Case in Seoul

Prologue

1982

Four boys approached a dark and abandoned old manor located in the old territory of Seoul. It was weird there was an old manor in the big city like Seoul with a lot of city lights and heavy traffics, but the manor itself located very hidden from the crowd and not many people wanted to come near the place. The boys were accepting a challenge from their classmates to prove their bravery. The challenge was to take some pictures inside the manor at night.

“Why do I have to agree to come here with all of you? Let’s just go home,” Kim Yoon Ha whined to his friends while he turned his flashlight on and pointed to the manor.

The light gave them an eerie atmosphere. The manor was dark and dusty, centuries caused the place to look fragile and old, the abandon gate added the fact that no one had ever entered the manor for a long time.

“Shut up! Do you want our friends call us cowards just because we can’t take some pictures?” Lee Jung Hoon answered.

“But, do you even know the story of this place?” Park Myung Hee interjected with worried face.

“No,” Jung Hoon answered with annoyed tone.

“It said this manor belonged to a powerful shaman in Joseon era,” Won Jin interjected. “He was so powerful, even the King himself was so afraid of him. Because of that, the King killed all of his family, even his fiance, and before he died, he transferred all his power to a crystal ball and the rumor said he hid the ball inside this manor.”

The other three boys blinked.

“It also said the shaman cursed anyone who dared to enter his manor,” Won Jin swallowed.

Jung Hoon scoffed. “It’s just a rumor to keep children like us to enter the place.“ He prepared his pocket camera and looked over his friends. “Let’s go.”

Jung Hoon stepped inside, passing the gate and a huge wind swept on them. The three boys looked around the dark manor, it was very quiet, and they were sure there was no wind before, so where did the huge wind come from?

They stepped again with slow steps, flashlight on hands, darting around the old place. Jung Hoon started to take some pictures when Won Jin sensed a movement on a corner and he shot his flashlight to the direction, only found a dark alley.

Won Jin shivered. “I think we should leave now,” he said in fear. “I don’t think we should be here.”

“Ssshhh...” Jung Hoon silenced his friend and approached closer to the main door. He opened it, and the sound broke the silence of the night.

The boys could feel the humidity inside the manor and it was heavily dusty, causing them to cough. Jung Hoon walked forward again and continued to walk to a room and then, gasped in surprise when he saw a big painting hanging in the room.

It was a painting of a man wearing Joseon clothes, and looked very young, even they could tell he was good looking too.

“Is...is he...the shaman?” Myung Hee asked, half-whispering.

“I think he is,” Yoon Ha answered and walked closer. He blew the dust on the lower frame and he could read the Hangul, “Min Jee.”

“Min Jee? No family name?” Jung Hoon asked, stepping closer, too, to the painting.

“Shaman rarely uses their family name, to protect their ancestors and descendants,” Won Jin added.

“You know a lot,” Jung Hoon said while narrowing his eyes.

Won Jin grinned. “I love history.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of something fell on the ground and the boys gasped. Won Jin glanced at the painting and suddenly, he had a bad feeling. “Guys, I think we should go now.”

Jung Hoon boldly took another step, getting deeper to the manor, ignoring his friend’s warning. “Let’s go to another room.”

The other two boys followed Jung Hoon eagerly while Won Jin still looked at the painting and a cold wind swept the frame, causing it to move slightly. He quickly left the room, shivering in fear.

In the other room, Jung Hoon was busy taking pictures. The blitz from his camera causing his friends behind him had to blink several times. When he aimed his camera to a direction, he saw a small chest on a table and lowered down his camera. Behind him, his friends looked around for they were sensing something strange in the room. A fog suddenly appeared from nowhere and the three boys quivered in fear and took steps backwards until they hit the wall.

Jung Hoon was still immersed with the chest and slowly took it on his hands. With wide eyes and thumping heart, he opened it and he saw something which Won Jin had talk about.

A crystal ball.

Jung Hoon didn’t realize the fog already turned into a shape of a man, standing tall in front of him with hard expression. His friends wanted to warn him, but somehow they lost their voice. They also couldn’t move, as if they were casted by a spell.

“You have something that belongs to me,” the man said with his hollow voice.

The boy froze and with shaking hands, he looked up to see the man or a spirit of a man stood in front of him. His body shook with fear, he wanted to turn around and ran away, but he couldn’t move his legs. One of his friends threw his flashlight to the man, but the flashlight just passed through him.

He was not a human.