As we walked through the Old School Building, Kwon Sua made a fuss. Just as she said, there was something that looked like an old bloodstain stuck to the floor. Whose blood could it be?

Maybe Kim Geonho the thug?

I remembered that Kim Geonho had died somewhere in this Old School Building not long ago. I had no idea where his body was or what had happened to it.

‘The probability of encountering Kim Geonho’s decomposing corpse somewhere…’

It was horrifying just to imagine.

We descended even deeper underground.

The old school was extremely quiet, without even the sound of someone chatting.

The only light source was the flashlights on our phones.

As we navigated through the basement, we eventually arrived at Buldansa. The temple located underground was like a temple of death, resembling a corner of hell as described in this world.

After crossing the bright red torii gate, even the virgin shaman Kim Miryeong, who had been struggling in my and Jeongseok’s hands, became docile. She might have been overwhelmed by the otherworldly atmosphere of this space.

“Which way is east?”

Ms. Hong Miri asked me.

I looked at the entrance and the traces of what seemed to be a pond in the center to determine the directions.

“This torii is south. And that trace of what looks like a pond is the center. So naturally, the right side would be east. If I’m correct, the key should be on that right side.”

We hadn’t explored the right area of this real-world Buldansa. That was because the collapsed ceilings made it look messy and dangerous.

It was probably the aftermath of several major earthquakes that had hit Gaeryong City.

Now we had to venture into the unknown to find the key that might be here.

After walking through some debris, we came upon an imposing building.

I think I had glimpsed it briefly when I came to this place before, but while I hadn’t felt anything special about it then, now anyone would get the feeling that “something suspicious is there.”

As we approached it, Kim Miryeong, who had somehow removed her gag, shouted:

“You’re all crazy. Don’t you value your lives? This isn’t the spiritual world! If you die here, you really die! You should turn back while you still can!”

Kim Miryeong, who had tried to kill us, now looked terrified. And the vengeful spirit she controlled, the fluffy Kim Areong, also trembled and cowered in fear.

“Sisssster.”

It was a temple closed by a stone door.

There was a large talisman attached to the door, with words that were difficult to recognize.

“Hup!”

I pushed hard, but the stone door didn’t budge at all. Even with me, Jeongseok, and Yang Juhui pushing together, the door wouldn’t move.

“I’m certain the key must be inside.”

As we failed to open the door, the virgin shaman Kim Miryeong cackled.

“Are you all idiots? There’s a talisman written in blood. It’s a sealing talisman that prevents anyone from opening that door. If you can’t remove it, the door won’t budge even if you hit it with a bulldozer.”

I doubted that even the sturdiest door could withstand a bulldozer, but there was no way to bring one down here to prove it.

Yang Juhui, who had been scratching at the talisman with her fingernails, stuck out her tongue.

“The talisman won’t come off! What is this? It’s almost fused with the door.”

While we were staring blankly at each other, lost for words in the eerie atmosphere and absurd situation, Kim Miryeong laughed more sinisterly, perhaps trying to provoke us.

“Haven’t you heard about this Buldansa? They say a Japanese woman who didn’t value her life built it with her disciples? By becoming a sacrifice herself. She was famous for being beautiful and cruel.”

“Sacrifice?”

Ms. Hong Miri asked.

Kim Miryeong twisted the corner of her mouth as if she had been waiting for this.

“Yes, sacrifice! Do you think what’s crouching in there is some angel guarding this place? The blood of shamans or priestesses is a delicacy to dangerous beings. They’re controlled by offering that blood and soul as payment.”

This meant that Yang Juhui’s grandmother had mortgaged her soul to the Gandara Shaman or some magical demon when building this temple.

Whether Kim Miryeong felt itchy if she didn’t show off her knowledge or whether she wanted to see our despair, she continued to speak without being asked.

“Of course, one person’s soul isn’t nearly enough to make such beings guard a place like this. They probably entangled generation after generation. In the end, they’ll be cursed and that lineage will be cut off.”

“Sacrifice.”

Yang Juhui looked at her palm.

Was she feeling something? Come to think of it, Yang Juhui had once become “The Sacrificial Virgin.” Though now she was the surviving virgin.

Slash—

Yang Juhui cut her palm with a box cutter she had produced from somewhere.

It was a self-inflicted wound that looked painful just to watch, and she applied the dripping blood to the talisman on the door.

The red characters written on the talisman began to mix with Yang Juhui’s blood, and seeing this, Kim Miryeong was greatly surprised.

“The same blood? I see. Now I know who you people are!”

Rumble—

The temple began to shake violently.

Soon, the door that we couldn’t open no matter how hard we tried moved on its own like an automatic door, revealing the entrance.

And then, ring-ring-ring—a loud bell sound started coming from all directions.

“She’ll probably chase after me! You search inside the temple while she’s distracted!”

Splat—

Yang Juhui smeared the blood on her hand onto Kim Miryeong’s face.

As Kim Miryeong shouted in surprise, “You evil bitch!”, we could only freeze like mice before a snake.

Because literally, a woman with the long body of a snake had appeared, coiling around the temple and looking down at us.