NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82: Around Louisville (2)
Seoul had excellent infrastructure.
While facilities like transportation or conveniences might be lacking due to the overwhelming population density, there was one piece of infrastructure that stood out compared to other cities.
That was the infrastructure Seoul took pride in—the public shelters.
Rumor had it that these shelters were installed by Cheonji itself, and they were considered far safer than the priest-run shelters, which were protected by sacred relics or talismans.
Even wealthy people without supernatural abilities preferred to use the public shelters instead of the priest-run ones.
So, there was no reason for a poor girl responsible for five younger siblings to hesitate in rushing to the shelter with the kids.
The girl, as the head of the family, briskly walked toward the shelter.
She moved as if she were in a bit of a hurry.
At that moment, she noticed a salaryman in the distance on his phone. In the midst of this chaos, it seemed far too odd for an ordinary salaryman to be there.
The man said, “Ah, so the meeting location changed? Exit 4 of Pyeon Station? I’ll head there immediately,” before turning and asking, “Kids, do you know where Exit 4 of Pyeon Station is?”“This is my first time around here too.”
“Where’s Exit 4 of Pyeon Station? I need to hurry. I’m already late.”
The girl, still holding her siblings’ hands, completely ignored it all—whether it was the clown looking down at her from the second-floor window, the streetlight that was still on despite it being morning, or the janitor who was smiling way too brightly while cleaning up something strange. She ignored it all.
Looking around, it seemed that many others were behaving similarly. Acting as if they didn’t see what was right in front of them, didn’t hear what was clearly audible, and quickly walking without breaking into a run.
After walking for about five minutes, the girl finally spotted the gray building. That gray building was the shelter for this area.
The girl checked to make sure her two younger brothers and two younger sisters were all there, then descended the stairs into the shelter.
As soon as she entered, she was greeted by a crowd of people. They all had faces filled with exhaustion and irritation. Their expressions seemed like the smallest nudge could set off a fight.
Seeing such a familiar scene made the girl’s tension ease slightly. After finding a suitable spot, she sat down with the kids.
“I didn’t get to eat breakfast.”
“I had ham.”
“Good for you.”
Were they going to have to spend the entire day in the shelter again?
In the shelter, the only thing available was drinking water from the water stations. They didn’t provide any food. In other words, if you didn’t bring any food with you, you’d have to spend the entire day starving.
The girl was already feeling a headache coming on, just thinking about the kids whining for food.
There were already so many people who were on edge, upset about wasting a day in the shelter. If the kids started whining about being hungry, how much more trouble would that cause?
The girl subtly raised her head to scan her surroundings.
As expected, everyone was quietly angry.
Except for one man.
“What’s with that guy?”
The man stood out with his appearance.
Tall, he looked around the shelter with eyes twinkling, as if it were his first time being there.
Could it be his first time in a shelter?
A person who had never been in a shelter by his age? There were only two kinds of people like that.
The first type.
Someone from a wealthy family who could stay protected at home.
Judging by his clothes, he didn’t seem like a rich family’s son.
The second type.
Someone who was so strong that they didn’t need a shelter.
But the second type didn’t make sense. Why would someone who didn’t need a shelter be in one? A shelter wasn’t a hotel. All you could do here was drink water and sit or stand in one spot for hours.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“Watch where you’re going.”
See? You had to be mindful of others, even when moving around in a shelter. And that man was trying hard to be mindful.
Which meant he wasn’t the second type—someone so strong that they didn’t need a shelter wouldn’t bother with social cues like that.
That left only one answer.
The man was definitely a bit crazy.
And it’s always best not to get involved with crazy people.
But how wonderful would it be if the world moved according to our thoughts?
“If anything happens, wake me up right away,” the girl said as she crouched down and closed her eyes.
When you’re tired and sleepy, you can get a good nap even sitting down.
How deep could you sleep sitting down? Deep enough to not wake up until the slightly crazy man had already gotten friendly with her siblings and started watching videos with them.
“Alright, you’ve watched the video, right? Now tell me, how does this shelter work?”
The man initiated a form of barter—showing bored kids YouTube videos in exchange for information about the shelter.
“My sister said it’s a space created with super strong powers, so no evil spirits can get in.”
“Don’t you know about Cheonji? There’s this super strong organization called Cheonji, and they made it.”
Well, the man had at least done some basic research before coming here.
He continued with another question.
“So, while you’re in the shelter, you don’t see any ghosts or anything like that?”
“Ghosts? Can people really not see them here?”
“Ah, no, of course not.”
The man, flustered, wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Then the younger girl chimed in.
“If you show us just one more video, I think I’ll remember.”
“Hey, let’s watch a hero video this time. I heard the hero rankings changed.”
“No! Oppa, it’s my turn this time.”
After showing them another video, he finally got a clear answer.
“You can totally see ghosts, of course. From tiny ones to little ones, they all show up. I mean, you’re seeing them too, right?”
“R-right.”
The man had just learned something new.
The shelter didn’t completely block out ghosts.
So, what exactly was it about this shelter that stopped strange phenomena?
“Then how do you know when it’s time to leave the shelter?”
“You just know when the door opens. Wow, oppa, is this really your first time in a shelter?”
“No way. Of course not. I’m practically a shelter veteran. I was just testing you kids to see if you knew your shelter facts,” the man, Yoo Hajin, barely dodged the boy’s suspicious gaze.
‘Is there some kind of central control system here?’ Yoo Hajin thought.
Could they remotely open and close the doors of the shelter?
Then who was controlling the doors of this shelter?
As Yoo Hajin pondered, the door opened.
The sound of the door opening was immediately followed by cheers from the crowd.
“Damn, it ended a little early today.”
“I was starving to death.”
“Finally, we’re done.”
As people started filing out, the girl finally stood up. The girl, as the head of her family, checked that the door had opened and made sure her four younger siblings were all present before slowly getting up from her spot.
“A kid taking care of kids, huh,” Yoo Hajin muttered under his breath in a bitter tone as he watched the family. He continued observing as people left the shelter.
The mysterious public shelter that only opened when strange phenomena overtook reality—the sacred shelter that had blocked out almost all evil spirits.
He had been hoping for something, even just a little.
But all Yoo Hajin could see were strange symbols drawn on the concrete walls, floors, and ceiling.
He couldn’t sense any special power or mystery.
“Another wasted day.”
****
“Another wasted day.”
I shook my head.
I thought that if this public shelter, which ranks in the top three of Korea’s national pride, was as great as they say, I’d be able to see or feel something.
But no, logically, since it’s a place that blocks dangerous evil spirits and supernatural phenomena, this public shelter is probably the hardest place to actually see any ghosts.
I had the wrong idea from the start.
I shook my head again, frustrated with myself.
But the moment I reached the surface, I couldn’t shake my head anymore. The people who had just come up with me were terrified.
“What... what’s going on?”
“You, who just came up, you better stand there quietly.”
A thug, who looked the part, muttered under his breath, holding an automatic pistol. His speech was slurred, almost as if he was drunk.
But seriously, an automatic pistol?
Damn it, I’d heard that automatic pistols were the weapon that psychic warriors considered the most pathetic.
Why? Because those pistols only worked on ordinary people who couldn’t deploy barriers. And the history of automatic pistols was short, so there weren’t many enchanted ones, either.
In other words, anyone using an automatic pistol was just a thug who bullied ordinary folks, and probably too poor to afford proper enchanted weapons.
Looking at this guy now, it seemed like that was exactly the case.
One man, glancing around, stammered, “Th-that’s a supernatural phenomenon, isn’t it? Why—why did the shelter open when there’s a phenomenon happening?”
Was there still a phenomenon going on?
“Yeah, supernatural phenomena are everywhere around us. We know a safe way out. If you don’t want to get eaten by one, shut up and walk.”
“W-wouldn’t it be better to return to the shelter? I don’t know where you gentlemen are from, but...”
An older woman suggested cautiously to the man holding the gun.
The thug grinned and pointed his gun right at her.
Bang!
Holy crap, these crazy bastards actually fired!
Startled, I rolled toward the bushes next to the shelter. Damn it, so much for keeping my cool. But when you hear gunshots, your body moves on its own.
I’d die if I got shot too.
Probably...?
The thug yelled, “Where did that guy go?!”
Why couldn’t they see me all of a sudden?
I wasn’t exactly hiding. I was just lying in the bushes.
I wasn’t even wearing a ghillie suit, yet they couldn’t see me, even though I was right in front of them?
“Hey, where did the guy who came out of the stairs go?”
A man whimpered and pointed to where I’d disappeared. “Suddenly... suddenly he got sucked into that phenomenon with the grass and flowers mixed in. It looked like he just rolled himself into it, though.”
“Tch, he looked expensive. Did he really get eaten by the phenomenon just like that? Damn it. It’s just like they said, the phenomena are going wild because it’s that day.”
The thug looked down at me.
Who the hell are you looking down on, you jerk?
Wait, when did these bushes turn into a phenomenon?
It’s that day, so the phenomena are overflowing?
“Well, we don’t have a choice. Let’s move out.”
The thugs with guns began leading the people from the shelter somewhere. Soon, all that was left in front of the shelter was me and the woman who had been shot dead.
I gently closed the woman’s eyes and muttered under my breath.
“These damn bastards...”
I clenched my fists tightly without realizing it.
This town was my home.
I couldn’t let thugs like them run rampant here.
Of course, it’d be tough to deal with armed thugs on my own.
“Even when the world goes to hell, there are some folks who never close their shops. I wonder if they’d still be open on the Day of Madness?”
– – – The End of The Chapter – – –
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