Violet's boss suddenly got a fishbone stuck in her throat. It hurt when she drank or ate, and sometimes breathing became difficult.
After going to the hospital, the doctors found nothing wrong—no foreign object in her throat. They prescribed medication, but after taking it for several days, she still didn't improve.
Later, the boss consulted a master, who said she had offended someone and been cursed with a Kuman Thong.
This Kuman Thong could only be resolved through black magic, which the master couldn't perform. Without a solution, Violet's boss would die—her throat was worsening, already causing her to cough up blood. She couldn't even drink water without unbearable pain.
She consulted several masters, but none could help. They all said the same thing: Kuman Thong could only be broken by the caster's black magic—no one else could undo it.
The boss's face turned ashen with despair. Combined with the unbearable throat pain, she wished for death.
Eventually, someone referred her to Rhett—my grandfather.
Originally, the boss had lost all hope, but Grandpa's Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts brought her back to life. Violet was present at the time, accompanying her boss to Grandpa's tattoo parlor.
Grandpa gave the boss a Yin-inspired Tattoo of Ghost's Pat on the Back. The design was terrifying—a female ghost with her face buried in long, tangled hair, a rotting hand gently resting on the boss's back.
Grandpa's tattoo was so vivid that the female ghost looked real, as if she were actually lying on the boss's back, softly patting her.
Grandpa instructed the boss to sleep on her back for three nights, promising she'd recover.
And it worked. Three days later, the boss was completely healed—no more throat problems.
Curious, Violet asked how the boss had been cured.
The boss explained that this Tattoo of Gods and Ghosts was even more sinister than the Kuman Thong curse. At night, she slept on her back as instructed.
In the middle of the night, an icy hand violently slapped her back.
Not only did she jolt awake, but she also felt an overwhelming urge to vomit—right there in bed.
And what did she vomit? Hair.
She retched for a full minute, expelling nothing but disgusting clumps of hair. Terrified, she immediately burned all the vomited strands.
For three consecutive days, this same thing happened - in the middle of the night, someone would slap his back violently. When he turned around, no one was there, followed immediately by the urge to vomit up more hair.
After three days, he was completely fine. The strange occurrences stopped, and his condition inexplicably improved.
The boss declared that my grandpa was the real master - a single tattoo had solved this Kuman Thong curse. Later, the boss brought many gifts to thank my grandpa, but all were refused.
From that moment on, Violet developed a deep impression of Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts. She was utterly shocked by their supernatural power.
When Violet later encountered her own supernatural problem - being haunted by a fetus - the first solution she remembered was my grandfather's Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts.
But by the time she went looking for him, the tattoo parlor was closed and he couldn't be found.
Until today, when she spotted Stein again. Remembering he used to work at Grandpa's shop, she called out to us.
So Violet's purpose in inviting us today was simple - she wanted a Tattoo of Gods and Ghosts to help rid her of this horrifying fetus.
I told her this was straightforward. If she wanted to ward off evil spirits, we could give her an exorcism tattoo of Yaksha or Rakshasa. There were other anti-ghost tattoos available too, though slightly less effective.
But one crucial question remained - what exactly was this fetus haunting Violet? A ghost?
If it was just a ghost, that would be manageable. My real concern was that it might be something more sinister.
Logically speaking, an aborted fetus that hadn't even fully formed shouldn't be able to turn into a ghost and haunt its mother, right?
At this point, Stein spoke up quietly: "Little Boss, this could be The Grudge of the Fetus!"
"The Grudge of the Fetus?" I frowned, unfamiliar with the term.
Stein explained: "This Grudge of the Fetus is actually the accumulated ghostly resentment from too many abortions. The fetus has a spirit too, though very weak. But when too many abortions occur, the ghostly resentment collects and forms The Grudge of the Fetus."
He continued: "The Grudge of the Fetus isn't exactly a ghost - it's a concentrated stream of ghostly resentment. A standard exorcism tattoo might not be very effective against it."
"Stop right there!" Violet immediately interrupted Stein. "You clearly weren't listening carefully earlier. I told you I've only ever had one abortion. Where would 'too many fetuses' come from? I'm not some breeding sow!"
Violet seemed genuinely angry - this was clearly insulting to her.
Stein looked puzzled. "That is strange... then where did this Grudge of the Fetus come from? A single abortion shouldn't be enough to create one that would haunt its mother."
Violet insisted: "Believe what you want, but I only had one abortion. I'm definitely not lying or hiding anything."
Stein said that wasn't what he meant—it's just that the situation was strange. Then he stood up and began inspecting the surroundings.
"Could there be something wrong with this villa?" Stein wondered aloud.
"Impossible," Violet replied. "I've lived here quite a while, and there were never any problems before—only after the abortion."
"If the house isn't the issue, then I'm stumped." Stein grew increasingly puzzled.
As Violet and Stein were talking, I suddenly noticed a man standing in the second-floor hallway. His face was bloodless, staring straight at me, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to speak—but no sound came out.
The villa was a small two-story building. From our conversation area on the first floor, the second-floor hallway was clearly visible when looking up.
The man appeared around Violet's age, wearing a white shirt, his complexion paper-white.
Though silent, I could almost make out his words from the shape of his mouth:
"She's... cheating?" I unconsciously mouthed the words after him.
"What?" Both Stein and Violet turned to me, confused by my sudden outburst.
"Huh? Oh, nothing." I shook my head, snapping back to reality.
But when I glanced up again, the man had vanished.
Strange. Where did he go? It happened in a blink—the hallway was long, but he couldn't have disappeared that fast.
"Miss Violet, is there another man in your house?" I asked.
Honestly, I shouldn't have asked. Celebrities' private lives are complicated—hiding a man or two isn't unusual. But this one was just... eerie.
"Another man?" Violet laughed. "You're joking. I live alone. Besides my assistant and housekeeper, no fourth person stays here regularly."
Huh, stubborn denial. I'd clearly seen him. But I understood—Violet was at her peak; any scandal could ruin her. I dropped it, pretending I'd seen nothing.
As for why that man said that to me... I had no clue.
Returning to the Tattoos of Gods and Ghosts: If Violet was haunted by ordinary ghosts, I'd give her a Yaksha or Rakshasa tattoo for exorcism.
But if this truly was The Grudge of the Fetus—a concentrated stream of ghostly resentment as Stein described—then I had another option:
A Yin-inspired tattoo called Dog-Raised Child.