Where the Mermaid's Tears Flow [2]
"Let's make it a provisional contract."
Unlike the formal contract Yu Minseo had made with Pixie, a provisional contract was, as the name suggested, a one-off deal. Being a disposable arrangement, it involved no exchange of names, no exchange of tokens — and thanks to that, my inner cosmos would never be breached.
At my proposal, the water fairy deliberated for a moment before nodding. To be honest, I'd half expected to be refused and was braced for it, so this was a genuine relief.
Just as retail prices are known to run cheaper than wholesale, a provisional contract demanded a steeper price than a formal one. Still, paying a premium for a one-and-done agreement beat carrying a burden on my back for the rest of my life. That said, I had no intention of being led along by the nose, so I decided to run one little play of my own.
"By the way··· would it be permissible to run that festival MZ-style?"
"It means the way of the young folk these days. Tsk, I suppose at your advanced age it might be hard to grasp."
Oh? I'd thrown that out with zero expectations, but if I played this right···.
"Cough. You see, MZ crowds these days don't actually gather in person for festivals."
"Nowadays most festivals happen online — people gather over the internet."
"Yes. As it happens, I run a livestream, which is itself a kind of internet festival."
"Exactly. And my average concurrent viewership is 2,000! The 500 thou didst demand is small potatoes by comparison. How about it — a broadcast in place of the festival?"
Whoa there, old-timer, no need to wake up this late in the game.
"A livestream absolutely counts as a festival. The participants even offer tribute to me as the festival's sacrificial offering."
"And when the festival begins, I'll have every participant chant 'Fairy Village is the best!' — call and response."
"Then··· shall we settle on the livestream in place of the festival?"
Yes. A clean swindle of a naive fairy, executed to perfection.
I'd been agonizing over whether to hold a fan meetup to celebrate hitting 300,000 subscribers anyway, so this worked out. Actually, setting that aside — couldn't I just hold the fan meetup regardless? Fan service matters, after all.
Anyway, with that, the negotiation was over.
"Come to think of it, it feels odd to keep calling you 'fairy,' so tell me your name. Or at least a nickname."
"A short time, but please take care of me, Fey."
Ignoring the muttered grumble, I laid out the plan. And in the meantime···.
"Master Kim, the boat is ready! Hop aboard over here!"
Producer Choi Ji-hoon approached wearing a smile that made me want to clock him one.
"I apologize for not clearing it with you in advance··· but well, what's done is done. Looking forward to working with you~."
Tap, tap.
Producer Choi Ji-hoon patted my shoulder with a sleazy grin.
Smack.
I knocked the hand off my shoulder and stared at him in silence.
"Wh-why are you looking at me like that?"
"Broadcasting's rough sledding for terrestrial networks these days, isn't it?"
"···You could say that."
"Psychic Society aired on Fridays, right? I noticed there's a drama after it ends — a horror drama, isn't it? The big-budget one MBB invested 20 billion won in."
"···That's correct."
"I hope it's a huge hit."
With nothing but those words, Master Kim climbed aboard the boat Producer Choi had prepared. Choi Ji-hoon frowned at the sight.
What the hell? Why did he suddenly go so docile?
Only moments ago, Master Kim had been openly resentful about getting sucker-punched. Then he'd suddenly wandered off to mutter to himself in a corner, and come back all cordial. No matter how he turned it over, something had clearly happened.
Well, whatever that was, it doesn't matter.
Producer Choi Ji-hoon brushed the pointless worry aside and recalled what Cosmos had promised him.
An extraordinary shot at promotion, protection from the government, a colossal payout··· whatever, none of that matters.
Material rewards were not what had moved him.
Heh heh heh. Mystery and the anomalous — what better broadcast material could there be in this whole wide world?
The first broadcast writer in history to reveal mystery and the anomalous to the world! Carving his own name into the history of broadcasting — that, and that alone, was Producer Choi Ji-hoon's true goal.
Which means, looking forward to it, Master Kim.
And Master Kim was the perfect subject for his purposes. Twenty years of network experience were telling him so: Master Kim was the protagonist of this world being swallowed by the anomalous and the arcane.
And so the boat carrying the film crew and Master Kim made its way to the spot where the water ghost had been filmed. With the distance closing, the shape of the water ghost on camera naturally grew sharper.
A body grotesquely bloated and warped by water, hair swaying like seaweed in the current. The viewers gasped at the horrific sight. The funny thing was, since the ghost was invisible to the naked eye, everyone on site except the cameraman looked perfectly calm.
And soon, the boat came to a stop directly in front of the water ghost.
"A water ghost, hm···."
Master Kim stood at the bow and looked down at it. As if sensing his gaze, the water ghost raised its head.
That was the moment.
Tremble tremble tremble tremble
The water ghost began to shake all over.
Exactly as the viewers guessed, the water ghost felt terror of Master Kim — so much terror that some of the sanity it had lost when it degraded into a vengeful spirit came flowing back.
Then.
Shwaaaaah
Master Kim scattered the Gajigi petals he'd brought with him, then formed the Wisdom Fist Mudra and began chanting his specialty, the Earth Store Ten Wheel Sutra.
"Om vara mani dani sabaha. Om vara mani dani sabaha. Om vara mani dani sabaha."
In that instant, the petals wrapped around the grotesquely corrupted water ghost, and soon they sank into its body, restoring it to the form it had held in life. Reclaimed as the plain, gentle woman she once was, the water ghost rose out of the water along the path of light.
Water ghosts must fill their place with another before they can rest — so the old stories said. But such a cheap rule meant nothing in the face of overwhelming exorcism skill. Emerging slowly from the water, the ghost soon came level with Master Kim's eyes and met his gaze. Her lips moved.
"Tell Mommy I love her."
With that single line, the water ghost dissolved wholly into light and rose into the sky.
And every moment of it was witnessed live by 50,000 people — no, by then the number had climbed to 70,000.
The chat window exploded at the sheer unreality of the scene. And Producer Choi Ji-hoon, too, broke into a victorious smile. He was certain he had just drawn a new stroke across the history of broadcasting.
But the very next moment —
The sea where the water ghost had vanished began to churn, and enormous letters surfaced across it.
A tacky, sleazy piece of promo text, dropped right after a supernatural, genuinely moving exorcism. In that moment, the viewers could think only one thing: the whole thing — water ghost and all — had been scripted and staged just to promote the show!
"Wh-what is this··!?"
A stunned Producer Choi Ji-hoon turned to look at Master Kim — but
"I gave your show a proper promotion."
Master Kim merely thrust a thumbs-up with an innocent, guileless smile. It was the very picture of a man asking, 'Didn't I do great?'
"You···!"
And then Master Kim delivered the finishing blow to the dumbfounded viewers.
"Please love Psychic Society and Blood Night — every single Friday!"
In that instant, the showcase for the anomalous and the arcane so cunningly prepared by Producer Choi Ji-hoon and Cosmos's strategists was transformed into a tacky hidden-camera advertisement slot.
Tap, tap.
"I'll be expecting a satisfying reward."
I said it while patting the shoulder of the dumbstruck Producer Choi Ji-hoon.
"···You think you're getting away with just this?"
"What's the problem? I did everything you asked of me."
"Th-that's···!"
Producer Choi Ji-hoon had no rebuttal. In truth, I had performed the exorcism live, exactly as he'd requested. What's more —
"I even threw in a promotional plug for your own network's drama. You should be thanking me, not cursing me."
"······Ngh···!"
At that, Producer Choi Ji-hoon was forced to shut his mouth. It was the karmic price of using a docile, obedient little citizen to get what he wanted.
Well, I'd inevitably gain more anti-fans over this, but my fanbase would grow just as much, so it was no concern. Real superstars are the ones who drive both stans and haters insane — isn't that just how it works?
"Alright, all done here — let's head back! Shooting's wrapped, so let's spend the leftover time sightseeing!"
As he said this and hastily turned the boat around, I looked back behind us.
Beneath the blue sea — deeper than any camera could reach, in darkness where even light could not enter — countless water ghosts were watching us.
What the hell kind of island drowns that many people?
I couldn't say for certain, but it was clearly an island best left quickly.
After sticking it to Cosmos, I checked into the tourist hotel at the heart of Yeoin-do. The film crew, whose plans I'd derailed, were off holding a meeting, and the members had each gone their own way for the time being. Between the ferry schedules, it looked like our departure would have to wait until tomorrow.
"Is Minseo doing any better?"
"Mm, she's still not quite herself. I should probably stay by her side for a while yet."
"I see."
I thought for a moment, then spoke.
"Then rest here for now. And if you can manage it, don't go outside."
"Huh? Yes, understood."
With the Lonely incident behind us, and Tsukumo Momo being a rather strong medium to boot, wandering this suspicious island would do no one any good. Come to think of it, Soda was a bit of a medium herself, wasn't she? I thought about warning her and looked around —
"Already gone, huh?"
I started to ask the film crew for her number, then stopped. We weren't close enough for me to go butting in that much. As a precaution against whatever might happen, I set up a few defensive measures in the room where Tsukumo Momo and Yu Minseo were staying, then left the inn.
"···You're not going back?"
"Yes, yes, whatever you say."
I answered absently, spinning the water bottle Fey had manifested in round and round in my hand.
"Whoops, sorry about that."
"That much I know myself."
Even so, I'd come out because I was looking for Lee Jin-ah, who might still be somewhere on the island. I pulled the Stone Soul Bell I'd packed in my bag out of my luggage.
"You know your stuff."
Truly, did everything about a high-devil-class fairy have to be a cut above? The Stone Soul Bell was a dharma tool I'd received from Gong Nosa, gifted with the ability to locate people by the sound of its chime. Its range wasn't especially wide, but since the inhabited parts of Yeoin-do were limited, it made for a workable challenge.
Ding-a-ling.
Ringing the bell as I went, I circled the island. The villagers and tourists gave me strange looks, but I ignored them all.
"···There are way more tourists than I expected?"
Not just domestic visitors — plenty of foreign ones, too. Yeoin-do was certainly an island with its share of things to see, but for somewhere that wasn't exactly a famous destination, the crowds were excessive.
So I walked the island, ringing the bell, for quite a long while — until a uniquely strong presence caught on the chime.
"Bingo."
Following the Stone Soul Bell's signal, I walked toward the edge of the village. The signal led me ever deeper into the outskirts, and at some point I realized I was wandering the village's remote rim.
"You noticed, did you?"
I smirked and scattered the spent sand from the Gajigi petals I'd carried in a glass jar.
"Om amoga Vairocana mahamudra mani padma jvala pravarttaya hum."
The transparent flame of the Vairocana Mantra Barrier spread in every direction, burning the spell-woven maze to the ground in its entirety.
"Ugh!"
And in the wake of the sweeping flame, a woman who had braced herself against the wave of fire with a talisman pressed to the ground revealed herself. It was our first meeting, but at the sight of that familiar face, a smile spread across mine in full.
"Found you··· my living lottery ticket!"