"You should speak if you've come! Why sneak in?"
Jeong Hyeona lightly raised her voice, one hand on her hip.
"Hmm..."
Something’s off.
What exactly is this situation?
As if she’d noticed my hesitation, Jeong Hyeona gave a small laugh and beckoned.
"I'm kidding. Don't hang from the window—come down this way."
Window?
"Did you fly here? With magic, like last time?"
Fly?
Ah. Right. Yes.
I flew here. With magic.
"I remember now. When I was in danger, you flew in through the window like that, too. Somehow it already feels nostalgic."
In the end I opened my mouth to answer her.
"A memory that includes Director Gu Jinchul, right."
When Gu Jinchul tried to kill her, I did exactly that.
I dropped from the window and walked toward Jeong Hyeona.
No, that’s not what feels wrong.
From the conversation on down, everything feels off.
I mean...
"I look a bit different, don’t I?"
Her question cut across my thoughts.
My mind stalled, and my attention was forcibly tugged toward it.
Yeah.
Jeong Hyeona’s appearance had changed.
Just a moment ago—
With a cautious look, she asked me:
"How do I look?"
Long hair falling in wild waves—I could let that pass. But that massive leather coat, and an outfit crammed with belts and pockets. Ah, and every ring on her fingers is an artifact.
You could try to call it techwear, but isn’t it a bit much? It’s the kind of getup fixers in back alleys would wear.
"You look very cool."
At the distant, polite compliment, she smiled wryly.
"A lot has changed in the situation."
Fair. With the factions still fighting, it helps to look strong.
"You’re the same as ever, Wizard."
"Me? Nothing much to change. Come to think of it, did you get taller?"
"Ah! These have heels. Want to see?"
She lifted one leg to show it: military shoes with steel-reinforced plates.
The heels aren’t the problem—if she kicked in those, she could probably shatter a human skull.
"Those are pretty high."
"They felt so awkward at first. Ta-da—this way I’m about your height, right?"
She waved and lined herself up eye to eye with me.
I have wondered if I’m seeing her as too young, but in the end she’s only a second-year in high school.
Same age as Yieun in her school tracksuit, working a part-time job. Honestly, the kind of person who should be on the opposite side of words like dispute, fight, and organized crime.
At some point, we were walking.
"Where are we?"
No—this road looks familiar, doesn’t it?
Did the situation shift again? Or did my memory just disappear?
Scenes cutting in chunks. And then cutting again, and again—
"What brings you here?"
A sudden question that had nothing to do with what I’d said, and nothing to do with the conversation we’d just been having.
But because of that question, the thin thread of suspicion and thought snapped.
Come to think of it—why did I come to see her?
I clutched my head and tried to think, but nothing came right away. What was it?
Ah...
I remembered.
Something terrible had happened to Jeong Hyeona.
I whipped my head toward her and opened my mouth—
"You came because you were worried about me, right?"
Right. I came here because I was worried about her.
So what I meant to say should be something like—
"Recently I’ve heard unsettling rumors and got concerned."
Yes, that’s about right.
"Why?"
"What do you mean, why?"
Wasn’t the setup that I’m worried about her? Was that not an appropriate answer?
Anxious, I looked at her—but the eyes staring straight into mine—
those empty eyes that held nothing—
like a piece of a horrific abyss—
"Why were you worried about me?"
I have to answer that. Because that’s what I’m supposed to do.
With a strange compulsion pressing in, I opened my mouth to give the correct answer.
"Well, of course I worry."
Because I’m human.
Yesterday I said my worry for Park Gwangrim was just the natural compassion anyone would feel, didn’t I?
For Jeong Hyeona, add the minor bonus for being a minor, plus the bonus of my guilt toward Cheongho—that’s how much worry there is.
Ah, and in Hyeona’s case, there’s also the fact that she was forced to become strong because she got dragged unwillingly into something weird.
Add an empathy bonus, too.
If we convert all that into points—
"Worry points?"
"Ah, I accidentally said that thought out loud."
Wait—did I really say it?
Is she reading my mind right now?
As expected, going down to the deep layer is impossible. Even with the target in delirium, it can only skim the surface...
A metallic rasp from somewhere? No—an unpleasant, horrible voice that only sounded like metal. A wicked voice that made me feel dirty just to hear it.
It wasn’t Jeong Hyeona’s voice. It was the sound made by the horrific abyssal thing behind her!
Reflexively, I drew up mana—
"Sigh, Wizard. If you were that worried, you should’ve come sooner."
Conjure guilt.
Right.
I should have come earlier.
She and I went deeper.
Where is this? Not exactly a scenic walking path.
Dark, damp, every step ringing out with a hollow tonk—thud— that echoed.
Where is she dragging me—
"Nice view, isn’t it?"
View—?
"Isn’t it nice?"
It is.
"We should’ve come earlier, huh? Hey? Answer me."
I slid a little to the side to dodge her elbow jabbing for my ribs and answered.
"I wanted to, but it wasn’t easy."
I turned my head and looked—at some point she was wearing a school uniform. Of course, she’s a high-schooler.
"What were you doing?"
When was the last time I met her?
Ah—when I was ramming heads with that [Predator in the Mountains] cult, ready to die.
After that, I nearly died to [Predator in the Mountains] actually descending, nearly died in Sokcho, nearly died in Ansan, nearly died in Buyeo, nearly died on the way to Busan, nearly died in Busan, and lately, nearly died inside Gapureum’s head.
Honestly, I’ve been on the brink of death day after day. It’s a wonder I’m still alive.
"Well, you’ve been busy with the company, right?"
Company?
Company? Company?
"Yes. Work has been very busy lately."
I kept walking, staring into the bright red glow pouring from her eyes in the dark. I had to keep walking.
[clack-clack-clack]
A door like a submarine hatch opened by itself, revealing the next room. A dark underground.
Ah, this place looked like that place.
The underground bunker where Cheongho died.
Come in. I’ve been waiting for you.
Something’s wrong.
Was I really a guy who works for a company?
"You came straight after getting off work, right? That’s why you came dressed like that?"
Outfit?
"The one you wore, this..."
She tugged at the sleeve of the Night Veil cloak—
"I mean the suit."
Oh, right.
I rushed here straight after work, still in my suit.
Yes. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? According to your wish, you are now a normal, powerless ordinary person. A human unrelated to that strange word, magic.
A stabbing headache.
Didn’t I fly here? I crossed the desert—so—
The desert—
"Aren’t you hot? You can hang your jacket on that rack."
Hot, yeah.
Why did I come in this kind of winter suit in this weather?
"That would be better."
The robe—fluttering on its own and tangling in my hands—
"Hurry."
I took off my suit jacket, hung it up, and sat on the hard stone altar.
Sssrrr...
Something coiled around my neck.
A chilling pressure tightening my throat.
Damn it, what is that!? I grabbed for the horrible thing snaking around my neck—
Do not resist.
"Nice tie."
Ah. A tie.
Right. If I’m in a suit, of course there’s a tie around my neck.
I gave the tie a little tug with one hand—but the discomfort didn’t ease.
The tie at my throat felt like the rope of a gallows set to execute me.
Well, speaking of uncomfortable, this altar I’m sitting on is worse, isn’t it?
An altar shaped like a device prepared to sacrifice a living offering—
"Is the chair uncomfortable?"
"No. It’s not bad."
Simple enough. I didn’t even need to go that far? To think he’d grow this helpless just by falling into delirium.
Reflexively I raised my left hand and leveled it at the monster.
"What are you? What are you doing to me?"
But Jeong Hyeona narrowed her pupils into a serpent’s smile and spoke slowly.
"How is my father?"
An off-beat question. And yet—that question—
A sudden spike of pain.
"Cheongho is..."
The tie is uncomfortable.
Like a tentacle with a will of its own.
Like the killer’s two hands tightening on my throat.
Like a snake coiling prey.
Something horrific was gripping my neck.
"You promised me, remember? You’d bring my father back."
"Yes. I did make that promise."
On top of that, I promised Chae Taewon I’d save her, too.
Honestly...
Even knowing things would turn out like this, I made those promises.
“Dig your own grave”—a saying that exists just for me.
A face white to the point of excess, nestled among dozens of long, black tendrils draped like snakes.
Ruby-like eyes set one to either side.
Was she always this black and white and red?
It’s not strange.
Right—nothing strange at all.
That’s right, Kim Sinhwa. You can hear my voice now.
No—you aren’t Jeong Hyeona.
"You hear my voice, don’t you?"
Yes. That’s right.
I’m # Nоvеlight # hearing Jeong Hyeona’s voice.
Her lips weren’t moving at all—but here, in this suffocatingly dark underground bunker—
she was speaking to me.
And I had to answer the question.
"Yes."
"My father—Cheongho—how is he?"
I tried to back away from her—no, that wasn’t possible.
Why can’t I move?
My body wouldn’t budge, like a mouse paralyzed before a giant serpent.
So all I could do was answer.
"To protect Cheongho, I created a barrier even an abyssal being would struggle to break. No one will ever be able to attack him again."
"In Busan—"
"Ah, that’s just one page of Cheongho. The main body is still in my basement. Don’t worry."
At that, she smiled in surprise.
I don’t know her exact age—but it was an expression that wouldn’t look out of place on someone in their late teens.
"What a relief. I thought my father had died."
"There was a misunderstanding."
I said that while standing among bodies of Cheongho scattered all around.
What are these corpses?
That’s just your inner image reflecting outward. It doesn’t matter. More importantly, listen closely.
"Yes. You’re right. I misunderstood."
She said that as she looked down on me.
Wait—why is her face so high up?
Your delirium—there now. For the pitiful you who wants to escape reality, aren’t we telling you exactly what you wanted to hear?
Anyway, why am I sitting here—
Where is this?
"How do you like my room?"
"Not much different from before."
Wallpaper torn to shreds. Grotesque sigils and magic circles painted in blood and meat. The nauseating reptile stench wafting from every side. Bizarre bone fragments rolling across the floor.
A common room you could see anywhere.
A horrible headache surged in.
It’s almost over. Now you can no longer resist.
"Kim Sinhwa."
Her voice came from far, far above.
Wait—didn’t she used to address me differently?
Didn’t she call me Wizard, like Jang Hyundeok does?
"Kim Sinhwa."
No—there’s no such thing as magic in this world.
And no wizards, either.
I’m just an ordinary office worker, so I can’t use magic and I’m not a wizard.
Therefore, I—Kim Sinhwa, an ordinary office worker—cannot resist that colossal being.
"Answer me, Kim Sinhwa."
"Yes."
Jeong Hyeona lowered herself as far as she could and came close.
A perfectly ordinary human form, with nothing wrong at all.
If there was a problem...
"You’ve grown taller, have you?"
"You said the exact same thing earlier, didn’t you? They’re heels."
And with that—she showed me the gigantic fangs rising where her legs should have been.
Fangs fierce enough to crunch a human head to pieces.
"Can I ask one favor?"
Well, are the fangs the issue?
"Answer. Kim Sinhwa. Answer quickly."
"Yes."
Become my vassal.
An offer I cannot accept.
Become my vassal, accept the mask I grant you. If you do, I will release this human intact.
Troublesome.
An irresistibly stylish trap.
