Honbul: Flame of the Soul

A few peaceful days passed.

Then, in the middle of the afternoon, a deployment order came down.

The destination was a quiet mountainside in Chungcheongbuk-do, roughly two hours from Seoul. According to the report, strange noises had been coming from a narrow cave halfway up the mountain.

Normally, the Covert Division would conduct an on-site investigation first before transferring the case to the Exorcism Unit, which would then issue a deployment order.

But lately, the Covert Division had been pouring most of its manpower into gathering information on Byeoksadan and had become severely short-staffed.

As a result, headquarters skipped the investigation stage entirely and dispatched a single Naja immediately.

Since there had been no prior investigation, the exact situation remained unknown. Still, that was acceptable.

The Naja being sent was more than capable of handling unexpected variables.

And he had brought along one probationary Naja tagging after him.

“Yaaawn...”

The sedan sped along a quiet country road.

In the passenger seat, the probationary Naja yawned endlessly while staring sleepily out the window at the scenery passing by.

When Jaegyeom yawned so hard it looked like his jaw might dislocate, Yoon Taehee, who was driving, finally asked,

“You’ve been yawning the whole time. Are you tired?”

“Mm.”

Lately, Jaegyeom had been diligently carrying out his duties as a junior, faithfully trailing after his senior teammates.

“What time did you go to sleep last night?”

“I tried to sleep early, but Mesan suddenly said he wanted sweet potatoes. So we went outside, started a fire, and roasted sweet potatoes. I didn’t get to bed until after two.”

My lord, I want sweet potatoes.

Mesan had said it around midnight.

Which was, admittedly, the perfect hour for a late-night snack.

At first, Jaegyeom had planned to steam a few sweet potatoes quickly, eat them, and go to sleep because he had work the next morning.

But when he filled a pot with water, Jeongju immediately clicked his tongue and said, “You really don’t know anything. Sweet potatoes are supposed to be roasted.”

So naturally, they ended up making a bonfire in the yard.

And somehow, the three of them spent the next two hours camping outside, roasting not only sweet potatoes but potatoes and foil-wrapped corn too.

They did not go to bed until well past two in the morning.

“If you’re tired, you can sleep.”

Yoon Taehee spoke kindly to the probationary Naja slumped in the passenger seat.

Taking those words at face value, Jaegyeom immediately committed the grave sin of falling asleep beside the highest-ranking person present while that person drove.

By the time he woke from his nap, they had already arrived. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

It was past three in the afternoon.

Since the sun set early in the mountains, they planned to deal with the situation quickly and return before dark.

After getting out of the car, Yoon Taehee opened the trunk and retrieved the necessary equipment.

Two flashlights for the cave.

A fan for sealing ghosts.

And a long staff strapped across his back.

“What’s with the staff?”

Jaegyeom asked casually.

Instead of answering, Taehee smiled faintly and gripped the staff with both hands.

Spreading his arms shoulder-width apart, he murmured softly:

“Hidden weapon. Strange mystery. Piercing heaven and earth.”

CLICK.

The sheath split open.

Inside the ordinary-looking staff was a long blade.

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened slightly.

The first phrase referred to a concealed weapon.

Blinking once, Jaegyeom held out his hand, silently asking for it.

He drew the blade with a sharp metallic hiss.

“Oh... It’s a sword.”

“Yeah.”

It had been a long time since Jaegyeom last held one.

Now that he thought about it, this was also the first time he had ever seen Yoon Taehee carry an actual weapon.

During the newcomer rite, Taehee had subdued the earthbound ghost using only raw ghostly force.

Jaegyeom had heard from Kang Ibin that Taehee disliked carrying weapons because they were annoying, so he usually relied on his fan instead.

“But didn’t you say you barely use weapons?”

“We skipped the investigation stage this time, so just in case.”

Usually, reports of strange sounds ended up being caused by ghosts.

If the Covert Division had investigated beforehand, they would have known roughly what type of ghost they were dealing with, so Taehee would have only brought his fan.

But this time, they were walking in blind.

So he had brought a weapon for safety.

Jaegyeom slowly inspected the sword, then glanced sideways at Taehee.

“So can you actually use one?”

He asked it with the relaxed confidence of someone highly skilled himself.

Yoon Taehee chuckled softly.

A faint dimple appeared in one cheek.

“Enough, I guess?”

Jaegyeom smirked slightly.

Well.

He would see soon enough.

The two attached their tiepin radios, put on their masks, and began climbing the mountain together.

They found the cave entrance not long afterward.

Dense vegetation surrounded it so heavily that they would have walked right past if they had not already known where to look.

The entrance itself was fairly wide and sloped gently inward, resembling an abandoned tunnel.

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Maybe because it’s still daytime?”

The two stood side by side at the cave entrance.

Yoon Taehee switched on his flashlight and examined the interior.

They had been told strange sounds came from inside, but from the outside, nothing seemed unusual.

“Let’s head in first.”

Adjusting his mask, Taehee stepped forward.

Jaegyeom fell in behind him, holding his own flashlight while Taehee illuminated the path ahead and the ground beneath their feet.

The deeper they went inside, the colder and damper the cave became.

The rocky path was uneven.

Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, soaking the ground completely.

And the farther inward they walked, the rougher the terrain became. Jagged rocks constantly caught beneath their feet.

At one point, Yoon Taehee slipped slightly after stepping on a loose stone and caught himself against the wall.

The moment it happened, Jaegyeom grabbed his arm firmly from behind.

“You’ll fall. Watch your footing.”

Behind the mask, Jaegyeom’s eyes looked sharp and serious.

Taehee paused and looked down at the hand supporting him solidly.

Then Jaegyeom jerked his chin.

“Move back. I’ll walk in front.”

“...”

“The path’s rough, and we don’t know what could jump out. It’s safer if you stay behind me.”

He said it as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Yoon Taehee’s heart slammed violently against his ribs.

This was cheating.

A junior telling a senior to fall back would have been unprecedented in the entire history of the Office of Narye.

The Fool stared at Jaegyeom silently through his mask for a long moment before muttering under his breath,

“Stop doing that. Every time you act like this, I feel like my heart’s going to burst.”

“What?”

Jaegyeom asked.

But Taehee said nothing else and continued walking ahead.

***

After walking for what felt like a very long time, the two finally stopped and exchanged glances.

At some point, the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) cave path had split in two.

Until now, they had found nothing unusual.

If they wanted to continue deeper, they would have to split up.

One tunnel was narrow.

The other was wider.

Thankfully, they had each brought a flashlight and tiepin radio.

“There are two paths now. What do we do? Split up?”

Jaegyeom swept his flashlight across both tunnels while asking.

“Yeah. I think we have to.”

They checked their radios one more time to make sure they worked properly.

Since Jaegyeom carried no assigned weapon, he took the fan used for sealing ghosts instead.

“If you find anything, or if something happens, contact me immediately.”

After leaving that warning behind, Yoon Taehee adjusted his mask and headed into the narrow tunnel.

The passage constricted almost immediately.

The farther inward he went, the narrower it became until only one person could barely squeeze through at a time.

Then suddenly—

the path curved sharply.

“Oh...”

Yoon Taehee’s eyes widened.

Beyond the turn lay an enormous cavern.

At the center of the vast dome-like chamber spread a massive body of water.

Calling it a pond would have been absurd.

It looked closer to an underground reservoir.

He slowly swept the flashlight around.

The high ceiling bristled with stalactites of every size, and thin cracks in the rock allowed faint shafts of outside light to spill into the cavern.

Perhaps because of that, the deepest part of the cave was not as pitch-black as it should have been.

There was nowhere else to go beyond this point.

Yoon Taehee slowly approached the water.

Had rainwater gathered here over centuries?

The surface was astonishingly clear.

But the water was so deep he could not see the bottom.

Aside from that, nothing seemed particularly strange.

This appeared to be the end of the tunnel.

Taehee crouched beside the water’s edge.

Removing his mask, he set it beside himself and dipped one hand into the lake to wash away the sticky residue left behind from when he had braced himself against the wall earlier.

The water was freezing cold.

Cold enough to seep into bone.

After rinsing his hand, Taehee shook off the excess water and picked up his mask again.

Then he turned to leave.

Just as he raised a hand toward the tiepin radio to tell Jaegyeom there was nothing on his side—

something reached his ears.

“...Seon... oh... ya...”

Yoon Taehee froze.

“....”

The hand clutching the mask twitched violently.

“...Seon... oh... ya...”

No.

No, that was impossible.

It made no sense.

“....”

Slowly, Yoon Taehee turned his head.

Out in the center of the dark water, someone was barely visible above the surface.

The mask slipped from Taehee’s hand and hit the ground with a dull clatter.

“...Seon... oh... ya...”

His knees gave out.

He collapsed to the ground.

“No... no...”

Taehee muttered faintly while clutching his forehead.

He tangled both hands in his hair as though trying to rip it out.

His skull felt ready to split apart.

This can’t be happening.

Impossible.

Think.

You have to think.

Think clearly.

He left long ago.

You watched him leave with your own eyes.

The book in your arms was proof of it.

That book is still in the pavilion.

You looked at it only a few days ago.

“...Seon... oh... ya...”

“....”

“I... missed... you...”

“....”

At last, Seonoh covered his face with pale hands.

“Why... why...”

Then he lifted his head and slowly stood.

“Were you here?... Why were you here?...”

He staggered into the water.

With each step, the sound of parted water echoed through the cavern.

And then Seonoh stood face to face with the water ghost.

The ghost suddenly sank beneath the surface and vanished.

At the exact same moment—

the ground beneath Seonoh collapsed.

He plunged downward into the deep water as though falling from a cliff.

Startled, he looked around frantically.

Vines erupted upward from the depths and coiled around his legs, dragging him down.

He was pulled rapidly into the dark water.

Bubbles exploded around him, warping his vision.

As he sank deeper, Seonoh grabbed at the vines around his ankles.

Ghostly force surged into his hands.

He twisted violently, trying to tear them apart—

but the vines were thick and unyielding.

Cutting them would be faster.

Seonoh reached for the sword strapped to his back and drew it.

And then—

“...Seon... oh... ya...”

The water ghost appeared before him again.

The familiar ghost smiled brightly.

Like a fish, it glided gracefully around him.

The sword slipped from Seonoh’s grasp and sank slowly into the darkness below.

Seonoh pulled the ghost into his arms.

I missed you too.

I missed you so much.

Holding the ghost tightly, Seonoh slowly closed his eyes.

The sensation in his arms felt vividly real.

And so he sank peacefully into the dark, deep water.