Chapter 01
A Lucky Day
A reporter in his late thirties began the interview.
“Sir, are you ready?”
“Let’s begin.”
“They say people call you the ‘God of Dispute Resolution.’ Were you aware of that?”
It was probably an opening question chosen to make the interview flow smoothly.
He truly sounded like a veteran legal reporter.
“I think I’ve heard that before.”
“The cases you handle have shown unbelievable win rates, even recently. In legal circles, they call it a ‘monster-like success rate.’ What’s your secret?”
“In lawsuits or disputes, people are the key. If you understand people well, you’ll have many chances to win.”
“Could you explain more specifically what you mean by understanding people?”
The reporter tilted his head slightly.
I smiled and quietly looked at him—not just his appearance, but trying to see the unique color and feeling he carried.
“You seem to have strong expertise. Your personality is rather calm and cold. You’re also the type to dig deeply into one thing—quite similar to us lawyers. But don’t push yourself too hard. Your digestion has been getting worse lately because of accumulated fatigue.”
The reporter looked surprised and couldn’t speak for a moment, then smiled awkwardly.
“Just like the rumors, you really understand people instantly. Do you have some kind of supernatural ability?”
“It’s not anything supernatural. Let’s just call it… intuition.”
I had a special ability.
I could see things that ordinary people could not.
Because of that ability, I was able to rise to a position many people admired, relatively quickly.
Of course, I wasn’t born with this ability.
Everything started that day.
That day, I was unusually lucky.
I didn’t run into Kang Sung-min and his group even once, so I didn’t get bruised or feel anxious.
Our school was infamous for bad lunches, but that day, the special samgyetang was actually quite good.
As soon as I reached the bus stop, the bus I needed arrived smoothly right in front of me. I didn’t hit a single red light and got home faster than usual.
It was a strange day where everything went perfectly.
The sky was dark, filled with heavy clouds.
I felt relieved that I made it home before the rain started and went into the apartment building.
But the moment I pressed the security keypad and grabbed the front door handle, a chill ran down my spine.
My heart pounded wildly, and my hand trembled.
I didn’t know why. My body reacted before my mind could understand.
The lights inside were off.
The apartment was old—over 30 years—so it was often dark even during the day. On a cloudy day like this, it felt even darker.
The air inside felt heavy.
I frowned unconsciously.
There was a faint, strange smell—something fishy, mixed with the smell of waste.
The house we had moved into six months ago felt unfamiliar today.
I quietly entered and turned on the living room light.
The fluorescent lamp flickered before turning on with a sharp sound.
A black plastic bag sat on the table.
I didn’t need to open it to know what was inside.
Soju.
The thing my father couldn’t live without even for a day.
Some days he drank three or four bottles, but almost every day he emptied at least two.
Had he bought it and gone somewhere?
“Dad?”
I pushed open the bedroom door.
“!!!”
And froze on the spot.
The person hanging limp in front of the closet—
was my father.
A wire hanger was wrapped tightly around his neck, digging deep into his skin.
“Dad? Dad!”
My hands shook as I tried to remove the hanger. I missed several times before finally pulling it away.
There was no breath. No pulse.
He was already gone.
I gently closed his eyes.
Lying there, he looked like he was just sleeping.
As if he could wake up at any moment.
I don’t know how long I sat there.
Beep, beep, beep—the sound of the door lock.
“I’m home!”
It was my little sister, Yeonhee.
I quickly shut the bedroom door and went out.
“Oh? You’re home before me? Did high school end earlier than kindergarten?”
“Uh… yeah…”
“Yay! Play with me!”
She clapped happily.
At that moment, I felt incredibly lucky that I had arrived before her.
That was why I had thought I was lucky today.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s sleeping. Don’t go in!”
I stopped her from entering the room.
“Yeonhee.”
“Yeah?”
“Go play at Kyunghee’s house today.”
“I don’t want to. I want to play with you.”
“I have something to do. Okay?”
I sat down to meet her eyes.
She was smart. She noticed something.
“You’re not crying… but your eyes look like they are.”
She touched my face with her small hands.
I felt like I was about to burst into tears, but I held it in.
I had to.
“Let’s go.”
I held her hand and took her to her friend Kyunghee’s house.
After leaving, I called my mother.
“Mom…”
She answered quickly.
—“Good timing. Come by the restaurant later. The owner gave us some corn—Gangwon sticky corn.”
“….”
—“Hello?”
“Mom…”
—“Why does your voice sound like that?”
The words wouldn’t come out.
“Please come quickly… Dad…”
The funeral was simple.
Only a few of Father’s former coworkers, some relatives, my mother’s boss, and our teachers came.
“It’s all because of the company.”
“Those bastards!”
“They fired him unfairly and even sued him…”
“They pushed him until the end… He lost everything…”
“They killed him! They killed him!”
The hall grew quiet again.
Mother sat blankly, staring at Yeonhee, who had fallen asleep.
Father smiled faintly in the funeral photo.
Leaving behind his young wife, a 17-year-old son, and a 5-year-old daughter—
he smiled alone.
After the funeral, I started seeing strange things.
At first, it was like black smoke.
Then they became clearer—shapes of people.
A child on the balcony.
A man with half a face in an alley.
I thought I was going crazy.
“What are you staring at?”
Kang Sung-min hit the back of my head.
He and his group surrounded me.
“Did you bring the money?”
“Not yet…”
He slapped me.
“Tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
As they left, I saw something.
Behind Kang Sung-min—
a black shape.
It looked like a dog.
Then it disappeared.
On my way home, I kept thinking:
Where do I get the money?
Suddenly—
Someone grabbed me.
A dump truck roared past right in front of me.
I almost died.
An old monk in worn robes stood there.
“If you can see more than others, you should live carefully.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you been seeing strange things lately?”
“…Black smoke?”
“Yes. It just started, didn’t it?”
“How do you know?”
He laughed.
“Because I can see it too.”
He looked at me and smiled.
“From now on… you’ll start seeing even more.”
