Honbul: Flame of the Soul

A desolate wind blew through the woods of the shrine grounds, sunk deep in darkness.

The forces of the Office of Narye, now on wartime footing, had been divided into three groups. The First Force guarded Jongmyo Park, the plaza, and the outer perimeter. The Second Force was stationed around the Main Hall. Finally, the Third Force was garrisoned inside the Office of Narye.

In the vast, solemn grounds of the Main Hall, numerous Naja stood in formation.

The twentieth door of the Main Hall, invisible to the eyes of ordinary people, was the passageway and gate to the Office of Narye. Therefore, in a situation where no one knew when the enemy might launch a preemptive strike, the one place they absolutely had to defend was Jongmyo’s Main Hall.

If the First Force guarding the outside of headquarters was breached, Byeoksadan would enter the grounds of Jongmyo. And if the Second Force protecting the area around the Main Hall also fell, they would set foot inside the Office of Narye itself.

To prepare for the worst, sealing the entrance and preventing the evil ghosts from entering was currently the most important task.

Chief Lee Youngshin and the members of Team 1 of the Ritual Implements Department were moving around the shrine grounds, installing ritual implements.

Team 1 of the Ritual Implements Department had a reputation within the department for not pulling its weight, and in ordinary times, they were an incredibly lax team. But today was different. When it came to drawing out the full potential of ritual implements, the skill of Team 1 was second to none.

With faces more solemn and serious than anyone else’s, Lee Youngshin and Team 1 continued working as they moved around the buildings inside the shrine grounds.

With every nerve on edge, Lee Youngshin placed small carvings in every corner of the stone platforms by the stairs, tied straw ropes around the thick pillars, and stamped marks in various places with a seal dipped in ink.

It was to lay traps along every path in preparation for Byeoksadan’s invasion.

To compare it to something, it was like spinning a spiderweb.

The usually talkative Team 1 of the Ritual Implements Department had fallen silent.

Knowing they might soon be caught up in battle, none of them could help feeling somber. Lee Youngshin, too, was more serious than ever. He had no way of knowing when or where a surprise attack might begin.

The team members trembled with fear throughout the entire process. They were terrified that the bastards from Byeoksadan might suddenly pop out at any moment.

But at last, all the work was complete.

Now it was time to return to the Main Hall.

Just as they were cautiously scanning their surroundings and retracing their steps—

“Ack!”

“Wh-what, what, what!”

“Wh-what, what, what!”

Lead Naja Park suddenly stopped in his tracks and let out a sharp cry. Startled by Lead Naja Park’s shout, the team members jumped as though they had been burned.

Could it be Byeoksadan!

Of all the rotten luck, were they really appearing in front of us first...!

“I left my phone at the Musicians’ Hall.”

Lead Naja Park scratched his head with an awkward expression.

“......”

“......”

“......”

Lead Naja Park had to take a beating for scaring everyone.

His crime was making the team members’ hearts nearly leap out of their chests for nothing.

With tears welling in his eyes, Lead Naja Park apologized over and over.

“Can’t we all go get my phone together? I’m scared to go alone...”

At his pitiful plea, the team members’ faces fell.

The slogan of Team 1 of the Ritual Implements Department was “Our love forever♡.”

In the end, to retrieve one single phone, Team 1 linked arms and retraced their steps.

As they wandered through the shrine grounds drowned in darkness, it felt as though they had gotten lost in a mountain with no lights.

Lee Youngshin and the team members stopped when they reached the innermost part of the grounds.

The Musicians’ Hall, located near the Hall of Eternal Peace, was a place where the musicians who performed during ancestral rites used to stay, and it was open on all four sides. Fortunately, after scanning the area, they found no one around.

Relieved, the team members headed toward the front of the Musicians’ Hall in single file, arms linked.

Rustle, rustle.

Suddenly, they heard a presence, and something shot out from the bushes behind the Musicians’ Hall.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Because they were all linked arm in arm in a line, every member of the team fell backward.

The first to get up was Lee Youngshin.

If they had run into Byeoksadan, his team members would be in danger. He might not be in a combat position, but he was still a chief Naja. Though he had not faced many ghosts directly, he was more useful than most Naja from the Exorcism Unit.

He could buy at least a few minutes until the Naja from the Main Hall arrived.

“Guys, run! I’ll take care of—”

Just as Lee Youngshin sprang up in front of his team members and flung one hand back—

“Huh?”

“Hm?”

What burst out of the bushes was a young child.

A little girl with a bowl cut that looked like a helmet stared up at Lee Youngshin with wide, clear eyes. The small child was carrying a zither on her back, one even bigger than her own body.

Lee Youngshin and the team members froze like stone, momentarily bewildered.

“Scared ya?”

The little girl blinked a few times, then grinned.

“Then fowgive me.”

The little girl beamed at the team members.

Lee Youngshin’s face, rigid with tension, slowly relaxed.

The little girl looked about kindergarten age, and two of her front teeth were missing.

What the heck.

She scared me.

It’s just a kid...

“Hi! My name is Yeonok.”

Her speech was informal, but the little girl was polite as she smiled and waved. Her smile was terribly cute because of her missing teeth. The freckles on her cheeks were adorable, too.

Lee Youngshin, who had a soft spot for children, stood there dumbfounded before awkwardly returning the greeting.

“H-hi there...!”

“Big sister. What’s your name, big sister?”

“Huh? My name? I’m... I’m Lee Youngshin...”

At that moment, a startled Lead Naja Shin grabbed Lee Youngshin by the arm.

Lee Youngshin flinched and looked at Lead Naja Shin. Lead Naja Shin’s eyes seemed to ask, Are you out of your mind?

“It’s Byeoksadan, Byeoksadan!”

When Lead Naja Shin hastily lowered his voice and whispered, realization flashed across Lee Youngshin’s face.

How such a careless person had become a chief Naja was a mystery.

A Naja must never carelessly reveal their name or identity to a ghost, yet Lee Youngshin had just been exchanging names with one.

Gahhhh...

Lee Youngshin, who had been standing there in a daze, belatedly clapped a hand over his mouth and came to his senses.

He immediately shifted his gaze to the little girl’s feet.

There was no shadow.

Her intelligence was strikingly distinct, and her appearance was identical to that of an ordinary human child. If he had not looked at her feet and had simply passed her on the street, he would definitely have thought she was human. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The little girl in front of him was an intelligent ghost, something he had only ever heard about in stories.

Thinking rationally, there was no reason for a child with two missing front teeth to be here, at this exact moment, in a place like this, all alone without an adult.

This was not a chance encounter on the street.

This was inside Jongmyo, which was surrounded by a barrier.

“Don’t be fooled. That’s not a human.”

Lead Naja Shin glared at the little girl with a terrified face.

Byeoksadan was said to be a terrifying group of evil ghosts that had swept through the Gyeongju and Gongju branches. But to think a ghost would take the form of such a young child—he could hardly believe it even seeing it with his own eyes. On top of that, she was not emitting any of the sinister ghostly force one would typically feel from an evil ghost.

“Looks like we got lucky and found one alone. This is our chance.”

Lead Naja Shin whispered rapidly into Lee Youngshin’s ear and gestured with his chin.

“If you use the silver battery, Chief, I’ll catch it with the rope. Then we run!”

That...

That harmless-looking child is from Byeoksadan...?

“Chief! Hurry, what are you doing? Throw the silver battery!”

At Lead Naja Shin’s words, Lee Youngshin fumbled around, pretending to reach into his pocket.

“Ah, right... But using a silver battery on such a small, young child is a little...”

Here he goes again.

Again!

The team members pressed their hands to their foreheads.

They were beyond frustrated.

“If you love children that much, quit being a Naja and become a kindergarten teacher!”

Hurry!

Lead Naja Shin urged him on with force in his eyes, but as expected, Lee Youngshin seemed hesitant. Every second was critical, and Lead Naja Shin was on the verge of collapsing as he watched Lee Youngshin dither.

“This is driving me crazy. How can you be so flustered by a ghost like that?”

Lead Naja Park, who had been fuming through clenched teeth, pounded his chest.

“Ah, seriously! You did this last time, and now again, again!”

Suddenly, a faint afterimage of something flashed through their minds.

“...Again?”

“...Again.”

The team members stopped talking and looked at one another.

“......”

“......”

“......”

Had something like this happened before?

Lead Naja Park stopped moving without realizing it, and Lee Youngshin also looked bewildered.

What is this?

I feel like something similar happened before.

I feel like I can almost remember it, but not quite...

“Hm, what is it? There’s something...”

“I know, right? Ah, what was it...”

For a moment, seized by a sense of déjà vu, the team members stared at one another with blank expressions, as though question marks had been drawn over their heads.

Seizing the opportunity, Yeonok gripped the plectrum and got into position.

“Now, listen to Yeonok’s awesome pewformance!”

Just as Yeonok sat before the zither and was about to slip the plectrum beneath the strings, a crowd of Naja appeared from behind the Hall of Eternal Peace. There were well over several dozen of them, including Naja from the Exorcism Unit.

“What’s going on?”

The Naja who had been on standby at the Main Hall had noticed the commotion and rushed over.

Twing, twang...

At that moment, Yeonok’s performance began.