The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 87

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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 Grow Obsessed: Chapter 87
A question mark flickered across Woo Ju’s face at Hwa Ryeon’s unexpected arrival.
He’d never once imagined he might run into her here.
Hwa Ryeon seemed equally surprised—she looked at him with a puzzled expression and spoke first.
“How did you know about this place?”
“Ah, someone recommended it to me.”
“Recommended?”
“Yes. They mentioned a few tourist spots worth visiting.”
At Woo Ju’s answer, Hwa Ryeon tilted her head and spoke again.
“Tourist spots? Here?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
She didn’t say it aloud, but Woo Ju could practically see the thought forming in her mind: ‘That’s quite the unusual taste.’
Woo Ju was about to say something in response when the shop employee interjected.
“Welcome back! So you know this customer, I see!”
It was clear Hwa Ryeon had been to this shop more than once or twice.
“Do you come here often?”
Woo Ju didn’t hold back and asked directly. Hwa Ryeon walked deeper into the shop before answering.
“Yes. I stop by whenever I’m in the area on business trips.”
“Well then, feel free to look around at your leisure.”
Rather than continue the conversation, the employee returned to his post.
This gave Woo Ju a chance to speak with Hwa Ryeon more freely.
“So what brought you here? Just sightseeing?”
“Yes. I wanted to see something unusual before leaving.”
“So you’re the type who actively goes out looking for problems.”
“Excuse me? Me?”
“Usually people avoid places like this. Most ordinary people don’t even want to set foot in them.”
Woo Ju glanced at the employee behind the counter to see if he was listening, but he seemed indifferent.
Actually, looking more closely, the employee was even nodding slightly.
Woo Ju quickly opened his mouth to prevent any misunderstanding.
“It’s just that Mizuki recommended this place. So I thought it would be safe.”
At the mention of Mizuki’s recommendation, Hwa Ryeon nodded knowingly.
“Ah, I see. That makes sense. She’d know about all these kinds of shops.”
The employee had earlier dropped hints that this shop was managed by the Inspection Bureau, so it probably was.
Woo Ju’s gaze turned back toward the shelves as he spoke.
“So you have an interest in this sort of thing?”
On those shelves were dolls lined up that looked distinctly menacing.
Hwa Ryeon answered very quickly.
“No. An interest? What are you talking about?”
“Doll collecting?”
“Hardly.”
He’d never seen her respond quite so quickly before.
As Woo Ju was thinking this, Hwa Ryeon continued.
“I come here looking for useful items. I find them sometimes.”
“Useful items?”
“That’s right.”
Hwa Ryeon habitually placed a long pipe between her lips and spoke to the employee.
“I’d like to look at some of your inventory.”
At those words, the employee stood up as if he’d been waiting for exactly this, and gestured toward the back door.
“Of course! This way, please!”
Woo Ju watched the scene unfold, hesitated for a moment, then followed after them.
Hwa Ryeon glanced at him but said nothing.
Beyond the back door, a staircase leading down to the basement appeared. The moment Woo Ju stepped onto it, a chill in the air met him.
He immediately recognized that this wasn’t a natural coldness.
It was the same kind of sensation he always felt when entering a place harboring something strange or dangerous.
Normally he would have summoned an Iron Pipe right away, but since Hwa Ryeon beside him wore a composed expression, Woo Ju walked quietly alongside her.
“The collection has grown quite considerably this time! Business has been booming lately.”
“It’ll probably continue like that for a while.”
“Oh really? That’s wonderful news for collectors like me, though not so good for ordinary people!”
The employee spoke with enthusiasm as he continued down the stairs.
Recalling how Woo Ju had looked disappointed earlier when he said he’d only come to browse, it seemed Hwa Ryeon really wanted to show him this place.
And the moment Woo Ju arrived in the basement space, he immediately understood why the items upstairs were “for ordinary people.”
“Whoa.”
Dolls were displayed here as well.
Their numbers were far fewer than upstairs, and most didn’t have particularly striking appearances.
But there was one crucial difference.
The aura they carried.
‘Intense.’
The cursed energy emanating from each doll here was incomparable to those displayed upstairs.
These basement dolls were the sort that could cause serious misfortune merely by being possessed.
Some of them even rolled their eyes the moment Woo Ju stepped forward.
It was the kind of sight that would have sent a faint-hearted person screaming.
“Here. These are the children that arrived recently. We traveled all the way to Hokkaido to bring them back ourselves! And this one here was procured from Miyazaki, and if you look closely…….”
The employee introduced the various dolls with enthusiasm.
Woo Ju half-listened to the chatter while examining the displayed dolls.
They were interesting enough to look at, but since he had no particular interest in this sort of thing, his gaze never lingered long on any single piece.
Yet as he browsed to the employee’s droning narration, Woo Ju’s eyes suddenly fixed on one spot.
There stood a doll in the shape of a short-haired girl.
It was a neat and tidy-looking girl doll, and Woo Ju found his brow furrowing as he gazed at it.
‘Why does my gaze keep returning to it?’
The doll certainly carried a potent aura, but then so did all the others.
Its appearance was hardly remarkable in any particular way.
And yet he found it impossible to look away.
“Ah! That doll is a true classic! It’s over fifty years old!”
At that moment, the employee noticed where Woo Ju’s gaze was fixed and stepped closer.
“It came all the way from Korea!”
“From Korea?”
The employee’s words had grown so rapid they were harder to follow, but Woo Ju caught “Korea” clearly.
The employee nodded at his question and continued.
“Yes! She goes by the name Hana. As you can see, the seal is thorough and secure, so there should be no danger! Wouldn’t you like to take her with you?”
The employee’s eyes gleamed with an intensity that was almost uncomfortable.
That was when Hwa Ryeon interjected.
“Just so you know, the reason I buy dolls is to mitigate side effects.”
“Oh, side effects?”
“Right. A doll carrying resentment this potent makes a very effective offering.”
Hwa Ryeon tapped an empty long pipe as she spoke.
“I wouldn’t recommend collecting dolls like these purely as a hobby.”
It seemed she had spoken up because she sensed Woo Ju was about to make an impulsive purchase.
Woo Ju scratched his chin and opened his mouth.
“Hmm. But I keep finding my eyes drawn to it.”
Hwa Ryeon immediately asked the employee.
“The seal hasn’t weakened, has it?”
“Not at all! Even though the aura is quite perceptible, it’s completely unable to exert any power!”
“Hmm.”
After hearing that answer, Hwa Ryeon considered for a moment before speaking.
“Normally, if someone felt drawn to a cursed doll, I’d insist they take it for a detailed inspection. But with you—well, that’s different. I’ll leave the choice to you.”
That was likely something connected to Woo Ju’s constitution.
He possessed a nature that drew powerful artifacts toward him.
Perhaps the attraction he felt stemmed from that very quality.
Meanwhile, Woo Ju’s own inclination was gradually shifting.
Even so, just to be safe, Woo Ju focused his attention on the iron pipe in his bag and the Pandora’s Box at his wrist.
Usually, if something posed a problem, the artifacts he habitually carried would send out warnings.
But now both remained quiet. So did the other artifacts.
“It’s safe, right?”
“Of course! Just to be sure, I’ll double-check the seal and prepare some extra talismans for you! Here, I’ll also include this decorative cabinet imbued with sealing power as part of the set.”
The employee pushed the sale energetically, apparently worried that Woo Ju might have second thoughts.
And so Woo Ju finally nodded.
“Then I’ll make the purchase.”
“Excellent choice! As for the price, here you can see…….”
Woo Ju looked at the price the employee showed him and reflected.
‘Should I just not buy it?’
The price tag seemed to have one more zero than he’d expected.
But the Shop Employee quickly amended his expression at the sight of Woo Ju’s changing face.
“But! Since you’ve come here with Hwa Ryeon, I’ll give you a special 50% discount!”
“70%.”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s go with 70% off.”
“That leaves nothing for me! How about 60%?”
“Then 65%. Deal?”
“Ugh, deal!”
And so Woo Ju ended up purchasing the doll at 65% off the original price.
Given that the Shop Employee had already halved the price from the start, the true cost was likely lower than it appeared, but since the amount wasn’t a significant burden either way, he let it go.
The Shop Employee carefully wrapped everything in a wooden box.
“Hmm. But will this be allowed on the plane?”
Woo Ju had good reason to ask.
Yellow talismans were plastered all over the wooden box.
To anyone’s eye, it looked thoroughly suspicious.
“Don’t worry. We have a separate channel for transporting our merchandise.”
“That’s a relief.”
It would have been quite unfortunate if he’d gone through all the trouble of buying it only to find he couldn’t take it with him.
With his shopping done, Woo Ju watched as Hwa Ryeon browsed the display cases and selected dolls for herself.
“This one. This one. And that one and that one.”
As if she’d already decided, Hwa Ryeon quickly selected and purchased seven dolls.
A glance at the price made it clear she’d spent nearly ten times what Woo Ju had paid.
“Yikes. Why is it so expensive?”
“Hehe, it’s all thanks to Hwa Ryeon’s excellent eye! These are all very valuable dolls, you see.”
The Shop Employee beamed as he spoke.
“They contain considerable aura without being so dangerous that they’re difficult to handle.”
“I see.”
Woo Ju simply nodded.
After all, he had little interest in such ‘offerings’ in the first place.
The two of them concluded their transaction and left the shop with their shopping bags in hand.
Moments after exiting, Hwa Ryeon posed a question to Woo Ju.
“But what did he call this place when he introduced it to us?”
“Hm? Oh, he actually sent it to me in a message, and I’m sure…….”
Woo Ju couldn’t quite recall, so he pulled out his mobile phone and checked Mizuki’s message.
But as he stared at the screen, an expression of confusion settled over his face.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Well, it was definitely written at the very end.”
The message had certainly contained a description of this cursed doll shop, yet no matter how hard he searched, it simply wasn’t there.
Hwa Ryeon glanced at the message from beside him, then stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“Maybe the doll called to you.”
“Hm? The doll?”
“You said your eyes were drawn to it from the very beginning, didn’t you?”
“Mm.”
Woo Ju scratched the back of his neck.
He’d felt oddly enchanted, now that he thought about it.
But Woo Ju decided to take the good-luck approach.
After all, he hadn’t lost anything, had he? He’d met Hwa Ryeon and heard all sorts of explanations from her.
“Still, just to be safe, take good care of the doll.”
“Will do.”
With their conversation concluded, the two climbed into a taxi and departed together.
It was nearly time to head to the Airport anyway.
Not long after arriving at the Hotel, they split into separate rooms to gather their luggage, then reconvened in the Hotel Lobby at the appointed time.
“Well then, shall we go?”
“Yes.”
It was truly time to head home.
Continues in the next chapter ▶
Catastrophe-Class Relics from Urban Legends Cling to Him
Author
Isegaesa
Publisher
Kim Seok-hwan, Choi Se-ra
Published by
Grae Publishing
Contact
[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. Violation of these restrictions 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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