---
The notification on Jae-min's system flickered quietly in the corner of his vision.
> [ Level 18 – Cleared ]
[ Ghost Chamber Progress: 18/88 ]
[ Warning: Higher levels may cause fatal injuries. Proceed with caution. ]
Jae-min exhaled, wiping the black ash off his cheek. "That was too close," he muttered, clutching his twin daggers.
He had nearly died twice already — once from a spectral explosion and once from a cursed chain that ripped through his arm — but he made it through. Barely.
Each level in the Ghost Chamber was like walking through hell itself. Yet every battle carved him sharper — in body, mind, and spirit.
His E.P.S.T. (Enhanced Perception Synchronization Technique) had finally reached 100% synchronization. His telekinetic chain control had evolved to the point where he could manipulate multiple weapons at once without even blinking.
His G.E. capacity — the energy that fueled his spirit and abilities — had tripled.
He was no longer the same Jae-min who once struggled to pay hospital bills.
Outside the Chambers, in the real world, people began to whisper about a mysterious exorcist clearing jobs faster than anyone else. No guild could track him, and no one had ever seen his face.
They started calling him "The Phantom."
---
A bright morning sun cut through the hospital curtains.
Jae-min stood outside his sister's room, his heart pounding against his chest. His hand hovered over the doorknob, trembling.
After all this time… after all those battles… she was finally awake.
He pushed the door open.
There she was — Quinn.
Her pale skin glowed softly in the sunlight, her green eyes wide and gentle, and her lips curled into that same bright smile he had missed for years.
"Hi, brother… how've you been?" she said, her voice light and full of warmth.
The sound of her voice broke him.
Tears streamed down his face before he could stop them. His knees gave way, and he sank to the floor, covering his mouth with a shaking hand.
She blinked, startled. "H-hey! Why are you crying like that?"
He laughed between sobs. "You—You're awake… finally."
---
A few minutes later, they sat side by side on the hospital bed, the soft hum of machines filling the silence.
"So… you're an exorcist now?" she asked, wide-eyed.
He nodded, smiling faintly. "Yeah. Got fired from my old job, remember? So I figured… might as well risk my life fighting ghosts."
"Wow…" Quinn frowned, worried. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that. The exorcist world is scary. You shouldn't have been alone."
He reached out, gently patting her head. "Don't apologize. None of it's your fault. I made it through, didn't I?"
She smiled softly — the kind of smile that healed every scar in his heart.
---
Hours later, the siblings were on the road in Jae-min's newly bought BMW, the sunlight gleaming off its metallic blue hood.
"So…" Quinn crossed her arms. "You bought this car?"
"Yep."
"And you have a power bike?"
"Also yes."
"And a new house?"
He grinned. "You could say I've been working overtime."
She blinked, processing the information, and then gave him an exaggerated thumbs-up. "You're totally rich now, huh? Maybe I should start exorcising ghosts too."
Jae-min chuckled, eyes on the road. "Let's not test your luck just yet."
---
When they arrived home, Quinn froze at the doorway.
The house was spacious, warmly lit, and beautifully arranged — a far cry from the small, cold apartment she remembered. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"This… this is our home?"
"Yeah," Jae-min said, scratching the back of his head shyly. "It's not much, but it's ours."
She wiped her eyes, smiling. "It's perfect."
---
Later that evening, after her bath, Quinn stepped out with a towel wrapped around her silver-ash hair. She stopped in shock.
"Wait— you can cook?" she asked, staring at her brother moving confidently around the kitchen.
Jae-min turned with a flat look. "How do you think I've been eating all these years?"
"Instant noodles?"
He sighed. "Wow. That's how low your opinion of me is?"
She giggled, sitting at the counter as he plated the food. "Guess I'll have to taste it first before believing anything."
As the scent of sizzling beef and garlic filled the air, Jae-min caught himself smiling again — a small, genuine smile he hadn't felt in years.
For the first time since everything began — since the ghosts, the chambers, the blood and fear — he finally felt… alive.
And as the two siblings laughed through dinner, the system's faint message echoed at the edge of his vision:
> [ Warning: Level 19 Chamber – Now Accessible. ]
[ Prepare yourself, Phantom. ]
Jae-min's smile didn't fade.
"Guess peace never lasts long,
---
The Silver Cross Union Headquarters, Seoul.
A towering skyscraper that pierced the clouds — the pride of Korea's strongest guild. Its halls were lined with gold-etched banners, and every step echoed authority.
Inside the top-floor meeting room, a group of elite guild members sat around a long, obsidian table.
The tension in the air was almost tangible.
A man in a dark blue suit stood before them, sweat trailing down his temple as he read from the report in his trembling hands.
"W-we've… we've run the numbers again," he stammered. "In the past two weeks, almost every available exorcist job under F to B rank has been taken—"
"By who?!"
The shout came from a broad-shouldered man with sharp eyes and a scar running across his cheek. His palm slammed onto the table, making the papers jump.
"Are all the other guilds working together to corner us?!" he growled, his tone laced with frustration.
The man presenting the report shook his head rapidly. "N-no, sir. That's the thing. We checked. It's not the other guilds. None of them have been claiming these jobs either."
The room fell into silence.
The only sound was the faint hum of the city wind beyond the glass walls.
"What do you mean… none of them?" a woman asked slowly, her crimson eyes narrowing. "Jobs don't just vanish into thin air."
The man swallowed hard and continued, "They… they have been taken. Just not by any registered guild or known exorcist team. Every request is marked as 'completed,' but the field reports show no records, no faces, and no witnesses."
"Impossible," another guild member muttered. "The Association monitors every completed hunt. Are you saying someone's bypassing the system entirely?"
The woman crossed her arms, thinking deeply. "Or someone's found a way to complete jobs so fast the records can't keep up."
The scarred man clenched his jaw. "No one is that fast. Not even our S-rank elites could pull that off without burning out their G.E."
The air grew heavier — the kind of silence before a storm.
Then the silver-haired Guildmaster, Kang Dae-hyun, finally spoke.
He had been silent the entire time, sitting at the head of the table with his eyes closed, listening.
"…Pull up the anonymous job completion data from the past month," he said calmly.
The room stirred. "Y-yes, sir."
A holographic screen flickered to life, projecting dozens of mission reports — all marked with a blacked-out name and an unknown emblem.
Every single one read:
> [ Completed by: UNKNOWN ]
[ Time Taken: Under 3 Minutes ]
Murmurs spread across the room.
Dae-hyun's eyes opened — sharp, calm, and calculating. "A ghost hunter who works faster than an entire guild team… and leaves no trace behind."
He leaned back slightly, resting his chin on his hand. "Interesting."
The woman spoke again, uneasy. "Sir, if this continues, Silver Cross could start losing its contracts and standing with the Association. We need to find out who—"
Dae-hyun smiled faintly, his expression unreadable.
"We will."
He turned his gaze to the holographic screen again. The faint outline of the unknown exorcist's insignia pulsed once — like a phantom in the dark.
> The Phantom.
Dae-hyun's smile widened ever so slightly.
"Whoever you are… you've caught my attention."
---