Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 40

< Conversation with the Dead: C-Rank >

 

Among the minor skills I possessed, this was one of the few ranked at C-Rank.

 

The skill did exactly what its name suggested. It was technically classified as black magic, but it wasn’t illegal; in fact, it was a legitimate and surprisingly common spell used in various fields. Its high versatility made that understandable.

 

‘Renowned undertakers and licensed adventurers used it all the time, if I remember correctly.’

 

However, it wasn’t a skill just anyone could learn. It required a license issued by the Empire and a specific aptitude for spells.

 

Naturally, as a slave, Lee Unha had no way of obtaining such a license. Nor did he have any natural affinity for magic. It was only because that insane black mage had used my body for all sorts of grotesque experiments that I gained the aptitude to cast spells, and even then, the spell had simply been forcibly engraved into me.

 

The pain of having a spell engraved under my tongue was so intense I wanted to bite it off, but once it was over, it proved to be a worthwhile skill. To put it bluntly, it was the kind of skill that could earn me a living even if I left Master’s side, so what more needed to be said?

 

‘Though I never imagined I’d end up using it here….’

 

It didn’t seem like a bad idea to use it again after so long. After all, there was no skill more suitable for learning about Kim Haejun.

 

‘JH.’

 

The trainee who had withdrawn from the debut lineup alongside Kim Haejun and then met an unfortunate accident. The soul I intended to summon was his.

 

Of course, I couldn’t just summon a soul out of thin air. If the skill rank were A-Rank or higher, I could have snatched a soul directly from the River of the Dead without any conditions. Unfortunately, at C-Rank, summoning a soul required a few prerequisites.

 

Still, I felt lucky it wasn’t F-Rank. If the rank were that low, I would have had to physically go to a cemetery or visit a charnel house….

 

‘The prerequisites are practically all fulfilled, right?’

 

I had confirmed that JH’s traces still lingered around Kim Haejun. These traces didn’t necessarily mean a ghost. Souls weren’t something that could be materialized so easily in the first place.

 

Sometimes accumulated resentment could condense into a tangible form and become an evil spirit, but JH didn’t seem to harbor enough resentment for that. At most, he had enough lingering regret regarding Kim Haejun to leave a trace, but that was all he got.

 

‘Still, that’s enough.’

 

I was a bit nervous since it had been a while, but the essence of this skill was to materialize those scattered traces into a soul.

 

I quietly close my eyes. There was no need to approach Kim Haejun physically.

 

The time was exactly 10:11. Alone in the room, I quietly recited the activation chant, located the traces, and completed the preparations to draw the soul out from the river.

 

“Bahara Belahama.”

 

Immediately after.

 

An image of a pitch-black, dark river was drawn before my eyes. No, it wasn’t merely an image. At that moment, Lee Unha’s soul stood somewhere along the boundary between reality and death.

 

The sound of water sloshing echoed around me. Naturally, I realized that the River of the Dead had overlapped with this tiny room. If this were a place filled with many traces or souls on the verge of materializing, I would have heard all sorts of noise, but it wasn’t like that. At most, I could only see faint traces.

 

I nodded to myself and moved forward. I headed toward the direction where Kim Haejun was located.

 

Of course, I had to proceed with extreme caution. Occasionally, there were souls that clung to people who had earned their grudge, or people with constitutions that naturally attracted souls. Those kinds of people usually attracted evil spirits as well, making them especially dangerous to approach. To be blunt, there was nothing good about getting tangled up with them.

 

Sure enough….

 

I spotted a mysterious figure covered in countless traces. Thinking there might actually be a serial killer on the filming set, I instinctively came to a halt.

 

— Die!!!!

— Die!!!!!!!!

— Dieeeeeeee!!!! Die!!!! You murderer!!! Die!!!!!!!

— Please! Please!!! Dieeeeeee!!!

— Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

— Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! Die! Die! Die! Dieeeeeeee!!!!

 

The deafening screams rang out.

 

‘No, no. What is this? What is this?!’

 

I could even feel myself being pulled toward it. The things clinging to and riding on that figure’s back, screaming into his ears, reached out toward me in unison.Hands reached out from the river, dragging me downward. I struggled against them.

 

It caught me off guard, but I wasn’t unfamiliar with how to deal with it. Reciting a different spell, I peeled the hands off and continued swimming. When I looked ahead again with my Third Eye….

 

‘Huh?’

 

I saw Joo Wooyoung’s back.

 

The evil spirits were no longer visible, perhaps because I moved out of their range. For a split second, my tension eased enough that the spell nearly unraveled, but I quickly steadied myself and sharpened my senses once more.

 

I realized there was nothing particularly strange about what I just saw. Joo Wooyoung was a hero who cut down countless enemies. It wouldn’t be strange even if malevolent spirits were clinging to him. I had seen similar things surrounding my Master every time, so it wasn’t even that shocking. It was actually familiar.

 

Now wasn’t the time to worry about the traces on Joo Wooyoung. I needed to follow the traces on Kim Haejun.

 

Calming my breathing, I continued to move. The water rose higher and higher, making it difficult to move, but even so, I kept forcing my body forward without stopping.

 

And finally, when I reached Kim Haejun….

 

— …….

 

‘Did it fail? Should I have made the connection a little stronger?’

 

— …….

 

‘Was C-Rank too vague?’

 

As though mocking my worries, something settled into my hand—something that shouldn’t possibly exist in reality.

 

And then….

 

A faint soul began to materialize before my eyes.

 

‘It worked… It actually worked?’

 

Reflected in my eyes was a soul far hazier than any I’d seen in this world before. Because it looked like it couldn’t even maintain a proper form, I started to feel rushed. It didn’t seem likely that it would turn into an evil spirit, but I was still uneasy.

 

When I looked up, I saw a young man whose form was only barely holding together.

 

If there was one thing that stood out about him, it was how incredibly kind he looked. Put kindly, he looked like a gentle, harmless soul; put less kindly, he looked like the sort of person who’d be scammed. He wasn’t wearing the appearance he had at the moment of his death but instead looked relatively healthy, though he still seemed unable to grasp what was happening.

 

The moment I pulled him over again and finished reciting the spell, I found myself sitting alone in the room, facing a wandering soul that was glancing around in confusion.

 

The soul I assumed to be JH scratched his cheek, looked around, and finally spoke.

 

— W-what is this? I clearly… no… wait… Aggghhh!! What is this? Why am I….

 

‘That’s the normal reaction.’

 

— Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!

 

‘Maybe I should wait a bit.’

 

— Aaaaahhh! Aaaaaahhh! What is this! W-what is this?!

 

— …….

 

— Who are you? W-who are you? Who on earth are you?!

 

I opened my mouth as I looked at JH. I’d wanted to wait until he’d calmed down, but it didn’t seem like anything would change no matter how much time I gave him.

 

“I should probably start with an explanation. This is the dormitory for a survival program called Idol Classism… and you died a year ago. The cause was a car accident.”

 

— Wh-What are you talking about…

 

“I know it’s hard to understand, and even harder to accept, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Normally, you’d need some time to come to terms with a situation like this… but if you answer my questions, I’ll grant you one request of your choosing.”

 

— Wh-what? What do you mean by that? Are you some kind of shaman? I… I died? What does that even….

 

“Should I… give you a bit more time?”

 

I quietly watched the soul, speaking in as solemn a tone as I could. Fortunately, the soul in front of me seemed to realize the reality of his current situation. It was proof that he clearly remembered the moment of the accident.

 

On top of that, he was staring directly at his own translucent arms, so there was no way he could simply dismiss what I was telling him.

 

— No. I’ve… understood enough. Ha… Phew….

 

“I appreciate your cooperation.”

 

— No. I’m the one who is… more… grateful. Ah. Idol Classism… is it some kind of survival program? Why did you call me? I don’t think there’s anything I can help with… I….

 

“There’s something I want to ask about a person named Kim Haejun.”

 

— Ah… Ah! Haejun hyung! Is Haejun hyung really appearing on this show?

 

“Yes. We’re on it together. And I felt there was something more I needed to know about him. Also… I was curious why you both terminated your contracts with YM. You were right on the verge of debuting.”

 

— Yes. It was right before our debut… But… wait a second. If you don’t mind, may I… ask you something first? Mr. Shaman, why are you so curious about Haejun hyung?

 

‘Surprisingly… he’s quite cautious.’

 

“I might end up debuting with him, after all… and it’s hard not to feel uneasy. I don’t know what kind of trouble he might have gotten into. If there’s some serious issue, it’ll obviously become a huge blow after debut….”

 

— A-Are you an idol trainee too, Mr. Shaman?

 

“Yes.”

 

— And you’re saying Haejun hyung might debut?!

 

“Yes. There’s a very high chance….”

 

— W-well, that makes sense. He’s so talented….

 

“The voting hasn’t started yet, but even when it does, he’ll probably receive a lot of votes. He placed second in the Follower Mission… and he has around… 160,000 followers now. That’s a pretty impressive number….”

 

— 160,000… Wow! 160,000 even before debuting?

 

“Yes.”

 

— Come to think of it, what happened with that? Haejun hyung was supposed to… feature with that rapper… Ah… I can’t remember his name Is it normal to have such a bad memory? No, anyway, he said he was going to do a featuring….

 

“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think it charted. It seemed to be well-received in that scene, though…People were saying they were looking forward to what he’d do next. Then, all of a sudden, he appeared on Idol Classism. But anyway, hyung, you still need to answer my question.”

 

— Ah… sorry. So, the question was….

 

“Why did you and Haejun hyung terminate your contracts with YM?”

 

— That is….

 

“Yes.”

 

— Mmm… I don’t know how to explain it… I mean… I… I couldn’t adapt.

 

“Pardon?”

 

— I couldn’t adapt well. I didn’t get along with the members… Honestly, my… my skills were lacking, and… I felt like I only made it through TOP9 on sympathy votes.

 

“Ah….”

 

— It was understandable that the members hated me. In fact, I think they did hate me. They should have debuted a long time ago, but because of me…. I was under a lot of stress too… and I think I made a lot of mistakes that didn’t help the teamwork…. You know how sometimes things don’t work out no matter how hard you try? Eventually, everyone turned their backs on me.

 

“I see….”

 

— I consulted with the company a lot, and they suggested it might be better to terminate the contract… and I didn’t want to be a burden to the team anymore….

 

“…….”

 

— Honestly, I never dreamed Haejun hyung would terminate his contract too. If I had known that would happen… I-I would’ve tried to hold on a little longer….

 

Even before hearing the whole story, I could tell roughly what was going on.

 

‘This guy… he was bullied, wasn’t he?’