Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: No Escape from the Stage
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For a while, a man's scream filled the entire space, echoing loudly throughout the circus tent.
A cracked voice spread out, and the excruciating pain transmitted through both legs crossed and pierced his entire body vividly.
But he couldn't keep screaming.
Not just because of physical limits.
His voice was laced with a metallic rasp, making even the act of screaming exhausting.
Gradually, the volume of the screams diminished.
The smiling mask, which had maintained a bright, bouncy tone just moments ago, now spoke in a calm, subdued voice.
【♤The preliminaries seem to be about wrapped up. So, shall we have a nice, long chat?】
Preliminaries?
A nice, long chat?
...Yeah, maybe it really was over, just like the thing said.
Park Yeon-jeong's preparations to die were complete.
I'm going to die from blood loss soon.
Even now, that pool of blood soaking the entire floor kept entering his vision.
The fact that he was still alive despite this much blood loss was nothing short of a miracle.
And the biggest reason his consciousness hadn't faded yet was probably...
These damn mental damage immunity glasses.
'Thanks a ton. I'm about to cry tears of blood.'
...But thanks to them, he could hear it.
The moment his legs flew toward the smiling mask and his throat tore open with a scream.
He definitely heard it.
Unless he misheard.
That familiar voice brushing his ear was unmistakably...
Noise.
Was it just a dying hallucination?
But... the tingling in his left arm still felt vividly real.
This left arm had definitely been one of the body parts taken by Noise.
So then.
Did Noise really speak to him?
Or was it all just his imagination?
There was no way to confirm right now.
Even if there was, there was no time.
That crazy clown bastard wouldn't leave him alone for long.
☻
The guy's once lively voice pierced his eardrums again like sharp thorns.
【♤If you were an ordinary audience member... you'd already be foaming at the mouth and bidding farewell to this world.】
【♤As expected, a special audience member has graced our show. What an honor.】
Along with the smiling mask's comical voice.
He tossed aside the legs he held like worthless rags.
Thud thud-
Blood splattered everywhere, and his legs scattered behind. The smiling mask's comical voice continued.
【♤So, shall we have that nice, long chat...?】
Pat pat pat!
But before the smiling mask could finish, something rushed toward Park Yeon-jeong at breakneck speed and, without a moment's hesitation...
Snap-!
It snatched him up and bolted out of the circus tent at full speed.
The fluffy cotton sensation against his still-living skin.
Bear Doll?
The one who grabbed him so swiftly was their Bear Doll.
"W-Wait a sec!"
He shouted briefly.
Hearing his voice, the Bear Doll bellowed back.
"Stay still!"
"!!"
Their Bear Doll spoke.
More precisely.
A woman's voice came from it.
A voice he recognized. The only survivor still alive here.
'Miss Hansol?!'
"H-Hansol... human... what the hell is..."
He questioned her actions.
And the response he got was...
“Can't you tell just by looking?! We're escaping! From that monster freak!”
“......”
Hansol had saved him.
To her, he must look like a ghost story. Yet she was trying to save him without a second thought.
Normally, he would feel this about her actions.
Gratitude.
Genuine thanks welled up from the depths of his heart for saving him.
He knew better than anyone that the resolve to save another while in danger yourself wasn't something that came easily.
Park Yeon-jeong knew that best.
That's why he wanted to tell her.
He had to tell her.
That this action right now.
Was utterly meaningless.
'Miss Hansol...'
We can't escape anymore.
As long as we're in this space.
As long as the smiling mask is here.
As long as it doesn't give up on us.
We can never.
Leave this place.
And at that moment.
In the circus tent interior, mangled by pools of red blood everywhere and chunks of flesh scattered about, the smiling mask stood alone, awkwardly.
It drooped its head powerlessly in the lonely circus tent.
Shadows seeped into the smiling mask.
A voice full of emptiness rose from its throat, brimming with displeasure.
【♤The show isn't over yet, and you're already leaving the venue? That's just... utterly lacking in etiquette.】
【♤No consideration at all. Show some manners. You need education. Discipline. Let me say it again.】
Soon, the coldly sunken voice slithered across the floor like a snake.
The smiling mask raised its head once more.
【♤Until my show ends, no one—no one at all—can take a single step out of here... without my permission.】
Pat... pat pat.
!!
The two figures who had clearly exited through the circus tent entrance.
Now stood before the smiling mask once again.
Not by their own will.
But by force.
Like the phrase "I opened my eyes and I was here," they now...
Had provoked the thing's ire.
Creak-
Its head twisted irregularly, and its gaze—dark with shadows—fell precisely on them.
The voice that had felt comically warm just moments ago now spat pure displeasure, turning ice-cold.
【♤Those who don't know etiquette should reflect in the corner.】
Whoosh.
!
In an instant, Hansol's body, which had been carrying him, floated into the air.
"What the—?!!"
Too fast for the eye to follow, Hansol flew toward the stage wall.
Without time to resist.
Crunch-!!
“Guh!”
A massive bursting sound echoed as she collided mercilessly with the wall.
This was hardly a mere "reflection." Yet the smiling mask wasn't even looking at Hansol embedded in the wall.
It turned its attention to someone else.
【♤But you're the exception. You were just dragged along☻.】
“......”
Unlike Hansol flung to the wall, he was now kneeling before the smiling mask.
Somehow, without realizing.
He opened his eyes.
And he was here.
As if,
he had been kneeling there from the very start.
And this.
Was its power.
A being that could effortlessly burst a person's head with a single word.
That could rip off legs and rearrange the world to its whim with mere speech.
A power close to omnipotence.
Click-
!
The sound of its shoe heel echoed again. The smiling mask continued in a utterly nonchalant tone.
【♤But then... a thought crossed my mind.】
【♤"Do we really need arms for a little chat?" Don't you think?】
!!
Utterly nonchalant.
It uttered the words "severing limbs."
'This crazy fuck!'
Now it wasn't enough with his legs.
It casually voiced the insane idea of taking his arms too.
It said it outright.
If it tore off his remaining arms right now.
He would die in that instant.
Engraving the worst agony into his body. Meeting a painful death.
Pat pat pat!
But in that moment, two Bear Dolls rushing to save him caught his eye.
'...No.'
【♤...Lately, there sure are a lot of people without etiquette. You two, join her in punishment over there.】
Whoosh.
!!
The Bear Dolls charging toward the smiling mask flew straight to the same wall as Hansol.
Crunch-!
And crashed powerlessly.
Meeting the same fate as her.
The smiling mask's gaze fixed precisely on him again as it extended both hands forward, speaking in a voice brimming with glee.
【♤Then, this time I'll take those arms...】
Static-
[▓▓ ▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▓▓ Bad...... kid.]
Flinch!
In an instant, the nonchalant voice halted.
That silence was like time frozen, creating an eerie stillness where everything stopped.
Never before.
Had this thing shown even a hint of agitation.
Now, its voice trembled with a mix of displeasure and bewilderment—ill-fitting unease.
That tremor weighed heavily on the listener's heart, amplifying the scene's strangeness.
【♤...An uninvited audience member has entered without my permission.】
【♤...Displeasing. Very displeasing.】
Its voice, filled with icy coldness, stretched toward one man without hesitation.
【♤......Die for us. For our beautiful finale.】
With those words, Park Yeon-jeong felt a suffocating grip on his heart.
Blood refluxed, and massive amounts sprayed from his mouth.
Boom-!
...Cough.
A man's heart burst powerlessly.
【♤Displeasing. Very displeasing. You've ruined my mood for no reason.】
The man spewing blood lost the strength holding his body up.
Thud-
Like a rotten wooden pillar collapsing weakly, his black hair plunged into the pool of his own blood.
Splash-!
The sight was utterly powerless.
Pitiful.
Only a woman's faint sob echoed softly, as she could only watch Park Yeon-jeong's death from afar.
“...N-No......”
But the smiling mask turned to Hansol, who still clung to consciousness, forcing a smile into its voice.
It was so obvious, the voice sounded utterly unnatural.
【♤...Oh dear, you were still here, audience member. Sorry I couldn't give you a proper show. Let me continue the performance right now—】
Static-
But a brief noise brushed his ears again.
The noise's direction.
The entire space.
Not someone else.
But only to the one being with the displeased smirk.
Static static-
Irritating static repeated endlessly, grating on its ears.
[Play ▓ with me.]
[Together.]