Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
⟨Chapter 23⟩
“I found out things thanks to that.”
Yu Dan said back.
“Besides the last person to leave will die, there is another rule, right? To leave this Spider Ghost Market, you have to buy and sell an item.”
“That’s correct, eh? But it’s also hopeless.”
“What is hopeless?”
“Because You started to roll Your head only when You faced the death crisis after Your heart was pierced by the werewolf’s claws. It’s not even a lump of rocks, how difficult can it be to move?”
He heard chuckles from the other side.
“What a relief! Didn’t You finally hear the words trampling Your personality? Now You can rest at ease.”
Yu Dan gave a side glance to the child ginseng boy yokai, who didn’t sneer but was purely happy.
“Have a little chat with me when we return.”
“Really? You’re welcome any time. What kind of refreshments—“
“Anyhow, am I right?”
Cutting off Chaeu’s words, he asked again and Chaeseol replied while chuckling.
“You’re right. We already did it. Each of us sold and bought an item.”
“Already?”
“I feel anxious every time I come to this market. But this time we came suddenly, without any preparations. Luckily, we had some coins, and everyone had some items to sell in their pouches. Cheonho-nim a talisman, unnie a hairband, my dongsaeng snacks and I sold lollipops.”
The girl took out a colorful lollipop from her pouch and showed it to him.
“They sold really well.”
“Then I’ll borrow just one. When I return, I’ll buy you ten.”
“You can’t go back on that. Here.”
“What are You doing?“
Baek Ran stopped them. Chaeseol dropped her head immediately.
“I know I can’t but…”
“Noona, are you a fool? You must use an item you first possessed when you entered. If you break the rules, the guards will come, and you won’t be able to leave until you go through the trial. If something goes wrong, noona may be the one who gets captured and eaten by Spider Ghost.”
… While saying that, Chaeu tried to hand Yu Dan his snacks, but Heuk-yo quickly blocked him.
“Then why are you giving it to him? Don’t you know ‘be consistent with your words and actions’?”
“That, I also know I can’t, but…”
Looking at their actions, something flashed in his hand.
Perhaps, what they did…
“Got it. A moment ago you tricked the werewolf into selling something that wasn’t his. Now he can’t just leave.”
“It was just a chance, but as expected, it doesn’t know about this supernatural being, eh? It seems to think this is just an ordinary ghost market.”
Baek Ran answered.
“However, don’t let Your guard down. There is something strange about that werewolf. Even though originally it wasn’t able to enter the backyard, didn’t it unexpectedly enter? We don’t know what secret it’s hiding. So we have to be even more cautious. We can only bring it down and leave by adhering to this place’s rules.”
“You heard it, correct?”
Chaeu squinted his eyes as he stretched out a pouch of coins under the table.
“Can I take it?”
“Of course not.”
Heuk-yo glanced at the guard standing at the other side, while she flapped the wide sleeve of her jeogori[1] and covered the coins.
“You just picked up coins that fell out of a pouch. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“Do you know it what you got it? Take it quickly. And don’t make that half-wit face. You should have personal belongings in a place like pockets. Don’t take off your clothes to sell or cut off parts of your body.”
“I don’t know about the first, but I don’t think about doing the second.”
“You don’t know that. What can’t you do when put under pressure? Stop the useless talk and take out what is in your pockets.”
Yu Dan rummaged through his pockets and took out everything he had. Smartphone, bicycle keys and an earphone.
“Can’t use that earphone. There is no other one.”
“Conscience is not necessary here! Sell everything you can sell! Got it?”
The guards who were drinking on the other table, glanced at them.
“No matter what, it seems that we’re drawing even more special attention, eh?”
He asked Beak Ran, who stood up.
“Where will we meet again?”
“At the door to come out.”
“Which door?”
“There is only one door when it’s closing time.”
Baek Ran said as he turned his back to him.
“Everything we could do ends here. From now on, You have to solve it by Yourself. It’s always like this, no one but oneself can save oneself’s life.”
“You got it, correct? Quickly sell and buy an item. And be always careful if the werewolf is around or not.”
“Right. Because this place is complicated, it’s good to evade someone, but it means it’s difficult to sense the presence of the other party. You don’t know when a scary wolf may appear.”
While turning around, the twins seemed unable to put their worries away.
“Make sure to come back. Because we will wait.”
“This is a promise. We trust You.”
Heuk-yo dragged the two dawdling kids to go out.
“Yeah. Keep that in mind. Because you must have realized by this point how scary promises are.”
With those last words, everyone disappeared.
For a while, Yu Dan stared at the place where the yokai left.
But he quickly regained his senses. It was no time to lose his soul. He just had to do his part, so he can safely escape Spider Ghost Market.
He left the tavern and walked towards the place where the stalls lined up again.
He was ready to buy something, but he could easily outstretch his hand. The wriggling pile of internal organs, statues that let out shrieks when you met their gazes, or books that would bite other people’s hands and not let go… There were all kinds of strange things. The slightest mistake could become a headache.
Still, he chose the most normal looking pouch. Though he couldn’t communicate with words, he thoughtlessly asked the wrinkled ghost watching over the stall.
“How much?”
The ghost showed a hand. However, it was a stump without any fingers. He was a bit helpless for a moment, and then brought up another ghost from the next stall, and she showed two fingers.
“Two?”
When he put out two coins, everyone burst into laughing. It was a very strange wheezing sound, scratching a nerve.
“What? What is it? Take that out again.”
But the wrinkled ghost hid the coins deep and pretended not to know. It seemed that he ended up giving too much money.
No idea. Anyhow, he bought something.
But what did he buy?
Opening the pouch and peeking in, he found it held an eyeball. After meeting gazes with him, the eyeball blinked.
“What is that?!”
Shocked, he tightly tied it back.
Now he had to sell an item. How was he going to do this?
He started to observe once again.
Ghosts gathered at the end of lining up stalls. Standing in line, they waited for their turn and when a stall became empty, they would take it.
Yu Dan also walked up there and lined up.
It took longer than he thought to make a space. Wasn’t the werewolf going to suddenly appear? He kept watch with an anxious mind, while waiting. Only after a while his turn came.
He sat down at the stall and took out the items.
Smartphone. Bicycle keys. Earphone.
All items were very different from the stalls around. The passing ghosts at once gathered to take a peek on them. They touched and checked them, and then asked something with screeching voices.
“I don’t know.”
Yu Dan shook his head.
Were they perhaps asking for a price? He thought about it late and showed one finger.
There was a small commotion. The ghosts pushed to the front and tried to take out money. Midst the loud arguments, heavy ‘thud thud’ footsteps came from the other side. Three ghosts with blue bodies and goat heads appeared and pushed their heads in front of the stall.
The ghosts, who tried to buy items, scattered in all directions. They were clearly avoiding them.
The goat headed ghosts curiously looked at the items Yu Dan was selling. Because it seemed they asked how much for them, he showed them one finger. They cackled at that and each of them picked up an item. So far it was going well, but…
They pretended not to see Yu Dan’s outstretched hand and just turned around.
“What?!”
He hastily ran after them and caught one ghost.
“If you bought an item, you have to give money!”
The three ghost made faces as if they had no idea what he was saying. Looking at those sly faces, his blood boiled.
“What are you pretending to be innocent!? Take out money now!”
He blocked the ghost that tried to walk away and complained. However, they just smirked and played innocent.
Bystanders gradually started to gather because of the commotion. Even the guards, who were patrolling the market, approached. Thinking ‘that’s great’, he tattled.
“Those ghosts bought items, but didn’t give me money!”
The guards made confused faces.
Really, they couldn’t communicate with words at all.
The goat-headed ghosts talked about something in length. Then the guards seized Yu Dan instead.
“What are you doing!? The thief is over there!”
When he struggled not to be dragged away, the number of onlookers grew even more.
The ghost watched this scene and whispered to each other with excited faces. But then, everyone suddenly turned their heads and stared on one direction.
A loud noise was heard from there.
Midst the flying and breaking items, the shopping ghosts stepped aside with surprised faces. Piercing through them, a half-man half-beast in a red dopo[2] roared as it ran.
His hair stood up on end.
Darn it. He forgot for a moment.
Seeing a werewolf causing chaos and running towards them, the guards’ faces hardened and they prepared their spears.
This is the moment!
Yu Dan slipped and fled.
Without being able to tell a direction, he ran into the depths of the market spreading in all directions like a spider web. When he just turned around a certain corner covered in hanging furs, he met eye to eye with the wolf’s face.
“Brat! You have to keep a promise!”
He avoided the claw that came down at him by a hair’s breadth.
His eardrums rang because of the wolf’s roar. The rotten smell from a hot breath that brushed against his face just a moment ago couldn’t be erased.
It was fast. Too fast.
The distance he did his best to make while mindlessly running around was crossed in an instant. Even though his heart didn’t beat, he was out of breath. His legs were also gradually losing their strength. Can he run any longer? The instant he was driven into a corner, a cart caught his eye.
On the cart, animal cages piled up. Dogs, cats, rabbits, parrots… animals from the human world.
Yeah. That’s it.
Yu Dan squeezed on the cart and hid.
The werewolf abruptly stopped.
As expected. Yu Dan’s scent mixed with the smell of those animals and became faint.
The cart started to move again. He moved right with it.
How long was it? Suddenly it turned dark. Looking up, he was inside some enormous tent.
It was filled with animal cages all around. Everyone was quiet and looked at animals in the cages.
No way, was it a black market?
He didn’t have a good feeling about it. He was about to flee, but at that moment he saw the werewolf enter the tent.
He couldn’t come out.
The werewolf checked numerous cages one after one, searching for Yu Dan. To avoid the thing’s hand, he gradually entered even deeper. The ghosts that came to buy an animal from human world looked at him. Some approached as if interested.
“I’m not for sale!”
Yu Dan avoided them and hid in a corner. The monkey locked up in cage, spun around in surprise, a bird flapped its wings.
“Shh. Be quiet.”
He crouched down in a dark corner.
The werewolf brushed just past him. However, he couldn’t be careless. Recalling how a moment ago it suddenly appeared just in front of his eyes gave him shivers.
How much time passed?
Could he come out now? He carefully stuck out his head.
Just in time to meet eyes with a ghost, who was browsing the cages. It let out a squeaky noise and pointed at Yu Dan.
The trader approached and grabbed Yu Dan’s arm. After he said something, the customer hastily took out a coin pouch.
“What? You’re trying to sell me? Are you nuts?”
He shook off the trader’s hand and tried to flee.
But just when he turned around to run, he bumped into something. A ghost wrapped in bear skins. It grabbed Yu Dan by a nape and easily dragged him back.
“Let go! I’m not for sale!”
The trader took Yu Dan from it and tried to put a shackle in his hand on Yu Dan’s neck. His vision turned dark. Was he going to be sold like an animal? Dying in the werewolf’s claws may have been better.
“Let go!”
He wrangled for quite a moment, when…
A boisterous trumpet sound rang out outside.
The trader was startled. He dumped Yu Dan on the ground and quickly started to pack the animal cages. The browsing customers also dispersed and headed to the exit.
What? What was happening?
He rubbed the arm, in which the blood didn’t circulate properly yet, and stood up.
Walking out of the tent revealed the sky. At some point the clouds were dyed bright red.
His chest tightened.
It was the closing time.
Now no one bothered with Yu Dan.
Packing their things and leaving this Spider Ghost Market was more important. Everyone grabbed their items and hurriedly headed in one direction.
It was probably where the door was.
However, even if he went to the door, he wouldn’t be able to leave. Because he didn’t sell anything. He was only cheated.
He rummaged through his pockets again in vain hopes.
But besides the pouch with an eyeball, there was nothing, as he expected.
His vision turned dark. If he couldn’t leave the market, he would be left alone with the wolf. He would be caught and eaten by the wolf. Or he would be caught and eaten by Spider Ghost.
No. He couldn’t leave like that.
Yu Dan put his hands into his pockets again.
There had to be something. There had to be. Please…
The desperately groping fingers touched something, a miracle.
It was a small button.
A plastic button cracked on one side. From when was it? It seemed that it fell off his school uniform’s left sleeve, so he put it into a pocket and forgot about it, and in the meantime, it stuck between the seams.
He grabbed it and ran to the stall.
Now he didn’t even need to stand in line. He placed a small button on the empty stall and sat down alone.
He didn’t have even a speck of hope.
Everyone was busy leaving before the market closes, and no one gave a glance to his stall. Even if they didn’t, who would buy such a small and cracked button?
Evening light cast down on the shabby stall.
“Sorry. I can’t leave.”
He mumbled to no one in particular.
What kind of death would he face later? Since he was young, he occasionally tried to imagine that. He came up with numerous scenes, but he didn’t expect to die in the twilight light, watching over an empty stall alone.
Even so, it wasn’t so bad, right?
No. It was bad. All deaths are bad.
He didn’t want to die. There were still more things he had to do…
He bowed his head and stared at the ground. And how long was it? Something suddenly appeared in his vision.
A pair of black shoes.
“Are you selling this?”
Yu Dan looked up in surprise.
*~*~*
[1] jeogori — a name for woman’s hanbok.
[2] dopo — an outer garnet of hanbok.
Translator’s note: This chapter gives me so much social anxiety….
But I also can’t get over those sweets twins had. The store is completely broke, so it means those sweets were from Yu Dan ㅠㅠ
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