episode_0091

The first thing that was sucked into the soul vessel was the head of the beast. The soul vessel swallowed up all the hair and putrid face and even swallowed the body of the beast. Arms and legs were sucked in, and in the end, a pale hand waved in the air before falling into the soul vessel.

‘I survived!’

The arms and legs of the beast that was wrapped around my body disappeared without a trace. As my body became lighter, I was able to swim properly.

Succeeded in exorcising the demon.

I felt relieved that I had survived, but the tension did not go away. I was so excited that my body and head felt hot even though I was in the water. This was because the heart rate was significantly faster and the blood in the body was circulating at a faster rate.

“H.”

My body was now in a different state than usual.

The veins sprouting from the muscles of the body were clearly visible. I felt good because an inexplicable sense of elation filled my head.

I was able to show off my incredible strength when I escaped with a fishtail hanging from the riverbed earlier.

I felt like I had a rough idea of what kind of power it was.

I heard it from my father before.

━Jinwoo. You know what?

━What?

━People can demonstrate incredible strength in extreme situations. Our body usually works reasonably leisurely, right? But if you really feel like you’re going to die, your body will give it its all and you can demonstrate incredible strength.

━Isn’t that all great luck? There are many people who die without being able to demonstrate their strength. Not all of the people trapped under the car survived.

━Anyway, it’s something that’s quite possible with the human body. My father also survived exorcism quite often thanks to his supernatural strength. My body reacted because I felt like I was really going to die.

━Are you talking about your father’s experience?

━That’s right.

Physical ability beyond usual limits.

In fact, it was quite possible for humans. There was also a record of an Australian climber surviving after throwing a heavy rock with one hand, and a record of a young boy lifting a car in the United States. It all happened under extreme circumstances.

My father simply called it super strength.

It seemed like I had just nearly drowned and was finally able to show off my super strength for the first time.

‘Thanks to you, I survived.’

Of course, the state of displaying superpowers did not last forever. As the serious crisis ended, my body gradually returned to its original state. The swollen muscles shrunk and the blood vessels that rose above the skin sank without a trace.

“Thank you, my body!”

It wasn’t just my body that returned to its original state.

The fishing spot on the Han River, where strange phenomena were occurring, has also returned to its original state. The water level dropped to about 2~3M, and the water flow returned to calm. The eddy that was preventing Sera from moving also disappeared under the water.

This was because the ghost of Susal, which was the cause of the strange phenomenon, was sealed in a soul vessel.

“Jinwoo! Come up quickly! I’m going to catch a cold.”

Sarah went up to the banks of the Han River first, stepped on the ground, and called me. The damp white shirt and tight jeans were clinging to Sarah’s body.

“Wait a moment. I’ll go up and find a military knife. I dropped it in the water.”

“Just come up! You can just use a new knife or something else.”

“It would be a waste to throw it away.”

I lost my sword when I was at the river bottom earlier. It was a sword that was a waste to just throw away. It was something I had been using since I was young, so I had a certain attachment to it.

I threw the soul bowl to Sarah and dived back into the depths of the river.

After some time, I was able to find the gunungknife stuck in the soft soil of the riverbed.

‘It was here.’

I was glad I found it.

I took my sword, got out of the river, and climbed onto the land.

“Jinwoo. If you come, check this out.”

Sarah, who was squatting on the verge and resting, called me.

As she got closer, Sarah opened the lid of the closed soul vessel.

We are now able to see what is contained in the soul vessel.

“Do you see the hair and fingernails?”

“Oh, it really exists.”

The soul vessel contained hair and fingernails soaked in water. When Sarah made the soul bowl, she clearly never put anything like this in it. It felt amazing, like watching a magic show.

Sarah said with a smile.

“This is proof that the soul of a beast of prey was rescued. If you burn this as a soul vessel, the ritual is over.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be a ritual after this?”

As far as I know, I heard that after the soul is retrieved, they perform a negative exorcism and a Cheondo exorcism.

All of these processes combined were called the soul-saving ritual.

Sarah heard me and shook her head.

“For exorcism, the ghost must have the intention to attain Buddhahood. He needs to be burned and expelled. If you hold a ritual using this, the people who participate will get hurt.”

“Then I guess there is nothing we can do.”

I thought I was watching Sarah perform a ritual for the first time in a while, but I wasn’t. The sight of a mixed-race female high school student performing a rite while wearing military uniform must be quite a rare sight. There was nothing we could do because most of the evil spirits we dealt with were evil that could not be appeased.

“Sera. What will happen to Park Ji-won now?”

“If you perform a ritual, you will go to the underworld and go through reincarnation to be reborn as a new life. Because he killed someone, he will be punished in the afterlife.”

“I see.”

What happens to the ghosts who are ordered out?

I heard the explanation verbally, but I couldn’t imagine it well.

Because I had never personally experienced the afterlife.

Of course, I had a past life experience, so I knew that reincarnation really existed.

“Jiwon. When I’m reborn, I hope I can travel to my heart’s content.”

“Sure.”

Sarah and I stood in front of the soul bowl and prayed for the soul of Park Ji-won, who passed away.

I hope you will be happy in your next life.

*

The weekend ended and another week began.

Sarah returned to Hyehwadang with Jinwoo, burned the soul bowl, and went to school.

The Susalgwi incident was resolved and there was nothing left to do for the time being.

However, Sarah felt a strange sense of regret after going to school for a few days.

‘what?’

I kept feeling like something was missing.

I felt like I was missing something I needed to do.

It’s Wednesday.

Sarah was staring at Jinwoo sitting next to her at school when a thought suddenly occurred to her.

A light flashed in her head, as if the composer had been inspired.

━━Paaat!

“Ah.”

Now I realize what I missed.

The two went to the Han River last weekend.

What kind of place is the Han River?

This is a luxury date course that every couple living in Seoul should visit at least once.

If you go with a couple, you can ride a duck boat or have fun riding a tandem bicycle. Last weekend, Sarah took on the role of Jinwoo’s lover who looks after him. However, although I only acted to my heart’s content, I never actually got to play a lover.

I didn’t have any time to play because I had to rush back home after exorcising the ghost on Monday morning.

‘That’s it! ‘I feel a bit unfair and it’s because I can’t date?’

The real reason Sarah felt regret was the date.

I was embarrassed to honestly ask my friends to go on a date, but I still wanted to go on a date.

There was no need to go on the weekend.

All I had to do was tell him to go right away after school today.

Sarah tucked her hair behind her ear and spoke to Jinwoo sitting next to her.

“Jinwoo. Shall we go to the Han River after school today?”

“Han River? You went there on the weekend.”

“You went to work at that time. There are a lot of things for the two of us to have fun at the Han River.”

If I honestly said, ‘I want to go on a date with you,’ I would be embarrassed to the point of death.

After all, it was just a place to have fun with friends.

Of course, contrary to what she said, Sarah was currently fiddling with her phone.

I covered my phone with my hand to prevent Jinwoo from seeing it and searched for ‘Han River date course.’

“Today’s date is the Han River! “Comprehensive summary of things to do on the Han River in Seoul in 2023!”

「Tour around Hangang Park as a date course」

「Top 5 things to do with couples at Hangang Park」

Sarah glanced sideways at her phone and quickly checked things to do. Unfortunately, taking the duck boat was only possible on weekends. When I went to the Han River today, I was able to ride a two-person bicycle. Additionally, it would be perfect to have a meal together while feeling like we were on a picnic.

“If you don’t want to go, don’t go! I’ll go out and play alone.”

Sera flicked it once. Of course, she wouldn’t go out alone, but Sarah also had pride. Even though I felt like I would regret it if Jinwoo didn’t follow me.

“Who doesn’t want to go? Let’s go together.”

Fortunately, Jinwoo fell for Sarah’s trick.

Sarah laughed inwardly.

‘Hehe.’

A high school girl’s love story was already playing out in Sarah’s head. I’m going to the Han River with a boy I’m interested in. When riding a tandem bicycle together, the bodies of the man and woman would naturally come into close contact.

Sarah’s heart was pounding, but she pretended like nothing was wrong.

“How about Jamsil Hangang Park? After searching, I found that this place had the most fun.”

“Have you already searched?”

“If you’re going to play, you have to play properly. I’m not particularly excited, right?”

“You are thoroughly prepared.”

It was afternoon and school classes were over.

Jinwoo and Sarah took a taxi and immediately left for Jamsil Hangang Park. This time, we didn’t bring any exorcism equipment, so neither of us had much to carry.

“Wow, there are a lot of people even though it’s a weekday.”

Although it was a weekday afternoon, there were quite a few people who came to play at Hangang Park in Jamsil.

A man and a woman who looked like a couple at first glance were walking around and getting salted.

Because it was sunset, the scenery of the Han River was beautiful, shining in the color of the sunset.

Se-ra grabbed Jin-woo’s collar and pulled him while he was watching the river.

“Jinwoo! Let’s go for a tandem bike ride.”

“How do I ride a 2-seater?”

“The two of us are going forward by pedaling. It’ll be fun, right?”

Sarah took Jinwoo and immediately went to a bicycle rental shop in Hangang Park.

It was a very natural flow.

Inside the rental store, an elderly man was working as an employee.

“Mister! Let’s borrow our tandem bicycle. I’m going to ride here with the boy.”

“How long will you ride?”

“A generous 2 hours.”

“Then it’s 10,000 won. Have a nice time.”

Jinwoo and Sarah rented a two-person bicycle.

“Jinwoo, you get in the front. Normally, in things like this, the boy rides in front.”

“Okay.”

Jinwoo got on the front of the bike and Sarah got on the back.

‘Hehe!’

Although she had only just ridden a bicycle, Sarah was already excited.

The weather was very sunny today.

The cool wind was blowing, so it was perfect for riding.

From now on, when the two of them ride a bicycle, it will be like a movie itself.

‘It’s romantic!’

Jinwoo stepped on the pedal in front.

The bicycle moved forward little by little.

Sarah was also about to step on the pedal.

“Kek.”

Suddenly, Sarah’s body stumbled.

Sarah’s limbs stopped responding well, as if the owner of her body had changed.

Sarah saw a vision of a fairy coming down from the sky.

A black-haired girl wearing a wing suit reached out to Sarah.

‘no way!’

Sarah knew very well what this phenomenon was.

Because it’s something I’ve already experienced several times.

It was a direct contact.

In the blink of an eye, Hongryeon appeared.

The soul that took over the body of a silver-haired high school girl changed from Sarah to Hongryeon.

Jinwoo cheered excitedly while riding his bike, not even knowing that his childhood friend behind him had changed.

“Yayooo!”

Likewise, Hongryeon also got into the mood and shouted excitedly.

Although the contact was sudden, Hongryeon was a fairy who knew how to take on the mood.

“Yay!! It’s me.”

“Huh?”

“It’s me, Jinwoo!”

“Seo, are you a fairy?”

“A fairy appears!”

Hongryeon answered in a cheerful voice while pedaling.

Once Sarah was contacted, she couldn’t move.

Although I shared the field of vision with Hongryeon, I couldn’t move my body freely and couldn’t speak.

It was like watching a movie made from the perspective of a first-person observer.

Sarah could only think while watching Jinwoo and Hongryeon riding bicycles.

It was very unfair.

‘Hongryeon! ‘Is it you again?’

Jinwoo was taken away from my sister again.