Velvet & Read (2)
Velvet & Read (2)
Chwarararak-
A curtain blocking the view right in front of his eyes.
Wrapping around his body like a net, swinging him every which way and disorienting him—he wondered if this was what it felt like to be rolled up in a straw mat.
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Everyone, stay calm!"
Lee Da-eun's scream.
Kang Tae-jun's urgent shout.
"You're nearby, right? Right?"
"Daegang-nim! Where are you?!"
"Authorize the use of fire!"
Dr. Seo Young-eun's frantic question, searching for someone, and the terrified voices of the team members.
Kang Tae-jun, who was managing to keep his composure even in this situation—though not entirely unlike the others—bellowed out.
"Don't leave your positions! Don't move recklessly, stay calm!"
"Da, Daegang-nim!"
"Take deep breaths! Falling into panic makes you more vulnerable to mental contamination! Don't waver, maintain your composure!"
Kang Tae-jun's desperate instructions became the lifeline that held the team's chaos together.
The noisy team members around him gradually regained their calm.
Rough sounds of breathing, trying not to succumb to panic, proved that the distance between them wasn't far.
"What the hell is going on."
Kang Tae-jun pressed the curtain clinging to his body with his hand, then slowly pushed the muzzle of his gun forward.
The tip of the muzzle didn't touch anything.
He remembered Seo Young-eun was standing right around here.
"Is everyone okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"I'm okay."
"Where are you, Kang Daegang-nim?"
"I'm right where I was. The curtain makes it impossible to predict the direction of sound."
A team member's voice came from somewhere.
"Daegang-nim. It feels like being trapped inside a beast's stomach. The curtain is the stomach wall."
"Huh? Have you ever been eaten by a beast? How would you know that?"
"We-well, it's just a figure of speech."
The scolding was deliberate, meant to relieve tension.
As the feeling of pressure gradually lifted, Kang Tae-jun was able to calmly assess the situation.
All those days of training without skipping a session had paid off.
Usually, once someone had this much experience, they'd start skipping education or training.
But he trained and educated himself every day to be ready to fight anomalies at any time. Even with twenty years of experience, he put in the same passion as a rookie. There were no exceptions.
Finally seeing that bear fruit, he felt a quiet sense of pride and joy.
"What kind of bullshit is this."
It was around the time things were starting to get boring.
Chwaaaaak-
The curtain drew back.
He thought it was finally over, but what was revealed behind the curtain wasn't the bar lobby.
"What, this place?"
A theater.
A space that could accommodate about two thousand people.
A stage stood directly in front of them, and the team members were standing in the very front row of the audience seats facing the stage.
A red curtain hung at the back of the stage.
In front of it, wooden puppets in awkward poses were repeatedly bowing to the audience.
"Kang Daegang-nim?"
"Dr. Seo."
Kang Tae-jun confirmed Dr. Seo Young-eun right next to him, and saw Lee Da-eun and the other team members lined up beside her.
"Daegang-nim? Why are we here...?"
"You can't apply common sense to an anomaly's methods. That's what surreality is all about."
Kang Tae-jun felt relieved that he hadn't lost his firearm, and glared toward the stage.
"If we break that surreality's rules... those bastards will throw a fit."
Change began.
Waaaaa—
Whee—
Clap clap clap clap clap—
Wahahahaha—
Cheers, whistles, applause, laughter.
The resounding sounds of an audience that had just witnessed the greatest masterpiece of all time filled the theater.
The only thing terrifying was that the only people in the audience seats were the team members.
"What? Is it speakers right now?"
"No. It's coming from right behind me."
"My ears hurt a bit. Why are they clapping so loudly?"
"Hey, look at the stage. Am I the only one seeing that?"
At Kang Tae-jun's instruction, the team members looked toward the stage.
The curtain behind the wooden puppets that were waving and bowing.
Something whose outline was faintly visible, caught in the curtain, was moving through the gap between the curtains.
"What is that?"
"I-isn't it too big?"
"Kang Daegang-nim. Just by rough estimation, it's over three meters. It's not an ordinary lifeform."
"I know that much just by eyeballing it, Dr. Seo."
The 'something' reached the center of the stage and stopped.
What peeked out gently through the gap in the curtain was a hand.
One covered in beast-like fur, with claws that sent chills down the spine.
Curved and rigid like a sickle.
If it swung those claws with intent, it could cut through bulletproof vests and everything else clean in half.
"It seems like a... beast-type anomaly?"
"Beast? Do you count a giant furball that size as a beast?"
"We need to retreat, Daegang-nim. It's not the kind of bulk that can be stopped with live rounds."
Kang Tae-jun knew that engaging in combat here would only harm them.
Let's get out of here. He moved his feet.
"Ugh...!"
His feet wouldn't leave the audience seat.
They were stuck as if someone had glued the soles of his shoes to the floor.
"We're in trouble."
"What do we do?"
"We need to figure it out, Dr. Seo. You said this is a regularity anomaly, right? Have some shame and find the method. This is your specialty."
"I'll try."
"Team members, find a way to get our legs unstuck. Lee Da-eun, assist Dr. Seo."
""Yes!""
"Understood!"
Kang Tae-jun swung his whole body, trying to free his leg.
At this rate, his ankle might break. The sole of his foot didn't budge an inch, as if it had taken root in the floor.
'What a fucking mess.'
Just when he thought there might be a way.
Kang Tae-jun noticed one person was missing.
"Where's Blue Head?"
"Huh? Come to think of it..."
Only Blue Flame was missing? That meant there was a way.
One could argue that the anomaly's power didn't apply to him, but that didn't seem to be the case.
Didn't Blue Flame get caught up in the regularity of the film anomaly just recently?
It wasn't a matter of similar anomalies' powers not working on each other.
'He left him out on purpose.'
The most likely possibility was that only Blue Flame, who had been invited from the start, was made an exception.
"I guess we have no choice but to trust that Blue Head will do something."
"Daegang-nim! The, the stage!"
"Huh?"
The beast that had been behind the curtain slowly poked its head out.
Its snout emerged through the gap in the curtain.
Covered in bluish-black fur, it growled and drooled.
Its bared fangs were sharp enough to chew a person without difficulty.
"Damn... It's a bipedal dog? No, a werewolf?"
But the wolf in front of them was incredibly large.
Especially the yellow eyes faintly visible through the curtain gap.
They were big enough to fit a full-grown adult man inside.
"Didn't you say it was three meters, Dr. Seo?"
"That was just based on the curtain outline."
"That's at least ten meters."
A massive head that filled the entire stage space.
Even if they brought five more teams of this size, they couldn't be sure of subduing it. It was too big.
With the current team, it was impossible.
"It's coming out more."
"It's coming out fucking slowly. Dr. Seo! Any ideas yet?"
Seo Young-eun, who looked troubled, glanced at the stage and then at the audience seats behind her.
A moment later, she found the answer amidst the fervent joy filling the surroundings.
"Applause!"
"Yes?"
"Clap. This is a curtain call, right?"
Seo Young-eun looked at Kang Tae-jun with confident eyes.
"A curtain call is the time after the performance ends when the cast comes onto the stage and greets the audience."
"So?"
"At this moment, the audience is allowed to shower the performers with cheers and applause. We should follow along."
Seo Young-eun started clapping until her palms hurt.
Lee Da-eun quickly followed suit, and the hesitant team members also began to clap and cheer.
Kang Tae-jun, watching, also clapped awkwardly.
"As expected of a Grade 2 doctor. So your position wasn't just from slacking off."
It was working.
The beast was retreating.
It had been slow coming out, but it was just as excruciatingly slow going back in.
"You still think I was slacking off?"
"Do you think I don't?"
"Ha! You old geezer."
"You know you're not exactly young either, right? Candidate for old geezer."
They exchanged playful jabs while focusing on their applause.
But the beast had gone back in—how long did they have to keep this up?
"Can we stop now?"
"Look carefully. The beast isn't leaving the stage at all. If we stop, it'll come out again."
"Well then, how long do we have to do this?"
Seo Young-eun didn't seem to know that part either.
The cheers around them showed no signs of stopping, and the wooden puppets on stage showed no signs of ceasing their bows.
This was bad.
Their palms were gradually hurting and felt like they were about to blister.
After clapping for a long time, Kang Tae-jun scowled and shook his head.
"Hurry up and do something, Blue Head. We have no other way right now."
The painful cheer echoed continuously.
※※※
March 23rd.
A heavy silence settled over the bar lobby.
The jazz music sounded grotesque, and the bartender and Wine Glass Head, who had been silent, were subtly watching my moves.
A moment later, the bartender bent down and began cleaning up the broken glass.
When I gave no reply, he spoke once more.
"Chijik- Don't—— test my patience——. Give them—— back. Now."
"Blue Flame—. Let's talk properly."
Wine Glass Head seemed to be trying to persuade me.
She returned to where she had been, pulled up a chair, and stuck close to my side.
Wine Glass Head, now right next to me, lightly placed her elegant, alluring fingers on my shoulder.
"I don't think— our relationship needs to break apart like this. We're— fellow Object Heads, aren't we?"
"......"
"I can be your kin— and your friend. We could become even closer—. We're bound by mutual interests."
"......"
"But humans aren't—. The species is different from the start. Even if we have— human bodies."
Wine Glass Head tapped her glass head lightly.
A clear sound rang out.
"It's a relationship that can never— truly mix."
Humans and anomalies are like water and oil that can never blend.
I had also struggled in my own way to fit in among humans.
As a reward for that effort, the team members accepted me as a comrade, and I trained and lived with them.
But deep down, I know.
It's not that I blended in—it's that they accepted me.
In the end, the distance between human and anomaly cannot be closed by effort alone.
"Right now— they're with you, but once you're of no use— what do you think will happen?"
"......"
"You'll be disposed of—. You'll become Black Grade."
I turned and looked at Wine Glass Head.
As if excited, the wine in her head turned redder.
"But I'm different—. Unlike untrustworthy humans— we're bound by mutual interests."
Her beautiful hand overlapped and held mine.
Though not human, a warmth as warm as a human's traveled through her palm.
"You have the qualifications— to join our faction—. You don't even know your own potential yet—. I'll give you whatever you need. That absorption ability— I can help you with that too."
Wine Glass Head pressed closer, sticking to me.
Her proactive attitude might be quite startling, but in a way, she was desperate not to let me go.
"Join— Velvet & Read. Kin should stick together—."
Click.
The shaker bartender set a cocktail glass down in front of me.
I looked down at the quite beautiful colored liquor, then picked up the glass.
The color of the wine in her head had turned almost blood-red.
Not just the wine—her exposed shoulders and collarbone had also turned red.
However.
"Chijik- This is—— your last chance."
"......"
"Chijik- Give them back. If you hadn't—— said you'd give me information—— you wouldn't have had this chance—— either."
"Are you— really doing this?"
"Chijik- I am——."
I expanded my senses.
The dark energies existing within this place.
I particularly noted the Rifle Head clinging to the second-floor railing, and the curtain—not an Object Head but presumed to be an anomaly.
Including the bartender and Wine Glass, that's four in total.
I can't handle four of them alone.
But I'm confident.
"Chijik- I don't—— have the confidence to subdue all four of you——. You have numbers, and I'm—— alone."
I brought the cocktail close to where my head would be, like a human would, and was somewhat surprised by the quite pleasant aroma.
I couldn't drink it, but I could enjoy the scent.
"Chijik- But—— I can say one thing for—— sure."
I set the cocktail down and pushed it toward the bartender.
In that moment, her red wine cooled and turned slightly dark and murky.
"Chijik- I can—— kill all of you. If I go through with it, I'm confident I can kill—— the bartender, the Rifle, and the Curtain—all of them—— and absorb them."
I reached out, grabbed the base of the wine glass, and pulled.
Wine Glass Head, dragged along, began to turn red again.
Slight bubbles rose in her wine, as if it were boiling.
"Chijik- You're no different——. Wine Glass."
"Let go—, let go—."
"Chijik- I won't—— be beaten like last time. I plan to beat you thoroughly—— and then eat you—— painfully."
"...Let, let go—. You pervert!"
"Chijik- Last chance——. If you don't give me back my comrades, I'll burn this whole bar—— to the ground. Next time—— no chances."
Tak.
Wine Glass Head shook off my hand and turned her back to me.
Her shoulders trembled, and she turned back only slightly, as if glaring.
"So ungentlemanly—! Grabbing a lady's— glass base like that."
I just grabbed her by the scruff of the neck.
Was that really enough to be called a pervert and criticized for being ungentlemanly?
"How can you— value those humans— more than your own kin—?"
She seemed upset, but it appeared she understood.
If she didn't intend to kill me, she shouldn't antagonize me any further.
She flicked her fingers toward the back.
"Curtain—. Give them back."
Chwarararak-
The curtain blocked the lobby again.
When the writhing curtain withdrew back, the team members appeared, standing in a line.
But they were clapping.
Clap clap clap... clap.
"Huh? Huh?"
"We're—back!"
"Ugh! My—my palms!"
All the team members collapsed to the ground, trembling their hands.
Those without gloves had swollen palms.
"Was I— right? I said Blue Head would do something."
"Would it kill him to do it a little faster?"
"Don't complain. Be grateful we're not dead."
Kang Tae-jun smiled at me, his face twitching slightly from the pain.
"Good job! Blue Head. I knew I could count on you."
Then, lightning-fast, he raised his firearm and aimed at Wine Glass Head.
The other team members, also trembling in pain, reflexively followed Kang Tae-jun's movement and aimed their guns as well.
Two of them also aimed at the Rifle Head leaning on the second-floor railing and the curtain that had been withdrawn into a corner.
"So... how did it go? Doesn't look like you fought."
"Chijik- It was right—— before fighting."
"Since it's 'before fighting,' that means it ended well, right? Can we lower our guns?"
I glanced at Wine Glass Head for a moment.
She was sulking, not even looking at me, resting her chin (or rather, the base of her glass) on the counter in silence.
She had her legs crossed, swinging them slightly, then just turned her head and waved her hand.
"Fine—. I won't touch—."
Kang Tae-jun was suspicious at first, but he trusted me and lowered his gun.
The other team members, who had been on guard, hesitantly lowered their guns as well.
Then Seo Young-eun interjected.
"What are you doing? Are you really dropping your guard?"
"We have to trust him. Do we have any other choice?"
"She's an anomaly. You must never let your guard down against an anomaly."
"Dr. Seo. Let's trust Blue Head for now. He saved us, so we should trust and follow him too."
Seo Young-eun glared at him briefly, then relaxed her shoulders.
"If that's the case, fine. I also know my life is precious."
Seo Young-eun strode over and plopped down next to me.
She made a sudden order to the bartender, who was still diligently polishing a glass despite the situation.
"That curtain call drink from earlier... it was good. Give me one more. Ah, this time give me one without any tricks."
The bartender, showing no sign of surprise at the sudden change, made the curtain call drink.
The hesitant team members, with Kang Tae-jun's permission, sat at nearby tables to rest.
The Rifle Head on the second floor also removed its muzzle from the railing.
"Daegang-nim?"
Lee Da-eun nudged Kang Tae-jun and then gestured with her chin for him to sit at the counter.
Kang Tae-jun nodded and found an empty seat at the counter.
Finally, an environment where they could talk had been established.
"Chijik- Then—— let's—— talk."
"What— do you want to know?"
What I wanted to know.
There was plenty I wanted to ask, but I first brought up the purpose that had prompted this contact.
"Chijik- The—— secret of—— us Object Heads."
"Right—, that was the original purpose, wasn't it—?"
Wine Glass Head looked at me.
She lightly placed her hand between her chest and collarbone.
"What do you think— the source of our birth is—?"
A more philosophical question than expected brought a moment of silence.
Dr. Seo, who was sipping her cocktail, Lee Da-eun, who was about to order, and even Kang Tae-jun, who was angrily demanding soju without knowing what was going on.
All of them focused on Wine Glass Head.
"Chijik- I don't—— know."
"We are anomalies, but— at the same time, we are a single race."
What was she talking about? I didn't quite understand.
I turned to Seo Young-eun for interpretation, and she explained based on her understanding.
"It's exactly what she said. Anomalies originally have irregular structures. A mutation concept is more accurate than a race. But Object Heads—."
Seo Young-eun's index finger pointed at her own head and circled once.
"Follow a unique body structure, right? Just as humans have the same structure with only different appearances, Object Heads have the same structure with only different objects. That's probably why she called it a race."
"Come to think of it, that's true? Object Heads all fundamentally follow a common structure."
"Huh? You call that the same structure? It's basically copying the human structure."
Lee Da-eun and Kang Tae-jun chimed in.
Wine Glass Head let out something resembling a sigh through her speaker, then snapped her fingers as if to demand attention.
"Object Heads have— a reason for being born."
"Chijik- Tell me——."
"The need to find— our source. That is our— existence and the reason for our birth."
We must find the source.
The reason for our birth lies right there.
It felt like a mission we were born as Object Heads to fulfill.
"But no one— has found the source yet. The rest are living without even— grasping the existence of the source."
"Chijik- And you——?"
"I don't know either—. That 'source.'"
Ding- She tapped her wine glass head lightly, and a clear sound rang out.
"But— I know of an existence that has approached the source the closest."
"Chijik- Who——?"
"Pocket— Watch."
Pocket Watch.
A watch?
Suddenly, I felt my non-existent head stiffen.
The phrase 'clock head man' I had read about in the film anomaly, and now a clock head was being mentioned again.
It was too much to be a coincidence—the clock head appeared everywhere I went.
As if it were orchestrated, intentionally.
"He— said this. That there is an existence that will illuminate the path— for us lost Object Heads."
"......"
"You—. Blue Flame."
It sounded like he was mocking me.
Suddenly saying it was me, it sounded like sweet talk to make me feel good.
But Wine Glass Head said it without changing the color of her wine one bit.
She meant it.
"You— will guide us to the source. That's why— I wanted to recruit you."
Then she glared at Seo Young-eun.
"If I'd known— the Management Bureau would snatch away— Blue Flame this quickly— I would have brought him from the start."
Though she had no eyes, Seo Young-eun seemed to feel her gaze and clicked her tongue, shooting back.
A strange chill hung in the air.
"Chijik- How exactly—— will I—— illuminate the path?"
"He said— you have potential."
"Chijik- That's—— not an answer——. Let me meet him——."
Then let's meet the one who knows everything.
Pocket Watch. I could just meet him directly and ask about the source.
"Sorry—. He's someone you can't meet— even if you want to."
A disappointing answer came back.
Yeah, if I could meet and talk to him easily, it would have happened long ago.
"Chijik- Then how—— do I meet him?"
"Wait for him to find you—. Even I— can only meet him after waiting."
Wine Glass Head straightened her waist and turned to face me.
She elegantly rested her chin on her hand and crossed her legs gracefully.
"Now— this is my business. I've fulfilled all your requests, so— fulfill mine too."
The tip of her high heel tapped my shoe.
The color of her wine, which had turned dark, gradually deepened.
"Join— Velvet & Read. If you come here, I can give you whatever you want—. Anything."
Anything, she says.
To her unprecedented recruitment offer, I gave a firm answer.
"Chijik- No——. You attacked my comrades——."
A suffocating silence fell.
Wine Glass Head drummed her fingers on the counter for no reason, then sat up straight facing forward.
Slowly, as if collapsing, she slumped over the counter and let out a sad voice.
"I got rejected again—."
Was it my imagination?
Her voice sounded wet.
"Ever since the first time I saw you—, I've been getting hit. Now I'm getting turned down—."
Her wine bubbled.
A fragrant scent wafted faintly.
"I'm starting— to get competitive."
A woman's obsession was terrifying.