The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 11

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Calamity-Grade Relics from Urban Legends Chapter 11
The people who had been applauding and cheering soon scattered and returned to their offices.
Only the man who had stepped forward first to offer congratulations remained, speaking with a smile.
“If you’ll just follow me, please.”
The two of them exchanged glances before following after him.
The man led them to an office with a nameplate reading “Abnormal Phenomenon Response Team,” inside which two more people were already present.
“Everyone, please pay attention!”
The man said this while clapping his hands together.
“Oh! They’re finally here!”
“Hmm.”
At that, the two people sitting in their chairs looked at them with hollow eyes.
Faces they hadn’t seen during the noisy welcome ceremony earlier.
Han Woo-ju observed the two of them, who looked visibly exhausted at first glance.
Certainly Woo-ju had arrived earlier than the usual start time, but what did it mean that these people, presumably his seniors, were sitting with such hollow eyes?
‘Did I join the wrong company?’
Perhaps he’d signed on with a sweatshop.
Come to think of it, was it normal for so many people to have already clocked in before work hours had even begun?
Then again, considering the salary, it wouldn’t be strange if overtime was a daily affair.
While entertaining such thoughts in his mind,
the man who had guided them spoke again.
“First, Han Woo-ju and Lee Chae-wol, correct? I’m Ryu Seon-dam. I’m the vice-captain of the Abnormal Phenomenon Response Team.”
“Yes. We look forward to working with you.”
“That’s right! We’ll work hard.”
Ryu Seon-dam, who had introduced himself, had been smiling consistently from the moment they first met.
Yet he didn’t give the impression of being simply a good-natured person.
Rather, he felt like someone not to be taken lightly.
Ryu Seon-dam glanced sideways and nodded to his teammates sitting in their chairs.
Then the man with shaggy dark hair, whose eyes had looked hollow before, spoke up.
“I’m Baek Ho. Our team doesn’t have separate positions aside from the captain and vice-captain. So we’re all equal team members.”
The shaggy-haired man, who spoke this way, appeared to be around the same age as Woo-ju, and tattoos were faintly visible between the gaps in his clothing—quite elaborate-looking tattoos at that.
Apart from that, Baek Ho gave off the impression of having been something of a troublemaker in his youth.
“And this person here is…….”
“I’ll introduce myself, if I may.”
Just as Baek Ho was about to introduce the person sitting beside him, that person interjected.
“I’m Chung-woo. Pleased to meet you.”
It was the man who had been with Hwa-ryeon before, greeting them plainly.
“Ah, pleased to meet you!”
“Pleased to meet you.”
Chung-woo bowed his head with courtesy, and Woo-ju and Chae-wol quickly returned the gesture.
“Excellent. Our Response Team consists of four people total including the captain. Now, with the two of you, we’re up to six.”
“Man, I can finally breathe a little. Right, Chung-woo?”
Chung-woo didn’t speak, but he did nod his head.
From this, it wasn’t difficult to infer that they had been suffering from overwork due to understaffing.
Ryu Seon-dam smiled and nodded, then spoke to the two of them again.
“The captain is currently absent for certain reasons. He’ll probably come in late afternoon. So I’ll give you a brief orientation.”
He clapped his hands once more, as if by habit, and then pointed to the empty seats.
“For now, you can use those empty desks over there. You’re free to choose which one you’d like to take.”
“Okay.”
“Yes.”
“Given what our team name is, you might think we’re always out in the field, but that’s not quite how it works.”
“Right. Honestly, the field would be better.”
Baek Ho, sitting nearby, chimed in with his agreement.
“This damn paperwork…….”
“Ha, just as Baek Ho says, there’s quite a bit of administrative work involved. After all, you have to write reports once you return from the field, and there are many documents to process.”
Looking at their desks after hearing this, it was clear that papers were stacked quite high on both Baek Ho’s and Chung-woo’s tables.
It seemed the dark circles under their eyes were likely caused by those documents.
“But we’ll fill you in on those details gradually. The most important thing, really, is your ability to respond in the field.”
Ryu Seon-dam said this and looked at Woo-ju.
“Your response ability was quite impressive.”
Then his gaze shifted toward Chae-wol.
“Lee Chae-wol also maintained her composure remarkably well. While she didn’t have the chance to show her abilities this time, judging by her test records, her foundational response capability seems more than adequate. However.”
Ryu Seon-dam raised a slender index finger as he spoke.
“Both of you still have areas that need work. Han Woo-ju, you’re too reckless, and Lee Chae-wol, you hesitated far too long at critical moments.”
The moment the Oddity appeared.
Woo-ju didn’t deliberate long—he simply swung the steel pipe.
Chae-wol, by contrast, possessed the capability to respond, yet hesitated until the final moment and missed her window to act.
He laid out the preceding situations methodically, his tone measured throughout.
“Of course, given your limited experience, such hesitation is only natural. Actually, considering you’ve only just joined, your performance was quite impressive.”
His words resonated so deeply that both Woo-ju and Chae-wol found themselves nodding in agreement.
“So, to address those gaps, I’ll be assigning mentors to you both.”
After his explanation, Ryu Seon-dam smiled again and continued.
“Baek Ho is wonderfully bold, yet knows when to exercise restraint. Chung-woo is thoughtful, yet capable of boldness when the moment demands it. I’ll assign each of you one as your mentor accordingly.”
Baek Ho with Woo-ju.
Chung-woo with Chae-wol.
Having paired the mentors and mentees, Ryu Seon-dam clapped his hands once more and spoke.
“All right then—since it’s your first day, work in pairs of two and tackle some of the pending tasks, one at a time.”
“Sounds good!”
“……Understood.”
Baek Ho stood immediately, as if he’d been waiting, while Chung-woo let out a deep sigh before rising.
Their contrasting natures were evident in that single gesture.
Ryu Seon-dam addressed them both.
“Just pick from the Level 1 tasks. I’ll handle the paperwork myself, so once you’re finished, have lunch together and head straight home.”
“Oh, perfect.”
“Understood.”
The two of them stood and approached Woo-ju and Chae-wol respectively.
“Let’s go.”
“Shall we?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Right.”
Woo-ju followed Baek Ho out of the office. Baek Ho hummed contentedly as he made his way toward the elevator.
Naturally, Chung-woo and Chae-wol came along as well, standing together in front of the elevator.
“Which one are you picking?”
“Something we can access from the basement.”
“Oh, us too. Going outside would be a hassle. Since we might overlap, I’ll give you a heads-up—we’re taking the Mirror.”
“I’ll be heading to Sangun.”
“Isn’t that a bit too dangerous?”
“I already learned the method last time, so I can handle it without issue.”
“All right then.”
Ding.
The elevator arrived at that moment.
The four of them stepped inside. Chung-woo routinely held his access card up to one side.
Whirr.
The button panel slid open, revealing hidden buttons beneath.
Buttons for Basement Levels 5 through 12. Chung-woo pressed Basement Level 6 without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Baek Ho leaned against the wall and addressed Woo-ju.
“The deputy chief mentioned Level 1 earlier. Have you heard anything about our Inspection Bureau’s classification system?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Then I’ll give you a quick rundown on the way down. There are four levels total. Level 1 is the weakest; Level 4 is the strongest.”
Baek Ho continued his explanation.
“Of course, there’s an official name for it—the RBS System. It’s a framework that categorizes Rumors, Oddities, Yokai, Anomalous Phenomena, and everything else into different tiers.”
After that point, he smiled and added.
“But you don’t need to know it all right now. You’ll pick it up naturally as you go.”
Level 1 assignments aren’t particularly dangerous, so there’s nothing to worry about, he said—at that very moment.
Ding.
The elevator reached its destination.
The level they arrived at was even brighter than the office corridor above.
Moreover, painted entirely white as if designed by a compulsive perfectionist, it was almost dizzying to look at.
“Let’s split up here then. See you at lunch.”
“Yes.”
As the paths diverged, Baek Ho led Woo-ju down the left corridor, while Chung-woo continued straight ahead.
Baek Ho continued humming, his mood apparently still buoyant, when he suddenly spoke to Han Woo-ju.
“What we’re going into belongs to the Rumor category. You went to Sakyeong Station with Hwa-ryeon last weekend, right?”
“Yes.”
“Think of it as something like that.”
Immediately after saying so, Baek Ho stopped before a door, checked the nameplate, and turned the handle.
The nameplate bore two characters reading “The Mirror” and a cryptic sequence: TASH-917.
Baek Ho opened the door and stepped inside as he spoke.
“What’s kept here is a Class One Rumor. That said, the danger level isn’t negligible. It’s only classified as Class One because Containment alone is enough to prevent damage.”
The room was dim, but Han Woo-ju soon made out something within it.
It was something draped beneath black cloth.
Baek Ho strode toward it as he continued.
“I’ve wanted to handle this for a while now, but it apparently can’t be entered alone under any circumstances, so I’ve had to leave it be.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Hwa-ryeon’s been swamped. The other two say there’s no need to touch something that just needs to stay Contained.”
“What kind of Rumor is this?”
“A Rumor, yes. It does fall into that category. Look for yourself.”
As he said this, Baek Ho seized the black cloth and yanked it away. What had been hidden beneath was suddenly revealed.
It was a canvas.
Painted on that canvas was a single mirror rendered in quite antiquated design, and Baek Ho pointed to it as he spoke.
“Its name is The Mirror. The way to enter is simple. Stand in front of this and stare at the mirror for twenty seconds or more without blinking. Come here.”
Han Woo-ju did as instructed and stood beside Baek Ho.
Standing face to face with the mirror painted on the canvas, Baek Ho continued.
“Once you’re inside, something will start chasing us. Normally, you’d be able to exit again if you could evade it and endure for a certain length of time.”
After saying that much, Baek Ho smiled and rolled his shoulders loose.
“But where’s the fun in that? Nothing gets resolved. So we’re going to use a different approach.”
“A different approach, you say……”
“It’s simple.”
Baek Ho pointed at the mirror.
“We destroy it.”
The moment those words reached his ears.
A dizzying vertigo swept through him, and the surrounding landscape warped.
When consciousness returned.
“All right. Glad you made it.”
They now stood in the midst of a decrepit building. In a small room where a single mirror sat alone.
Whiiiiing—.
Then, a wind blew from somewhere. A frigid gust that sent shivers down the spine.
“You have a weapon, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
Han Woo-ju reflexively thought of the Steel Pipe.
At once, the Steel Pipe materialized without warning and was gripped in his hand.
Baek Ho saw this and nodded, then gestured to one side.
“Let’s try heading over there first.”
“Roger.”
Baek Ho moved without hesitation, smooth and decisive, and opened the door.
Beyond it lay a corridor equally decrepit and ancient-looking.
Creeeeak—.
So weathered was it that the wooden floor groaned with each step.
Yet Baek Ho simply put his weight down, treading heavily, and spoke in an unruffled tone.
“Rumors, by their nature, generate fear and draw power from it. And they grow stronger with time.”
His voice reverberated through the narrow corridor.
“But what if the people trapped in a Rumor felt no fear at all?”
“Hmm. Would it weaken?”
“It wouldn’t weaken. It simply wouldn’t gain power. And before that can happen, the Rumor won’t just let it be.”
Immediately after those words.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Scrraaape—.
Suddenly, from above came the sound of furious footsteps mixed with something heavy being dragged across the floor.
“Like this.”
Baek Ho’s mouth curled even higher at the sound.
“A Rumor corners those trapped within it further and further. And when that fear has ripened enough—swallow. It consumes them whole.”
“Dreadful, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Dreadful. But that’s precisely why I love Rumors.”
Baek Ho spoke with a low chuckle that belied his words.
“There’s no greater pleasure than butchering creatures that fancy themselves hunters.”
Han Woo-ju watched him.
As the darkness deepened, it seemed like a faint yellow light was emanating from Baek Ho’s pupils.
And then.
Bang, bang!
Something down below was pounding violently, the sound echoing through the corridor.
Creak, creak—
The sound of footsteps on wooden boards rang out from where nothing existed before.
It was as if the entire building were screaming. Screaming for them to tremble in fear. To be terrified.
But Baek Ho and Han Woo-ju simply continued their conversation at an even pace as they made their way down the hallway.
Soon, they arrived at the stairs.
That was when Baek Ho spoke.
“Looks like its patience has run dry.”
Baek Ho’s gaze was fixed on the bottom of the stairwell.
More precisely, at the figure standing there, staring upward with unwavering eyes.
Baek Ho’s voice filled with excitement.
“Good. Now you understand what we need to do, don’t you?”
“Yes!”
Han Woo-ju answered confidently.
He wasn’t so dull as to fail to comprehend after everything they’d discussed.
“Excellent. This newcomer’s quick to catch on. Let’s get started then.”
Baek Ho rolled up his sleeves.
“First, we’ll engage it while doing the opposite of what it intends, draining its strength——”
Just as he was explaining the countermeasures, a deafening crash erupted.
Crash!
Baek Ho’s head snapped to the side.
Han Woo-ju stood frozen in a throwing stance, his expression shocked.
“……Weren’t we supposed to start strategizing first?”
At that, Baek Ho’s mouth formed an O before his brows furrowed.
But only for a moment.
He burst into a breathless laugh and nodded approvingly.
“Good. A newcomer needs that kind of nerve. Now focus.”
Right after.
“Now it begins.”
Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble!
The entire building began trembling violently.
Continued in next chapter ▶
Calamity-Class Relics from Rumors Obsess
Author
Lee Se-gye
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
Grae Publishing
Inquiry Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260410110
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited, and violations may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram welcomes your precious manuscripts.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————