“When you first met him in person, it seems he cast a spell similar to a ‘Gag Order Curse’. If a spell from two years ago is still holding, then he’s definitely no amateur.”
“After that day, he probably reinforced it over and over.”
Dojin opened the most recently uploaded spell post.
[Anonymous – A Spell to Make Friends (Beginner)]
“He even knows to use oroji quartz paper for the talisman…. That means he’s definitely got one foot in this world.”
The spell itself was sloppy and crude. Still, to actually perform real spellwork, you needed tools that were hard for ordinary people to obtain. It looked like he’d deliberately designed it so it could be cast using only easily accessible materials, which was why it ended up so half-baked.
“Mina. You followed this spell, didn’t you?”
“…Yes.”
Mina had planned to deny it, but a quick, honest answer slipped out before she could stop herself. Iri spoke gently.
“The person who posted this lied. This isn’t a spell to make friends—it’s a spell to make slaves.”
“S-Slaves…?”
“That’s right. It’s a spell used to make the other person obedient to your words.”
“No… no way. I didn’t know. I really didn’t…!”
Mina’s face turned deathly pale. She clamped both hands over her mouth. Beside her, Dohui murmured, “Ah… so that’s why we were like that for days…,” finally putting the pieces together. But now wasn’t the time to nod in realization—it was time to protect Mina. She wrapped an arm around her friend’s shoulders, patting her back as she spoke.
“It’s okay. There’ll be a way to undo it. Don’t worry.”
“Y-You… why aren’t you mad?”
“You didn’t do it knowing what it was. And we’re friends—why would I get mad?”
“…Isn’t you comforting me like this also because of my spell?”
Mina’s eyes filled with tears. Dohui shook her head.
“We’re friends even without any spell.”
“No. You’re mistaken. Because of the spell—”
“No. I genuinely like you as a friend.”
“That’s exactly what I mean! You’re being fooled! Once the spell is broken, you’ll despise me!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not the kind of person who looks down on people that easily. What do you even know about me?”
Dojin watched the two first-year high school girls argue with deadly seriousness over the authenticity of their friendship, utterly exasperated. Iri cleared his throat softly, and when all eyes turned to him, he spoke the truth in a calm, soothing voice.
“I already lifted the spell by the time you sat down here.”
“Ah….”
“See?! I told you! I really treasure you as a friend! We’re real friends!”
“Dohui….”
“Mina!”
The two hugged each other tightly. Dojin let out a huge yawn.
Once the tear-soaked friendship confirmation session finally ended, Iri firmly warned Mina about the dangers of spell posts like that one.
‘Anonymous’ wasn’t just posting the so-called friend-making talisman—every spell he uploaded disguised dangerous, malicious magic as something trivial and harmless.
- The spell to make acne disappear was actually a spell that siphoned vitality from the surroundings.
- The spell to eat without gaining weight involved placing a creature called a ‘food grub’ inside one’s stomach.
- The spell to always catch green lights while walking down the street pulled minor strokes of good luck forward from one’s own future.
“I… I’ve used the acne spell before…. Around that time, all the houseplants we were growing at home died, and my mom was really upset. Could it be… could it have affected her too? My mom—she wasn’t harmed too, right?”
“It was a sloppy spell, so it couldn’t harm a person. Don’t worry.”
Mina finally let out a long breath, clutching her chest in relief.
The real problem now was the other anonymous users. Mina was only a high school student, so she’d had trouble gathering materials and hadn’t tried the other spells—but the occult fanatics in the research group had likely tried everything ‘Anonymous’ had posted.
“So… we’ll probably have to go see the person who posted these in person, right?”
Dojin asked as he photographed every single post on both the pen-name board and the anonymous board with his phone camera.
“Or we could sneak into one of their meetings.”
“Huh?” Mina blurted out.
“There’s no need to sneak in. If you say you’re the exorcists from those exorcism videos, everyone will welcome you.”
“We’re not exorcists, and we have no intention of revealing that we appeared in those videos.”
“Why not? Everyone would love it…. Uncle Seokjin’s been searching everywhere for you two. I mean, he’s a public figure, and he still goes on TV talking about those exorcism videos. He knows people will accuse him of falling for superstition, but he keeps mentioning them anyway. That’s not easy for a famous celebrity…. He genuinely likes you both and really wants to meet you.”
Mina spoke while looking Iri straight in the eyes. She meant every word.
“Does Lee Seokjin attend the meetings often?”
“He’s super busy, so he almost never comes. I’ve only been twice myself. I hang out a lot with Jiyon unni since she lives nearby, but the others don’t really include me because I’m young. They won’t even invite me to the group chat—they said I can join once I’m an adult….”
So there was a group chat too. Dojin immediately sent this new information to Ihaeja.
Iri judged that they’d obtained all the information they needed for now.
“By the way, Mina. This cake is really good. Go on, try it.”
“Huh? Oh—okay.”
Mina picked up her fork and took a bite of the fluffy chocolate cake. It melted smoothly in her mouth—sweet and delicious. Beside her, Dohui chimed in.
“This place is famous for its cake, right?”
“Yeah. It’s expensive, but it’s good.”
Mina and Dohui shared the cake happily.
By the time the plates were empty, Mina had completely forgotten who she’d been talking to or what they’d been discussing. Across from her, the seats were empty.
‘Why were we sitting side by side instead of facing each other?’
That was the only thought that crossed her mind—We’re sitting kind of oddly today.
“Shall we get going? Karaoke?”
“Yeah.”
Just as they stood up to head to the coin karaoke booth, someone brushed past Mina’s side. Two young men. Her gaze locked onto the taller one.
That face… I’d seen it somewhere before.
That face… that man is…!
Mina hurriedly chased after them. The two men pushed open the café door and left, and Mina followed right behind—but they had already vanished without a trace.
“Hey, Oh Mina. What’s wrong with you?”
Dohui asked from behind, confused. Mina replied that it was nothing, but she kept scanning the area. Could it really have been them? Her heart pounded violently. She pulled out her phone and checked the ‘portrait’.
Yes. That’s right. This was the face. No doubt about it.
That night, Mina posted on the ‘Saeboreumi Research Group’ website.
[Mina55 – I think I saw someone who looks like the tall guy from the exorcism video today
I was at a café with a friend earlier, and a guy with a really familiar face passed by me, so I looked—and it was that face. The tall guy.
I didn’t see the other guy’s face clearly, but he was shorter than him and was wearing something like a modernized hanbok.
I was so shocked I froze for like 0.002 seconds and then ran straight out of the café, but they were gone. Even if there were a lot of people, I should’ve at least seen their backs, right?
But they disappeared like they literally teleported or something
Honestly, I kinda want to check the café CCTVㅠㅠ I’m pretty sure about that face… thick eyebrows, slightly reddish eyes, sharp features, ㅈㄴ handsome, and built like a pro athleteㅠㅠ
Should I say I lost my wallet and go back with the police tomorrow? These days they won’t show CCTV without policeㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Not long after she posted it, a comment appeared.
[ReportTheNewGod – Could you tell me the café location and time?]
***
“Two years until return. Don’t forget—absolutely.”
“Yes, yes, of course. I’ll be on my way now. Take care, Immortal, and staff.”
The black-skinned yokai bowed politely, clutching his medicinal herb pouch as he left the rental shop. With Yayogwang gone, the day’s final customer had finally departed. It was 10 p.m.
“The shop is still this busy. Does the work really run with just the two of you?”
Ihaeja grumbled after having come by in the early evening and helping nonstop without even getting a chance to sit.
“If you know it’s busy, you could come help more often.”
Dojin shoved the bundle of curios they’d used that day into Ihaeja’s arms.
“Take these to the curio storage room.”
“Hey, isn’t that your job?”
“I need to clean the ‘Paulownia Brazier’. Or do you want the divine spirit to clean it?”
“You kidding me? You do both. I’ve already worked enough!”
As Ihaeja shouted, Iri looked up from tidying the workbench.
“Alright. Ihaeja, you can rest now. I’ll take the curios—just set them here.”
“…I just need to put these away, right? Okay, okay.”
Unable to dump the task on Iri after all, Ihaeja headed into the curio room himself.
Even after the last customer left, it took another thirty minutes of work before the shop was truly closed for the night.
The three of them gathered in the garden pavilion, gazing at the oak tree. Though it wasn’t particularly cold, Dojin managed—somehow—to drape his coat over Iri’s shoulders before speaking.
“Should I bring some warm tea and yakgwa?”
“No. We don’t know when we’ll need to move. Let’s just stay like this.”
They were waiting for the other side to take the bait.
Mina had posted online that she’d seen the man from the exorcism video, and someone called ‘ReportTheNewGod’ had replied. Mina had readily given him the location and time.
Ihaeja was currently connected to the café’s CCTV. Whether it was an ordinary human or a spirit, he’d be able to tell the moment someone accessed the feed. Once the bait was taken, Iri would immediately open a ‘passage’ and move them to the other party’s location.
