Rules of the Sudden Wager
The rules of our abruptly settled wager were as follows. Ha Su-yeong would unleash her voodoo magic on me for a full twenty seconds. If she could seize my consciousness within that time, she won. If not, I won.
Ha Su-yeong stifled a laugh. The rules were ridiculously stacked in her favor, and she found it laughable that I'd accepted such an absurd bet without a second thought.
Saaaaah……
Soon, mist began to seep from her spell circle. Riding the wind, it raced toward me.
"See? I told you it wouldn't work."
But it didn't land. The mist merely swirled around me without touching my skin, as if repelled by an invisible barrier.
"You, what the……!"
It seemed she'd generated wind with Legba's Loa power to block the mist. I wanted to protest, but on second thought, it wasn't exactly cheating.
If one wouldn't work, she'd use two spell circles at once. Attacking from both sides simultaneously would leave no room to block with wind.
With that in mind, Ha Su-yeong drew her next spell circle.
Saaaaah……
Mist poured simultaneously from the two freshly drawn circles. The frontal assault was halted by my wind, but the mist shooting from my blind spot on the side pressed on unscathed.
At that moment, Ha Su-yeong sensed victory.
"I win—!"
"Twenty seconds up."
Do Seon-woo's icy voice cut off Ha Su-yeong's triumphant shout.
Crunch!
At the same instant, her two spell circles crumpled grotesquely. As I mimed clenching my fist in the air, they crumpled completely, like wadded-up scraps of paper.
Fsssh……
The formless circles lost their color, turning to ash and vanishing.
Ha Su-yeong stared vacantly at the ashes scattering on the wind.
"My turn. Twenty seconds. Count."
Without time to collect herself, I began drawing my spell circle.
"What? I haven't finished—"
Swish.
A single tendril of mist shot from my circle, instantly coiling around her throat.
"Haven't…… finished……"
Ha Su-yeong lost consciousness before she could finish her sentence.
*
"Haven't…… finished……"
Ha Su-yeong mumbled in her sleep, tossing fitfully. Those with strong voodoo resistance often didn't fully black out from fainting spells, instead muttering incoherently. She had exceptionally high resistance.
I slipped off my black cardigan and draped it over her. Then I gazed at her blankly.
A torrent of thoughts flooded my mind.
[Planning to save her?]
Legba's voice suddenly echoed in my head.
I let out a hollow chuckle.
"Should I kill her instead?"
[No, that's not what I meant.]
Legba sighed before continuing.
[If you intend to spare her, is it calculation or guilt driving you?]
"……Does it have to be one or the other?"
[If forced to choose just one, which would it be?]
If forced to pick one?
"Calculation."
I answered without hesitation.
[I see.]
Legba sounded satisfied, his tone almost gentle.
Ha Su-yeong handled voodoo deftly. The rumors that her skill rivaled the second cult leader's were exaggerated, but she was undeniably proficient. Her spells' unique trait—"effective even on animals"—made them especially valuable.
That was why I'd taken an interest in her.
In other words, she had considerable talent for voodoo, and her spells were special. She had plenty of rough edges now, but with proper guidance from a good teacher, her skills would improve dramatically.
With the right training, she could become a key asset to the Voodoo Cult.
"Ah, my head, ugh……"
Eventually, the spell's effect wore off. Grimacing fiercely, she pressed her temples and slowly sat up.
Suddenly, something occurred to her, and her eyes widened.
"……I hadn't finished yet!"
With sleep still clouding her eyes, she glared at me and unleashed voodoo power.
Crunch!
But it crumbled to ash before forming a circle.
"Wh-what did you do?"
Ha Su-yeong stared in bewilderment at the ashes blowing away.
"Disassembled it. And the bet's already over."
"Over?"
"Yeah. I won, you lost."
I drove the point home, and she tilted her head in confusion.
"I lost……?"
Memory seemed to catch up, and her face darkened instantly. The cocky swagger from when she'd deployed her circles was long gone.
I'd suspected as much—she'd been brimming with confidence in her voodoo.
But confidence, once shattered, tends to crumble into despair in an instant. The greater the overconfidence, the deeper the fall.
"Yeah…… I lost……"
Ha Su-yeong murmured to the floor, her mind reeling from the crashing despair.
"Winning or losing isn't the point."
I offered consolation that wasn't really consolation. She snapped her head up, her eyes softening slightly as she looked at me.
I continued.
"You learned voodoo on your own?"
"A bit from Dad. But mostly self-taught……"
Figured. Ha Pan-seok wasn't skilled enough to teach anyone.
"Self-taught to this level……"
I trailed off. Ha Su-yeong stared at me with trembling eyes, hanging on my next words.
"You've got insane talent."
"……For real?"
"Yeah. No wonder the executives call you a genius."
I muttered like it was to myself, but she'd hear it clearly. She had no choice but to hang on my every word right now—I'd made sure of that.
"If you'd trained properly, you might've even beaten me."
"For real? Seriously?"
"Yeah. With talent like that, you'd learn crazy fast……"
I nodded subtly, making it seem profound. Light finally returned to her shadowed face.
Right after despair hits, the human psyche weakens inevitably. Despair breeds emptiness, carving a vast void in the heart.
I filled Ha Su-yeong's void with a new lack: talent she had, but couldn't nurture. Talent thwarted by circumstance.
Talent she had, but…… talent she had……
Hearing "you have talent" plants the subtle doubt that failure might not be her fault, but the environment's. That doubt festers into resentment.
Resentment toward the world that failed to nurture her gift. Resentment becomes a craving.
"I learned from the previous cult leader. I've got a few tips that could help you."
I can fill that craving of yours.
Trust me, and you'll bloom your talent brilliantly.
So trust me. Then you'll achieve what you desire……
That was the undercurrent of my words.
"Highlight the lack, then hint at fulfillment. But remember—keep the initiative with them. When they think they're in control, cracks form in their mind. We just nudge those cracks."
A method to capture the hearts of the inherently fragile or those weakened by circumstance.
Dad taught me that.
"What do you say?"
I gazed into her eyes. Hers trembled faintly as she looked up at me.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"The previous cult leader shared some voodoo tips. Wanna hear?"
"Of course I do."
"Say it clearly. Yes or no."
Ha Su-yeong pretended to hesitate. Pure pretense—her mind was made up.
"……Tell me. What are they?"
She grumbled curtly.
I needed Ha Su-yeong. Or more precisely, her voodoo that worked on animals.
But her current level was far too low. She needed to master it enough to cast the spells I wanted, when I wanted.
To that end, I'd position myself as her teacher. Elevate her skills to my satisfaction while subtly implying no one else could improve her—keeping her firmly in my grasp.
[That's a real villain move.]
Legba tsked. I ignored him lightly and turned to Ha Su-yeong.
"First issue: your spell circles are too simple."
"I can make 'em not simple."
She shot back, pride stung.
"Yeah? Show me."
She drew a circle. She'd put more effort in—it was far more intricate than before.
But complexity isn't just about more strokes.
Crunch!
I ruthlessly disassembled and destroyed it.
"Hey! What the hell have you been doing since earlier……!"
"More strokes doesn't make it complex."
"Then what? Can you do it? You can't. All talk, no action, you fake cult leader."
She unleashed a barrage of insults.
Fake cult leader, all talk……
That one stung, even if other parts didn't. Maybe because it hit too close.
Before teaching voodoo, I needed to establish discipline first.
"Do you even want to learn?"
I snapped. She flinched, eyes darting like a scared animal.
"Of course I want to lear—"
"Then why talk like that?"
"No, I didn't mean—"
Ha Su-yeong's eyes darted wildly, panic clear.
"What happens if you lose the bet?"
"……Listen nicely."
"Then listen nicely. Keep up that attitude, and I'll lose the will to teach."
I smiled, warning softly but firmly.
Even if I trained her to fulfill her role later, defiance would ruin it. I needed an obedient hound, not a rabid one snapping at its master.
"……Got it. Sorry."
She finally apologized. I nodded and slowly drew a spell circle—deliberately slow, for her to see.
"See? Way more complex like this."
"What's different from mine?"
"Can't figure it? Want me to redraw?"
As I moved to disassemble, she grabbed my wrist. Fixing her gaze on the circle, she shook her head slowly.
"Wait…… just a sec."
"Sure."
She spoke stiffly, pride bruised, and glared at the circle for ages. Her expression said she wasn't getting it.
After minutes of staring motionless, she finally nodded as if grasping something.
"It's a bit different."
"Yeah. Where exactly?"
"Here and here."
She pointed to two circles flanking the core—one on each side. That's where I'd added strokes.
"Right. Why do you think I touched just those?"
"……'Cause they're important?"
"Exactly. Smart cookie."
My casual praise lit up her eyes with joy. I removed the strokes from those spots. The deep purple faded slightly.
"What changes if you tweak here like this?"
"No clue."
"Hint?"
"A hint? You mocking me?"
"Skip it if you don't need."
She glared fiercely, then fixed on the circle. Intense focus—impressive concentration.
"Give…… the hint."
She finally asked reluctantly, eyes pleading upward. Playfulness struck me.
"Say 'pretty please'."
"Hah, am I crazy?"
"Fine, dismantling then."
"W-wait! I didn't say dismantle, hey!"
She yelled, halting my hand desperately.
"'Hey' to your cult leader……"
"……Please. Now the hint."
"Please what?"
"……Please give the hint. Gimme the hint!"
Satisfactory. I nodded and spoke.
"Fainting spell knocks the target out briefly."
"I know that. Don't gimme obvious hints……"
"How brief exactly? Minutes?"
She studied my face, piecing it together. Her crumpled expression brightened with realization.
"You can control the blackout time."
"Right. Fainting spell's essence is injecting confusion into the target's mind. That's how it knocks 'em out."
I pointed to the two circles by the core.
"Add strokes here to tweak confusion intensity and duration. Controls blackout time."
"But maxing both intensity and duration—isn't that best?"
"No. They're inversely related—one up, the other down. Balance is key."
Too much intensity shortens duration; target wakes quick. Too much duration weakens intensity; might not knock out at all.
Adjusting to your capacity is the core of fainting spells.
"Get it?"
She wore a vague look, like she'd half-grasped it.
"I get it, but……"
"But?"
"……What's inverse correlation?"
She grumbled. Got the concept, not the term.
"Inverse proportion. One rises, the other falls."
"Aha. Why not say that first?"
She nodded, satisfied. Good enough.
I continued.
"And exploiting this well leads to fusion…… Wait. You know what fusion spell circles are?"
"Stop underestimating. I can draw 'em."
"Yeah? Show me."
She drew two in the air: fainting and nightmare, both illusions. They merged under her hands.
Ominous black mist billowed from the combined circle.
Crunch, cruuunch……
I smashed both instantly.
"Huh?"
She blinked at the vanishing ashes.
"……Ah!"
Realizing, she glared sharply.
"Hey! If you're gonna smash anyway, why make me draw?!"
"'Hey' again?"
"……Why make me draw then?!"
She hastily corrected at my glare.
"First, that's not fusion. Just smashing two together."
"Then what's fusion?!"
She snapped curtly. I drew two and fused them.
"This is fusion."
"What's different from mine?!"
"Shortening words again."
"What's different?!"
Merging and fusing were distinct. Hard to explain verbally.
"……Snow analogy."
"Snow?"
"Yours: two snowballs mashed into one big one. Size up, nothing changes."
"Then fusion?"
"Stack two into a snowman. Meaning changes."
She still looked lost despite the analogy. Better to demonstrate.
I drew two fainting and two intoxication circles—four total. Mashed one pair.
"This is mashing, not fusion. What happens inhaling this mist?"
"Blacked out and intoxicated. Yo."
"Right. You know it."
Then I fused fainting and intoxication.
"This is fusion. Inhale this?"
"What's different? Both black out and intoxicate, same."
"Different. Fainting core: confusion. Intoxication: addiction, pleasure."
She stared blankly. Not there yet.
"……Fuse fainting's 'confusion' with intoxication's 'addiction': addicted to confusion. That's fusion."
"Ah."
"Mashing: two effects simultaneous. Fusion: traits blend into new spell."
Same principle for memory crush: fuse 'forgetting' and 'addiction' for addiction to forgetting.
Nightmare 'fear' and intoxication 'pleasure': pleasure in fear.
Fuse memory crush, nightmare, intoxication right, and you get zombiefication basics.
If she masters that, we could zombie Satanists to neutralize them.
"Got it?"
She nodded.
"Try."
She drew two silently, mashed them. Just mashing.
I disassembled.
"Not fusion."
"What the—how?!"
I met her eyes steadily.
"Kinda disappointed. Didn't you get it?"
Her face fell. She'd studied to avoid disappointing her dad, who pushed her for cult leader. Sensitive to "disappointed."
I said it on purpose—to stoke her competitive fire and imprint hierarchy.
"I got it. I can do it next time."
"Sure. Try again. You can do it."
She redrew and mashed. Still mashing. Destroyed.
She tried again without quitting.
"This one's good, right?"
Destroyed.
Next.
"Success this time?"
Destroyed.
"This feels like real success—"
Crunch.
Destroyed.
I repeated it dozens of times. Ash swirled in the forest dark.
*
She'd lost track of time. Ha Su-yeong felt her energy drained utterly.
Forcing her melting body upright, she drew another circle. Fused it? Or mashed? She couldn't tell anymore.
Judgment was always Do Seon-woo's.
"……Hmm."
He made an inscrutable noise. She anxiously scanned his face—no read.
Tilting his head, staring silently, then a meaningful smile.
"How many is this?"
"……Twenty…… eight."
"Twenty-eighth."
He nodded, repeating. Dread surged. Probably failure again. Twenty-eight straight fails. He'd casually destroy it; she'd stare vacantly at ashes, prep twenty-ninth…… face failure…… thirtieth……
Gloomy future unfolded in her mind.
"What do you think's wrong?"
Pointing at the circle. Her heart sank.
Stealing glances, she forced words.
"……Still mashing, not fused."
"Then what?"
"Try…… again……"
"Yeah?"
Crunch!
He obliterated it. Vacantly watching it vanish, she prepped next.
Why ask if you're gonna destroy anyway? Psycho bastard……
She cursed him inwardly.
"Ha Su-yeong."
He called her name. Cold sweat; she peeked up cautiously.
"Wh-why?"
Heart pounding wildly. Did I mutter curses aloud? Mind-read? No, just scaring me. He enjoys fear……
She soothed rising panic with inner rants.
"Oh, by the way—that last one was proper fusion."
He smiled down.
She blinked dumbly.
"……Huh? Then it succeeded?"
"Yep. Success."
"Why destroy……?"
"You said try again yourself."
Casual as ever.
Wanna kill him……
Murderous urge. But no way. Voodoo didn't work on cult leader. Or rather, didn't know—destroyed before activation. Couldn't even cast near him.
Sneak fainting spell while distracted? Abandoned idea. Failure meant disaster. Retaliation terrified.
"……Success this time?"
Steeling herself, thirtieth try. Looked decent fusion to her.
He tilted head, stoic face scanning.
"How's it?"
"Seems success."
Nothing to lose, boldly.
"Yeah. Success. Good job."
Finally, nod and grin.
Joy surged; she hid it poorly. Lips twitched up uncontrollably.
"Quick learner."
"Duh. Who am I?"
"Yeah, definite talent. Total genius."
Talent! Praise from dad, executives. But from him? Infinitely better.
"Little more, you're set. Teaching you feels rewarding."
His once-cold voice warmed sweetly.
No time to bask. Fleeting thought:
Activate now?
Her circle: fused fainting-nightmare. He was distracted.
Activate, he'd black out before reacting.
Decision swift.
Saaaaah……
She triggered. Vicious purple-black mist billowed toward him.
He inhaled—full hit.
"……."
His eyes glazed.
Success! Knocked out the smug circle-smasher with voodoo.
Now? Bash head with rock? No courage. Bind and dump in woods. Better.
Joyful fantasies froze.
"Sometimes."
The "unconscious" Do Seon-woo stood fine. Warm praise eyes chilled cold.
Striding toward her with icy glare.
"Even when I treat 'em well, some try to climb over. Weird……"
Her legs buckled.
(To be continued)