Chapter 19
Translator: IPO
Chapter 19
On a foggy day, Seoul at dawn becomes a place where not humans, but death and fear, linger.
People hide inside their homes, pull blankets over themselves to force sleep that refuses to come, and draw curtains to avoid even a glance from those things.
The only thing to trust is the very thin, transparent protective barrier maintaining the safe zones.
Yet the comfort it gives is only a faint consolation, and as night deepens, the fog grows thicker.
The scariest thing is that something stirs within the fog.
At first, they made no sound, but their mere presence provoked human darkness and fear.
Some call them monsters.
Some call them nightmares.
Some call them creepypasta or ghost stories.
Some say they are primal fears sent by God to punish humans.
~♬
Yet, they had overlooked something.
It is neither as fierce as the midday sun nor as violent as a thunderstorm hiding in clouds, but a small and pure sound exists in the city that can dispel this darkness and fear.
Jae-hee gently caressed the strings of her violin.
Her hands, delicate as if made of porcelain, played the strings softly, and a perfect melody began to flow, as if a recording had been activated.
The melody was gentle and soft, yet one could feel a hint of greed within it.
“This is my world.”
So there is no room to yield to you.
Please, disappear.
From that whispering melody emanated disdain and revulsion.
The heartfelt hatred of the Succubus Empress, who despises everything unbeautiful.
Those who are scorned by the embodiment of beauty deserve death.
-Thwack!
-Plop!
“Kyaaaah!”
“Kyakkyakkyakkak…!”
At first, the monsters approached the sweet and alluring scent and melody.
It looked so sweet and delicious that they devoured it.
No, even if they had not swallowed, the vitality-laden melody controlled by the Succubus Empress physically penetrated the bodies of monsters and nightmares.
Dressed in a suit, Jae-hee gestured, radiating nobility even in darkness.
The requiem for execution.
A funeral song for those disgusting and ugly.
~♬♪♬♩♩♪♬♪
She calmly lifted the violin to her shoulder and played.
The vitality that had penetrated them surged violently.
The music gradually changed.
From an enchanting fragrance to a song of death.
A melody solely for those who deserve disdain, those who feed on fear.
The piece Jae-hee played was like a death incantation, where her energy, soul, and immense vitality surged like waves.
The melody rose.
The monsters’ bodies twisted uncontrollably.
Flesh and bones burst outward silently.
At first, they tried to resist.
Yet as the music played and the melody embroidered the night sky of the city, resistance became meaningless, and their bodies were torn apart.
—It’s that woman!
—It’s that woman!
—Catch her and kill her!
—Tear her apart!
—Eat! Eat! Eat!
—Rend the sky!
—Boil her! Boil her! Boil her!
—Eat her tongue! Cut her tongue and eat it!
The monsters, realizing the owner of the sound, advanced through the fog.
Chunks of flesh, streetlights, branches, centipedes, cave snakes, and a boiled-faced man with bursting hands and spiked flesh charged collectively.
Towards Jae-hee.
Towards the arrogant empress who despises us.
They would rip that arrogance apart.
They would trample and devour that arrogant beauty.
They would boil and chew that arrogant empress!
Yet regardless, Jae-hee closed her eyes and focused solely on her performance.
Even if the monsters nearby burst while approaching.
The vitality condensed in the bodies of those climbing erupted, blooming as if into flowers.
The melody emanating from Jae-hee’s fingertips struck the monsters and nightmares again, and their bodies blossomed like flowers—bright, splendid, and extravagant.
It was as if seeds had burst using flesh as soil.
Flesh and bones bloomed with blood, and the petals crumbled, disappearing into the fog.
“Ahh, how beautiful~!”
~♪
Jae-hee and the violin harmonized.
The voices of young girls in awe could be heard.
Only then did the empress seem satisfied with the end of the monsters that had indulged in their beauty.
Red flowers bloomed everywhere.
The ominous, dense fog was painted rose-colored as if mixed with red paint. The blood and corpses of the monsters temporarily formed towers of flowers.
Then the wind blew.
When the wind scattered the heavy scent of blood, the flowers of flesh and blood vanished.
All that remained was emptiness and the echo of death.
Those who had brought the fog vanished before even tasting human fear.
Before they could hide in the city’s darkness and alleys to claim new victims, they turned to flowers and disappeared.
The only survivors within the fog were Jae-hee and her violin.
People shivered in fear, yet they heard the sound.
Silence calls forth deeper fear.
“Mom… I hear something.”
“Shh, shhh!”
“It’s the violin…”
The performed piece was one that some knew and others had at least heard once.
Frédéric Chopin, Piano Sonata No. 2.
Outside the window, the dense fog continued to dance in darkness.
Yet the sound was so beautiful and sweet… people unconsciously approached the windows.
In fact, it was safe to open them.
The protective barrier was still active.
People merely trembled because the monsters were terrifying.
But tonight, it seemed as if humans were not the ones trembling—the beautiful and entrancing melody engulfed the city.
The piano sonata, often used as a funeral piece, was played on the violin with delicate yet sharp notes.
The monsters riding the fog were all drawn away by the violin melody.
Then.
From the darkness came the faint sound of the violin along with the bursting of flesh.
At first, it seemed like an illusion, but the sound became clearer.
The melody was beautiful yet sad.
It sounded as if mourning, yet also as if showing disdain.
“Ahh…”
People opened curtains, opened windows, and reached out despite the unknown beyond the fog.
The melody was too beautiful to resist.
Even while feeling a fear that froze their entire body, they could not reject the enchanting melody.
Though just a violin, it soothed human souls while simultaneously captivating them.
Every family.
Every single man.
Every young female university student trembling alone in her studio apartment.
A woman in her twenties, trembling under her blanket, looked at the melody beyond the fog with an enraptured expression.
Her house was so close to the violin sound that the monsters were paralyzed by the melody, their flesh bursting in rhythm.
At first, the collective grotesque sight of monsters advancing with fog froze her completely, but as the violin grew stronger, the sound struck her ears.
Then she realized.
This was no ordinary music.
No one among ordinary citizens could see the performer’s face.
The fog was thick, and the monsters were still terrifying, so no one dared to look straight beyond.
Yet the melody seemed to say:
For all the beautiful things in the world.
And to despise all the ugly things in the world.
Thankfully, people were certain that this sound did not despise humans.
Otherwise, it could not have sounded so beautiful to them.
“It’s… a human.”
Beyond the fog, a woman appeared.
First doubt.
Then awe.
A suit neatly worn without exposure, and demonic wings so beautiful and large it seemed stunning.
The woman living alone could not tear her eyes away.
Her gaze was mixed with fear and reverence.
She was scared, yet overwhelmed by the spectacle.
The woman playing the violin was not human.
Still, she was ending this horrific night.
Driving away the grotesque, for the sake of human dreams.
Finally, the monsters blossomed and burst like flowers.
Flesh erupted, blooming with blood, the petals scattering into the fog.
Everything vanished.
“…Ah.”
Soon, all humans sensed the quiet city.
Hearts raced as if to explode, yet it was so quiet that no sound was heard.
All humans enchanted by the melody remained at their windows.
The Succubus Empress raised the final notes and ended her performance.
Thanks to everyone who listened this far.
Praise to all who can still be beautiful.
“So tonight, may you all have good dreams.”
With that, the performance ended, and people finally breathed again.
A performance that ended in an instant.
Brilliant, yet silent.
“…What was that sound…”
“The voice just now… what was it…”
“Ah, even just the voice is beautiful…”
“Who is it? An Awakened? A Hunter? Who could it be…”
Even though it was a woman’s voice, it seemed capable of captivating other women as well.
Jae-hee finished everything in an instant and disappeared as if nothing had happened.
People could not even identify the violinist, and the performance ended. Some sighed in regret.
Others shouted, begging for another performance.
But one thing was certain.
Tonight.
The city’s nightmares and monsters would not infiltrate.
What remained was the world of human dreams.
The world of people who must have a good night.
People marveled and were in awe.
“Wow, wow… who could it be?”
“Who could it be.”
“I want to see.”
“I want to meet her, even once.”
The crowd was captivated and cheering, but some felt fear.
This power was not human.
With just sound, she mesmerized monsters en masse, bursting them into flowers of flesh and blood.
The fog scattered, the city became silent, but if this person had evil intent rather than driving monsters away?
…What terrifying, gruesome things would occur.
“…Ssshh.”
A young female student living alone wrapped herself back in her blanket, trembling.
What was this trembling?
Awe at the melody’s beauty?
A shiver from hearing the Succubus Empress’s voice, even briefly?
Or pure fear?
Sleep was impossible, yet wanting to escape reality, she closed her eyes.
Dawn was still far away.
“…Ah, I can’t sleep.”
Of course, her heart pounded too much to sleep, so she eventually opened her online community.
The entire city was buzzing.
[Wow, what was that sound?]
Lying down after taking a sleeping pill, I felt completely mesmerized.
All those damn monsters were killed.
They exploded in flower shapes right before my eyes.
You too?
Seriously, what was that sound, it was insane.
[The monsters rubbing faces against the window all exploded when they heard the music.]
There are so many like that near my house too.
[Seriously, what is this.]
[Who the hell is playing this violin?]
Really.
[A top-tier Hunter? Never heard of a Hunter controlling sound…]
I heard she’s a first-generation Hunter.
Aren’t first-gen all gone abroad?
Some aren’t, apparently.
The internet was noisy.
Because of the eerie yet enchanting melody that saved the city.
But this noise was beyond ordinary.
“Uh, our daughter… sleep early tonight?”
“Why?”
“Mom and Dad… haah, we need to exercise a bit…”
“Exercise? At this hour?”
People, excited by the sound, spent time with family and love.
“Haah, haah… Professor Baek…”
“Seo, Seon-woo. We shouldn’t….”
Those who hadn’t, started hastily moving hands to relieve sudden heat and desire.
Why is it like this tonight?
Should I just sleep quietly…
Ah, sorry dear.
This isn’t how families should behave… tonight is strange.
Some embraced partners, wives, or husbands.
Others, captivated by the sound, paid no attention to physical urges.
[Please please please perform again!]
Holding breath until the next performance, gasp!
Me too, 333
Gasp!
[What’s that voice, what’s that voice…]
Music?
What is this music….
People would not normally be this flustered by a single violin.
But it was the Empress of Demons.
The embodiment of beauty.
The melody she played embodied the will to annihilate and burst all that was ugly.
And its violent beauty aimed to captivate.
And humans.
The city.
All who hid in the streets heard it.
Though it wasn’t directed at them, all who could not sleep were enchanted.
Of course, Jae-hee had no such intent.
If anything, humans, discovering beauty, indulged in fascination at their own whim.
“Hu hu hu, still, seeing the city covered in flowers clears my mind.”
Of course, Jae-hee had no thoughts.
“How is it? Do you like it? Isn’t it pretty?”
—■■■■■■~!
The souls of girls cheered.
The hearts of boys boiled with satisfaction.
The small concert in the middle of the city gave great comfort, and Jae-hee decided to be satisfied tonight.
“Haah, haah… still a little hungry.”
The melody had spread too far beyond Jae-hee’s control.
Next time, I must moderate.
Perhaps I used too much vitality and energy…
“I suppose it’s time to have a meal soon.”
What should I eat?
Probably Officer Dan-A-yeon would be the best…