Mudoo - Chapter 24

After finally convincing Kang Tae-shin, Seula quietly opened the door to the study room and stepped out into the hallway.

The corridor stretched long, dark, and silent. She made her way toward the stairs, guided only by the faint blue glow of the emergency exit signs. Tae-shin and Bok-young had agreed to follow her after a short delay.

If someone had really pushed Bok-young down the stairs, like Tae-shin suspected, then it was a case for the police. But if it was a ghost… there was no doubt it would come after a lone student wandering the halls at this hour. They always say the culprit returns to the scene of the crime, right?

Besides, if there were even warning signs posted near the study room, it had to be a repeat offender.

Seula braced herself, tensing her legs so she wouldn’t get pushed off balance, and started heading down the stairs.

Come to think of it, she had grown a lot braver lately. Compared to how she was when she first started seeing ghosts, she’d come a long way.

“Please, this is nothing,” she muttered, shrugging her shoulders.

She kept repeating Kang Tae-shin’s words to herself, “Emergency jobs pay double.” Just thinking about the amount that would be in her account tomorrow made her smile.

…But something felt off.

No matter how long she descended, the first floor never came. Uneasy, she glanced at the floor number posted at the landing.

She was still between the 3rd and 4th floors. Even though she’d come down a long way from the 4th-floor study room. That couldn’t be right.

“Bok-young… You didn’t say anything about this…”

She’d tried to distract herself with idle thoughts to keep the fear of the school building at bay—but realizing she was stuck in this endless stairwell sent chills down her spine.

Seula glanced up toward the stairs above her. No sign of Tae-shin or Bok-young, who were supposed to be right behind her. The idea that she was completely alone flooded her with dread.

The school in darkness suddenly felt cold and unfamiliar, the chill in the air brushing against her skin. The silence was so heavy it made even her breathing sound too loud. The eerie green lighting only made everything worse.

So much for being brave.

And with this place being part of an ongoing police investigation, the night guard probably wasn’t doing any rounds either.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, Seula bolted down the stairs, not even bothering to check the floor markers anymore. She just ran, fast and mindlessly.

There had to be an end. Right? She was determined to beat whatever force was messing with her. If she said she didn’t regret getting involved in all this, it would be a lie. She wanted to smack herself for being so reckless.

She paused to catch her breath on one of the landings.

Still stuck between the 3rd and 4th floors.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew from behind her, enough to make her hair whip around.

“Kang Tae-shin?”

She instinctively turned her head—but in that exact moment, someone shoved her hard from behind.

“Whoa—!”

So this was it. Even as her arms flailed in the air, trying to catch her balance, a strange sense of relief crept in. At least she’d found the right place.

“Can you not zone out like that?!”

A voice thundered through the stairwell, and Tae-shin appeared, grabbing her arm and pulling her into his arms.

His eyes were bloodshot as he looked her over, checking she was okay. Behind him, Bok-young stood frozen, hands over her mouth.

“…Did you see it?”

Seula asked, and Bok-young just collapsed to the floor, sobbing like a child.

***

“It was a suicide ghost.”

As they pushed open the glass doors of the annex, the cold dawn wind cut right through their clothes. Bok-young sniffled behind them, passing straight through the glass as if it weren’t there.

“Mister.”

“What.”

“Once I’m gone… could you help that suicide ghost move on or whatever? Send her off properly?”

Tae-shin gave her a look like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing and pulled up the collar of his coat. Clearly, he felt the cold too.

“Guiding the dead is a reaper’s job. Sending a tormented spirit on its way? That’s a shaman’s job. My only job is to take you to the reaper. Everything else is above my pay grade.”

Seula hadn’t even seen the ghost. It darted around the school like the wind, seeming to enjoy tormenting people. She swore she could still hear its eerie giggle echoing in her ears.

As Bok-young’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, Tae-shin continued.

“That ghost’s been here longer than you’ve been alive. You were just unlucky—caught up in their mischief.”

“Dying like this… It just feels so unfair,” Bok-young whispered.

“Accepting your death is your job,” Tae-shin said, watching her quietly.

“….”

“If you’d rather not, you can end up like that suicide ghost. Wandering forever, forgotten. Even your name will disappear.”

Bok-young shook her head hard, clearly rejecting the idea.

Suddenly, a whisper slithered into Seula’s ear.

“Poor thing, your face looks half-dead.”

She gasped and jumped back. The reaper was there, lips curled in that familiar sly grin, black lipstick slick against her pale skin.

“Why the scare? We’ve met before.”

The reaper cinched the waist of her sleek black coat and slipped one hand out of her pocket to beckon Bok-young over.

“Come on, sweetheart. If you’re done here, let’s head to a better place.”

Bok-young didn’t move right away. She hesitated, glancing toward Tae-shin and Seula as if silently asking for help.

It was sad, seeing a kid pass away so young. But there was nothing else they could do. Tae-shin seemed to think so too.

“She’s underage, so I can’t even offer her a smoke or pour her a drink. Should I give her some candy instead?”

“…I don’t need it,” Bok-young mumbled, stepping toward the reaper.

Tae-shin pulled out his wallet and tucked two crisp 50,000-won bills into her hand.

“Here’s your fare for the afterlife.”

“Only this much? You look like you’ve got more.”

“That’s all the cash I have.”

The reaper peeked at the bills with interest.

“Hey kid, wanna give that to me instead? I’ll double, triple it for you.”

Tae-shin clicked his tongue. “Living or dead, never trust someone who’s greedy with money.”

“I’m not that dumb,” Bok-young replied and carefully tucked the money into her pocket.

The reaper looked disappointed but pulled out a scroll and a wireless mic from her coat.

Then she began reciting the script in a dry, matter-of-fact voice.

“Deceased, Bok-young. Time of death, 20XX, Month X, Day X, 1:27 a.m. Cause of death, accidental fall down a stairwell, resulting in skull fracture and brain hemorrhage. The deceased must cross the River of Three Paths…”

As she finished, the scroll burst into flames and crumbled to ash.

“You got all that?”

“Can you summarize it in three lines?”

“You’ll understand when you get there, kiddo.”

It was the second time Seula had watched someone pass on, and it still left her with a heavy heart.

Bok-young waved to them one last time.

“Don’t fight too much, okay? And if you can… please tell the cops I didn’t kill myself.”

Seula raised her hand to wave back, but before she could say goodbye, both Bok-young and the reaper vanished without a trace.

“…She’s gone,” Tae-shin said beside her, pulling out his car keys.

“You don’t have to take a dead person’s final words to heart. We’re not obligated to honor every request.”

Even so, Seula couldn’t shake off Bok-young’s parting words.

Just as Tae-shin was about to lead them to the parking lot, a faint murmur of voices reached their ears.

Their eyes met.

Should they hide?

Too late. If they moved now, it’d only make things worse. Frozen in hesitation, they could only stare at each other—

“Seula?”

A bright beam from a flashlight hit her face. Seula winced and shielded her eyes, immediately recognizing the voice.

“Shin Haejun?”

With a click, the flashlight turned off. A small group stood just ahead, and among them was a very familiar face.

Haejun looked at her, then Tae-shin, his expression full of confusion.