In the afternoon streets of Gyeongju, a twelve year old boy walked alone along the sidewalk. He wore a simple school uniform and carried a backpack slung over one shoulder. At first glance nothing about him looked unusual, except for one small detail. The boy kept his head lowered as he walked, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground.
That boy was Gyeom Wook.
Two years had passed since the night he awakened his Third Eye.
Life had not become easier during those two years. There were days filled with anxiety, nights spent crying alone, and countless moments when he wished he had never seen the things that now surrounded him every day. Despite that, Gyeom Wook still clung tightly to his life. Even after witnessing things no child should ever see, he kept moving forward.
To ordinary pedestrians passing by, the boy simply looked shy or lost in thought as he walked with his head down. No one paid him much attention.
If they could see what he saw, their reaction would have been very different.
Following closely behind him was a ghost.
It was tall and thin with a face shaped strangely like an owl's. Its long neck bent forward unnaturally, allowing its head to hover near Gyeom Wook's shoulder even though the creature itself was nearly as tall as an electric pole. Its body was twisted and its limbs hung loosely like broken branches.
The ghost leaned closer and spoke in a raspy voice that carried the foul smell of rot.
"Can you see me?"
Gyeom Wook did not react.
Not even a little.
His head remained lowered as he continued walking along the street as if he had heard nothing at all. Inside, however, he was sweating buckets.
He had encountered this particular ghost before. Last month the same creature had followed him for an entire day, whispering the same annoying question over and over again. Since then Gyeom Wook had tried his best to avoid this ghost's route's whenever possible.
Apparently the ghost had decided to change its usual wandering area. Gyeom Wook sighed internally. Of all the spirits he could have encountered today, it had to be this persistent idiot.
Still, there was nothing he could do about it.
The owl faced ghost was not the only unpleasant thing wandering the streets. When Gyeom Wook carefully glanced ahead, he could see countless grotesque figures scattered throughout the area. Some drifted aimlessly along the road while others clung to buildings like shadows.
A dreadful aura leaked from a narrow alley nearby.
On the opposite side of the street, the faint outline of a lifeless and rotting spirit lay sprawled across the pavement. It was probably the lingering resentment of someone who had died in a crime long ago.
Scenes like this had become part of Gyeom Wook's daily life. Even after two years, however, he never managed to grow completely used to them. A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he tried to calm himself.
Maybe he should buy a new novel today. Losing himself in stories was still the easiest way to distract his mind from the things surrounding him. With that thought in mind, Gyeom Wook slowly made his way toward the small bookstore he often visited.
As he approached the entrance, something strange happened. The owl faced ghost stopped. It halted several meters away from the door as if it had suddenly run into an invisible wall.
Gyeom Wook noticed it immediately, but he continued walking as if nothing had happened. Pretending not to see things had already become second nature to him. Still, a question appeared in his mind.
That's strange.
This ghost was annoyingly persistent. Normally it would have followed him everywhere without hesitation. Yet now it simply stood there. Gyeom Wook did not question his luck too much and quietly stepped inside the bookstore. The moment he entered, he noticed something unusual.
The place felt calm.
Gyeom Wook slowly glanced around the shop.
Several customers browsed through the shelves while the owner stood behind the counter flipping through a magazine. Everything looked normal. But something important was missing.
There were no ghosts in sight.
Usually places filled with people attracted at least a few wandering spirits or lingering resentment. Yet inside this bookstore there was nothing. No dreadful presence, no cold whispers, no distorted figures lurking in the corners, just normal people.
Gyeom Wook quietly let out a small sound.
"Huh?"
The realization made his chest tighten. For the first time in years, his surroundings looked completely ordinary. Even though his expression barely changed, tears slowly gathered at the corners of his eyes.
He quickly wiped them away before anyone could notice. How long had it been since he last saw a place like this?
A place where nothing unnatural existed. After taking a moment to calm himself, Gyeom Wook began thinking more carefully about the situation.
There had to be a reason for this.
Everything had a reason.
Determined to figure it out, he began searching the small bookstore carefully. He checked every corner he could think of, from the narrow bathroom in the back to the counter near the entrance. He even crouched down to look beneath the shelves and along the edges of the walls.
Several minutes passed.
Then Gyeom Wook suddenly felt something.
A faint warmth. It felt like standing near a small bonfire on a cold winter day. Following the feeling, he slowly walked toward a quiet corner of the store where several shelves of books stood closely together.
There, resting between the other books, was a single worn volume. As Gyeom Wook stepped closer, the warmth became clearer.
He quietly muttered to himself.
"I knew there had to be a reason…"
The strange energy coming from the book felt completely different from the dreadful presences he encountered outside. Instead of cold fear, it carried a calm and gentle warmth.
Gyeom Wook carefully reached out and picked it up. The cover looked old and slightly faded, decorated with patterns that reminded him of a wizard's spell book. Curious, Gyeom Wook opened it.
The story inside seemed surprisingly ordinary. It was a typical fantasy webnovel about a Demon King threatening the world and the heroes destined to rise against him.
Yet as Gyeom Wook read the first few lines, a strange feeling crept into his mind. For some reason, the story felt unusually vivid.
*****
From that day onward, the strange book became Gyeom Wook's saving grace.
After discovering it in the bookstore, he brought it to the counter and asked to buy it. The owner checked the store's records and could not even find the book listed in their catalog. Despite that, the man simply shrugged and allowed him to purchase it anyway.
Since then, the book never left Gyeom Wook's side.
Wherever he went, the book went with him. He carried it to school, brought it along when he went shopping, and even kept it close when he went out with friends. Some people found it a little strange that he always carried the same old book everywhere, but no one questioned him too deeply.
After all, they could not see what he saw. With the book near him, the ghosts that once surrounded him could no longer approach. Their dreadful presence vanished whenever he carried it.
For the first time in years, Gyeom Wook could walk through the streets without fear. He could even look at his own reflection in a mirror without seeing something horrifying staring back.
He had never felt so grateful for anything in his life.
Over time he also discovered something interesting. Whenever he read the book, the calm warmth surrounding it grew stronger and spread farther. Because of that, he read the story again and again, sometimes finishing the entire novel only to start from the beginning once more.
Eventually the effect became even stronger. There were days when he left the book at home, yet the gentle influence surrounding it still spread throughout the area. By then the book's presence was strong enough to cover the entire neighborhood. Later, it felt as if the warmth extended across most of Gyeongju itself.
Because of that, Gyeom Wook was finally able to live like a normal boy. He had normal looking friends. A normal family. No dreadful spirits lurking nearby. No annoying whispers beside his ears. The fear, the anxiety, and the suffocating sense of dread that had once followed him everywhere gradually disappeared. For the first time since he was ten years old, life finally felt ordinary.
Five years passed.
Now seventeen, Gyeom Wook sat in his room playing an FPS game on his computer. His fingers tapped quickly across the keyboard while his other hand moved the mouse with practiced speed. After a long gaming session, he finally leaned back in his chair and let out a deep breath.
"That was exhausting."
He stretched his arms above his head. Several soft cracking sounds echoed from his joints as his stiff muscles relaxed. His eyes felt slightly sore from staring at the screen for so long, and he rubbed them slowly while blinking away the moisture gathering at the corners.
After a moment he simply stared at the computer monitor in silence. He had grown older without really noticing it. Seventeen years old. He was already approaching adulthood. Soon he would have to decide what kind of future he wanted for himself. Lately he had been thinking seriously about college and what path he should take.
Becoming a doctor had crossed his mind more than once.
More specifically, a surgeon.
Part of that interest probably came from the medical dramas he had watched on television, but most of it came from genuine curiosity. The human body had fascinated him as he grew after he had the book. Whenever he imagined himself wearing a doctor's coat and working inside an operating room, the thought strangely excited him.
It sounded cool.
The idea of being called "Doctor" also carried a certain charm. As he sat there thinking about it, a wave of sleepiness suddenly crept over him even though it was still early in the day.
The clock on his computer read 11:00 AM.
Gyeom Wook blinked slowly and glanced around his room, wondering what he should do next. That was when he noticed it. The old book rested quietly on a nearby shelf. The same book he had discovered five years ago when he was twelve.
In his eyes, the book still shone with a gentle radiance, almost like a small sun quietly resting inside his room.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
He stood up from his gaming chair, walked over to the shelf, and carefully picked it up. Then he carried it to his bed and lay down comfortably with the book resting in his hands.
"You really saved me, you know that?"
He spoke softly to the book as if it were an old friend capable of listening.
"If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have survived those years."
Gyeom Wook looked at the cover for a moment before smiling again. Maybe he should read it once more. The last time he read the story had been about a week ago. By now he had lost count of how many times he had reread it. The plot itself was simple, just a typical fantasy story about a Demon King threatening the world and heroes rising to defeat him. Yet strangely enough, the story never felt boring.
Every time he read it, the world inside the pages felt more vivid. These days he no longer reread it just to strengthen the book's warmth. He genuinely enjoyed the story itself. Slowly, he opened the first page.
The moment he did, the book began to glow. Gyeom Wook was not surprised at first. This had happened many times before whenever the book's warmth grew stronger. But something was different than the usual.
The light continued growing brighter and brighter.
"…Huh?"
Gyeom Wook frowned slightly.
The glow was far stronger than usual. Instead of the gentle warmth he was familiar with, the light now shone so intensely that it almost looked like it might explode. It took him a moment to realize something was wrong.
"Wait… what's happening?"
Before he could react, the light suddenly expanded. His entire room was swallowed by a blinding white glow. The air around him filled with sparkling waves of energy that poured out from the book in his hands. Gyeom Wook barely had time to panic. Then suddenly everything vanished. In the blink of an eye, the light disappeared and Gyeom Wook was no longer to be seen lying on his bed.