NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 882
Underwater Tunnel Between Korea and Japan.
An underwater tunnel that pierces through the Korea Strait.
Rise held the name of a project known in Korea as the “Korea-Japan Underwater Tunnel” in her mouth.
[As I mentioned to the Deity, while there are indeed many ghosts in the country, there is a limit. Moreover, it seems there are a lot of water ghosts despite their rarity… Unless we artificially increase their numbers by luring in victims, the supply will be challenging.]
The “artificial lake” that Park Jinseong and Rise spoke of referred to the project of creating a lake artificially and then releasing water ghosts into it. Their aim was to use it as a storage place for water ghosts related to “blessing” and as both a natural barrier and a trap.
Not only that, but they also had plans to allure a broadcasting station to advertise it as a “famous spiritual hotspot” once they were sure of its stable management. The goal was to gain fame by proclaiming, “We are effectively managing such a dangerous place.” thereby enhancing the shrine’s renown and power.
Indeed, while it was true that water ghosts could be toxic and managing them was difficult… if it aired on TV, the presence of the shrine would certainly stand out.
The intentions were noble, and since it wouldn’t be hard to prevent water ghosts from leaving the artificial lake, they had perfect countermeasures in place such as building simple shrines to prevent accidents when well-meaning visitors or dopamine-addicted ghost hunters came to call.
However, ghosts are by no means a common resource.
Park Jinseong might casually dismiss them, but ghosts are fundamentally hard to witness. Countless humans go their entire lives without seeing a ghost, let alone something akin to one, and many outright deny the existence of ghosts and spiritual capable persons, considering them nothing but scammers or psychopaths.
In fact, many acknowledge the soul for religious reasons yet deny the existence of ghosts.
There are even instances where people, seeing a ghost with a physical form capable of exerting physical force like an “Evil Spirit,” would exclaim, “That’s an experiment that escaped from a government research lab,” or “That’s a horrible creature from another world brought by some crazy summoner,” or “An alchemist must have made that!”— and such denial is quite common.
When evil spirits appeared in America, most reports were filled with conspiracy theories, claiming, “An experiment has escaped from a lab and is now killing townspeople!” and “An alien being from outer space has appeared and is destroying the town!” along with cries of, “Fuck! I have no idea what the government created, but someone hurry up and deal with it!”… Truly, ghosts exist as entities that are both close and yet far from humanity.
It is rather strange that the existence of ghosts has become visibly threatening and almost commonplace in East Asia.
A peculiar environment that became a ghost den due to the failure of the Great Ritual of Magic in the old North Korea. Spirits simmering in a jar of solitude that drift in and out of the border or across the seas whenever boredom strikes.
While people in East Asia might not feel much of a thrill, those spirits have adapted to this dangerous and bizarre environment exceptionally well, leading lives with such normalcy beside the threat of ghost dens.
Such incredible adaptability has led to “proactive measures” against ghosts… As a result, they gained highly efficient exorcism and summoning abilities that could not be compared to before North Korea’s fall.
The Unified Korea, which integrated ghost dens into its territory, need not be mentioned, and even Japan, which was once teeming with spirits, actively supported Onmyoji and shrines in nurturing experts to confront spiritual beings. Moreover, China and Mongolia sought solutions to confront the ghosts of the old North Korean region as well.
As a result, East Asian countries, especially Unified Korea and Japan, have developed the ability to handle evil spirits and evil ghosts with relative ease.
The standardization of exorcism techniques had risen.
There even emerged a trend of treating the occasional ghost appearance as a mere nuisance. Even when people were assaulted by ghosts, society did not plunge into chaos or confusion due to the efforts made by nations to counter them.
Yet paradoxically, such efforts became a stumbling block for the “artificial lake project.”
Due to having exorcised so many of them, the number of ghosts available for utilization had decreased.
While Japan managed to gather a decent amount due to its nature of being a place where ghosts easily manifest… it now seemed increasingly difficult to capture more “naturally occurring water ghosts.”
As Rise had mentioned, they would have to either revise the artificial lake plan or resort to creating “farmed water ghosts” for supply.
But then Rise suddenly thought of an idea.
[But while looking at Sae, it struck me. Why were we trying to procure ghosts only domestically when there’s an overflow of strong and toxic spirits in the ghost ranch?]
If they couldn’t manage it with domestic resources, they could always import them.
Wasn’t there a place nearby filled with the highest quality imported stock?
A land so saturated with evil spirits and evil ghosts that they could trip over them, where great evil spirits and great evil ghosts spontaneously appeared.
The hell created by the North Koreans, a realm that descended into reality — as if manifesting the demon realm right before their eyes.
A land teeming with vile creatures eager to slaughter humans, where monstrous horrors could arise periodically if not obliterated, making it the epitome of hell.
The old North Korean region.
[Let’s import water ghosts from North Korea. What do you think, Deity?]
The insane notion of importing ghosts from North Korea.
It was a remarkable thought that rivaled the prior insane idea of “Sprinkling ghosts from the old North Korean region around as barriers and sending batches to wreak havoc whenever neighboring nations showed signs of recovering their national power.”
And Park Jinseong thought to himself, ‘Not a bad idea’ while hearing that ludicrous concept.
Considering that Unified Korea previously made effective use of water ghosts from the old North Korean region, there was a lingering thought that it felt like smuggling strategic materials out, but given the environment brimming with even more potent and toxic creatures, it didn’t seem like a big issue.
Besides, weren’t water ghosts already notorious for drawing victims in to reproduce? There wouldn’t be a problem with thinning them out a little.
“That’s a reasonable idea, but what do you plan to do about it?”
Park Jinseong smiled at Rise’s idea and asked.
[Thanks to Doctor Akitake, I was able to utilize the Kyoto University Academic Library. There, I found a paper on the method to control ghosts with electricity, so I believe we can create a trap based on that. Inside the trap, we would create a passageway only accessible to the ghosts, effectively constructing a Japan-Korea water ghost exclusive underwater tunnel between North Korea and Japan. Hehe.]
Excited by Jinseong’s response, Rise began to share her plan.
She insinuated her efforts by incorporating details as if she were hoping for Jinseong’s praise, mentioning Doctor Akitake to hint at her management of connections with Onmyou Clan, and alluding to the research paper about controlling ghosts with electricity, suggesting she studied hard enough to comprehend and explore it.
“Excellent! You’ve come up with a great idea.”
[Hehe.]
And with such a blatant yet subtle hint, Rise beamed with joy as Jinseong praised her. It was a smile that maintained her grace.
Yet, despite her maintaining her composure, Rise’s tail waged frantically.
Like a puppy unable to contain its joy, her tail shook wildly.
Without concealing her excitement, Rise continued to elaborate.
Utilizing the ability to intervene with ghosts through electricity and magnetic fields, she suggested creating a “water ghost expressway” that could accelerate and transport them through the passage. If they linked it to underwater cable projects, they could proceed without raising any suspicion, and employing summoned creatures or golems specialized in digging would allow them to construct the underwater tunnel without spending a fortune. Furthermore, transporting water ghosts would only require thick wires, allowing for discreet operations and so forth.
A plethora of ideas flowed incessantly from Rise’s lips.
And perhaps spurred by her inspiring notions, an idea suddenly dawned upon Park Jinseong’s mind.
“Recently, Korea and Japan joined forces to exorcise a ghost from North Korea. And the atmosphere between Korea and Japan is leaning towards reconciliation.”
Currently, the relationship between Korea and Japan could be described as quite peculiar.
They had almost reached the brink of war, yet upon witnessing the downfall of the United States, they were shocked into sewing up their differences and forcing a semblance of unity. Thanks to that, a Korea-Japan joint audition program was initiated, joint ghost exorcism operations were underway, and exchanges in governmental affairs were proliferating.
Even so, the relationship, having nearly reached war, had an inherent awkwardness that couldn’t just vanish despite attempts at reconciliation…
“If Korea and Japan display a national level of cooperation on a grand scale, that awkwardness will dissipate quickly, don’t you think?”
The quickest way to make two awkward groups cozy up is to create a common enemy.
And besides Korea and Japan, there was one clearly defined foe lurking nearby.
Ghosts.
The enemy of humanity.
“Korea and Japan should bolster their efforts against North Korea significantly. For instance, fortifying the barriers even more so the ghosts cannot slip out… for such reasons. Recently, Korea and Japan exorcizing ghosts together was both a part of this plan and a confirmation process. It would sound natural… and people would easily understand and accept it.”
Park Jinseong said.
By hitching a ride on this grand project and drawing from the governments’ budgets of both nations, they could construct an underwater tunnel exclusively for water ghosts. As she mentioned earlier, linking it with the underwater cable project or surveillance device cables would conceal their true intentions, ensuring no problems would arise.
[Just like the Deity! You provide a direction where everyone can find happiness.]
Rise responded enthusiastically to Jinseong’s suggestion.
This proposal seemed beneficial to everyone, and she asserted that with a majority approval, the project would proceed without a hitch.
* * *
Planning is human’s job, while making it happen rests in the heavens; it cannot be forced.
Though the plan that seemed to advance smoothly for Park Jinseong and Rise faced external obstacles.
One was China.
And the other was Russia.