Coincidence, New Connection
A voice whose gender couldn't be discerned.
Regaining her senses, Eunha lifted her heavy eyelids.
A small table, two chairs. Eunha sat facing the Black Person she'd met before across the table.
Black suit, black satgat hat... everything about the Black Person was black. A stark white inverted cross dangled from the hat like an accessory, gleaming brightly. The area beneath the hat brim was shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to make out the Black Person's facial features.
Where is this place...
『The place you reached before. Didn't I say I'd prepare something for you?』
Glancing around as she listened to the Black Person, the space resembled a tiny fortune-teller's parlor. The narrow room, perhaps five pyeong in size, was crammed with storage cabinets, and long strands of pure white silk thread hung from ceiling to floor, adorned with nail-sized curved jade beads that shimmered iridescently. The round table where she sat facing the Black Person was draped in blue cloth, with a transparent crystal orb resting on a red cushion.
Turning her head, she peered out the window. Outside was pitch-black darkness, so deep it felt infinite. Amid that profound void, countless will-o'-the-wisps flowed toward a single point like the Milky Way.
『You're awake, child.』
As she watched the will-o'-the-wisps drift by, something addressed her from behind. At the same moment, cold hands gently encircled her waist.
Ah. She'd thought she was sitting in a chair, but she was actually perched on the lap of that "something." That "something" with countless hands and a beastly scent... It felt wrong to keep calling it "something," so she'd just dub it the Beast for now.
The Beast, with Eunha on its lap, wrapped cold hands around her waist, stroked the backs of her hands, and lightly brushed her soft cheek. How many hands did it even have?
"...Hello."
『Pleased to meet you, child.』
『I'll make sure to tell 'those things' not to visit so often from now on.』
As Eunha bobbed her head in greeting, the Beast responded warmly, while the Black Person continued with their own words.
Not visiting so often anymore... Was that about "those things"? Already three or four had shown up in just three days. Her blood pressure had been through the roof wondering how she'd endure it—this was excellent news.
What were these folks, anyway? They didn't seem like the bad guys.
『If you have worries, I'll listen. Anything amiss?』
"Worries?"
『Yes.』
"...I turned into a woman. Is this because of the Black Book too?"
『No. That's a problem of your own making.』
『Anything else troubling you?』
"The Black Book is too heavy. It's hard to carry around."
『Nothing to be done about that. You'll just have to tough it out.』
They said they'd listen to her worries, but they were just hearing her out. Was this how it worked?
『No other concerns?』
"Got any food here?"
『...I'll prepare some.』
Ah. Definitely not bad people. They were giving her food.
After that, she asked about the Black Book and the true nature of "those things," but the Black Person held back, saying Eunha had to figure it out herself. Even as she conversed with the Black Person, the Beast kept kneading her body with its multitude of hands. Didn't it ever get tired? It felt almost like being touched on bare skin—slightly embarrassing.
『...Time's up. I'll send you back now.』
The Black Person, tapping the crystal orb on the table, announced it to Eunha. At once, the ceiling lights began flickering, and the windows rattled as if a typhoon were raging. Startled by the sudden commotion, Eunha shrank back, but the Beast holding her soothed her by stroking her head.
『Fate is like a thread. Threads are easily severed by nature... Yet if you continue weaving precious bonds, they will eventually become an unbreakable lifeline, no matter the hardship.』
"What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?"
『Just wait a little longer, child. I'll be heading your way soon enough.』
"What're you talking about now?"
Eunha shot back at their cryptic words, and right after, the Beast's hand covered her eyes.
And, as darkness always is, there was nothing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Kyaaack...!"
In a deserted alley of Euncheon-gu, where people were busy with studies or work and foot traffic had dried up entirely—next to a utility pole piled high with trash buzzing with flies—a woman's frantic cry echoed.
"L-Let... go of me...!"
"Aigoo~. You should've paid up. If the money had just kept rolling into your account nice and steady, we wouldn't be doing this. Right?"
A woman dressed in ragged clothes scavenged from who-knows-where: a tattered sweater and frayed jeans. Her unkempt blue hair hung down to her waist, lusterless from neglect, while her overgrown bangs draped to her eyes, obstructing her view.
She looked every bit the homeless beggar. If not for her strikingly beautiful features that drew gasps of admiration, everyone would have wrinkled their noses at her.
"O-One more month... Just a little longer, please...! I can really pay this time!"
"Yeah, yeah. Everyone says that."
The beggar-like woman cried out to the man gripping her wrist. The hulking brute who'd cornered her into the alley sighed mockingly in response.
He menaced her with muscles that looked like they could fell a bear.
"Let's keep this easy, yeah? We gotta watch our step in Euncheon-gu too. Doesn't look like it, but we risked our necks coming here, got it?"
"Ugh... Y-You think you'll get away with this?! My dad..."
"Yeees~ Yeees~. That's exactly why we're doing it."
The woman struggled to wrench her wrist free, but the giant didn't budge. Instead, pain shot through her as if her wrist might snap, and with venom in her eyes, she kicked upward between his legs with all her might.
Wobble—.
"Gaaah?!"
But in lifting one foot to strike, she lost her balance and tumbled. Still caught by one wrist, she dangled awkwardly instead of sprawling flat—quite the comical sight.
The brute burst into guffaws at her undignified flailing. Seizing the moment, the red-faced woman from shame yanked her hand free and staggered to her feet.
"Kuhukuku. What was that? Hilarious—should I give you another month?"
"You bast...!"
"Enough. We're short on time."
As they tussled, a man standing a step back who'd been watching interjected to stop the brute. He was tall and handsome, with a vertical scar across his right eye and a black carp tattoo around his neck. The man touched his scarred eye and gazed quietly down at the beggar woman.
"We don't plan on causing a scene in Cheongryong Guild territory either. We just want our loaned money back, then we'll leave quietly."
"But I don't have any money right now..."
"Kang Nari. We lent it because you're Chairman Kang's youngest daughter, and now that the deadline's here, we're here for 'collateral.'"
Money matters left no room for mercy; the two men pressed her relentlessly. Backed into the alley corner, the woman looked up at them with fear-tinged eyes.
"B-But... the interest is too high..."
"Not our problem. If you wanna live, beg your old man. He's infamous as a cold bastard, but he'll pay top dollar for his kid's organs...... Take her."
"Alright~ Let's head to a nice spot~!"
"Wait! Please, just one month...!"
Clang crash—!!
That was when it happened. As the brute grinned at the man's order and began dragging the struggling woman by the wrist toward the van parked at the alley mouth, a massive thud rang out—something crashed into the trash pile by the utility pole.
A heavy object plummeted, sending trash bags tumbling and littering the area. Startled by the sudden noise, the brute released the woman's wrist into a fighting stance, while the carp-tattooed man backed away to assess.
"What the—...... B-Boss! A body?! A body's fallen!"
"Quiet...! Voice too loud...!"
Confirming the fallen object, the brute yelled, sweat beading on his brow.
A person had landed atop the trash heap. Skin pale as if drained of all blood, a massive gash in the carotid artery. The corpse's clothes were soaked in blood from the neck wound, limbs limp since rigor mortis hadn't set in yet.
"Eek...!"
Faced with a real dead body, the blue-haired woman's legs gave out. Forgetting to flee the men, she trembled, face ashen. The men were just as shaken, struggling for composure. By appearances or circumstance, they looked like the culprits. The brute kept glancing toward the alley entrance, paranoid someone might have seen.
"......Tch! Let's go!"
Gazing skyward to gauge where the body fell from, the carp-tattooed man clicked his tongue and prepared to leave.
"Boss?! What about this chick?"
"Leave her! Forgot whose turf this is? Murder happens, the Detective shows up!"
The man scolded the brute, still not grasping the gravity, and raised both hands to show no threat. His face was etched with utter frustration at the setback.
"Detective Do Jong-ha! You listening? We just came for a debtor's payment! Got nothing to do with 'that'!...... And Kang Nari!!"
"Y-Yes?!"
"......We'll be back in a month. I know your location via my 'skill,' so don't even think about running."
Scanning the alley and shouting at some invisible presence, the man then growled a warning at the woman slumped on the ground before hopping into the van with the brute and speeding off.
Vroooom—!
They surged in like waves and vanished like a typhoon. In the filthy alley strewn with trash, only the dazed woman on the ground and the pale corpse remained.
...I. Survived? All my organs still there?
Not yet believing her fortune, the woman patted herself down. Her precious organs were safe. Dusting off and rising, she glanced at the body buried in the trash.
Skin pallid as if exsanguinated. Seeing a genuine corpse up close turned her stomach. It was a young woman—a beauty who even gave self-assured Kang Nari pause. Such a shame for someone so pretty... But thanks to her, Kang Nari lived. Without this heavenly intervention, she'd have been dragged off to a grim fate. She bowed her head toward the corpse, praying for its peace.
A nameless stranger. Already dead. Yet she'd received a favor. As the youngest daughter of the "Kang family" that couldn't abide debts, she couldn't just walk away.
That carotid gash... Definitely murdered. I'll find the killer and deliver justice!
Uncovering the culprit and bringing retribution would let the soul rest easy. First, to report to the police, Kang Nari pulled a cracked-screen burner phone from her tattered sweater.
"......Groooan..."
"Haaauu?!"
"H-Hiiik?!"
But right then, the fallen corpse let out a guttural groan and stirred. Kang Nari's piercing shriek filled the alley, joined by Eunha's feeble cry of surprise.