The Calamity-Class Artifacts in Ghost Stories Are Obsessed with Me - Chapter 98

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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 Relics from Urban Legends Become Obsessed – Episode 98
“A trace, you said?”
Woo Ju posed the question, and Cheong U nodded before speaking.
“Yes. It appears someone attempted to undo the sealing on this doll.”
“But the sealing is intact now, isn’t it?”
“It is intact. Someone tried, but for some reason they gave up partway through. Look here.”
Cheong U tilted the doll slightly to reveal its base.
The end of the talisman was slightly curled, and at the same time darkened—unmistakably visible.
“That’s the trace.”
Woo Ju examined it with a grave expression.
He’d looked it over when he first arrived, but had missed it entirely. The location was difficult to spot without meticulous inspection, and the trace itself was extremely faint.
But once Cheong U pointed it out, he could see it clearly.
“So someone broke in, touched the doll’s sealing, gave up partway, and left.”
“That would appear to be the case.”
“Hmm. But the CCTV shows no sign of anyone approaching at all.”
“That intruder likely wasn’t human. Consider this possibility, for instance.”
Cheong U adjusted his glasses as he spoke.
“A minor ghost or something drawn to this doll’s aura. It made contact and attempted to break the sealing, but ultimately failed and left.”
“Ah. I suppose that’s possible.”
Come to think of it, when he’d spoken with the staff member earlier, hadn’t they suggested a ghost or similar entity was likely responsible?
This doll was sealed, yes, but it didn’t completely block the aura leaking outward.
A far higher level of sealing would be required for that, along with intricate maintenance—benefits that wouldn’t justify the effort.
“Of course, it’s not a common situation. Sealed items this well don’t usually attract trouble from leaked aura alone.”
“I’ve heard that before, when I bought it.”
A brief silence fell between them.
Cheong U gazed at the doll in thought for a moment, then looked up at Woo Ju and spoke.
“For now, I can attempt a few methods to examine the trace.”
“You can?”
“Yes. Physical traces and spiritual traces are separate things. Do you have raw rice, by any chance?”
“Yes! Should I fetch it?”
“Please.”
Woo Ju went straight to the kitchen and returned with the raw rice.
Cheong U took it, briefly explained the method, and immediately set to work.
“Haaah.”
A long, low exhale.
He then took a handful of raw rice in his palm, murmured something softly, and scattered it across the floor.
Remarkably, the grains didn’t scatter randomly—instead, they settled in a faint circle around the spot where the doll had been placed.
“What?”
Then a startling sight appeared.
Several of the rice grains had darkened noticeably, as if they’d been scorched.
Woo Ju asked carefully.
“What is this?”
“These are the strongest points where aura left its mark. Rather than the doll itself, think of it as the movement path of whatever circled around it.”
Cheong U examined each darkened grain and confirmed their positions.
“Hmm.”
“What is it?”
“The pattern is rather strange.”
Cheong U pointed at the darkened grains in sequence with his fingertip.
It started in front of the display cabinet, extended toward the window side, then curved back toward the doll, and finally pointed toward the entrance.
“Normally, common creatures like this approach their target, fail, and retreat immediately. But this shows back-and-forth movement.”
“What does that mean?”
“Two possibilities. One is that this wasn’t a mere minor ghost, but something with a degree of judgment.”
Cheong U paused briefly before continuing.
“The other is that this creature wasn’t targeting the doll from the start—it may have been targeting this house itself, or you.”
Woo Ju nodded slowly at those words.
“I see.”
It wasn’t particularly surprising.
If someone had broken into his home, they’d have had a purpose, and that purpose would likely involve him in some way.
Was it really plausible that a mere burglar would target a place with such thorough security?
There’d be no reason to choose such a difficult target.
“I’ll continue for now.”
Cheong U shifted positions once more and repeated the same procedure, each time producing a similar result.
But the direction the grain was pointing grew stranger by the moment.
The trajectory that had seemed to circle through the room suddenly veered toward the inner chamber.
And when he finally scattered the grain in that inner room as well.
Tap.
A single grain of rice fell to the floor, bounced sharply, and sprang upward.
In that instant, Woo Ju witnessed it turn pitch black in real time.
And it seemed Cheong U saw it too—he watched the grain fall again with a hardened face and spoke.
“This is not good.”
“Pardon?”
“It never left this place.”
Woo Ju was about to ask what he meant more specifically.
Snap!
But before he could, the lights suddenly cut out, plunging the room into darkness.
Woo Ju immediately recognized this was no natural occurrence.
It wasn’t merely that the light had gone out—the darkness itself felt far denser than it should.
As if a black fog had rolled in.
Then Cheong U’s voice came.
“It wasn’t a minor ghost. Something far more adept at concealing itself has been hidden here from the start.”
The voice seemed to come from right beside him, yet also from behind.
Or perhaps from all directions at once.
“The disorder in the house, the way it moved from room to room—all of it was camouflage. From the beginning, it was probing for our weakness.”
“What should we do?”
It was a situation that would have rattled anyone, but Woo Ju spoke in a measured voice and reached out his hand.
Then he felt a solid sensation in his palm.
He had summoned the iron pipe again.
“There are two problems at present.”
Cheong U answered Woo Ju’s implicit question.
“First. It’s far more powerful than we anticipated.”
Woo Ju felt it too.
It had deceived not only him wearing the Bangsan-sshi Mask, but Cheong U’s eyes as well.
That’s impossible for any creature of ordinary caliber.
“And second. I believe we’ve already stepped within its domain.”
“Domain?”
“Yes. Don’t you find your senses growing dull, your sense of reality growing hazy?”
At those words, Woo Ju focused on his own senses once more.
And sure enough, he felt exactly what Cheong U described—something was distinctly different.
More than just his vision being dimmed, the sensations throughout his entire body felt muffled, as if wrapped in a thick membrane.
“You’re right. Something is off.”
Woo Ju replied curtly and adjusted his grip on the iron pipe.
Golden markings then blazed clearly across its surface, as if asserting its presence even here.
“First, it’s difficult to pinpoint its exact location. Do you have any sense of where we are now?”
“Hmm. No. There should be a wall around here.”
Woo Ju reached out his hand.
Judging by his position before the lights went out, just a few steps should bring him to a wall.
But after walking exactly ten steps and reaching out, there was nothing for his hand to touch.
Even for a fairly spacious room, this was far too vast.
Either this too was a side effect of warped perception, or the space itself had been twisted.
Cheong U mentioned that possibility as well.
“It may have interfered with space itself. For now, let’s avoid reckless movement and assess the situation first.”
“Understood.”
Woo Ju listened intently to Cheong U’s voice coming from all around.
“The entity appears to possess an ability to interfere with perception, one capable of neutralizing both Grade 3 Artifacts and various detection methods.”
A Grade 3 Artifact—that referred to the Bangsan-sshi Mask that Woo Ju possessed.
He had mentioned searching the house interior with it earlier. The various detection methods would be the techniques Cheong U himself had attempted.
“The current phenomena also appear to be an extension of such capability. Warping perception itself is far more natural than wielding space-based abilities. Though, as I said, we cannot entirely rule out that possibility either.”
Cheong U laid out his analysis in rapid succession, then offered a solution for their present predicament.
“Therefore, this time it would be more efficient to rely on your ability.”
“My ability?”
“Yes. In cases where the ability interferes with perception itself, it’s far more effective to prevent it beforehand. Once it’s already happened, solving it through occult means becomes extremely difficult.”
“Ah, but I don’t have any such ability.”
“Exactly. Which is why we must eliminate the source of the ability itself.”
“Ah!”
Only then did Woo Ju fully comprehend what Cheong U was saying.
“You mean I should crush it.”
“Correct.”
In the end, eliminate the source of the ability, and the problem would naturally vanish along with it.
Cheong U had proposed exactly the right solution for their current situation.
“First, I’ll find the path. Please wait until I finish the Incantation.”
After that, Cheong U began reciting another Incantation in a low voice.
And the effect appeared almost immediately.
A cluster of blue light suddenly emerged from the thick darkness.
Woo Ju’s gaze naturally turned toward it.
Swiiish—
And soon the blue light began to move slowly in one direction.
“Should I follow this?”
“Yes.”
Woo Ju began to step forward at those words, then stopped short.
Cheong U was still reciting the Incantation in a low voice. Then who had just answered him?
The moment that question crossed his mind, Woo Ju set his lifted foot back down and gripped the Iron Pipe more tightly.
Whoosh—
A brighter golden radiance poured forth from the Iron Pipe.
It didn’t reach far, but it gave Woo Ju at least some measure of psychological reassurance.
‘A trick.’
With that thought, he looked ahead again—and the blue flame had vanished.
No sound was heard anymore.
But this was only the beginning.
“Done. Now just keep walking straight ahead.”
“What’s our youngest employee’s name?”
……
The Incantation cut off abruptly and a voice came through, so he asked his question, then it fell silent again.
Thud!
When something suddenly struck his ears—thud, thud—he swung the Iron Pipe once, and quiet returned again.
It was resorting to all manner of tricks to deceive his senses.
Through these encounters, Woo Ju came to recognize one thing.
‘Direct violence doesn’t seem to be its strength.’
While premature conclusions were dangerous, Woo Ju believed this possibility was likely.
If it had sufficient power, why resort to such petty tricks in the first place?
Of course, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that it was simply toying with him for amusement.
‘But that’s an unanswerable question either way.’
If he went down that line of thinking, there were no answers to be found.
So Woo Ju took a deep breath, focusing on the first possibility that had occurred to him.
If it was Cheong U, he would certainly send a clear signal cutting through this sensory chaos.
All Woo Ju himself had to do was wait for that signal.
In the worst case, he’d have to resort to force somehow.
‘But I’d rather avoid that.’
This was his own home, after all. Even with the company’s support, he didn’t want to tear his own house apart.
And so, enduring all manner of deceptions, he waited.
—Our team’s youngest is Yeon U, the team leader is Hwa Ryeon, and the deputy leader is Seon Dam.
Cheong U’s voice suddenly came through. After rattling off the team members’ information in succession, he said:
—Take ten steps forward, then swing the Iron Pipe. That’s where it is.
Was this another trick?
Had it somehow uncovered these facts through some stratagem?
Such doubts lingered only briefly.
Whooom!
The Iron Pipe vibrated roughly in his hand.
As if to say: have confidence, don’t worry.
It was a crude way of conveying will, but Woo Ju grasped its specific meaning in an instant.
If he aimed at the wrong target, he simply wouldn’t channel his strength at that moment.
Only then did Woo Ju feel the weight lift from his chest as he took his first step forward.
One step, two steps, three steps…. And finally, ten.
Woo Ju raised the Iron Pipe high and brought it down with all his strength.
Crack—!
And in the darkness, the sound of something shattering rang out.
To be continued ▶
Catastrophe-Class Relics from Urban Legends Grow Obsessed
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 by 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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