The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 37

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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 from Urban Legends Obsess Over You – Episode 37
The deeper Woo Ju ventured into the corridor, the more creatures appeared—hybrids of reptile and human flesh.
Woo Ju glanced down at the one he’d just felled, then turned to Ryu Seon-dam with a question.
“What exactly are these things?”
“Reptilians.”
“Reptilians?”
“Yes. The word derives from ‘Reptile’—meaning reptile—combined with the human-derived suffix ‘an.’ Reptile-people, in essence.”
Ryu Seon-dam explained in a tone oddly gentle for the situation, his words precise and thorough.
“So why are creatures like that here?”
“They’re surprisingly well-known in Korea, actually. Especially through conspiracy theories claiming certain famous American CEOs are Reptilians.”
In the distant past, urban legends couldn’t easily cross regional boundaries.
They might pass from mouth to mouth, but that took considerable time—and they’d distort along the way.
But now, the internet made it trivial to instantly access information from other countries.
And urban legends rode that awareness across borders with surprising frequency.
Among the legends Woo Ju himself had faced, many had originally spread in Japan before crossing over.
“Of course, this didn’t arrive naturally. Someone’s clearly sabotaged this place—deliberately released them.”
As he spoke, Ryu Seon-dam flicked his gloved hand again, plucking a Reptilian that had been hiding in the wall.
“Shriek—!”
The creature thrashed its arms as it was dragged into the open, but within moments its body began trembling violently before going limp.
There was more to this than raw strength. Otherwise, it wouldn’t react that way.
Come to think of it, this was the first time Woo Ju had done this kind of work alongside Ryu Seon-dam.
‘Now that I think about it, he rarely goes out to the field at all.’
Not never, exactly—but far less frequently than anyone else on the team.
The opposite of Hwa Ryeon, the team leader, who was hardly ever in the office.
‘Maybe it’s just that since she’s always away, he stays to keep the office staffed.’
Woo Ju let that line of thinking drop.
“Hmm.”
The environment ahead had changed.
It wasn’t a sudden flood of Reptilians pouring out.
What appeared was that black, viscous liquid he’d seen before—now coating the corridor ahead entirely.
“We must be getting close to something.”
Ryu Seon-dam’s expression grew troubled as he spoke.
The meaning wasn’t hard to grasp.
Such thorough blockage meant they didn’t want anyone passing through here.
In other words, someone had business in this vicinity—likely.
“Can’t we just break through and keep going?”
“I know the extent of your strength, but I don’t think you’d break through this easily. In a normal place, you could just punch through a wall and move on.”
Not here.
On the other side of the walls lay other Urban Legends, contained in isolation.
“Ah. Both of you—could you please turn around for a moment?”
“What? Turn around?”
“Or close your eyes. You absolutely cannot look.”
Woo Ju and Chae Wol nodded slowly, then did as instructed.
And immediately after—
Whoooooooosh!
A sound like something erupting. Or perhaps things that had been trapped were surging outward. Either way, something was definitely happening.
But it didn’t last long. About two minutes later—
“There. Done. You can look now.”
At Ryu Seon-dam’s word, they turned back to find the corridor pristine.
Well, almost. Some marks remained—gouges in the wall and floor, as if something massive had clawed through.
“Let’s move. We don’t have much time.”
But there was no time to examine it further.
They passed swiftly through and pressed onward, arriving shortly in the vicinity of the A Zone that Ryu Seon-dam had mentioned.
And soon after, they spotted an open door in that sector.
“Damn.”
Ryu Seon-dam’s brow furrowed as he strode toward it. Upon peering into the open doorway, he clicked his tongue.
“Already gone inside.”
“The Urban Legend’s already been released?”
“Half right, half wrong. The seal was broken, but the creature never left the Containment Chamber. The intruder was likely swallowed in the process.”
At that answer, Woo Ju’s expression grew strange—not because he’d seen the intruder, but because Ryu Seon-dam spoke as though he were guessing.
The Urban Legend would be contained inside, so if they’d seen what was beyond the open door, they could identify any intruder or anything else that came through.
“May I look inside as well?”
“Yes.”
Woo Ju asked permission and walked over to peer past the threshold. Now he understood why Ryu Seon-dam had spoken in that speculative tone.
The interior was dark.
Even without interior lighting, the corridor’s light should have cast at least some illumination inside, but there was nothing at all.
It felt as if black fabric had been draped across the opening. But that wasn’t it.
Pure darkness simply filled the space within.
“What Urban Legend is this?”
“The Clown Box.”
Ryu Seon-dam spoke.
“In the past, it caused the disappearance of over a thousand people.”
“…If it were released, it would be incredibly dangerous, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. In a worst-case scenario, we’d have to seal off this entire sector. But that would take an enormous amount of time to repair.”
Woo Ju had heard of Zone Seal procedures before.
It was something undertaken only in truly catastrophic situations, and the cost of implementing it was not insignificant.
Ryu Seon-dam spoke again, his gaze turned inward.
“So I’ll go in and investigate.”
“What? Alone?”
“It’s an Urban Legend I’ve already contained once. Since I already know the rules, if nothing too serious goes wrong, I should be able to reseal it.”
“Wouldn’t two be better than one?”
Ryu Seon-dam regarded Woo Ju for a moment before answering.
“It will be dangerous.”
“Still, we’ve come this far. We can’t just turn back now.”
More than that—uncertain though it still was—the odds were high that this was connected to him.
It didn’t feel like mere coincidence that he’d been attacked and then, exactly the next day, a traitor had emerged from inside and set this whole incident in motion.
“And if we capture this traitor, won’t we be able to find out what’s behind all this?”
Ryu Seon-dam nodded slowly at Woo Ju’s question.
“That’s true. Someone capable of orchestrating something of this scale wouldn’t be just a low-ranking operative following orders.”
“Then we’ll need to take them alive and get them out of here.”
It was at that point.
“I’m coming too.”
Chae Wol spoke up.
“I’m fully briefed on this Urban Legend. I’ve memorized the rules perfectly.”
Ryu Seon-dam hesitated briefly before nodding.
“Very well. I’ll give you a quick briefing then.”
Ryu Seon-dam began explaining the Clown Urban Legend.
* * *
A narrow, dark passage stretches on and on. As you walk along it, further and further, suddenly brilliant light blazes forth.
Whoooosh—!
—Welcome! Welcome! Thank you for visiting Smile Park, where joy knows no bounds!
—I’m your friend! Smile Park’s one and only mascot! Smile the Clown!
—Come in, everyone! Experience happiness at Smile Park!
At the same time, loud voices assault the ears.
The iconic presence of this Smile Park. Smile’s voice.
Three figures—two men and a woman—walk toward Smile Park.
“The image of a clown that Koreans typically think of isn’t really a clown, but rather a jester.”
“A jester?”
“Yes. Playful makeup and laughter—that’s what defines a jester. A clown, on the other hand, wears very melancholic makeup.”
Ryu Seon-dam provided additional context about clowns as he looked up at the entrance to Smile Park.
“In the West, many people fear clowns. In fact, there’s even a term for it—coulrophobia.”
“I’ve heard of that. But in Korea, people don’t really fear clowns much, so why is this so dangerous?”
Ryu Seon-dam lowered his gaze and answered simply.
“Because this isn’t unique to Korea. Do you remember what I explained earlier?”
“Yes. What we contained was only the box itself.”
“Such boxes are found all over the world. The box merely serves as an entrance. We don’t know where the actual entity resides.”
In other words, it was a space like the aquarium they’d visited before.
“Then, let’s go.”
Instead of elaborating further, Ryu Seon-dam stepped past the open threshold.
They had already heard the rules explained before entering.
Woo Ju turned it over in his mind.
There were many detailed items, but the three most crucial were clear.
‘Appear to enjoy Smile Park.’
Smile Park was a place for joy. So one had to display enjoyment of it, at least outwardly.
Failure to do so would mean losing guest status.
‘And don’t stay longer than twenty-four hours.’
Linger too long in this place, and you’d lose all desire to leave Smile Park.
The countless disappearances were proof of that.
After twenty-four hours passed, people stopped trying to leave of their own accord.
And finally.
The most important rule of all.
‘Never show fear or dread.’
Smile Park was a place of happiness, brimming with joy three hundred sixty-five days a year.
To display fear or suffering in such a place was improper.
Smile, the mascot himself, would arrive at once to ‘correct’ the guest.
Once Woo Ju had thought through all of it,
he spoke to Ryu Seon-dam.
“Then, what should we do first?”
“Before we go exploring in earnest, we should tackle something. That way we’ll draw less suspicion.”
“A sound plan.”
The way to escape Smile Park. It was simpler than one might think.
Experience the various ‘attractions’ stationed throughout Smile Park.
And Ryu Seon-dam quickly found an appropriate one among them.
-Welcome! Smile! Smile! Show us your strength! We have prizes for anyone who breaks the high score!
What they approached was the Strongman Game.
Roughly speaking, it was like a punch machine from a Korean arcade.
Except instead of striking a heavy bag with your fists, the goal was to swing a hammer at a designated target and set a high score.
In other words, a device to measure raw strength.
Next to the Strongman Game stood a clown figure.
It had the exaggerated clown appearance you’d see in movies, with a grotesquely wide grin cut nearly up to its eyes.
‘Smile.’
This was Smile itself.
The mascot of Smile Park.
Though this wasn’t the real body. Identical clowns like this were scattered throughout the amusement park.
“Excuse me. Is there a participation fee? And are there any special rules?”
-Smile! There’s no fee! Just one rule: each person gets exactly one try!
Smile answered with a grin.
-But! If you don’t beat the minimum score, I’ll rip your arm off!
It spoke of something terrifying as if it were the most ordinary thing.
“I’ll do it.”
It was then that Woo Ju stepped forward.
Ryu Seon-dam spoke to him.
“Will you be alright?”
“Well, you look sturdy enough. It shouldn’t break.”
The question and answer seemed somewhat misaligned,
but Woo Ju stepped up and reached to the side.
The next moment,
a Steel Pipe that had been hidden out of sight appeared in his hand.
Smile’s eyes went wide the instant it saw this, and it tried to say something.
But it had clearly stated there was only one rule.
So Woo Ju gave it no chance and swung the Steel Pipe.
-Whoosh—!
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash-crack!
The hockey puck attached to the base of the device shattered into fragments and then powder, while the machine cracked with a sharp, grinding sound.
Simultaneously, the score on the display shot upward at a frantic pace.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding—!
[999999!]
-Record achieved!
-A-are you human?
With the new record, a startled voice emerged from the device.
Woo Ju turned to look at Smile, whose smiling face had frozen in place, and asked.
“What’s the prize?”
To be continued in the next episode ▶
Calamity-Class Relics from Urban Legends Develop an Obsession
Author
Lee Se-gye
Publishers
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Inquiries
[email protected]
Publication Date
May 26, 2026
UCI
G720:N+A327-20260410110
※ This e-book is protected under copyright law. Unauthorized reproduction and copying are prohibited. Violation of this notice may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram welcomes precious manuscripts from writers.

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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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