Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Daereungwon District, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

It was deep into the night.

The grounds of Daereungwon, usually crowded with hundreds—sometimes thousands—of visitors, now lay utterly silent and empty. Since the park closed at ten in the evening, no ordinary person could enter at this hour.

The burial mounds spread across Daereungwon like low hills, swallowed by pitch-black darkness. Only the streetlamps lining the walking paths at regular intervals cast pale pools of light.

Manager Choi of the Talisman Unit walked forward beneath them.

He checked the time on his wristwatch. It was already the hour of the Ox.

From one to three in the morning, yin energy grew strongest, and ghosts became most active. Whenever that time came around, Manager Choi naturally became more alert, his nerves sharpened to a point. Ghosts could appear at any moment and cause disturbances or accidents without warning.

To prevent unforeseen incidents, he patrolled the Daereungwon grounds every two hours. Construction on the Gyeongju branch of the Office of Narye was in full swing now, and they could not afford to let contamination or foul energy seep in.

For nearly a year, construction of the Gyeongju branch had continued within Daereungwon itself. Manager Choi oversaw and supervised the entire site.

Daereungwon, where the royal tombs of Silla were concentrated, demanded particular caution. Places tied to graves naturally gathered heavy energy and attracted ghosts in abundance.

After completing another patrol route, Manager Choi headed toward King Michu’s tomb, the only area within Daereungwon enclosed by walls.

A dense bamboo grove stood along the way.

Rustle—

The bamboo leaves brushed against one another in the wind.

Manager Choi stopped before the grove and glanced around once to either side. Then he parted the thick stalks and stepped inside.

After walking several paces through the bamboo forest, the darkness gradually began to brighten. A moment later, the space abruptly opened before him, as though he had crossed into another world.

It was a place ordinary humans could never reach.

Inside, construction was proceeding at full speed. Hammering rang out from every direction, mixed with the sounds of cutting and drilling. Floodlights installed throughout the site made the area bright as daylight. Workers moved busily through the space, carrying materials over their shoulders.

Every laborer employed here was an ordinary person.

The only reason those workers could enter this place at all was because the Talisman Unit had temporarily opened the path through a spell that used blood as its medium. Once construction was complete and the spell expired, none of those workers would ever be able to set foot here again.

Like the headquarters hidden within Jongmyo, the Gyeongju branch currently under construction was also a structure that could never be revealed to the outside world.

To conceal the building’s existence, an extraordinarily meticulous process had been required.

They had first scattered the blood of white-furred animals across the empty lot. Then they performed rituals for one hundred days before burying talismans beneath the earth. After that, the Purification Unit spent several months cleansing the site and establishing a barrier.

Even the construction materials themselves were all specially prepared ritual materials.

The preparatory phase alone had taken years.

Fortunately, after all that time, construction itself had finally begun without incident. But even afterward, there remained countless precautions to observe.

Anyone directly involved in erecting the structure had to maintain purity so they would not become tainted by contamination or negative energy. That was also why ordinary people had been hired for the work.

Gifted people capable of seeing or hearing ghosts—or even those with slightly opened spiritual senses—were far more vulnerable. They could attract ghosts or carry contamination into the site.

Because of that, every worker assigned here was thoroughly ordinary, with no spiritual sensitivity whatsoever.

Each one underwent repeated screening to determine whether they possessed even the slightest spiritual sense or any constitution prone to seeing ghosts. They had even checked their birth dates and birth hours to see whether they carried a “ghost gate” in their fate.

That was how important the establishment of the branch was to the Office of Narye.

It was a task that absolutely had to succeed.

“Let’s take a short break.”

Manager Choi, who had been surveying the site with his arms folded, clapped his hands sharply.

At his signal, the workers finally stopped what they were doing and took a breather.

One of them wiped sweat from his forehead with the towel draped around his neck and stretched his back. It was Mr. Kim, the newest addition to the site, who had only joined a few days earlier.

“Man, this is rough.”

Mr. Kim still hadn’t adjusted to the atmosphere of the construction site.

As he rolled his stiff neck with a grimace, he started walking toward the bamboo grove to use the restroom.

“Sir, where are you going?”

Manager Choi called out from behind him.

“Oh—right. Look at me. Forgot again.”

Mr. Kim hurriedly looked back, embarrassed.

“Just heading to the bathroom for a minute...”

The moment he finished speaking, Manager Choi replied in a stern voice.

“Sir, how many times have I told you? No one moves around alone inside the premises. You always go in pairs. And whenever you leave your position, you report it to me first.”

“Yes, yes. Got it.”

Mr. Kim nodded sheepishly.

“Uh... Brother Lim. Mind coming with me?”

The worker called Brother Lim willingly followed him.

The moment the two men stepped out of the bamboo grove, Mr. Kim clicked his tongue and muttered bitterly.

“This is unbelievable. In all my years...”

He shook his head in disbelief.

“This place is insane.”

The worker beside him gave an awkward laugh.

“It’s hard at first. You’ll get used to it eventually.”

“If the pay wasn’t this good, I would’ve quit already.”

Though he was new here, Mr. Kim had worked as a carpenter for over thirty years, traveling construction sites all over the country. He had seen just about everything there was to see.

But never in his fifty years of life had he encountered a site this bizarre.

A few days ago, an acquaintance had introduced him to the job, saying there was a construction project that paid exceptionally well. But when he actually arrived, they refused to explain what they were building and immediately handed him a liability waiver for a “dangerous site.”

The waiver itself had been deeply unsettling.

No alcohol whatsoever until construction is complete.

You must bathe and cleanse yourself before arriving at the site each day.

Never move alone inside the premises. Always travel in pairs.

Do not leave the designated routes.

Do not talk to yourself or hum.

All matters related to this construction must remain secret for the rest of your life.

At first, the conditions had sounded completely absurd for supposedly important construction work.

Of course, it was his own fault for getting tempted by wages several times higher than any ordinary site.

“I’ll be quick. Wait here.”

Still grumbling under his breath, Mr. Kim arrived at the restroom and left Brother Lim outside before heading in alone.

But when he finished and came back out, Brother Lim—who should have been waiting there—was nowhere in sight.

As Mr. Kim adjusted his waistband, he looked around blankly.

“Brother Lim?”

His expression stiffened.

Did he go back first?

No... there was no way he would’ve left without saying anything.

“Brother Lim?”

Mr. Kim called out awkwardly while scanning the area.

No answer came.

Brother Lim had vanished.

A sudden wave of fear crawled over him.

Until moments ago, he had merely thought this place was strange. But now that feeling had disappeared completely, replaced by a raw terror that numbed his entire body.

Being left alone in this vast darkness suddenly felt unbearable.

Wheeee—

A whistling sound drifted from somewhere nearby.

Startled, Mr. Kim hurriedly began retracing his steps. But the whistling didn’t stop. It continued after him.

The faster he walked, the more terrified he became.

Someone was following him.

He became certain of it.

Just as he nearly broke into a run and reached the bamboo grove—

Wheeee—

The whistle came again.

Mr. Kim trembled violently and clapped both hands over his ears.

He couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from.

Breathing raggedly, he hurried behind a wall and crouched down.

Leaning against the stone wall capped with dark roof tiles, he panted for breath.

Then, at some point, the whistling abruptly stopped.

Finally relieved, Mr. Kim slowly raised his head.

“Hhk—!”

A strangled gasp burst from him.

Something was staring down at him from above.

Someone crouched atop the wall.

In the dim moonlight, the figure wore a long coat over an utterly mismatched navy tracksuit. But the most unsettling part was the veil of black silk threads draped over the face, completely hiding their features. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

A... a ghost?

An indescribable fear seized Mr. Kim at the bizarre sight.

His entire body shook uncontrollably.

Without realizing it, he stumbled backward and [N O V E L I G H T] fell onto the ground.

At the same moment, the man perched atop the wall lightly jumped down.

He landed soundlessly.

Then he lifted one large hand near his shoulder and wiggled his fingers lazily.

“Hi.”