The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 59

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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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Catastrophe-Class Relics from Urban Legends with Obsessions — Episode 59
Woo Ju furrowed his brow at the piercing screams that clawed at his ears, peering past the vanished doorframe into the darkness beyond.
The interior was unnaturally dark.
There wasn’t a single window. Yet something writhed within that darkness.
But it wasn’t a spirit—not some shapeless specter like those.
Hwa Ryeon had said as much, hadn’t she? That this was the type Woo Ju could handle easily.
“What a grotesque thing.”
Peering through the darkness with his mask still on, Woo Ju grimaced at the sight before him.
It was a doll.
But far from an ordinary one.
The dolls packed densely on the first floor all had their own uncanny appearance, yet this one surpassed them all.
As if someone had crudely stitched together a doll and something else entirely.
Woo Ju recalled what he’d learned from the files about this thing’s identity.
‘A Cursed Doll.’
The reason this house had become so twisted, why no one lived here anymore—it was all because of that.
In one sense, it could be called trivial, but it was far from something to underestimate.
Regardless of how it began, it had been left abandoned for over a decade, growing its power unchecked the entire time.
If it had been something so simple to dispose of, Woo Ju wouldn’t have been deployed in the first place.
A sharp breath.
Behind him, Yeon Woo’s tense, ragged breathing could be heard.
But Woo Ju’s expression, facing the thing itself, was utterly composed.
Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!
The doll twisted its body and lurched forward.
For something that looked so clumsy, it moved with startling speed, closing the distance in an instant.
“Watch out—!”
Yeon Woo cried out urgently at the sight. And immediately after.
Crack!
With a thunderous sound, the doll that had charged forward at breakneck speed went flying in the opposite direction like an arrow.
“…?”
Yeon Woo remained frozen in place, his hand still outstretched, only his eyes blinking.
As if unable to believe what he’d witnessed.
Hee-hee…!
Then the doll suddenly jerked upright. But by then, Woo Ju was already standing over it.
The doll hastily raised its hands to defend itself, but.
Bang!
The Iron Pipe crashed down on the doll’s head faster.
The doll that had risen was driven straight back down into the floor.
Even in that state, its distinctive unsettling laughter continued, but Woo Ju paid no mind and kept swinging the pipe.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sight resembled less a battle against something dangerous and more a man driving nails with a hammer.
Hee, hee, hee-yaaaah!
At some point, the laughter twisted into screams.
The doll thrashed its hands as if begging for mercy, but Woo Ju continued swinging the pipe without a word.
This doll was remarkably durable.
Most couldn’t withstand even one or two blows from an Iron Pipe, so its resilience was almost impressive.
But that was precisely its limit.
Its movements were fairly quick and its strength probably considerable, but both fell short of Woo Ju’s, rendering them useless.
As the doll endured this one-sided barrage, it seemed to realize it would dissolve at this rate, and at the last moment, it squeezed out what little power remained.
Uuuuuuu!
With a jarring, discordant cry, the entire building began to vibrate.
Woo Ju felt the Curse Energy scattered throughout the structure converging toward him.
Its target was unmistakably Woo Ju.
Just because one was strong against physical force didn’t mean one was strong against curses—it could have been an effective gambit.
If the opponent were anyone but Woo Ju.
Whoooosh!
The Curse Energy that surged toward Woo Ju in a wave dissipated the moment it touched him.
“What good is something so pathetic?”
The Nemean Lion Hide, which had withstood even the curses of one of the world’s most renowned curse sorcerers, would surely not fail against a curse of such trivial quality.
Seeing even its final gambit blocked, the doll’s expression went hollow before it went limp.
Woo Ju raised the Iron Pipe again, then hesitated.
“Huh?”
He tapped the doll lightly with his toe a couple of times, but it didn’t respond.
He wondered if it was playing dead, but when he checked with the Bangshangshi Mask, he felt absolutely nothing emanating from it anymore.
While he was pondering what had happened, Yeon Woo spoke up.
“It seems… it chose to dissipate itself because the suffering became too unbearable.”
“This doll?”
“Yes. I watched the energy that had been clustered together scatter in an instant.”
“Smart little thing.”
It would have had no way out anyway, so giving up quickly was a remarkably wise choice.
“Ended up being simpler than expected, didn’t it?”
Woo Ju said this to Yeon Woo with a smile.
Yeon Woo eagerly nodded in response.
“Yes! You were truly remarkable!”
“Come on, there’s nothing to praise about this.”
“No, it really would have been impossible without you!”
Woo Ju thought that Yeon Woo was quite diligent with his flattery.
He couldn’t have known that anyone who witnessed what Woo Ju had just demonstrated would naturally become respectful.
“All right then. Let’s report it right away.”
“Yes, sir!”
* * *
Woo Ju promptly handled the source of the curse and filed his report.
Soon after, a support team arrived and swept up everything remaining inside the building.
Of course, this included the doll that Woo Ju had exorcised.
After completing the mission and returning, he entered the Office, and Hwa Ryeon looked up and asked.
“How did it go?”
“Handled it cleanly. It wasn’t much of anything.”
“No, I meant Yeon Woo.”
At the question directed toward him, Yeon Woo hesitated before opening his mouth.
“Well… I came to realize just how incredible my senior is!”
His tone and gestures, his whole bearing, resembled a fresh recruit standing at attention.
Hwa Ryeon let out a soft laugh and spoke.
“He is incredible, I’ll grant you that. But don’t go trying to imitate him.”
“Yes!”
“Good. So for today, just write up the report and you’re free to go. The next mission should be fine with you going alongside Cheong Woo.”
Cheong Woo represented a completely opposite style from Woo Ju.
He was the type who carefully laid out a plan first, then used his intellect to solve problems.
Perhaps that was precisely why she was deliberately having him trail after both of them in succession—to feel the difference between these two extremes.
“Oh, and Woo Ju—want to talk with me for a bit?”
“Sure.”
The moment Hwa Ryeon called, Woo Ju stood up from his seat.
“Want some coffee?”
“Sounds good.”
“Then let’s talk there.”
With that, Hwa Ryeon and Woo Ju headed toward the Cafeteria.
Hwa Ryeon broached the main topic after receiving her coffee and sitting down at an empty spot in the Cafeteria.
“We’ve got an operation lined up with some people from Japan.”
“From Japan?”
Woo Ju asked with a puzzled expression, and Hwa Ryeon nodded while continuing.
“There’s a matter worth cooperating with them on.”
“What kind of matter?”
“To put it simply, some people they’ve been chasing for a while have made their way to Korea.”
Hwa Ryeon took a sip of her coffee and continued.
“There haven’t been major casualties yet, but if we leave it alone for too long, there’s a strong chance problems will arise.”
“So that’s why you’re cooperating with Japan?”
“Right. They’ve got a lot of data on this, and they want to finish it one way or another.”
From what he heard, it was something that had already caused considerable damage in Japan before crossing over into Korea.
“Since we can’t predict when it might slip back across to Japan again, they want to handle it decisively. Besides, it’s in a somewhat weakened state right now.”
“I see. Ah, but what exactly is this thing?”
“A Tatarikami.”
Hwa Ryeon said.
“Akshin, Yeoksin, Catastrophe Spirit—it goes by many names.”
“A spirit?”
“Yes. Though just because it’s called a spirit doesn’t mean it’s unbeatable or anything like that. Here in Korea, we tend to call things like that Yeokgwi, Akgwi, or Magwi instead of spirits.”
“Still, it shouldn’t be weak.”
“True enough. The Inspection Bureau branch in Japan is quite capable too. They deal with far more incidents in peacetime, so they have more personnel than we do.”
Woo Ju nodded.
During training, he’d heard something about the other branches.
Japan had one of Asia’s largest Inspection Bureau branches, supposedly because yokai and urban legends were so rampant there.
As it happened, places like China and India had surprisingly little Inspection Bureau influence.
China had friction with the government. India’s existing established groups held considerable power, or so the story went.
“Anyway, we’re deploying three people for this operation.”
The moment Hwa Ryeon said that much, he couldn’t miss what was coming next.
“You, and who else?”
“Baek Ho and me.”
Of course she was about to say that Woo Ju would be part of the operation.
But one thing puzzled him, so he asked Hwa Ryeon.
“Um, but why call me in separately to tell me this…?”
He wondered if there was really a need to bring him in like this.
Hwa Ryeon exhaled softly and answered.
“Cheong Woo has some sensitive history with that place.”
“That place meaning… Japan?”
“Yes.”
Woo Ju found that rather surprising.
Cheong Woo didn’t seem like the type to have serious friction with anyone.
Hwa Ryeon seemed to read his thoughts and continued.
“It’s complicated—personal history mixed in. In any case, it’s best to avoid bringing up anything related to Japan when Cheong Woo is around.”
“Understood.”
Since she was asking him not to bring it up, Woo Ju had no intention of doing so. He simply nodded.
“When do we depart?”
“Within this week. We’re coordinating schedules with Japan.”
Hwa Ryeon set down her coffee cup as she spoke.
“Two of their operatives will come over to Korea. We’ll be working together.”
“Will we be together the whole time?”
“Not necessarily. First we need to locate the Akshin, after all.”
In other words, formal cooperation would begin only after they’d found the Catastrophe Spirit.
They’d certainly meet and share information beforehand, but they wouldn’t be joined at the hip.
Woo Ju went on to ask several more questions after that.
How weakened was it exactly. What aspects were dangerous. How they’d handle it. What the current situation was. And so on.
Hwa Ryeon explained all of it, then rose, picking up her empty coffee cup.
“Well then, let’s head back.”
“Yes.”
This week was going to be quite busy, it seemed.
* * *
Tatarikami.
The entity that the Korean branch called Akshin for convenience.
Two days after hearing the briefing, Woo Ju was deployed to the operation to pursue it.
“Getting a road trip on work days—not bad!”
Baek Ho sat in the back seat, grinning as he spoke.
Woo Ju, sitting in the passenger seat, nodded and replied.
“The scenery is beautiful.”
Beyond the window lay the sea.
They were currently in Busan.
They’d set out before dawn and only arrived after the sun had fully risen.
“Anyone seeing us would think we were on vacation.”
Hwa Ryeon, gripping the steering wheel, let out a dry laugh.
Baek Ho chuckled at her remark.
“Besides, the real work doesn’t start until tomorrow anyway, right? So what are we eating tonight? Milmyeon? Or pork soup?”
“It’s summer—milmyeon, obviously.”
Woo Ju smiled at their exchange.
Sure, they were here to work, but there was no real sense of tension yet.
We wouldn’t be pursuing him until tomorrow, just as Baek Ho had said earlier.
The Japanese agents would arrive by then, and only after we’d exchanged information could we make our real move.
“Ramen sounds perfect! Oh, but there’s an interesting rumor I picked up.”
“What kind of rumor?”
Baek Ho leaned forward slightly as he spoke.
“This Japanese agent coming in—apparently has ten years of experience.”
“And that’s significant because…?”
Woo Ju asked, and Baek Ho answered simply.
“They’re only twenty-four.”
To be continued in the next episode ▶
Catastrophe-Class Relics from Urban Legends and Their Obsessions
Author
Isekaisajang
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 duplication are prohibited, and violation of this may result in criminal and civil liability.
※ Pentagram welcomes 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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