Why Did You Only Bring the Head?
"Ugh..." When did I fall asleep? No, did I lose consciousness? I don't know. All the strength had drained from my body, as if my very soul had been ripped out. 'How many hours have passed... no, how many days?' In the middle of it, even Aram woke up, and the four of us—me, Cheshire, Aila, and Aram—sucked and licked each other until time just slipped away.
'Aram is...' The soft, squishy sensation. I was currently using Aram's lap as a pillow. I remember grabbing her horns and making her perform oral sex like a madman... but my memory cut off there.
"Kuh..." My head was throbbing a little. I wanted to get some cold water from the fridge, but I couldn't move because Cheshire and Aila were sleeping with their heads on my arms.
"Cheshire..."
"Mm?" Cheshire answered in her sleep when I called her. I felt bad for waking her when she must be exhausted, so I shut my mouth again.
"Ah. Never mind."
"Mm..." Cheshire, resting on my right arm, and Aila, occupying my left. Both of them had glowing, smooth faces as they slept, as if they’d just had a full-body tonic.
'Haa...' I lay back down, staring at the ceiling, and let out a sigh. It wasn't a sigh of exhaustion, but one of refreshment. I’d been through so many hard times, but in the end, I was finally finding some stability. Isn't this what life is about? Even when moments of crisis come, if things work out like this, you get to rest... I think I live for these moments. A life where I can just lie around without a single worry, stroking the bodies of my women. Yeah, this is happiness. I work like a dog when I have to, but I'm grateful for these moments of rest in between. If I had just kept charging forward without end, I wouldn't have lasted. Perhaps that’s why the Evil Gods don't talk to me when I'm with my women, just watching instead, and why they don't demand I offer them up—they know. The Evil Gods know that a human like me needs to rest in between so I can go back to working like a dog. They know I'm a human who needs time to recharge so I don't break down and can keep running.
'So, that said. It was really tough this time, so... I want to rest a little longer.' I whispered to Kashnakas, who was slowly growing in presence.
[There is a small grace period left. Do as you please.]
"Yes. Thank you, Kashnakas-nim."
I’d asked because I wanted to rest more, and I was granted permission without hesitation. Thinking I was lucky, I closed my eyes again. I decided to sleep a bit more before leaving the Black Market.
"Mm..." When I opened my eyes again, everyone was awake. I had been moved to the sofa and covered with a blanket. They must have taken care of me since I couldn't wake up easily.
"You're up?"
"Ah, yeah."
As I sat on the sofa, shaking off the sleepiness, Cheshire approached me holding a glass filled with an unidentifiable liquid.
"Here, drink this all at once."
"This is..."
"A homemade fatigue reliever. I just ground up some herbs and made it. Go on, try it."
"Oh... thank you."
I took the green liquid Cheshire handed me and drank it. I trusted her completely, so I didn't have a single doubt.
"Ugh..." Was I too careless? I almost spat the whole thing out. This was incredibly bitter. It was so bitter and potent that it snapped my groggy mind wide awake. Furthermore, the moment I took a sip, heat rose in my body, and strength surged forth.
"This... the effect is amazing."
"Right? Hehe." Cheshire smiled and stroked my hair. I asked her while drinking the rest of the beverage.
"It seems... everyone is busy?"
"Yeah. We're leaving soon, so I'm organizing the things we need to take."
"Things to take?"
"Yeah. I want to take the whole space with us, but I can't do that. We have to take as many necessary items as possible. From now on, we'll only be able to enter the Black Market... maybe once a week."
"Aha."
Cheshire looked around the room with a slightly melancholy expression, thinking about leaving the home she had grown attached to.
"It was really annoying, but now that it's time to leave, I feel a bit sentimental."
"Hehe... that's a feeling everyone gets when moving."
"Is that so? Hahaha. This is my first time moving, so."
"Ah, I see. You must have lived in the Black Market... your whole life..."
For Cheshire, this place was her first home in the true sense and her only sanctuary. That must be why this was her first move.
'First move... how was mine?' I don't remember well. The dormitory felt more like a place I was just staying in temporarily rather than a home. In that sense, my first home, the first space of my own I ever obtained, was probably the studio apartment I got in my junior year of college. It was a tiny, cramped room that a broke guy like me barely managed to get after working part-time jobs like crazy. I lived there, squeezed in, with cockroaches and house centipedes that were basically my roommates. After graduating, I was stuck in a goshiwon (cramped study room), busy trying to find a job. It wasn't until I finally got hired by a small-to-medium enterprise after a year and started receiving a stable salary that I was finally able to settle into a worn-out, third-floor apartment in a corridor-style building and pay rent. In a way, my life hasn't been smooth either. Ever since I lost my parents at a young age, nothing ever went well for me. Even in group projects, I was always stuck with trashy teammates, so I had to do everything myself just to get a scholarship.
"Let's live well, Cheshire."
"Yeah. Fufu. Jun's other girlfriends? Wives? Anyway, I hope I can get along well with them."
"Hehe. They're all kind, so they'll treat you well."
"Fufu. Yeah. I think so too."
Cheshire grinned and went back to the kitchen, saying there was something she needed to pack. Honestly, they have to get along. Cheshire is the strongest, so who would dare mess with her? Aila is no slouch either. As for Kesia and Kekere... well, they're just extras, so it doesn't matter. Even if I look at them favorably, they're in a state similar to concubines.
'I hope they all get along...' Still, I was a little worried. It's inevitable that conflicts arise when people gather. I just hoped they would at least get along normally.
'Though, there's an atmosphere where they try not to run into each other because they might fight anyway.' Women who don't match in personality avoid each other on their own. When I'm there, they laugh and giggle, but since I'm often away—like at the Electric Mansion or during this Black Market basement raid—I'm not always there. It's fortunate that Mer and Heeseon-noona are in the middle, coordinating things and trying to prevent emotional fights as much as possible when I'm gone.
'Then, shall I start moving too?'
I finished the rest of the drink and stretched. Then, Aram, who was organizing the luggage, handed me a leather pouch and asked.
"Hey, Jun. This keeps wriggling."
"Hm? Ah."
That was the... head I had purchased from the Poacher.
"What was its name again? Henry's head?"
"I don't know. It also smells weird... What should I do? Should I throw it away?"
"Ah, no. Just give it to me for now, can you pack the other things?"
"Yeah. Okay."
I received the leather pouch containing the head from Aram.
'The head of a hitman whose body was discarded at the bottom of the Abyss...'
I hadn't opened the leather pouch even once since I bought it. Moreover, since it was a guy who wasn't dead yet, it wouldn't fit in the large-capacity bag, so I had put it in the freezer while raiding the Black Market basement so it wouldn't rot.
"Hmm."
I was curious about the state of the head that was wriggling and muttering something, so I opened the mouth of the leather pouch. Anyway, according to Indikron's revelation, I had to go meet the helper at the bottom of the Abyss. While I was at it, I could return the head and gain Henry's loyalty.
"Cough. The smell... damn it..."
As soon as I opened the opening, the stench of blood wafted out. Also, black hair came into view. I grabbed the hair and pulled Henry's head out of the leather pouch.
"Ugh..."
A severed man's head. A mustache with both ends curled up, like something out of the movie Mortdecai, and a Westerner's uniquely strong-looking impression. It was a rough-looking face, fitting for the name Henry. Since it had been stuck in the freezer for days, the blood had hardened and even had frost on it, making it look quite grotesque.
"E-excuse me?"
"Cough... Hu... Huff... C-cold. Cold. C-c-c-c-cold..."
When I called him, Henry opened his eyes wide and shivered, his teeth chattering like an aspen tree.
'Ah...' Putting it in the freezer must have been a mistake.
"Hey, Cheshire!"
"Yeah?"
Cheshire, who was packing a bunch of cooking utensils, poked her head out and looked at me. Soon, she frowned at the head in my hand.
"Jun, what is that?"
"Ah, this is the head I bought at the hut back then..."
"Ah! That one. The dead stock?"
"Yes. The one the Poacher guy sold for a thousand coins as dead stock."
"Aha. But why?"
"Do you happen to have something like a heater? It's frozen so solid that we can't talk."
"Ah, wait a second."
Soon, Cheshire opened the ceiling and brought out a small rectangular box. It looked a bit different from a heater on Earth.
"Here, it'll get warm soon if you turn on the power."
"Ah, thank you."
"Don't mention it. Hehe."
I placed Henry's head in front of the rectangular heater. As soon as I turned on the power, the heater turned red and emitted warmth.
"Huff. Haa. Huu... Cough! Ku-cough..."
Gradually, the ice on Henry's head melted, and he began to come to his senses. I immediately put on a business-like smile and attempted to converse with Henry's head. He was a monster who hadn't died even after slashing through everyone who approached him at the bottom of the Abyss, so naturally, I had to be kind. Besides, he hadn't seen me inside the leather pouch, so he wouldn't even know that I was the one who had shoved him into the freezer.
"W-where is this..."
"Are you awake?"
"Uh... you are... who...?"
"I pulled you out of the ice. My name is Jojun."
"Uh-uh... I... I am... Henry... I discarded my surname, so just call me Henry... Cough! Cough!!"
A head coughing and dying. That was my first meeting with Henry IX, the ghost of the Abyss.