The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 28

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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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Calamitous Relics in Urban Legends Obsess Him — Episode 28
Ujoo, dressed in comfortable clothes and carrying a large bag, made his way down the stairs to the first floor.
He stood for a moment, and in the distance, a large SUV approached.
‘Nice car.’
He was just thinking that when the SUV pulled up in front of him and the window rolled down smoothly.
“What are you doing? Get in.”
“Team Leader?”
Ujoo was momentarily taken aback, but climbed into the vehicle anyway.
“Good morning!”
“Hello.”
Inside, he saw Baekho and Chungwoo already in the back seat.
“Why the startled expression?”
“Ah. So you have more than one car?”
“The one I usually drive is for commuting. This one’s for camping.”
“Do you go camping often?”
“Yeah. I go pretty regularly on my days off.”
Hwaryeon steered toward the main road as always, an unlit cigarette hanging from her lips.
“For this trip, it’s Baekho, Chungwoo, Ujoo, and me. Four of us total.”
“The Vice Team Leader and Chaewol are holding down the office. Man, I don’t think we’ve ever had four people go on a business trip at once before.”
Baekho spoke with brightness in his voice—genuine excitement. The way he said it, you’d think they were heading off on vacation, not a work assignment.
Chungwoo, by contrast, kept his lips firmly sealed as always.
Complete opposites, really.
“Well, it’s better if two stay behind at the office.”
Basically, the office always kept at least two people on-site unless something unexpected happened.
Operations ran on Two-Person Units by default. If anything arose, the remaining two had to be ready to deploy.
“Anyway, you haven’t heard the full details yet, have you?”
It was Baekho speaking from the back seat.
“No, I haven’t.”
“I’ll give you a quick rundown.”
It was Hwaryeon who spoke next.
She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she continued.
“Two Branch Offices in Gangwon Province—Chuncheon and Gangneung. The one that went silent is Chuncheon.”
During training, Ujoo had heard that there were several branches across the country and knew roughly where they were located.
But he listened to Hwaryeon without interrupting.
“The regular report at 6:30 in the evening didn’t come through. And they weren’t answering any of our calls either.”
Each branch submitted regular reports to Headquarters.
It was essentially a kind of survival check-in.
Given the nature of the work, field personnel often found themselves in dangerous situations.
Small branches in particular were vulnerable, as they typically had fewer than five members.
“Then, at approximately 8:13 PM, personnel from the Gangneung Branch arrived at the Chuncheon Branch building. They entered while maintaining an open communication line, but the signal cut out at 8:21 PM.”
Hwaryeon paused there and flicked her fingers.
“Chungwoo? Play that for us.”
“Yes.”
Chungwoo pulled out his phone and played something.
Crackle. Click.
At first there was static, then a strange voice cut through the noise.
—”The interior is… remarkably intact. I don’t see any damage at all—everything appears to be in place. I’m going to investigate further inside.”
—”The Disguised Shop seems fine, and the inner office area doesn’t show any obvious problems. But… there’s no one here. I don’t see anyone anywhere.”
At first there had been some tension, but the report continued without major incident.
At this point, Ujoo realized the voice belonged to the Gangneung Branch employee who had entered the Chuncheon Branch.
The report proceeded with reasonable composure.
The situation changed about six minutes later.
—”I’ll check the Branch Manager’s Office last.”
The person conducting the inspection announced their intention to approach the Branch Manager’s Office, the last room they hadn’t yet checked.
—”The Branch Manager’s Office doesn’t appear to be locked. The windows all have curtains drawn, so I can’t see inside. I’ll need to enter to confirm what’s there.”
—”But there’s one strange thing.”
The calm voice trembled for the first time.
—”Operations like this are supposed to run with Two-Person Units moving together.”
—”But I’m here checking this place alone.”
—”Did I come here by myself?”
—No, wait. Did I really come alone? Why can’t I hear any response anymore? When did that start?
Her breathing grows rougher. Then, immediately after.
Creak—
A sound like old hinges, and then a voice speaks.
—The door opened by itself. I can see something. The smell of blood. And that—that? A carousel. A door. A key. The sky. An umbrella. A book. A basket. Me, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah—
—Mom.
Crackle-crackle-crackle—
The recording ends in static.
“…Is that all?”
“Yeah. One of them.”
“One of them?”
“I told you—we usually move in Two-Person Units.”
Hwaryeon continued speaking as she drove.
“The personnel dispatched from the Gangneung Branch were two. Two entered the facility. Chungwoo?”
“Yes.”
Chungwoo then played something else.
This time, though, it wasn’t very long.
—Crackle, click—. Sa, save me, aaahhh—! Click.
Screams mixed in with the static.
That’s all there is.
Hwaryeon fell silent for a moment, then spoke.
“First. I’m seeing a few patterns in these recordings.”
She continued.
“Memory Manipulation. They clearly went in together, but one of them has completely forgotten the other’s existence.”
That much is true. The man in the first recording certainly had no memory of his partner.
“Second. Either the space itself is distorted, or something is scattering people in different directions—like what happened at the Aquarium or the Hope Meditation Center.”
Indeed, at the Aquarium, Ujoo had been left alone.
And at the Hope Meditation Center, all four of them had been scattered.
“Beyond that… something seems to inflict physical or psychological harm. And given that the Branch Manager’s Office showed no traces whatsoever, that place is suspicious—but none of the other locations can be ruled out either.”
“The other one appears to have disappeared the moment they entered, judging by the circumstances.”
Chungwoo offered a supplementary explanation, and Hwaryeon nodded.
Hwaryeon exhaled a short breath and spoke.
“In short, it’s a fairly tricky situation. That’s why all four of us are moving together.”
“Well, we’ve got the captain, and Chungwoo’s here too, right? And we’ve got the monster rookie.”
Baekho tapped the shoulder of the seat where Ujoo sat as he spoke.
“And the restrictions have been lifted for once.”
“Which is exactly why this situation is so serious. So don’t let your guard down.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Baekho answered that way, then added a few more words after a moment.
“Once the job’s done, should we grab some Chuncheon dak-galbi on the way down?”
It was an oddly carefree remark given the situation, but it was clear he was saying it deliberately.
To lighten the heavy mood.
Hwaryeon spoke while chewing on the cigarette between her lips.
“If nobody gets hurt, I’ll treat you all to as much as you can eat.”
“Oh, nice!”
And so, in an atmosphere that had grown just slightly lighter, the car continued on.
* * *
The SUV comes to a stop in front of a two-story building.
A sign reading “Traditional Tea Research Institute” hangs on the building.
Hwaryeon and the others, who had just gotten out of the car, looked up at the sign and spoke.
“Five years since we’ve been here.”
“Tell me about it. That was intense too.”
Ujoo, listening to Hwaryeon and Baekho’s words, carefully opened his mouth.
“Is this the Branch Office building?”
“Yeah. The front is a Disguised Shop. The actual Branch Office is inside.”
Similar to the Jeonju Branch. That place had also looked like a different kind of shop from the outside.
Hwaryeon looked at the building for a moment, then spoke.
“First. Use that. Chungwoo?”
“Yes.”
Beep—
When Hwaryeon opened the car trunk, Chungwoo approached and withdrew a rope from inside.
Next, he bound it around his own wrist, then tied it in turn to each of the others’ wrists.
“With this, ordinary strength won’t be enough to scatter us. But if we do get separated…”
Hwaryeon hesitated a moment before speaking.
“That would mean things are extremely dangerous. In that case, we try to break out and escape to the outside first.”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
“Good. Everyone, get ready. Once you are, we all go in together.”
After saying that, Hwaryeon drew something from her pocket.
It was something like a Pipe Tobacco Tool.
Then she produced a Black Wooden Sword like the one she’d seen at Sakyung Station and held it in one hand.
Chungwoo withdrew an Ornate Decorated Box, the same kind he’d seen before.
Baekho pulled out a Bracelet and fastened it around his own wrist.
“Preparations complete.”
And Ujoo put on a mask and took up a Steel Pipe. The Necronomicon and the Circular Artifact were in his bag.
“Let’s go then.”
Once Hwaryeon confirmed that everyone was ready, she turned toward the Branch Office building.
Connected as they all were by rope, they maintained equal spacing and followed in her wake.
Whoosh—
They entered the Branch Office building without incident.
The interior was an office space with a cluttered feel. On one side, similar items were placed again, and on the wall hung frames with information about the benefits of tea.
“This place seems ordinary enough.”
“I see nothing unusual about it either.”
All of them glanced around and offered their observations, as though they were simply surveying an unremarkable office.
But soon they realized Ujoo had said nothing, and they turned to look back.
“Huh.”
Fortunately, Ujoo was still there. However, his expression was slightly troubled. Though the mask hid it, his voice made that much abundantly clear.
“Where is Baekho?”
“What?”
Hwaryeon’s brow furrowed.
“Who is that?”
“What are you talking about?”
Chungwoo’s expression turned equally puzzled.
Their expressions were genuine.
There was no jest in them, no humor.
They looked like people hearing that name for the very first time.
A chill descended along Ujoo’s spine.
“Wait, just a moment. Look at the rope. Here.”
Ujoo tugged at the cord around his wrist.
There was a knot there.
A knot that should have been tied to Baekho’s wrist.
But the other end now hung empty.
It felt as though he’d been bewitched by a ghost.
Baekho had clearly been walking ahead until just moments ago—and the instant he turned his head to the side before facing forward again, he simply vanished.
“Baekho was right there. He was in front of us until a moment ago. And then, when I looked ahead, he was just… gone.”
Surely they would understand at this point. That’s what Ujoo thought.
“We only entered with three people, didn’t we?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you nervous? You’re so tense, Ujoo.
But Hwaryeon turned her head as though questioning what he meant, and Chungwoo resumed walking.
While Ujoo stood alone, looking lost, the two of them quickly lost interest and began discussing their observations of their surroundings.
The sight of them, so casual and unremarkable.
Ujoo found it deeply, unnervingly strange.
It was then that the recording came to mind.
“The one we heard on the way here…”
Ujoo was about to bring it up—to have them consider the recording’s contents.
To recall that man who couldn’t remember his colleague.
But right then—
—Naughty child.
A cold breath suddenly brushed past his ear, and a voice whispered through the darkness.
And in the very next instant, Ujoo found himself standing in an entirely different space.
“What?”
Ujoo blinked.
This wasn’t an office.
No—this was the Apartment where he’d lived as a child. Cramped and dark, that Apartment.
The one that had terrified him whenever he’d come home alone as a boy.
“Huh?”
Ujoo looked down at his own body in confusion. Short arms and legs stared back at him. Like those of a small child.
‘A child?’
That’s right. This wasn’t his actual body. Even the steel pipe he’d been holding in one hand had transformed in shape.
A wooden branch, now sized perfectly for a child’s frame.
He recalled the sort of branch he used to carry around as a boy, pretending it was a sword.
‘What is this?’
Ujoo was bewildered.
He couldn’t remember how he’d come to be here. Or why things had become this way.
Tremble, tremble.
Then, in that moment, the wooden branch trembled. And simultaneously, one fact came back to Ujoo.
“That’s right.”
Everything else escapes me.
But even in circumstances like these, one thing remains crystal clear.
Ujoo stepped forward and raised the wooden branch toward the wall.
If it felt like he’d fallen victim to some sort of trick—
Then smash first, ask questions later.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
A wooden branch the thickness of a child’s forearm shattered the concrete wall.
Ujoo grinned broadly and raised the branch again.
Steel pipe or wooden branch—a sincere dialogue always gets through, in the end.
Crash! Crash!
Soon, a succession of thunderous blows echoed through the space.
To be continued in the next episode ▶
Calamity-Grade Relics from Urban Legends Become Obsessed
Author
Lee Se-gye
Publishers
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiry Email
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260410110
※ This e-book is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and distribution are prohibited, and violators may face criminal and civil legal liability.
※ Pentagram awaits 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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