WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ How to Rewrite Ghost Stories ◈
Episode 42: Jangsalgot Submerged Site (4)
──────
“You said we should go to the mountain. It hasn’t even been ten seconds since they told us to stay put and left.”
“If we just sit still whenever someone tells us not to, what are we supposed to do? Sleep here under the blankets?”
“Is it really all right to act like this?”
“I may not look it, but I’m Haetae’s ace. Go ask Section Chief Seo.”
I doubted that.
Still, Lee Gangrim did not seem like the sort of person who listened when someone tried to stop them. When I gave up, they quickly shoved the bedding aside and started sketching a map on the vinyl floor with the pen they carried.
“If this is behind the community hall, the gate is here, and the Pony is here. This part of the wall was lower, right? But that corner by the trees is shaded, and there are earthenware jars behind Gusan House if we climb over there, so it’ll make a lot of noise.”
“If they think we’re outsiders, a few of the older residents might be patrolling. In that case, they’re most likely to be here and here...”
“...”
“Do you remember anything else? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“...You remember all of that?”
“My brain’s pretty good.”
I had thought Lee Gangrim had been poking around the houses because they had some kind of plan, but from that brief search alone, they had recreated the entire map of Jangsalgot Village.
They had even marked the number and names of residents in each house, along with the locations of their main rooms.
‘Do they have some kind of perfect memory...?’
If ghost stories were real and ghosts really ate people, then perhaps camera-like memory could be real too.
“...What was over there?”
When I pointed to one part of the map, Lee Gangrim looked up.
“Probably the blue-tile-roof house. Why?”
“The village map looks strange.”
Looking down at the village in map form, it revealed a completely different image from what I had seen while walking through it or looking at the old map.
“It’s a cape.”
A cape. A piece of land jutting into the sea or a lake, surrounded by water on three sides. The sort of pointed stretch of land with a lighthouse at the end.
But looking at this village as a map, the rows of houses formed a protruding strip of land. The rice paddies and fields surrounded it like the sea. At the farthest point stood the blue-tile-roof house.
“Why would the village’s richest tiled house choose such an unfavorable location in terms of feng shui?”
In residential feng shui, mountains should lie behind a house and water in front. Water should be low, mountains high, and while the entrance may be narrow, the interior courtyard should open wide. That was supposed to be the structure that welcomed fortune and gathered energy.
“What if it was built correctly according to feng shui, even if outsiders like us and younger people don’t understand it?”
“For example?”
“Didn’t they say the blue-tile-roof house opposed the submergence most strongly? And that Jangsalgot must not fill with water. Also, the village is only called Jangsalgot. According to what you remember, Gangrim, its administrative name was different.”
Lee Gangrim’s gaze sharpened with interest. It felt like it might burn a hole through my face.
“A lighthouse goes at the farthest point of a cape, with the sea before it. So this blue-tile-roof house sits with this mountain as its sea and land behind its back.”
I drew a long line from the front of the blue-tile-roof house across the map. It cut straight through the middle of the mountain ridge.
“If the villagers call it Jangsalgot because it is a cape facing somewhere called Jangsal, then isn’t it reasonable to assume Jangsal House is here?”
And if my memory was right, this was also where the enormous tree presumed to be the village guardian tree in the photograph should be.
“...What do you think?”
Was there something wrong with my deduction? I did not think so. Hertz was taking my side through the earphones too.
Yet Lee Gangrim’s expression remained sharp. What were they thinking?
“You’re a genius.”
All the tension drained out of me. Lee Gangrim’s eyes lit up, and after a quick glance at the map, they scrubbed it away with their jumper.
Like chalk being wiped off, the map vanished in an instant, leaving only smudges and dust.
“Let’s go.”
Lee Gangrim took the lead, and I followed. Outside was quiet. We slipped out as though heading to the toilet and hid beneath the shadows cast along the wall.
“Can’t we hide ourselves with the goblin-fire lantern?”
“No. It might hide us from supernatural things, but it probably won’t work on people. The principle is to minimize anything that could lead to a fight.”
“Could hurting those people cause problems in reality?”
Without even taking a running start, Lee Gangrim climbed onto the wall, grabbed me with both arms, and pulled me up. We crawled forward flat against the wall like grubs.
“It would be nice if not, but sometimes it does. What if we kill someone here and their child disappears from the future?”
“Then... we definitely need to be careful.”
We climbed down where the wall turned. Once the shadow of someone passing beyond the corner disappeared, we moved diagonally. Then, hunched low, we passed behind the Pony.
“That must be the blue-tile-roof house.”
The moonlight was brighter than I expected. In the dark, the blue tiles shimmered almost white beneath it.
The gate that had stayed shut and refused to open during the day was now...
“...Open.”
The gate stood wide open, facing the mountain. A white path stretched from it into the mountain like the pebbles from Hansel and Gretel.
Without needing to say who should go first, we faced each other and nodded.
‘That is why they told us not to come out.’
We began climbing the mountain during a gap between the passing shadows. Gangrim led, and I followed close behind.
Not even insects chirped. The moon frequently vanished behind the trees, and the path that had looked white when we entered soon became so dark that I could not even make out the shape of my shoes.
[Don’t worry. Even if a cliff appears in my partner’s path, I can let you know.]
With Hertz’s gentle encouragement, climbing the path was not especially difficult. The villagers’ shadows occasionally appeared.
“...They told us not to come out at night. Are people here because they’re watching us?”
“It seems more like a patrol... And there are no signs anyone has gone beyond this boundary. This must be the border.”
Lee Gangrim tied a strip of cloth tightly around a nearby tree as a marker, then continued up the path.
The white road disappeared, and absolute darkness stretched before us.
“...Isn’t it getting cold?”
Night air was cold, and mountains were colder, but this was beyond that. Frigid air stung the tip of my nose with every breath.
White vapor rose from my mouth. The air felt cold enough for the vapor itself to freeze, mixed with the fishy, damp stench of something that had rotted for a long time.
“Doesn’t this smell like a mudflat, youngest?”
“I smell it too. ...What is with that ‘youngest’ nickname?”
“Ah. Seongun joined our team, and I’ve been teaching them lately. I got used to calling them that. Should I call you Youngest Number Two instead?”
“...No. Just... no, call me whatever you want.”
“All right, youngest. Watch your step. If you get distracted in a place like this, something will grab your ankle.”
That was not entirely wrong. My legs were growing heavier by the moment. Each step sank deep, as if I were walking through a mudflat in waterlogged clothes.
Lee Gangrim, walking ahead, did not seem to be faring much better.
‘Hertz, is there a tree or something up ahead?’
[There are plenty of trees.]
‘No, not that kind. Something like a huge old tree... Tell me if anything like that is about to appear.’
[Of course. Watch your footing, partner.]
“...Wait.”
Lee Gangrim abruptly raised a hand and stopped. They closed their eyes, pressed a hand close to one ear, and listened.
The wind. The sound of dirt rolling. The creak of branches rubbing and clattering against one another.
Slap, whoooosh...
“...Waves?”
That was impossible. Jecheon was inland, and even if this was only the mountain behind the village, it was still a mountain. It was not waves. It was probably just leaves brushing in the wind...
“Youngest!!”
By the time Lee Gangrim’s shout struck my ears, it was too late. Their arm reaching for me unfolded in slow motion.
Huh?
My body tipped backward. The foot I had planted firmly on the ground slipped, and something yanked me back.
At the same time, my body rose into the air as if I had been struck head-on by a wave from a wave pool.
“I’ve got you!! I’ve got you, so keep your head straight!”
A powerful grip snatched my wrist. Lee Gangrim held onto a tree with one hand and clutched me with the other.
The earth beneath their feet caved in and began to slide.
“...Gangrim, I don’t think you can do it...!”
Something gripped my body and dragged me down. From the waist down, I could not even struggle, as though caught in a whirlpool so powerful there was no way to rise through it.
Invisible water, an invisible sea, was trying to swallow me.
“What do you mean, I can’t?! Don’t talk nonsense while I’m pulling you up. Give me your other arm!”
The sound of crashing waves pounded dully against my ears. My shoulder felt as though it would dislocate.
What would happen if I became a water ghost on a mountain? If I let go now, could I at least save Gangrim?
‘Ha, Seon Jaehyeon. Since when were you so self-sacrificing?’
Getting back up was impossible. Below me, rocks tumbled down a sheer drop, but nothing caught against my flailing legs.
I needed to find a better way before I drowned on a mountain.
Places on mountains where water came from, other than valleys or lakes...
[Do you need help, partner?]
‘Do you have a good idea?’
[This time, I think it will be enough if I help by reading you a story.]
Hertz’s soft voice pushed back the sound of the waves.
The story of Jangsal that I had read, the story I needed to read...
“Gangrim!”
The veins in Lee Gangrim’s arm had bulged to their limit, leaving red bruises across the skin.
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, just be quiet...!”
“I thought of it! The answer to this phenomenon!”
“What is it?!”
“We need to go beneath the water!”
“What kind of stupid thing is that? I’m going through all this to pull you up...!”
“What is below us is not a cliff. If not now, we won’t be able to go beneath the water!”
“But this is a mountain...!”
“It is the sea!!”
The waves grew fiercer, and each time I opened my mouth, invisible saltwater flooded in.
The water that had held me motionless to the waist rose above my chest.
It was the most reasonable conclusion I could reach right now.
“That is why there was no village guardian tree. It is beneath the water!!”
Lee Gangrim’s eyes wavered. Doubt, terror, and fear mingled there for a moment before their gaze hardened with a decision.
“Are you sure?”
Water rushed into my nose, and I burst into coughing. I barely managed a nod.
That brief struggle was my answer.
“Fine, hold on tight. Don’t let go!!”
Lee Gangrim released the hand holding the tree and pulled me into their arms.
A wave struck our backs with a slap, and our bodies rose into the air.
A brief sense of floating. A rise that defied gravity.
Then came the immense shock of falling.
The dizzying sensation of plunging straight down on a roller coaster, cold and salty water swallowing me to the top of my head, and then being sucked beneath a whirlpool.
The world spun like I had been thrown into a giant washing machine.
My sense of direction collapsed. In pitch-black darkness, the roar of waves poured down like torrential rain, then gradually faded away.
“Cough! Hack, gasp... Cough...!”
The crushing water pressure slid away as if by magic, like the ebbing tide.
The violent current changed as if it had been a lie, becoming shallow waves that gently washed over my body.
Water really did spray from my mouth. My whole mouth tasted of salt.
Only then did I realize that the heavy weight pressing on me was not water, but Lee Gangrim. They had not let go of me once, still holding me tightly.
“...I’m dying. ...You alive, youngest?”
“...Yes. Barely. ...I’m safe thanks to you. Thank you.”
“Where are we...? It feels like we fell into somewhere even stranger. I hope the rabbit hole our youngest made actually leads where it should.”
Clatter.
A pebble struck my hand. Whenever the black waves receded, pebbles rolled with an eerie rattle.
When I looked up at the sky, I saw high walls and ceiling-like darkness, as if I had fallen into a well.
‘...Huh.’
“Youngest, where the hell are we?”
When I turned my head, a village began to emerge through the thick water mist covering the ground.
Houses with bent slate roofs and houses thatched with rotting waterweed sat in the darkness. Bubbles occasionally rose through the open windows.
And the waves went slap, slap.
The scene looked like Jangsalgot Village had been picked up and dropped into the water, then left to age for decades.
The flagpole before the community hall was covered in barnacles, while the boxy Pony swayed beneath a coating of seaweed.
“...The Dragon Palace.”
The final location in the camcorder footage showing the missing people lay before me.
Footnotes:
The Dragon Palace is a Korean folkloric underwater realm, commonly associated with the Dragon King.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
