Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: 55 Minutes Remaining
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52.
The time left until Park Yeon-jeong underwent body modification was.
Just 55 minutes.
The place I was currently in was none other than the "Groom's Waiting Room."
Fortunately, I'd managed to avoid eating that maggot steak and get past it unscathed...
The prospective groom, "Park Yeon-jeong," sat slumped in a chair, lost in a whirlwind of thoughts.
The Bloody Queen wasn't here right now.
But that didn't change much.
As long as I remained in this queen's domain, she could tear apart my entire body and reassemble it at any moment.
And.
54 minutes.
Ah...
Even in the short time it took to explain this, another precious minute of mine had slipped away.
'...Damn it.'
This wouldn't do.
Why was everything spiraling out of control like this, one disaster chaining into the next?
At this point, I was starting to think I was actually emitting some kind of pheromone that attracted ghost stories.
Otherwise, this couldn't be happening.
No other explanation for why all these ridiculous misfortunes kept piling up on me.
A man sunk into the despair of those two words "defeat" still scanned the groom's waiting room, wondering if there might be anything useful.
Including a full-length mirror as standard.
The first thing that caught his eye was the queen's other brides, dressed in black suits, holding bouquets and rings.
Watching how the queen used her grooms like furniture.
Park Yeon-jeong grew even more despondent at the realization that this was his future.
Splorch.
?
He lifted his head at the mysterious sound brushing his ear, and what immediately entered his view was.
In the mirror that had just been reflecting Park Yeon-jeong's face, the queen—now draped in a black veil—stared back at me.
Flinch!
He startled the instant he saw the black veil reflected in the mirror.
But by now, he'd reached the level where he could brush off appearances like this without much fuss.
Still...
'Please, at least use your turn signal before showing up!'
〖Are your preparations complete?〗
...Your Majesty.
We haven't even been apart for 10 minutes yet?
But right now was the time to stall for as much time as possible.
He cleared his throat and adjusted his expression once more.
"I'm still so nervous about meeting you, Your Majesty. It might take a little longer to get ready."
The queen's response to my sly tongue was.
〖...Your mindset is admirable. But you don't need to be so tense.〗
The queen, gazing at me from beyond the mirror, gently pressed her palm against the mirror's surface and whispered softly.
〖Just bring your body.〗
〖I'll handle the rest. All you need to do is love me as I am.〗
Hearing the queen's words "as I am," an image involuntarily flashed in my mind of her face with flesh clinging to her skull.
'Ah... she's definitely showing up in my dreams tonight.'
More importantly.
Would I even survive to return from here?
Snapping back to a primal perspective drained all my energy.
Unaware of my feelings, the queen gazed at me with a faint smile shining through her veil.
〖It might be my first thrilling wedding in ages... But don't keep the bride waiting too long alone.〗
〖A man who makes his beloved wait won't even die a clean death in the afterlife.〗
With that trailing warning laced with a curse, our queen vanished from the mirror.
......
Honestly, couldn't help but suspect she might still be watching me at this very moment. And her personal appearance like this.
Signaled that my remaining time was running critically short.
The situation was dire.
And I didn't have many items left to use.
-Top Student Glasses.
-Employee ID.
-Quill Pen.
-Little Friends (Broken).
-Thousands of Gazes.
-Final Trigger.
-Lie-Detecting Watch (Broken).
Excluding the glasses and Employee ID I was wearing right now.
My Little Friends—the bear dolls—were currently unusable in any proper capacity.
That was all.
Thousands of Gazes might as well not exist at the moment, and the lie-detecting watch from Noise was hit-or-miss ever since the Arbiter touched it.
And among Park Yeon-jeong's current items, the one I could call key—the Final Trigger—was right now.
==========
/Item List.
Final Trigger.
(Check today's fortune!)
.
.
.
Upon use: Grants a random bullet. (Usable once per day. Resets at midnight.)
.
.
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...Had midnight passed already?
Should I try using it at least once?
This space had no windows or anything to check the outside time properly.
But when I faced the Princess earlier, it had definitely been nighttime.
Of course, ghost stories explicitly stated that time flowed differently inside them compared to the real world.
But if by some chance the outside time had passed midnight...
Click.
It was worth a shot.
At some point, Park Yeon-jeong had pulled out a revolver from his Employee ID, praying desperately that midnight had passed outside.
Click.
Park Yeon-jeong pulled the trigger.
Tick.
With a deflating click.
His gaze went to the barrel, where there was no flag...
Only emptiness remained at the muzzle.
'As expected...'
He wasn't too disappointed.
But he hadn't been without hope either.
Deep down, he'd wanted something to come out.
But the result was.
Just empty air bursting out.
With eyes filled with disappointment, Park Yeon-jeong slid the revolver back into his Employee ID.
The situation grew even more hopeless.
No breakthroughs in sight anymore.
Was it really down to his very last resort? The thought flashed through his mind.
Park Yeon-jeong had no choice but to pull out that thing from his Employee ID—the one he'd sworn never to touch again.
'I absolutely never wanted to use this...'
*****
Thud.
His footsteps echoed heavily down the corridor.
So heavy that he half-wished the ground would just cave in under his next step.
Though if it actually did, he'd cling for dear life anywhere else.
It meant he really didn't want to go to his destination.
Thud.
His footsteps, fixed only on the floor ahead, came to a halt.
Before an unopened door stood the silhouette of a woman waiting for someone.
〖...You've come.〗
Her voice pierced his ear sharply.
The queen had already arrived at the destination, waiting for me. And what first caught his eye wasn't the black dress she'd worn moments ago, but a dazzling pure white.
A mermaid gown made of shimmering silk glowed softly.
With every small gesture of the queen, the hem swayed like ocean waves, and the white veil framing her face suited her perfectly.
She looked just like a beautiful bride entering the venue.
〖Does it suit me?〗
There it was again.
That pattern demanding compliments.
Suddenly, here, I wanted to say.
'If you just lifted that veil, it'd be perfect, Your Majesty.'
But if I said something to offend her like that.
No need to go any further.
This spot would become my operating table for limb replacements.
So my line here was already set in stone.
With a faint smile.
I murmured softly.
"...You look utterly beautiful. Only someone like you could pull it off, Your Majesty."
〖...How embarrassing.〗
Well, well.
She was laying it on thick.
With that seductive voice and figure, who knew how many men's lives she'd claimed.
But I wasn't falling for it.
As Park Yeon-jeong vented a torrent of inner curses at the queen.
Swish.
The queen extended her palm to me and said.
〖Let's go. To the venue for our 211th wedding.〗
〖For our bright future together.〗
"...Yes, let's."
Hiding the involuntary tremble in my hand as best I could.
Swish.
I carefully placed my hand atop the queen's palm.
And our footsteps advanced forward.
Creak!
The massive doors swung open, and the sight before me was hundreds of applause crashing like thunder in my ears.
Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap!!!
A grand welcoming ceremony.
An atmosphere so convincing it tricked you into thinking there were actually people here celebrating our wedding.
Park Yeon-jeong knew better.
The source of that applause was no voluntary outburst—it was the queen's artificial staging, forced upon them.
〖Everyone's celebrating our engagement!〗
〖Aren't you happy!!〗
The queen's high-pitched voice shook the entire space.
I matched the mood, opening my cunning mouth once more.
"I'm satisfied just being by your side, Your Majesty."
Tap tap tap tap!
With the grotesque sound of seams ripping again, a limp tongue dangled into view through the white veil.
〖Tonight, I'll give you memories you'll never forget.〗
Squeeze—
〖I'll make it so you can never escape me... so you'll have to stay by my side forever.〗
No need to go to such lengths...
But her voice began to rise in fervor.
〖Tell me your desired body type, size, position—anything. I'll tailor it specially for you. I have this feeling that if I let you go, I'll regret it forever.〗
〖With you, my true form as I am...〗
This queen's emotions were surging wildly all of a sudden.
Even.
Squeeze!
!
The grip on his hand was strengthening.
Squeeeze—!
Crunch!!
Unable to endure the pain any longer—like his bones would shatter if he stayed gripped like this.
Crunch!!!
He'd truly reached his limit.
"Your Majesty!"
Thwack!
In the moment, he shouted loudly without thinking and shook off the hand holding his.
〖.......〗
!
The pain had been so sudden he'd raised his voice unwittingly.
....
The applause that had filled the venue moments ago died out in unison.
The silence of that emptiness brought an indescribable terror crashing over his entire body.
His faintly trembling gaze slowly turned to the Bloody Queen.
"Y-Your Majesty, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
〖A man who resorts to violence against a woman...〗
The queen cut me off, murmuring softly.
〖They say isn't worth fixing.〗
...Damn it, mistake.
An inexplicable calm laced the queen's voice.
That sense of wrongness from her composure was something only Park Yeon-jeong, standing in this place, felt with his whole body.
〖But... don't worry.〗
〖This seat likes you, after all. Just this once, I'll overlook your rudeness.〗
At the queen's words forgiving my sin, I unwittingly let out a sigh of relief.
Forgetting for a moment just who the being before him was.
Slash!
At some point, the queen had a fan in hand and murmured lowly.
〖But for the hand that wears the ring, two aren't really necessary, are they?〗
...Pardon?
Whoosh—!
In that instant, like slow motion, the fan extending precisely toward my hand filled my vision.
And why was that?
The moment I saw that fan.
Intuition flashed through my mind at lightning speed.
-My hand... is getting cut off.
Unthinkingly, so casually.
As that numb reaction passed with such casual sensation.
Slice!
The fan's blade swiftly slashed across a man's wrist.
The queen parted her lips slowly regarding her action.
〖...Luck? Or have you been hiding your skills from me until now?〗
".........”
Thud.
The moment Park Yeon-jeong witnessed the illusion of his wrist flying off with both eyes, his gaze frantically shot to his wrist.
The wrist he thought had surely been severed.
Was still attached.
And before his eyes, black text asserted its presence.
『Lucky Day』
The "Lucky Day" effect from the skull mark, triggered at the golden moment.
Thanks to the skull mark's power, Park Yeon-jeong had saved his wrist.
And he shouted inwardly.
'...Th-thank you! Arbiter!'
As his affinity for the Arbiter rose.
The queen's voice, looking down at me, sank even lower into my ear.
〖Don't dodge this time. If you value that neck of yours.〗
But luck like this.
Wouldn't come twice.
No choice now but to use that item.
The item he'd desperately avoided using.
-Thousands of Gazes.
Before even entering this venue.
The cursed item tucked in his coat's inner pocket.
No time to be picky now.
'Survive first, worry later!'
Park Yeon-jeong immediately thrust his hand into his coat, gripping the object and hurling it to the floor with all his might.
Crack!
With the clear sound of something breaking.
What lay shattered pitifully on the floor was...
A quill pen adorned with black feathers like ebony.
?
Not some artificial prop.
The ghost story capture quill pen from Noise lay in two pieces.
......Huh?
And soon, amid the ink splattered across the floor, a woman's voice echoed through the entire space.
Along with text rising from the ground.
【Once upon a time... she was a princess loved by all.】