Chapter 03 ….
It had taken only a few hours to arrive.
Only then did goosebumps rise on the back of Seon-oh’s neck.
“They said it takes ten days on foot…”
When the carriage came to a smooth stop and the door swung open, Seon-oh hesitated for a moment before jumping out as if steeling his resolve. As soon as the guest stepped down, the carriage shut its door without mercy and sped off on its own toward the mountainside—just as it had when it arrived.
The mountain, now that the carriage had vanished, felt bleak. It seemed absurd that any sort of building could exist in a place so rugged and ominous.
If she remembered correctly, this was supposedly the mysterious group on Mount Jamil—known for its powerful energy—said to produce miraculous pills.
To think Ji-woon had been lying here for a whole year like that… It was no wonder her parents had risked danger to come. She would have done the same.
Seon-oh lifted her gaze to the golden plaque hanging above the entrance.
剖陳閣 — Bu-jin-gak.
To split, and to divide.
She knew exactly what was being split and divided in this dreadful place.
Suppressing the chill crawling up her spine, Seon-oh stepped into Bujingak without hesitation.
Bujingak was a closed compound—one large main hall surrounded by dozens of smaller ones. Seon-oh glanced toward the pond located beyond the central hall. The wide expanse of water spreading left and right was beautiful, strangely out of place in such surroundings.
Just as she began heading toward it, someone suddenly jumped out in front of her.
“Who might you beeee?”
The man’s smiling face and friendly tone made him look harmless, and his attire suggested he was a staff member of Bujingak. Which meant…
Recognizing what he really was, a shiver ran down Seon-oh’s spine.
“Ah… I’m here to make a delivery.”
“A delivery? Of what?”
Hiding her dread, Seon-oh smiled faintly.
“A delivery of fragrance wine.”
The man’s eyes slid toward her hand. Fortunately, she had brought a bottle of fragrance wine from home before leaving. The problem was whether her parents had arrived earlier than she had.
If they had, he’d ask what she was talking about.
If they hadn’t…
The staff member suddenly beamed.
“Oh! You’ve arrived! We’ve been waiting eagerly. Thank goodness you made it safely.”
Not yet!
“Please, this way.”
Swallowing a large sigh, Seon-oh followed him. They entered a hall on the left side, where the air felt noticeably colder. The man led her down a long corridor and opened the door at the end.
On a large table inside was a feast so abundant the legs of the table seemed ready to snap. The aroma alone made her mouth water.
“You must be exhausted coming all the way to this harsh place. Please have a meal before you go.”
It was too hospitable.
“Thank you, but I only need to receive the pill.”
“It’s a token of gratitude for delivering from so far away. A special order from our lord, who is very fond of your family’s fragrance wine.”
Just as Seon-oh was about to refuse again, she noticed something—the roasted chicken on the table was missing a wing.
Her brows rose slightly.
“…Then I’ll gladly accept your hospitality.”
When she handed over the wine, the man brightened even more.
“Excellent. I’ll bring the pill, so please enjoy your meal while you wait.”
He left, carrying the wine with great care. As the door closed, Seon-oh listened carefully to his fading footsteps, then slowly turned back toward the room.
The missing chicken wing was suspicious. It looked as though someone had been eating and stopped in a hurry.
Holding her breath, Seon-oh scanned the room. For a space meant only for dining, it was overly large and extravagant. Ignoring the untouched food, she searched thoroughly—then noticed something on the luxurious carpet: dark soy-sauce stains trailing toward the edge.
Following it, she found a chicken wing lying on the floor.
Her eyes widened.
Dropping to her knees, she flung aside the carpet—revealing a rectangular seam in the floor, with a recessed handle.
She had found it instantly.
She pulled the handle up and yanked the hidden hatch open.
“—Ah!”
Just as she expected.
Below the room, in a hidden chamber, people were imprisoned.
Her own parents.
Gagged and looking up at her.
Seon-oh clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her cry.
Her parents had arrived before her.
They must have been eating when her arrival forced the monsters to hurriedly toss them below. Thankfully, both looked unharmed. Overwhelmed with relief at seeing them alive, tears stung Seon-oh’s eyes.
But her parents’ expressions changed from relief to horror when they saw her. Seon-oh hushed them and climbed down urgently. She used the kitchen knife she’d brought to cut the rope binding her mother’s hands and removed the gag.
Her mother seized her shoulders in panic.
“Seon-oh! Why are you—?!”
“Shh, Mom. They’re coming. Quiet.”
“No—you have to run. Run, Seon-oh!”
“Mom!”
Seon-oh grabbed her trembling mother firmly by the shoulders. It was a miracle they were reunited. She had thought she’d never see her again. As overwhelming as the moment was, they would have to survive to enjoy it later.
“Pull yourself together. Listen to me carefully.”
At her daughter’s resolute gaze—one she had never seen before—her mother’s thrashing stopped.
“I’ll stall them. Use that moment to escape.”
“What…?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll return. I promise.”
“That’s ridiculous—!”
“Mmph!”
Her father, still gagged, shook his head violently in protest.
Noting the missing chicken wing—undoubtedly his doing—Seon-oh managed a tiny, fleeting smile. Even here, his stubborn preference for chicken wings remained. It was comforting.
“Please. Promise me you’ll do as I say.”
“…”
“If you don’t… then there’s no point in me coming here.”
Her pleading voice sounded on the verge of breaking. Her parents fell silent, frozen in shock.
What was this?
They had been eating peacefully in a place that supposedly made medicinal pills, only to be suddenly bound and thrown under the floor—and now, here was their daughter, telling them to flee without her. They couldn’t understand anything.
“Please,” she begged.
Her mother, unable to refuse her desperate plea, trembled as she opened her mouth—
At that moment, footsteps echoed from afar.
All three of them froze.
Seon-oh scrambled up, shut the hatch, pulled the carpet back into place, and slipped into her seat just as a shadow fell across the door.
Rattle—
“….”
As the door opened, the man saw Seon-oh with her mouth wide open, chopsticks raised, holding a heap of japchae.
“Oh, you’re already here.”
Smiling awkwardly, Seon-oh set the noodles back down. The man glanced at the mountain of untouched japchae—then smiled.
“Is the food to your liking?”
“It’s delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Your chef is very talented.”
The man tilted his head.
Then it kept tilting.
Past the angle a human neck could turn.
Seon-oh’s smile froze.
“Then why haven’t you taken a single bite?”
At the cheerful question, cold dread crawled down Seon-oh’s spine.
Staring at him for a moment, she finally spoke flatly:
“Why would I eat anything you’ve done who-knows-what to.”
His neck—bent at ninety degrees—sprouted a grin.
“Smart girl. But what a shame. Your father ate it.”
His mouth split unnaturally wide in delight. As the disguise melted away and the monster revealed itself, Seon-oh felt her stomach twist.
A long tentacle shot out of its mouth.
Prepared, Seon-oh snatched up the chicken and hurled it at the tentacle.
The disgusting appendage just barely missed her and wrapped itself around the chicken instead.
Tentacles—so it was a high-ranking monster. A high-rank one right from the start—she swallowed a curse and focused.
“You little brat!”
Seon-oh grabbed the dish filled with chili oil and flung its contents into the monster’s face.
“ARGH!”
Clutching its burning eyes, the creature stumbled. Seon-oh leapt over the table, then over the toppled monster, sprinting down the long corridor.
“Catch that girl!”
As she burst out of the hall, monsters streamed from every direction—humanoid creatures with tentacles sprouting from their mouths and ears. Bujingak was no pill-making workshop. It was a den of monsters that lured humans in, chopped them apart, and devoured them.
In the original story, On-gang’s parents were the final victims. Only after their deaths did the palace troops arrive, exposing Bujingak and burning it to the ground.
But there was no knowing when those troops would arrive. Certainly not today.
“That girl smells delicious! Eating her will replenish my energy!”
The monster she had blinded with chili oil was already closing in on her. So that had been the leader in disguise. At its command, three or four other monsters chased her with drooling jaws.
To buy time for her parents to escape, Seon-oh deliberately ran in the opposite direction from where she had hidden them.
Just then—
A monster right behind her suddenly fell flat on its face.
“Who grabbed my ankle?! Was it you?!”
“You idiot! No one grabbed you! Move—ugh!”
“Where do you think you’re going?! You’re not getting away either!”
The furious monsters tangled together, choking and tripping one another.
None of them noticed the man perched atop a large tree nearby—the one secretly grabbing their ankles.
Thanks to the time he bought her, Seon-oh soon reached a dead end. Behind a giant tree stood an enormous wall. On both sides, the vast pond stretched out, leaving no route of escape.
Breathing shakily, Seon-oh stared at the water.
Then the monsters’ voices reached her.
“Heh… thought you could escape?”
She turned. The creatures—no longer remotely human—were drooling as they approached.
“You smell delicious. After we eat your parents as appetizers… we’ll enjoy you whole.”
Grinding her teeth, Seon-oh pulled the kitchen knife she had hidden inside her clothes.
