Phantom of the Opera, (Forced Encore) T_T – Just Before Shin-ah as Christine Meets the Real 'Phantom'
The Phantom of the Opera, (forced appearance yet again) . A little while before Shin-ah, playing the role of Christine, would meet the real 'Phantom' from the story.
"Luna, but why'd you buy clothes for me at that pop-up store?"
I'd just stood up to head to the food court when suddenly Luna dragged me back into the pop-up and grabbed a mask and some black suit-like getup.
"You know, Si-hyun, do you remember that masked ball we had back in Selenum?"
—Twitch.
The moment I heard Luna's question, I froze every movement and cranked my brain into overdrive.
Shit. I definitely saw something like that in Luna's past... but I've seen so many memories that I can't recall the details...!!
Luna thinks I'm the reincarnation of Lucifer. So after wiping out Greed, I'd been worried she might start asking about my time as Lucifer.
Didn't expect it to hit me out of nowhere like this. Classic Luna, I guess?
But I wouldn't panic! Yeah, me, Yoon Si-hyun! Master of bullshitting my way out of anything at max level—nothing's impossible!!
I flashed the brightest, most innocent smile like I remembered everything perfectly and patted Luna's head.
"Of course I remember. I can still picture that super pretty dress you wore so vividly. The color was... like, white—"
"I was wearing a sky-blue dress back then...?"
"——White clouds floating in a clear, pristine sky! It was so beautiful, like the goddess of the moon—I was totally entranced. Haha!"
—Smack.
The silver-haired princess tilted her head, then fixed her golden eyes on me intently.
Damn! Did she catch on??
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly and scrutinized Luna's expression. Luckily, the girl's face showed pure curiosity rather than suspicion.
This is the moment for the gentlest gaze ever!
I gave her my best eye smile and stroked her head.
—Thump thump.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Luna lunged into my arms and hugged me tight.
"I didn't know you remembered it in such detail... Memories from past lives usually fade so easily, but how do you recall it so well...?"
No, I don't remember jack. I just made that shit up! Lucifer this, whatever—who the hell is that? How should I know!
Okay, not total strangers, but still.
The memories of Luna that Greed showed me in the void, plus the Lucifer memories force-fed into my head a few days ago with that migraine. I had a rough idea after that, but since they were someone else's, it felt more like memorizing history than living it—no real vividness.
Still, it's helping out somewhat, so that's a win.
I caressed Luna's cheek and answered.
"Honestly, I don't remember everything. I've forgotten a ton, and time just slips away relentlessly."
"I see..."
Luna rubbed her face against me with a sniffly whimper. Probably feeling guilty since she killed Lucifer herself and lost her memories because of it.
But I'm not him, so no need to feel bad.
I wiped her tears with my right hand and racked my brain for some princess-soothing lines.
"But you know... even if I've forgotten a lot, there's one thing that sticks out crystal clear."
"W-what's that...?"
"In the dark, murky sea of memories, the one precious light that always guides me... It's the moments with my beloved princess. Personal stuff is all blurry, but everything with you? I remember it all. Going to the ball together, sneaking market food, even getting scolded by the head maid while playing hide-and-seek. Haha. Weird, right?"
"...!!"
I had all the memories of Lucifer and Luna together. His personal ones were like noisy, glitchy footage I couldn't make out, but Luna's? Narrative Reestablishment let me grasp every single one.
Perfect ammo to soothe our princess.
"Maybe I've always been a fool who only knows you, from past life to now? I only remember stuff related to you. Haha!"
"...Yeah, Si-hyun's a fool..."
"Yeah, I'll be your fool who only knows Luna."
"..."
I felt her shoulders in my arms start to shake little by little. Probably sobbing from emotion.
Poke poke.
Then, something pricked at my conscience like a needle.
'Pretending to be Lucifer and fooling the princess feels good, huh?'
But what can I do? Who told her to assume?!
Too late to correct it now. I've crossed the point of no return. Gotta keep bluffing!
And with only about 20 days left before Luna leaves, coming clean now would look bad.
"Our chat went a bit off-track, but you grabbed the suit and mask 'cause you wanna do a masked ball, right?"
Luna shook her head no, then fitted the mask over my face and whispered softly.
"You know, Si-hyun's playing the savior in this world too, right? Saving people from ghost stories. I know now."
"...????"
As I panicked at her sudden move, sirens blared and an emergency broadcast echoed through the department store.
Sirens wailed everywhere, screams erupted. The second people heard the broadcast, they freaked and bolted outside.
Luna, like she'd known this was coming, calmly fitted the mask on me and pleaded for me to save them.
"I hate seeing Si-hyun in danger because of your savior fate... but Mom taught me that waiting faithfully for the man you love is a wife's virtue. So go—save them. Give them back their lives, like you did for me."
"...?!?!?!?!?!?"
"But you have to wear this mask! O-other girls might fall for the sight of you saving them! N-no cheating!! Got it?"
"?!?!?!?!?!"
What the hell is this?! Why slap a mask on me and send me to a ghost story?!?! I don't wanna go! I'm running away!! I'm no savior! No fate or whatever!
Si-hyun's scared of ghost stories!! They're all ugly as sin!!
I seriously don't wanna go!! I was gonna spend vacation rolling around doing nothing!
Luna's definitely got some weird misunderstanding again! Gotta correct her quick...
I lowered my head to explain, but one look at Luna's face killed that idea dead.
Golden eyes on the verge of bursting into tears, lips bitten to hold back sobs, forcing a smile.
She's got tragic movie heroine vibes down pat... No explaining my way out of this... fuck.
Luna was fully immersed as the pitiful heroine sending off her love due to cruel fate. If I doused her with cold water now?
It'd crush a young girl's dreams...
"Hic...! G-go already! Before I grab you—fulfill your savior duty! If you drag it out, I'll beg you to stay..."
Please just hold me back more.
"I-It's hard 'cause I'm right here, right...? You always struggled to leave me in Selenum too...! B-but don't worry! I'll run straight outside, so don't fret about me—go save them!"
Won't you worry about me a little, Luna?
—Thump thump thump!
The second she finished, Luna bolted outside. Probably thought she'd waver and make it hard for me to leave.
"Good that Luna's evacuating safely... but damn, not even a backward glance... Kinda wanna cry a bit..."
Sends me to the ghost story but runs off safe alone...!
Luna... scary kid...!
I vowed not to buy her snacks today.
"Sigh... Our princess asked, so I guess I gotta go..."
And so, half-forced, I changed into the cheap cosplay getup and headed to B1.
"Broadcast said Disaster-grade, right...? You're fucked, you little shit."
Night was coming soon anyway. With the mengmang energy from the beginner package, Illusion or Disaster-grades were a snap—click.
Time to vent all my rage at being abandoned by the princess over her dumb misunderstanding.
The words from Phantom's mouth felt like an absolute being decreeing to its creations.
The noble man, cloaked head to toe in jet-black energy. The black suit and full-face white mask made his presence even more enigmatic.
A ghost story bestowed the unprecedented rank of mengmang-grade. The black aura pouring from him began erasing the mischievous entity in an instant.
—Splatter!!
[I-impossible...! I-I still have... so much I haven't seen...! I finally, finally got my muse—]
Poof—
The prankster vanished into dust without even manifesting its true body, along with its puppet shells.
Overwhelming power. A mere Disaster-grade couldn't even hold form before him.
The girl watching it all up close, Yoo Shin-ah, felt fear at his dominance but had a question for Phantom.
"Why'd you show up here...? Pity for a frail girl caught by a ghost story...?"
She'd heard Phantom only appeared for Catastrophe-grade or worse, when humanity was truly at risk.
Yet here he was for a mere Disaster-grade. Was someone special to him here?
N-no, what am I thinking...? I'm no story heroine or anything... Just coincidence.
Shin-ah hadn't believed the Phantom rumors at first. The strongest ghost story, killer of humans for fun, saving one? No way.
Even saving Yeon-woo? Probably just luck. But...
Phantom appeared on stage the instant she struck a deal with the ghost story, her life as collateral. Perfect timing. Had to be for her.
Shin-ah forced out her trembling voice.
"Phantom... why are you here...? Bored? Or... for someone special...?"
As if responding to her voice, the white-masked Phantom slowly turned.
The girl asking wore the dress the prankster had forced on her—like a princess.
Seeing it, Si-hyun thought of the silver-haired princess who'd forced him here.
Bored my ass! Am I crazy? Come ghost hunting for fun?! I only came 'cause of our princess!
Then, as if reading Si-hyun's mind, Phantom answered.
—Thump!
H-he really came just to save me...?
Phantom's single phrase plunged Shin-ah into a massive delusion.