The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 18: Cursed Relics from Urban Legends
After a long time away, Woo Ju discovered something unusual in his home.
But from that stone, he felt an aura—a very, very dangerous aura indeed.
Faced with such a situation, Woo Ju asked the most pressing question first.
“But why haven’t you thrown it away? Why are you keeping it?”
Shouldn’t the normal thing be to get rid of it once you noticed something strange?
It’s not like you bought it with money, and it’s not as if it has any value.
The moment Woo Ju posed this question, his father’s face twisted into an awkward expression.
“Well, that’s the thing……. I’m certain I threw it away.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, I took it out to dispose of it, but then at some point it shows up again, and again it shows up, that sort of thing.”
At those words, Woo Ju found himself at a loss. It sounded far too familiar.
But his mother snorted and spoke up.
“Throw it away? Don’t be ridiculous! It’s not like the stone has legs and walks back on its own. You just don’t want to get rid of it!”
“No, I’m telling you I really did throw it away. Why would I lie about something like this? You took it to the Recycling Station yourself last time!”
“You went back and picked it up!”
“Why would I pick it up? I’m telling you it’s not me!”
His mother dismissed his words without belief, speaking coldly, while his father wore a genuinely aggrieved expression.
Looking at the atmosphere, Woo Ju could see that if he let this continue, one of them would either lose their temper or sulk, which was inevitable. So he jumped in hastily.
“Well then, I’ll just take it out and throw it away again. I’ll handle this myself.”
Woo Ju strode forward briskly, grabbed the stone decisively, and shoved it into the backpack he’d been carrying on his back.
He felt some reluctance to touch it because of the aura it emanated, but this way he felt more reassured.
His backpack contained an Iron Pipe, after all.
“There, all settled. I’ll head down right now and throw it in the Recycling Station or wherever and be back.”
“Wait, you just got home……. Sit down and rest awhile.”
“No, no. It’s better to deal with these things quickly. I’ll toss it and be right back.”
“All right, then while you’re at it, throw this out too.”
His mother naturally placed a recycling bag in Woo Ju’s hand.
And so Woo Ju, caught off guard, found himself holding a recycling bag in each hand as he stepped into the elevator.
“Hm.”
He’d been had.
It was obvious from the start that she’d intended to get him to sort the recycling.
He could have called her out on it, but if he did, he’d undoubtedly get swatted on the back and have to make another trip downstairs anyway, so Woo Ju held his tongue.
Ding!
Soon the elevator came to a stop on the first floor.
Woo Ju picked up the bags and headed to the Recycling Station, carefully sorting and disposing of the trash.
Only after that could Woo Ju move to a bench at the back of the apartment complex, away from foot traffic, and open his backpack for a proper look.
“Hmm.”
Inside the bag, the stone sat peacefully.
Woo Ju pulled it out with a wary expression.
On the way down, he’d wondered if perhaps he’d been mistaken about the aura he’d sensed from the stone earlier, but checking it again now confirmed it beyond doubt.
This was no ordinary stone.
‘Just where does he keep finding things like this?’
Now that he thought about it, his father had always been picking up strange objects from somewhere or other.
Dolls with growing hair. Tapes that played strange voices. Paintings with an unsettling appearance.
As for the last painting—his mother had gone to get water one night and saw the eyes of the woman in the portrait move, so she’d immediately taken it to a temple.
‘I think the monk told her to burn it right away or something like that.’
As he traced through those memories, his gaze suddenly drifted to the Iron Pipe and the Necronomicon that lay quietly in his backpack.
‘Is this hereditary?’
Does he pick up strange objects from somewhere? YES.
Have those objects ever caused strange incidents? YES.
Have objects he threw away ever come back on their own? YES.
There was no denying it, much as he might wish to.
Whuuuurrrrr!
Just then, the Iron Pipe vibrated. As if offended that it was being lumped in with this stone.
Following that, the Necronomicon also fluttered its pages in agreement.
……To anyone watching, they’d look like a cursed pipe and book. Honestly, if other people saw them, they’d probably think they were the same sort of thing.
Well, at least these two had been genuinely helpful.
This stone, on the other hand, had brought nothing but strife to his father—triggering the threat of a marital dispute—which made it decidedly a terrible object.
“Just where did you pick this up from?”
Woo Ju examined the stone carefully, searching for anything that might serve as a clue.
But he found nothing of the sort.
After a moment’s deliberation, he reached for his phone instead of the Iron Pipe he’d been about to use on the stone.
He dialed a number, and after a few rings, a familiar voice answered.
-What’s going on?
“Team Lead.”
It was Hwa Ryeon.
Woo Ju spoke to her at once.
“I’ve come down to my family home, and I’ve discovered something strange.”
-Something strange?
“Yes. It’s a stone, and it gives off an aura similar to the Stake we found in the basement of the Hope Meditation Center last time.”
If it were just an ordinary haunted object, he would have crushed it to powder without hesitation, but the fact that it emanated an aura like that Stake troubled him deeply.
What if he broke it carelessly and something worse happened as a result?
And there was only one person he could discuss this with—Hwa Ryeon.
She’d understood the Stake’s nature and principles the moment she saw it.
-Why are you working when I gave you vacation to rest? Where did you get that from?
“My father seems to have brought it from somewhere, but I didn’t ask for details.”
Hwa Ryeon fell silent for a moment at his words, then spoke again.
-Wait for me.
Click.
The call dropped. His momentary shock passed quickly—the phone rang again almost at once.
This time, a video call.
When he answered, Hwa Ryeon’s face appeared on the screen.
-Show me. That stone.
“Ah, yes.”
Woo Ju held the stone up to the camera so she could see it clearly.
Hwa Ryeon studied the stone intently through the screen, then spoke.
-Hmm. There’s something… similar, but different about it.
“Yes? Can you sense the aura even through the screen?”
Woo Ju asked in surprise. Hwa Ryeon shook her head.
-No, that would be impossible. I’m talking about its form. That’s definitely not a Casting, no matter how hard I look at it.
“Then it’s safe?”
-For now, it’s not as dangerous as that Stake was. The more I look at it, the more I think I know what it is.
“Oh, what is it?”
-It’s probably a fragment that’s broken off from something larger. You can’t solve this just by destroying the fragment. We need to find where the main body is.
Hwa Ryeon paused there, thinking something through, then continued.
-Here’s what we’ll do. It’s too dangerous to move alone, so I’m sending someone from the Jeonju Branch. Work together with them.
“Ah, together?”
-Since your parents are involved in this matter. You’ll want to handle it directly yourself, won’t you?
“That’s true.”
It would be difficult to simply hand it off to someone else and hope things worked out.
There might be no problem, but if something went wrong and brought calamity on his father, he’d never forgive himself.
Hwa Ryeon had seen through such thoughts and was entrusting the matter directly to him.
-If you handle it well, I’ll extend your vacation by one day and give you a bonus.
“What? No, you don’t need to do that much…….”
-Of course I do. It’s company policy. Someone will contact your phone shortly, so wait for them.
“Ah, yes.”
The call ended there.
After finishing the conversation with Hwa Ryeon, he waited briefly, and soon his phone rang.
-Is this Woo Ju from the Seoul Headquarters?
A young, somewhat timid voice came through the line.
“Ah, yes, that’s correct.”
-This is Kim Sae Byeok from the Jeonju Branch. I understand you’ve discovered an Object of Unknown Origin.
“That’s right.”
-I’ll come out to you. Could you give me the address?
“Ah, this is in the Seosin-dong area, but the exact address…….”
Woo Ju recited the address, and after listening, the other person replied.
-I’ll be there within fifteen minutes.
The conversation ended there.
After hanging up, Woo Ju scratched his cheek for a moment, then dialed another number.
“Hello?”
—Hey, how far down did you go to throw out the trash? Why haven’t you come back up?
It was his father calling.
Woo Ju answered him.
“Oh, I came back up, but I ran into a high school friend. I’ll be heading back up in a bit.”
—A friend? When will you be back?
“I’ll be up by dinner at the latest.”
—Good. We should eat dinner together, at least. It’s been a while since I’ve had a drink with my son. I’ll let your mother know. And make sure you dump that rock somewhere far away where nobody will see it!
“Yes, sir!”
His father gave his blessing readily. The bribe had clearly done its work.
With permission secured, Woo Ju headed toward the apartment entrance to wait for the person he’d contacted. Exactly fifteen minutes later.
Vroom—.
A motorcycle rumbled into view. A figure in jeans and a leather jacket approached on the bike, helmet still on.
Woo Ju was about to turn away when the motorcycle pulled up directly in front of him.
The rider dismounted and removed the helmet, then addressed him.
“Are you Woo Ju?”
“Yes? Oh, that’s right.”
“I’m Kim Sae Byeok. We spoke on the phone.”
The stranger politely produced a business card from inside her jacket.
It read: Inspection Bureau, Jeonju Branch, Kim Sae Byeok. A card used only within the organization’s inner circles.
Woo Ju accepted it and glanced at her appraisingly.
Kim Sae Byeok appeared to be in her early twenties.
Her long hair was tied back neatly, her skin very pale, and her eyes held a sharp edge.
“Is there somewhere nearby where people don’t usually go?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Let’s head there.”
Woo Ju nodded and led her toward the back of the apartment complex, to a spot completely hidden from public view.
Once they arrived, Kim Sae Byeok looked around and then asked, “Can I see the object?”
“Yes.”
Woo Ju pulled out the stone and showed it to her.
Kim Sae Byeok slipped on a pair of Black Gloves from her jacket, took the stone, and examined it carefully from different angles. Then she spoke.
“It’s dangerous, but fortunately it doesn’t seem to be the lethal kind of object.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. On its own, the Dark Aura is strong enough to attract spirits, but that’s all it does. However…….”
Kim Sae Byeok’s expression grew grave.
“From what I hear, breaking it just like that would have caused serious complications. It’s better to either return it to its original location or dispose of it properly.”
“Can we determine the original location just from this?”
“Let me try.”
Kim Sae Byeok withdrew something from her jacket.
It was an Ancient Tome.
She opened it, set the stone on the ground, and began chanting an Incantation carefully.
After a moment.
“I’ve located it.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It separated not long ago, so the signal is clear. Let’s head there now.”
“Alright.”
They made their way back to the main entrance. Kim Sae Byeok retrieved a helmet from where she’d parked the motorcycle and handed it to him.
“Here. Your helmet.”
Woo Ju took it somewhat awkwardly as she pointed to the rear seat and climbed back onto the bike.
After a moment’s hesitation, Woo Ju shrugged and put on the helmet, then mounted behind her.
“Just hold the handle bar on that side.”
“Right.”
“Departing now.”
The motorcycle then set off—not at a wild speed, but at a steady, measured pace.
After a while.
The motorcycle came to a stop at the base of an unnamed mountain.
“We’ll need to hike up from here.”
Kim Sae Byeok parked the motorcycle on the quiet trail, and with the Black Gloves still on, stone in hand, began ascending the mountain path with measured strides.

Woo Ju had no choice but to follow, and the two of them climbed the mountain in silence for a long while.
The terrain was remote and treacherous, with barely any path to speak of, so he wondered if they were even going the right way—but Kim Sae Byeok’s footsteps betrayed no doubt whatsoever.
“Hmm. This isn’t it. I think we need to backtrack a bit.”
Then again, maybe she was just a strange person.
Thanks to Kim Sae Byeok’s meandering, they ended up walking an extra thirty minutes on the mountain path.
“This looks like the place.”
At least they’d managed to reach their actual destination.
Kim Sae Byeok lifted a stone and pointed ahead.
“I can sense a similar aura coming from inside there.”
There was a small cave ahead.
“Should we take a look?”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
At her question, Woo Ju nodded. Then Kim Sae Byeok stared directly at him.
Unnerved by that peculiar gaze, Woo Ju tensed and asked, “What is it?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Would you mind going first? I’m rather timid, I’m afraid. And for the record, I’m Non-Combat Personnel—my specialty is reconnaissance and search operations.”
“……? Oh, yes.”
Woo Ju found himself wondering just what this person was, even as he pulled an Iron Pipe from his backpack and stepped forward.
The cave turned out to be deeper than expected, and quite dark besides, so he had to use his phone’s flashlight to navigate.
After a while of walking, something came into view ahead.
“Hmm?”
It was none other than a sign of human touch.
Strange Buddha Statues lay scattered about in disarray, and Talismans were plastered across the walls and floor. There were also half-melted candles scattered throughout.
At first glance, it was not a place that appeared particularly intact.
Then Kim Sae Byeok pointed ahead and spoke.
“There. It looks like it came loose from the Stone Statue in the center.”
Now that she mentioned it, there was indeed a Stone Statue in the middle, half of its body appearing to have broken off.
It seemed to be a type of Buddha Statue, but something about it felt off.
‘I’ve never seen a Buddha Statue of that form before.’
As a child, he’d visited temples a few times with his parents, but this one felt distinctly different from anything he’d seen there.
Something distorted, one might say.
Regardless of that feeling, the stone and statue did appear to be of similar material, just as Kim Sae Byeok had suggested.
But just then.
Whoosh!
The melted candles suddenly burst into flame.
Woo Ju started at the sight.
Kim Sae Byeok gripped his sleeve tightly.
“I apologize. I’m rather cowardly.”
She said it with an expressionless face, and he couldn’t tell if she was joking or serious.
But there was no time to wonder.
—Another Lost Soul has found their way here.
A voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire cave.
Woo Ju’s face hardened instantly, and he looked ahead. Then he noticed something strange.
It was a shadow.
The shadow cast by the fractured Stone Statue behind it loomed unnaturally large across the cave wall.
—Do not be afraid. I am not something you should fear. You have walked a long road, and reached this place with a bare soul.
It spoke in a voice that was gentle and honeyed.
Just hearing it sent a shiver through him that made his ears feel as though they might melt, while simultaneously stirring an irresistible impulse.
It was trying to pour madness into him.
It sought to make him like those who had come before—to drive him to destruction in pursuit of false salvation.
Had he not come at all, he would have known nothing; but once a person walked here of their own accord, it was difficult for them to escape.
In the light cast by the candles, the statue’s face twisted grotesquely.
“Ugh.”
Almost simultaneously, a groan escaped—from Kim Sae Byeok.
When he glanced sideways at her, he saw her face had gone pale.
“We have to… stop the voice……”
Even as she said this, cold sweat poured down her face, and her condition was clearly deteriorating by the moment.
—Do not resist. Truth was not meant to be sweet; it is like bitter water. And those who drink of that bitterness shall attain enlightenment.
With each word that went on, Kim Sae Byeok’s condition worsened by the second.
Just then.
Woo Ju opened his mouth.
“If we break that Stone Statue, would that not work?”
He seemed entirely indifferent to the whispers the shadow was uttering.
“No, no, we can’t. Breaking it alone might not solve this.”
Sae Byeok spoke in a panic, trembling as she did.
“I see. Then what if we hit it just a little?”
“We can’t.”
“Not even a bit?”
“No!”
Sae Byeok shouted at Woo Ju, her eyes wide open.
Woo Ju gave a regretful sigh, then tapped the Stone Statue lightly with the Iron Pipe.
At that, the statue and the shadow stretching behind it trembled visibly.
“Sigh.”
But Woo Ju exhaled his disappointment away and decided to accept Sae Byeok’s advice for now.
Crash—!!
So instead, he swung the Iron Pipe hard at the wall beside them. Sae Byeok stared at him in shock.
But Woo Ju cleanly ignored her gaze and spoke.
“You heard that? Now you tell me.”
The shadow shuddered again, as if it hadn’t grasped the situation.
At that, Woo Ju pointed the Iron Pipe directly at the Stone Statue and said:
“Tell me what you want done with you. Say it yourself. If you don’t, I’ll smash everything to pieces.”
At his words—telling the shadow to speak from its own mouth about how it could be dealt with—Sae Byeok looked at Woo Ju as if he were insane.
But Woo Ju remained unmoved.
The Iron Pipe method of conversation never failed.
Continued in the next episode ▶
Calamitous Relics from Urban Legends Clinging to Their Master
Author
Lee Se Gye Sa Jang
Publisher
Kim Seok Hwan, Choi Se Ra
Publisher Name
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260410110
※ This e-book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution is prohibited, and violators may face criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram looks forward to your precious manuscripts.

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