Chapter : 55
Karkrita Valley (5)
“You’re saying they were only partially possessed?”
“It normally takes time to possess someone healthy. For a ghost that’s already possessed somewhere else, like that bat, it takes even longer to transfer. But since it was killed before being possessed, it should be fine.”
Suhyeon grabbed Kim Chang-sik, forcing him to lower his head. The back of his neck was swollen a deep purple.
“Being partially possessed is close to being poisoned. Look here. Those who were possessed usually have marks like this somewhere on their body.”
“Whoa…”
“Uh, could you heal him first…?”
“Even if it’s a ghost, the same applies. The first point of contact discolors. Normally, you can tell a possessed person by their actions—they slip up easily, acting awkward or failing to respond. But sometimes there’s a clever one who disguises it well, which makes things tricky. In that case, use this method. A fully possessed person will have a wider range of discoloration.”
Kim Chang-sik, suddenly turned into a teaching aid, let out a sigh. In a careless moment, a sharp pain surged through his neck.
“Ughhh!”
“I can handle it easily because of my healing ability, but if I weren’t here, act quickly. Wash the wound with salt and water, then treat it as a regular injury.”
“C-couldn’t we just heal it…?”
“I told you—it’s close to poison. Healing is excellent for external injuries, but it can’t completely remove an already embedded toxin. You don’t want to heal the surface only to risk side effects, do you?”
A chill ran down Kim Chang-sik’s spine at that. He stayed silent, enduring the pain because thinking about the side effects made it bearable.
“It’s done. The area looks roughly cleared, so let’s move to the campsite.”
“Campsite?”
The team looked puzzled. To them, this cave was far from safe. The usual precautions against monsters didn’t apply here, so even resting was risky.
“We wouldn’t have come in here without one. This isn’t a place you can clear and leave in a day.”
The team followed Suhyeon in awe. The campsite he had found was a terrain similar to a natural salt layer, where ghost monsters rarely approached even inside the cave. It wasn’t perfect, but as long as they got in without being chased, they could avoid detection.
“?”
Suhyeon stopped at the cave wall, and the team froze. It was rare to see him pause like this, someone who always acted confidently as if he knew everything.
“What is it?”
“This… is strange. There should be a passage here.”
Following the path by the lakeside, they reached a narrow passage leading to an open space. The terrain was rounded, leaving a distance from the walls, and due to the salt layer, ghost monsters avoided it.
But now, the passage had a wall.
‘Is it a time difference?’
He couldn’t understand. How could a wall appear that didn’t exist before? No monsters in the area were capable of destroying cave terrain.
“Is the information wrong? Perfect information doesn’t exist…”
Others assumed there might be an error in the information Suhyeon had collected. But he wasn’t acting on secondhand info; everything was based on his direct experience. There was no way he was mistaken.
“The color is different.”
“Huh?”
“Look at this. The wall’s color is different from the surrounding cave.”
“…!”
Inside, Park Su-yong quietly clicked his tongue. They had torches on, but it wasn’t daylight bright. The difference was subtle, yet Suhyeon noticed immediately.
“The color is different, but… what is it? A monster?”
“No monster here can create a wall. Looks like another psychic was here.”
“?!”
Eliminating other possibilities, that was the most likely explanation. It wasn’t impossible to reach here; a few capable psychics could have forced their way in if they moved strategically.
“Could there be survivors around here?”
“Unlikely. Even if another psychic made this wall, fighting continuously inside this cave would have killed them or led to possession.”
Suhyeon’s cold words made the team swallow hard. Regardless, he was about to break the wall. Whether there were survivors or not didn’t matter—what mattered now was a resting place.
Eyes around them were a nuisance. With them watching, they couldn’t use telekinesis to break the wall.
‘Damn. This is annoying.’
“Will you break the wall?”
“Any better ideas?”
“If it’s breaking, I can handle it.”
“?”
Kim Chang-sik, noticing Suhyeon’s confusion, explained:
“Seong-jae was a combat engineer. You can leave explosives to him.”
“Is that so?”
Suhyeon realized he had been too focused on psychic abilities. They weren’t psychics, but military-trained. Each had their own skills.
‘A bad habit showed itself.’
Previously, most team members had been psychics, so he focused solely on that. He shouldn’t treat them only as gun-wielding combatants—there was a reason he had brought them.
“With what he carries normally, we can break it. Shall we?”
“Good. Permission granted.”
Suhyeon activated his remote-sensing magic. He hadn’t needed it inside the cave, but now it was useful. The wall, made by another psychic, meant the situation had changed. They had to check carefully.
“?!”
“Set up properly, but everyone step back. Team leader too.”
Once everyone moved, Jung Seong-jae activated the explosives. Thanks to careful aiming, the blast destroyed the wall without affecting other areas.
“Good skill.”
“Ha, thanks.”
“Still not rusty?”
“Shut up, you brat.”
Jung Seong-jae grinned despite Dong-wook’s teasing. The team felt guilty relying so heavily on Suhyeon, so showing their skill here gave them a sense of contribution.
“Everyone, step back.”
“?”
“There’s someone inside.”
“!”
The team immediately responded. They now understood the area. If someone was inside, it was more likely a possessed corpse than a real person.
“Shoot?”
“No, looks real.”
“Eh?! How?”
“Could have survived due to this area’s traits… stay alert.”
Inside were four people: one dwarf man, two human men, and one human woman. But they shared one thing—they were lying still, not moving.
“They’re dead? Or faking it…?”
“What is this, a horror movie?”
“Some ghosts use that strategy, but not here.”
Suhyeon knew the area’s effect: ghosts wouldn’t linger long here.
“Just exhaustion. Let’s go in.”
The team cautiously followed Suhyeon into the open space. As he said, it was suitable for a campsite—far from walls, easy to respond to emergencies, and difficult for ghosts to approach.
Suhyeon was calm, but the team remained suspicious, guns still raised.
‘Too well trained, maybe?’
They had been told to be cautious, so Suhyeon didn’t comment further.
“Exhausted, exhausted, exhausted… and partially possessed. Bring nutrition supplements. We need to wake them and check.”
One human man had a bluish wound on his arm, apparently killed before fully possessed, leaving the toxin intact.
“Been bitten a while ago, huh? Almost rotten.”
“Shall we operate?”
“With my healing, we could just excise it…”
“Ha, haak!”
“!”
The man lying down opened his eyes, startled by the team. Seeing the light gathering in the air, Suhyeon clicked his tongue.
“Wake up.”
Most of those here were psychics. Suhyeon guessed they thought anyone appearing human after exhaustion was partially possessed. They had clearly suffered here.
“Is it okay to hit so hard?”
“If he dies, it’s his fate. You want to get hit by his psychic instead?”
Suhyeon calmly made the man lie face down and treated the partially possessed wound with salt and water.
“This one’s done. Kim Chang-sik, if he wakes and tries to use his powers before assessing the situation, hit him. Anyone else awake?”
“The dwarf seems conscious.”
“Good.”
The dwarf was the first to rise, groaning weakly. Seeing Suhyeon’s fist, he panicked.
“What… what is this?”
“Ah, sorry. I intended to hit if you used powers. Awake now?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Confusing situation, so let’s introduce ourselves. We are Uncle Joe Company. We were contracted to explore Karkrita Valley and found you while exploring the cave. Understand?”
“Yes, understood.”
“Then who are you? Can you explain?”
“I can explain. I’m not originally with these people—I was hired for this mission.”
“?”
Suhyeon looked surprised. Mercenary companies with mixed races weren’t unusual, given the high psychic ratio. But hired just for this mission?
“Hired just for this mission? What does that mean?”
“Our tribe has a map passed down for generations… those who checked it offered this job.”
Reaching here proved their skill. It had to be a competent mercenary company, and the offer was probably hard to refuse.
“A map, huh? How did you have it?”
“Our ancestors dug around here… not sure exactly.”
“!”
Suhyeon whistled softly. He had only guessed the area’s background, so seeing a related race in person was impressive.
“Interesting. Keep talking. What did you know before coming here?”
If he had known salt could solve it, this ordeal would have been unnecessary. The dwarf listed the information he had—rough map of the cave, safe zones, and a weapon possessed by a spirit at the cave’s end.
‘An artifact.’
Different races expressed artifacts differently. Suhyeon recognized immediately what he meant.
‘They came in after hearing about an artifact? Psychics are fearless.’
Psychics with sufficient skill often overestimate their abilities. They assume they can defeat monsters and escape anywhere, or at least retreat if necessary.
“Ah, almost forgot to ask the company name. What is it?”
“Blue Bear.”
“Know it?”
Suhyeon turned to the team. Lee So-hee frowned slightly.
“Probably an American mercenary company.”
