The Phantom of the Opera Appears!
The underground first-floor food court was a scene too horrific to behold with open eyes. Everyone was consumed by chaos and madness.
—Spurt!
"Ha... haha!! I got one...! I caught a sacrifice!! Now my daughter can live!"
"Damn it! At this rate, we're all gonna die!! Everyone, grab those sacrifices or whatever and toss 'em to those crazy murderers! That's how we survive!"
"If we try hiding them, only the innocent will die! Just hand over the sacrifices and let the ones who wanna live, live!!"
On top of parents brutally slaughtering the sacrifices they'd caught, now even the fleeing people were starting to hunt them down. They'd calculated that handing them over to the mad killers swinging knives indiscriminately without bothering to tell friend from foe was the better deal.
The Prankster watched all this with evident fascination.
—Kekeke. The doll-masked figures continued mimicking uproarious laughter, clutching their bellies in sync with the Prankster's words.
At that moment, a girl in the corner caught the ghost story's attention. She stood firm against people wielding knives, unflinching.
The sky-blue-haired girl was shielding her trembling friend from the thugs behind her. Bloodied but refusing to yield an inch for her friend, she sent an indescribable thrill through the Prankster.
She leaned against the wall, refusing to leave without her friend, as if declaring she'd stay if her friend couldn't go. Her pale sky-blue hair matched her determined gaze and graceful movements perfectly. Even as the knife-wielding thugs nicked her, she wouldn't abandon her friend.
The self-proclaimed artist, the Prankster, had his heart utterly stolen by the sky-blue-haired girl, Yoo Shin-ah.
"Fuck, aren't you ashamed in front of your own kids?! Killing innocent people to save your child? Fine, come closer if you dare. Touch a single hair on my friend, and I'll take you all down with me!!"
Yoo Shin-ah. A college girl just turned twenty, she cursed like a sailor, but her heart was warmer than anyone's. No matter how tough, anyone would fear people charging with murderous intent and weapons—but not Shin-ah. She wasn't a 'normal girl.'
Thwack! Pow! Boom!
"Think you're hot shit just 'cause you got a knife?! Time to put what that old man at home taught me since I was a kid to use!! Bring it, you inhuman bastards!"
The parents charging at her crumpled under her straight punches and roundhouse kicks. Armed or not, they were just civilians— no match for Shin-ah.
"You know the pain of losing a child?! We're desperate too! Hand over that sacrifice you're hiding while I'm asking nicely!"
"Fucking brat acting all tough!"
"Don't get in my way!! I need to save my daughter!"
—Slash!
But even a girl stronger than average couldn't easily handle dozens swinging knives.
'Fuck... I'm getting cut bit by bit. Too many of them.'
Blood seeped from shallow stab wounds on her arms and thighs.
"Crazy bastards in front... and that shitty ghost story behind... What a fucking mess."
No matter how she spun it positively, the situation was dire. No one around to help—everyone scrambling for their own lives. Still, Shin-ah didn't give up.
"Hey, Yeon-woo! I told you to run while I'm holding them off! I'll die protecting you at this rate!"
"Sh-Shin-ah...! I can't go any further...! There's like an invisible wall blocking us!"
The Prankster's final rule—no sacrifices could escape—prevented Yeon-woo from fleeing too far.
"Shin-ah, you at least run...! You can get out...! I'm good at running! I'll figure something out! So please, you go first...! Hic...! I-I won't cry anymore, so don't worry...! Sniff!"
Yeon-woo tugged Shin-ah's clothes, trying to push her out. Timid and tearful as always, she couldn't bear her friend suffering for her sake.
"Yeon-woo, quit sniffling and talking nonsense. How's a hamster who shakes like a leaf 24/7 gonna survive without me? I'm getting us both out. Got it?"
"B-But... y-your blood keeps flowing...! I-I'm not strong like you, and I'm a scaredy-cat, so I know you worry. But I hate seeing you hurt because of me... I hate it...!"
"Yeon-woo... you really won't listen—"
—Wobble.
Too much blood loss made Shin-ah's vision blur and legs tremble.
"Ha, what the hell now—"
Seizing the moment, the knife-wielders lunged.
"Outta my way!! That sacrifice is mine!"
"Kill the bitch in front first! Now's our chance while she's out of it!"
"I claimed her first! Gotta save my son!!"
Shin-ah tried to steady herself, but her body was at its limit.
'Ugh... dizzy...! No! If I fall, Yeon-woo...!'
No matter her martial arts prowess, she was still a young girl. Hours of protecting her friend against killers had maxed out her mental and physical stress.
"Kill the sacrifice!!!"
"Take out the one in front first! She'll interfere again if she snaps out of it!"
Snap!
If you lay another hand on my 'muse,' I'll shatter not just your child, but your heads as well.
Ironically, the very culprit—the Prankster ghost story—quelled the madness in an instant. He'd orchestrated the desperate crisis on purpose, planning to save the girl at the climax to win her favor.
But Shin-ah felt only revulsion at his antics.
"Fuck off. If you hadn't started this shit, these people, me, my friend—we could've all had a happy weekend. Don't act like you're doing us a favor, you prick!"
"Perverted fuck..."
A Pierrot doll approached Shin-ah, extending a hand in time with the Prankster's words from the speakers.
The ghost story's demand: become its plaything in exchange for her friend.
"......"
Shin-ah knew full well how dangerous deals with ghost stories were. Never trust their words. They're twisted beings who revel in human suffering and sorrow.
But knowledge doesn't always win over desperation. Her resolve wavered at the promise of saving Yeon-woo.
"......You really gonna let Yeon-woo live...?"
"Break your promise, and I'll bite my tongue and die right in front of you. If you don't wanna lose your muse, erase that mark over Yeon-woo's head right now."
"W-Wait...! I don't want that!! Shin-ah, what'll happen to you if you go with that ghost story—"
Snap!
The Pierrot snapped its fingers again, and the flag vanished from Yeon-woo's head as she fainted.
"......Fine."
Shin-ah lifted the sleeping Yeon-woo, gently placing her in a corner and covering her with her jacket.
"Sorry for being stubborn... Yeon-woo."
She stroked Yeon-woo's hair once, then turned to the Pierrot doll.
"So... what do I have to do?"
Shin-ah flipped him off with both hands.
"......Fucking asshole... rot in hell."
'At least Yeon-woo will live... that's a relief.'
Yeon-woo would wail her heart out upon waking to find her gone, but...
"Whatever... the world benefits more from a sweet, pretty girl like her living than me."
With a sigh, Shin-ah ascended the stage the Prankster had prepared. Sunset-orange light poured through the windows, bathing the stage in beautiful illumination. Dead center stood a man in a black suit and white mask covering his full face—like the phantom from the opera.
"Fuck... art lover, huh... When the hell did he prep this partner? Damn ghost story prick."
The Prankster apparently wanted to capture himself dancing endlessly with that phantom.
Shin-ah slowly approached the man posed as the phantom and took his hand. Sacrificing herself to save her friend, she spoke her final words to her partner.
"You trapped by that ghost story too? Sorry. Last dance of your life, and it's with a bitchy girl like me."
"......"
The masked man stood silently gripping her hand, as if resigned to death.
Shin-ah stared at him intently. Dark brown hair, tall stature. Athletic build, neatly composed. The suit and mask felt awkwardly like cosplay pop-up store buys, but he pulled them off coolly somehow.
'Wh-What, cool? What am I even thinking in this situation!'
She shook her head vigorously, then tried again.
"I get you hate this too, but say something—"
As she stepped closer—
—Whoosh!!
Jet-black energy erupted from the man's body, transforming him. His brown hair darkened, eroded by shadows. His eyes visible through the mask grew pitch black.
"Y-You...?"
Shin-ah knew who he was. Last winter, the being who saved Yeon-woo at the convenience store. A mengmang-grade ghost story of immense power—the only one pitying humans.
"Phantom...?"
This false play ends here.
To rescue her—the Christine from The Phantom of the Opera—the true Phantom took the stage.