The Birth of the Phantom
Ga-eul pushed herself up. Staggering into the aisle like a drunkard, oblivious to the smeared makeup around her eyes, she stood there. The end credits were already racing toward their close. In the silent theater, lights dimmed to nothing, she stood alone at center stage.
"So... now I die?"
Ga-eul asked the masked Cheon Ga-eul.
The masked Cheon Ga-eul rose from her seat to face her.
"Yes. As an actress, as a human—you're dead."
"......?"
The masked Cheon Ga-eul raised her hand. Rumble. The curtain rose as pulleys whirred, and the massive screen descended once more onto the stage. The audience seats crumbled to ash, leaving only the long aisle where Ga-eul stood, stretching toward the stage.
"Go."
"Where?"
"To the place you belong."
The masked Cheon Ga-eul pointed to the stage.
Ga-eul walked down the aisle with a bitter smile.
Thud.
Her heels echoed through the stage. In that instant, every light on stage focused on her, blazing to life.
"One last performance before you die?"
"No. A brand-new performance."
The masked Cheon Ga-eul removed her mask and tossed it to Ga-eul. It flew straight to her hand, as if guided by will of its own.
Ga-eul caught it. Right side white, left side black—the bisected mask turned entirely black, then dulled to gray.
"......? What's this?"
Ga-eul stroked the mask's surface.
The unmasked Cheon Ga-eul was hidden by Masquerade's face.
"From now on, better cover that face of yours."
"Become a faceless actress?"
"You're already dead—physically, legally. So..."
Masquerade's body turned transparent. With a hand dissolving into light, she pointed to her own face and smiled at Cheon Ga-eul.
"From now on, you're a ghost."
Flash.
The end credits finished.
But the footage that should have stopped kept playing its final scene.
Yeouido National Assembly's main chamber. The blue girl, Phoenix, embraced Ga-eul's dead body. She thrust something into Ga-eul's chest, and soon the entire chamber was dyed gray with mana.
Clap.
The ghost turned her head. Masquerade was applauding.
Masquerade gazed at the ghost with envy, pride, pity—laughing through tears.
"What movie these days doesn't have a post-credits scene?"
With that, Ga-eul's consciousness faded.
Blue flames swallowed the theater.
* * *
Ga-eul blinked.
Her sharpening vision caught Phoenix smiling softly.
"Back with us?"
Phoenix shook her gently. Her right hand supported Ga-eul's back from behind.
Ga-eul stared blankly at Phoenix, then threw her arms around her.
"Uh? Hey, Ga-eul? Suddenly like this..."
"Sorry."
Ga-eul's hands gripped Phoenix's shoulders. Kneeling eye-to-eye with the seated Phoenix.
"I told you not to leave the barrier. I was scared something like this would happen. Sorry for not listening and coming out. That's what I wanted to say if I saw you again."
"......No. I'm the one who's sorry."
Phoenix took Ga-eul's hand in her left. Warmth flowed through.
"I shouldn't have kept you confined like that. Shouldn't have left you in this death trap. Not the National Assembly—somewhere else entirely. Or even if it put me in danger, I should've gotten you to Shin Seoul..."
"No. You had your reasons. We made a bet, remember? We both compromised. This just happened first. So I'm more sorry..."
"No. Ga-eul. I'm more—"
Ga-eul and Phoenix chuckled in unison. It was like a drama couple fumbling apologies after a fight—impossible not to laugh.
"You're using formal speech again? Last time alone, you told me to drop it."
"Huh?"
Confusion flickered in Ga-eul's eyes.
"......This isn't the afterlife? So you're granting my dying wish or something?"
"Not the afterlife.... A wish?"
Ga-eul nodded, lowering her hands to clasp Phoenix's tightly.
"Wanted to say sorry to my fans, my parents. But... you came to mind first. Just wanted to apologize. Sorry."
"...Hah."
Phoenix sighed, barely hiding a laugh.
Whoosh.
Azure Flame lit the chamber's darkness.
Only then did Ga-eul realize this was where she'd died.
"Huh?"
Instinctively, her hand went to her chest. Thump, thump. The stabbed heart beat faintly. Something surged from it, coursing powerfully through her body.
Ga-eul knew instantly what it was.
The ability awakened just before death. Her newly opened senses detected mana.
"This... mana?"
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"...Well."
Ga-eul raised her hand. Pale as drained of blood, but it moved by her will.
Not dead?
Ga-eul swallowed, glared at Phoenix, then pinched her cheeks.
"Hmph?!"
Phoenix's words muffled as her cheeks squished like dough. Ga-eul rolled them mesmerized—lips stretching vertically, then horizontally.
Phoenix's brows furrowed.
[Stop that.]
"Eek!"
The voice echoed in her head. Mana laced with intent startled Ga-eul.
Phoenix shot her a sulky glare.
"......You did die. Heart stabbed. So."
Phoenix picked up the fallen Cube from the floor. Its eerie patterns dulled, lightless, crumbling like dust.
"Revived you with this. ...Huh?"
Crack.
A fracture split the Cube. Shattered bits poured like sand from Phoenix's palm.
Phoenix stared puzzled.
"Why'd it break...?"
"So I'm alive?!"
Ga-eul shook Phoenix's shoulders.
The otherworldly god's core slipped through Phoenix's fingers.
"No, why'd it, wait—hold on!!"
Phoenix yelled to calm her.
Both flustered, for different reasons.
After deep breaths, Phoenix recovered first.
"Whew. We'll figure the Cube later. How you're alive? Resurrection of the Dead! I can revive anyone with the right gear and core! Got it?!"
Ga-eul eyed the scattered shards in Phoenix's hand, then burst into tears.
"Th... to save me..."
"Ah, don't sweat it! Can get another! You're way more valuable than some world-ending trash. No idea why, but it broke right after reviving you..."
"...Ah! Dongjak! Crazy bastards in Dongjak trying to kill people! Gotta stop them!"
Ga-eul snapped to.
Phoenix's eyes darkened.
"Ga-eul, you didn't come out of the barrier to save strangers, did you..."
"You can save more?! People!"
Phoenix started to speak, then bit her lip.
Ga-eul grabbed her hands again.
"Sorry for breaking our promise once. But please. Call me selfish bitch if you want—"
"No. ...I can revive the dead, but not as humans."
"? ......?"
Ga-eul's eyes widened.
Phoenix looked up at the ceiling, obviously avoiding her gaze.
"Dead normal or ability user—with a monster's core or nucleus, plus my mana, I can revive them. But not fully human..."
Phoenix moved her left hand near her face, tapping her smartwatch with her chin. The home screen lit up.
"Wanna see a selfie?"
Ga-eul's trembling fingers turned the screen, launching the camera app.
Phoenix adjusted the smartwatch so Ga-eul could see her reflection.
"Eek!"
Ga-eul recoiled at her face.
Bloodless white skin. Mannequin blank. Pupils gray, eyes lifeless as rotten fish.
"This...?"
Brows and hair above bleached silver-gray. Mana pulsed where pigment fled, like it claimed the strands.
Tap, tap.
And most striking: the mask. A gray one hung like an ornament on the right top of her head—the one from Masquerade in the dream.
"......Masquerade? No, slightly different?"
Phoenix muttered to herself.
The mask symbolized Cheon Ga-eul's ability. Seeing it on Ga-eul confused her more.
Complicated thoughts later. Urgent issues first.
Phoenix cleared her throat.
"Ahem. So, not human—kaijin. Like Jo Deok-bae became rock kaijin, Kim Ji-hwa lighthouse kaijin..."
Phoenix trailed off.
Ga-eul got it instantly.
"Revived me as kaijin, right?"
"Yes."
"...Fine. Died being reckless, gotta accept this."
Ga-eul smiled bitterly, then perked up as something hit her.
"Ah! The ones who killed me—they're probably still nearby! Targeting Ji-hwa—"
"Kaijin."
Phoenix cut her off, rare stern tone.
"......A kaijin's identity comes not from past abilities, but the new heart-core. Like Deok-bae, original body enhancer reborn with rock monster core, fusing into rock kaijin."
"......And?"
"Or like Ji-hwa, original ability enhanced. Didn't explain? Ji-hwa's heart used a B-rank core influenced by Terra—became demon eyes."
Phoenix shook her head at Ga-eul's mask.
"......Sorry, didn't use a mask monster core for you."
Phoenix covered her face with her left.
Ga-eul noticed Phoenix had supported her back with only her right hand.
People use right for left wristwatch—not chin-tap deliberately.
Proof her right was unusable.
Ga-eul lifted slightly.
Squelch.
" "
Mysterious slime from her back—like kids' liquid toy. Goosebumps hit Ga-eul.
Squish squish.
Worse: it felt part of her body.
Ga-eul's head snapped mechanically.
Phoenix's pupils quivered violently.
"I-I rushed. Used the best on hand..."
"Hey."
Ga-eul dropped formal speech.
"Did you use tentacle frog core?"
Phoenix's head drooped.
Nine neat tentacles writhed like tails from her lowered right hand.
" "
Ga-eul fainted.
Beep.
Phoenix's smartwatch chimed. Beacon.
"......Why do kaijin always faint on revival?"
Phoenix shifted to kaijin form, scooping Ga-eul up. Right arm under torso, left cradling legs.
Squelch.
Nine tentacles dropped to the floor. Unlike the tentacle frog's, they sprouted tail-like from above Ga-eul's hips, swaying lewdly—true to origin, indescribably obscene.
[Gotta fix that later. ...First.]
Phoenix stepped forward—then stomped.
Boom!
Circular flame pillar erupted around her. Azure Flame barrier deflected black arrows from the dark.
[They say the culprit returns to the scene.]
Phoenix withdrew the pillar. Black arrows scattered anew—from east, west, south, north, curving toward her.
Phoenix leaped with Ga-eul toward the main chamber doors.
"Ngh!"
The sniper behind the wall nocked a black-mana arrow swiftly.
[Think I wouldn't know?]
Phoenix's eyes flashed; fist-sized fireballs appeared around her. They incinerated the arrows in their paths.
"...!"
As Phoenix closed in, the sniper ditched the bow and fled, firing a wire at the passage end to wall-run away.
Whoosh.
[Don't think you can escape.]
Phoenix appeared before, kicking his chest.
"Gahk!"
The sniper crashed, gasping. Phoenix pinned his solar plexus, burning off his mask.
"......."
[Palace Castle Yu I-sin?]
Black bobbed beauty. Phoenix recognized instantly: original game's B-rank mercenary hunter, famed for cost-efficiency.
[Pine Tree Unit, then laundered as hunter, huh.]
"Kh, kill me!"
Yu I-sin bit her lip, yelling. Identity known, no survival chance.
[Yeah?]
Phoenix nodded, shaking Ga-eul lightly.
"......."
Ga-eul still out cold.
For a moment, flames in Phoenix's helm flickered like a grin.
[Fine then.]
Phoenix slashed her toe across Yu I-sin's throat.
Slice.
Her head tumbled down the hall. Eyes wide with shock and terror.
[Oh right.]
Phoenix returned to the chamber, gathering Cube shards. A handful for study; the rest unnecessary.
Roar.
Azure Flames rose, incinerating them. No ash remained—the fragments vanished from Earth.