SPECTER: Night of mist

On the outskirts of Seoul, in a half-abandoned redevelopment district.

The city's bright lights shimmered in the distance, but here only crumbling buildings awaiting demolition stood quietly in the darkness, their skeletal frames exposed like bones. Most of the street lamps had gone dark, and even the few surviving lights flickered dimly within a shroud of red fog. With each feeble tremor of light, an ominous feeling crept in—as if something unseen was lurking in the darkness.

Just then, the silence of the deserted alley was broken as a black sedan rolled to a stop. The doors opened, and three detectives stepped out. The first to emerge was a detective with sharp eyes; he clicked on a flashlight and slowly surveyed the area. With his other hand he pressed his radio and spoke in a low, steady voice.

"We've arrived at the scene. Beginning our search."

A faint, static-laced reply crackled over the radio. In front of them loomed a decrepit four-story building, rising like a black shadow in the darkness. One of the detectives—a tall, lean man—wrinkled his nose and muttered under his breath.

"Man, this place is creepy as hell. Wouldn't be surprised if a ghost jumped out."

Detective Jung swept his light around and snapped, "Yoon, cut the chatter."

Though Jung chided him lightly, a hint of tension edged his voice. At that moment, the third detective—a bulky young man with a boyish face—gulped and spoke up hesitantly from the back.

"This is where the missing woman Lee Seo-ha was last seen, right?"

Without even looking back, Jung answered curtly, "Yeah. Stay alert, Park."

Yoon chuckled as he swept his flashlight along a crumbling wall. "Don't tell me that lady turned into a ghost and started roaming around here. There are even rumors online of a 'red ghost' spotted nearby..."

"Shut it. This isn't a joke," Jung scowled. "Anyway, let's be cautious and take a look around."

The three of them exchanged glances, then slowly made their way inside the building. As they pushed open a rusted metal door, its hinges gave a drawn-out screech like a wail. All three detectives stepped in, fanning out as they entered.

Inside, the building was thick with the smell of dust and mildew. A faint glow of moonlight seeped through broken windows, but it wasn't nearly enough to push back the deep darkness. The detectives swept their flashlights around to survey the scene. Cracked walls, a dust-blanketed floor, and pieces of broken furniture were strewn everywhere in disarray.

"Left corridor clear," Yoon reported, peering down the left hallway. Jung nodded.

"Park, check the right side," Jung ordered.

"Yes, sir." Park Jae-min answered in a slightly shaky voice, then pointed his light down the right corridor and cautiously moved forward.

The three men proceeded carefully down the first-floor corridor. Shattered glass crunched underfoot, and the walls were covered in indecipherable graffiti.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from deeper within the darkness, and all three detectives halted in their tracks. Park shot a nervous look back at Jung, while Yoon quickly drew his gun. A brief silence hung between them. The rustling had ceased as abruptly as it started, yet the darkness around them felt even thicker than before.

Just then, a faint sound drifted through the silence, brushing past their ears. It sounded like the wind at first, but slowly became more distinct—like someone whispering right beside them...

"...Do you hear that?" Park Jae-min whispered.

"Hear what?" Yoon frowned, and Jung, now on guard, looked around and strained his ears.

From somewhere in the stillness, they could just barely make out a low moan, like the sound of someone softly sobbing. It was definitely the sound of a person.

"Who's there? We're the police!" Jung shouted into the darkness, but there was no answer. Instead, what sounded like a faint giggle flitted through the darkness, then vanished. The sound sent a chill down their spines—too eerie to dismiss as a prank.

As the laughter died away, the air around them suddenly felt ice-cold. At some point, the dust drifting through the building had coalesced into a red fog that now filled the corridor. As the detectives' flashlight beams swept over it, the red mist pulled back, scattering—only to writhe and gather again in the darkness beyond the light's reach. The sight of the fog writhing away from the light like a living creature sent a cold sweat trickling down Jung's spine.

"Why... why is the fog red...?" Park asked in a trembling voice. The crimson fog was already swirling thick around his ankles. Yoon swept his flashlight back and forth, cursing under his breath.

"Damn it, I can't see a thing. Where's this stuff coming from? Is it smoke from a fire?" Yoon growled.

Jung steadied his breathing and calmly looked around. This fog was cold and carried no smell—nothing like normal smoke. And that eerie crimson glow... no, it was no ordinary mist.

Just then, at the end of the corridor beyond a broken doorway, a faint presence made itself known. A figure began to take shape beyond the murky fog.

"Who's there? Don't move!" Yoon shouted, training his gun on the silhouette, and Park hurried to draw his weapon as well. Their three flashlights all locked onto the figure ahead.

Tension spiked. In the brief silence that followed, only the sound of their ragged breathing filled the hallway. Jung slowly curled his finger around the trigger and began inching forward, one step at a time.

Suddenly, the shadowy figure sprang forward.

"Uwaaah!" Park let out a scream and stumbled back. Yoon flinched, biting back a curse.

The figure that suddenly appeared out of the fog was a middle-aged man in a shabby jacket. He stood frozen, hands raised high and eyes wide in surprise.

"Don't shoot! I'm a person! I'm human!" he yelped, flinching at the sight of their guns.

The man gave a shrug of protest. Now that they saw him up close, with his scruffy gray beard and bleary eyes, he was clearly a homeless vagrant.

"Whew, you gave me a fright there," he exclaimed with a hearty guffaw. "I just live here, y'know. How about you put those guns down, eh?"

His tone was colored by a thick regional accent, giving his words an almost comical air. Jung slowly lowered his pistol, fixing the man with a hard stare.

"You live here? Who the hell are you, exactly?"

"Aw, c'mon, officer," the man retorted dismissively. "These buildings are all gonna get torn down anyway, what's it to ya? It's home to me, so I'm just stayin' put."

Yoon gave a snort of disbelief. "What's your name?"

"Eh, that ain't important. Name, huh...," the man said, winking one eye with a mischievous grin. "Everyone around here just calls me 'Fog.'"

He let out a belly laugh. His laughter, unlike the creepy cackle from earlier, had an oddly disarming quality.

Jung tightened his jaw and asked, "That laugh just now... was that you?"

Fog shook his head. "I might laugh funny, but that spooky chuckle ain't mine. See, there's all sorts of things living here besides me."

"All sorts? What do you mean?" Yoon narrowed his eyes.

Fog glanced around, stepped closer, and muttered in a hush, "Y'all know ghosts roam around here, right?"

Yoon almost scoffed, but the weird laughter from earlier flashed through his mind, silencing him.

"Ghosts?" Jung shot Fog a skeptical look. "Did you actually see anything?"

Fog gave a little snort and pointed off down the hall. "I've seen that girl wailing whenever this red fog rolls in."

"A young lady...?" Jung repeated, frowning.

Fog's lips curled into a chilly smile. "You officers are here looking for a missing young woman, aren't ya? Name was... Lee Seo-ha, wasn't it?"

The three detectives felt their hearts drop. Jung stepped forward, eyes flashing. "How do you know Lee Seo-ha? Do you know where she is?"

Fog slowly nodded, his voice dropping as he replied, "That lass is right at the center of this whole mess. One month ago, on a night just like this—when the fog turned red—I saw it with my own eyes. And..."

Right as he was about to continue, a tremor shuddered through the entire building. From somewhere beyond the wall came a heavy thud, followed by the crash of something collapsing. Dust and dry leaves rained from the ceiling as the red fog filling the hallway began to churn violently.

"What the—?!" Yoon shouted, spinning toward the sound. At the same moment, Fog flinched and hissed urgently, "It's here... it's coming!"

As the detectives' flashlight beams wobbled anxiously, the red fog whipped through the corridor, obscuring their vision. Amid the churning mist, something began to take shape—writhing.

"...It's coming out!" Fog exclaimed in a hushed tone.

Suddenly, the temperature plunged. Every breath the detectives took felt like an icy stab in their lungs. And beyond the haze stood something indistinct. It was humanoid in silhouette, but clearly not human. Its limbs were unnaturally long and crooked, and its head lolled to the side as it swayed slowly.

Yoon, breaking into a cold sweat at the grotesque sight, raised his gun. "Police! Freeze!" he tried to shout, but his voice quavered badly.

Grrrrr...

Instead of responding, the figure emitted a low, guttural growl.

"Shoot!" Jung commanded.

As Jung gave the order, gunshots exploded, echoing down the corridor. But the figure didn't so much as flinch. In a flash, the silhouette in the mist seemed to sidestep the bullets and appeared right in front of them.

"Look out—!" Jung started to yell, but in the next instant one shadowy arm of the creature lashed out like lightning and coiled around Park.

Park Jae-min screamed, "Aaaagh! Hel—!" His cry cut off as a massive hand clamped around his throat. Park's feet lifted off the ground, legs kicking helplessly as he was hoisted into the air.

From within the fog, a grotesquely contorted pair of faces emerged, fixing unseen eyes on Park. The creature mumbled in a double-layered voice, as if mocking human speech:

"...Lee... Seo-ha... give... her... back..."

Jung and Yoon stood rooted to the spot in shock. The boundary between reality and illusion was collapsing. That thing standing before them was an inhuman aberration—a Specter β. And now it was slowly crossing over into reality.

Jung quickly came to his senses and shouted, "Park! Get a hold of yourself!"

He swiftly raised his flashlight and shone it toward the creature's face. The creature shrieked and thrashed away from the beam, and Park dropped to the floor. In the next breath, its form shimmered and then vanished into the darkness along the wall.

"Yoon, shine your light!" Jung barked.

Yoon caught on immediately and aimed his flashlight into the darkness. As twin beams of light sliced through the fog, the figure hidden in the red mist let out a piercing shriek.

KRAAAAH—!

An ear-splitting scream rang out. The red smoke whirled furiously, then suddenly dissipated, vanishing without a trace. As the smoke cleared, the figure was gone as well.

In moments, the corridor was once again wrapped in silence. The red fog had vanished without a trace, and only an icy chill remained in the air.

"Park! Are you alright?!" Jung rushed to prop up Park, who was clutching his throat and gasping for breath. A livid handprint stood out on Park's neck.

"Hah... ahh..." Park wheezed, eyes wide. "I thought... I was gonna die..." he managed to gasp.

"S-sir... that thing... it wasn't human... and bullets... bullets didn't work..." Park stammered, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Yoon exhaled deeply and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead with a trembling hand. "Damn... we actually just saw a ghost," he muttered, his face pale as a sheet.

Suddenly, Jung seemed to remember something. He glanced around and shouted, "Fog!"

But the man was already nowhere to be seen—he must have slipped away in all the chaos.

Jung stared hard down the corridor where the monstrous being had disappeared. His heart was hammering wildly, but he forced himself to steady his breathing. In a low voice, he said, "That... thing definitely mentioned the name 'Lee Seo-ha.' In any case, one thing's for sure—Lee Seo-ha is at the heart of this case."

Yoon, hands still shaking, ejected the empty magazine from his pistol and nodded. "Missing person or not, that's the least of our worries now... I think we've stirred up something huge here." His eyes were filled with the same shock and confusion.

Fighting to steady his racing heart, Jung raised his radio and spoke as calmly as he could, "Headquarters, we have a situation. Requesting immediate backup, over."

He cut the transmission and immediately turned to his colleagues. "Let's get out of here. Yoon, help Park."

As soon as he spoke, Jung and Yoon each took one of Park's arms and carefully helped the injured man out of the building.

By now, everything outside had fallen deathly still. The alley that had been bathed in red just moments ago was now sunk back into deep darkness and silence, as if none of it had ever happened. Jung took one last slow look back into the dark shell of the building. Somewhere in that ruin behind them, he thought he could still hear a faint, ghostly sobbing.

He stood there for a moment, staring into the darkness, then set his jaw firmly. He slowly raised his head to the night sky. Overhead, the moon that had cast its pale light on the ground was now sliding behind the clouds, as if hiding from the scene below.

In Jung's silence, the other two detectives also fell quiet, a heavy hush settling over them. After a brief pause, the three looked at one another and exchanged determined glances. In each of their eyes, the same resolve was plain to see.

They would find Lee Seo-ha and uncover the truth hidden in this uncanny night, no matter what. Even if the foe they faced was not human at all, but a Specter—.