Kwa-ruk-
U-deu-deuk-
Chwaak.
[Quietly Waiting One]’s body, which had been maintained, collapses.
And Kim Sinhwa, in a dazed yet ecstatic expression, watches that form.
With entrails and bones exposed, bright red blood scattering, the avatar form crumpling—and on Kim Sinhwa’s face blooms pure rapture, curiosity, exhilaration, greed, joy, and appetite.
Kkigigigeek-
U-deu-deuk-
One of the human dolls steps forward in a forlorn, beautiful, and eerie posture.
Kim Sinhwa quickly grasps the situation. “The one who just exploded and died has transferred into another body and been reborn? What an amazing ability. I envy it. I want it. I wish I had that power too.”
The creaking body of the doll.
[Quietly Waiting One] forms a seal with one hand raised and the other lowered. Though reminiscent of a Buddha’s hand gesture to show mercy, [Quietly Waiting One] has no connection to Buddha—it’s merely a method to prolong the forcibly occupied body. The resemblance to Buddhist mudras is purely coincidental.
“Answer now. What is your name? Are you the white servant I have been waiting for?”
“I—I’m Ki, Ki, Kim Sinhwa.”
“......”
“S-sorry. I—I don’t know what the white servant is.”
[Quietly Waiting One] moves gracefully, bringing both hands together into the Wisdom Fist Seal, and gazes at Kim Sinhwa.
Its gaze penetrates past the mask, past Kim Sinhwa’s flesh.
What [Quietly Waiting One] sees is an empty darkness, just as with Kim Sinhwa. Nothing at all.
Despite having expended far too much, [Quietly Waiting One] is of abyssal origin. Skipping several stages of insight, [Quietly Waiting One] recognizes Kim Sinhwa’s true nature.
“Aha. You are one of Kim Sinhwa’s avatar bodies. You are not the incomplete avatar without even a name that I sought. Return to where you came from.”
A gentle voice imbued with compassion and love.
To realize [Quietly Waiting One]’s secret wish, it must draw out the true power trapped within Kim Sinhwa’s deeper self.
Kim Sinhwa hugs his body and steps back.
“N-no. This body is finally mine. It’s m-mine now. I’m Kim Sinhwa. I won’t go back!”
Like a child throwing a tantrum.
Slowly, [Quietly Waiting One] brings its palms together in the Joined Hands Seal and speaks.
“That is troublesome. I have no time. If you hinder my secret wish, I will destroy you.”
As the words end, the human dolls creak and approach from all sides.
“O-oh... c-come closer. If you—”
Muttering, Kim Sinhwa feels for [Reckless Destruction] covering his head.
A massive buffalo-bone mask, grotesquely large for his body and responding to his mana, shifts in his hands.
[System: Cannot activate trait; cooldown not finished.]
“N-no... I will have... what I desire... give it to m-me...”
U-deu-deuk-
Mana concentrates in Kim Sinhwa’s hand. This is no formal spell—a raw shove of will, forcing the latent power within [Reckless Destruction] to surface.
[Function S-rank activated. Craving ‘Violence’. Strength and activation of reckless accessory destruction.
// Habitual (+N) stats randomly increase Health and Attack. Added. Plus melee.]
It is imperfect. He only extracts a handful of the shadowy fluids trapped inside [Reckless Destruction].
But Kim Sinhwa overlays his mana and solidifies the form.
Kadeu-deu-deuk-
The viscous shadowy fluid hardens into a short dagger with a jet-black blade.
Sshaaaak-
Srrrk- Shaaak-
How many swings does Kim Sinhwa make? The dolls’ heads, bodies, and arms drop to the floor.
Thud- flop- drop-
As expected, they were humans transformed by the surreal entity [Doll Factory] managed by Paju Central Hospital’s closed ward. Though their surfaces resemble dolls, a sliced throat kills them, and blood flows from the wound.
Chwaa-aaak!
Blood fountains skyward.
Beneath his mask, Kim Sinhwa’s smile brightens with delight.
“I-I can do th-this. I’m Kim Sinhwa—”
“You are the avatar embodying the desire to steal others’ power and wield it—”
Chwaa-aaak!
[Quietly Waiting One]’s neck falls. Kim Sinhwa, moving too swiftly for human eyes, severs its throat.
But [Quietly Waiting One] never intended to defend or evade. Another corpse rises and speaks.
“—I can no longer use great power, but for my other avatars—”
Chwaa-aaak!
Another head falls. The corpse beside it rises.
“—before you gain a true name, I will—”
Chwaa-aaak!
“—destroy you.”
“I also want the p-powers you have, I’m e-envious. Share them with me. Name, power, existence—the ability to be destroyed and revive again—give them to me.”
[Quietly Waiting One] begins pointing right hand to sky, left to earth.
“Pitiful avatar, born from a human’s ravenous craving.”
After overextending and using unnatural abilities, it has drained most power but still has enough left for one trait.
“Urrr—”
Kim Sinhwa screams and recoils, sensing the impending ability.
“D-don’t use—th-that!”
Crouching like a frightened cat, narrowing his throat and making a “Kyaaah!” sound.
Surely in the next moment, Kim Sinhwa would be eradicated.
Yet [Quietly Waiting One] does not activate its trait and slowly turns its head.
A bizarre sound grips the ears. A sound that should not echo here repeats.
[Quietly Waiting One]’s face contorts—facial muscles tear and distort unnaturally.
“⌚? Why?”
It looks toward nothing. Not here, but slightly to the side or below—something located where no one here could interact.
Black vapor rises somewhere around the corridor’s corner. And the stench of rotting corpses fills the hall.
From a direction now unobservable, a voice speaks.
“ , .”
Fwaa-aaat!
Simultaneously, the backpack Kim Sinhwa wore is torn open, its contents spilling out.
“Wh-who are you!? Who’s touching my—my things!?”
Rumble—
High-purity mana crystals shimmer in myriad lights—objects too refined for clumsy handling.
Whirrrr—
Some crystals trace geometric light trails toward [Quietly Waiting One] and explode.
Krawa-gwa-gwa-gwang! Krawa-gwa-gwa-gwang!!
Massive heat and mana in the blasts.
“—!!”
[Quietly Waiting One] emits an impossible, inhuman scream.
Shirrrr—
Only some crystals have exploded. Countless others arrange themselves in predetermined positions, forming dazzling magic circles.
Recognizing the formation, Kim Sinhwa screams in shock.
“Th-that! Who—who, did Kim Sinhwa leave these behind?!”
Sharing a body means sharing traits—30 Intelligence and [Spell Mastery] let Kim Sinhwa understand the circles’ purpose.
Purification, annihilation, banishment, expulsion, return, erasure, exclusion, exorcism.
And confinement, sealing, isolation, subjugation, control, defense, coercion, suppression, restraint.
A ritual to drive out an entity’s power here, and to seal it.
“N-no! N-no! That’s mine! Mine!”
Kiiiiiiing!
Enveloped in blinding light, [Quietly Waiting One] speaks toward the now-unobservable direction.
“⌚. Have you decided to entwine with us again?”
It attempts several seals to counter Kim Sinhwa’s magic circles but cannot escape.
Without a sacrifice, without a ritual, without a medium, having overexerted to influence the barrier formed to repel an abyssal, it has no strength left.
“I see. My time here ends. But I have long awaited the white servant. If Kim Sinhwa truly is the white servant, he will call me himself.”
And again toward the unobservable:
“Kke—kke—kke—kke—⌚. We had such fun memories in the future.”
Speaking with unaligned tense, [Quietly Waiting One] slowly vanishes.
Remaining in the corridor are the still-glowing mana crystals and innumerable human corpses.
“A-ah! It’s gone... I haven’t eaten yet!”
Kim Sinhwa, furious, smashes the blood-streaked floor.
Sssss—
From a corner drifts acrid black vapor.
From outside observable range, ⌚ speaks in a now-recognizable voice.
“Whew, it really worked. You really calculated and prepared all this? I bragged a lot, but you’re impressive.”
A strange sound repeats from ⌚’s body.
“Wh-who—who are you!?”
“Hmm? You don’t know me?”
“I-I don’t.”
“Hmm, didn’t you say we share memories?”
Scratching where its head should be.
“Oh, right.”
⌚ realizes the issue.
“Anyway, # Nоvеlight # kiddo. You’ll know who I am in a few days, so don’t worry and get some sleep.”
⌚ raises a hand, holding the item Kim Sinhwa will receive in fifteen days.
Kiiiiiing—
The mana crystals charged with confinement, sealing, isolation, subjugation, control, defense, coercion, suppression, restraint, approach Kim Sinhwa.
“Aaaah! No! Don’t trap me!”
Kim Sinhwa slashes away subjugation, isolation, and control, but cannot cut them all.
“Aaaah! No! No! No! Stop! Come out here! Pull me! No! No! Fool. You should have run. Get out of the way!”
Yelling and vomiting in panic, Kim Sinhwa collapses.
⌚ murmurs as it watches him fallen.
“Huh, does every time you use your power lead to this mess? Even worse penalty than being chased by those things.”
Grrrr—
From somewhere in the now-silent corridor comes a strange growl, like a dangerous beast.
“Whaaat!? Time’s already up?”
Startled, ⌚ shakes its head, then spots a “?” down the hall and—
“Aaaaargh!!”
In light delirium, ⌚ staggers barefoot down the corridor, steps on someone’s entrails, and falls.
Crack!
“Oww, my head! My head!”
Picking up its rolling head, ⌚ sobs pitifully, then drifts—left, left, further left—so far no one can observe.
The aimless “?” growls toward the unobservable direction, leaving behind an indescribable, unpleasant fluid, then vanishes.
Now only Kim Sinhwa—sleeping under the protection of countless glowing mana crystals—and uncountable corpses remain.
No—one more.
“Wow—there’s something incredible here—”
From the farther end of the corridor comes Iha Seo’s voice.
