Chapter 347
Chapter 347
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 347
Chapter Title: Judgment Failed. Delusions Have Occurred
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Say something if you’re here! Why sneak in like that?”
Jung Hyun-ah raised her voice lightly, hands on her hips.
“Hmm…….”
Something’s off.
‘What the hell is going on here?’
Maybe she noticed my confusion, because Jung Hyun-ah chuckled softly and beckoned me over.
“I’m just kidding. Don’t hang there on the window—come on down.”
Window?
“Did you fly here? Like last time, with magic?”
Fly?
Oh, right. Yeah.
I flew here. With magic.
“I remember now. You flew in through the window like that when I was in danger, too. Feels like a memory from so long ago now.”
I finally opened my mouth to respond to Hyun-ah.
“A memory that includes Director Goo Jin-cheol.”
When Goo Jin-cheol tried to kill Hyun-ah, that’s what I did.
I climbed down from the window and approached her.
‘No, that’s not the issue.’
The conversation, everything—it all felt awkward.
I mean……
“You’ve changed a bit, haven’t you?”
Her sudden question flew at me.
My thoughts halted, my attention forcibly yanked toward her words.
Yeah.
Jung Hyun-ah’s appearance had changed.
‘Just a moment ago, she was—’
Hyun-ah looked at me cautiously and asked.
“How do I look?”
Her wild, flowing long hair was one thing, but that massive leather coat, the outfit loaded with belts and pouches. Oh, and all those rings on her fingers—they’re artifacts.
You could argue it’s techwear fashion, but isn’t it a bit much? Something a back-alley fixer would wear.
“You look incredibly cool.”
At my distant compliment, Hyun-ah gave a self-deprecating smile.
“A lot’s changed with the situation.”
Fair enough. With the turf wars between organizations dragging on, she needed to look tough.
“You haven’t changed at all, though, wizard.”
“Me? Nothing much to change. Speaking of, have you grown taller?”
“Oh! These have heels. Wanna see?”
Saying that, Jung Hyun-ah lifted one leg. Military boots reinforced with steel plates.
It’s not the heels—it’s that those could smash a person’s skull if she kicked with them.
“Pretty high heels.”
“They felt so weird at first. See? Now I’m about your height.”
She waved her hand, lining up her height with mine.
I’d wondered if I was seeing her as too young, but she was just a high school sophomore, still a teenager.
Same age as Ye-eun, who wore her school gym clothes while working part-time. Honestly, she should be on the opposite end of words like conflict, fights, and organized crime.
* * *
Before I knew it, we were walking.
“Where’s this?”
No, it looked familiar.
The scene had shifted again. Or had my memories vanished?
Choppy scenes. Cutting out one after another—
“What brings you here?”
A sudden question, unrelated to what I’d said or our previous talk.
But that question forcibly snapped the thread of my budding suspicions and thoughts.
‘Come to think of it, why did I come to see Hyun-ah?’
I clutched my head, but it wouldn’t come to me. What was it?
Ah……
I remembered.
Something terrible had happened to Jung Hyun-ah.
I whipped my head toward her and opened my mouth—
“You came because you were worried about me?”
Right. I came here worried about Hyun-ah.
So what I meant to say was:
“I heard some unsettling rumors lately, and it worried me.”
Yeah, that sounds about right.
“Why?”
“Why?”
Wasn’t the setup that I was worried about Jung Hyun-ah? Wasn’t that a good answer?
I looked at her anxiously, but—
Her eyes, staring straight into mine—
Those empty eyes, holding nothing—
Like a fragment of some horrific abyss—
“Why were you worried about me?”
I had to answer that question. It was decided that way.
With a strange compulsion, I opened my mouth for the right response.
“Hmm, of course I was worried.”
Because I’m human.
Yesterday, I’d said my worry for Park Gwang-rim was just natural sympathy, right?
For Jung Hyun-ah, add bonuses for her being a minor and my guilt over Cheongho.
Oh, and in her case, factor in [being forced into a weird situation against her will, compelled to get stronger].
Empathy bonus on top.
In point terms, that adds up to—
“Worry points?”
“Oh, I accidentally said my thoughts out loud.”
No, did I really?
Was Jung Hyun-ah reading my mind right now?
『As expected, I can’t dig into the depths. Even in delusion, only the surface……』
A metallic voice from somewhere? No, a displeasing, horrific voice that sounded metallic. Evil, just from the sound.
Not Jung Hyun-ah’s voice. A sound from the horrific abyssal being behind her!
Reflexively, I drew up my mana—
“Sigh, wizard. If you were that worried, why didn’t you come sooner?”
『Recall your guilt.』
Right.
I should’ve come earlier.
* * *
Hyun-ah and I ventured deeper.
Where was this? Not a place for a stroll.
Dark, damp, every step echoing hollowly—thunk, thud.
Where the hell was she leading me—
“The view’s nice, huh?”
The view—?
“Nice, right?”
It is nice.
“Should’ve come sooner, huh? Yeah? Say something.”
Dodging Hyun-ah as she poked my side, I stepped aside and answered.
“I tried, but it wasn’t easy.”
Turning to look at her—she was in her school uniform for some reason. Of course, she’s a high schooler.
“What have you been up to?”
When was the last time I saw Jung Hyun-ah?
Oh, right—when we were fighting tooth and nail against that [Predator of the Mountains] cult.
After that, the fully descended [Predator of the Mountains] nearly killed me, then Sokcho, Ansan, Buyeo, on the way to Busan, in Busan, and most recently, inside Gap-urum’s head.
I’m dodging death every damn day. A miracle I’m still alive.
“Guess you’ve been busy with work?”
Work?
Work? Work?
“Yeah. Company stuff’s been crazy lately.”
Staring into Hyun-ah’s eyes, glowing red in the darkness, I kept walking. I had to.
Kriiiiik—
A hatch like a submarine’s door slid open on its own, revealing the next room. A dark underground.
Ah, it resembles that place.
The underground bunker where Cheongho died.
『Come in. I’ve been waiting for you.』
* * *
Something’s off.
Was I really a company man?
“You came straight from work, right? That’s why you’re dressed like that?”
Outfit?
“The thing you’re wearing…….”
Saying that, Hyun-ah tugged at the sleeve of my [Wings of the Night Veil]—
“Suit, I mean.”
Oh, right.
Came straight from work, so I’m in a suit.
『Yes. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? You’re now an ordinary, powerless everyman, as you desired. A human with no ties to the bizarre word ‘magic.’』
A buzzing headache.
Didn’t I fly here? Across the desert—
The desert—
“Aren’t you hot? At least hang your jacket on that rack over there.”
Hot.
Why’d I wear this winter suit in this weather?
“Yeah, good idea.”
The robe flapping wildly, tangling around my hands—
“Hurry up.”
I took off my suit jacket, hung it up, and perched on the solid stone altar.
Sssslither……
Something coiled around my neck.
A chilling tightness at my throat.
Damn it, what is this!? I reached for the horrific thing wrapping my neck—
『Don’t resist.』
“Nice tie.”
Oh, a tie.
Right. Suit means tie around the neck.
I tugged it lightly with one hand—but the discomfort didn’t fade.
The tie felt like a noose on the gallows, meant to hang me.
If we’re talking discomfort, though, was the altar I sat on any better?
A gruesome stone slab, shaped for executing a sacrificial victim—
“The seat uncomfortable?”
“No. It’s fine.”
『So simple. No need for all that effort? Falls so powerless into delusion.』
Reflexively, I raised my left hand, pointing at the monster.
“What the hell is this!? What are you doing to me?”
But Jung Hyun-ah narrowed her pupils, smiled like a snake, and drawled.
“What happened to Dad?”
Off-topic question. But—that question……
A sudden wave of intense headache.
“Cheongho…….”
The tie’s uncomfortable.
Like a tentacle with a mind of its own.
Like a murderer’s hands squeezing my throat.
Like a snake coiling around prey.
Something horrific gripped my neck.
“You promised me, remember? You’d bring Dad back.”
“Yeah. I did promise that.”
Plus, I promised Chae Tae-won I’d save Hyun-ah.
Me and my big mouth……
Knew it’d end up like this, but made the promise anyway.
Talk about reaping what you sow.
* * *
A face too purely white, nestled among dozens of pitch-black tentacles dangling like snakes.
Ruby-like eyes embedded one on each side.
Was Hyun-ah always this black, white, and red?
『Not strange at all.』
Yeah, nothing strange.
『Right, Kim Shin-hwa. You hear my voice now.』
No, you’re not Jung Hyun-ah.
“My voice, you hear it?”
Yeah, right.
I hear Jung Hyun-ah’s voice.
Her lips aren’t moving at all—but anyway, in this suffocatingly dark underground bunker—
Jung Hyun-ah was speaking to me.
And I had to answer.
“Yes.”
“What happened to Dad—to Cheongho?”
I tried to back away from Hyun-ah—no, impossible.
Why can’t I move?
My body froze like a mouse paralyzed before a giant snake.
So I could only answer.
“To protect Cheongho, I made a barrier even abyssal beings couldn’t breach. No one will harm him again.”
“In Busan—”
“Oh, that was just a page of Cheongho. The main body’s still in my basement. Don’t worry.”
Hyun-ah smiled in surprise.
Didn’t know her exact age, but it was a natural expression for a late-teen.
“Good. I thought Dad was dead.”
“Misunderstanding.”
I answered amid Cheongho’s corpses strewn everywhere.
What are these bodies?
『Just your psyche reflecting. Unimportant. Listen closely instead.』
“Yeah. My mistake.”
Saying that, Hyun-ah looked down at me.
Huh? Why’s her face way up there?
『Your delusion—yes, for your pathetic reality-escaping self, I’m telling you what you want to hear.』
* * *
Anyway, why am I sitting here—
Where is this?
“How’s my room?”
“Not much different from before.”
Wallpapers horrifically shredded. Grotesque patterns and magic circles drawn in blood and flesh. Sickening snake stench everywhere. Weird bone fragments rolling on the floor.
Your standard, everyday room.
A horrific headache surged.
『It’s about over. You can’t resist anymore.』
“Kim Shin-hwa.”
Hyun-ah’s voice from impossibly high above.
Wait, didn’t Hyun-ah—call me something else?
Like ‘wizard,’ the way Jang Hyun-deok did?
“Kim Shin-hwa.”
No, there’s no such thing as magic in this world.
No wizards either.
I’m just an ordinary salaryman, can’t use magic, not a wizard.
So I—or rather, ordinary salaryman Kim Shin-hwa—can’t resist this colossal being.
“Answer me. Kim Shin-hwa.”
“Yes.”
Hyun-ah lowered her body fully toward me.
An ordinary human appearance, no issues.
Except……
“You’ve grown a bit, huh?”
“You said the same thing earlier? These have heels, I told you.”
Saying that—she showed fangs sprouting where legs should be.
Vicious fangs that could easily crush a human head.
“One favor?”
But fangs—what’s it matter?
“Answer. Kim Shin-hwa. Answer now.”
“Yes.”
『Become my kin.』
An unacceptable offer.
『Become my kin, accept the mask I give you. Do so, and I’ll release this human intact.』
Troubling.
An irresistible, perfect trap.