Chapter 97
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: The Mayor and Deadly Poison
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Life is a string of ill-matched things.
Perhaps absurdity is the essence of living.
Kurokumo Tsubaki thought so.
But the scene before her eyes held something that surpassed even that absurdity.
Insimdang.
The roof was adorned with whipped cream decorations. The windows shaped like macarons. A cloud of cotton candy scent wafted from the entrance.
From the doorway, the air was thick with a headache-inducing sweetness of sugar and butter.
"What in the world am I doing in a place like this...?"
It was far removed from the dank alleys where poisons and hidden blades flew.
The exterior walls painted in pastel pinks and sky blues. A signboard with drifting cotton candy clouds.
She looked down at her own attire.
Black, black, and more black.
The garb of a clan that lived in shadows and died in shadows.
Tsubaki quietly raised her head. Her eyes met the cute, winking sugar fairy character on the sign.
'This place... isn't for me.'
Every cell in her body instinctively recoiled.
But it was the mayor's order. A mission tied to her clan's survival. There was no refusing.
Creeeak.
As she pushed open the shop door, a cheerful jingle rang out, and sweet air burrowed deep into her lungs.
"Welcome to Insimdang!"
A lively voice. Blinding lights. An interior filled with pinks and sky blues. Tsubaki narrowed her eyes against the dizziness.
"Ah, you're the new hire starting today, right? The development room is in the back!"
The direction the attendant's finger pointed was a white door that at least looked sane. Tsubaki hurried toward it like she was fleeing.
The development room was tolerable. A purely functional space packed with baking equipment and stainless steel shelves.
Only then did Tsubaki feel her tension ease a little.
On the shelves stood rows of glass jars filled with unidentified powders.
Pinkish, ivory, mint.
'Poisons?'
Her eyes narrowed. To a Kurokumo assassin, unknown powders were top priority threats.
"New here, right? Want to try some? It's a powder for our shop's new menu item."
An employee in researcher garb held out a small spoon of pinkish powder.
Tsubaki hesitated for a moment. Still, this was a cover job arranged by the mayor himself.
They wouldn't try poisoning her on day one.
She closed her eyes and dumped the powder into her mouth.
And then.
"...!"
What.
Is.
This?
The world exploded.
The moment it touched her tongue, a sweet shock massaged every wrinkle of her brain.
Happy memories, joyful moments, illusions of warmth that never existed—all flooded in at once.
"Th-this is...!"
A black shadow tattoo writhed on the nape of her neck.
[Component analysis initiated]
[Direct stimulation of brain's pleasure center. Forced promotion of dopamine and serotonin secretion]
[Analysis result: Hallucinogenic substance inducing strong dependency]
[No physical addiction, but mental dependency exceeds top-grade narcotics]
Regardless of Tsubaki's will, the poison arts knowledge etched into her bloodline automatically decoded the substance.
'Molecular structure unidentifiable. Doesn't exist in nature. But the mechanism... is clear.'
This substance bypassed the taste buds, absorbing into the bloodstream in seconds. It neutralized the blood-brain barrier and infiltrated the limbic system directly.
Stimulating the hippocampus and amygdala simultaneously, it forcibly replayed 'happiness'.
An impossible substance.
A devil's powder that addicted the soul, impossible to forget after one taste.
A drug that could turn people into wrecks with the tiniest amount—and it was circulating right in the heart of the city.
Tsubaki scanned the kitchen with trembling eyes.
'That man, Lee Garam. Is he Neo Incheon's drug lord after all?'
A massive shadow ruling by disguising himself as the city's hero while addicting citizens. It was a plausible scenario.
But.
The people in the development room were utterly serene. They hummed happily, mixing that horrific powder into dough.
Using an unknown drug to make mere bread?
Tsubaki couldn't comprehend it.
'If I turned this into poison...'
Dozens of combination methods flashed through her mind.
'Mix with cobra venom at 1:3 ratio for instant cardiac arrest in 5 seconds. Blend with pufferfish toxin for a truth serum. Combine with spider venom for memory erasure...'
Truth serums. Full-body anesthetics. Instant hallucinogens. Eternal sleep poisons. The possibilities were endless.
"Age with atropine... no, use digitalis as catalyst to accelerate reaction... dissolve in diethyl ether afterward..."
As she unconsciously muttered perilous chemical recipes, lost in her assassin's instincts.
"Huh? Newbie? What'd you just say? Chemistry major or something?"
The development room door swung wide, revealing a woman who looked like a sugar craft from head to toe.
The woman radiating sweetness from every pore—Neo Incheon's baking queen, Sugar Girl.
Tsubaki instinctively dropped into a defensive stance.
"...Not chemistry. My clan's secret poison arts."
"Poison? Oh~ that concept? Perfect timing! Check this out!"
Sugar Girl ignored Tsubaki's response, pulling ingredients from the fridge and lining them up.
"Sometimes bad batches slip in. Expired stuff too! Tsubaki-chan, give 'em a look!"
Tsubaki's gaze shifted to the ingredients.
Eggs, ham, herbs, vegetables, nuts—ordinary baking materials.
Her reverse gaze activated.
In an instant, all colors vanished from the world, leaving only the essence of each object.
Auras of decay, vitality of life, flows of time rose like heat haze.
Her hands moved.
"This egg spoils in three days. This ham's fats are on the verge of rancidity. This herb has lost over half its aroma. These nuts... Aspergillus mold just starting to grow..."
In under a minute, she pinpointed every defective item among dozens.
Silence fell over the development room.
"Whoa."
Sugar Girl clapped. She didn't know big words. But Tsubaki looked smart.
"Where'd you go to college? You're exactly what this shop needs! Great! Starting today, Tsubaki-chan's our quality control team leader!"
"Team... leader?"
The weight of 'team leader' felt awkward.
Tsubaki stumbled back in confusion. Her sunglasses slipped slightly.
Sugar Girl's eyes locked onto Tsubaki's.
Jet-black sclera. Piercing white pupils glowing coldly within.
An eerie reverse gleam that would make normal people scream or recoil in disgust.
But Sugar Girl's eyes sparkled.
"Whoa! Your eyes are so cool! Colored lenses? Or natural?"
"N-natural... yes, but..."
Sugar Girl's eyes sparkled brighter.
"Awesome, inspiration struck! White in the middle? Like... cream filling in chocolate! Outside chocolate, inside white cream! Name it... Ninja Cream Bun!"
Sugar Girl thrust out her arm at the workbench. Sticky whipped cream and chocolate poured from it, filling an empty bowl.
Superpower.
One that turned her entire body into dessert, defying all common sense.
Tsubaki was speechless.
The tower of common sense she'd built her whole life crumbled.
'Come to think of it...'
Compared to her own eyes or the shadow tattoos blooming from her body.
'That woman turning into dessert is way weirder, isn't she?'
She realized it then.
This was Neo Incheon.
The reverse gaze that had made her a monster her whole life, the poison arts that killed—these were just quirky 'traits' in this city, before this woman.
That was when.
Sugar Girl, buzzing with menu ideas, suddenly froze and turned to Tsubaki.
"Hey, but. Tsubaki-chan."
Sugar Girl approached with a sweet smile.
"I made this spot special for the mayor's request. You know that, right?"
Sugar Girl leaned in close.
Her face stopped right before Tsubaki's nose.
Close enough for their breaths to mingle.
Beneath the sweet vanilla, a faint burning scent mixed in.
The smell of obsession.
"The mayor's my benefactor. The only one who cheered my dream."
Her voice lowered.
"The one who understood everything about me, called even this me cute. My one and only ally in the world."
Sugar Girl's mouth smiled, but her eyes didn't.
No shine in her gaze. The candy-like pupils rippled with sticky emotion.
"So."
The sweetness thickened.
"Don't ever cause trouble for the mayor or get any funny ideas. Got it?"
"......"
"If you do."
Sugar Girl's lips curved like a crescent moon.
"I'll coat Tsubaki-chan in sugar and turn you into a pretty doll. Display you in the hall forever. Don't worry! I'll keep those pretty eyes intact. Customers will love it."
As Sugar Girl's emotions surged, the entire Insimdang reacted.
Caramel oozed from walls. Star candies dropped from the ceiling. The floor turned to sticky syrup, grabbing ankles.
Hot air clogged lungs.
Dizziness from excessive sugar infiltrating blood to the brain.
As Tsubaki stayed silent.
Kyahaha—
Sugar Girl burst into laughter and stepped back.
The melting walls solidified. Falling star candies hung midair. Sticky floor returned to normal.
Breathing eased again.
"Hah...!"
"Oh my, look at your face! Scared? Just kidding, kidding!"
Sugar Girl playfully patted Tsubaki's shoulder and stepped back.
Sugar syrup smeared on Tsubaki's shoulder.
"Like a newbie welcome prank? Thought you might be tense, so I messed around! Too much? Sorry, sorry!"
Sugar Girl clasped her hands and winked.
The tense atmosphere vanished completely, the development room filling with sweet, lively air again.
But Tsubaki knew.
In that moment, she had truly been moments from becoming a sugar doll.
A living sugar doll.
A conscious display ornament.
'Compared to her... aren't we just normal?'
The assassin who had lived her life in shadows was, for the first time, swept by the bizarre sensation of being normal.
"Let's get along from now on, Tsubaki-chan! We'll make the sweetest bread in the world together!"