“Agh, my back, my neck, my everything…”
After tumbling down the stairs from Deck 1 to Deck 0, Han Jae-hee clutched his sides, groaning.
Thanks to the old, filthy carpet lining the steps and his own surprising resilience, he hadn’t broken anything, but every muscle ached. His limbs, already exhausted from the mad dash, refused to obey.
“What did I do to deserve this? Ooof, my blood sugar’s crashing. I’m starving…”
He staggered down the last few steps and set foot on the floor of Deck 0.
“Gack!” Han Jae-hee clamped a sleeve over his nose. “What is that smell?”
The stench of rot permeated everything.
Deck 1 had been far from fragrant—it carried a grungy, musty odor—but it was nothing compared to this.
“Do they not clean or ventilate this place? Even in a prison, you need some basic hygiene if you want to live a long, sickly life… huh?”
Clutching his nose, Han Jae-hee glanced around and finally noticed how dark it was.
Deck 1 had been lit by natural light and overhead lamps, but here on Deck 0, every window was nailed shut with steel plates, and all the lights were shattered.
And in this damp, sickening darkness…
With a start, he realized something was hanging from the ceiling.
Squeak… squeak…
Each time the cruise ship swayed with the waves, it swung faintly from side to side.
As his eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom, Han Jae-hee finally realized what it was.
“A body…?”
A skeleton. A decaying skeleton hung by its neck, swaying pitifully.
A beat later, Han Jae-hee noticed something else. All along the sprawling corridor of Deck 0, skeletons were hanging in a line, swaying in the gloom.
“…”
The stench of rot no longer bothered him. His mind had frozen, overwhelmed by a far greater shock. The sight of the corpses, hanging in a row and swinging in unison like pendulums with the ship’s movement, was unbelievably grotesque.
“What is this place…?”
Just then—tap, tap. Without warning or sound, a cold hand suddenly tapped him on the shoulder from behind.
Jae-hee’s body contorted in terror, and he leaped into the air.
“WAAAAAAHH?!”
He spun around. A woman with a shock of disheveled white hair was staring at him with chilling blue eyes.
She exhaled a frosty breath and asked in an icy voice, “What are you doing here?”
After barely managing to keep himself from fainting, Han Jae-hee mustered every last ounce of strength he had and screamed.
“MOMMYYY! A GHOOOOST!”
The woman replied. “Yeah.”
“…Wuh?”
“That’s me.”
Clutching his pounding heart, Han Jae-hee forced his trembling body to still and focused his mind.
The woman before him looked remarkably familiar. That messy white hair. Those lonely blue eyes. And the cigarette dangling from her lips…
Finally recognizing her, Han Jae-hee was so overcome with relief that tears welled up in his eyes as he cried out.
“Grandma Ghooost?!”
***
Deck 0. Also known as ‘Rock Bottom.’
Central Section. Guard’s Lounge.
Creeeak—
Ghost pushed open a shabby door and gestured behind her.
“Get in.”
Han Jae-hee hesitantly followed her inside, craning his neck to survey the room marked GUARD’S LOUNGE.
Back when this deck was still operational, it had been a break room for the guards, but since their complete withdrawal from Deck 0, it had been left to decay, covered in a thick layer of dust.
“Uh, isn’t this space for the correctional officers? Are we allowed to use it?”
“They all ran off, and I’ve been playing enforcer down here ever since. No one’s gonna bitch about me using this room.”
Rummaging through a cupboard, Ghost grimaced and scratched the back of her head. “Still, got a guest and nothing to offer. This deck never has anything decent…”
She tossed aside an empty box of instant coffee sticks and turned around with a hum.
“Hmm… Want a cloud cookie? I’ll specially spare you one.”
As Ghost shook a cigarette out of the pack in her pocket, Han Jae-hee vigorously shook his head.
She placed the cigarette between her own lips, her brow furrowing. “Come to think of it, you don’t smoke?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I wanna live a long life.”
“Dream big, why don’t you.”
Living as a criminal in a world gone to hell, it was harder not to drink or smoke, but Jae-hee was one of those rare exceptions.
In any case, hearing that he didn’t smoke, Ghost didn’t light her own cigarette either, simply chewing on it as she leaned against the wall.
“Anyway… As you can see, Deck 0 is dangerous. It’s where they keep the ‘unconventional prisoners.’”
“Unconventional… which means?”
“The ones whose powers can’t be sealed, even with Null Cuffs. The ones who keep causing problems no one can handle. The ones who are too dangerous to keep, but too useful to kill. Prisoners like that.”
The true dregs of society, abandoned even by the management of a prison for the Awakened.
This was Rock Bottom, Deck 0, the place where only the absolute worst were confined.
Does that mean Grandma Ghost is one of those dangerous convicts, too?
As the thought crossed Jae-hee’s mind, Ghost explained nonchalantly, “The corridor you came down is one of the most dangerous areas on this deck… the territory of a guy with the callsign ‘Hangman.’”
“Even the name sounds terrifying.”
“The psycho spreads a psychic contagion. Just being near him’s enough to trigger intense suicidal urges. If you’ve got a strong will, you can fight it off. But if you’re weak…”
Ghost gestured outside the lounge. Not far off, the corridor filled with hanged corpses was visible. “They wander in and end up like that.”
“Eek.”
“Well, that nutter’s power might cover a wide range, but it’s really nothing much. He’s poison to small fry like you, sure. But to anyone properly trained? He’s not that big a deal.”
“Y-you mean… there are people even scarier than him?”
There were prisoners more fearsome than a villain who could fill a hallway with hanged men? Jae-hee was aghast.
“It’s teeming with all kinds of vicious, depraved monsters. Deck 0 is their home and their hunting ground. If you hadn’t been lucky enough to run into me, you’d have been in real danger by now.”
“…”
“Anyway. I’m sure you get what I’m trying to say. This is no place for a newbie like you.”
Ghost crossed her arms and clicked her tongue.
“I’ve been the top dog here since this ship became a prison, but you’re the first one to come rolling down here on your first day. What the hell did you even do?”
“No, see, it wasn’t like I did anything in particular…”
With a look of profound injustice, Han Jae-hee explained what had happened as concisely as he could (which, for someone as talkative as him, still took over ten minutes).
Ghost listened idly, cleaning her ear, but her expression flickered with surprise when Han Jae-hee mentioned seeing the ‘trail of the wind.’
When the story was over, she clicked her tongue in disbelief. “Razor and Miss Hellth were a couple? Huh, I had no idea.”
“I think they were a pretty famous couple. You really didn’t know?”
“Wait till you get to my age. You lose all sense for that kind of stuff. And honestly, I couldn’t care less.”
Ghost huffed incredulously. “And so what if they were a couple? If you die on a mission, that’s on you. If she was so precious to him, he should’ve stuck by her side and protected her. Why take it out on another convict who just happened to be on the same mission?”
“That’s an extremely rational point. But Razor bro is so steamed, he isn’t thinking rationally.” Han Jae-hee groaned and tore at his hair. “What are we going to do now? He’s swearing he’ll kill you too, Grandma Ghost!”
Ghost snorted. “Like he could. A truckload of guys like him couldn’t touch me.”
“Well, you’ll be fine because you’re super strong. But what about me?”
“You? What about you?”
“Razor bro is trying to carve me up right now!”
Ghost shrugged. “Not my problem. Figure it out.”
“What do you mean, figure it out! You have a stake in this too, you know!”
“What? My stake?”
“We took down Miss Hellth together! The main reason Razor bro is so pissed is that we finished her off after she turned into a monster!”
Jae-hee emphasized the word we, then squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, “So, t-t-t… take responsibility for me!”
Ghost’s face twisted in disgust. “What did you say?”
“You got me into this, so you gotta take responsibility!”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? Are you choosing those words just to piss me off? Huh?”
Shaking her head, Ghost finally struck a match and lit the cigarette in her mouth.
She took a long, satisfying drag, then gestured with her eyes. “Fine. Let’s hear it. How, exactly, should I take responsibility for you?”
“Somehow! You’ve been here a long time, Grandma, so you must have lots of connections, right? And you’re super strong!”
“And?”
“You could use those connections to persuade Razor bro, or…”
“Or? You want me to step in and take care of those bastards for you? Is that it?” Ghost let out a smirk. “Listen, kiddo. That’s not a real solution.”
“Real…?”
“Let’s say I deal with Razor. What then? You think Razor’s cronies will just leave you alone?”
As Han Jae-hee fell silent, Ghost continued. “Living in this prison, you’re going to face one crisis after another. Are you just going to wait for someone to get lucky and wipe your ass for you every time?”
“…”
“You won’t last long that way, little fool.” Ghost jabbed her cigarette at him, holding it between her index and middle fingers. “You wanna claw your way through and survive in this prison? There are only two paths.”
“Two?”
“First, you kneel. You crawl under the big shots who run each deck and each section. You become their dog, roll over, and show them your belly.”
“Eugh…”
Ghost nodded with a crooked smile. “Right. You could’ve taken that path if you’d just quietly offered Razor one of your fingers. But you already made an enemy of him, so that option seems to be off the table.”
“…”
“Second, you beat them with your own power.”
Han Jae-hee tilted his head. “Beat them… you say?”
“There’s only one logic that works in this den of beasts, isn’t there?”
Ghost broke her cigarette, dropped it to the floor, and crushed it under the toe of her boot.
“The law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest. Only power.”
Jae-hee’s eyes widened.
“All you have to do is beat them all to a pulp. Crush Razor and take over Deck 1 yourself. That’s how it’s done.”
Aghast, he started clutching his head. “You make it sound so easy! I just ran for my life to get down here!”
“…”
“Razor bro’s crew has a ton of guys, and they’re all armed with blades! How am I supposed to take them on alone…?”
“That would be true if this were a normal prison fight between normal humans. But you’re one of the Awakened.”
Ghost’s expression was serious.
“An Awakened represents asymmetric power. Abilities aren’t handed out fairly. Any notion of balance was tossed out the universe long ago. And your ability? It’s pretty strong. Way stronger than than those Deck 1 chumps.”
“But… I can’t even use my super-speed right now…”
“You can still use one percent of your power, even with the inhibitor. And once you learn to use that one percent skillfully? You’ll be able to subdue that flock of sheeps with toothpicks, no sweat.”
Then, Ghost grunted and scratched her chin. “Well, I suppose it’s a tall order for a kid who hasn’t even figured out what his own ability is yet…”
“T-then, Grandma!” After a moment’s hesitation, Han Jae-hee cried out urgently, “Please… take me as your disciple!”
“…Huh?”
As Ghost stared at him, bewildered, Han Jae-hee quickly dropped to his knees.
Then, with all the sincerity he could muster, he cried out once more in a desperate voice.
“Please take me as your disciple, Grandma Ghost!”