Whispers of the Equinox Book
It wasn't a voice reaching my ears through the library committee girl, but one resounding directly in my mind. I jolted in shock and looked around, but the library girl, Su-hee, and even Jia all wore calm expressions.
Yeah, this voice was definitely only for me.
Hello?
I tried speaking inwardly just in case, but there was no reply.
Wasn't working like that, huh?
This unidentified voice had simply mechanically recited only the information on the magic circles contained within the Equinox Book.
Which meant...?
Rustle! Rustle!
I urgently flipped the pages.
As soon as another geometric magic circle came into view, the information about it echoed in my head.
I took in the magic circle with my eyes, and the same voice echoed again.
"As expected!"
This occult grimoire undoubtedly had the function of explaining its contents in exchange for blood.
Maybe my blood had served as a medium, cursing me with something, but there was no point whining over what was already done.
If that had happened, I'd deal with it when the time came.
I asked the thing I was most curious about in my current state.
What do I do after drawing the Shakallu-Enshar Magic Circle? And how far do the wishes I can make go?
"Huh?"
The clear explanation grew increasingly faint until it cut off entirely.
The wriggling sensation in the hand holding the book vanished too.
Seemed like it was an item that only activated with blood as tribute.
I could offer more blood here, but I'd hold off for now. The first time had been an accident, but deliberately offering blood carried way too much risk.
Either way, I'd extracted the info I needed, so I'd shelve it for the moment.
The fetal human sacrifice ritual happening in this school's underground was surely tied to this Shakallu-Enshar sorcery.
First things first, I had to uncover it.
"Mom, come here a sec. Jia, over here."
"Ung!"
Kang Jia came scampering back. Before I could even say anything, she opened her mouth first.
"Oppa, oppa! I searched that Aleister Crowley person, and she's like this sorceress who was active in the 19th century. Famous for black magic! So cool, right? I did good!!"
So the author of this book really was a black mage, huh. Even in the normal world, there were plenty of occultists and sorcerers running around. Shamans overflowed in Korea alone, after all. Aleister Crowley must've been one of the big names among them.
Pat pat.
"Good job. Jia's amazing~"
"Then give me semen down below! Lo~ts of it!!"
Her desire to take my semen into her lower mouth was intensifying.
"Yeah, got it."
"Uhi hi, yay!!"
She pumped her fist in delight.
"Yuhan, why'd you call?"
"Mom, I think I've figured out what that fetal human sacrifice ritual in the school underground is."
"Eh? Really?"
I explained while omitting the part about offering blood to the Equinox Book and hearing the voice. It felt like forbidden knowledge no ordinary human mind should accept.
Having died and come back four times made it no big deal for me, but any normal person would've gone insane for sure.
And in Kang Jia's case... I wanted to hoard as much "info only I know" as possible, so I skipped explaining to her.
Either way, though vague, I laid it all out: the Shakallu-Enshar Magic Circle was for a ritual wishing to an evil god via fetal human sacrifice.
And maybe disrupting it could yield huge results.
Su-hee said with a rigidly tense expression,
"That's horrific. Turning babies—fruits of love—into tools for such evil purposes and killing them... Horrific."
"Huuung... Is it?"
Su-hee shuddered, but Kang Jia seemed unbothered.
"So, any way we can get to the school underground?"
"Hmm... To access the basement, you need to be a pregnant student or counseling office staff. Can't go straight in like this."
"What about sneaking?"
"Sneaking's not easy either. There's always guards on the stairs down to the school underground."
Should I use Jia?
"Jia, think you can?"
"One or two, sure..."
Oooh...
I was just about to praise Kang Jia when Su-hee shook her head.
"Sadly, it's not just one. There's a 'guard room' at the underground entrance... and it's packed full of dozens of janitors."
"Eugh... That might be tough..."
Dozens? Then we're screwed.
What now?
This school's biggest secret was definitely the Shakallu-Enshar ritual. Uncovering it would be a massive breakthrough in unraveling the mysteries of this Altered Common Sense world.
Important what they were wishing for to the evil god using human fetuses as offerings—and if the ritual's goal was creating this altered world, destroying the magic circle itself might end the whole thing.
As the three of us pondered, I noticed the library committee girl stand up from her seat.
Wait, could I recruit that kid as an ally?
I hadn't tried awakening anyone else in the school to Altered Common Sense because I couldn't distinguish if they were part of it or just ordinary people corrupted by it.
If the person I spilled the truth to turned out to be some monstrosity, they'd flip and attack me on the spot—that risk was too high.
But right now, I needed even a cat's paw.
She was the one who'd arranged the book numbers in the Fibonacci sequence puzzle and slotted the Equinox Book into the shelf.
If she wasn't a monster but just acting under orders from the Altered Common Sense fallout, turning her to our side would have huge merits.
Just look at Su-hee—awakening her hadn't erased her prior memories.
Meaning, the moment I made that girl an ally, there was a good chance she'd spill on the Equinox Book or ritual weaknesses.
"Mom, about that library committee girl—how's she been during school life so far?"
"You mean Na-hyun? Na-hyun's a very diligent student. You can tell just from how she stays after school for committee work."
"Any chance she's a monster?"
Su-hee tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment.
"Well... not certain, but no weird signs. And, uh, Yuhan knows too, but even when Mom was a-alone staying late at s-school... I'd never seen Na-hyun even once..."
Diligent with her assigned school duties, but never staying till night?
That made her worth talking to.
"Jia, Oppa's gonna chat with that girl, so no freaking out again, okay?"
"Ha? No way. Don't. Don't talk! Hate you talking to other girls!"
So tiring every time.
Time to lay down the law.
"Kang Jia."
"U-ugh..."
Kang Jia, who had stuck out her lip and puffed her cheeks, shrank back at my cold voice.
"Not answering?"
"Wh-why...?"
"You gonna keep crawling all over Oppa like this?"
"Cr-crawling? Damn it! I'll kil—"
"No semen?"
Starting with a threat.
"What!?"
"Is interfering with everything Oppa does like this what a wife should do?"
And slip in her biggest weakness subtly.
"Not inter...fer... Huh...? What'd you just say?"
"When this world goes back to normal, we'll make a baby and live all lovey-dovey, right? Basically marriage."
Of course, no intention of that.
Just report to cops or run away. Done. No confidence in playing newlyweds with a psycho like this.
...Future me'll handle it somehow.
"U-uh? Eeeh? Eeeeek?"
Contrary to my inner thoughts, Kang Jia had an explosive reaction.
Blush! Blush!
Her pale face heated up like she'd entered a sauna in seconds.
Might as well go all in now.
"But is sulking and messing up everything your husband's doing proper behavior? Yeah?"
"Ma-ma-marriage! H-husband...! Wi-with O-oppa...!"
"Yeah. Don't expect a perfect wife, but a naughty girl? Kinda hate that."
"N-not naughty! Good girl!"
"Right? So as a wife, you gotta watch this kinda thing with some composure?"
"Y-yeah! Yeah! Right! I'm a w-wife! Ung! Uhi hi! He he he he he he! Co-composed! Super composed!"
Kang Jia nodded so furiously I worried her neck might snap. If she'd had a tail, it'd spin like a propeller and launch her into the sky.
No idea how long this loop would last, but at least she'd stay calm for a while.
Pat pat.
"That's my good girl."
"He he he he he het."
I petted her head, and she teared up with joy.
Really no different from a pet dog. One that needed therapy doggy daycare.
"Anyway, I'll go chat, so wait nicely?"
"Y-yes!"
"Mom, help me out. I don't know much about her."
"O-okay, su-sure, ho ho ho..."
Su-hee's face was flushed too.
Having overheard all that marriage, wife, husband talk right next to her, she must've felt secondhand embarrassment.
...Kinda embarrassing.
"Come back safe, o-oppa..."
"...Yeah."
Leaving behind Kang Jia, whose hips wiggled violently like she had an invisible tail, Su-hee and I approached the library committee girl.