episode_0045

[When can we meet? I also live in Seoul, so I can get there quickly. I hope we can meet within this week.]

I quickly sent a message to the female member who reported it before she changed her mind.

The answer came back in a message from a female member.

[I’m a high school student, so we can meet after school.]

[Then let’s meet this Friday. Please choose a place to meet.]

[Good Friday. Let’s meet at Blooming Coffee Shop in Soyeon-dong, Guro-gu in the evening. In the first place, the accident occurred at my brother’s house in Soyeon-dong.]

I succeeded in making an appointment to meet a female member on the spot. We met in Soyeon-dong, Guro-gu, where the accident occurred. Guro-gu was an area adjacent to Seungcheon-gu where we lived. I was able to arrive right after school.

[I will take a friend with me when I go there. I am a female shaman.]

[Does Jin have any friends who are shamans? That’s amazing… .]

[Yes, I am a friend who sees ghosts.]

[All right. I really want to meet you and have a conversation. No matter how much I tell the police, they won’t believe me. People say I’m just seeing something wrong in the mirror, but that’s not true. To begin with, there had been strange accidents in the neighborhood where my brother lived in the past. These are accidents related to mirrors. I will tell you more details when I meet you in person.]

Have you ever heard of strange accidents involving mirrors in the past?

I still didn’t know specifically what he was talking about.

You will find out if you meet in person and talk.

“Sera!”

It was after I had finished exchanging messages with a female member.

I woke up in the main room where the computer was. It was to let Sarah know that an interesting job had arrived.

“Why?”

An answer came from afar.

I went out to the living room.

“Hey, where are you?”

“It’s in the shrine.”

I went to the shrine built inside Hyehwadang. In front of the altar in the shrine, Sarah was sitting in an upright position.

What were you doing here?

Although I was curious, I first told Sarah the news.

“Sera. I got a job.”

“What kind of work? Surely it wasn’t just an accident?”

“It wasn’t just an accident. A man attempted suicide in Soyeon-dong, Guro-gu. Before attempting suicide, I was experiencing a ghost story about knowing my future spouse. That’s necromancy.”

“Ah, looking into the future with a knife in your mouth? It’s true that it’s necromancy.”

“Yes. If you think about the original, it is a necromancy that has been around for quite a long time.”

Get to know your future spouse.

It was a ghost story about necromancy, using the power of ghosts to see the future.

Sarah said while looking at me.

“The original is Bloody Mary. Knowing your future spouse is the name given when the Bloody Mary ghost story was translated into Korean.”

“That’s right.”

In fact, the original version of this ghost story was a European ghost story called Bloody Mary. After 12 o’clock at night, if you look in the mirror and say ‘Bloody Mary’ three times repeatedly, the image of a woman will appear in the mirror. If you ask her about the future, she will answer. Sometimes, when a woman appears with a weapon, the person who shouts bloody mary is brutally murdered.

This Bloody Mary ghost story was the original. Because it is a world-famous ghost story, translations exist not only in Korea but also in many countries. In Korea, this ghost story was translated into the ghost story ‘Knowing Your Future Spouse.’

In the process of translation, a transformation occurred in the necromantic ritual. Instead of saying bloody mary, you stand with a knife in your mouth. It was not known exactly why it was transformed like this.

I personally thought this.

Isn’t there a time when shamans performed a ritual with a knife in their mouth? It was an item called an Ipkal. Wasn’t the Bloody Mary ghost story influenced by shamanism when it came to Korea? Then, the act of putting a knife in one’s mouth can be understood in a magical way.

Well, this was my personal opinion.

There was no particular evidence.

I continued to tell Sarah the story of the accident. After experiencing the ghost story for himself, the man turned his back on the mirror. Then the mirror was not reflecting the back, but was looking forward. Afterwards, the man was found unconscious in the bathroom after cutting himself to the point of death.

Sarah listened to my story and nodded.

“It’s definitely something we should look into. But where did you hear that story?”

“The man’s younger sister is a member of the mystery site. My younger sister directly posted the report on the bulletin board. The informant also witnessed a strange phenomenon while staying at his brother’s house that day.”

“Ah… .”

“I made an appointment with the informant to meet this Friday. Are you going too?”

“I’ll go with you.”

Is there a saying about going to Gangnam with a friend? As expected, Sarah never left out when I told her I was going to investigate a mystery. So, I told the informant in advance that one more friend was going.

The appointment has been made.

Since today is Thursday, I could meet with the informant tomorrow.

I asked Sarah what I was curious about.

“Sera. But what were you doing at the shrine?”

Sarah pointed to the altar.

A silver bell was placed on the altar of the shrine.

“I was looking at that for a moment.”

“It’s a drop, right? Why is that?”

“That silver bell is my favorite. I haven’t taken it out until now because I have nothing to use.”

Sick of it?

It was referring to an object in which a god resides. It was an item that was like a link between a medium and a spirit. The gunman we faced last time also had a fresh white mask. I remembered that the snake spirit residing in the mask was giving strength to the monster.

Was that silver bell Sera’s new item?

Aside from that, Sera had never summoned a divine spirit with silver bells. It was a bell that I had never carried with me even when we were performing exorcisms together. For the first time, I realized that I was sick of Sarah.

I had a strange feeling.

If he possessed a divine object, wouldn’t that mean that Sarah could summon a divine spirit like a monster? It would be a great help if I could call on a god, so I wondered why I was bringing it up now.

“I was sick of it, so why didn’t I use it? Can’t you call the spirit too?”

“I didn’t write it because I couldn’t sing it. The spirit I need to receive has not yet resided in the bell. Now that’s just a drop. There is no sound because the contents are empty.”

Sarah held the silver bell in her hand and shook it lightly. Even if the bell was shaken, it made no sound at all, perhaps because it was empty. Nothing that could be called a spirit ever appeared before us.

“You can’t call on spirits?”

“It’s a bit long to explain… . I received a ritual from my mom a long time ago. But no matter how much I perform, the spirit I am supposed to serve does not appear. Even after that, no spirit that had a connection with me ever appeared.”

Sarah told a story about how she once received a ritual from her mother. Naerimgut was a ritual in which a shaman welcomed spirits. However, Sarah said that even when she received the Naerim exorcism, no spirit came to visit her.

“Mom told me after the funeral. What kind of spirit am I to serve? They say she’s a fairy that I had a connection with in my past life. They said that because he was so high, I had to practice more to serve him. At that time, I also received a silver bell from my mom. They say that someday a fairy will reside in this bell.”

Hwayeon Bodhisattva told me a prophecy. It was a prophecy that one day, in that silver bell, there would reside a fairy that Sera would have to serve.

“Fairy… ?”

“Yes. My spirit is a fairy. He has a connection with me in a past life and is a high-ranking person. Don’t you think you know who he is?”

Sarah asked me.

There was a goddess that naturally came to mind without me having to ask.

Not long ago, we met Princess Hongryeon in a dream from our past life. She was a fairy who appeared in Sarah’s past life. Moreover, she was the granddaughter of the Jade Emperor, so she was a high-ranking person. The conditions were surprisingly consistent with the fairy indicated by Hwayeon Bodhisattva’s prophecy.

“No way.”

“No way.”

Sarah looked at the bell and swallowed dry saliva. I could also hear the sound of drool falling. Now I understood why Sarah was looking at the bell. Sarah was trying to guess the identity of the spirit she was supposed to serve.

“Princess Hongryeon might dwell in this bell. That monster-like woman will pop out of reality this time.”

Goosebumps appeared all over my body. I thought it was over when I woke up from the dream, but it wasn’t. Princess Hongryeon would one day descend to this world, dwelling in Sera’s spirit.

“Crazy.”

She was a goddess who toyed with us even in our dreams. There was no way to predict how powerful it would become once its true nature was revealed to this world. It was impossible to predict what Princess Hongryeon would do when she appeared in this world.

“If they show up in reality, aren’t they going to punish you again? The princess seems a little angry with you.”

“So! No, you’re angry because I did something. I don’t even remember when I was Eun-ryeong, so can you take a look at me? If she were my sister, shouldn’t I take care of her instead?”

“Because there are brothers and sisters who do not get along well… .”

I heard that there are sisters who bicker and fight. I thought maybe Sera and Princess Hongryeon had such a love-hate relationship. Sarah looked at the bell and sighed.

“What should I do? Jinwoo.”

“How about smashing the bubbles in advance? Don’t let Princess Hongryeon come to rest. Since the god hasn’t come in yet, isn’t it safe to destroy it?”

“If I break the bell, other objects will just turn into new objects without my knowledge. If you have a connection with a shaman, God will somehow dwell around you. It’s like fate.”

Does this mean that if you break a bell, other objects become disgusting? It seemed impossible to stop Princess Hongryeon from appearing in this world. Then, I had to think of a way to control Princess Hongryeon.

“Umm… .”

Suddenly a good idea occurred to me.

“The last time we met, Princess Hongryeon wanted to be with you. I tried to trap you in a dream.”

“I think it felt like obsession. I guess they think of me like family.”

“How about this? If Princess Hongryeon is still angry, offer an offering. By offering offerings, we appease the princess. Offering offerings to the gods to ease one’s mind is a method that has been used since ancient times.”

Offering offerings.

It has been a method used in various tales and myths since ancient times to appease the hearts of gods.

It was like slaughtering a cow or a pig and offering it.

“You mean to appease Princess Hongryeon by offering an offering? I don’t know if it will work out well, but it’s worth a try.”

Sarah nodded after hearing my suggestion.

Maybe we could appease Princess Hongryeon with offerings.

Some preparations have been made.

“There is no harm in preparing offerings in advance.”

We made a plan for what kind of offerings we would prepare and met with the informant the next afternoon.