The Boy of Cheongan (靑霧)

Episode 6: The Screaming Mist

The moment my chunky platform boots quietly crossed the threshold of the cabin-like wooden building, the natural light streaming in from outside vanished without a trace. It was as if the dark shadows at the doorway had swallowed the light whole.
In an instant, the whole world twisted completely out of shape.

The fresh, dry air the courtyard had held onto was gone without a trace, and thick, dense blue mist, eerie and cold, wrapped around the cramped space and pressed heavily down on the air. The colors all around us melted into cold tones at once, blurring even the texture of the old walls into a vague smear. The old wood beneath our feet could not bear our weight and let out low, pained groans, and each time we took another step, sharp, creaking screams rang out loudly.

Dust piles that had built up for centuries without a single disturbance began to spill down through the gaps in the ceiling boards. The dust drifted quietly through the blue-tinted air, falling like rain in slow motion.

"Watch your step."

Jiseok stayed firmly at my side and murmured in a low voice. His hand kept steadying him as he carefully traced the lines of the wall.
The team members followed right behind us, keeping a tight single-file formation. Their usual lively, overflowing energy had been completely submerged and perfectly suppressed in the stifling silence this bizarre structure held. As the cold dampness released by the blue mist seeped straight through the fabric of my black lace shirt and into my skin, I folded my arms more tightly across my chest. Quietly following the rhythmic, heavy footfalls of the floorboards, we kept creeping deeper and deeper into the main floor.

Right there ahead of us, a central wooden staircase came into view, cutting sharply through the shadows on all sides like the entrance to a control room. The stairs stretched straight toward the world above, where an even darker, deeper void lay in wait.