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The People’s Republic of China has become a colossal power at an astonishing pace.

With continuous advancements, it has expanded rapidly, reaching a state so high-tech that the image of its former impoverished and primitive days is hardly recognizable. Thus, China has succeeded in uniting the people under the banner of the Communist Party of China, rallying everyone in one heart to transform the nation into a great power.

However, sadly, despite such rapid growth, there were still many shortcomings.

From long ago, European countries, like ravenous wolves, invaded and exploited surrounding nations while advancing. Even the country that could be called the strongest empire in history, America, is included.

China still fell short in countering them.

Although no nation in Asia had the capacity to handle them, it was still inadequate to best the West…

This is why the Communist Party desperately sought asymmetric warfare capability, and they were putting in repeated efforts to achieve it. They had seen some degree of success.

Nuclear weapons?

Biochemical weapons?

No need to even mention it.

For quite some time, they not only extracted information from various countries but also cultivated a plethora of elite personnel like bacteriologists, chemists, and nuclear physicists. And it didn’t end with just training; they incentivized them with excellent treatment and the motivation of patriotism.

But that alone was insufficient.

The world wasn’t so simple that everything could be solved with just these weapons.

Take North Korea, a country that existed not long ago, for instance.

North Korea had an overwhelming stockpile of biochemical weapons that could overturn the entire planet. Additionally, they somehow managed to squeeze out enough resources to create nuclear arms, and while it may be a stretch for a long distance, they had the capability to project nuclear power even to nearby locations.

I’m not talking about missiles.

North Korea had secured a nuclear suitcase when the Soviet Union collapsed; some of this was disassembled for research to produce nuclear suitcases…. but the majority was kept for use in their final moments.

If necessary, they could drop Special Forces equipped with nuclear suitcases to detonate the bomb.

Of course, the one detonating the nuclear suitcase would likely perish…

But is that a problem?

The people must be loyal to the Party and be ready to toss their lives away like a straw.

However, even North Korea, possessing such military power, collapsed in an instant.

This delivered a tremendous shock to China.

From China’s perspective, while North Korea was hopelessly inadequate economically, leading one to question if this was the modern age, it had always been believed that thanks to the military power in its grasp, it could still sustain itself. Thus, they planned to take their time, making them dependent and assimilating them into a single entity.

If they merged with North Korea, it would provide a legitimate cause to absorb South Korea as well, which was obviously advantageous.

But…

It failed.

So swiftly did it collapse.

By causing a famine akin to one experienced during a little ice age, while suffering from the so-called “Arduous March,” strange actions occurred… and before China could even intervene, it utterly collapsed.

Due to the failure of the Great Ritual of Magic, the country collapsed for reasons so bizarre they’re hardly found in history.

No.

To be precise, the Great Ritual of Magic did not fail.

The Great Ritual of Magic succeeded spectacularly.

Only the criteria for success and failure were different.

From North Korea’s standpoint, it was a failure, while for those who were sacrificed to the Great Ritual, it was a success.

The Great Ritual of Magic succeeded, embodying the malice of the shamans and the resentments of the victims alike.

At least in terms of reflecting their true intentions, it was successful.

North Korea became a land of death.

It transformed into a place where evil spirits and evil ghosts thrived instead of people, and anyone who dared to set foot there… could find themselves possessed and dead, even in broad daylight, making it a forbidden zone.

At that moment, what thoughts did China have?

What did they think when witnessing North Korea’s demise due to the Great Ritual of Magic?

It was…

[ Today our role is reconnaissance. You know shamans don’t usually leave behind research materials, right? First, we’ll explore their dwelling to check for symbols, and if there’s something that looks special, we’ll record it. That way, we can see if it’s related to any ritual or Great Ritual, and determine the shaman’s level of ability. ]

…the dwelling of a shaman.

Just by sending agents to another country’s shaman’s dwelling, one can roughly guess the situation.

[ As discussed beforehand, we split into pairs. Team 1, led by the Team Leader, goes up. Team 2, led by the Deputy Team Leader, goes down. ]

* * *

“Wow. This feels creepy, doesn’t it?”

The ones boarding the elevator exuded a warm atmosphere.

Was it perhaps the effect of the shaky bridge?

They were intoxicated with the feeling that they had all become comrades, treating each other as if they were soldiers or agents being deployed on a dangerous mission.

They had no idea that real agents were on the first floor they had just passed.

“Haha. Right? This is a bit nerve-wracking. This feeling… Could it really be real?”

“Ooh. Didn’t the ghost-catching Yongdeok crab actually have some kind of inspiration? This might truly be real.”

“I was a bit skeptical since it was posted on the internet… but maybe today we’ll really get to see another world. It feels like I’ve become the protagonist of a horror game!”

“Are we talking about a horror game? Not a horror movie?”

“Games about other worlds tend to be more numerous in horror genres. Horror movies require special effects, which are expensive, so they don’t usually create themes about other worlds or hidden worlds. Even if they do, they’re usually terrible…”

“Is that so? I only knew about movies… Then can you recommend some games after this experience?”

“Oh, definitely. After the wrap-up, let’s go to a PC room together. I’ll list out some for you.”

They were drawing large circles in the elevator as stated in the manual, chatting away.

The excitement on their faces made it seem like they were looking forward to how fascinating the ‘other world’ might be.

And among these faces filled with anticipation was another emotion.

It was not fear.

The feeling of fear had long been replaced by excitement and anticipation.

What emotion, you ask…?

“But who wants to go first?”

“Hmm. I suppose we should have decided this beforehand before coming to the ghost building.”

“Let’s make it quick. If we take too long, we won’t all get to explore.”

“Tour? Hahaha. That’s right. If we want to tour efficiently, we have to move quickly. Alright, to quicken our tour, let’s play a game of Dedenchii and then decide with rock-paper-scissors.”

“Oh dear. What’s Dedenchii? Isn’t it Upera Dwijira?”

“Huh? Oh, I was wondering what you were talking about. You meant the hopping game?”

“Wow. Hahaha. Interesting. They say people call it differently in every region. In my region, we called it Jendi…”

It was all about that competitive spirit.

The desire to earn the honor of being the first to explore ignited the competitive fire in their hearts.

That’s why they decided to settle the order in the traditional way they had learned while playing at the playground.

Of course, in the process, memories resurfaced, and a good conversation bloomed again.

“Alright. Let’s do it simply with Dedenchii. The side with the smaller number goes first, right? Ready? Dedenchii!”

“Oh. We split quite a bit. Very well. Those who flipped their sides, put your hands down. Now, let’s do rock-paper-scissors.”

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

Thus, this peaceful method continued, and at last, it was determined who would make the first exploration.

“Haha. Here we go. I’m first! I’ll be back quickly. Hahaha!”

As they say, luck of a beginner?

The one who was recently starting in the haunted house experience got picked.

Though he felt closer to fear rather than excitement due to having little experience in haunted houses…

Nonetheless, having taken on the hobby of experiencing the bizarre and dangerous haunted house, instead of trembling in fear, he boldly stepped outside to prove he belonged to this gathering.

He walked forward into the darkness, tying a thread to himself, and while the sound of his footsteps echoed eerily, he moved forward. Of course, he carefully watched the thread in one hand to ensure it wouldn’t get caught on corners or odd spots and snap.

Didn’t the manual say?

If the thread breaks, you may never return.

No matter how good the haunted experience is, he certainly didn’t want to partake in such insane antics.

While he was curious about what would happen if he got trapped in another world, he certainly didn’t want to risk his life to find out.

Thus, the man disappeared into the darkness.

With just one piece of thread securely tied to the elevator.

 

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