This Shouldn't Be Happening
This shouldn't be happening.
Flames roared up in a violent rush.
Not even ash remained. Baek Shin-hoo was gone.
Or had he been erased? As if he had never existed in this world at all?
The voice slipped into her ear again.
"Hohoho. What a good little cleaner you are, child."
"Uh... I should keep things tidy, yeah."
Her words burrowed into Goat-jjang's ear. A crimson veil hung across her vision — a sealed room, cut off from the world outside. Inside it, there was only the two of them.
"That's right, child. What shall we play next?"
"What should we play?"
She was sinking deeper. All she wanted was to keep playing.
The woman drew the veil aside a fraction. At the far edge of her sight, a spirit herb field came into view.
Huh? The chat...?
What is this? They seem familiar.
A friendly feeling. Had she known a lot of people? She didn't think so. She was an orphan. There weren't many people who'd play with her. Even when they called her an NPC, she'd been happy — because they liked her.
In that instant the veil fell across her eyes again. The scenes that had just unfolded before her receded, distant and unreal.
Then the voice returned.
"Won't you go set those little chicks free?"
"Chicks?"
"That's right. They're bound up so tight they can't even move. Don't you feel sorry for them?"
Through a gap in the veil, the spirit herb field came into view — no. Chicks.
"Ah... yes. They really do look pitiful."
As if spellbound, she walked toward the spirit herb field. The chat window appeared again.
She could see the words. She could read them. But the whisper in her ear was stronger.
She stopped in front of the spirit herb field and tilted her head.
"Uh... how do I set them free?"
"Just take that sword you're holding and drive it in deep."
"Like this?"
She did as she was told, and tore into the earth.
"Hohoho — you did so well."
The woman was delighted. And yet something felt wrong.
I don't think I should be doing this.
It felt as though she were about to lose something precious — one of the few precious things she had. A faint revulsion stirred in her. Even the woman's praise no longer made her as happy as it had; the joy had dropped by a good thirty percent. The more she did this, the more it felt like she would lose everything.
This shouldn't be happening...
The voice drove into her ear and cut the thought short.
"Mm. Then shall we go find another puppy?"
"Uh... okay. Like this?"
She unfurled her divine sense. Nearly the entire fifth floor seemed to rest in the palm of her hand. Everyone looked busy with combat — shouting, fleeing, fighting, helping one another. If she wished to see, she saw. If she wished to hear, she heard.
And then, the nearest presence of all. A familiar energy. A woman approaching, chatting with someone as she came. The woman's voice reached her.
"I think Goat-jjang went this way."
"This is the edge of the map."
"It's awkward to go any further."
An energy she didn't dislike. A voice she remembered. But something kept getting in the way. She could not disobey the whisper in her ear.
"There's a woman up ahead."
"Yes, well done. Shall we go find our next puppy?"
At the woman's word, Goat-jjang kicked off the ground. She didn't even need to mount the Reversal Blood Sword. She simply rose into the air and flew toward the woman her divine sense had caught.
"But then she'd die."
"Why would she die? If you want to keep her from running, you have to cut her legs off, don't you?"
"Ah... you're right."
She closed the distance.
Two hundred meters. One hundred. Fifty.
Their eyes met.
The woman who saw her broke into a bright smile and waved. And then the whisper slid back in.
"Child. That puppy is no good. Why don't we find a different one?"
"Uh... but I like that puppy."
"No... a different puppy..."
In that instant, another voice reached her ear.
"Goat-jjang! Have you been well?"
"Huh?"
The memory surfaced.
"Want some of this?"
"I packed my own, but I don't have an appetite... It'd be a waste to throw it away, so... I haven't even touched it."
"The lunchbox..."
One of the few good memories of her life.
"I saw the video and it looked like you'd gotten hurt fighting an S-rank hunter, so I came to find you. I brought beef and pork, too."
A sudden urgency crept into the voice that had been tickling her ear.
Turbid matter? What is that supposed to mean?
I don't even know what that means.
No — that's not the problem here!
What good is beef and pork if I can't even grill it?!
How was she supposed to eat it raw? If she used the Fireball Art, it would just burn to nothing. It would sit there in a pile and she wouldn't even get to eat it!
"That's right, child. That girl is mocking you."
The veil settled over her vision once more. The woman was right. She was making fun of her. Goat-jjang's grip tightened on the sword.
"Ah! I had a feeling, so I brought a portable burner too!"
"Huh?"
Is she serious?
The strength went out of her hand. The woman pulled a gas burner and a grill pan from her bag. And as she did, the voices that had felt so far away began to grow distinct again.
"Ah! Do you like gomtang, by any chance?"
"Gomtang?!!!"
"Yes. It's a broth made by stewing bones for hours. A lot of Korean people eat it."
"Eating something stewed from bones? That's fare for demonic beasts. No cultivator should put that in their mouth."
What is she talking about?
The things she was saying were getting stranger and stranger. Since when was gomtang a weird food? Goat-jjang was starting to get annoyed.
"Have you eaten? I haven't had a meal yet either."
"Yeah. I want some."
"You do? Then I'll get it ready right now."
The woman hummed under her breath as she prepared the food. The hum carried a smell that brushed the tip of Goat-jjang's nose, and the anger in her steadily ebbed away.
"Ah! And I packed some fresh kimchi too — how about that? It might be a little spicy?"
The bright red geotjeori inside the side-dish container caught her eye.
What is she talking about? How does she not know what fresh kimchi is?
The gap in common sense was yawning wider and wider.
"Child. Listen to me. I am the only one on your side."
Now the woman's words themselves were starting to feel suspicious. The voice that had been so seductive had turned harsh somewhere along the way, coarse as grinding metal.
In the meantime, the other woman held out the gomtang.
"It's hot, so be careful."
Warm food, for the first time in a long while. It felt like sitting down to a home-cooked meal after nothing but delivery every single day.
"Hoo— hoo—"
She blew on the broth, then carefully took a spoonful. A rush of heat flooded through her body.
The woman's words were faint now. Another spoonful. And then she couldn't hear anything at all.
The veil lifted, little by little.
Then a message appeared from Hyeolha Nojo, who had been silent until now.
Hyeolha Nojo did not answer for a long time. Then, at last, a message appeared.
"Sorry. I sold all the Tteokbap you gave me as a gift."
"I was originally going to use it all myself, but the Nebula Guild master begged me so desperately."
"She said she absolutely had to clear the 50th Floor, and that once the strategy was complete, other hunters would be safe too."
"I wasn't even going to take the money, but she forced it on me, so I didn't have a choice."
"I was going to donate all of it, but once I actually received it... I got greedy."
What is this?
Why is this woman sitting next to me?
She was sure it had been Baek Shin-hoo. No — Baek Shin-hoo with a ghost cultivator inside him? He had kept coming after her, and she had drawn the Reversal Blood Sword, and then...
I can't remember.
She remembered what came after that — Baek Shin-hoo flat on the ground, groveling. So why was she eating gomtang right now?
"Ah! Would you like to come to the victory banquet with me?"
"Victory banquet?"
"Yes. The Nebula Guild's 50th Floor celebra— wait, what am I saying? Sorry. You're an NPC, I shouldn't have brought it up."
She bonked herself on the head. Maybe it was the sight of that that made Goat-jjang's guard slip, because the words came out before she could stop them.
Why did I say that?
"I can leave, though."
"What?"
I said it without thinking.
No! I mean, I am going to leave, but I didn't have to say it out loud!
Why would I say something that stupid!
No — my memory just cut out, so of course I'm confused! What even happened? And why are this woman's eyes sparkling like that?!
"Really? Then would you like to go to the victory banquet with me? I can bring a plus-one."
No!! I have to refuse, no matter what!
If I go and they find out I lied, then what? I didn't start it, but I never corrected them either!
"I can't."
The woman looked at her, disappointed.
"Why not? Is there another reason?"
What am I supposed to say?
Trying to think on the spot was exhausting. The meal had given her some energy back, but her whole body still felt drained, as if the strength had been wrung out of it. She needed an excuse. Anything.
Then her eyes fell on her clothes. Inside the Tower it was one thing, but outside they would stand out. That was it.
"I don't have any clothes."
This is the best I can do.
Is this the best I can do? Does this even count as an excuse? Well, what else am I supposed to do. My brain isn't working.
"Is that all? That's not a problem!"
"Huh?"
"Thanks to you I made a ton of money! I'll go buy you clothes right now!"
"What?"
"I'll run to the, um, department store and grab some, so meet me on the first floor!"
"Huh? Wait—"
"It'll take about two hours! Oh, and you can take everything I left over there!"
"Hold on!"
She didn't wait for an answer. She was gone in an instant, sprinting away without hearing another word.
What do I do?
What on earth just happened?
A short while later, on the first-floor Safety Zone.
Hunters were murmuring all around her.
"Should I go talk to her?"
"Should we ask when the event's starting up again?"
"Leave it. She's meditating."
"Looks like she's doing something. Feels wrong to interrupt."
"Whoever came up with the nickname Goat really nailed it."
"Because she's sitting on a rock? Isn't a goat just a regular goat? That's different from a mountain goat."
"They look similar enough. Relatives, maybe?"
Curiosity buzzed on every side, but she had no attention to spare for it. She had to find out what had happened in the stretch of memory that had gone dark.
"What on earth happened?"
No one answered. Had they all left? That didn't seem right. Same as always, six people — no, five? Had someone left?
"Why are there only five of you?"
She asked again, and this time the chat finally stirred.
"No. It feels like my memory just... cut out."
"Ah! I remember that part. But he was missing a wrist."
Baek Shin-hoo? That doesn't sound like him at all.
They said a ghost cultivator had possessed him — maybe it took his body over completely? Is that why he swore he wouldn't appear again?
Before she could finish sorting her thoughts, Ocheong Yowang asked a question.
"Weird voices?"
A kind voice stirred at the edge of her memory.
"I feel like something's about to come back to me..."
What is this? It feels like they're hiding something.
"What on earth happened?"
For a long while, nothing appeared. Then, one by one, the messages began to come.
Sword spirit? Heart demon?
She had no idea what any of that meant.
"What's a sword spirit? And what's the solution? Why tomorrow?"
"??"
"What?"
What is this?
Why is everyone acting like that all of a sudden?
They spent every other day ready to tear each other's throats out. Why the sudden change of heart? And in a moment like this, wasn't Ocheong Yowang supposed to be the one crowing about it? Why was he so quiet?
More importantly — where was Hyeolha Nojo?
"Where did Hyeolha Nojo go?"
Business? What kind of business?
They wouldn't even tell her what a sword spirit was. Her memory had cut out in the middle of everything, and just keeping up was already more than she could handle.
What on earth happened?