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Chapter 69
Translator: Enuma ID
When the car door shut, the smell of incense clinging to their clothes faded a little.
Lee Min-hyuk sat in the driver's seat but couldn't bring himself to start the engine for a while. Park Ji-hun, too, stared silently at the closed hanok gate.
It was Lee Min-hyuk who broke the silence first.
"We won't be able to use today's footage."
Е nũm_а̌._ĩd
"That's fine. We went to check something, not to film."
Just then, Lee Min-hyuk's phone rang.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
His expression shifted the moment he saw who was calling.
"It's the woman who showed us in earlier."
"Go ahead and answer it."
Lee Min-hyuk immediately put it on speaker.
Ẅ ӗb̀nо v̄ĕ ĺ Е ň u m̀ а
"Yes, this is Lee Min-hyuk."
The woman spoke carefully.
"It's nothing serious, I just have a message to pass along. A moment ago, Shaman Baek-ryeon contacted Shaman Hae-wol."
Park Ji-hun's gaze went to the phone.
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Lee Min-hyuk asked.
"What did she say?"
Ènúm̌a_. i d̂
"She said she won't see Park Ji-hun-nim."
Lee Min-hyuk's face hardened.
The woman hesitated, then went on.
"And...... she asked me to be sure to pass this on. That she will never dare to look into him again."
"......Understood. I'll relay that."
When the call ended, Lee Min-hyuk turned to look at Park Ji-hun.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Doesn't that mean...... Shaman Hae-wol has already looked into you before?"
Park Ji-hun thought back to the presence that had quietly studied him mid-broadcast once, then vanished.
At the time, he'd only assumed it was someone connected to Kim Tae-jun keeping an eye on him.
But now he was almost certain.
That presence had been Shaman Hae-wol.
When Park Ji-hun gave a brief explanation of what had happened back then, Lee Min-hyuk asked.
Е̂n̂ u̇m̂а_. і̊ d.
"So that presence was Shaman Hae-wol?"
Park Ji-hun was quiet for a moment before answering.
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"I think so."
At that, Lee Min-hyuk wavered, then opened his mouth.
"......Honestly, sometimes even I don't know what it is I'm editing."
Park Ji-hun looked at him.
Wе̂ b n ov ẽ l Ӗñu m̆ а
Lee Min-hyuk kept his hands on the wheel and continued.
"People dying, going missing, nearly getting kidnapped, it isn't normal for all of that to keep turning up this often. And now today...... even the shamans are all avoiding you."
"Are you scared?"
"A little."
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Lee Min-hyuk let out a short breath as he spoke.
"But I have no intention of quitting."
Wе b̊ n̆o v е l Е n̊ u̇m.а̇
Park Ji-hun turned his eyes back to the window.
The closed hanok gate hung at the edge of his sight.
"Either way, today taught me one thing at least."
"What's that?"
"That not just anyone can look into me."
Lee Min-hyuk finally started the engine.
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The car pulled slowly out of the alley.
But the last thing Shaman Baek-ryeon had said stayed lodged in Park Ji-hun's mind.
「That is not a Spirit Reading a human being can see.」
Park Ji-hun couldn't easily wipe those words away.
***
By the time he got home, it was almost time to go live.
Ӗṅ ù m̃а̂
Park Ji-hun shrugged off his jacket and booted up the computer.
He made a quick trip to the bathroom and then hit the start-broadcast button.
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[PerpetualJobSeeker-nim's broadcast has started.]
The chat window came alive at once.
-LegendDrumBarrel : he's here!
-Kkoka : went live right on the dot yikes
Еnû m ā ..і̇ d̊
-Ertel : looks dead tired
Park Ji-hun turned on his mic.
"I had something to check today, had to go somewhere, almost ran late."
The chat stirred.
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-BongcheonFireFist : check what exactly?
-NightStarB : didn't he say he barely goes out?
Е̂ ñ_ǔm̂а
-LegendDrumBarrel : if it's a good story spill it
-Kkoka : if this ends up being him going to meet Woo-sik i'm cussing him out lol
Park Ji-hun looked at the chat.
It wasn't exactly something to hide.
He just had no intention of saying specifically where he'd been.
"I visited a few divination parlors."
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The chat froze for a beat.
Then the reactions poured in.
-Kkoka : wait, divination parlors?
-SsomyeonMaster : did you meet other shamans? what'd they say?
-BongcheonFireFist : you filmed it obviously right? show us too
Park Ji-hun answered curtly.
Ė n̆.ùmа̌..і̃d
"To cut to the chase, they couldn't see."
The chat stirred again.
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-Ertel : couldn't see? why?
-SsomyeonMaster : give us the story
-NightStarB : what even is the host's Four Pillars that they can't read it?? damn
Park Ji-hun tapped his fingers against the desk.
È n ům̌ а. i̊ḋ
He'd gone to three divination parlors wanting to know what was clinging to him, but what came back wasn't an answer, only more questions.
"I'm curious about it too."
The chat stirred.
Park Ji-hun went on.
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"I went to get a look because I wanted to know myself...... but they all said they couldn't."
-NightStarB : even the shamans can't see it?
Ѐ ṅ u m а
-SsomyeonMaster : whoa who even is this guy that they can't read him damn
Park Ji-hun scanned the chat, then spoke.
"I won't go into detail. It could be rude to them."
Disappointed reactions rolled up, but Park Ji-hun spoke firmly.
"We'll do the readings as planned today too. Six paid, one free."
Park Ji-hun opened the broadcast settings panel.
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"Opening the Ranking System."
The moment the request button went live, chat and donation alerts went off at the same time.
-LegendDrumBarrel : lfg
-SsomyeonMaster : shit that's fast lol
-NightStarB : the roulette at least came down to luck, how are you even supposed to break through this?
Park Ji-hun checked the confirmed list.
W еb̌nо̌ v̀ е.l Еǹǔ.m а
"I'll go in order."
Park Ji-hun blew through the first through third paid Spirit Readings quickly.
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A job change, a business partnership, money troubles, the stories differed, but as always Park Ji-hun only spoke within the line of what he could see.
It was when he'd finished the fourth reading.
Park Ji-hun was about to call the next applicant when he stopped short.
Mixed in among the usernames he always saw were several he'd never seen before.
W̆_e̊ bnо̀v̇еl. Ӗṅ u m̃ а̃
One of them caught his eye in a strange way.
[Palamir]
A username he'd never seen before.
He hadn't said anything to stand out, hadn't sent a donation.
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He wasn't even on the request list, and yet Park Ji-hun's gaze wouldn't come off him.
The presence smeared behind the username was unusually thick.
Ŵ е̇ ḃ ń о̀v̆.е̄l Е́n̈ ū m̈ ӓ
Park Ji-hun's eyes went cold.
The chat slowed, little by little.
-LegendDrumBarrel : huh?
-Ertel : mood just shifted
-Kkoka : the free slot's locked in yikes
-NightStarB : what is it this time
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-SsomyeonMaster : a free one usually means something bad
Park Ji-hun looked at the chat and opened his mouth.
"Palamir."
The chat froze for a beat.
"Get on Discord."
***
Ŵ еb.n о́v̌ ě l Е̇ nů m̀а
A moment later came the sound of someone joining the Discord.
The one who came in was a man.
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His voice was worn out.
"Did you call me?"
"Yeah."
The man swallowed for a second.
Е nüṁ а̇.і d́_
"I didn't even request...... are you seeing something about me?"
Park Ji-hun didn't answer.
The moment Palamir entered the Discord, the presence grew thicker.
The smell of disinfectant, a siren somewhere in the distance, a face sitting rigid in a driver's seat, all of it came trailing after.
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Park Ji-hun said.
"You're in a car."
W ė b̀n о v̌е̌_l̃ Ẽ nǔ mа
The other end of the Discord went quiet.
"......What?"
"A parking lot in front of a hospital. You're watching the broadcast from there, aren't you."
The man's breathing stopped.
Park Ji-hun narrowed his eyes.
A hospital building visible through the car window.
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The man had been undoing and refastening his seatbelt, over and over.
"You're sitting there wondering whether to go in or not."
There was no answer for a while.
Soon the man replied in a shaking voice.
"......Yes. That's right. I got a call that my father was in critical condition, so I came all the way to the hospital, but...... I can't make myself go in."
The chat slowed.
Е̄ ṅ umа .і́d̃
-LegendDrumBarrel : hospital?
-Kkoka : his father's in critical condition?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
-Ertel : then shouldn't he hurry inside?
The man forced himself to continue.
"My father and I didn't get along. The last time I saw him we had a huge fight too. I don't know if it's right to walk in now, after all this."
Scenes flickered past before Park Ji-hun's eyes.
E n̊ùm̌ а̂
A racetrack scoreboard.
A crumpled betting slip.
Numbers circled in red pen.
A middle-aged man kicking a chair after a race ended.
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And a woman crouched sobbing in front of an empty drawer.
Park Ji-hun said shortly.
W е̇b̂ń ô vѐ l Еn u m̌ â
"Horse racing, huh."
The other end of the Discord went stiff.
Park Ji-hun kept going.
"No wonder you two didn't get along."
The man couldn't answer for a while.
After a moment, he asked.
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"......You can see that too?"
Park Ji-hun didn't answer.
The man spoke, sinking into gloom.
"My father was hooked on gambling. At first he'd say he was going to meet people, but later he handed over his whole paycheck, then started dipping into the money we'd saved at home."
The chat's reactions split.
-BongcheonFireFist : gambling's kind of a lot
Еn ůmа̀ .і d
-SsomyeonMaster : i couldn't forgive that
-Kkoka : forgiveness and a final goodbye aren't the same thing though
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Palamir's voice dropped low.
"There were times people came around hounding him over debts. My mother cried a lot. So I cut him off and lived without him. Honestly, I still don't get it. Why I should even go in."
Park Ji-hun looked into the hospital room without a word.
A thinned wrist, a blanket shoved half off, an IV line.
Е̂ń úm а
On that wrist sat a long-worn silver watch, and its second hand had stopped.
Park Ji-hun said.
"Your father's wearing a silver watch."
The man's breath caught.
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"......A watch?"
"A silver wristwatch. Old leather band. Second hand's stopped."
Ẅ е̃ b nо̆ v ē l̇ Ѐṅ ù m а̊
A brief silence passed.
The man answered belatedly.
"That...... I bought that for him."
His voice crumbled.
"With my first paycheck. He wasn't into the horses yet back then. I wanted to get him something nice, so I splurged and bought it at a department store......"
His words trembled at the end.
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"I figured a man like him would've hocked it ages ago."
Park Ji-hun said shortly.
"He tried to."
A short breath came from the other end of the Discord.
"He tried to sell it?"
Park Ji-hun kept his gaze fixed, as if looking past the screen.
W̆е̂ b n о̂v̊еl̈ Ёnüm̄ а
"He got as far as the pawnshop door."
"......"
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"But he couldn't go in."
It was a long while before the man asked.
"......Why?"
His voice had cracked.
Еnum̆а . i d̆_
"That man, he's not someone who couldn't sell it. He even took my mother's jewelry. There's no reason he couldn't have sold that watch."
The chat grew uneasy.
-Ertel : hard to defend him on this one
-NightStarB : but why couldn't he sell the watch
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-SsomyeonMaster : it is weird he'd hit the jewelry but not the watch
In that instant, another scene overlapped.
Е n ǔ mа̇ . ĩd
An operating room even whiter than the hospital room.
Under the blinding surgical lights lay a younger Palamir.
Out in the corridor, a woman was crying with her hand clamped over her mouth.
Then another bed came into view. Beneath a white sheet, a wrist wearing a silver watch was exposed.
"You."
The man swallowed.
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"Yes?"
"You had major surgery once, didn't you."
The other end of the Discord went completely silent.
After a long moment, Palamir asked in a cracked voice.
"Yes. About ten years ago I had a kidney transplant. There was no matching donor, so it was dangerous...... but I heard one turned up, lucky for me."
He caught his breath and went on.
Е̂n u̇ m а̃
"I wanted to at least thank them, but my mother only said a good person had helped. And I couldn't bring myself to ask any more."
After a pause, Park Ji-hun opened his mouth.
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"There's something your mother never managed to say back then."
The man swallowed.
"......What is it?"
"It's not something you should hear from me."
Èn̆ ú ḿå . і̀ d́
"Then from who?"
"Go to your father and ask."
Park Ji-hun added in a flat tone.
"I'm not telling you to forgive him."
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The other end of the Discord went quiet.
"I'm not telling you to go in and cry, either."
Ẅ е̌b̄ nо́v̇.е̂ l̇ Е̊n̊u m.а̌
Park Ji-hun paused, then continued.
"If you let him go without knowing, later on you might not be able to bear it."
Park Ji-hun looked into the hospital room again.
The stopped watch.
The dry fingers.
The head tilted, just barely, toward the door.
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Palamir's father was waiting for his son to come.
But he said nothing.
"That's as far as I can take you."
For a while, nothing came from the other end of the Discord.
Then Palamir spoke in a cracked voice.
"......I'll think about it. Thank you."
Ѐ n̄ uḿ а̂
Park Ji-hun ended the call just like that.
Reactions followed in the chat.
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-Ertel : hope he doesn't end up regretting it
-NightStarB : i couldn't forgive him either but i'd still ask
-Kkoka : the surgery part is messing with my head
-BongcheonFireFist : i'd hate the father too but you'd have to go ask
Е́ n_ûmа
Park Ji-hun stared at the monitor for a moment, then spoke.
"Let's keep going."
After finishing the last paid Spirit Reading, Park Ji-hun took a short breath to steady himself.
"That's it for today's broadcast."
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Park Ji-hun bowed his head briefly.
And the screen went dark.
Wе̊ bnо v е̂ l Ѐ n̄ùmã
***
Once the broadcast ended, the room fell quiet.
Park Ji-hun rubbed at his eyelids and then collapsed onto the bed.
He was unusually tired today.
'Just going to lie here for a second......'
His thoughts cut off right there.
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When he opened his eyes again, he was standing somewhere.
On one side, a black river was flowing.
The river wasn't wide, but he couldn't see the far bank.
"Where is this?"
Just as Park Ji-hun murmured it under his breath.
He saw someone wandering near the riverbank.
W̃ е̃ḃ.ǹ оv̌ еl̀ Е̂ n üm̊ ä
A gaunt old man was pacing only along the edge, glancing back over his shoulder again and again.
'Who is he waiting for?'
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Park Ji-hun narrowed his eyes.
The face was familiar.
The face that had flickered past a moment ago in the free Spirit Reading.
It was Palamir's father.
Ēnu̇ m а̊
Park Ji-hun's gaze slid naturally over the old man's wrist.
An old silver wristwatch.
The second hand that had been stopped was moving now, slowly.
In that instant, the old man looked at Park Ji-hun.
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And without a word, he slowly bowed his head.
A moment later, the old man turned and walked into the river.
Еň u m̃ á .і̊ḋ
The black water soaked his ankles, but he didn't stop.
Before long, he was gone from sight entirely.
That was when it happened.
The river water surged toward Park Ji-hun.
There was no sound, no violent current.
Yet the black water halted right in front of his toes, unable to come any closer.
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Park Ji-hun looked down at his feet.
The place he was standing was neither on the river nor across it.
'This is......'
The land of the living, and beyond the river.
He was standing on the boundary between them.
Then something was reflected on the black surface of the water.
W̃ӗ b̆ǹо̃ ṽ е̂ l Е_n_umа̃
It was Park Ji-hun's own figure.
A dimly visible face, shoulders sunk in darkness, and behind his back.
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Park Ji-hun's face hardened.
Something was wrong with what was behind him in the reflection.
The place that should have been empty was not empty.
'Behind me......'
E n ŭ mа̄. íd̂
Park Ji-hun started to turn his head, slowly.
In that instant, the dream broke off.
When he opened his eyes, he was lying on the bed in his room again.
Park Ji-hun couldn't move for a while.
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Everything he'd seen until a moment ago had been a dream.
But Park Ji-hun knew it instinctively.
Ên̂u m̀а.і̊ d̈
Whatever had been behind his back was not something he could face just by turning his head.
*****
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