The Landlord (1)

"Illusion Prison? What is this?"

Yoo Sangah whispered, her voice thick with confusion as she checked the sub scenario floating before her eyes.

"It's coming. Everyone, stay sharp."

Whoooooosh———

Before Kim Dokja had even finished speaking, a thick, milky fog came surging in from all sides, swallowing the party whole on a violent rush of wind.

"Ugh…! What the hell is this?! I'm gonna throw up!"

"W-why is there suddenly fog?!"

The sudden gale and fog left the group thoroughly rattled. Squinting against the fierce wind, I tried to survey our surroundings — but the fog was so dense that even the people standing right next to me had vanished from sight.

"Enchant."

"Jinwoo-ssi?"

"I'll enchant darkness attributes onto my clothes and the party's."

As I activated Enchant, Kim Dokja called my name with a note of confusion in her voice. But this was no time to answer her.

Please let me be right about this.

"…Something feels off. Dokja-ssi! Jinwoo-ssi! Are you there?"

"D-Dokja-ssi! Jinwoo-ssi! Can everyone hear me?!"

"Heewon-ssi! Hyunsung-ssi! Gilyoung! Where is everyone?!"

Panicked voices calling each other's names echoed through the tunnel, swallowed by the thick fog.

"Yes!"

"Fuck you."

I flipped off that clueless Demon King — the Demon God of Wrath and Lust, living up to his title with zero social awareness — and sank into thought for a moment.

The "Illusion Prison" was a fog created by an 8th-grade ghost-type monster called a Specter.

True to their ghost-type nature, these monsters specialized exclusively in mental attacks. And not just any mental attacks — the bastards dug into a person's trauma and drove them into madness.

So I'd figured: couldn't I block their attacks with darkness attribute resistance?

Ghost-types were fundamentally darkness-attribute creatures. So their mental debuff attacks were probably darkness-attribute skills too, right? I'd gambled on that theory and used Enchant to grant darkness attribute resistance — and thankfully, it paid off.

Having successfully resisted the illusion fog, I felt the milky haze thin just a little. I was scanning the area when—

"Everyone, stay calm and take slow, deep breaths."

Kim Dokja's voice came from beside me. Thanks to the Fourth Wall, she'd also made it out of the Illusion Prison unscathed.

Having collected herself, Kim Dokja turned and called for the others to snap out of it. Following her lead, I turned as well to check on the party.

"Blech…! Ptoo! Ptooey! Ugh…! Why does this fog feel so damn slimy?"

"Dokja-ssi! Jinwoo-ssi! You're all safe!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Dokja-ssi? Jinwoo-ssi?"

"Hyung? Noona?"

Everyone seemed to have successfully resisted the Illusion Prison. There wasn't a single sign of anyone having fallen into madness.

"Haa… Everyone, cover the perimeter. I'm going to destroy this space now."

Relieved at the sight of a party free from madness, Kim Dokja let out a long breath and gave the order. The others nodded with tense expressions, gripping their weapons tightly as they scanned the surroundings.

The moment Kim Dokja activated Exorcism — the skill she'd acquired by destroying the statue of Master Priest Samyeong — the dense fog surrounding the party receded, and the Illusion Prison vanished.

"Success, Dokja-ssi!"

"The fog is gone!"

"Don't let your guard down yet. This isn't over."

Kim Dokja cautioned the excited Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah against relaxing, then fixed a cold stare on a particular spot.

The instant the clear message appeared, monsters in black robes materialized before our eyes — gelatinous, writhing creatures that looked for all the world like ectoplasm given form.

"Hold on a second. Mind if I take care of those, Dokja-ssi?"

"You, Jinwoo-ssi? I don't mind, but…"

"Oh! There's something I've been wanting to test."

"Test?"

Kim Dokja looked at me with questioning eyes. The others didn't say anything, but they wore the same puzzled expressions.

"I've always wanted to try this at least once."

I cracked open one of the water bottles from the general store, dumped salt into it, and shook it thoroughly until it mixed.

"Okay. Ready!"

"J-Jinwoo-ssi. What exactly are you trying to do?"

"I'm going to make them drink this. Those things."

"Salt water?"

"Hey! Salt water? This is holy water from now on!"

"…What?"

Kim Dokja's face went blank with bewilderment. Ignoring her, I strode up to the nearest Specter.

Kiiiieee——!

The Specter hunched its body and radiated raw hostility. I ignored it completely, grabbed its hooded head in a firm grip, and—

"Drink up."

Puhh—?! Kiii?! Kiiiiieeeee——!!

I forced the salt water — no, the holy water — into what I assumed was its mouth. The creature thrashed violently the moment the liquid hit, but being specialized in mental attacks meant its physical strength was pathetic. Resistance was completely useless.

Gulp, gulp — the salt water steadily disappeared. Before long, the entire bottle was gone.

Kiiiiiee?! Kiiiiieee!! Kreeeeeh?!

I released the hood, and the Specter clutched at its mouth, shrieking and trembling from head to toe.

"Hmm. So ordinary holy water doesn't work?"

"No, no. There's no way salt water would work on those things."

"But You■ube said holy water is basically just salt water? So it should work on ghost-types, right?"

"Historically, the holy water that appears in records is known to have been salt water or drinking water, but there's no way ordinary holy water — ordinary salt water — would work on monsters like that…"

Kim Dokja stared at me with a look of pure pity. That look lit a competitive fire in me.

I poured salt into a fresh 2L bottle of water, mixed it thoroughly, and—

"Enchant."

"Holy attribute enchant on the salt water."

The salt water began to glow brightly the moment the holy attribute took hold. A satisfied smile spread across my face.

"Now it's real holy water. Open wide, Specter. It's good for you."

I grabbed the hood of the Specter still reeling from the taste of salt water and forcibly poured the holy-enchanted water down its throat.

Kiiiiieeeeee……….

This time it clearly worked. The Specter's body scattered like dust and vanished.

"………………."

Kim Dokja and the rest of the party stared at me and the disappearing Specter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with expressions of utter, speechless disbelief.

"Four left."

Kiiiiiee!! Kweeeeeeh!!

At my words, the remaining Specters jolted in terror and fled, screeching with bone-chilling howls.

"Hey! You guys better hurry up and follow your friend!"

I chased down the fleeing Specters, subdued them on the spot, and poured holy water into the mouths of the remaining four as well.

Kuuuooooh………….

Just like the first one, they let out hair-raising death shrieks and disintegrated. With that, the entire Specter pack was wiped out.

"…Thank you. And well done, Jinwoo-ssi."

Specter spirit stones dropped where the creatures had vanished. I gathered them all up and handed them over to Kim Dokja. She accepted them with a word of thanks and a "well done" — though she was looking at me with a distinctly ambiguous expression.

"Ahem, ahem! There's light over there! We're almost there, everyone!"

Yoo Sangah, who had also been giving me that same ambiguous look, cleared her throat and pointed somewhere ahead.

I turned toward where she indicated and saw a faint light filtering in from the distance.

Spotting that dim glow, we all broke into bright smiles and started walking toward it—

"Who the hell are you people?"

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sudden voice made the entire party jump. We ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whipped our heads toward the sound.

"Don't you know this area is our hunting ground?"

Standing in the entrance where the faint light spilled through was a girl aiming a long blade at us. She looked about seventeen — a pretty young girl in a school uniform, her face still soft with youth.

She wore a hooded zip-up over her uniform with the hood pulled up, but it did nothing to hide her striking looks.

"Ah, that girl…!"

Yoo Sangah seemed to recognize Lee Jihye. Remembering a video Bihyung had briefly shown on the subway — she really did have an impressive memory.

"Huh? …Did you guys take out the Specters?"

Lee Jihye spotted the Specter spirit stones in Kim Dokja's hand, pulled back her hood, and looked at us with mild surprise.

"How the hell… Only my master can kill those things."

The surprise faded from Lee Jihye's face. She sheathed her long blade and spoke to us.

"Follow me. I'll take you to the station."

With that, she turned and walked toward the entrance where the faint light was coming through. We exchanged glances, nodded, and fell in behind her.