Chapter 180 – Ghost Story (4)

A ghost with a face completely covered in white makeup suddenly appeared and said, “Peekaboo,” right in front of his face. Even someone with nerves of steel might have had a seizure from the scare. Kang Geom-Ma flinched too.

The ‘Spirit Level’ helped calm his heart quickly, but it didn’t make him completely unshakable.

A shock that sudden couldn’t be completely dispelled with just a technique.

When someone jumps out right in your face, it’s only natural to be affected.

But that was it. He regained his composure immediately.

After all, the enemies he’d faced so far had all been formidable opponents.

He’d felt that chill down his spine countless times already. This was nothing compared to those.

“What the hell is that, popping up just to scare someone?”

Kang Geom-Ma clenched his teeth in anger. Then, he drove Murasame into the being’s left cheek.

The blade pierced through the flesh and came out the other side.

Originally, he had aimed to slice its neck clean, but the space was too narrow for that.

Screeeeeeeech!

The ghost in the pink shoes screamed. Its heels clattered loudly against the bathroom tiles. The echo of its scream, combined with the footsteps, rang through the entire building. It was only a matter of time before it attracted the attention of other hallway ghosts.

And as expected, footsteps began to thunder from outside. Dozens of them, like everyone suddenly had an emergency bathroom run. Their steps were hurried.

Kang Geom-Ma cursed under his breath.

‘Damn it, this bathroom only has three stalls, but there’s like fifty coming.’

While tearing apart the ghost’s face with his knife, Kang Geom-Ma readjusted his plan.

He would leave the boys’ bathroom, which he’d used as a base, and regroup from outside.

‘But first, this witch who trespassed in the men’s bathroom.’

Peeking like that—ghost or not, it was a crime. And it needed to pay. Perverts were the worst.

Kang Geom-Ma yanked the handle down hard. The blade sliced through the jaw with ease.

A purple tongue coated in white gunk dangled from its torn chin, swaying.

Boom!

Kang Geom-Ma kicked the stall door open. The ghost flew out with the door and crashed into a urinal, practically getting wedged inside it.

The shattered urinal sprayed water up toward the ceiling.

The ghost in the pink heels let out choking moans. With no jaw, it could barely make a sound.

And it regretted it. Never imagined that boy would be so damn ruthless.

Soon after, Kang Geom-Ma stepped out of the stall. He rotated his shoulder a few times and stood in front of the urinal. He looked down.

“If you were in such a hurry, you should’ve used the stall next door. Peeking into one that’s occupied? And to top it off, a woman entering the men’s room. You were asking for it from the start.”

Kang Geom-Ma spoke in a tone full of annoyance. The ghost tried to claw at him in desperation.

“Kieeeeeek!”

Kang Geom-Ma dodged with a slight tilt of his head and swung Murasame.

Slash!

The decapitated body slipped into the urinal.

“And in the next life, learn to knock before coming in, you bastard.”

At that moment, a message appeared before his eyes.

[NEW! You have met the special condition of the Underworld King’s Power: ‘Eliminate over 50 entities with (ghost) attribute’, and unlocked a new skill.]

Flash—

== ==

〈Underworld King’s Power〉
◈ New Skill
: Entities with the ghost attribute that you’ve cut with this weapon can be controlled without a number limit.

: Effect is not permanent; it lasts a maximum of 10 minutes.

: Currently controllable entities: 32.

== ==

“…What the hell is this?”

I stared at the status window, eyes wide open.

It may have surprised me more than when the ghost in pink heels stuck her face through the stall crack.

The Underworld King’s Power. I hadn’t used it since the fight against Vendetta.

Until now, it could only control one entity, so it wasn’t that useful.

But now, that limit was removed… at least for beings with the “ghost” attribute.

I’ve always been weak against overwhelming numbers.

That’s why I prefer one-on-one duels or elite skirmishes.

But this new ability gave me the upper hand even in mob fights.

I recalled that before hiding in the bathroom, I’d seen a map of the building on a hallway wall. I glanced at it just in case and saved the image in my mind.

Thanks to that, I now had a general idea of the layout.

Then I noticed something strange.

The classrooms were numbered like apartment units: 101, 102, 103…

That alone was odd.

But what really caught my eye was that the fourth floor was marked with the Chinese character for “death” (死), and classroom 404 appeared as “死靈死” (“spirit of death”).

At the time, I didn’t understand what it meant, but after communicating with the system, it all made sense.

The “core” of this dungeon was there: classroom 404.

Now… I’m currently on the second floor.

And if there are already this many enemies here, how many more are waiting on the third and fourth?

That worried me. But just at that moment, I unlocked the Underworld King’s ability. Perfect timing.

‘What luck.’

All I had to do was a little farming, and then let my “allies” do the rest.

If the ten-minute duration ended, I just had to cut more to reactivate the ability.

Auto-farming, Korean game-style, in real life.

My heart started racing.

Energy returned to my tired muscles. Just thinking about “auto hunting” put me in a good mood.

Sure, I had to cut down more ghosts first, but I already had over thirty.

With some effort, hitting a hundred wouldn’t be hard.

The more allies I had, the better.

“There he is!”

Right then, a group of ghosts burst into the bathroom like a tsunami.

Their eyes glowed with madness as they locked onto me.

At a glance, there were about fifty of them.

They were so packed together, they looked like a tangled ball of yarn.

And I, standing alone in the middle of the bathroom, faced them.

I smirked coldly.

“If I cut down all of you, I’ll hit a hundred.”

Without hesitation, I charged at them.

My footsteps splashed against the wet tiles.

Splash, splash.

The echo of water accompanied my every move.

The ghosts’ eyes narrowed as they saw me grinning.

Who the hell smiles in a situation like this?

What they didn’t know…

Was just how terrifying a Korean can be when they’re about to complete their farming.

***

The shrieks of the ghosts filled the entire building.

Screeeeeeeech!

A human, driven mad by farming, was mercilessly cutting down ghosts.

The roles had reversed: now the ghosts were fleeing, and I was the hunter.

My slashes were relentless. One by one, the monsters fell.

I flicked the blood off my blade and looked around.

The hallway was covered in corpses. There was no space left to walk.

But I still wasn’t satisfied.

‘I’m still hungry.’

That thought perfectly described my mental state.

After clearing the second floor, I started climbing the stairs.

It wasn’t enough. Murasame and Eternal Frost vibrated, eager for more.

I went up to the third floor… to keep feeding my hunger.

***

Unlike the second floor, the third was eerily quiet.

There was only a solitary well in the middle of the hallway.

It looked like a scene copied and pasted straight from a horror movie.

Kang Geom-Ma wore a disappointed expression.

He’d come up hoping for more prey, but this floor was a wasteland.

Maybe this is what a farmer feels like when facing a bad harvest.

That’s when…

Creeeak—

Suddenly, a hand emerged from inside the well.

Bloodless skin covered in vein-like webs.

The owner of the hand began dragging herself out slowly.

It was a classic long-haired ghost.

With hair covering her face, she staggered forward.

“M-my name is Ma… Ma… Malsook…”

She introduced herself with a dry, cracked voice, though no one had asked.

“You’re… sooo handsome… b-be my husband…”

“Gross.”

The ghost opened her mouth wide with a crunching noise.

Its inside was pitch black, and dark ink flowed from every hole in her face.

“I don’t want… to be aloooone anymoooore!”

She stretched her arms out as if welcoming her soulmate.
Kang Geom-Ma stared at her with a blank expression.

“You look like a halfway decent mini-boss.”

A slight disappointment, but still a good opportunity.

Despite her slow voice, her magical aura wasn’t normal. He estimated her to be a B-rank magical beast.

If the second floor was quantity, the third was quality.

If he could add her to his army, it would grow significantly stronger.

Kang Geom-Ma smirked and raised a hand.

Time to test the fruits of his farming.

Rumble—

The ground shook. The ghost fresh out of the well staggered.
She quickly regained her balance and looked at him.

“W-what… what did you do…?”

Kang Geom-Ma replied,

“You said you were alone.”

“…?”

“You’re gonna regret saying that.”

At that moment, the ghost felt an indescribable chill.

An overwhelming pressure squeezed her chest so tightly her eyelids trembled.

Grrrrrrrgh…

The groans echoed from the stairs.

There were at least a hundred specters.

All gathered behind Kang Geom-Ma.

With a simple flick of his fingers, the ghosts lined up in formation as if they were his natural followers.
Each of their movements was under his control.

The ghost backed away, but it was already too late.

Kang Geom-Ma snapped his fingers.

“She’s alone. Keep her company.”

“W-wait… wait a sec—!”

The ghosts surged forward like an avalanche through the narrow hallway.

In a panic, Malsook threw herself back into the well she’d come from.

A thousand thoughts filled her head, but escaping came first.

Survival was all that mattered.

‘I won’t die a virgin again!’

But the ghosts hurled themselves into the well after her with a roar.

Malsook looked up, dumbfounded, as the avalanche flooded into her lair.

And she was swept away with them.

A blood-curdling scream erupted from deep within the well.

Then, silence.

Malsook died without ever fulfilling her grand wish.

Then Kang Geom-Ma resumed his march.

He moved toward the staircase at the other end of the hallway.

The specters, having completed their task, crawled out of the well and followed him.

Among them was Malsook as well.

Step. Step.

A long procession.

Hundreds of ghosts escorted the human leading at the front.

Their steps and rhythm matched his perfectly.

Blue flames of will-o’-the-wisps lit the path through the darkness.

Hyakki Yagyō. The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons.

And leading that parade was a human…

The King of the Dead, Kang Geom-Ma.

He marched to put an end to this cursed nightmare.

To break this never-ending night.

He guided the spirits trapped in this chaotic field.

As he walked, he murmured a line that suddenly came to mind.

It was a phrase he remembered from when he obtained the Stone of Immortality.

“Hear the voices of the dead.
Then they will open the gates of the underworld… and answer your call.”

Grrrrrrrgh!

The ghosts let out a chilling howl.

It was their nocturnal greeting.

The announcement that the King of the Underworld was on the move.