Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Law of Total Luck - 2
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There exists a total amount of luck that a person can possess.
And throughout one's life, that luck is doled out bit by bit.
"What... what do you mean by that...?"
"Right now, Miss Luna, you're drawing on even the luck you were meant to have in the future."
"....."
"But the world isn't that forgiving. There's a reason for the saying 'too much luxury brings calamity.' Luck and misfortune are inseparable. That's why misfortune on par with your luck arises."
"What?!"
"What... what?"
I didn't call it occult nonsense.
Well, after what they'd just gone through, it wouldn't feel like nonsense anyway.
And Luna's grim expression only made them trust me more.
"Unnie..."
"No way...?"
Anxiety laced their voices.
Well, that made sense.
Luck goes unnoticed, but misfortune stands out plain as day.
"How did you figure it out?"
"It's... kind of a known thing in the industry..."
Apparently, everyone in the biz who knew, knew.
Stuff like dancing idol routines in front of a mirror at midnight with a knife in hand, or keeping a pouch of your clipped nails to gain popularity.
Trivial things, if you wanted to call them that.
"Unnie..."
"You believed that...?"
"I, I had no choice but to...!! They said we were disbanding soon... I just wanted to do something, anything..."
Her face crumpling, she forced the words out.
"Normally, this sort of thing wouldn't work... The problem is that Miss Luna has magical aptitude. A spell that shouldn't have activated did."
"Is... is that a problem?"
"The bizarre attracts the bizarre. You all know the stories, right? Ever since the gates opened, ghosts and spirits and weird stuff started showing up."
"Yeah..."
"But I thought it was all bullshit..."
"After going through it yourself?"
They fell silent.
Instead, Luna spoke up.
"But... I had no choice. And this isn't hurting anyone else..."
"Do you really think that?"
"......"
"Humans are social creatures. One person's luck defying the natural order affects those around them. Didn't someone just get into an accident this time?"
She said nothing.
"You need to stop that spell right now."
"...What happens if I don't?"
"Hm. There are various ways to find out, but here, we'll use the simplest. Do you know about Bunshinsaba?"
"Yeah. There was a movie about it, right?"
"Old flick, but you know it well. We'll use that to see what happens if the spell isn't dispelled."
Predicting the future isn't easy to begin with.
"Can you really tell with that?"
"Roughly, yeah."
I grabbed some paper and a pen and explained how to do it.
"Alright. Let's begin."
Sara, being Japanese, and Luna, the one who'd cast the spell, would do it.
The two gripped the pen and placed their hands on the paper.
"Bunshinsaba... Bunshinsaba... Oide. Kudasai..."
"Bunshinsaba... Bunshinsaba... Oide... Kudasai..."
"Are you here...?"
Trembling voices.
But no answer came.
There was only one thing.
The pen in their hands slowly traced a circle.
"Wh-what do we ask?"
"Ask what happens if you don't stop the spell."
Luna hesitated, then asked.
The pen they held jerked into motion.
The letter that appeared was.
Death (死).
"Wh-who dies?"
The pen scribbled furiously across the paper. What emerged was the face of a man with a mole on his cheek.
"M-M-Manager oppa!!"
"The answer's clear. If you keep using the spell, the manager dies next."
"H-Hic..."
"What'll it be?"
"I'll stop! I'll stop the spell!!"
"Good."
No one wants to see someone die, after all.
If she'd insisted on continuing anyway, I would've just left.
Blindly stumbling into trouble out of desperation is one thing; knowingly persisting is another.
"Then let's end the Bunshinsaba."
"How?"
"Ask if it's okay to end it."
Luna repeated my words.
But the pen quickly drew an X.
"Better ask more questions."
"Wh-what do we ask?"
Luna was utterly terrified.
Sara looked ready to faint.
"Ask what panties she's wearing today."
"...Huh?"
"O-panty-mu?"
"....."
Looking awkward, Luna blushed and cautiously asked.
Hm. Watching a beauty ask about panties...
Filming this and posting to the gallery would guarantee a shitpost thread.
"...No answer..."
"Shy one, huh. Tell it to answer or get lost."
After a few more o-panty-mus, the Bunshinsaba finally ended.
Good thing it wasn't an evil spirit.
If it had been, these girls would've gotten another scare.
"Stopping the spell doesn't end everything. You've already received luck, Miss Luna, Hye-jeong, Sara. You have to pay the price. Otherwise, misfortune on the level you've seen lately will keep coming."
"Then... how do we pay?"
"Someone with magical knowledge might pay differently, but I doubt you can, so we'll use spirits here."
Truth be told, demons are best.
But demons are so untrustworthy that without knowledge, you'd lose your soul in a day.
Better to go with stable spirits.
"Spirits...?"
"Yes."
"Oh! I know! A mage hunter mentioned it before. Said they saw spirits in the tower and gates."
"Ah, you mean sylphs and such? No, the spirits I'm talking about aren't just those."
Gates and the tower only produce the four elemental spirits.
But according to Secrets of Light and Shadow and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, there are plenty more.
"Every thing in the world has a spirit dwelling within. And some spirits actually enjoy the pains humans feel. Contracting with them to hand over what you owe is one way."
"The price...?"
"Ever seen those internet posts? Like, get 1 billion won but never eat Korean food again."
"Ah, yeah, I've seen those."
"It's like that. Never eat Korean food again, or only eat meat forever, or don't wash your right foot for twenty years. Stuff like that."
"Why would they want that...?"
"You can't judge spirits by human logic."
Luna pondered.
But not for long.
"...I'll do it."
"Good. Then for Miss Luna, something compatible..."
"M-Me!!"
"I'll do it too!"
"Hm?"
Only Luna cast the spell.
So only she needed to pay.
Yet Hye-jeong and Sara raised their hands.
"I got luck thanks to unnie too."
"I don't want unnie bearing it alone."
"Girls... Waaah!! I, I did this on my own...!!"
Sobbing, they hugged each other.
They get along well.
Maybe from sharing hard times?
"Sniff..."
"Good. That'll lighten the burden on Miss Luna."
"What now?"
"I need to prepare too... Let's meet in a week. Oh, and I'll dispel the spell now."
I pulled holy water from my bag.
Sprinkled it over her head, tapped her shoulders a few times with Saint Martha's Staff, and the spell was gone.
"That's... it?"
"Yes. No more luck like before. But your efforts aren't wasted. Keep working to hold your position and accumulate good karma."
"So no more of... this stuff? Ghosts or spirits...?"
"Nah. Without special protection, they'll keep coming. You got tangled in the mystical, after all."
Their faces paled.
"Of course, I won't just leave you be."
"Then...?"
"I'll stick with you for the week."
.
.
.
I ended up playing road manager, of all things.
But it wasn't a problem.
"My god. A mage guarding our girls... Lately, weird stuff keeps happening to them. What a relief."
I'd requested it through the Association as a commission.
Poyoo's president greeted me with a beaming smile.
"Why not join us full-time...?"
"I'm a solo act."
"Ah... I see..."
He looked so disappointed.
Well, with my looks, I'd fit right in entertainment.
"I run my own security firm anyway..."
"......"
"Anyway, thanks."
Thanks to that, I spent the week tailing Poyoo and saw tons of celebrities.
Got a real feel for my own popularity and status.
"Whoa! Mage-nim! Where do you work out?"
"Check those arms. Uh, can I call you hyung?"
"What's your big three? I'm at 400."
"Join our gym? Damn, hyung's the best!! Even our trainer's not this jacked!"
"Oppa! Oppa! Back day together today?"
"Hyung! Try this protein!"
"Thanks to Wol-young oppa, my thighs were delicious today!!"
As road manager, I didn't have much to do, so I just tagged along and hit the gym.
Next thing I knew, fitness buffs in celeb-land were all over me.
Asking me to teach them workouts.
Ended up with a ton of numbers unexpectedly.
"Alright. Let's get started."
And so a week passed.
Preparations done, I entered Poyoo's dorm.
"I've found spirits that suit you all. But... one thing to check."
"What?"
"You three. All virgins, right?"
"Wh-why do you ask?!"
"Necessary procedure."
They stayed silent a while before finally speaking.
"...Y-yes, all three of us..."
"For real? No lies. I can't clean up the mess if you do."
"Yes!! Really!!"
Good. That checks out.
"Now for the materials."
"What...?"
"Your underwear, thirty strands of hair each, and saliva in these vials—separately."
"......"
What. Why. What.
"It's material."
"......."
"Real material."
"N-no, why use that as material...?"
"This guy's into virgins..."
"...What kind of spirit...?"
"A unicorn."
"......."
Eventually, they went inside.
Came back with faces red as if about to burst, bringing what I asked.
I took the hair out separately and dumped the rest in a basin.
"...Wh-what about the rest?!"
"I'll use it later."
Verified virgin hair is rare; gotta snag some.
"Then we begin."
Using the items in the basin as offerings, I call a spirit from beyond the world.
Since they're from virgins, it'll draw ones fixated on that.
I chanted the spell, scattering prepared catalysts.
Pepper, saffron, olives steeped in holy water.
One by one, offerings unicorns like, to exclude other spirits.
"W-will a unicorn really come?"
"Who knows."
No spell summons just unicorns precisely.
This is just exclusion.
-Zzzzt...!!
A rift tears open.
Different from the gates we know.
From it bursts a holy-aura'd unicorn with a long horn.
"Virginity and purity! Beauty I love! I descend!! Where are the virgins!!"
Hm...
Can't judge spirits by human standards, sure...
But this guy's out of his mind too.