“In any case, hasn’t it been crowded lately?”
A chaotic time where interspecies from the Otherworld and evil cultists worshipping Abyssal entities run rampant.
Criminal organizations allied with those dangerous beings are waging near–war over Paju City’s hegemony.
Hospitals, morticians, arms dealers, and crime brokers are all enjoying a boom.
Yet Vasiliisa is somehow quiet.
It’s not that there are no people, but only the usual regulars are dawdling here.
“Kim Sinhwa, hello?”
Ob, the café’s barista, greets me.
“What are you?”
And the short woman in a red leather jacket standing beside Ob—Curtain Call—addresses me.
“Are you really Kim Sinhwa?”
Wait. That’s not a greeting.
“Yes, it’s me. And don’t people usually say ‘hello?’ when meeting someone after a while?”
“You’re always wearing that mask—how do we know it’s the same guy we met before under it?”
Curtain Call speaks brusquely, still omitting a greeting.
‘Hold on, she’s not joking or picking a fight—she’s truly on guard.’
Curtain Call’s magic power is focusing at her legs now. She’s ready to attack if needed.
I decide on a more comfortable approach than pointless wrangling.
“Tudor, tell her it’s me.”
“Oh my, Collie, it really is Kim Sinhwa.”
Tudor—wearing a flowing dress and a stylish pointed hat—approaches, giggling.
“You’re really Kim Sinhwa? Your scent’s completely changed.”
“Yes, it smells much more attractive than before.”
“You must’ve eaten something strange since I last saw you.”
“Mmm, indeed. Darling, if you find anything good, share it with me, will you?”
Unlike Curtain Call’s scowl, Tudor’s cheeks are slightly flushed, her smile subtly greedy—as if judging a fine dessert.
“Is your judgment finished now?”
“Well, as long as it’s Kim Sinhwa.”
Curtain Call loses interest and turns away.
“Darling, what did you do this time? The vibe’s totally different. Compared to when I first came here, you’re almost a different person.”
Hmm, what’s changed?
Well, something has. My Charm was 16 when I first visited Vasiliisa.
Now it’s 20.
And Curtain Call’s aversion must be because Abyssal magic is flickering through my body.
“But why are there so few customers?”
At my question, Tudor narrows her eyes.
“Mmm—well, it’s all because of you.”
“Because of me?”
They credited me when business was good, so it’s fair.
“Haha, the Foreign Resident Office has come and gone three times since then.”
Seoteen, who always sits here without greeting, cuts in.
“Thanks to that, those suspicious types fled elsewhere for now. It’ll take a few days to settle down. Collie’s dangerous too, but she sticks around because of Ob.”
“By the way, Kim Sinhwa. You put Ob in danger, didn’t you?”
Curtain Call snaps back like a viper.
“Why blame me? Blame the Foreign Resident Office.”
Often when a group is punished for one person’s mistake, the actual culprit escapes blame.
But isn’t it wrong to punish a group for one person’s error?
Curtain Call ponders, then says:
“You’re right. If that eyeball freak comes back, I’ll beat him to a pulp.”
“Darling, what are you doing? Don’t fill Collie’s head with dangerous ideas!”
Tudor grabs my arm urgently.
“Collie! If you do something like that and make this noisy situation worse, you’ll never see Ob again!”
“Oh, I won’t.”
“That’s right, Collie. Anyway, see you later. Stop the chit-chat and come with me. We need to talk business now.”
Once the brief commotion settles, I sit in Tudor’s office and endure a long scolding.
“Anyway, we’re dying for capable people—don’t drag Collie into this.”
“So apparently you do things besides attacking the Helistic.”
“What do you mean? Collie has a team she works with. She’s not a lone drifter like you.”
“Hah, yet you still manage to accomplish everything.”
Indeed, Collie is a formidable duelist.
“These days cases have become brutal. Almost no small jobs. Fights now are between corporations or organizations, and monsters and cultists have formed full factions—if you’re not someone of your caliber, you can’t handle anything alone.”
“I see.”
There are high-level troubleshooters who can wield group-level power solo, even stronger than me.
“But those guys are usually wanted. Once the Foreign Resident Office got involved, they moved elsewhere.”
So Vasiliisa suffers double manpower shortages.
Yet Tudor doesn’t seem too displeased.
“Heehee, if you have free time, just play. Now, here’s the data you requested.”
She hands me a thick dossier.
Titled “Paju Central Hospital Closed Ward Admission–Discharge Records.”
“Hmm, thanks.”
“Hoho, all right. Now, that’s the briefing—”
Tudor smiles and hands me another file.
“While you’re here, do this for me. It’s something you can handle right away.”
“Ugh, what is it? You’re making me work after all.”
“Oh? Didn’t you come here to work?”
I glance at the documents—it’s not too difficult.
A mass spawn of monster egg sacs in a building slated for reconstruction.
A large spider-type monster, presumed the egg sac mother, has appeared.
“The owner can’t report it to the Foreign Resident Office due to personal circumstances. It’s unfortunate.”
‘Unfortunate’—how so?
They can’t report because they didn’t acquire the building legally.
“Others might struggle, but you just smash it and it’s done, right? Please do it. If we can’t find someone today, the job goes elsewhere.”
This quest really isn’t hard, as Tudor says.
Only problem: I’ve been awake for over 26 hours...
I recall the notebook’s message: “Get some sleep.”
“Well, fine. I’ll handle it.”
“Yahoo! You’re the best! And take this on the way.”
Another dossier slides in front of me.
“What’s this?”
“What do you think? Other requests with remaining acceptance deadlines. If any interest you, pick one and let me know.”
I peek inside—some expire as soon as tomorrow.
“I have something tomorrow, so I can’t do it. I’ll do today’s since it’s simple, but start the next one in about three days.”
I leave only those with sufficient lead time and return the rest.
“Ah! So stingy! You used to be so pure, kind, and cute, Kim Sinhwa! Now you’ve become such a miser!”
Tudor leans back in her chair, flailing long limbs in indignation—an amusing sight that makes me laugh.
“Ha ha ha—”
“Oh? Darling, you just laughed.”
“Huh? Why?”
“I don’t recall hearing you laugh so loudly before.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Unconsciously, I pull my hand to my cheek—
Of course a mask covers it. It’s been nearly a year since I started wearing it. It feels strange somehow.
“The vibe has changed. As Collie said, if the person under the mask changed, we wouldn’t know.”
Tudor smiles meaningfully. It sounds oddly chilling.
“Be careful, darling. You don’t need me to quote that famous line about staring into the Abyss.”
Friedrich Nietzsche’s words.
‘He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.’
I wasn’t that cultured in my original world.
So my Intelligence stat must’ve dredged up that phrase from somewhere online.
I ponder briefly and reply.
“I’ll be careful.”
At the moment Kim Sinhwa departs to handle Tudor’s request.
“Ugh...”
Jang Hyundeok flips his smartphone face down on the bed, wearing a worried expression.
“Damn it. I shouldn’t have watched that video...”
He lies on the bed, clutching his head.
He’d been looking up possession and ghost lore online, finally landing on a cliched horror video.
The streamer’s line echoes in his mind:
‘A ghost can’t enter a room unless you permit it.’
Come to think of it, the wizard said something similar:
‘Unless you permit it, no trivial specter can even approach you.’
Though reassuring, the inverse implies a non-trivial specter could.
“Uoaargh!”
He tries making a strange sound to shake off his fear, but only feels foolish.
“Y-yeah. It’ll be fine.”
Creak—creak—creak—
“Eek!?”
Footsteps suddenly in the hallway.
Were those stairs? No—the steps started somewhere else in the corridor.
Kim Sinhwa is still out.
That leaves only Heo Sanghyun.
In Jang Hyundeok’s head, he imagines Heo Sanghyun silently ascending the stairs.
‘Why on earth?’
Thump, thump, thump—
A knock.
“Hyundeok-ssi, Hyundeok-ssi.”
“Yes? Yesss? Yes?”
“Hyundeok-ssi, Hyundeok-ssi.”
What, what is this? Why is he like that? Wait—is that really Heo Sanghyun’s voice?
No, something’s off. A hollow voice lacking emotion. Something is mimicking Heo Sanghyun’s voice.
Or a specter-possessed Heo Sanghyun is at the door.
Rattle, rattle, rattle—
The doorknob spins freely. He’d locked it earlier.
“Wh-why are you so scary?”
“Hyundeok-ssi, Hyundeok-ssi.”
No—it’s not Heo Sanghyun. The voice outside gradually shifts into a woman’s voice.
“Hyundeok-ssi...” repeated dozens of times.
“U-ughh!?”
At that moment, a voice shouts “Aunt!” from outside the door.
Kraaaang!
An explosion follows.
A brief silence.
“Jang Hyundeok!”
A more familiar voice.
“Wizard! Wizard!”
The wizard’s voice!
They’ve come precisely in time to rescue him!
Outside, a voice that ‘feels like Kim Sinhwa’s’ calls again:
“What are you doing, idiot? Why did you lock the door? Are you okay? Open it!”
Has something like this happened before?
He could have thought more rationally, but fear, confusion, and sudden hope overwhelm him.
“Hey! Let me in quickly!”
“All right! Come in!”
Jang Hyundeok answers.
Approval to enter.
He hasn’t opened the locked door yet, but...
Creeeaaak—
The door opens by itself.
And standing beyond it isn’t Kim Sinhwa.
A bizarre woman he’s never seen, her grin stretching ear to ear, says to Jang Hyundeok:
“Thank you. I’ll come in.”
“Yes?”
Behind her on the floor lies Heo Sanghyun.
He recalls the warning Heo Sanghyun once gave:
‘No living woman resides in this house. Even if you hear a woman’s voice calling, ignore it.’
That thought is the last thing Jang Hyundeok sees before his vision goes black.
