"Ooh."
Lee Seonghae lifted her head.
A raindrop landed on her nose.
From the sky, now swallowed by dark clouds, rain began to fall in soft pitter‑patter drops.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes."
And next to her was someone running toward their destination.
Go Youngeun.
-Oh, I'll follow Ms. Mountain Goat.
Lee Seonghae had decided to help this employee and had left the Resort for Segwang Metropolitan City.
And in the hands of the anxious-looking Go Youngeun, the map she had received from the Mascot was held tightly, spread open.
"..."
She had already come quite a long way.
She ran, practically crossing the city, entered a residential area, and kept moving.
Without a moment's rest, she continuously looked at the map while walking along the street, and then…
She came to a dead stop.
"..."
A house stood before them.
A slightly old detached home in a redevelopment zone.
A navy‑blue roof. Red brick walls.
Go Youngeun stared at it, trembling.
A familiarity her body remembered.
A closeness that remained even if the knowledge had vanished.
She recognized it.
Her home.
Someone burst out the front door.
Someone she knew.
Her family.
"Young-eun!!"
"…Mom,"
Go Youngeun tightly hugged her family, who were repeating, "Oh my god, what is happening, oh my god." And she experienced a full-body wave of relief and a welling surge of emotion.
'Oh.'
Lee Seonghae watched with a pleased, calm expression.
She didn't understand the thrill of the moment, but it seemed good…
Then she suddenly lifted her head.
"..."
The rain had stopped.
And a strange vibration began to be faintly felt from the walls and the floor.
"…!"
In her family's embrace, Go Youngeun snapped her head around.
One accustomed to Supernatural Phenomena, to the Darkness, keenly notices the abnormal signs.
"Assistant Manager, just now…."
"Oh."
"…Was that from the direction of City Hall?"
The direction the others went.
Where Kim Soleum is.
"Hmm. Just a moment."
Lee Seonghae took out a small, telescope-shaped Item and checked ahead.
Toward the Segwang City Hall building, far in the distance, barely visible in the hazy view due to the dark clouds.
"Looks like there's something on the roof. Hmm…."
"..."
Under the dark sky, Go Youngeun catches her breath.
Will they be okay?
…Even though she had already chosen her priorities, she clenched her teeth against the stabbing moral judgment, the anguish, the internal conflict — and finally asked:
"What does the situation look like?"
"Hmmmm…."
Lee Seonghae was completely oblivious to the other's conflicted state of mind, but she could clearly describe what she saw.
So she answered with a voice full of conviction.
"It looks like a festival!"
* * *
I lifted my head.
A sound rings out across the sky.
Listen![1]
The voice of the lead chanter.
After it, clear striking sounds ring out as if building to a climax.
Chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang…
Amid the sounds of a kkwaenggwari[2] and bells, full of syncopation and ornamentation, the heavy sound of a gong rings out.
Woooong—
I look at Agent Haegeum.
At her steady gaze.
At the giant gong held in her hand.
"The joyous sound of the gods of heaven and earth rings out."
Chasing Ggwangcheol is the prototype of a rain‑making ceremony.
And if there is one universal pattern in primordial rain rituals across cultures, it is this:
People cry out earnestly to the mighty being who governs the rain.
It's natural.
Because they are asking for rain.
They try to negotiate, try to please the other party.
However.
"We cry and cry!"
Chasing Ggwangcheol is different.
This is an attempt to drive out the natural Disaster symbolized by drought.
Exorcism. Expulsion.
Not an act of negotiating with the opponent, but of driving them out.
"Get the hell out!"
One of the most ancient exorcism rituals in tradition.
But there is another peculiar point.
This is not something solemnly performed alone by a single, capable, superstitious authority figure.
It is done by a crowd.
People who live together gather and make noise.
That is Chasing Ggwangcheol.
Oooooooooooooooh!
They shout at the top of their lungs and joyfully clap out a rhythm.
The golden plate of the kkwaenggwari vibrates and trembles like the wings of a hummingbird.
Agent Haegeum raises her arm as if to strike the sky itself, then brings the gong down and strides across the rooftop.
As the Dragon coils through the clouds above, the Agent runs.
She runs.
Will you chase away the drought!
If so, you must ride the mountain ridges and make a clamorous noise to confuse Ggwangcheol.
If there are no mountains here.
Then this giant building must be the mountain.
Oooooooooooooooh!
They run and leap around the rooftop.
Like a pungmulnori[3] performance.
Their feet trace every contour — railings, ladders, water tanks.
No hesitation. No fear of falling. Only powerful, joyful, fast steps.
And behind the gong‑bearer, those with instruments and those clapping join in, creating a glorious cacophony.
Oooooooooooooooh!
The massive sound of the gong, as if it will tear the sky.
The sound of the kkwaenggwari.
The ring of bells.
Clapping.
All those intense, percussive sounds rise and fall, forming a chaotic harmony that bounces off the rooftop and into the sky.
Chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang…
At that sound, the Dragon made of waterways shudders, its scales and insides rumbling.
Ripples spread across its body, and it moves more vividly, as if waking.
…My, oh my.
A huge eye peers down from between the thick clouds, but the violent, metallic sound waves rebound upward, obscuring its vision again with a shimmering haze.
The rippling wave of the Disaster, as if growling in displeasure, is canceled out by the noise.
I realize.
All this spiritually potent noise served a dual purpose: to exclude and expel the target they were trying to chase away, and to protect the minds of those performing the ritual.
"Do not stay here!"
It doesn't stop.
There is no set rhythm. The primordial ritual, in which such details were not standardized, naturally leaves the choice of rhythm to the crowd.
Naturally, the most familiar rhythms harmonize with each other.
Gutgeori.[4]
The sky distorts.
"Alright, alright, let's go, let's go!"
I opened a bottle of water. I followed alongside Agent Choi and sprinkled it.
He shakes the bells like he's dancing, and with a nimble flick, he catches the droplets I scatter on the bells.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon tears a steel railing from the rooftop and ties the bells to its end, turning it into a pole.
When Ggwangcheol is confused and paces its head,
Flick water on its nose.
It's a procedure derived from the tradition that Ggwangcheol, with water in its nose, can no longer breathe fire.
Here, the fire is of course symbolic, and its meaning is…
'To make it so Ggwangcheol can no longer bring disaster upon this land.'
This was interpreted as the action of flicking water droplets toward the sky.
But since that strange Disaster is actually visible in the sky here…
"Let's go!"
The people head for the mountaintop.
To perform the ritual at the closest possible place.
Above the rooftop entrance.
Onto the rooftop structure.
They leap up in joyous frenzy.
The following footsteps and the percussive sounds make the sky ring.
Oooooooooooooooooooh!
A strange conviction rises.
A sensation felt at the end of the ritual.
A tingling.
'It's working.'
The pleasure of knowing the correct answer to a problem.
The sense of accomplishment just before crossing the finish line.
The anticipation of turning the corner just before arriving home.
The intense premonition of the ritual's performers, of its participants, envelops me.
This will succeed.
And I was definitely not the only one who felt it.
Block the Disaster,
And make it fall flat!
So it can't sit on the mountain ridge,
Make it get up and flee!
The movements and footsteps of everyone around me begin to align with uncanny precision.
A trance.
Afterimages trail behind every motion on the rooftop.
The golden arcs of percussion instruments, the clapping hands, the falling droplets from the bells — all draw lines in the air, forming a pattern.
The Dragon rides those lines, rippling through the sky.
Everyone intuitively knows that all of it is heading toward completion.
But that means…
Oh, please.
It means the subject of this ritual knows it too.
Ggwangcheol.
"Do not stay here!"
The lead chanter's shout, belted at the top of their lungs, splits the sky.
From the being hidden by clouds and golden noise, a dull voice is heard.
To be subjected to this again after all these years.
Chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang-chang…
It's unpleasant, but also interesting….
Annoyance and distortion twist through its voice.
It is clearly being affected.
Congratulations. You'll succeed soon.
Yes.
But, you know.
Let's not listen.
What do you plan to do after you've driven me out?
I'm curious whose permission you have to be chasing me away.
Threats and interference, I naturally thought it would try them.
The gathered people continue the ritual, unchanged.
It's pure curiosity.
What do you think you have to back you up, mere individuals that you are?
Who will handle the aftermath of chasing me from this place?
If you disappear, there's no need to…
But I will return.
"..."
That wasn't the typical movie villain's declaration of recovering their strength and returning someday.
It was an inevitability.
A dry statement of something guaranteed.
Oooooooooooooooh!
As I bent down on the rooftop to provide a stepping stone for Agent Choi to jump onto the sky–
I realize something.
'Ah.'
Farming is a one-year cycle.
And we are chasing away the disaster that ruins the farm work.
What that means is, this ritual is not a permanent expulsion ritual, but…
A seasonal ritual.
When the time comes again, it must be done again.
Drought, storms, hail, wildfires, all the disasters that ruin farm work return with the seasons under the name of terror.
So…
Chasing Ggwangcheol is a one-year reprieve.
Are you doing something as stupid as taking out a loan from a loan shark to pay off a bank debt?
Hahahaha….
When it returns, it's over.
Besides.
'It's not like we've bought a year's time…'
We… are not living in ancient times where chasing away Ggwangcheol was the end of it.
That monster is in the modern world, breathing in our daily lives.
As my boss, as the boss of the person next to me, as a corporate figure exerting influence on the government, as a powerful business partner…
As a powerful factor that can make life miserable.
'Ah.'
Right.
Director Cheong can make anyone's life a living hell without even being present.
Because there's a system to do it for her.
Social and supernatural power.
A system that will act in her stead, even in her absence, because it knows she will return.
"..."
Right now.
Haven't I burdened these people with an outrageous grudge?
Am I not just distributing the terrible consequences of an unbearable future among everyone here?
These people are all willingly sharing it — for me, and for this city…
'No.'
I realize.
This Chasing Ggwangcheol ritual will definitely work, and Director Cheong will disappear for a while.
And I can get a temporary reprieve from being dragged into Daydream.
However–
In the meantime, these people's lives, and perhaps everyone connected to this ritual… everyone in Director Ho's Project… will become miserable.
'I can't know the fate of Segwang Metropolitan City either.'
This was a foreordained Disaster that couldn't be avoided no matter what I chose.
On this rooftop filled with the premonition of success, I felt myself falling.
'....'
And I realize.
No, I knew it all along.
That there is only one way to prevent all the calamities I foresaw.
The powerful condition that would allow this rain-making ceremony to truly exert its full effect as a year of freedom.
"..."
Yes.
This was the only way.
'In that case,'
I have to do it.
Oooooooooooooooh!
I see Agent Choi on the rooftop structure, holding the pole with the water‑drenched bells, planting his feet.
Originally, I was supposed to support him as his stepping stone. But -
I straightened my body.
And…
"What are you doing—!"
I jumped up with him.
"…!"
Agent Choi clenched his teeth and reflexively grabbed me to keep me from falling. I used that as support and together–
Oooooooooooooooh!
I cling to the Dragon.
I climb the curves of the water that has taken form, the body of the Dragon, heading upward.
Alone.
"Grapes-ie!"
At the very place where I was supposed to flick water onto that black, many‑eyed spinning thing in the sky—
I took out the employment contract.
"…!!"
And.
I read.
130666's Employment Contract
The standard Security Team contract used by Cheong Dallae, the Managing Director of the Development Department at Daydream Inc.
Kim Soleum's signature is written at the bottom.
It is now irreversible.
The effect of this contract originates from the Authority of the Yellow Dragon, and Cheong Dallae is using it by seizing the Core of this authority from the Dragon entity that was demoted to a Daydream Mascot.
(The remaining entity is presumed to have been inserted into a certain theme park ghost story at the ■■ Research Institute. For detailed records, see the Pleasant Theme Park entry.)
A faint trace of the Core remains on the contract. It looks like an eyeball, and this form is reminiscent of the wish-fulfilling orb of the Dragon in folklore.
Cheong Dallae placed the Dragon Cores she collected into a giant eye, using dozens of eye■■ ability■■■■■contract■■■■■■■■■■
I read further down.
A faint trace of the Core remains on the contract. It looks like an eyeball, and this form is reminiscent of the wish-fulfilling orb of the Dragon in folklore.
Cheong Dallae placed the Dragon Cores she collected into a giant eye, using dozens of eyeballs as a symbol of her ability.
All of this authority is stored in the form of contracts, classified into respective binders, and placed on the bookshelf in Cheong Dallae's private office.
The original of Kim Soleum's contract exists within the Authority of the Yellow Dragon binder.
Now…
I delete.
/-/ 130666's Employment /-/ [5] Contract
The standard Security Team contract used by Cheong Dallae, the Managing Director of the Development Department at Daydream Inc.
/-/ Kim Soleum's signature is written at the bottom. /-/
/-/ It is now irreversible. /-/
The effect of this contract originates from the Authority of the Yellow Dragon, and Cheong Dallae is using it by seizing the Core of this authority from the Dragon entity that was demoted to a Daydream Mascot.
(The remaining entity is presumed to have been inserted into a certain theme park ghost story at the Cheerful Research Institute. For detailed records, see the Pleasant Theme Park entry.)
A faint trace of the Core remains on the contract. It looks like an eyeball, and this form is reminiscent of the wish-fulfilling orb of the Dragon in folklore.
Cheong Dallae placed the Dragon Cores she collected into a giant eye, using dozens of eyeballs as a symbol of her ability.
All of this authority is stored in the form of contracts, classified into respective binders, and placed on the bookshelf in Cheong Dallae's private office.
/-/ The original of Kim Soleum's contract exists within the Authority of the Yellow Dragon binder. /-/
In exchange for my freedom, I collapse.
My identity — recovered and grown through so many experiences and realizations — melts away.
The self and reason I had carefully nurtured scatter.
Grief, despair, and panic surge up as if to kill me, then melt away with everything else.
Joy and resolve, too.
Melt away.
But I don't stop.
Like sand pouring madly from a broken hourglass, everything that is me drains away, but I pour new emotions and resolve over it, barely managing to use it as a momentary driving force.
All that's left…
Is to overwrite.
Contract
The standard contract used by Cheong Dallae, the Managing Director of the Development Department at Daydream Inc.
The effect of this contract originates from the Authority of the Yellow Dragon, and Cheong Dallae is using it by seizing the Core of this authority from the Dragon entity that was demoted to a Daydream Mascot.
(The remaining entity is presumed to have been inserted into a certain theme park ghost story at the Cheerful Research Institute. For detailed records, see the Pleasant Theme Park entry.)
A faint trace of the Core remains on the contract. It looks like an eyeball, and this form is reminiscent of the wish-fulfilling orb of the Dragon in folklore.
Cheong Dallae placed the Dragon Cores she collected into a giant eye, using dozens of eyeballs as a symbol of her ability.
All of this authority is stored in the form of contracts, classified into respective binders, and placed on the bookshelf in Cheong Dallae's private office.
*/However, recently, due to an arbitrary machination,/
Please.
*/Cheong Dallae has lost the contract of one pupil./
Just a little,
*/This is the Authority of the Yellow Dragon,/
more.
*/and it is currently in the hands of Kim Soleum./
It's complete.
"..."
However, recently, due to an arbitrary machination, Cheong Dallae has lost the contract of one eyeball.
This is the Authority of the Yellow Dragon, and it is currently in the hands of Kim Soleum.
I look at the contract in my grasp.
The contract of the Yellow Dragon was in my hand.
With my collapsing hand–
I tore it.
[1] The ritual speech will be in italics
[2] The kkwaenggwari is a small flat gong used in traditional Korean music. It is made of brass and is played with a hard stick. It produces a distinctively high-pitched, metallic tone that breaks into a cymbal-like crashing timbre when struck forcefully. (Wikipedia)
[3] Pungmulnori (often shortened to Pungmul) is a high-energy Korean folk art that blends percussion, dance, singing, and acrobatics. Historically known as nongak (farmers' music), it originated in rural agrarian societies as a way to pray for good harvests, celebrate festivals, and build community
[4] Gutgeori is a quintessential 12-beat rhythmic pattern in traditional Korean music known for its upbeat and danceable energy. Originally rooted in shamanistic rituals, it has become the rhythmic backbone for famous folk songs like Nilliliya and various traditional dances. The rhythm is typically felt in four main beats with three subdivisions each, creating a swinging motion that naturally encourages listeners to move their shoulders.
[5] Deleted passage (I can’t make the same line through the text as the original on WebNovel)