Chapter 80

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 80

Chapter Title: The Most Monstrous Behavior

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Using the Key of the Threshold, I took over the duties and rights that Eve had been bearing. To be precise, rather than me taking them all on myself, it was more like we were now sharing the burden.

This meant I now had the responsibility to guard those four doors that Eve was currently managing, alongside her.

From now on, if anything tried to burst through a door or someone attempted to open one, I'd get a signal too.

To enter reality through a door, or even just to try opening one, they'd have to get past me and Eve first.

And even if they somehow slipped past us and escaped, Sowol and the Twin Ghost Kings were waiting up on the surface. It was airtight security.

"There probably won't be many intrusion attempts... Up until now, there have only been a handful of serious efforts to cross over from that side."

"I figured I'd be summoned here constantly. Guess that's not the case?"

"Yeah. You just need to come down once or twice a month to check that nothing's snuck in. Even that, I'll handle myself as much as possible so it doesn't interfere with your life, Do-hyun."

All she wanted was for me to share this duty with her.

She said she'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still handle all the tasks she'd been doing on her own.

With this, I'd successfully freed Eve from the curse of the -404th floor.

Until now, she'd managed this place alone. Now that I could help, I hoped it would ease her burden a bit.

Come to think of it, as my bond with Eve deepened, a new trait was added.

When my bond with Sowol deepened, I gained the White-Faced Groom trait.

It seemed that fulfilling certain conditions to deepen bonds with aberrations granted new traits like this.

The White-Faced Groom allowed me to share life force with Sowol, making me nearly immortal. The Lurker at the Threshold let me designate 'Human Protection Zones' to save others, not just myself.

'This is literally a trait for rescuing lives.'

The zones were narrow, so cramming dozens of people into one would be tough, but in crises, it looked incredibly useful.

It probably offered far stronger protection than the makeshift barriers made with the Three Characters Seal.

'Easier travel to the Backside is interesting too.'

This might mean skipping complex procedures or intermediate steps to directly open gateways to the Backside world.

"Then, from now on, our top priority should be finding those two missing doors."

"Yeah. But the clues are so few..."

"True. A man in a black silhouette. Gave Seol-yun the Placenta of Dreams just for fun. And... Seol-yun thought the black silhouette man was Korean."

High chance the culprit was in Korea.

Seol-yun also explained that the black silhouette was the most basic concealment spell shamans used to hide their identities.

So, it made sense to peg the black silhouette man as a Korean shaman.

Beyond that, the stolen items were a laptop and a mirror—easy to carry. No other info.

Probably left the others because they were too hard to transport.

With human strength, hauling a slide or well was nearly impossible, and a large ladder or picture frame would be awkward in a quick escape.

The mirror, smaller than the laptop and frame, was portable enough.

So, the culprit operated within human limits, not some aberration with inhuman power.

A Korean male shaman who punched a hole into the -404th floor by unknown means, grabbed the doors he could carry, and fled.

That's the perp, based on the clues.

'The problem is, I can't figure out why the black silhouette man stole the doors. What does he plan to summon? And he took two completely different types.'

Maybe he'd already summoned something.

Or perhaps he just took them for fun and gave them away.

Nothing was more terrifying than an enemy whose intentions you couldn't read. This guy was exactly that.

I couldn't grasp the motive behind his actions.

Previous enemies had clear goals and purposes, making their locations and paths predictable.

Wanting the Nameless Registry, kidnapping only female students—patterns emerged. But this foe? No picture formed of what he wanted.

"Oh, and that phone call this morning was suspicious too."

"A phone call...?"

"Yeah. A woman's voice I'd never heard before. Called me 'Saint' and spouted weird stuff."

I couldn't make it out clearly due to the static.

Something about the fourth one, I think.

Retracing my memory, the words from the receiver came back clearly.

Yes, that was the sentence.

Breaking it down piece by piece could yield more inferences.

It didn't feel like a random call. More like a warning about impending events.

'The part about the fourth something not being closed yet is highly suspicious.'

Eve's stolen doors were numbers 2 and 4.

The 'fourth' might refer to door 4, the stolen mirror.

The weird call came right when door 4 was robbed. Had to be connected.

"Hold on, Eve. You said the mirror was inverted top-to-bottom, right?"

"Yeah... That's right. And sometimes it reflects skies from unknown places... So I sealed it by covering it with cloth..."

A peculiar mirror that occasionally showed unknown skies and was normally inverted top-to-bottom, not left-to-right.

'The phone's final words: upside down. Upside down. Upside down. That was the hint.'

Just before the static cut it off, like buffering, it repeated 'upside down' over and over.

If that referred to the mirror's inversion?

It fit the situation perfectly.

"Maybe I've already gotten a clue about the mirror."

The morning call warned that the fourth door—the mirror—was still open and needed closing.

Now I knew what had opened. The laptop (2) was unclear, but the mirror (4) was open or about to be.

'Then the middle parts likely refer to the culprit behind this and the aberration that needs destroying.'

'It went there' clearly meant something crossed from the mirror into our world.

And since it said 'went there,' the voice on the other end wasn't from our world—or at least not human.

'A call from the other side, hence all the static?'

Who called from the other world to ours?

An external ally trying to help? But why me?

If I could contact that mysterious call again...

"Anyway, something's definitely crawling out of the fourth door, the mirror. If we focus our search here, answers should come."

Parts remained unclear.

What happened when 'the hand' crossed? What to destroy? What crossed over? Time to dig.

The sky and top-bottom inversion held key meaning.

We had to track clues and search the stolen doors.

Returning to the surface was far easier than descending.

Going down endlessly drained 30 Mental Strength and 30 Vitality from the pressure, but ascending caused no issues.

"Today... thank you so much for helping me..."

"No big deal. We help each other out. You've always helped me, Eve. My turn this time."

I patted Eve's shoulder as she expressed deep gratitude.

If I could help, of course I would. She'd helped me plenty; this was only right.

"Then... I'll start my own investigation... See you tomorrow..."

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

I saw Eve off and returned to the office.

She'd be scurrying around for clues too. I needed to gather mine my way.

"Welcome back... dear husband. You're much later than expected..."

"Yeah. The way down was so long, it took time. Sorry for making you wait."

"Aha... I see... The path down was long..."

I'd said I'd be quick, but hours in the -404th floor.

The sun had set; Sowol had been tending the Ghost Kings alone, waiting.

"But dear husband... for some reason... your bond with that girl seems deeper now?"

"Huh?"

"Don't tell me... you're switching to her...? Leaving me, the one you've already caught..."

"What the hell! You do this every time!"

"Kyaa! W-wait a sec...!"

She was sliding into yandere mode, begging not to be abandoned, craving attention. I scooped her up first.

Baek Sowol, your tricks are known.

"Did I go have fun? Huh? Just fool around pointlessly with Eve?"

"N-no. No. Right...?"

"Dragged down to the depths, worked my ass off for hours, and this is the welcome?"

"S-sorry... But... a proper wife should be jealous of the concubine too..."

"What? Jealous of the concubine is a wife's duty?"

"Yes! Being jealous of the concubine is the most wife-like behavior, isn't it? Who else would be jealous of the concubine if not the proper wife..."

"Uh... makes sense?"

Hearing it, yeah, it did.

Like cross-dressing as the ultimate male ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expression.

Women can't cross-dress. It's men's domain...

"Hmm. Hold on."

"Y-yes...?"

"Something... feels like a puzzle piece clicking."

"D-dear husband... could you put me down...?"

"Ah, sorry."

I set Sowol, whom I'd been holding upside down, back on the floor.

Her words sparked a plausible hypothesis; I got too focused.

'Maybe it's something mimicking a human...'

What if the black silhouette wasn't a Korean male shaman, but an 'aberration' imitating one?

That would explain how it reached the -404th floor and its motive for stealing doors.

'The black silhouette man is actually an aberration pretending to be a Korean male shaman... What it wants is humanity's downfall and chaos.'

It was the answer.

The black silhouette wasn't human—it was an aberration.

A being wearing human skin.

The most aberration-like act was mimicking humans.

Here, we must note the difference between aberrations and humans.

'Humans instinctively feel fear or disgust toward aberrations.'

That intense uncanny feeling upon encountering one.

Human intuition sometimes surpasses AI calculations.

People distinguish humans from human-like things via subtle discomfort, telling aberration from person.

That's the uncanny valley.

Historically, humans sensed aberrations and prevented infiltration.

But what if an aberration was 99% human-like?

Example: Sowol mimicking humans.

'When Sowol smiles, even people don't spot her as an aberration easily.'

In her 'scary face,' everyone knows. Smiling? No one suspects.

Top exorcists like Master Mun Seon-u would spot her, but normals wouldn't.

'Even other aberrations mistake Sowol for human sometimes. With advanced camouflage, blending into society is possible—if confident against Anomaly Management.'

Yet the black silhouette fooled even skilled shaman Seol-yun.

Despite her defeat by the Ghost King, kneeling and begging mercy, Seol-yun wasn't powerless.

He tamed the disaster-class Placenta of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Dreams from the other world as a tool.

Killed multiple Anomaly agents; without me, Hanmamsae Apartment would've become an aberration nest, spreading further.

Seol-yun, a skilled shaman and high monk of the Dream Sect, felt no uncanny vibe—thought he was human. That's the issue.

Shamans detect even perfectly camouflaged aberrations. Even Seol-yun was fooled?

"An aberration that understands humans and blends among them."

One more point.

Seol-yun said the man used sorcery.

The black silhouette was a concealment spell.

Beyond mimicry, it learned and wielded human techniques.

'And it left bulky items in the -404th floor, stealing only portable laptop and mirror—like a human.'

Purely human behavior.

Question: Can aberrations invade the -404th floor?

Specifically, would any aim to go there?

'Recall Eve's words... No. She said entities try to reach the -404th via doors to other worlds. Aberrations want out, to reality.'

Aberrations instinctively target the surface.

Rarely volunteer deeper.

Even Backside-born ones prefer human interaction, inflicting pain.

Typical aberrations attack humans, crawling out for it.

Thus, heading to the -404th was 'human-like.'

'When meeting Seol-yun, it acted to seem human. Clues left screamed human shaman intrusion. But if all fake...?'

Its intent clarifies.

'Maybe it seeks civilization's partial collapse for greater human suffering. Just for fun.'

That explains gifting the Placenta of Dreams to Seol-yun for kicks.

No grand plan.

Just wanted to watch humans in chaos.

"Hello? Yes, Agent Park Jae-hyeon."

I called Anomaly Management's Park Jae-hyeon immediately.

He'd share all info unfiltered.

The only one there I trusted over 90%.

'Enemy hides as black silhouette. Could be disguised as an agent.'

Realizing it mimicked humans near-perfectly, even using their tech, I couldn't trust anyone without verifying personally.

Needed someone to extract internal info discreetly: Park Jae-hyeon fit.

"Wait, what?"

I wanted info from Seol-yun to track the silhouette with more clues.

-Seol-yun is dead. No external intrusion traces... We're investigating the cause.

Seol-yun, locked in Anomaly Management's underground isolation cell, found dead.

Ruled suicide, but no clue how.

"..."

The witness died suddenly.

In the ultra-secure Anomaly underground.

No typical aberration feat.

What manifested on this land?

If I could face it, I'd make it pay.

But no way to find it.

Knock knock knock.

A knock at the office door.

Odd time for visitors. Who?

"Come in."

The door opened; a disheveled-haired woman peeked in cautiously.

"Nice to meet you. This is the Fixer Office, right?"

A round gold-rimmed glasses woman with a slightly dopey expression.

Black turtleneck knit dress unfit for the season, over a French coat.

Calm voice contrasting her dopey look.

Poised demeanor.

Her gait screamed skilled shaman.

House of Moss.

The origin and headquarters of Korean onmyoji.

"I've come to relay some important words. Do you have time?"

Someone from there had come.

With the info I wanted.