‘… what is this?’
Mo Il-hwa and Jin-hyuk were really doubting their eyes. A ghost with long hair desperately waved her hands around under the pressure of Mumu.
They were at a loss for words at the sight of a ghost in pain.
‘No. How is this possible?’
Jin-hyuk couldn’t understand how a ghost was being pressured. Nothing happened no matter how much he had attacked, but Mumu made this thing look like a touchable being. Equally confused, Mo Il-hwa asked,
“ya… t-that?”
Mumu raised his head and said,
“Are you talking about this person?”
“Person?”
“Yes, the waist seemed elongated up the stairs, so I held it and pulled it back.”
‘… and you didn’t think that this was strange?’
From the moment the waist stretched out like that, it was no human. Even after catching the ghost, Mumu didn’t seem to think it was strange.
While Mo Il-hwa clicked her tongue, Jin-hyuk approached Mumu cautiously and lightly touched the ghost Mumu held.
Shhh!
But surprisingly, his hand passed through.
“Uh?”
This was strange.
He could see Mumu holding it down, but he couldn’t touch it?
“I-it is passing through?”
Hae-ryang was also skeptical about whether this thing was a ghost and tried to touch it with his leg. But, like Jin-hyuk, it passed right through.
“W-what is this?”
“What… what what? That is a ghost. But how is Mumu holding it?”
Mumu tilted his head and Mo Il-hwa’s words. He didn’t do anything special; he had just caught it.
“I just caught it? Rather, why couldn’t you catch it?”
“It isn’t that we couldn’t catch it because we didn’t want to; we just couldn’t hold that ghost.”
“Ghost?”
“Yes, Ghost, spirit, the soul of a dead man! Soul!”
“This person?”
Mumu was puzzled and then asked the female ghost he was catching.
“Ghost?”
“Just because you ask, it cannot answer….”
-uhhhhh
‘!?’
The ghost made a bizarre sound which made it difficult for them to understand.
It was a terrifying sound that could not be called human, but since it made that noise right after Mumu’s question, it felt like it was trying to answer him.
“W-what? Does it really speak?’
“I think so.”
Mumu asked, pressing it on the back instead of the nape.
“You can speak?”
-Uhhhh uhhhh
At Mumu’s question, the ghost made another noise as if it was trying to talk. It couldn’t be said if the answer was an affirmation or not, but Mumu took it positively.
“Seems like it can speak?”
“… it just sounds like uhhhhh.”
“No. I think it can speak. Do you know Master Dan Baek-yeon?”
-Uhhhhhh
“No.”
At Mumu’s words, Jin-hyuk clicked his tongue.
“No. Mumu… it is just crying from–”
“I think she is saying she knows.”
“No matter how you look, that is….”
-Brrrrr!
It was then.
The body of the bloody ghost began to shudder and then darken repeatedly.
And if Mumu wasn’t holding it, it would have disappeared by now. Mumu hit the ghost on the head with his hand to stop it.
Pak!
And as the Mumu hit the ghost with the palm of his hand, the ghost slammed into the floor. The shape that was once blurred turned to normal again.
And the ghost's eyes through the hair looked like it was crying.
-uhhhhhh!
And Mumu spoke to the ghost.
“If you try to run away again, I will hit you again.”
-…
At his warning, the ghost trembled.
‘Uh?’
Tang So-so frowned. She had definitely taken the stairs up, and she should have made it up two floors. But strangely enough, she had come down to the basement.
It had to be underground, as torches lit up the surroundings, and she bit her lower lip.
‘… I continue to operate the Three-Way Energy technique, but my energy hasn’t been relieved yet?’
It was strange.
Even if the poison was different, this technique should have worked fine, and it would be enough to disperse the illusions. Yet she had come down the stairs instead of going up.
That meant that she couldn’t get away from it.
“tch.”
As a member of the Tang family, whose name was famous for poisons, it made her angry. This technique should have worked the best.
However, even back when she was first poisoned, she felt something wasn’t happening correctly.
“Ha~”
She sighed.
Crumble!
As she took a step ahead, she heard the sound of something breaking. When she looked down, she saw that a floor section had frozen over and something like ice had cracked.
‘It seems like the basement is in winter.’
It looked like this was done artificially; confused, she shook her head.
She had to alert the others that everything they saw was hallucinations and looked around. It was time to go back up.
“I heard someone break it. Was it Tang So-so?”
Tang So-so’s eyes widened at the sound of a low-pitched voice. She didn’t feel the energy from behind at all.
Startled, she shook her head and turned in the direction of the voice. And In the middle of the hallway, where the light was flickering, there was a handsome man of 19 years with a pale face.
‘!?’
Seeing that, she was shocked.
“Senior Kang? Is that senior Kang?”
She doubted her eyes.
The man's identity was Kang Mui, a senior and a 3rd-year student was the man's identity. However, he wasn’t just a third-year student but was the second in academics and called a genius.
‘The sickly handsome man.’
So-so once called him that.
Although he looked sickly, he was a monster who fought for the first and second place in the 3rd year and was so handsome that many women were interested in him.
However, no one could approach him because of the unique gloomy air around him. She also had a crush on him but gave up.
“That… senior, how did you come here?”
Kang Mui spoke with an expressionless face.
“That is what I wanted to ask. Did you keep walking around the place without getting scared after seeing the ghosts?”
“Ghosts? They are hallucinations.”
“Oh, Since you are from the Tang family, maybe ‘that’ didn’t work?”
At that mumbling, Tang So-so frowned.
“Did senior use psychedelic drugs?”
Psychedelic drugs were more like medicine than poison.
But when inhaled in massive amounts, it could cause hallucinations. She was sure of this when she smelled her fingers after the scroll was touched.
“Did the senior know what it was and yet use it?”
Kang Mui answered.
“Well.”
“…. Does this mean that the ghosts of the building were all your doing?”
At this question, Kang Mui made a strange expression and nodded his head.
“You can see it that way.”
“See it that way? Then all the incidents which happened here were done by senior.”
Tang So-so lost it. How upsetting was last year?
And this man was speaking like it didn’t matter, and he said.
“I will let you know. Last year's events are a separate matter from the ghosts. It happened due to the mistakes of the faculty and the students who didn’t properly handle the poison.”
“But…”
“Due to that accident, the poison spread throughout the building. And this building would have been shut by it even if not for the ghosts. Since you are the heir to the Tang family, you should know this.”
“…”
Tang So-so was speechless at this comment.
The poisons used were more potent than expected, so clearing them would have taken longer.
“… then. Even if senior is saying it, what are you doing in this place by spreading psychedelic drugs?”
At her question, Kang Mui smiled.
“Well. What was I doing?”
It felt creepy.
She knew that this senior had another side to him from the start, but this looked too sullen.
Kang Mui walked to her. Tang So-so felt wary at this and held out her hand.
“Don’t come closer and keep talking.”
“Why are you so on edge?”
“I am very suspicious of senior right now.”
Anyone would feel suspicious.
This man was using drugs and spraying them on the old buildings and contaminating it with poison. Tang So-so was ready to deal with him if she had to. And the man shrugged.
“I think I made my junior misunderstand me, but I needed a quiet place to stay.”
“Quiet place?”
For just that reason, he was spraying out the drugs? Even if it wasn’t a dangerous building, with the grades of Kang Mui he could request a special training centre.
“Even if it is not here….’
“If not for this place, it would be impossible to do experiments.”
Tak!
Kang Mui flicked his finger, and she looked up at the ceiling.
Kirik! Kirik!
Black shadows clung to the ceiling with bloodshot eyes. And that wasn’t the end.
Shhhh!
A monster with a half-melted face passed through the wall.
‘Uh?’
Tang So-so frowned at it. Even if the psychedelic drugs were remaining, these images seemed too clear.
Looking at the appearance of these beings, they looked like ghosts.
“What is this….”
Kang Mui smiled at her bewildered appearance and pulled a book from the sleeve.
The book appeared to have been a copy of the Mount Mo Ghost Art.
“That?”
“The now extinct Mount Mo sect made a name for themselves with their unique techniques. For example, bizarre things like casting spirits and making the dead walk.”
“Mount Mo sect?”
It was a name she heard. It was also a Murim sect, and more famous for its techniques that involved the spirits.
However, she knew that the other sects had rejected this sect because of their unique way of summoning the dead.
“Why does senior have it?”
“Now you are in the 2nd year of class, you may not know, but there are many such books in the basement of the Heavenly Library.”
“Underground library?”
She had also heard from a senior.
The hidden underground library. She heard that the more stars one had, the more qualified they were to go deeper.
And she frowned at this.
“Wait. So what I am seeing are real ghosts?”
That cannot be. This had to be a hallucination.
At that moment, Kang Mui waved his hand.
The black shadow with red eyes on the ceiling reached for her, and reflexively she used poison needles.
Shhh!
But the needles passed right through the shadow.
‘It passed. Hallucinations…’
The moment she thought she was right, the shadow grabbed her arm.
And the sensation felt so vivid that goosebumps rose on her.
“T-this…”
Kang Mui approached her and said,
“As you said, psychedelic drugs cause hallucinations, but they can be used for other purposes. I used the suggestion of Mount Mo.”
“Suggestion?”
“Human senses are easy to deceive. Have you heard of it? It is said that after repeatedly lying to a kettle filled with cold water that it has hot water in it, the kettle burned itself.”
“Then that….”
“Ghosts aren’t real, but with the techniques of Mount Mo and their arts of persuasion, your body will learn to accept this new reality.”1
Kang Mui approached her with a smile–and the smile resembled someone’s…
Who was that…
Shhh!
And Kang Mui tried to pet her cheek.
“W-what are you doing?”
“I like that you are smarter than I thought. Normal people would have rushed to escape after seeing the ghosts, but seeing you approach so close… you seem like a pretty decent woman…”
Startle!
Kang Mui stopped and looked up. She wondered why but then something bloody and hazy appeared from the ceiling.
It was one of the ghosts.
“Finally here?”
It was the moment when he was wondering why this ghost was late.
Bang!
‘!?’
At that moment, the ghostly ceiling shattered, and someone landed on the ground. And someone peeked through the cracks and dust.
“Mumu!”
Tang So-so recognized the person in an instant.
“Mumu?”
Kang Mui frowned at the name.
He was surprised by this sudden appearance and did a guy come breaking down the ceiling chasing his ghost?
This was unexpected.
If one went up the stairs by suggestion, they would only go up and not come down, but this guy destroyed the building.
“I told you not to run… uh? So-so?”
Mumu, who found So-so, was shocked and tried to understand the situation.
The black shadow with bloodshot eyes was holding her, and the handsome man touched her face. Without time to think, Mumu flew for her.
“Do not touch So-so!”
‘Oh my!’
At that shout, Tang So-so got excited, and the blood flowed down through her nose.
Is Mumu doing this to save her?
Ahh, this picture looked so good.
She thought if she should fight or not, but she decided not to.
‘Ah!’
But there is a problem.
These ghosts are real and aren’t just hallucinations.
“Mumu, these ghosts aren’t fake…”
Shhh!
Before Tang So-so could warn him, Kang Mui waved his fingers as if he was annoyed, and the ghost with a half-melted face blocked Mumu.
“I don’t know who you are, but for now, stop him…”
It was then.
Puck!
The ghost trying to block the way was thrown away by Mumu.
‘!?’
Tang So-so who was seeing it was shocked, and Kang Mui, who controlled the ghosts, couldn’t predict what had happened.
What he means here is that ghosts aren’t real, or at least they can’t interact with people. But through the arts of Mount Mo, he can convince people they are ghosts and can hurt them (which is why they can grab people, but people can’t grab them)