Chương 303: Protection (護) (5)

Kang Min-hee didn't have a father.

She was told he had an accident when she was very young.

Fortunately, thanks to having a lot of insurance, Kang Min-hee and her mother didn't live a life of scarcity.

However, her mother was deeply involved in shamanism.

One day, when Kang Min-hee was seven years old, she fell ill with a severe fever.

She couldn't remember the events of that time, but her mother said that she was bedridden for seven days and nights, tormented by nightmares.

Even now, in the picture diary Kang Min-hee wrote when she was seven, the nightmares she had back then remained.

In it, a giant wearing a black kasaya sat on a lotus flower, looking down at Kang Min-hee's house from the sky.

After Kang Min-hee recovered from the fever, her mother took her to a shaman she often visited, General Fairy.

Kang Min-hee still remembers the first time she visited the shaman.

―Ghost! A big ghost has possessed her! I've never seen such a big ghost before. This child has a strong yin energy that attracts ghosts. The powerful Yin energy is drawing the ghosts in. After exorcising the ghost, she must receive spiritual descent!

Startled and almost fainting, the shaman's words made Kang Min-hee's mother cry and agree.

Kang Min-hee's opinion didn't matter.

And whether it was due to the influence of the ghost said to have possessed her or the aftermath of the fever.

She was always frail.

She frequently got sick and wasn't good at physical activities.

Because of this, Kang Min-hee visited the shaman even more frequently.

More precisely, her mother often dragged her there.

Every time they visited the shaman, the shaman would perform strange sacrificial rituals, claiming to exorcise the ghost that had possessed Kang Min-hee.

But even as Kang Min-hee entered elementary school, Became an upperclassman, And became a middle school student, Despite the continuous rituals, the shaman couldn't expel the ghost that was said to possess Kang Min-hee.

―What's going on!? The ghost's power is growing stronger with time! Today, I'll borrow the power of the General to exorcise it! Ask the manager over there for the cost of the ritual.

―Unbelievable! Such a big ghost exists!? Today, I will directly receive the General into my body and manifest him in this world to exorcise it! Manager, calculate the cost of today's ritual.

―I will stake my life as a shaman to exorcise you, evil spirit! Manager! Call the General and the Deities of Heaven and Earth; we are going to hold a grand ritual. Also, inform Min-hee's mother about the cost of the ritual…

The shaman, who seemed to call for the manager more often than the General they served, changed their attitude when Kang Min-hee became a high school freshman.

―Hi, hiiiek! Ah, I understand. Yes. It wasn't a ghost. It wasn't a big ghost that possessed you! You! You yourself! You were the shadow I saw! You were never human, but a ghost born borrowing a human body! Hi-hihik…! W-wait. If the shadow is you, not a ghost that possessed you, then what's attached to you? The divination clearly showed something was attached…! That, that, that, that, that…! G-General, where are you going! General!!!!! Don't leave me…kururrrk…!?

The shaman, who had said that a big ghost possessed Kang Min-hee, suddenly started foaming at the mouth and collapsed.

And after being taken to the emergency room, the shaman, upon regaining consciousness, lost all their memories and became mentally incapacitated.

It was said they only retained the intelligence of a three-year-old.

Kang Min-hee's mother, already doubtful of the shaman's ability to exorcise the ghost supposedly possessing her daughter, finally lost interest in shamanism after such an incident.

Instead, she became a Christian and started going to church for prayers, but Kang Min-hee didn't go with her.

Instead, she started learning judo.

Despite being weak, it didn't matter.

She wanted to believe that being born weak had nothing to do with something like a ghost.

Even if she was weak, she wanted to become strong.

However, it seemed that the shaman's words about a ghost possessing her weren't entirely unfounded.

From the moment they stopped visiting the shaman, Kang Min-hee started seeing something like a shadow following her.

She didn't tell her mother.

If she did, she would be dragged to church as well.

Instead, Kang Min-hee exercised even more diligently and focused on her studies.

She firmly believed that the black shadow was a psychological issue stemming from anxiety, and she became interested in psychology and neuroscience.

However, nothing could shake off the black shadow.

At some point, the black shadow gradually became more distinct.

Sometimes it took the form of her mother, sometimes an acquaintance, sometimes the shaman, and sometimes it transformed into the father she had never met.

As she progressed through high school, the shadow became so distinct that it became hard to differentiate from a person.

And one day.

The shadow spoke to her.

―Hello?

Kang Min-hee ignored it.

And from that day on, strange things began happening around her.

They weren't major incidents.

Things like frequently getting bird droppings on her, her umbrella disappearing on rainy days, or narrowly avoiding accidents.

Strangely, her luck seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.

Especially those who were close to her suffered even greater misfortunes.

Soon, rumors spread at school, and people started to avoid her.

The shadow spoke to her.

―If you hold a knife in your mouth and look in the mirror at midnight, you'll see your future husband. Let's try it. You'll succeed. You have the talent.

Kang Min-hee ignored it.

―Let's draw the talisman the shaman used. I'll help you draw it. The talisman you draw will be effective. I guarantee it.

―Aren't you interested in the magical potions witches use? I'll tell you how to make them.

―Aren't you curious about the power and wisdom contained in the Reversed Pentagram?

Oddly enough, the shadow, which had always whispered occult and sinister knowledge and curses to Kang Min-hee, started to use that power directly.

―I did it for you. I held a knife in my mouth and looked in the mirror at midnight, and I saw your future husband. Surprisingly, you're not fated to marry. You're meant to be alone.

It foretold Kang Min-hee's fate on its own.

―I drew the talisman for you. Give it to someone you don't like as a gift. It'll be effective.

One day, when she woke up, the entire room was covered with talismans made of A4 paper.

―You know that boy who said he liked you? I got his hair, put it in a doll, and stabbed it. He won't be able to come to school for six months.

Watching the shadow grow stronger, clearer, and able to speak like a person.

Kang Min-hee finally had to admit it.

A ghost was indeed attached to her.

And this ghost…

―No one can match up to you. They don't deserve you. Even you don't realize how amazing you are. Don't worry. I'll keep away anyone who doesn't measure up. I'll make sure they can't get close to you.

The ghost scattered misfortune around her to keep anyone from approaching her.

Kang Min-hee couldn't make friends.

After realizing this, she put up walls to prevent anyone from getting close to her.

She always smiled in front of others but discarded all emotions behind their backs.

The people she kept at a distance didn't suffer as much misfortune.

Instead, she immersed herself in dramas and movies.

The fictional characters in them allowed her to love without bringing misfortune.

That's why she dreamed of a secret office romance while watching dramas.

Her attitude remained the same until she got a job at a bath products company.

'... Where did it go?'

At some point, the shadow was no longer visible.

She felt like she could fly.

The shadow that had always recited ominous prophecies seemed to have been washed away by the soap water produced by the bath products company.

'I should stay at this company.'

She felt like she was soaring.

A feeling of liberation.

Her first job.

Superiors who took care of the new employees.

And a colleague who subtly looked after her during her first company dinner.

Coincidentally, they shared the same commute, and both had a longing for office romance.

With everything aligning, including the post-dinner intoxication, she started dating Seo Eun-hyun.

At first, it felt like she was flying.

But all those thoughts reversed when Seo Eun-hyun spilled coffee.

It was coffee that should never have spilled.

But when Kang Min-hee saw it, 'someone' pushed Seo Eun-hyun's back.

Seo Eun-hyun bumped into Oh Hyun-seok, spilling coffee on his documents, and strangely, the usually good-natured Oh Hyun-seok was particularly enraged that day.

As if possessed, he lectured Seo Eun-hyun for 90 minutes after work, during which Kang Min-hee broke out in a cold sweat.

It hadn't disappeared.

She wasn't freed.

It had just been temporarily invisible.

The day after Seo Eun-hyun gave her an umbrella and caught a cold.

Kang Min-hee made a decision.

Before Seo Eun-hyun could come further into her heart.

She would drive him away in advance.

After that, Kang Min-hee did everything she could to break up with Seo Eun-hyun.

She deliberately took him for a drive and smoked cigarettes heavily in the car.

When Seo Eun-hyun tried to pour sauce over his food, she overturned it in anger.

When Seo Eun-hyun ordered sauced chicken, she insisted on fried.

She force-fed Seo Eun-hyun mint chocolate, and so on.

Eventually, the two broke up.

In her memory, she was the one who suggested the breakup.

In fact, she couldn't remember the exact details of the breakup.

They babbled nonsensically to each other and somehow ended up parting ways.

However, Seo Eun-hyun's misfortune continued.

Jeon Myeong-hoon kept getting annoyed with Seo Eun-hyun, and Seo Eun-hyun kept wasting away, as if something was wrong with him.

So she decided to resign.

She went to Seo Eun-hyun, making excuses that weren't really excuses, saying she would resign.

Even then, she babbled nonsensically, so she didn't remember the details.

But the company president saw her project proposal and raised her salary.

And then, she saw the shadow again, next to the president.

―Stay here. I checked the fortune, and it says staying here will bring a limitless future.

She tried to ignore the shadow's words, but it climbed onto Seo Eun-hyun's neck and spoke to her, holding his throat.

―Stay. The fortune is good.

"…"

Kang Min-hee had no choice but to stay.

At the company, she was always praised, and her promotions came quickly.

But she never felt at ease.

The shadow always followed her, and the thought that she could never escape it made her feel suffocated.

Then, One day, A landslide occurred, and she ended up on Ascension Path.

Arriving at the Ascension Path, she noticed something unusual before anyone else.

The shadow that had followed her all her life was gone.

It was no longer visible.

And, after being kidnapped to Black Ghost Valley.

She began to learn the Ghost Path Method.

She guessed that her shadow was a kind of Ghost King.

A very powerful Ghost King.

At the very least, a Ghost King at the Nascent Soul stage.

So she raised her cultivation realm with all her might, so that she could someday overpower that Ghost King if they ever met again.

She truly gave it her all.

In this way, she was able to become a Black Grand Elder.

On the day she rose to the Four-Axis stage.

She felt a sense of anticipation, thinking, 'maybe.'

Maybe that Ghost King would never appear again.

But then.

A disciple named 'Seo Li' arrived.

Seeing Seo Li for the first time, Kang Min-hee felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

She was certain she had seen him somewhere before.

Definitely.

Since this kind of déjà vu had never been wrong, she believed he was a person she had definitely seen before.

No, she 'used' to think he was a person.

There was an unusually thick aura of death surrounding Seo Li.

It was something only a ghost could possess, not a human.

Moreover, Seo Li unknowingly acted similarly to Seo Eun-hyun.

'What is this, really?'

She considered the possibility that Seo Eun-hyun had deliberately sent a clone to Black Ghost Valley.

But Seo Eun-hyun wouldn't do that.

Why would he secretly send a clone to Black Ghost Valley where she resided?

If it were Jeon Myeong-hoon or Oh Hye-seo, it might be possible, but Seo Eun-hyun had no reason to do such a thing.

Furthermore, Seo Li would occasionally give her massages or comb her hair in ways she had only taught Seo Eun-hyun.

It wasn't Seo Eun-hyun's clone.

Then there was only one other possibility.

The shadow.

The being that had been following her.

It had finally reappeared.

This time, in the form of a disciple of Black Ghost Valley.

It seemed visible to others as well.

Therefore, she could not hastily conclude anything.

Since the shadow was visible to others, it might not be the shadow she knew.

Hence, Kang Min-hee decided to see it directly with her main body.

And only after seeing it with the Ghost Eyes of her main body, could Kang Min-hee make a judgment.

That is the shadow.

The darkness as thick as the shadow, no, even surpassing that shadow.

The form of death, as if it had crawled up from the depths of the Netherworld!

And.

The subtle aura reminiscent of Seo Eun-hyun.

Finally, she could understand.

The Seo Li before her eyes was the wretched shadow that had relentlessly followed her.

No, at the very least, it was related to that shadow.

After feeling Seo Eun-hyun's touch through the shadow for a while, Kang Min-hee made a decision.

In that case.

'I will kill you and uncover your true identity.'

It was time to rid herself of the shadow that had been tormenting her.