Chapter 701: Haze Audition (3)
The God Illyeong and God Wolryeong who appeared in Haze were beings worshipped as deities on the island of Yeonmudo. But in truth, they were vengeful spirits bound to Yeonmudo for over a hundred years.
During the Japanese occupation, a southern island shaman named Wolryeong realized his spiritual power had weakened with age and decided to use a last resort. He aimed to create a child spirit from a seven-year-old girl known to have strong spiritual energy, hoping to enhance his own powers. A child spirit could foretell the future during divination, and was also called a child deity.
When the islanders of Yeonmudo heard the shaman had kidnapped a child and brought her to the island, they scoured the entire island to find her. However, by the time they killed Wolryeong and found Illyeong, she had just been murdered by Wolryeong. Pitying the dead Illyeong, the islanders built a shrine and held rites for her, while they threw Wolryeong's corpse into the deepest mountain pit to be eaten by crows.
Afterward, people began claiming they had seen ghosts on Yeonmudo—those ghosts were the sacrificed child Illyeong and the cursed shaman Wolryeong. Since then, the islanders have called them the God Illyeong and God Wolryeong, praying not to be harmed.
Strangely, the God Illyeong, a child deity, could only roam Yeonmudo when the sun cast shadows, while the sinister God Wolryeong appeared only when the moon cast shadows.
However, there was one exception. During one week each year, when the Great Haze event occurred, thick fog blanketed the island day and night, making it impossible to tell night from day. During that week, both ghosts could freely roam the island at all hours.
In the story, the seven-year-old God Illyeong endlessly fled from the God Wolryeong. This was because the shaman's ghost, God Wolryeong, had to steal God Illyeong's spiritual energy to escape his fate as a grounded spirit trapped on Yeonmudo.
However, unlike God Illyeong who retained her original power, God Wolryeong's soul had weakened over time. To prevent his spirit from dissipating, God Wolryeong lured people into the pit where he died and stole their souls. He was barely holding on, just long enough to absorb the God Illyeong.
The scene for episode 3's audition began with God Illyeong warning fishermen docked on Yeonmudo about where to escape the ghosts, only to face the imminent threat of running into God Wolryeong. Miso would play God Illyeong, while Park Sang-Gyu would play God Wolryeong as the audition began.
At that moment, PD Oh Sang-Do gave the signal to start. "Ready~ action!"
Park Sang-Gyu took a deep breath and began his performance. Having played countless roles during his time in a theater troupe, Park Sang-Gyu earned the nickname "Man of a Thousand Faces" and was skilled in all kinds of acting. He had another nickname too—Part-time King—because he took on all kinds of odd jobs when the troupe was on break.
Park Sang-Gyu had worked numerous times as a daycare assistant, making him one of the best in the country at reading children's emotions. Because of his experience, he knew exactly how to avoid scaring Miso too much while portraying the terrifying God Wolryeong.