"Hey, Jang Hyundeok. What on earth do you mean by that?"
That’s the question I asked him a little while ago.
Back then, Jang Hyundeok grinned like it was nothing and answered:
"So yesterday I met some lady, and I think it was her!"
Refreshing answer, that.
It was her?
Normally I’d just go, "Heh, you idiot," and leave it at that, but today is different.
"..."
While Jang Hyundeok and I were away for a moment—
there was an unidentified intruder at the [Hungry Mansion].
Not only did the intruder track dirt into my house—
they toyed with Heo Sanghyun, who was home alone—and then slipped out of the Hungry Mansion without leaving a trace.
"Sinhwa? I wasn’t toyed with, we just talked. It wasn’t even that bad a conversation..."
This is a challenge to me.
And now I learn that Jang Hyundeok snuck out behind my back—told some woman—how to approach the Hungry Mansion?
"Ha ha, you idiot."
Instead of hitting him, I said just three things in a polite voice.
"I told you not to go outside where does a hole in the head think he’s running around and you go out and the one thing you do is bring a stranger to the house"
[crackle] [crackle-crackle]
Magical sparks jump in response to my anger.
"Sinhwa...! P-please, calm down."
"Urgh. Right."
"Ah, Mage!"
"What!"
"I’m not the one who lured her in! It was pure coincidence!"
"Oh, right, purely by coincidence you met some stranger outside one day, and the next day she infiltrates our house and toys with Heo Sanghyun?"
"Sinhwa, I’m telling you it wasn’t—"
"It’s true! I’m not an idiot—why would I give anyone your address?"
"Ha, you are an idiot."
"All right then. Bet me! Let’s bet!"
"Aaah—a bet? Fine, sure. Let’s go confirm it."
Flashback over.
Which is why I’m here now.
Honestly, that brain-dead bet with Jang Hyundeok doesn’t matter.
The problem is that this unknown person is contacting people connected to me.
'Hm, though I have a feeling I might lose the bet.'
Magic is a mighty force, but it isn’t invincible.
Yang Seoho’s broken durability shrugs off most spells, and the Conqueror’s incredible swordplay cuts through magical formulae themselves.
They’re gone now, but the Gourmand Expedition’s cultists shared an ability that devoured mana.
And then there are cases like Gapureum.
"She got lucky and slipped through a gap in the warding? Damn it, are you kidding me."
[Amazing Discovery] and [Happy Accident].
Gapureum can meet people who will help her just by going for a stroll.
'But it can’t be just that.'
Right now Gapureum is performing beyond the specs of the reporter NPC I remember.
I’ll have to grab her if I want to check properly.
I leaned to Lee Haseo’s ear and whispered. The best keyword to persuade this deranged mad-science doctor is...
"Doctor."
"Eh? Sinhwa? Sinhwa? Y-you’re, toooo— c-close..."
"We’re going to perform Human Mutilation now. Can you assist?"
"Haak!? O-okay! Me! What do I do!?"
"Shh, just stay still."
Lee Haseo clamps a hand over her mouth, eyes blown wide—ecstatic, manic light flashing in those starkly rimmed whites.
Fine—toward Gapureum, who’s got her ear to the door to eavesdrop on our whispering, I trigger magic.
[Sound Distortion]
[Shadow Shackles]
[Invisible Hand]
Spells that fire on will alone with no gestures or prep.
The door panel shatters in silence.
Gapureum is snared by shadows that move like tendrils and dragged inside.
Simple.
"...!"
Gapureum mouths something, trying to shout, but thanks to the pre-laid [Sound Distortion] no sound comes out. Except—
"Urk, what is that smell?"
A rose scent spreading from Gapureum’s body. Fresh and beguiling. A rich fragrance, and with it mana seeping into the mind.
[System: The trait ‘Feast’s Offering’ activates.]
[A pleasant fragrance spreads everywhere. The tuberose scent mixed into Gapureum’s body and breath inspires lenience, ease, and familiarity.]
[Attempting a Will check to resist artificial emotional change.]
[Will check... Failure!]
Failure?
With my Will and magic defense, that fails?
I’m not the only one who failed.
"Oooh— what was that? What would you like to know—?"
Showing open goodwill, Lee Haseo steps toward Gapureum.
A roll is still a roll—no matter what you do, there’s always that 1% chance to fail. But considering the popup right before the check...
[System: The trait ‘Madness of the Abyss’ activates. It removes the lenience, ease, and familiarity imposed on your mind.]
[bzzzt]
Positive emotions that require even [Madness of the Abyss] to purge. Not your average charm perfume.
"...! ...!"
Gapureum keeps trying to say something.
"Yeees? What is it?"
And Lee Haseo, smiling, moves in response to that behavior.
"Doctor, step back."
"Mmm, but maybe we should let her down—?"
"Ahh, love at first sight, huh?"
"Eeeh—I feel like she’s curious about something, and I’d like to answer at least that..."
I get the picture.
'Damn it, so that’s how even Heo Sanghyun ended up playing along with Gapureum.'
Since my left hand isn’t very cooperative, I extend my right and unleash a few spells at Gapureum.
[Gale]
[Sinister Gaze]
[Prison of Cold Bone]
[vroooom]
I blow away the scent diffusing through the air and simultaneously suppress and confine the magical effect.
[Golden Sands of Ra]
And golden sand streams toward Gapureum. A spell that enforces sleep.
"..."
"Huh? Hm? O-oh..."
As Gapureum dozes off, Lee Haseo looks down at her own hands and chest, bewildered.
"Doctor."
"Ah! Yeees—"
"May I borrow a space suitable for human experimentation?"
"Ah-hah! Uh-huh-huh—yes—"
Gapureum wakes in a strange place.
'I’m sure just now... Kim Sinhwa...'
An uncomfortable sensation along her back. Dim lighting.
And that cold light, tinged with the smell of antiseptic.
'Where am I?'
Dizzy. She’s already blacked out twice in a single day. What the hell happened?
Right about when she finally realizes she’s lying on something cold ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) and hard, like a bed—
"Haak—Sinhwa! Sinhwa!"
A voice at her head.
A voice she’s heard before.
Gapureum forces her heavy eyelids up and looks toward the sound.
An oversized white coat, cuffs mottled with streaks of viscous fluid and blood. Curves the coat can’t quite hide. Long, blue-tinged curls. Glasses. A mouth noticeably larger than average.
And hanging on that mouth: a ghastly, terrifying smile.
Beyond the visual, a few more facts surface about her.
Lee Haseo. I don’t recall her exact age—32?
A mystic surgeon who mainly handles surreal degenerations, magical trauma, and patients with alien physiology; a genius doctor with world-class skill.
She isn’t easy to talk to, but she’s one of the few with access to special patients in the closed ward, so I’ve interviewed her a few times before.
"What should I bring now? A drill? Or the laser cutter? Aaaah! The forceps and scalpels are right here. Every type! Every size!"
I don’t remember her talking this fast.
She’s so excited she’s pouring words like a waterfall.
Right. She was in pretty bad shape.
Bizarre paraphilias and compulsions, personality disorder, delusions.
From past conversations, I think she also has pica (eating non-food).
So why is she this worked up now?
"We won’t need anything."
A soft voice, hard to gender.
Another voice she knows. Kim Sinhwa? Is that Kim Sinhwa?
"Mmff!?"
Only then does Gapureum take stock of her situation.
She’s strapped to something flat, cold, and board-like. Even her mouth!
She can’t open it.
"Oh, you’re awake?"
It’s the one who used magic on her earlier.
A head set about a hand higher than Lee Haseo’s.
'A man? Is he a man?'
Uncannily beautiful; impossibly handsome.
But something is off.
When you see someone good-looking, you should be able to say what’s pretty, what’s handsome about them—
but the face Gapureum is looking at is so devoid of distinctive features it feels unreal.
A face lovely to a foreboding degree, sensual to a horrifying degree, elegant to an unbearable degree. And that’s all.
A strange face no words can describe.
In truth, the face Gapureum sees now is a false visage implemented by the [Skin Mask], reflecting the Charm stat.
Kim Sinhwa himself isn’t fully aware of how that face registers to others: because it’s merely attractive, it ultimately makes the viewer face something other than Kim Sinhwa.
"Mmff!! Mmm!"
"Reporter, I’m sorry I had to use force. You probably didn’t realize it, but you were in a very dangerous state."
"That’s right! But the science of Andromeda will save you! Cast off Earth’s fetters— you who came from beyond the far galaxy—!"
"Mmm... Doctor Lee Haseo. One moment. There’s something I need to do first..."
"Ah, aaah—right. Yes. Go ahead. Hurry!"
"Mmm, sorry. Reporter—do you remember where you got this?"
Kim Sinhwa raises his right hand. A large hand with pronounced, masculine lines.
'Wow, that’s a great hand. So he is a man? His face is really small.'
"No, not my hand—this."
"Mmff!"
My aroma pipe!
"Where did you get it?"
"Mmf? Mmm— mmf."
From the tarot shop, the tarot-reading lady—except, huh? Where was that shop again? And when? Since when have I been using this? Why do I even have an aroma pipe?
"Good grief."
Kim Sinhwa sighs. A regretful look. If I could help, I’d do anything.
But no matter how hard I try, I can’t recall where that tarot shop is. Actually, was it even a tarot shop? That incredibly alluring, pitch-black lady...
That person? A person? Eight thin, jet-black legs fanned out behind her like wings—
"Mmff! Uuummff! Mmmf!"
Magical restraints hold Gapureum’s limbs fast, but she begins thrashing with strength beyond her physical limits.
[creak— crack—]
Veins and muscles writhing under the skin.
[crunch— crackle— snap]
Bones starting to make awful sounds as the forced expansion exceeds what they can bear.
"Urk, that won’t do."
So saying, Kim Sinhwa lifts the aroma pipe to his lips with a soft sip and veils his face.
[exhale]
A sweet breath washes over Gapureum.
A tender, lingering scent of narcissus woven into that breath.
"Mm!? Mmm? Mmm..."
The next moment, he lowers the hand covering his face—and what’s there is—
"Hehe, hi."
Kim Sinhwa’s head now sits much lower. The long, sinuous fingers are now short and slender.
And his face—
is Gapureum’s own face.
"?!"
No—Gapureum? Me? Kim Sinhwa? I’m me? That charming, beautiful, adorable being is me? I’m Kim Sinhwa? No, I’m Gapureum and—
"That was a scare, huh? Don’t worry—how about a nice nap?"
Feelings collapse inward, toward the self. Love of the self. Attention to the self. It’s fine. Who cares about Kim Sinhwa.
I am looking at me. I am here, and I am at ease.
Gapureum sinks into irresistible sleep again.
Ugh, this is a real headache.
Gapureum’s a useful NPC with good traits, but those are limited to her performance as a reporter.
She shouldn’t be able to use anything like surreal seduction.
'Abyssal something must have intervened and loaned her power.'
That aroma pipe was the medium.
To trace its source and confirm that bastard’s purpose—digging through Gapureum’s memories is the best move.
I convert the power lodged in the aroma pipe—and induce a light distortion in her mind.
Through a force that incites affection, Gapureum falls in love with herself.
Ensnared by my whispers while I wear her own face, she opens her mind, and I synchronize with it.
Gapureum’s memories begin to stream in, step by step.
'Ugh, is that how I look?'
This is her most recent memory.
From Gapureum’s point of view, Lee Haseo is really scary. Well, being abducted by an alien is basically what this is.
'This is for your own good too, so bear with it.'
I want earlier memories. How many people did you meet, seriously?
Back—
No, farther back—
Ah, Park Gwangrim.
As my interest settles, Gapureum’s memory sharpens into clear form.
A view of his office in Yadang-dong.
And Park Gwangrim, reconstructed through Gapureum’s eyes.
An anachronistic old-fashioned suit and a stylishly overdone fedora. Eyes slitted narrow; a long ponytail.
Slender, but with shoulders cut to a decent angle.
Was he originally just shy of 180 cm? A little shorter than Jang Hyundeok.
It’s odd to be looking up at Park Gwangrim, when we were about eye-level.
This is Gapureum’s viewpoint.
Through another’s eyes, a lot looks different.
<How old is he? Late thirties?>
That’s what Gapureum thought.
I know Park Gwangrim is much younger than that, but Gapureum, feeling he’s a shady, dangerous—underworld fixer of frightening repute, perceived him as older.
His drug problem from recently isn’t fully resolved; with slightly trembling fingers he rubs his chin and asks Gapureum:
"Hmm, what kind of information would you like me to provide?"
Korean spoken with an awkward, compulsively formal lilt.
Hearing that, Gapureum asks:
"Tell me about Kim Sinhwa. What kind of person is he?"
This woman...
She’s been going around asking my people things like this?
"Kim Sinhwa? That is..."
With a meaningful smile, Park Gwangrim prepares to roll out lies for himself—and for me.
But—
[inhale— exhale]
The abyssal power mixed into Gapureum’s breath—forces truth out of Park Gwangrim’s mouth.
