The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 45

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

Calamity-Class Relics from Urban Legends – Episode 45
The Backroom.
It was a relatively recent concept.
An urban legend that spread starting from a post on a Western community site in the 2010s.
Hwa Ryeon spoke in an even tone, hands steady on the wheel.
“If you think of the real world as a stage, then the Backroom is like the Backstage—something hidden behind reality itself.”
“Hmm. I think I’ve seen it mentioned in passing online before.”
“It became quite popular in Korea too. Though finding it like this is a first.”
“Wasn’t there something similar before?”
Baek Ho leaned forward from the back seat as he spoke.
Hwa Ryeon tapped the steering wheel with her fingertips before answering.
“Well, urban legends tend to have overlapping elements anyway. But this isn’t exactly identical to anything.”
“That’s true enough.”
Ujoo had been listening to the exchange, and now he ventured carefully, “So I’m allowed to leave now?”
He’d been told he could go outside again soon, but ‘soon’ was still vague.
He hadn’t expected it to happen so immediately.
Hwa Ryeon glanced back at Ujoo from the passenger seat.
“Not anytime you want. But going out on a mission like this is fine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I know it’s inconvenient, but hang in there a little longer.”
“I don’t mind. It’s for my safety anyway.”
If he’d been locked away for no reason, Ujoo would have surely protested.
But the memory of nearly being shot on his way home was still vivid enough that he couldn’t complain.
Besides, the attack itself hadn’t really been connected to the company.
It was targeted at the Necronomicon he owned.
Vroom—.
As they spoke, the vehicle left the bright roads behind and turned onto a dark path.
Hwa Ryeon followed the winding road, eventually arriving at a building that looked abandoned long ago.
She parked in front and unfastened her seatbelt.
“Here we are. Make sure you have all your gear.”
“Roger.”
“Understood.”
Before getting out, Ujoo checked his equipment.
He had the Leather Jacket on, the Steel Pipe in one hand, and the rest of the artifacts in his bag.
“All set.”
“I’m ready too.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Led by Hwa Ryeon, the three stepped out of the car and entered the abandoned building.
It had once been used as shops or offices, but now only broken glass shards and unidentifiable trash littered the floor.
The interior was pitch-black with no light filtering in, yet Hwa Ryeon moved forward without hesitation.
They crossed the first floor and climbed the stairs, reaching the third floor.
The third floor looked much like the first and second, but something felt different.
An uncanny sensation, one might say.
A prickling feeling that stung the skin.
“Here it is.”
Hwa Ryeon grasped a door near the middle of the third floor and spoke.
“Once I open it, you’ll be on the other side. Keep your weapons ready.”
“Roger.”
“Yes.”
“Also, once you’re in, there’s a high chance you’ll be separated. You remember the plan for regrouping, right?”
“Yes.”
Ujoo felt for the object he’d been given on the way here.
It looked like a round thing split into pieces.
According to Hwa Ryeon, these fragments had the property of being drawn toward each other, so using them should be enough to reunite.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Hwa Ryeon confirmed they were ready, then grasped the door and pulled it open.
With a creak, the door swung wide—
“Ugh.”
A sudden vertigo seized him, and his vision went black.

The dizziness was brief, and his vision cleared almost at once.
“Ah.”
Ujoo realized he now stood in an entirely different place.
The first thing that caught his eye was a white wall—so pristine it felt strangely out of place.
Not the kind of wall left to decay so long that no one could remember its original color.
The floor beneath him was covered with a dark gray tile carpet in geometric patterns.
Ujoo lifted his head.
Fluorescent lights hung at regular intervals overhead.
“Hmm.”
Ujoo slowly swept his gaze across the space.
First rule: don’t rush into movement.
In situations like this, standing still and slowly assessing the surroundings comes first—that’s what they taught during Inspection Bureau orientation.
So Ujoo recalled the explanation Hwa Ryeon had given him on the way here.
The characteristics of the Backroom.
‘An Infinite Space.’
At first glance, the Backroom looks like an ordinary building.
But once you begin to explore it properly, its strangeness becomes apparent.
No matter how far you walk, the same space repeats endlessly.
Right now, the corridor ahead looks like any ordinary office hallway, but reality won’t be so simple.
But the danger of the Backroom extends beyond that.
The greatest threat in the Backroom.
‘Entities.’
This maze of infinite space harbors creatures that prowl through it.
Grotesque beings—living nightmares shaped like twisted parodies of human form.
They are called Entities.
That’s likely why the Inspection Bureau dispatched agents the moment it discovered the Backroom.
The people caught inside had to be saved before the Entities claimed them.
There were other characteristics too, but Ujoo decided to set his thoughts aside for now.
‘Time to start moving.’
He’d observed enough.
Nothing stands out. No sign of Entities or anything else.
All he sees is an office corridor. The fragment he carries remains silent.
He’ll need to move around to find anything of use.
Ujoo adjusted his grip on the Steel Pipe.
The cool, solid weight of the metal transferred through his palm.
Thrum.
The Steel Pipe vibrated as if to reassure him of its reliability.
Good. Let’s go.
Ujoo repeated the thought to himself and began moving forward slowly.
Step, step.
His footsteps echoed oddly loud despite the carpeted floor.
The fluorescent lights overhead emitted a steady, low-frequency hum—hum, hum.
The sound burrowed stubbornly into his ears.
‘A white office.’
Hwa Ryeon had said the original Backroom was characterized by damp, yellowed wallpaper, but then again, Urban Legends often transform. That’s typical of the genre.
Urban Legends are meant to spread through word of mouth, warping and changing with each telling.
Especially in modern times—with the internet accelerating that distortion and reshaping exponentially.
Yet the core characteristics remain constant.
‘Same place over and over.’
He walked to the end of the corridor, opened the door, and stepped through—only to find an identical hallway stretching before him.
That’s not all.
Opening a door in the middle of the corridor revealed another corridor beyond it.
When he finally found what looked like an office and stepped inside, he discovered an identically designed office on the other side.
The same space repeated infinitely.
“Hmm.”
Each time he paused, Ujoo withdrew the fragmented piece and examined it.
But the fragment showed no reaction whatsoever.
Hwa Ryeon had assured him it would respond even at a small distance.
‘She said it would function perfectly even inside an Urban Legend like this.’
Could it simply be that the physical distance was too great?
I don’t really know.
“As I thought. This won’t work.”
If we kept wandering like this, it seemed we’d never find an end to it.
Seeing nothing but the same space over and over, he’d almost begun to wish some Entity or monster would finally show up.
Ujoo made a decision.
“Steel Pipe, let’s get to work.”
Now that he knew its true nature, Steel Pipe still felt like a familiar name to him.
The Steel Pipe trembled with what seemed like joy at hearing itself called.
Ujoo didn’t hesitate—he swung the Steel Pipe hard at the wall.
Crash!
The wall crumbled with a tremendous sound, and beyond the rubble, the same landscape repeated itself once more.
“Let’s see who gives in first.”
But Ujoo paid no attention and strode forward, swinging the Steel Pipe again.
An infinitely repeating space?
Then he’d just keep breaking through it.
After all, the goal wasn’t to escape this place quickly, but to regroup with the others.
* * *
“Hmm.”
Baek Ho scratched his jaw.
He’d known they might scatter when entering, but they seemed to have scattered farther than expected.
The Magatama Fragment wasn’t responding to anything, which told him as much.
“If I know our team leader, she’s probably looking for us first.”
Baek Ho murmured as he walked slowly down the corridor.
“As for Ujoo…”
His gaze turned toward one of the walls.
“…he’s probably smashing his way through everything as he goes.”
He could vividly picture Ujoo advancing like a bulldozer, destroying walls as he moved.
Thinking about that, he wondered if staying put might not be the better idea.
“Hmm.”
But then again, that wasn’t really Baek Ho’s style.
“Ah, what’s the point thinking about it? I’m not Cheong Woo.”
Baek Ho cut short his deliberation.
Honestly, neither he nor Ujoo were the types to agonize at length or overthink things. That was Hwa Ryeon’s and Cheong Woo’s job.
Right now, there was no one else around, so there was no need to hold back.
So Baek Ho reached for the cord hanging around his neck—the one invisible to everyone else’s eyes.
He was just about to pull it and undo the cord when—
Ahhh…
Gyahhh…!
He heard some faint sound from far away.
Baek Ho perked up his ears, hesitated for a moment, then released the cord he’d been holding and moved in that direction.
When he’d covered some distance—
A shape appeared in the distance.
It was a grotesque, spherical mass—as if countless human bodies had been bunched together haphazardly.
Dozens of arms and legs jutted out at random, scraping against the carpet floor, and faces embedded between them were screaming or sobbing in various expressions.
The moment Baek Ho saw it, he recognized it as the thing their team leader had called a “Clump.”
“Looks like a rough one came out right from the start.”
Its appearance was the kind that would normally make someone shriek and run, but Baek Ho actually smiled as he grabbed the cord around his neck.
In its current form, it would be hard to rampage freely.
But then Baek Ho paused again.
Something felt off.
The Clump was rushing toward Baek Ho at terrifying speed.
Yet somehow, it didn’t look like a hunter who’d found its prey.
Not so much pleased to have found him… but rather, terrified of something?
As if it were running away from something…
Crash!
And at that very moment, the shard in his hand vibrated, and a very familiar sound reached his ears.
The sound of something being struck with tremendous force.
Ahhhhh!
Waaahhhh!
Hnnnngh!
The Clump came running with sheer desperation. The instant it reached Baek Ho’s face—
—Ahhhhh!
—Ahhhhh!
—Ahhhhhhhhh!
Dozens of mouths across its body shrieked in unison.
And its massive form began dragging backward, as if something had seized it.
“Where do you think you’re going! Stop! Running away!”
Bang! Bang! Crash—!
Followed by the sound of something slamming down.
By then Baek Ho simply folded his arms and watched the spectacle unfold.
Watched the Clump’s body crumple grotesquely. And after several minutes passed—
A familiar face suddenly appeared from behind it and spoke.
“Oh? You were here, Baek Ho!”
Of course, it was Ujoo.
To be continued ▶
Urban Legends and the Calamity-Class Relics That Obsess Over Them
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 prohibition 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
—————