Script Matters: Devouring the world act by act

/*Disclaimer: This Chapter gets quite dark and may be difficult to stomach, as it depicts some disturbing scenes. Please read with discretion.*/

There was a heavy silence in the room as the man in blue shuffled through his documents. A warm cup of black coffee sat on the table, its warmth dissipating into the bleak, sterile room.

"So," the deep voice boomed, "can you tell us again what happened?"

The girl could only look around the room. Why was she the one in this room? How many times did she have to relive this story, each time forced to relive such humiliation? She could only let out a hollow chuckle. Indeed, only power was true justice, even capable of turning black into white.

She could only stare at the table as she strained to hold back the tears threatening to fall, trying to analyse what she even saw in her. Was it so wrong to have such feelings? Did she deserve such a wretched punishment?

The young girl turned to the officer.

"I would like to withdraw the charges."

"What?" the officer suddenly asked.

"I said I would like to drop the charges."

"Are you sure?"

How could she be any more sure than this?

Her father’s livelihood had already been destroyed, her sister was suffering, and what about the police? They were entirely useless. Even so, they could only mock her. This was the fifth time she had come through those same doors, forced to retell the horrors that had been done to her at her supposed best friend’s wishes, yet there had been nothing but utter indifference or cruel mockery, forcing her to dig even deeper into the wounds of that night.

It wasn’t like she wished to be this way, but to be punished for it, treated as nothing more than a piece of meat...

The thought of her face was now merging with those demons.

"Yes, as you said, we were all drunk that night."

The girl quickly picked up her heels and began walking towards the door. This was an unwinnable war for her, and continuing to fight was doing nothing more than hurt her father, her mother, and her sister.

She stepped outside as the crisp night wind washed over her skin. Her memories of Jung Sori started to surface. Why did she even like the girl? What had drawn her to her?

Cha Hwa Rim couldn’t help but break into tears right there in front of the police precinct. She didn’t know why she still cried over this girl, over all those memories.

She slowly walked down the street as she tried to analyse them. All the laughs they had shared, the secrets they had kept, the stories they had told—it was all gone, wrapped up as a horrible gift at her birthday party.

A seventeen-year-old Cha Hwa Rim was crying her eyes out, but that cry soon turned into laughter as she thought back to the betrayal.

She could only return to her alcoholic mother, the one who barely functioned beyond performing rites and whatever else she could.

If the police wouldn’t give her justice, then she might as well seek justice from the supernatural.

Cha Hwa Rim walked slowly back to her house, trying to think of ways to convince her mother to perform a ritual to curse the four perpetrators who had left such a terrible stain on her. One that couldn’t be washed away by any soap or water. A memory that barely left her a chance to sleep.

She had been hiding this from all of them, fighting against the pain of living through that night over and over again. Could she truly bring her family into it? No. She could learn it on her own. How hard could it be?

She couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. She had tried so hard to hide her identity as a shaman’s daughter, doing all she could to distance herself from that life, yet now it only seemed to be the answer.

Cha Hwa Rim took to it, trying to converse with her mother as subtly as she possibly could, learning about the art of shamanism with all its ins and outs while trying to return to school.

Though going back to school was the worst part of the plan.

She had to see those same faces in the halls, her body shivering instinctively whenever her eyes landed on either Ko Gyeoung Jun, Kim Jin Ha, or Cho Min Na.

Every time, she had to rush into the toilet as she felt like vomiting. Sometimes she couldn’t even breathe.

The worst one was Jung Sori.

Whenever she saw her, she felt a deep level of hate and anger that needed to be quenched, especially when Jung Sori still tried to act friendly with her even after forcing her into a situation that had cost her her purity simply because of her previous feelings towards her.

Saying things like, "It should have fixed you."

And what did she think? Did she really need to be fixed?

Did they really have to use her feelings to treat her that way?

Cha Hwa Rim couldn’t help but feel disgusted, especially when every other girl seemed to be enamoured by their handsome faces, talking about how they wished they could be their girlfriends. She could feel her body break out in hives, but she had to endure it for her plan.

The worst of it, however, came from the school.

Her report to the police station had been shared with the school, and the school, for the sake of its reputation and to protect its VIPs, buried everything.

At first, when she reported it, she thought there would be some kind of justice. Maybe the school would punish them by expelling the four, or the police would bring them to justice.

But because they had all been drunk that day, it didn’t count.

She wasn’t drunk.

She had been drugged.

But who would believe her now? And even if they did, who would fight against government officials and rich lawyers?

She had no chance.

Almost expelled for being the victim, she could only relent and go along with the story.

They were just teenagers fooling around.

She surrendered on paper, but deep down she was working, gathering the tools she needed—hair, lunar dates, treasured belongings—learning the ways to deliver the justice that was deserved.

Then, finally, the day arrived.

She had all the items ready to perform the ritual as she channeled all her resentment and anger into it, summoning all that negative energy.

At first, it seemed to work.

But unfortunately, Cha Hwa Rim had never gone through the rites and didn’t truly know how to perform such rituals. Something went wrong, and the channeled dark energy backfired on her.

Luckily, her mother found out what she had done and tried to calm the forces that Cha Hwa Rim had stirred. She performed a ritual of her own, but the energy and resentment that had built up were too much.

At this time, Cha Hwa Rim was bleeding profusely from every orifice, her unconscious body jerking uncontrollably.

Cha Hye Reung couldn’t stop the backlash and could only reflect it onto herself, but unfortunately, she wasn’t enough.

She did all she could, chanting and praying to appease the spirits as blood began to leak from every part of her body, only for a sacrifice to be needed to take the place of the ritual.

In the end, it took both parents, leaving Cha Hwa Rim and Cha Ha Rin as orphans.

Dan Woo couldn’t help but feel deeply emotional after going through that part of Cha Hwa Rim’s life.

The actualisation had catapulted him back into the past to relive one of the most devastating moments of Cha Hwa Rim’s life.

He could still feel that heaviness and devastating melancholy settling over him in a wave that couldn’t be explained.

The memory suddenly faded, and Dan Woo’s spirit body was catapulted back to the present.

Back to the train, where the heavy grey fog churned around the area.

He could see that everyone had fallen asleep around Cha Hwa Rim, everybody engulfed by the mist.

Deep within the mist, he could feel the Mark of the Guilty reacting to all of them as chains sprouted out from her, reaching towards every one of them while that heavy guilt flowed from each of them.

The surrounding train soon dissolved, the area once again becoming a sea of fog, with stars of red, blue, and purple twinkling in the distance.

It felt the same way as when he had been in that dreamscape.

Cha Hwa Rim could feel herself beginning to walk through that endless expanse of fog and mist as she felt something inside her activate once again.

[Ding]

[Due to the Title: Ghost of Retribution, multiple effects have been activated.]

{Passive Effect: Haunting Presence has been activated. Passive Effect: Mark of the Guilty has been activated. Passive Effect: Unfinished Business has been activated. Active Effect: Judgment has been triggered.}

[Weighing the Scales of Justice.]

Cha Hwa Rim felt a faint sense of déjà vu as the notification appeared, but she ignored it.

She already had her own target.

The first of her perpetrators was here, and she could use this chance to give him the justice he deserved.

Kim Jin Ha...

I am coming for you.