Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Shadow Festival 1
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Anyway, it seemed like I'd successfully gotten the conversation flowing. Ibi quickly shifted to the next topic.
"By the way, I heard Seonghwa New City is pretty dangerous. But still, it's a place where people live, right?"
Kang Areum gave a cryptic smile in response.
"That place isn't fit for humans to live."
"......"
She really knew how to leave you speechless. Ibi let out a groan.
"Then why do you live there? Not that I'm trying to be rude or anything. It just sounds like that kind of place from what you've said."
"I ended up settling there by accident. Now I can't just walk away from it."
Was she talking about herself as the local boss? After a moment's thought, the info I'd overheard from Nati's conversation came back to me. She seemed to be doing some kind of vigilante work in her territory.
"Ah, you said you go around saving people? How'd you end up doing that?"
For a split second, her eyes sharpened. Ibi shrank back a little, wondering if she'd touched a nerve. But Kang Areum let out a small sigh and met Ibi's gaze, as if she'd made up her mind about something.
"My first self wasn't all that different from you. I was born normal. I went to school just fine through my teens. Didn't make it to college, though... Something happened. An accident, I guess you'd call it. After that, I turned into this. It's like... something got overlaid on me?"
With that, Kang Areum pointed to her ears. I couldn't tell for sure, but suddenly sprouting those must have freaked her out at first.
"Ending up in Seonghwa was pure chance. Now I manage somehow. At the start, I didn't even think about helping others. To be precise, it didn't cross my mind. I was too busy figuring out how to survive."
I could see her hands clenching and her brows furrowing. Clearly not a pleasant memory for her.
"But one night, while I was scraping by... I heard a scream from somewhere. Long story short, it was just a run-of-the-mill robbery in that city. But for some reason, I couldn't just ignore it. That was the beginning."
A long silence followed those words. It felt like she might not say more. But eventually, the story continued.
"What happened to me long ago... the accident that made me like this... no one could have helped with that. Even so, after that night, I kept thinking about it. What if someone had been there to help me back then?"
Ibi rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. She hadn't expected such a dramatic backstory from a casual question.
"After that, whenever something like that happened, I couldn't just look the other way. These damn ears of mine are too sharp for their own good. Still, I've met a lot of like-minded friends along the way, so now it's pretty livable. These days, I even find life kinda fun."
"That's... kinda enviable."
"I feel kinda weird about it. I've never told this story to my friends, not even once. Is there something about you? Or this city?"
Kang Areum gazed silently out the window for a moment. Not that there was much to see—just a gloomy city dominated by shadowy zombies.
Soon, she let out a smirk.
"Honestly, this place is a total madhouse too. Makes me feel like I can't complain about where I live."
"No, really... it's like this today, but normally it's surprisingly okay. For real."
I'd never thought of myself as having any hometown pride before, but now here I was, defending it vigorously. Pretty ridiculous.
After a pause, Kang Areum turned back to Ibi.
"Alright, your turn now."
"...Huh?"
"I just shared something precious I've never told anyone else. Now you spill. Your story."
"Well, I don't really have any special backstory worth telling others..."
Kang Areum glanced around the tea house interior and said,
"How could someone working part-time in a mysterious tea house like this, surrounded by enigmatic folks, not have a special story?"
"......"
She wasn't wrong. Ibi had always thought her life was utterly ordinary, but considering recent events, it was hard to claim that anymore.
And there was that one special thing about her since she was very young, different from others.
Still, she hesitated to just lay it all out. After all, even after hanging around the Ghost Bridge Society folks, she hadn't gotten any key info, and their identities were still a total mystery.
"......"
Come to think of it, that meant there wasn't much to tell in the first place. Here she was, while this woman enjoyed life with trustworthy friends, and Ibi was stuck like this.
A pointless surge of defiance welled up, letting her spill her story without a twinge of conscience.
There wasn't much to say anyway. A normal childhood, her mother's sudden death. Wandering aimlessly until the unexpected encounter with the Guest and the Wardrobe incident. Getting taken in by the Ghost Bridge Society right after. She didn't skip anything, but it still wasn't long.
Ibi thought that was it, but her listener reacted differently, nodding solemnly.
"What a rough life."
A rough life... Yeah, there were parts that could be seen that way. Hearing it from someone else felt strangely off.
And with that, their backstory talk show wrapped up. Surprisingly, quite some time had passed—the night was getting late.
Ibi had forgotten her anxiety amid the chat, but now it started creeping back. Wasn't Nati about due to return?
She had no idea what he was off doing, so guessing his return time was impossible. Still, she irrationally believed he wouldn't stay out past midnight, and the wait was making her fidgety.
No way Nati had gotten taken down by shadow zombies, right?
She knew that was unlikely, but shaking off the nagging worry was tough. She even felt an urge to fling open the door and check outside.
She just wanted to know the situation out there. If Nati had succeeded, the threat should be gone, right? But with the window just showing endless rain, she couldn't tell what had changed.
They sat there without talking, just listening to the rain. No immediate danger, so the tension eased bit by bit without her realizing. Not the wisest mindset, but she couldn't stop her weary mind and body from growing heavy.
Kang Areum seemed the same. Propping her chin and staring out the window, her eyes started drooping. Ibi's did too.
In any other situation, in any other place, the heavy drowsiness might have felt okay.
"...What is it?"
An unpleasant sensation from somewhere snapped Kang Areum's eyes open.
If not for her incredibly sharp senses, they might not have noticed at all. Even so, it was so subtle she couldn't pinpoint it.
She moved to wake Ibi first out of unease, but suddenly, something like a tentacle coiled around Kang Areum's nape and yanked her into the air.
"...Guh."
Hearing the groan snapped Ibi awake too. And she witnessed a scene that made her doubt her eyes.
The tea house door hadn't opened. The glass was intact. Yet a massive shadow was slithering inside, tongue flicking, through the thinnest gaps between the glass and walls.
Like a giant octopus enveloping the tea house and thrusting its legs in chaotically.
The shadows writhed wildly, wrapping around Kang Areum like tentacles and hoisting her up. They started at her neck, then bound her chest, arms, and legs.
"I-I'm fine... You need to... hide quick..."
Ibi bolted to the kitchen, not to hide, but to fling open the cabinet and grab a jar full of white powder—the stuff they sprinkled going downstairs, said to repel ghosts.
If these new moon things were ghost-like, maybe it'd work.
She dashed out and dumped the whole jar on the squirming shadow. It hesitated a bit, but no real effect.
Kang Areum wasn't just taking it lying down either—she tore, slashed, and bit at her bindings the moment they touched. But new shadows shot out immediately, grabbing elsewhere before she could escape.
"Stay calm. They can't breach the protection anyway. They can't come all the way in, so just hide for now!"
She was right. Given time, shaking off those bonds would be no issue.
Just then, urgent pounding came on the locked glass door.
"Open up! Hurry! Things have changed! Quick!"
The moment Ibi saw the face, an odd sense of relief washed over her even in this mess. She raced to the door.
"Nati!"
Kang Areum's face paled, and she shouted,
"No! Don't open it!"
But her cry cut off. A shadow tendril shot out and gagged her like a muzzle.
"...Mmph......"
No more holding back. Kang Areum gripped one shadow tendril tight with both hands. Jade-green flames erupted fiercely from her clenched fists, spreading to all the tentacles and burning them to ash.
Dropping to the floor, she clutched her throat and coughed for a moment. Then she looked up and yelled,
"Don't open that door! No!"
Too late. The door was already wide open.
Rainwater splashed inside, wetting the floor.
"I didn't think you'd be this stupid."
An unbelievably vile voice came from Nati as he grabbed Ibi's throat. Ibi's eyes widened as she stared into his.
No... it wasn't Nati.
No whites in his eyes—they were pitch black all over. Like shadows. The next instant, his entire face rippled and blurred like a shadow.
The last thing Ibi heard was this.
"Is this all your disciple amounts to? You piec..."
Crack. Her neck snapped.
Blood flowed across the floor like rainwater.