188 – Nymphs and Cliché #2
Looking back now, I’ve always loved thrills.
Should I say I liked scary things?
It was only natural that I would buy a book of ghost stories sold at the stationery store in front of the school or search for scary stories on YouTube.
It was also to be expected that I would watch various horror movies.
To put it simply, someone like me was almost a master of horror.
And in front of me, my younger sister Hirae was hanging upside down from the ceiling, making sounds like a beast.
“Grrrr, grrrr…!”
Can a person really stick to the ceiling?
Let alone a college girl in her early twenties?
Her eyes were rolled back completely white, and bubbles were frothing from her mouth.
Seeing that, the imp Barbar said,
“Hieeek…! Who are you…! The princess Hirae I knew was not like this…! Her princess power is rapidly declining…!”
I didn’t know what princess power was, but I could clearly see Hirae was entering an increasingly abnormal state.
The Squirrel Beast Kkungkkungi was also fluffing up its fur, making a low growl.
Ahn Ahn and Bang Bang quickly hid behind me.
“I am a legion…! I am the Blade Queen…!”
It seemed Hirae had forgotten who she was.
“Hey! Hirae! Why are you a legion and the Blade Queen!?”
Even as I asked, I was deriving some conclusions.
This situation meant one thing.
I knew better than anyone what that was.
“Hey, Haildo…, did you notice…!?”
Perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lee Jin-A poked me in the side.
It seemed she had figured it out too.
“Hieeek…! Core Hirae is somehow spinning her head 360 degrees…! How is this even possible? This Inoi has no idea…!”
“I don’t know what it is, but I think this Coris should try hitting her…! We should hurry and pull Core Hirae down from the ceiling…!”
As the Nymphs panicked, I summarized the situation and concluded my opinion.
“Sudden increase in appetite. Hearing voices or having difficulty controlling her body, resulting in injuries like spraining her ankle. And ultimately, engaging in behaviors that ordinary people cannot do─.”
There was only one answer.
Lee Jin-A and I simultaneously spoke that answer.
“Possession─.”
“Awakening.”
Huh?
What came out of our mouths was different.
I thought it was undoubtedly possession by a ghost or something.
Lee Jin-A talked about awakening.
I asked.
“Awakening?”
Awakening literally means becoming aware of some power or ability. Those who completed this awakening were called Awakened, and both Lee Jin-A and I were among those Awakened.
“Haildo, you must have experienced something similar when you awakened, right? Suddenly, your metabolism increased and you got extremely hungry. Sudden increase in magical power makes body control difficult.”
“Now that you mention it….”
“And, newly awakened Awakened individuals are often just as unstable as a Cola PT bottle that shakes one’s mind, so it’s not uncommon for them to hear voices.”
Oh.
Lee Jin-A’s reasoning was quite plausible.
However, awakening usually happens during one’s teenage years, doesn’t it?
Hirae was already over twenty.
Could someone over twenty suddenly awaken like that?
Usually, candidates to become Awakened display some signs during their teenage years.
Therefore, candidates for awakening were typically taken for various tests and careful management on a national level beforehand.
“I’ll bring her down for now.”
Swoosh-.
I grabbed Hirae, who was sticking to the ceiling, pulled her down, and tied her arms and legs to the bed.
“Grrr, grrr, grrr…!”
The newly awakened Awakened could not control their bodies well, and it was uncertain what kind of accidents might occur.
So restraining her was a wise approach.
“It’s definitely possession by a demon…! This Barbar is a little devil…! I know well about symptoms caused by demons or ghosts…! We must exorcise it…!”
But Barbar continued to insist on possession by a demon or ghost.
Swoosh-.
Barbar took out a cross made of iron from somewhere.
After heating it up with her fiery breath, Barbar brought it close to Hirae’s face.
“Hiee…!”
“Look at this…! Those possessed by demons or ghosts show signs of torment by the cross like this…! This is the proof…!”
Well, wouldn’t anyone feel pain if a glowing hot piece of iron was held close to their face?
I was also a bit skeptical if a little devil like Barbar could hold a cross.
“I don’t know what it is, but we should all just hit her…! Our Nymphs should hold tightly and do our best for Core Hirae…!”
“I think that’s a good idea…!”
The Nymphs, clenching their fists, began to hit the tied-up Hirae on the bed.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud-.
“Ahhhh~”
Hirae screamed.
Then, as if her mind cleared, Hirae spoke.
“Oppa! Help me out! Why am I tied up? Let me go!”
“You must not listen…! The evil spirit has not completely left yet…! It’s trying to deceive people…! This top imp, Barbar, can tell…!”
It was all a mess.
Just as I was thinking I should start calming the Nymphs who were still hitting Hirae, something happened.
Crash…!
With a sharp sound, something popped out of Hirae’s body.
It looked fuzzy and smoky.
I thought Hirae had spat out a plastic bag, but upon closer inspection, it had four legs and a fluffy tail, and it looked rather cute.
Upon seeing it, Inoi said,
“Ah! That is the ‘Nightmare Raccoon’…! It’s a rare variant of the ‘Chili Raccoon,’ so it’s extremely rare and valuable because finding one is as difficult as a nightmare…!”
Nightmare Raccoon.
It’s said to be a raccoon that is as difficult to find as a nightmare.
Also, it is a ghost-type animal that appears drawn to people’s bad dreams. Now that I thought about it, it really did look like a raccoon.
Crash, crash…!
“Hii…! Something came out of my body! What is that!”
Hirae was greatly surprised.
The Nightmare Raccoon seemed startled by the noise and tried to slip out of the room with its translucent body.
Seeing that, I said to Kkungkkungi,
“Kkungkkungi! Try to catch it!”
Crash-!
Puff-!
Kkungkkungi leaped into the air, fluffing up its tail fur.
However, Kkungkkungi’s attack passed through the translucent Nightmare Raccoon and crashed into the wall.
“The Nightmare Raccoon is an incorporeal creature…! It is impossible to catch or defeat it with ordinary attacks…!”
I had heard of incorporeal entities appearing in England or Europe.
I had seen them on the Kira channel too!
I had only heard about them in videos and stories, but seeing one in person was astonishing and thrilling!
Crash, crash…!
The Nightmare Raccoon cried out.
It looked genuinely offended, fluffing up its fur.
Seeing that, Inoi said,
“The Nightmare Raccoon can also possess a person…! But it can only do so with those who have magical power…! The owner of this house should be careful…!”
Only those with magical power can be possessed, huh?
Puff-!
At that moment, the Nightmare Raccoon dashed toward Lee Jin-A.
“Whoa?”
Lee Jin-A looked startled, seemingly taken by surprise.
But Lee Jin-A quickly lifted her fist and struck the Nightmare Raccoon hard.
“What is this?”
Didn’t they say ordinary attacks wouldn’t work?
However, the Nightmare Raccoon took the hit solidly and flopped to the floor.
Seeing that, Coris said,
“Jun Coris Jin-A is a wicked, delinquent-type Core…! And sometimes wicked, delinquent people do not fear even ghosts…!”
In life, there are often people who say, “What about ghosts? Why don’t they catch someone like that?”
Those people were typically delinquent individuals who did not fear gods or ghosts at all, and it was said that ghosts sometimes even suffered because of such humans.
That seemed to make some sense.
# # #
It seemed the Nightmare Raccoon had made its home at the house where Jin-A had moved in.
The previous owners were ordinary people with very little magical power, making it impossible for them to see the Nightmare Raccoon.
It must have been terrifying having something transparent moving around, dropping objects and making sounds.
“So that’s why the price was so cheap. It was a house haunted by a ghost. Or rather, a raccoon that’s similar to a ghost, but still, it’s fine. I got it cheap, so whatever. Hehe.”
Whatever it was, Jin-A was satisfied.
Soon, Hirae, coming to her senses, trembled slightly.
“What’s this raccoon! It’s so cute!”
Hirae scooped up the Nightmare Raccoon that was flopped on the floor.
Despite being possessed by the raccoon, she didn’t seem scared at all.
Here, a question arose in my mind.
“The Nightmare Raccoon that possesses Awakened individuals possessed Hirae. Hirae, did you actually awaken?”
“I don’t know about that?”
Is that so?
While I was pondering, Hirae said,
“Can I raise this raccoon? It’s so cute!”
The Nightmare Raccoon calmly nestled in Hirae’s arms.
Having lived with various animals like Kkungkkungi, Bang Bang, Ahn Ahn, and Kalilnoi, I could say I was somewhat of an expert on the compatibility between people and animals.
From my perspective, it seemed that the Nightmare Raccoon and Hirae were quite well-suited for each other.
“Come to think of it, Hirae, you used to say you sometimes saw strange things since childhood.”
I recalled Hirae’s elementary school days when I was in middle school.
Hirae would often say, “Mom, there’s something strange floating in the air!” and draw her parents’ attention.
Sometimes she would even zone out and climb trees, throwing acorns at my friends.
That would often lead my friends to ask, “Haildo, is your sister a crazy monkey?”
In many ways, she was an embarrassing little sister.
At that time, Mom was worried, saying, “If a girl is this clumsy, it’ll be hard to get married…. She’s healthy and there’s no problem, so what could be wrong….”
“Didn’t she get better after drinking that talisman water?”
Mom had once heard a strange story that if you drink talisman water made by a skilled shaman, you would be cured—so she spent over three times Dad’s salary buying a talisman, and afterward, Hirae really got completely better!
“Right. Now that I think about it, that’s when I started to believe in folk remedies!”
That was back when the world was about to change dramatically.
But now that I think about it, perhaps that was Hirae’s awakening precursor.
“Huh, how interesting. Did the talisman suppress her awakening precursor? After that, she lived normally until being possessed by the Nightmare Raccoon and finally fully awakened?”
That was my conjecture, but it seemed reasonable.
That must have been a truly skilled shaman.
I should ask Mom who made that talisman.
“Did I also become an Awakened? Oh, shit…! Can I shoot sparks from my hands or lasers from my eyes? I can be the Blade Queen…!?”
Hirae looked extremely happy about the fact that she became Awakened.
In today’s world, becoming Awakened was quite a good thing.
After all, they don’t recklessly push Awakened individuals to their deaths.
To confirm Hirae’s exact condition, it would be best to get a precise test at a specialized facility.
Anyhow.
The Nightmare Raccoon incident ended quite well.
“Now that I think about it, I have to live in a house that could have more ghosts. Haildo, come visit sometimes and check if I’m alive or dead. Got it? I’ll give you the door lock password.”
And I got the door lock password to Lee Jin-A’s house.
# # #
“Ari, are you feeling any better? My sister just became an Awakened….”
Yu Ara raised an eyebrow while reading the backlog of messages.
But that eyebrow quickly returned to its original position.
Jingle, jingle-.
Loud ringing of bells could be heard.
In a shabby residential area where colorful flags fluttered, a familiar scent climbed through her body, bringing back long-ago memories, and Yu Ara frowned.
As she opened the iron gate she had pushed many times during her school days, a narrow yard appeared with a creak.
Yu Ara turned her eyes away from the scene where ceramic dolls in the shapes of Buddha statues, fairies, and spirits were chaotically lined up.
Creak-.
As she opened the door and stepped inside, she saw a woman sitting in the dark interior.
Dressed in a colorful hanbok and wearing a striking red hat with pheasant feathers, her age was difficult to determine.
Jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle-!
With each step Ari took, the sound of bells grew louder.
Soon the woman under the red hat opened her eyes.
“You’ve come carrying everything with you. Your body is just like a car left with the door wide open while the key is still in the ignition. If someone just steps on the pedal, you’ll go anywhere.”
“…….”
“Did you come to see me for that? I, too, have little time remaining. My powers are dwindling. Ara, since your mother rejected the spirits and ran away, you’re the last of my bloodline left.”
“…….”
“Ara, it’s time for you to stop wandering and accept your destiny. Since the beginning of time, we have received the war god from our ancestors…, it is my fate to pass my duties onto you.”
Yu Ara raised her head without answering.
Since childhood, she had been deeply embarrassed that her grandmother was a shaman.
This embarrassment only intensified during her teenage years.
“The reason I wanted to run away was precisely because of that.”
In the corner of the shrine. A mural depicting godly figures.
There was a woman referred to as a powerful war god, holding shields and spears in each hand, with a helmet deeply pressed onto her head.
The war god served by the virgin shaman was Athena, the goddess of war.
From childhood, Yu Ara had felt a little…embarrassed about that fact.
