The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 22

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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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Calamity-Class Artifacts in Urban Legends — Episode 22
The masked man. Woo Joo’s iron pipe work was exhilarating.
With each swing, the things rushing toward him went *Bang, bang* and flew through the air.
But it was too early to relax.
Normally there were many ways to escape Gwimun Street, but now the entire street had turned hostile against them.
So to break through, they had to force their way straight ahead and out.
Of course, the street’s inhabitants weren’t about to let that happen without resistance.
“Where where where where where where where where.”
“Listen listen listen my child hanged himself yesterday evening why are your eyes so wide open what’s your name.”
“Cackle cackle cackle cackle cackle!”
All manner of malevolent spirits were swarming in from every direction.
They couldn’t even get close to the buildings. The moment they began their full assault, the buildings themselves began lashing out with clawed hands.
Just moments ago, a tree beside the path had dangled a rope, trying to suddenly snare them by the neck.
“Get back!”
Eun Ha knocked the rope away with the staff in her hand, her sharp eyes scanning the surroundings as she pressed forward.
The three students in the middle were shaking with terror, but she felt no such hesitation.
Wasn’t she frightened? Of course she was. Things that looked monstrous were bearing down on them — why wouldn’t she be afraid?
But anger burned brighter than fear.
She’d nearly been caught by these wretches, nearly died here on the spot. If that had happened, her parents would have wept without end — and even that ugly older brother of hers would’ve sobbed his eyes out.
Eun Ha didn’t notice the masked agents glancing at her with startled eyes as they fought.
And for good reason.
*CRASH-!*
Woo Joo’s presence at the front, cutting the path open, was overwhelming to the point of absurdity.
Others were fighting too, but Woo Joo’s display couldn’t be captured by the mere word “fighting.”
This was less a battle than a calamity.
A calamity that had descended upon the entire street itself.
*CRASH-!*
Another swing of the iron pipe sent the approaching things flying like they’d been hit by a truck, hurtling into the distance.
The ones nearest didn’t just fly back — their bodies crumbled to dust as they went.
Even a real truck wouldn’t produce such a devastating reaction.
So they pressed forward.
Though the commotion didn’t reduce the number of malevolent spirits approaching, the street’s appearance was gradually returning to normal.
No more people were embedded in doorframes or walls, no more corpses hanging from branches and swaying back and forth.
“Just a little further!”
Sae Byeok, moving right behind Woo Joo, shouted loudly over the chaos.
It was hard to tell amid the swarming spirits, but they had actually made it to the mouth of Gwimun Street.
Just a bit more and they could escape to the outside.
Everyone redoubled their effort. And Woo Joo did the same.
“Huehehehe hahahaha!”
The direction seemed a bit off from the others’, but the result was the same.
The iron pipe swung and malevolent spirits fell away in clusters.
Woo Joo deliberately moved to the rear, striking down the ones that kept chasing them.
“Just through there!”
And at last they reached the passage that led outside.
They just had to pass through. No matter how agitated and sinister the street had become, it wouldn’t spill beyond the exit.
There had been times like that in the past. But not anymore.
Jeonju had nowhere stronger in positive energy than Hanok Village, now thriving as a tourist destination. The crowds packed there served as a natural weight, pressing down the negative energy.
So then.
Just a few more steps.
Everyone took hope and extended their feet forward.
*Thud.*
“Huh?”
Something blocked their way.
Sae Byeok’s eyes went wide.
The passage that had been open just moments before now had a stone wall blocking it.
Those following Sae Byeok collided with him in sequence and stopped, staring at the wall.
A stone wall that looked to be nearly ten meters tall.
“Why is there a wall here…….”
“It sealed the exit.”
The Hahoe Mask Agent behind them answered Sae Byeok’s bewildered voice.
“They’re trying to keep us trapped inside.”
“They’ve locked us in, planning to consume us whole.”
The Hahoe Mask Agent turned back at those words.
“The other exits…….”
“They won’t matter. Everything’s sealed off by now. They have no intention of letting us leave.”
At that, everyone’s faces fell into despair. They’d come this far, only to find no way out? Were they meant to simply stand here and wait to be devoured?
“Sealed off?”
But just then.
Having just dispatched several malevolent spirits, Woo Joo spun around and walked toward the stone wall.
“Could it be here?”
“Yes? Well, the original exit should be right about here.”
“Move aside for a moment.”
Woo Joo spoke thus and fixed his gaze upon the wall.
Normally, there would have been nothing remarkable to see.
But now, with the mask, it was different.
Aside from the remarkable good cheer that came with wearing the Bangsangsi Mask, there was one more extraordinary ability it granted.
The ability to instinctively perceive the weaknesses of these wretched spirits and strange creatures.
According to the “Records of Rites” compiled in the Southern Song, the golden eyes of the Bangsangsi Mask exist to illuminate all four directions and hunt down malevolent spirits.
A brilliant gleam—
And now.
All four eyes of Woo Joo’s mask blazed with radiant gold.
And thus he could see.
The vulnerable point in what appeared to be a brutally solid wall.
Having spotted it, Woo Joo hefted the iron pipe without hesitation.
A sharp metallic ring—
He brought it down without mercy. And immediately after.
A tremendous crash—!
The wall that had blocked their way shattered to pieces with a sound several times louder than before.
“Let’s go! Outside!”
The agents, who had been watching in astonishment, snapped to their senses and quickly ushered everyone forward.
Of course, Woo Joo also passed through the demolished wall and moved beyond it.
Bright light then bathed them as they emerged.
“Ah…….”
At last, they could set foot on a street bathed in sunlight.
They had finally escaped Gwimun Street.
The students, their faces blank with shock, looked around before breaking into tears without waiting for anyone to speak first.
Only then did the reality of having escaped that hellish place truly sink in.
With tears streaming down their faces, they thanked the agents repeatedly.
“Th-thank you so much.”
“Thank you so much for helping us!”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Really, it’s nothing. We didn’t do much at all.”
“That’s right. He did all of it.”
The agents wearing the Hahoe Mask and the Yangban Mask gestured dismissively toward Woo Joo.
By then, Woo Joo was slowly returning to himself.
The exhilaration he’d felt while in Gwimun Street had faded, replaced now by a heavy exhaustion.
Like the feeling after a full-speed sprint.
Though it wasn’t entirely inaccurate, given how hard he’d swung that iron pipe.
The students naturally thanked Woo Joo as well, and he awkwardly nodded in acknowledgment.
He deliberately said nothing.
Until moments ago, he’d been acting in the urgency of the situation without thinking, but now there was something he found difficult to voice aloud.
“Thank you.”
But then, Eun Ha, dressed in an ornate hanbok, approached and thanked Woo Joo.
At that, Woo Joo had to struggle to suppress the urge to launch into a lecture.
And for good reason.
‘What on earth were you doing to end up in a place like that when you said you were going to work a part-time job?’
That’s right.
Woo Joo knew the girl standing before him well. Very well indeed.
Han Eun Ha. She was none other than Woo Joo’s younger sister.
His sister had certainly had her share of strange encounters since childhood and frequently found herself seeing ghosts, but he’d never imagined they’d run into each other like this.
‘I even gave her spending money—she ought to be home quietly eating fried chicken.’
Woo Joo had such thoughts, yet his lips remained sealed.
It wasn’t that he feared his identity would be exposed. Despite everything, he knew that Eun Ha must have found this ordeal difficult as well.
He himself had endured various troubles since beginning this work, but his younger sister had just experienced something like that as an ordinary civilian.
She was in much the same position as those students.
Having thought that far, Woo Joo belatedly noticed that Eun Ha was still staring at him intently.
When Woo Joo offered no reply, she stood there looking embarrassed.
Just as he was about to give a belated nod, Sae Byeok hastily interjected.
“Ahem, this person is ordinarily quite taciturn, if I may say so.”
His manner of speaking was a bit odd, perhaps from rushing, but it was a timely assist nonetheless.
“Oh, is that so?”
Though she had heard Woo Joo raving and muttering like a madman on Gwimun Street, which hardly lent credibility to the claim, Eun Ha nodded anyway.
After all, wasn’t he her lifesaver?
“Come now, everyone? If you’d just follow me, we can have a brief chat and you’ll be free to head home shortly. No need to worry.”
And soon, the highest-ranking agent among them—the one wearing the Yangban Mask—stepped forward to clarify the situation.
Thus they escaped that dreary Hanok Village.
* * *
Hanok Village. More precisely, after the incident on Gwimun Street had concluded.
Woo Joo waited for the rescued personnel to return home, then spoke with the branch agents as well.
“Wow, you really went at it hard, didn’t you? You’ve been here less than a month, right? Not even two weeks in? That’s seriously impressive!”
“Thank you so much. I owe my life to all of you.”
The Yangban Mask agent and the Hahoe Mask agent—in short, Yangban and Hahoe—were quite favorably disposed toward Woo Joo.
It was only natural, given that he had saved their lives.
They pledged to document this incident as thoroughly as possible in their report.
“I’m grateful in every way.”
Of course, Sae Byeok also didn’t forget to offer thanks. After all, he had prevented what could have been the loss of half the Jeonju Branch’s response team.
Even after that, the agents kept thanking him, urging him to contact them the next time he came down to Jeonju, insisting they’d buy him both meals and drinks.
And finally, the most important matter—the disposal of the Bangsangsi Mask—was handled surprisingly simply.
“We’ve already processed the Bangsangsi Mask for release.”
Into Woo Joo’s custody, that is.
When he wondered why, the reason proved straightforward.
“An artifact of that caliber shouldn’t be destroyed outright—it’s best entrusted to an owner of its own choosing.”
“And if that owner is a Surveillance Bureau Agent, that’s ideal. Our branch can rest easy now. Controlling such an artifact is no trivial matter.”
When you thought about it, this entire incident had stemmed from the Bangsangsi Mask.
They’d gone as far as Gwimun Street while searching for it.
Of course, that misfortune had turned to fortune, allowing them to rescue the civilians caught in Gwimun Street’s grip.
‘Come to think of it. Was it thanks to the mask that I could save Eun Ha too?’
If the mask hadn’t vanished, the agents would never have had reason to search Gwimun Street.
Then they wouldn’t have encountered and aided those civilians caught up in the incident by chance.
And Woo Joo wouldn’t have received a request for cooperation, searching for the missing agents and heading into Gwimun Street himself.
Having thought that far, Woo Joo gazed at the Bangsangsi Mask in his hand with an odd expression, contemplating inwardly.
‘……Thank you.’
At that moment, the mask vibrated faintly—as if to say, ‘Now you understand.’ At which Woo Joo let out a quiet laugh.
The Iron Pipe in his bag then protested with a whining sound, but he ignored it for now. Later, when he got back, he’d carefully polish it with cloth and it would be satisfied.
“Then I’ll be heading out now.”
“Yes, please take care on your way.”
“Your sister should already be home.”
The rescued students, including his sister, had their memories erased using tools employed by the Surveillance Bureau, or so he was told.
It wasn’t a clean wipe like a Men in Black flasher, but rather a blurring of the memories.
But that was apparently effect enough, so there was nothing for it but to trust their word.
“Be sure to contact us the next time you visit!”
And Sae Byeok came out to the branch entrance as well to see him off.
Thus the business in Jeonju was concluded.
Notably, his sister hadn’t sent so much as a message—not even a thank-you for the allowance.
Woo Joo resolved that the next time he went down, he’d give her an earful.
And so he returned to Seoul.
Back at headquarters, attending to various duties, another week slipped by in the blink of an eye.
Sitting in the office, Woo Joo had grown quite accustomed to the Surveillance Bureau by now, entertaining the sort of thought any ordinary office worker might have.
‘I could go for some fried chicken and beer after work.’
It couldn’t be helped.
Working in the field was taxing, but even more exhausting was the paperwork.
At least there was one consolation: less than an hour remained until quitting time.
‘Which chicken should I order? Barbecue? Or maybe fried after all?’
Woo Joo sorted through documents diligently while pondering his dinner options.
Then, suddenly.
Ding.
An alarm chimed from his phone. He’d switched it to vibration mode while working, which made the sound all the stranger.
Woo Joo looked at the screen with a puzzled expression.
A single message waited there.
[Grim Ocean Aquarium Notice]
Greetings.
In commemoration of Grim Ocean Aquarium’s ■■■■th anniversary, we are sending you this special invitation.
Very special guests and an exclusive ■■■ that you have never seen anywhere else await you.
We sincerely hope you will attend and grace us with your presence.
-This invitation permits you to bring up to 2 companions.
-Your companions should be your 2 closest people.
-To ensure you experience no inconvenience in visiting our aquarium, the nearest entrance will serve as your access point.
Woo Joo reflexively reached for the iron pipe he’d leaned against the side of his desk.
It seemed this time he’d be having a ‘conversation’ with the aquarium after all.
Continued in the next episode ▶
Calamity-Grade Artifacts from Urban Legends Develop an Obsession
Author
Lee Se-gye
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Publishing House
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 and duplication are prohibited, and violation may result in criminal and civil legal liability.
※ Pentagram is waiting for your precious manuscript.

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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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