Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Please Accept My Request
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While the Fixer was in the thick of battling the Trio of Annihilation...
A shadow fell over the Fixer Office as well.
"...."
Sensing something off in the air, the White-Faced Bride quietly rose from her seat. As she moved, Jeong Ha-yeon and Go Yu-rim, who had been holding their breath with heads bowed, flinched and hastily stepped aside.
Clunk...
The White-Faced Bride silently opened the office door and stepped out. Only then did Ha-yeon and Yu-rim exhale the breaths they'd been holding and finally lift their heads.
"J-Just now, that was..."
Ha-yeon turned to Nam Yu-ha with a puzzled expression, asking about the White-Faced Bride's identity.
"Well, she's kinda like the uncle's companion yokai? Or maybe a live-in yokai? Doesn't seem like a familiar either. Anyway, something like that."
"...?"
Nam Yu-ha couldn't quite explain the exact relationship between the Fixer and the White-Faced Bride.
Sometimes they seemed like a married couple, other times like siblings or friends. It didn't feel like a simple master-servant dynamic.
'Companion yokai? What's that? Scary.'
Gazing at the spot where the White-Faced Bride had left, Jeong Ha-yeon wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
Had she ever encountered a yokai this terrifying in her life?
No, she could say with certainty that she hadn't—not even once.
Jeong Ha-yeon had lived a tumultuous life not unlike Nam Yu-ha's, encountering all sorts of yokai along the way. But none had chilled her to the bone like the White-Faced Bride.
She couldn't even bring herself to look properly at the yokai's face. The White-Faced Bride's visage was that grotesque and horrifying.
To think the Fixer lived casually alongside such a creature. And Nam Yu-ha, a girl her age, seemed perfectly fine in the White-Faced Bride's presence, treating it as normal. It was utterly incomprehensible.
"She won't attack us or anything, so don't worry."
"No, aren't you scared of that thing?"
"Well... I was at first. But now I'm used to it. She seems pretty docile if you get to know her."
"...You're insane."
At Nam Yu-ha's words—calling the White-Faced Bride docile—Jeong Ha-yeon and Go Yu-rim both felt chills run down their spines simultaneously.
What kind of life had this girl lived to remain so unfazed before a disaster-class yokai?
As if sensing their doubts, Nam Yu-ha gave an awkward smile and hinted at the future awaiting them.
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Find out soon?"
"If you stare her down for two hours a day, the fear fades bit by bit?"
"Hold on, two hours of staring contests? Why on earth?"
"....Two hours?"
Go Yu-rim looked like she might faint at Nam Yu-ha's words.
Not one minute, but a full two hours of staring down a disaster-class yokai? Her legs went weak just imagining it.
"It naturally toughens your will that way."
"Do... do we really have to do that?"
"Probably best if you do."
Nam Yu-ha meant it as training for mental fortitude, but Go Yu-rim interpreted it differently.
'Everyone in this office is a total lunatic.'
Even the Fixer seemed a bit off-kilter.
In Go Yu-rim's eyes, he was an eccentric hiding freakish power while running a tiny office in this backwater neighborhood.
And Nam Yu-ha came across as a psycho willingly staring down yokai to erode her own sanity.
Go Yu-rim thought there were far too many incomprehensible people in the world.
"Anyway, relax and make yourselves at home. It's safe here."
"R-Really... safe?"
"Yeah. No other yokai in this building besides Lady White-Faced Bride."
"Ah..."
With a disaster-class yokai holding territory here, lesser spirits couldn't even approach.
The same held true now. With the White-Faced Bride's earth-bound spirit nature anchoring the place, no one could easily infiltrate the building.
The Black Yao Society devotees attempting to infiltrate via the rooftop entrance gasped at the sight of the White-Faced Bride already at the doorway.
"Rooftop access... blocked, same as the ground entrance. Retreating."
She stood at the stairwell just inside the door, peeking out without fully emerging onto the roof, silently staring down the intruders.
As if warning them not to come any closer if they valued their lives.
"Come here...."
The devotees recoiled in terror at her voice.
Without the master's permission to enter freely, she wouldn't kill them outright. But cross the line even slightly, and she'd grind them to dust without exception.
Her gaze alone was enough to drive them back. The Black Yao Society intruders hesitated in fear before climbing back down the outer wall the way they'd come.
With the Fixer entrusting the children to her protection, normal infiltration was impossible.
Unaware of the rooftop drama, Nam Yu-ha kindly explained the building's rules to the newbies.
"Oh, right. One more thing I should tell you upfront. If you ever use the elevator, never press the 6th floor."
"6th floor? This is only a 5-story building."
"Exactly why you don't press 6. Got it?"
Ha-yeon and Yu-rim nodded curiously at Nam Yu-ha's warning.
With a disaster-class yokai like the White-Faced Bride residing there, Nam Yu-ha had warned them ahead of time.
Pressing it by mistake would lead to an endless black hallway in the otherworld.
Like this.
"Entrances sealed, rooftop impossible. Looks like the Fixer Office has an unnamed guardian. No other reason to barricade so thoroughly. We have to raid the office."
Five Black Yao Society devotees specialized in infiltration, dubbed the "Stealth Squad."
To reach the surface from their underground base, they boarded the elevator and plotted their entry into the Fixer Office.
"Hey, boss. The floor numbers are weird."
"What? We should be going to 1F, so why... why are we heading down?"
The elevator, meant for 1F from B2, suddenly halted its ascent and plummeted downward at breakneck speed.
Down endlessly, deeper and deeper.
"It's crashing! Corners! Huddle in the corners!"
The five aboard soon dropped to Minus 66F.
This wasn't a mere elevator accident. No such floor as B66 existed.
The deepest was B4. How far had they fallen?
Facing the unprecedented Minus 66F, the devotees fell into dread.
-Ding.
-1F. 1F? Please exit.
The doors slid open arbitrarily upon "arrival," revealing a pitch-black hallway devoid of light.
The endless corridor threw the devotees into panic. Unwillingly dragged into the otherworld, they knew death could come any second upon stepping out.
"Q-Quick, hit another floor!"
"It won't work... Boss... what do we do..."
The elevator, of course, was dead.
Doors wide open, it sat motionless, waiting for them to disembark—no up, no down, nowhere.
"It's getting hot inside. We... have to get out."
The interior soon filled with heat. Convinced they'd roast alive, the squad leader dashed out.
"Fuck... the elevator... it's gone."
The moment they exited, it vanished. Thus, the Black Yao Society's Stealth Squad was abandoned in an unknown abyss.
They weren't the only ones. Disappearances mounted nationwide among Black Yao affiliates and members.
Vanishing tracelessly upon boarding elevators led the society to ban their use entirely.
Clueless to their attacker, they fell helplessly.
As Black Yao devotees began vanishing one by one, Park Jae-hyeon of the Anomaly Management Department arrived at the mart ravaged by the Fixer and Trio of Annihilation.
"You've arrived, Agent."
"Sorry, got held up. Things were hectic..."
The mart was already cordoned by police. Park Jae-hyeon hurried to assess and contain the scene.
The Fixer briefed him on the Trio's corpses and identities, plus the newly uncovered Black Yao intel.
"Dark Sea Ghost King, huh... Valuable info, Fixer. This'll greatly aid the search."
"No problem. I'll head out then—the kids are waiting."
"Thanks for your hard work. Oh, Fixer! Should've mentioned this first, but I was swamped. Tracking Black Yao led to info on their suspected leader."
"Already got the cult leader's details?"
"Not confirmed, just a suspect. But the Black Yao leader might not be Korean."
The shocking revelation left the Fixer speechless.
A non-Korean coming here to wreak this havoc?
"Not Korean? Then from where? Japan?"
"No, their methods resemble continental sorcerers."
"What? Then..."
"High chance Chinese. Or ethnic Korean Chinese. The partial otherworld conversion—Boundary Immersion Technique—differs from Korean sorcery. Especially the casual human sacrifices; screams mainland imports."
"...Hold on. Human sacrifices? You mean using people as offerings?"
"Exactly. Raids uncovered masses of corpses. Mostly undocumented Southeast Asians, some unidentified Koreans—likely homeless or disabled abductees."
Human sacrifice involved offering people to divine entities for wishes.
In unstable past eras, it served desperate pleas, disaster aversion, or pacts with powerful beings—a profoundly inhumane act.
Even rogue sorcerers shunned it; only yokai capable of bearing the karma could stomach such grave crimes.
"Normal methods can't deploy Boundary Immersion this swiftly. It demands sacrifice. Here's where mainland and Korean sorcery diverge."
The mart had flipped to otherworld in seconds during the Fixer-Trio clash—an impossibly fast normal invocation.
"Sacrificing people... to turn this space otherworldly...?"
"Likely."
Korean sorcerers typically used livestock like cows or pigs.
Mainland ones preferred humans for faster, stronger results.
A trait of populous, low human-rights regard nations. India, Africa too.
"Finding hoards of illegal immigrants' bodies points to mainland sorcerers... Fixer?"
"Sorry. Just... pissed."
Sensing the Fixer's darkening expression, Park Jae-hyeon paused, waiting for calm.
Emotions mustn't cloud intel exchange.
He too raged at foreigners sacrificing locals, but stayed composed.
"I get the anger. But stay rational. We root them out logically."
"You're right. Sigh... too many infuriating things today. Emotions got away from me."
"Perfectly understandable."
Once calmed, Park Jae-hyeon shared the rest: leader likely Chinese, possible captives in branches.
The Fixer forcibly schooled his fury, running a hand over his face.
He hadn't anticipated such brutality.
"Thanks for the cooperation. Leave the rest to us. Stay put at your residence till resolution, Fixer."
This case now belonged to Anomaly Management. The agent requested the freelance Fixer stand down.
He was right. Too big for a solo operator. They'd handle the leader; best to stop here.
Knowing that, the Fixer still asked sourly.
"Agent."
"Yes?"
"If you catch the Black Yao leader, what then?"
"Prosecuted under domestic law, then deported. Usually ends there."
"So he walks free back to China?"
"Regrettably, yes. But crimes are severe; high chance of execution there. Don't worry."
"..."
Would they really execute? The Fixer doubted.
The leader was a highly skilled sorcerer, casually wielding ancient gods, systematically dismantling Korea—like with 'someone's' aid.
All solo-planned by the leader?
Doubting full handover to the department, he let it drop.
It was out of his hands. Digging further was pointless.
"Got it. Good luck, Agent. I'm off."
He grabbed his purchases, left cash on the unmanned checkout, and exited.
Finally heading home. What a long day.
Now, just wait for the leader's capture.
Quietly in the office, the case would resolve itself; the leader punished accordingly.
No need for his involvement.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Something came up."
Back at the office, the Fixer distributed clothes and essentials to the patiently waiting Yu-ha, Ha-yeon, and Yu-rim, then fed them.
Unlike appetite-lacking Yu-ha, Ha-yeon and Yu-rim wolfed down the food. Watching, the Fixer stood.
"Aren't you eating, Fixer?"
"Nah, not hungry yet. Eat without me."
To avoid discomforting them, he stepped outside.
Why did this nag at him so, when it was beyond his control?
Restless, he headed to the rooftop.
Gazing at the moon to sort his thoughts, the White-Faced Bride soon appeared behind him.
"Darling... your face looks troubled..."
"Does it?"
"Yes... Something weighing on you...? Tell me, at least..."
At her plea, the Fixer cautiously spoke.
"Dunno. Just feels wrong letting him go."
"Who...?"
"The mastermind behind this. Okay to let him walk out alive?"
"....What do you want to do, darling?"
"Me?"
The Fixer pondered.
What ending did he desire?
What for the leader?
"I think... eliminating him is better."
"Even though it wouldn't dirty your hands... you want to do it yourself?"
"As you say, it'll resolve without me. I know. But..."
Even without his risk, Anomaly Management, Buddhists, and Church would dismantle Black Yao. Leader captured.
No reason to intervene. No fieldwork hassle. Wait, profit.
"But... it sits wrong...? Waiting on his punishment...?"
"...Yeah. He might just saunter back to China unscathed. After rampaging on our soil, dooming people? Unforgivable."
"Hee hee... That's beyond the request, though...? Sounds like personal sanction..."
"That's the issue. Am I crossing a line? I'm a Fixer, after all. Only my cases, or requests. Punishing sinners on personal justice... that's just hero syndrome."
Smiling at the conflicted Fixer, the White-Faced Bride noted this new side to her steadfast partner.
"That's... not like you."
"What? Not like me?"
"Yes... Maybe because there's no request this time...? You've always followed requests..."
"Request..."
Today's overload had punished countless sinners, leaving the Fixer directionless.
He hadn't followed a request.
Personal curiosity led to the expo, unexpected murder, now veering to private vengeance.
Thus, he hit the brakes.
Push further, and he might cease being a 'Fixer'—become something else.
Slaying expo sinners and fighting the Trio? Still self-defense.
They attacked first, crimes rampant.
But storming Black Yao HQ for the leader? Could twist to vengeful rage outside the law.
Like a brake-failed car. Knowing his power's weight, he halted, questioning the line.
Agent politely requested handover—okay to defy?
No request to handle Black Yao, yet kill on personal fury?
Trusting his strength to rampage? No different from Baby Mode thugs.
He had lines. And 'justice' might lure him across them—that terrified him.
"Then, darling... let me give you a request..."
"What? You?"
The White-Faced Bride nodded, extending her hand to the Fixer.
"I hear cries... of those not yet escaped... screams of the painfully awakened ancients... So, darling, save them. And judge the instigator."
She heard the unheard: sorrows, grudges, han of the trapped.
Even ancient agonies.
Not her original power. She was evolving.
Due to deep trust, the yokai's rank increases.
"Will you... accept my request, darling?"
The Fixer grasped his companion's hand.
Illusions in his heart vanished, revealing his path forward.