The Uncanny Counter

 (Korean: 경이로운 소문 lit. Amazing Rumor) is a South Korean fantasy mystery thriller series directed by Yoo Seon-dong, written by Yeo Ji-na, and starring Jo Byung-gyu and Kim Se-jeong. It was released internationally on Netflix on November 28, 2020, with every two episodes being added weekly on Saturday and Sunday.

Story
"Noodle shop employees by day and demon hunters by night, the Counters use special abilities to chase down malevolent spirits that prey on humans."

- Official Netflix synopsis

Prologue
In a world where evil spirits (악귀, akgwi) escape from the afterlife, only the demon-hunters known as the Counters can stop them. The Counters themselves were once normal people that got involved in tragic accidents and trapped in a coma. The spirits from the Yung (the boundary between the afterlife and the world of the living) search for such candidates and offer a second chance to live again; they’re partnered with their spirit to become a Counter. Those that agree will be given enhanced strength, speed, spiritual sensory, memory sensory and wiping, and thick curly hair. The counters bear the arduous task of searching for and exorcising these evil spirits possessing human hosts who have killed or have murderous intent (encouraging their host to kill) and consume the soul of the victim. To locate such fiends, they rely on the Yung Territory (a demon sensory and power boost field for counters) to sweep for demons. However, they must never misuse their powers towards human affairs or risk expulsion and return to their original coma state.

Seven ago, mayoral candidate Shin Myeong-Whi (Choi Kwang-Il) formed a partnership with the Taesin Group, Dajeong ENC, Baekjo Motors, and Officer Choi Su-Ryong (Son Kang-Kuk) to help him become Jungjin City’s next mayor in exchange for kickbacks and support. This clique has killed, extorted, bribed, bullied, blackmailed, and manipulated evidence to dominate the city. During this time, Ga Mo-Tak (Yu Jun-Sang) was investigating a missing woman that was killed by Shin, Kim Young Nim. Detective So-Gwon (Jun Suk-Ho) was investigating Shin for political corruption. Both believe their cases are related and teamed up to investigate but would meet unfortunate fates.

On the eve of Shin’s victory as mayor, Mo-Tak was being chased down by members of the Dajeong ENC to silence his investigation. Noh Chang-Gyu (Jeon Jin-Oh) and his men tried to stab Mo-Tak to death on a rooftop, but Mo-Tak fell off the roof and crashed onto a car and was presumed dead. So-Gwon and his wife were killed by members of Baekjo Motors; their car was destroyed by a dump truck ramming into them. However, their son So-Mun (Joe Byeong-Gyu) survived the incident, but has a crippled right leg for it. Mo-Tak survived and was in a long term coma until the Yung made him a Counter. Without his memories, Mo-Tak begins a new life as a Counter without realizing he’s engaged to Officer Kim Jeong-Yeong (Choi Yoon-Young). For So-Mun, he would blame himself for his parents’ deaths and live with his grandparents while aspiring to become a graphic artist with his childhood friends.

Main Story
Mayor Shin has helped Taesin Group become a major company and made millions in their partnership. Using Dajeong ENC and Baekjo Motors as underworld muscle and Police Captain Choi to manipulate evidence in their favor, they became an unstoppable cabal. During this time, the Counters work at Eonni's (Big Sister) Noodles, a noodle restaurant which serves as their HQ. Mo-Tak, Do Ha-Na (Kim Se-Jeong), and Chu Mae-Ok (Yeom Hye-Ran) work at the noodle house while Jang Cheol-Jung (Sung Ji-Ru) serves as backup. Choi Jang-Mul (Ahn Suk-Hwan) is a Counter as well, but also a rich retail giant; he serves as intelligence and financial support for the team. Things would change for the Counters after losing a member.

The Counters were chasing after a level 3 demon: Ji Cheong-Sin (Jeon Jin-Oh). Unfortunately, Cheong-Sin defeated all of them, killing Cheol-Jung and devoured his soul. Cheol-Jung’s spirit partner, Wi-Gen (Moon Sook), immediately searched for another coma patient but ended up in a non-coma host: So-Mun. While walking home, So-Mun was being bullied by Shin Hyeok-U (Jung Won-Chang), Mayor Shin’s son. Ha-Na rescued So-Mun and brought him to Eonni's to speak with Wi-Gen. She explained the purpose of the Counters and asked him to join. So-Mun originally declined due to the dangerous nature of their job, but after saving a family, he agreed to join on the condition he’ll see his parents again.

After joining, Mae-Ok healed So-Mun’s leg, allowing him to walk and run normally again. With the help of Mo-Tak and Ha-Na, So-Mun became skilled in martial arts and parkour. His artistic skills helped the Counters identify culprits easier, but his most powerful hidden ability is to summon the Yung Territory. With new strength, So Mun resisted Hyeok-U’s bullying and defeated his crew to protect his friends. In between this time, Mo-Tak would discover his past is tied with So-Mun’s dad and began a personal investigation; this would lead him back to Detective Jeong-Yeong.

Jeong-Yeong is the only honest cop on the force. Whenever there’s a crime related to Mayor Shin’s cabal, Captain Choi would have Officer Pyo (Park Jin-Soo) to manipulate evidence to bury the case. Her only trusted ally is a new rookie sent to help her, Kang Han-Ul (Lee Gyeong-Min). Mo-Tak came back into Jeong-Yeong’s life when he wanted more information for his investigation. Jeong-Yeong helped Mo-Tak look back into his past and realized it is tied to Taesin Group and Young-Nim; the two would team up to quietly find evidence. However, Mo-Tak’s investigation would draw the attention of Chang-Gyu, realizing that Mo-Tak is alive.

In between, Mayor Shin has major development plans with Cho Tae-Sin (Lee Do-Yub), but Chairman Jeon Gi-Hwan (Lee Do-Kyung) stands in their way. Bae Sang-Pil (Kwon Hyuk) is the head of Baekjo Motors and step-dad to Cheong-Sin. Shin wanted Gi-Hwan to sign a contract to clear his way in his development project; Sang-Pil dispatched Cheong-Sin (a hitman and extortionist) to get the contract signed but his demonic nature had Gi-Hwan brutally murdered. Cheong-Sin’s debacle nearly ruined Shin’s plans; he had Sang-Pil kill Cheong-Sin. Unaware of his son’s demonic nature, Sang-Pil was killed and Cheong-Sin fled.

So-Mun started helping Mo-Tak in his investigation and realized the case was related to his parents’ deaths; he learned his parents were murdered. Ha-Na sympathized with So-Mun and offered to use her powers to spiritually time travel back to the night of their deaths. So-Mun had to experience his parents’ death once again, but his greatest horror was realizing it was Cheong-Sin that killed them and devoured their souls. To their surprise, Cheong-Sin was able to interact with the past and fought with So-Mun. Enraged by what Cheong-Sin did, So-Mun was nearly trapped until Ha-Na pulled them back to the present. The two went back to report this to the other counters and they realized Cheong-Sin has the soul’s of So-Mun’s parents and Cheol-Jung.

So-Mun remembers his fight with Cheong-Sin and uses it to locate Baekjo Motors. The counters teamed up with Jeong-Yeong to arrest him, but they found Sang-Pil’s crushed body instead. Jeong-Yeong tipped off the press to force Captain Choi to have a more transparent investigation while declaring a citywide manhunt for Cheong-Sin. In between, Chang-Gyu and his henchmen now know where Mo-Tak is located. Chang-Gyu and his men were easily defeated by the counters and later failed to kill them by attempting to crush them with their truck. Cheong-Sin would later lure So-Mun into a fight that nearly killed him, but the counters managed to save him. In retaliation against Taesin Group and Mayor Shin, the counters ruined his presidential announcement by exposing his eco-park project is actually a toxic waste dump site. The counters briefly celebrated, but the Yung Spirits had them reprimanded and Wi-Gen expelled So-Mun for his reckless behavior.

Tired of being wanted, Cheong-Sin visited Mayor Shin and made a deal with him: he’ll get rid of the counters in exchange Shin will call off the authorities. Cheong-Sin would set a trap, by recruiting a small army of demons and capturing So-Mun. One of the recruits was Baek Hyang-Hee (Ok Ja-Yeon), a level 3 demon that got arrested before the counters could exorcise. Without his powers, So-Mun was easily kidnapped and sent to an abandoned warehouse. Cheong-Sin then informed the counters of his location with So-Mun as his hostage. As soon as the trio got there, Mae-Ok was taken out. Without their healer, the demons had an easier time taking on Ha-Na and Mo-Tak and left the counters to die. With the counters in mortal danger, So-Mun reached out to Wi-Gen and pleaded with her to rejoin to save them. Wi-Gen agreed to rejoin with So-Mun and he summoned a massive Yung territory that protected the counters from a massive explosion. Mayor Shin witnessed the explosion and thought Cheong-Sin took care of his nuisance, but the counters secretly survived and used their deaths to remain incognito.

The fight helped Mo-Tak regain his memories. With the help of Ha-Na, they were able to repiece his past. Mo-Tak now remembers what happened 7 years ago, his history with So-Gwon, and his relationship with Jeong-Yeong. Mo-Tak reached out to Jeong-Yeong about getting back together. Unfortunately, he found her murdered by a head shot while waiting for him. Jeong-Yeong was investigating the cabal; freezing their assets has affected Mayor Shin’s plans. She was killed to help restart Shin’s plans; Jeong-Yeong’s death was ruled a suicide and the charges against Taesin and Dajeong were lifted. Without further disruptions, Mayor Shin was about to resume his blue house ambitions when he got busted.

The counters quietly destroyed Shin’s operation. Because Shin is working with a demon, the Yung spirits permitted them in using their powers to bring the cabal down. Mo-Tak would secretly team up with Han-Ul to help gather evidence to get Captain Choi arrested. Through hidden audio recording, Captain Choi and Pyo were exposed as dirty cops and jailed for corruptive practices and murder. Jang-Mul appeared as his rich mogul identity, pretending to be a supporter of Shin’s campaign. He promised Shin he’ll commit to ₩5,000,000,000 if he can match his donation. Because the money is illegally acquired, the counters stole the money without fearing the police as it would bring trouble to Shin as well. Jang-Mul also took the chance to get DNA evidence from Shin as the counters recovered Young-Nim’s body and dropped all their evidence to the police, independent from Jungjin City. Eventually, the police gathered enough evidence to have Mayor Shin arrested for murder.

Cheong-Sin and Hyang-Hee had hidden themselves at the Jahye Children's Home, the orphanage where Cheong-Sin stayed as a child. He killed and devoured the soul of the director that abused him (as a kid) and evolved into a level-4 demon. Cheong-Sin has become one with his demonic spirit and an immortal; he has increased telekinetic powers and can possess people. Wi-Gen senses Cheong-Sin’s evolution and meets with the Counters to explain the situation. She warns if Cheong-Sin is not taken down soon, all the souls he devoured will cease to exist. The spirits gave them magical staffs that can form a barrier to drain Cheong-Sin of his powers and exorcise him, but it will drain anyone within the barrier; So-Mun had to quickly learn how to control the Yung Territory to beat Cheong-Sin.

The counters found Cheong-Sin and used their staff to trap Cheong-Sin. So-Mun mastered the ability to summon the territory and used it to defeat him. However, before So-Mun could exorcise him, Cheong-Sin shot and killed himself. So-Mun was devastated as he thought he lost his only chance to save his parents’ souls. It wasn’t until later the counters would learn Cheong-Sin had transferred himself to Shin. With Taesin Group abandoning Shin and mounting evidence against him, Shin attempted suicide. However, Cheong-Sin would possess Shin as his new host and plot his revenge.

Starting with his former associates, Shin used his demonic powers to have Tae-Sin under his command. Noh Hang-Gyu (Kim Seung-Hoon) is Chang-Gyu’s older brother and works for Taesin Group. Shin had Hang-Gyu go to the police to admit killing Young-Nim and the police released Shin. The counters would realize Cheong-Sin is now in Shin and plot to find him. Tae-Sin would kidnap a little girl related to his pollution scandal, her illness is proof Taesin is causing harm to the locals and they plan to kill her. The counters intervened but so did Hyang-Hee. So-Mun rescued the girl while Ha-Ha took on Hyang-Hee. The demon retreated back to Shin’s hideout, allowing the counters to track his whereabouts. Prepared to perform the same barrier trick like last time, it’s actually a trap.

Cheong-Sin had Hyang-Hee lured the counters, thinking they had the element of surprise. While the counters summoned the barrier, Hyang-Hee took out the barrier by attacking Ha-Na. With the barrier gone, Cheong-Sin can overpower the counters and kill them. Cheong-Sin had the advantage in beating the counters, but he decided to retreat as he’s not at full strength. Ha-Na managed to defeat Hyang-Hee and exorcised the demon out of her and left her to the police. Mae-Ok was hurt during the fight and Jeong-Gu (a counter in Singapore) was summoned to Jungjin to help heal her. Realizing her condition was more severe than she would admit, Jeong-Gu volunteered to help hunt for Cheong-Sin.

At Shin’s home, the counters found him in a form of stasis. The crew realized Cheong-Sin left Shin’s body and used Hyeok-U as a trojan horse. Cheong-Sin used Hyeok-U to access Eonni's and kill Mae-Ok. So-Mun and Ha-Na made it back in time to save Mae-Ok, but Jeong-Gu was killed. Cheong-Sin returned to Shin’s body and fought against Mo-Tak and Jeong-Gu, but he was too strong. While retreating, Cheong-Sin telekinetically used a knife to stab and kill Jeong-Gu. So-Mun arrived in time to see Jeong-Gu’s spirit leave and his spirit partner about to fade. Unwilling to let anyone die, So-Mun absorbed the spirit into his body. Wi-Gen realized So-Mun is a living Yung Gateway and by saving the spirit, he gained an additional power boost.

In a final showdown, Shin called the counters to a fight in an abandoned housing complex. The counters fought against Cheong-sin and even with So-Mun’s territory, it wasn’t enough to beat Shin. Tapping harder into his powers, So-Mun manipulated rocks to slow Shin down. So-Mun won the fight and was about to exorcise Cheong-Sin, but he revealed he has So-Mun’s grandparents as hostages. Trapped in a car with a truck about to run them over, Mo-Tak held down the truck while Ha-Na delayed the car. So-Mun managed to exorcise Cheong-Sin into the Yung and saved all the souls the demon has devoured over the years. So-Mun finally had his chance to reunite with his parents and speak with them. However, his grandparents were devastated to learn they were murdered. To help them find closure, Ha-Na helped So-Mun connect his parents with his grandparents to ease their minds.

In the aftermath, Cheol-Jung managed to temporarily return to the living to reunite with his former teammates over an emotional meal before heading back to the Yung. Both Tae-Sin and Hang-Gyu went to jail in their crimes connected with Shin. With Shin as a normal person, he was arrested and later had his due in court. Shin accepted his fate and admitted guilt to all of his crimes and went to jail. With Jungjin cleared of all demons, the Yung Spirits had the counters tour throughout Korea to clear out the other demons. Jang-Mul would later intercept them and replace their red track suits with new business suits and masks. The story will end with the counters taking out a small group of demons, but they’ll return again in the sequel.

Cast and Characters

 * Main
 * Jo Byung-gyu as So Mun
 * Kim Se-jeong as Do Ha-Na
 * Yoo Jun-sang as Ga Mo-Tak
 * Yeom Hye-ran as Choo Mae-Ok
 * Ahn Suk-hwan as Choi Jang-Mul


 * Supporting
 * Choi Yoon-young as Kim Jeong-yeong
 * Lee Chan-hyung as Soo-ho
 * Lee Hong-nae as Ji Chung-shin
 * Moon Sook as Wigen
 * Lee Ji-won as Oh Joo-yeon
 * Ok Ja-yeon as Baek Hyang-hee
 * Kim So-ra as Gi-ran
 * Jung Won-chang as Shin Hyuk-woo
 * Jeon Jin-oh as Noh Chang-kyu
 * Kim Jung-jin as Jang Hye-kyung
 * Kim Seung-hoon as Noh Hang-kyu

Episodes

 * Season One


 * Episode 1
 * Episode 2
 * Episode 3
 * Episode 4
 * Episode 5
 * Episode 6
 * Episode 7
 * Episode 8
 * Episode 9
 * Episode 10
 * Episode 11
 * Episode 12
 * Episode 13
 * Episode 14
 * Episode 15
 * Episode 16