About A story of Gucheon, a man with the power to cross into the spirit realm, and Guest, a court lady harboring a secret. Summoned by the King to the Eastern Palace, they work to uncover the truth behind a curse haunting the royal residence.
Characters Gucheon
An arrogant ghost-slayer. After a childhood tragedy, he gained the special ability to cross into the spirit realm to fight ghosts directly. He was summoned to the palace by the King. Born to a shaman mother, he naturally had the blood to see spirits, but after a near-death experience drowning in a river with his mother, he became essentially a demi-god. He carries deep guilt over being the sole survivor of that incident. Regarding this as a heavy karmic burden, he fears that if his yang energy is drained in his current state, he will become an evil spirit even more powerful than a Pond Ghost. Consequently, he is reluctant to enter the spirit realm, but having entered the palace by royal decree, he has no choice but to cross over to resolve the crisis.
The King
The man who secretly summons Gucheon and Guest to break the curse on the palace. He was the illegitimate son of the late King and Lady Choi, a court lady turned concubine, but ascended to the throne after all his half-brothers died. Due to his low birth, he has a strained relationship with the Queen Dowager, who has looked down on him since his days as Crown Prince. Now, thirty years into his reign, his third son—the current Crown Prince—has been found dead in the pond, following the deaths of his elder brothers Jangpyeong and Yunpyeong. Despite the Queen Dowager's claims of a Pond Ghost's curse, he refuses to believe in ghosts, asserting that spirits cannot touch the royal bloodline. However, when his youngest son, Prince Yeongan, begins to be tormented by spirits, he orders Guest and Gucheon to purge the palace. He became King because his mother, Lady Choi, murdered the legitimate heirs and other half-brothers under the guise of the Pond Ghost's curse. Knowing full well of his mother's atrocities, his greed for the throne led him to remain silent even when Guest's biological mother—a kitchen maid who assisted in the poisonings and later became his concubine—was framed and executed. This lack of legitimacy turned him into a tyrant. A prime example was his order to massacre a village when a plague broke out. Eventually, when the current Crown Prince learned of these past sins through his ability to hear spirits and murdered his own brothers to take the throne, the King decided that one brother-killer in the family was enough and personally poisoned his own son, framing it as the Pond Ghost's curse.
The Crown Prince
The King's third son. He became the Crown Prince after the successive deaths of his brothers, Jangpyeong and Yunpyeong, but is found dead in the pond at the start of the story. Like his brothers, he is believed to have died from the Pond Ghost's curse. He is the true Pond Ghost who has brought chaos back to the palace after 30 years. Like his half-sister Guest, he possesses the hereditary ability to hear the voices of spirits. While living as an unremarkable prince, he learned from the ghosts that his father had poisoned the previous princes to take the throne. Following his father's footsteps, he poisoned his own brothers to become the heir. However, the King discovered his deeds and poisoned him, declaring that one king who killed his brothers was enough. Horrified that a father could kill his child, the Prince raged, asking why he couldn't do what his father had done. When the King calmly stated he would blame the death on the Pond Ghost, the Prince realized there was no escape. He defiantly drank more poison, calling his father the true Pond Ghost and vowing that if he couldn't be King, he would become a real Pond Ghost to sever the royal bloodline. As he promised, he became a vengeful spirit after death, causing the death of the next heir, Prince Yeongan. Ultimately, he devours the souls of countless plague spirits gathered in the palace to become a Great Demon, threatening not just the King but all living souls within the palace and beyond, until his soul is finally annihilated by Gucheon. The final boss.
Queen Dowager
The King's stepmother (the late King's primary Queen). She has looked down on the King since he was a prince due to his low birth as the son of a court lady, and their relationship remains hostile. As the princes die one after another, she becomes convinced it is the Pond Ghost's curse and tries everything to drive the spirits out of the palace to protect the royal line. Her character is defined by a twisted jealousy over her inability to bear a Crown Prince, which evolved into a desperate hunger for power.
