Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“...Chief Yoon?”

Kang Ibin opened her mouth blankly.

The figure standing in the darkness was difficult to make out. She blinked again and again, trying to sharpen her vision. But in the brief instant her eyes closed and opened, the figure vanished.

“Ch-Chief?”

She looked around in confusion, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Did I see that wrong?

Among the people Kang Ibin knew, there was only one person who wore a Fool mask.

Perhaps she had been mistaken. But if what she had seen was correct, then Yoon Taehee had been wearing the red traditional overrobe said to be worn by the leader of Byeoksadan, and had committed the taboo of standing on the Spirit Path.

Kang Ibin’s lips parted blankly.

“There’s no way...”

But what if she had not been seeing things?

It might have been just another ordinary day, no different from any other.

At least, it had been until dusk fell and darkness descended.

It was only after the sun had completely set that strange things began to happen, and calls began flooding into the situation room of the Office of Narye. Calls came in from Naja scattered across different locations as though a fire had broken out, paralyzing operations.

Every call that reached the situation room was about the same thing.

“Situation room of the Office of Narye. State your business.”

They had heard a strange rumor.

Ghosts that had been hiding away were now roaming the streets, spreading the word that “the Office of Narye will collapse tonight.” The Naja of the Covert Division, sensing that something was wrong, caught several ghosts and questioned them about where they had heard such a thing, but the only answer they received was this:

“There was a revelation.”

Tonight, the Office of Narye would fall.

That wicked rumor, the kind that threw people into confusion, began with ghosts.

Saero had an uncanny talent for being everywhere and knowing everyone.

Saero gathered the ghosts he knew and told them the story of the former Office of Narye and the Bangsangsi. To summarize, the Bangsangsi of old had not originally been a god who stood on only one side, but a god who embraced both humans and ghosts. The modern Office of Narye, however, was concealing that truth and disrupting the order. The true Bangsangsi was the leader of Byeoksadan, and he would become the new master of the Office of Narye.

And it was the cat ghosts that played the greatest role in spreading this rumor outside.

“All right, all right, my friends. I’m counting on you!”

After finishing his explanation, Saero asked them to spread the story far and wide. Cat ghosts were extremely swift, and each of them had its own territory, making them perfect messengers.

“Um, my cat ghost friends? Are you listening to me?”

However...

They were not easy to handle.

The cat ghosts scratched their ears with their hind legs, barely paying attention to Saero. What finally stirred the indifferent cats was Fatty, the alley-cat boss of Sungin 1-dong.

“As you all know, not long ago, the lords of Byeoksadan protected our persecuted comrade, Kim Jjangdol. If not for those intelligent ghosts! We might have been falsely accused of being some terrible group that eats human gallbladders and been chased out of here, or even harmed by those bastards from the Office of Narye.”

Fatty flicked his tail and looked at the cat ghosts with a fierce expression.

“Therefore, we must repay their kindness!”

As though Fatty’s persuasion had worked, the cat ghosts let out a collective meow and rose to their feet.

The cat ghosts roamed the dark, narrow alleys, carrying the story outside.

The story that began as word of mouth spread widely among ghosts with intelligence. Then, as it passed through ghosts that held grudges against the Office of Narye, its contents gradually became exaggerated. Eventually, the rumor spread in the direction of “the Bangsangsi will punish humans, side with the ghosts, and destroy the Office of Narye.”

The stray ghosts and wandering spirits without intelligence hummed what they had overheard as though it were a song.

“The Office of Narye is falling.”

“The Office of Narye is finished.”

“The Bangsangsi is returning.”

At first, they might have dismissed it as nothing more than a drifting rumor.

But then a blue fire erupted on the beacon mound.

The fire that rose from the mountain peak was a bizarre thing, invisible to the eyes of ordinary people. The wavering blue flame instilled an unknown fear in the living and a strange awe in the dead.

It looked like a signal fire announcing a revolt.

It was around that time that a letter was delivered to the Office of Narye.

Only eight characters were written on the paper in a flowing hand.

The Bangsangsi returns to the impure land.

The Office of Narye, finally realizing that Byeoksadan was right on its doorstep, declared a state of emergency.

The top priorities were the safety of the citizens and the preservation of Jongmyo. If Byeoksadan’s attack became reality, innocent ordinary people could be caught in the crossfire.

The area around Jongmyo was the heart of Seoul, lined with countless buildings and shops. To prepare for the worst, they had to prevent damage from spreading through the city center. And this was a realm that could not be made known to the public.

The Purification Unit and the Talisman Unit, now on wartime footing, decided to cast a large-scale barrier around Jongmyo and the Jongno area, and to cover the entire shrine with a transparent rampart like a cloth, so that whatever happened inside would remain invisible from the outside.

It was an unprecedented event in the history of the Office of Narye.

The scale of the task was enormous, so more than a hundred personnel were deployed at once.

While the Talisman Unit and the Purification Unit focused on defense, the heads of each unit gathered for an emergency meeting to stop Byeoksadan’s impending attack. Requests for cooperation were sent to related government ministries, and an emergency mobilization order was issued to all Naja, excluding pregnant women, minors, apprentices, and probationary Naja.

The Purification Unit was responsible for °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° medical support, the Covert Division for security and cover, the Talisman Unit for force support, and the Ritual Implements Department for supplies.

In the current situation, which carried a high probability of turning into all-out war, the role of the combat-specialized Exorcism Unit was most crucial. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

After the meeting, Seok Juryeon summoned every chief Naja belonging to the Exorcism Unit.

And so, with the exception of one person, all the chief Naja of the Exorcism Unit gathered in one place.

The only person who was absent was Yoon Taehee.

It was only a single empty seat, yet the weight of that absence was exceptional.

In every unit, the chief Naja of Team 1 held the most central position among those of the same rank. The position itself was symbolic, to the point that the chief Naja of Team 1 was said to be designated as the next Unit Head.

The other chief Naja of the Exorcism Unit seemed to wonder why Chief Yoon was not coming.

But Seok Juryeon said nothing about Chief Yoon.

As though he had never existed in the first place.

After finishing the meeting with the chief Naja, Seok Juryeon headed to the director’s office.

Walking down the long corridor, Seok Juryeon arrived at the director’s office and opened the door. A tranquil, beautiful scene unfolded before her. Unlike the main building, which was tense with the clouds of war, this place felt like a world completely cut off from reality.

As it happened, the director was out in the yard, looking up at the clear night sky.

It seemed as though she had been waiting for someone to arrive.

The director, who had been admiring the stars in the night sky with her hands behind her back, opened her mouth.

“My child, welcome.”

Seok Juryeon, who had been looking at the director’s back, bowed her head.

“It seems there is a great commotion outside.”

“It appears Byeoksadan is targeting the main building.”

Seok Juryeon reported what was happening outside in a monotonous voice.

A letter had arrived saying the Bangsangsi was returning, and that Byeoksadan would soon make its move.

The director smiled.

“The Bangsangsi is returning, you say...”

The director murmured faintly to herself.

“I gave him a chance...”

Muttering incomprehensibly, the director began to walk. Seok Juryeon followed behind her. The director stepped onto the wooden porch and entered the room, then sat before a low table and offered Seok Juryeon a cup of tea.

“My child.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember?”

The director spoke as she lifted her teacup.

“There was a blue fire then, too.”

Seok Juryeon, kneeling before the director, flinched and raised her head.

“......”

A blue fire.

She was only now remembering a prophecy she had long forgotten.

“Do not worry. This time, too, it will amount to nothing.”

The director spoke meaningfully and took a sip of tea.

A moment of silence fell. Somewhere, an insect chirped.

Then, at a certain moment, the director spoke as though the thought had just occurred to her.

“Ah, but Juryeon.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who the master of Byeoksadan is?”

Seok Juryeon flinched and raised her head.

Their eyes met.

“......”

A moment of silence passed.

“I...”

After a long pause, Seok Juryeon moved her dry lips.

“I do not know.”

The director looked at Seok Juryeon without a word.

As though asking whether that was really true.

Those unfathomably deep eyes seemed to see straight through her, and Seok Juryeon unconsciously lowered her gaze.

Even before she came to the director’s office, Seok Juryeon’s heart had been pounding. She was desperately trying to regain her composure, but her hands were damp with sweat.

By contrast, the director remained composed from beginning to end.

She placed a long, flat piece of wood on the low table with a clack.

In that instant, Seok Juryeon’s eyes widened slightly.

“I do.”

Nothing was written on the smoothly polished piece of wood.

Nevertheless, Seok Juryeon recognized what it was at a glance.

If it were turned over, someone’s name would be written on it.

“I know who is falsely claiming to be the Bangsangsi.”