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Chapter 03
Cold sweat broke out across Yeong-won’s body.
The already freezing night air seemed to drop several more degrees.
Jingle, jingle…
From somewhere, a faint yet heavy chime drifted through the fog.
As she looked around nervously, a dark crimson hem suddenly emerged from the endless white mist.
Yeong-won, who had been on high alert, lost her senses for a moment when her eyes fell on the owner of that crimson garment.
The man’s long hair was gathered and haphazardly pinned with a hairpin. His hair was black as mountain ink, and in contrast, his pale, pristine skin gave off a cold, noble aura.
His gentle yet sharp facial contours, long and clear eyes, and slightly upturned outer corners were exquisitely beautiful.
At the tip of his straight, elegant nose sat a small black beauty mark, like something from a painting. His thin, faintly raised red lips made it seem as though he disdained everything he looked upon.
Most striking of all was his gaze—deep, chilling, lazy yet emotionless. Something in those eyes stirred a strange, indescribable tremor inside her.
But her daze lasted only a moment.
Yeong-won’s dirty face blanched.
It was because of the things swaying and moving behind the man in the hazy fog.
“Ah—mph!”
She nearly screamed before she slapped a hand over her mouth.
There was one whose neck was half-severed; another whose seven orifices continuously leaked dark, clotted blood; one hobbling forward with a knee twisted open so the bone protruded; another whose long tongue hung and dragged across the ground; yet another whose shoulder had a blade buried so deep that half their torso dangled loosely…
Some had intact limbs, but the mutilated ones were far more noticeable.
Their clothing varied—peasants, nobles, men, women.
But one thing was certain.
They were not living humans.
There was no trace of life in them. Their skin was bluish, and an eerie, suffocating silence flowed among them. It didn’t take much for Yeong-won to realize what these beings were.
…Ghosts.
She forced the scream rising in her throat back down.
She was terrified that even the smallest sound might draw their attention.
Hundreds—maybe even thousands—of ghosts drifted in groups through the fog. The softly ringing chime seemed to guide their movements.
Ghosts… ghosts!
Yeong-won trembled like a leaf in a winter storm.
Her heart pounded wildly. A chilling sensation crawled up her spine, making her blood freeze.
The ghosts staggered toward her, closer and closer.
Suddenly, the incredibly beautiful man at the very front turned his gaze and swept it across her.
Her breath hitched.
His indifferent eyes seemed ready to move on—but for some reason, they returned to her.
That deep, cutting gaze pierced right through her. Yeong-won’s body stiffened completely, her mind blank with terror.
He stood at the head of this mass of ghosts.
He looked whole, but there was no way he was human.
And yet, he didn’t seem like a ghost either.
If he’s leading all these ghosts, could he be…?
The thought struck her like lightning.
A grim reaper?
Only then did Yeong-won notice the nine-cheok-long (approx. 81 cm) black brass rod in his hand.
Dozens of black bells hung at its end, and the soft, resonant chime echoed from there.
He had to be a grim reaper.
In the strange tale collections she’d read, it said that locking eyes with a grim reaper meant being dragged to the underworld.
The realization struck, and her knees nearly buckled.
Am I… going to die?
“They say no one who enters this mountain has ever come out alive. No matter what—they all die.”
Sorae’s low voice echoed in her head.
Overwhelmed by terror, Yeong-won gasped rapidly for breath.
Her legs felt like they had been rooted to the earth by the weight of a thousand pounds. The cold around her seeped deep into her bones.
Ghosts…? A grim reaper?!
Meanwhile, the grim reaper casually slung the bell-tipped rod over his shoulder.
Then he began walking toward her. Slow, unhurried steps.
“S-sir… Reaper-sir… p-please… spare me… s-spare me!”
Terrified beyond reason, unable even to run, Yeong-won stammered with trembling lips.
A flicker of expression crossed the reaper’s otherwise emotionless, beautiful face.
“Grim reaper?”
“I—I didn’t see your eyes! Truly! I didn’t see anything! Please spare me! Please, I beg—”
Her words died when the reaper, who towered a full head and more above her, leaned forward.
She shut her eyes tight, afraid their gazes might meet.
“What did you just say?”
Yeong-won flinched.
His voice—deep, cool—was so close she instinctively wanted to cover her ears.
“S-sir reaper, please— h-hic!”
Startled by a sudden hiccup, she clapped a hand over her mouth and opened her eyes by accident.
His gaze met hers—heavy, imposing, yet somehow aloof.
I’m going to die…!
Her lips moved but no words came.
Instead, the path she had taken to reach Hongcheong’s Jeokbyeok Mountain flashed through her mind.
Her father, whose severed head had not been allowed to close its eyes…
Her mother, reduced to a handful of ashes…
The servants of the Ha family who had cherished her…
And the merchant guild her father had built over a lifetime…
All of it flickered past her vision like a lantern carousel.
“I will discover the truth behind everything. I will not stop until my parents’ resentment is resolved.”
“My lady, you are the last of House Ha. But what can we possibly do? Master and Madam would only wish for your safety.”
After nearly drowning in the river and surviving by chance, she had declared she would go to Jeokbyeok Mountain. Sorae had cried and begged her not to.
Yeong-won understood why.
For all her reading of tens of thousands of books, for all her training in ledgers and innkeeping—the root of the family business—she was still a flower raised in a sheltered vase.
A girl not yet even twenty, with no parents and no power… what could she possibly do?
Countless thoughts surged through her mind at the brink of death.
“I… I want to live, reaper-sir…! Hic! I must live! I have something I must do. Later— hic! Later, you may take my soul! When that time comes, I will follow— hic! without complaint!”
Yeong-won clenched her dangling fists and pleaded desperately.
“I must— hic! I must live. I cannot die…!”
Her reddened eyes trembled as she shook her head repeatedly—when suddenly, her chin was seized by the reaper.
Holding back tears, she looked up.
The beautiful grim reaper spoke in a tone full of disbelief.
“Hey. Did I say I was going to kill you? When did I ever say that?”
Yeong-won blinked, dumbfounded by his brusque tone.
Looking displeased, the reaper released her chin and dusted off his hand.
Realizing the black smudge on his hand had come from her own grime-covered face, Yeong-won flushed with embarrassment.
“Hic! Then… you’ll spare me?”
“That depends on what you are.”
Yeong-won raised an eyebrow at the cryptic statement.
“I’ve got something I need to do first. So wait here.”
Wait here?
The unexpected instruction left her confused.
The reaper reached out a free hand.
For a moment it looked as if he were reaching to claim her life, and her heart iced over.
But his pale, straight fingers pressed lightly against the side of her neck.
Instantly, her vision darkened. Strength drained from her limbs.
So I wasn’t spared after all?
I’m going to die like this? Just like this—so absurdly?
No… no! No!
A raw, strangled scream tore through Yeong-won’s throat—
But that was the last thing she knew.
