I’m the Only One Who Can’t See Ghosts

 Chapter 4: Pyeon Station

========== WARNING ==========

Located 10 meters underground, Pyeon Station is an impossible existence. Turn back immediately.

Entering Pyeon Station may result in death, physical harm, mental contamination, and ███ extraordinary phenomena. Turn back immediately.

=============================

========== WARNING ==========

Located 5 meters underground, Pyeon Station is an impossible existence. Turn back immediately.

Entering Pyeon Station may lead to encountering torn images, irreverent cries from the womb, singing voices, and the revelation of His name on the day the world ends. Turn back immediately.

=============================

Beyond this point lies Pyeon Station.

=============================

========== WARNING ==========

Pyeon Station begins here.

=============================

========== WARNING ==========

This is Pyeon Station.

Immediately turn away from beyond Pyeon ██████.

=============================

* * *

What kind of place was Pyeon Station?

I had only heard rumors; frankly, even I didn't know much.

But Professor Wiki knew everything.

<Pyeon Station is a bizarre phenomenon that replaces one of the Seoul subway stations. The entrance of the station replaced by Pyeon Station looks the same, but its name is subtly changed to Pyeon Station.>

According to the wiki, that was the case. The entrance was the same, but the name was changed, like Pyeon Station Exit 3. If one didn't notice and enter, they are doomed.

Honestly, how many people pay attention to the subway station's name every day? Most are too exhausted and instinctively commute by subway. How many would actually check the station's name?

<If a subway line is replaced by Pyeon Station, it ceases operation. Continuing to operate a line replaced by Pyeon Station will lead the train to Dead Station, Nightmare Station, ███ Station, etc. If Noryangjin Station becomes Pyeon Station, Lines 1 and 9 will both collapse into chaotic disorder.>

I remembered this too.

I was late to my part-time job when Line 9 stopped operating.

Got fired that day. Damn it.

I continued to gaze at Wiki.

<Next to Exit 2 on the first underground floor of Pyeon Station, near the emergency exit, is the safest spot. Despite being the safest, staring at this photo for too long can cause eye pain.>

I looked over the first floor of Pyeon Station.

Surprisingly, it was a clean subway station.

The doors were shut, but there were stalls that seemed like they once sold snacks like Delimanjoo, and even newspaper stands, which were rare nowadays.

And far off, near the exit's emergency door, people huddled together. After noticing this, I looked back at Wiki.

<Do not enter Pyeon Station under any circumstance. Even though Pyeon Station is classified as a C-grade anomaly, most ordinary people lose their lives even in F-grade anomalies.>

I know, damn it. I'm barely keeping my cool, pretending to be brave.

This was my first time exploring an anomaly.

I had lived my life completely disconnected from psychics and psychic abilities.

I couldn't let anyone know I couldn't see ghosts, so I had no choice.

With mixed feelings, I continued to stare at my smartphone.

<If you happen to enter Pyeon Station, never look straight ahead. The aura of Pyeon Station will penetrate and infiltrate your psychic energy. A skilled psychic might be able to take a brief look with the aid of auxiliary tools.>

They should've told me this earlier.

I cautiously lowered my gaze.

Wait, I couldn't see ghosts, so do I really need to look down?

Honestly, I kind of wanted to see a ghost.

What do other people see as they live their lives?

What had my younger sister seen before her psychic eye awakened?

I really wanted to see it, just once.

Thinking this, I put down Wiki.

'As soon as you enter Pyeon Station, find the newspaper stand. There, you will find an escape manual created by the government to increase your chances of escaping Pyeon Station.'

That's right. Jamsuni had explained it. According to her, anomalies were like twisted, incomplete ghost gates. Even when I said I didn't want to hear about psychic abilities, she kept bragging about how amazing she was.

Anyway, that kid had said that for a ghost gate to exist as a ghost gate, it must follow certain rules. Otherwise, it would break the law of being a passageway between the spirit world and the mortal world, and it would cease to exist as a gate.

Therefore, there were specific rules in anomalies, and if one followed them well, even the weakest could survive. These rules were compiled in what was called an escape manual.

I approached the newspaper stand and examined the papers. Newspapers from the early 2000s were neatly placed there, without a speck of dust.

Among them lay an out-of-place newspaper. 

This must be the escape manual. I briefly skimmed through it.

========== Subway Daily ==========

This document is a Pyeon Station escape manual disguised as a newspaper. Citizens, please do not lose hope and be aware that the Government of South Korea is doing its utmost to rescue you.

Pretend to read the newspaper while thoroughly going through this manual.

================================

Huh, starts off with a bunch of nonsense. 

'Trying their best to rescue us.' As if they have the power to.

I continued reading the manual.

========== Subway Daily ==========

1. Pyeon Station is a level three anomaly consisting of a waiting room, a B2 platform, and a B3 platform. A B4 level does not exist, so please avoid any means of going down from B3.

2. 

3. In Pyeon Station, a malevolent spirit that bewitches people roams around. If you arrived at Pyeon Station alone, continue to move alone. If you have companions, remember the number of people in your group. However, if you lack strong psychic abilities, even if you notice the spirit, pretend not to.

4. There are two known ways to escape Pyeon Station. One is to buy a ticket and board a subway heading to Saengmun Station from the B2 platform. The other is to take a subway heading towards Miryang from the B3 platform. There is no third option.

5. You must never board the train heading to Cheonan from the B2 platform, nor the train to Seoul from the B3 platform. Similarly, you should not board subways heading to Saengmun Station or Miryang Lake.

6. If an announcement is made about a train coming from beyond arriving at either the B2 or B3 platforms, quickly return to the waiting room. The Anomaly Response Headquarters has received information that something hostile to humans is on that train.

7. Subway tickets must be purchased with cash and coins. If the subway ticket office lists the price as 'tomorrow's sweet dream', 'a forgotten memory', 'an unpleasant smell', or 'the name of one of your parents', do not pay it under any circumstances.

After it takes your dreams or memories as payment, it will return them as a change in the form of dreams or memories about a being that emerges when a squirming, light-emitting baby hermit crab notices the insides writhing.

If a colleague receives change, eliminate them immediately. It is for your survival and the safety of South Korea. Please make a decisive action.

8.

9. Upon escaping Pyeon Station, contact the South Korean Anomaly Response Headquarters immediately. We will provide a reward, treatment, and various benefits. We wish you luck.

================================

I finished reading roughly.

But why were points 2 and 8 left blank?

"Seems like they were rules that don't apply anymore, so they were removed in the latest edition."

Understanding it as such, I summarized the escape methods from Pyeon Station.

First, buy a subway ticket with cash and coins at the waiting room.

Second, go down to the second or third floor and board a train heading to Saengmun Station from the second floor, or towards Miryang from the third floor.

That's it? Sounds pretty easy.

I hoped this wasn't some sort of test to escape from here.

I casually surveyed the waiting room.

Nothing seemed dangerous at a glance.

"Hmm."

Let's head to where the people are gathered.

My goal was to get close to them.

Despite my sister's warning to stay away from psychics, in a life-threatening situation, I have no choice.

As I approached the emergency exit, piercing stares met me. Most looked like students, viewing me as a competitor, their eyes wolf-like.

This won't be easy.

Still, I needed to find someone who could fight against Cheonsu.

What was the reason I even came down here?

If I were alone, I would never have dared to come to a place like Pyeon Station. The thought of it swarming with prodigy psychics was intimidating, but that was exactly what gave me the courage to descend.

“Ah, hello?”

No response came.

The students just stared at me as if thinking, 'What's with this crazy guy?' 

Damn it. I don't even want to be friends with you all.

I'm scared you'll notice something unusual about me.

Feeling dejected, I hung my head. 

Damn. When will the proctor arrive?

But I knew I had to muster up courage if I didn't want to end up tortured and killed by Cheonsu.

I tried speaking up again.

“Um, is anyone thinking about forming a team? I'm pretty strong, you know!”

“Please be quiet.”

A woman's voice came from beside me.

She was dressed like a shaman.

She looked older than Jamsuni, probably a high school student, but still too young to be an adult.

What was unique about her was her pink-dyed hair braided into twin tails. Surely, the pink hair wasn't natural, right?

The pink-haired shaman girl spoke up.

“Considering I don't sense any malevolent aura, it's clear you're neither possessed by an evil spirit nor a normal possessed individual.”

“Of course not. If I were possessed, do you think the people here would have let me live?”

I looked at the students. Their eyes were intense, making it clear they were all significant psychics.

“Which clan do you belong to? Who is your master?”

“Oh, um, I don't have anything like that.”

At those words, laughter echoed from around me.

My plan to make friends and allies among the students.

Somehow, it felt like this plan was plummeting into a pit.

“It's quite surprising that someone as weak as you managed to survive and make it here.”

The pink-haired shaman girl was mocking me.

"Weakling, please know your place and stay quiet."

"Know my place, you say?"

"Yes, or do I need to teach you your place?"

Click-click – 

As the pink-haired shaman girl twisted her wrist, the tiles around me began to vibrate. Just a twist of her wrist unleashing such power.

Crazy, right. The exam participants are powerful psychics too. That means many here might be no different from Cheonsu.

My plan to befriend the students might have been wrong from the start.

Maybe I should have run to a place with no psychics at all.

"Everyone, save your strength for the main exam, shall we?"

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"Is this the power of Cheonji's proctor?"

"Amazing. This is our proctor."

At that, the impudent pink-haired shaman girl and the other mocking jerks all started taking a specific pose, bowing their heads. I thought about mimicking them, but it seemed like a step-by-step motion and I fumbled. Embarrassed, I simply bowed my head.

Is this really a Cheonji proctor? I don't feel any power. Honestly, I thought even someone like me without a trace of spiritual sense would feel something from a Cheonji proctor. But I felt nothing.

"I apologize, Proctor. We caused a disturbance."

However, it seemed like the psychics felt something. Even the pink-haired shaman girl who was being so nasty to me was now bowing her head in a tense salute.

Of course, I could only stand there, dumbfounded.

Honestly, I didn't know much about the etiquette among psychics.

I never had close psychic friends, and I kept my distance, not wanting to reveal that I lacked spiritual eyes.

I should have learned more about psychics.

I followed my sister's advice too strictly.

Still, wanting to make a good impression after regaining my senses, I timidly bowed my head. The proctor noticed and smiled silently at me. 

That's good, right?

Then the proctor spoke.

"I am Cheonji's Instructor, overseeing this exam. Pleased to meet you."