The Nymphs and Dark Haildo # 4
Seo Yerim was taking a short break in her office.
And then, out of nowhere, she remembered a message she'd received from Oinoi.
Apparently a new animal had arrived at Ha Ildo's house.
Its name was Myeong-i.
They said it was a pretty spider, and judging by the photos Oinoi had taken and sent over, the welcome party they'd thrown for it looked like an absolute riot.
"Invite me next time. How dare you not invite me?"
It was Seo Yerim who had gotten Ha Ildo his house in the first place.
She was also the general manager overseeing everything about that household.
And yet the nerve of Ha Ildo, acquiring a new animal without sending so much as a single heads-up — for some reason, it made her blood boil.
So she fired off a message right away.
About five minutes later.
Beep-beep!
Unusually fast, a reply came back.
"Well, well? Why so quick with the reply today?"
Seo Yerim checked the message with a faintly trembling heart — and promptly went white with shock, her hands and feet shaking, her face flushing hot.
From Ha Ildo.
He had sent her a one-letter reply!
In Seo Yerim's entire life — a life in which she had been treated like a princess everywhere she went — this had never once happened before.
"…Is this real? Is this actually happening?"
Everyone who exchanged messages with Seo Yerim always sent carefully crafted texts, laden with elaborate emoticons, doing whatever they could to curry her favor and stroke her ego.
Haildo used to be the same. His replies used to be thoughtful, his spelling immaculate, and he even punctuated every sentence down to the final period.
And now he was sending her a single letter?!
"You— you little punk…! And even then he remembered the period…! He's obviously mocking me. This is a deliberate provocation…!"
Seo Yerim was so furious she was on the verge of tears.
How could a human being commit an act of such merciless, cold-blooded cruelty?
"That's it. I'm going over there to settle this right now!"
Bag in hand, Seo Yerim rose from her seat.
Kheheheh—.
At that very moment, someone snickered wickedly behind her.
It was Illinoi, the nymph assigned to Seo Yerim.
"It is that the Housemaster has finally resolved to put distance between himself and Kore Yerim, sirs…! Truthfully, Kore Yerim's attitude has been exceedingly ugly up until now, sirs…!"
"Excuse me? My attitude was bad…?"
"Bad does not even begin to describe it — it was positively garbage-tier trash, sirs…! When Kores have a bad attitude, it is only natural, sirs, of course, that the men will throw them away, sirs…!"
"Say what, now?"
Seo Yerim's face contorted.
"What do you mean, bad attitude! Since when am I garbage-tier trash! Get over here! Kore Secret Technique — Nymph Cheek Pinch!"
Seo Yerim seized Illinoi's cheeks and pinched hard.
This was a technique available only to those officially recognized as 'Kore' by the nymphs — the art of pinching a nymph's cheeks.
There were sibling techniques as well: the Nymph Head Noogie and the Nymph Allowance Cut.
Struck by Seo Yerim's secret technique, Illinoi's cheeks stretched out with a rubbery twaaaaang—.
"Hieeeek…! This is precisely the problem, sirs — attacking Illinoi's cheeks like this…! Have you never heard the proverb, sirs, that one must not strike even a flower against a nymph…!?"
Never strike even a flower against a nymph.
She'd never heard of any such proverb in her life.
"Kheheheh, it is a saying that Illinoi herself just made, sirs…! It is that your violence toward nymphs like this counts as a major MINUS in the Housemaster's impression of you as a nymph-friendly friend, sirs…!"
"……!"
Seo Yerim felt a jolt of shock.
Because, honestly, it sounded plausible.
She let go of Illinoi's cheeks, and Illinoi wiped away a few tears while gingerly touching her face.
"Could it be, sirs, that the attack just now has stretched Illinoi's cheeks out like mozzarella cheese…? If Illinoi stretches, Illinoi becomes Illiiiiinoi, sirs…."
"……"
"But never fear, sirs! If you purchase for Illinoi the newest model of the Nymphtendo game console, then Illinoi will tell the Housemaster all about how nymph-friendly you are, Kore Yerim, sirs…!"
Illinoi rattled on and on without pause.
With Illinoi chattering at her side, Seo Yerim sank deep into thought.
Did I freeze him out so badly he's sulking? Or is this some kind of push-and-pull game…?
The reply reading simply "Y." felt strangely alien, as if a completely different person were standing behind it.
Somehow it both irritated her and filled her with an uneasy premonition.
So she decided to go see his condition for herself!
"Y."
For the first time in my life, I had sent a one-letter reply.
The very epitome of rude, ill-mannered, and downright vicious behavior.
It felt like all the pent-up resentment from the way Yerim usually pushed me around was draining away in one satisfying rush.
"Excellent."
Shiver-shiver—.
Somehow, a thrill of delicious wickedness and a strange sense of omnipotence came crawling up my spine, putting me in a wonderful mood.
Even the mana in my body felt like it was boiling hotter than before.
"Body, mind, and spirit — all in peak condition."
I could tell something about my current state was far from normal.
Could it be because of that hole-like tattoo that had appeared on my chest?
And if I needed someone to discuss such matters with, there was Ari, living right here in my neighborhood.
"Ari, my girl."
I paid a visit to Ari's house, which had settled into its place here in Primeval Village.
Her place was a little house with a small yard and a slate roof that had seen better days — Ari herself claimed she loved it because it suited her "minimalist lifestyle."
Knock-knock—.
I rapped on Ari's front door.
Then pressed the doorbell twice for good measure.
Ding-dong, ding-dong—.
Soon I heard bare feet padding hurriedly across the floor inside, and someone approached the door.
Then came a voice through the wood.
"Sunbae?! What on earth brings you here, hunting me down on a Saturday morning?! Please wait just a moment! One second! J-just give me five minutes! I— I haven't even washed my face yet…!"
Clatter-bang, thud-thud—.
A truly spectacular racket began erupting from inside.
Exactly five minutes later, the door swung open.
There stood Yu Ari, wearing light makeup and a comfortable white dress, ready to receive me.
"Sunbae, this is the first time you've visited since the housewarming, when you came with Oinoi, isn't it?"
"That's right. Mind if I come in?"
I stepped into Ari's house and looked around at the charmingly arranged plush toys and the tidy, sweet-smelling surroundings.
"Have a seat! I'll make you some cocoa! I just got some mana cocoa in, actually. It's delicious and it's good for you. One moment─."
Ari began preparing the cocoa.
I sat down on the living room floor and took a long sip — and it was incredibly salty.
Looks like someone had added salt instead of sugar, hmm?
Normally I'd have just drunk whatever was handed to me and called it delicious, but for some reason, the current me simply could not let it slide.
"Ari. This cocoa is way too salty."
"Eek? D-does it? There's no way…! There's just no way…. Gasp…! I must have put in salt thinking it was sugar…! How could I make such a mistake… I'm so sorry…!"
Ari flustered and bustled, snatching the cup away.
She soon whipped up a fresh, delicious iced cocoa and set it before me instead.
With the ice in it, it was cool and actually tasted good this time.
"This is the first time you've come to my house alone, so I got a little flustered…. So, um… why would you come to my place on a beautiful weekend like today…?"
Ari asked me.
"Explaining with words is slow. Showing you is faster."
To explain my situation to Ari, I took off my shirt.
"Hwaaaaaaah…! S-sunbae…! Don't you think that's j-jumping ahead a few too many stages…?! Hwaaah…!"
Ari turned beet red, flustered beyond words, and hid her face behind her palms.
"Hawahawah! Hawaah!"
Shff—.
But I had the shirt fully off now, bare skin displayed for Ari to see.
After all, showing a doctor the affected area was simply the natural thing to do.
"Ari, look here. You see this black patch, right?"
The tattoo that had formed on my chest.
I showed it to Ari, but she just stole glances at me with her flushed face and then shivered, saying she couldn't make sense of it. "A patch? I don't see anything…."
You're telling me you can't see a fist-sized black marking?
"You can't see this? Really? It's right here. This part."
"N-no, sunbae…! I can't see it…! But, um, m-maybe I could tell by touch…! Or by examining it a little closer…!"
Shff—.
Ari slowly edged closer to me and stared intently at my chest.
Then she even ran her hands over it, pat-pat—, but she still seemed baffled.
"I can't feel anything at all…. Hmm, what if I tasted it? Like, with a lick…."
Ari was an exceptionally passionate doctor.
But I figured that if I let her lick this mysterious thing, Ari might end up in mortal danger, so I draped my shirt back over my shoulders.
Refusing a physician's examination.
A very bad deed indeed — and another shuddering thrill came crawling across my skin, sending tingles all the way down to my fingertips.
"First, let me explain what happened to me. What happened was─."
Chatter-chatter—.
I laid out the whole story for my trusty doctor, Ari.
Ari was a remarkably intelligent woman, and she grasped most of what I told her almost instantly.
"So, if I'm understanding you correctly, sunbae — after you were attacked by that parasitic organism, a patch appeared that only you can see, and on top of that, you keep feeling compulsive urges to do bad things?"
"Exactly. My internal mana's jumped all the way up to A-grade, too."
"If that's true, it would be an absolutely phenomenal discovery! A parasitic organism that raises an awakener's mana all the way to A…. That would be a truly groundbreaking find!"
It was exactly as Ari said — a phenomenal discovery.
A parasitic organism that could instantly multiply an awakener's internal mana and amplify its destructive power.
But power granted without warning always exacts a price — and I was feeling that price, keenly and bitterly, at this very moment.
"It cranks up a person's aggression way past normal. It feels like it's amplifying every negative emotion I have. Honestly, it's not easy to keep under control."
"Really? Looking at you right now, sunbae, I don't get that impression at all. You don't even seem that different from usual. Not that you'd be lying to me, of course."
Ari seemed oblivious.
Oblivious to the fact that I had come all the way to her house without bringing a single gift — empty-handed!
Oblivious to the fact that I was putting her to work on a weekend, when everyone else was off relaxing!
Both were breaches of basic courtesy. Both were outright disrespect.
And yet a magnificent so what? of confidence was overflowing from somewhere inside me.
Truthfully, if I hadn't had that confidence, I never would have had the gall to barge into the home of a woman who lived alone like this.
"Hmm… you could say it's a confidence that isn't like the usual sunbae. That does seem to be there. So what is it you'd like to do about it?"
"I figure I'd better do something about it before it does something about me."
I wanted this parasitic organism gone.
Losing control over myself and being egged on by some outside influence — the very idea revolted me.
Even if I gained tremendous power, if I couldn't control it and ended up hurting the people around me, I'd sooner be a harmless weakling.
And maybe it was just my imagination, but the hole in my chest felt like it was slowly growing wider.
If this thing kept expanding until it swallowed my entire body, I couldn't begin to guess what would happen to me.
Soon, Ari clapped her hands with a bright snap—.
"Understood. Then let's start with an examination. You said it reacts to intense emotions, right?"
Shff—.
Ari strapped a peculiar little device onto my hand.
She said it measured heart rate and mana wavelength.
"I'm going to observe your body closely for the rest of the day, sunbae. If you feel any unusual impulses, don't fight them — just let your body go with the flow. Understood?"
Saying this, Ari took hold of her front bangs and gave them a flutter.
"Oh my, it's awfully hot in here though, isn't it? The air conditioner still isn't installed…."
Flutter, flutter—.
Watching her, I felt something surge up inside me — a hard, rising throb of impulse.
Normally, I would have let it pass….
Fan art from YokanNoi-nim…!!!
