039. Spooky Abandoned House Exploration
039. Spooky Abandoned House Exploration
After leaving the mansion.
I had ended the stream and was heading to where I'd parked the truck.
‘...Huh? Had someone else come here?’
I spotted a fairly high-end foreign car parked there.
It was a vehicle I hadn't seen earlier.
‘No. Had they just arrived?’
Looking closely, I saw the engine was still running.
And just then.
The car doors opened and people began climbing out.
One from the driver's seat, one from the passenger seat.
‘...Going by their appearance, they didn't look like ordinary people.’
Their clothing was unusual.
Were they cosplaying?
It was attire I'd never seen in my life.
So naturally, my gaze was drawn to them.
‘It obviously wasn't a hanbok, so was it a modernized version of traditional Chinese clothing?’
Going by the feel.
It also resembled the clothing of a shaman or a monk.
Though it was far more stylish and refined.
Perhaps because of the clean design.
Even though the outfits were unusual, they didn't feel particularly out of place.
Even if they were in a crowded city center.
They were at a level where people would just glance a few times and move on.
‘One's yellow, and one's white.’
The reason I thought those people were cosplayers wasn't just because of their clothes.
Above the head of the person in the yellow outfit.
There were twitching animal ears attached.
I wasn't certain, but they looked like cat ears.
People with strong individuality, huh.
That was what I was thinking at that moment.
"Huh? Senior! That guy is fucking handsome!"
The woman with the cat ears pointed her finger at me and yelled.
Her voice was so piercing, I heard it all.
"Shut your mouth. What are you doing, being so rude?"
The woman in the white outfit next to her frowned deeply and smacked the cat woman on the back of the head.
"Agh! Why did you hit me?!"
"You did something wrong, so I'm hitting you."
"What did I do wrong? I see a handsome guy, so I call him handsome. Should I call him ugly instead?"
"Be quiet. Just keep thoughts like that to yourself."
"...Huh? Wait! That man, from the broadcast you were watching earlier, Senior..."
"I said shut up, you crazy bitch."
The cat woman got smacked one more time.
Were they filming a comedy skit or something?
As I got close enough to see their faces clearly, they were considerable beauties.
Enough to make me wonder if celebrities had come here for a shoot.
‘Seeing those unusual clothes, were they really about to film something nearby?’
Well, it was none of my business.
Just as I was ignoring them and about to walk past.
‘Ah.’
An important fact flickered through my mind.
‘Should I warn them to be careful, since there was a yokai in the mansion?’
Seeing as they'd parked here, there was a high probability they had business at the mansion.
They could be people trying to explore an abandoned house, just like me.
Maybe it was just me being nosy,
but still, it seemed right to tell them about the yokai.
Because I'd feel uneasy if someone died here for no good reason.
‘I didn't know if they'd believe me, but at least I should give them a heads-up.’
In the end, I gave in to my meddlesome nature and turned to warn them, only to find the woman in white staring straight at me.
She was quietly muttering something to herself.
"Seeing you in person, you really are a human... That's a relief. You're not a yokai."
She spoke so quietly, I couldn't hear her.
When I looked at her and tilted my head, she smiled brightly and spoke to me first.
"Hey."
"...Uh. Hey."
The greeting came out of nowhere.
But why the hell was this chick speaking informally to me?
Since she started with informal speech, I just dropped the honorifics too.
The woman in the white outfit looked intently at Gomdori, who I was holding, and asked.
"Are you taking that Gomdori home with you?"
"This thing? I'm taking it. Why?"
"...No reason."
As this brief, disjointed conversation continued,
the Catgirl, who had been vacantly looking back and forth between us from the side, suddenly cut in.
"What, what? You two know each other? You're talking so naturally! And here I thought you were just one-sidedly watching the broadcast..."
"Shut up."
And she got smacked on the back of the head again.
That seemed to be a daily occurrence for her.
Or maybe getting hit was her hobby.
Anyway, I decided to stop the pointless chatter and just warn them about the mansion.
"More importantly, you're about to go into that mansion, right? There's something dangerous called a yokai in there, so be careful..."
"It's fine. We came here to take care of it."
The woman in the white outfit cut me off and replied, as if she already knew about the yokai.
Were they not cosplayers, but actually shamans or exorcists?
No wonder their clothes seemed a bit peculiar.
"Anyway, thanks for worrying. It was nice meeting you, get home safe."
"Huh? Senior, you're leaving already? I—I was glad to meet you too! See you again, handsome guy!"
The women said their goodbyes like that and naturally headed towards the abandoned house.
And in the space where they had departed, a powerful lingering scent of plum blossoms remained.
‘...Would they be alright? Gomdori had said the owner of the mansion was dangerous.’
I was worried, but still.
Judging by their confident attitude, they were clearly experts in this field.
So I decided to just set my worries aside.
‘Well, they'd handle it themselves. I was going home.’
Just as I was about to move back towards the truck again,
I felt Gomdori, whom I had been holding, tremble violently.
［R-Run away quickly. So scared. This time I'm sure. It's an Exorcist.］
Seeing Gomdori shudder like that,
those women were exorcists after all, it seemed.
I didn't know what the difference between them and shamans was, though.
‘...Wait a minute. Could that woman just now had been Plum Tree, a viewer on my stream?’
The question suddenly popped into my head.
Did she use a strong plum blossom perfume? The scent of plum blossoms still lingered.
The unfamiliar profession of exorcist.
The impolite informal speech.
And finally, the attitude that seemed to know me, and even knowing the address here.
Putting it all together.
There was a high probability she was the viewer with the nickname 'Plum Tree'.
"No matter how I thought about it, it seemed right, didn't it? So why didn't this bitch just properly act like she knew me?"
［Scared. Want to run away quickly. Must go quickly. Want to go.］
"Huh? Alright, I'm going, so stop nagging."
［Scared. Want to live. Scared.］
In any case, since Gomdori was afraid, I stopped paying attention to trivial matters and headed straight for the truck.
***
I put Gomdori in the passenger seat and even buckled its seatbelt for it.
Maybe because it was a yokai,
it didn't know how to do it itself.
As I headed home like that, I asked Gomdori this and that about exorcists.
Because I had nothing better to do on the way.
Of course, Gomdori didn't know very much either.
It said everything it knew about exorcists was just what the Stone Statue Yokai had told it.
It had only seen an exorcist for the first time today.
［An exorcist is not a human, nor a yokai.］
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
［An exorcist is a yokai. But also a human.］
"..."
Gomdori's explanation went on for quite a while.
If my understanding was correct.
People who worked as exorcists were beings half-human and half-yokai.
Meaning, they were hybrids.
And the reason they hated yokai was instantly understandable.
All hybrids were raised like livestock by yokai.
To be precise.
A yokai would abduct a human male, extract his semen, give birth to hybrids, raise them, and then eat them.
As a side note, Greater Yokai could supposedly exploit human seed to become pregnant.
"So they were destined to become food for yokai from the moment they were born? No wonder they can't help but hate them."
［That is right. There are many bad yokai. But exorcists are also bad. They kill good yokai too.］
After that, Gomdori continued to unravel all the information it knew.
Nothing particularly important.
***
Around the time we almost arrived home.
Gomdori, who had been dozing off, suddenly perked its head up.
［Oh, ri-right! I had forgotten to say it!］
"Say what?"
［Those humans earlier, they lied! They never came upstairs! But they lied and said they did! Bad humans!］
"Huh? Who are you talking about?"
［Talking about the humans on the 1st floor! The four women!］
"Ah. Those girls from before? But it wasn't four women..."
I couldn't finish my sentence.
Suddenly, my head felt completely blocked, as if it were stuffed.
"...Did I meet someone on the 1st floor?"
［...］
"It seemed like there was no one but me in the mansion..."
It felt like my head was filled with fog.
I felt like I could remember, but I couldn't.
Just then, Gomdori spoke.
［The souls seem to have been eaten. Their existences vanished. Humans cannot remember them. Only yokai and exorcists remember.］
"Their existences vanished?"
［...There is no need to worry. They were bad humans.］
I didn't know what it was talking about.
Still, since Gomdori said there was no need to mind it, I let the thought go.
I felt like I could recall it somehow if I tried, but doing so felt like it would blow my head apart.
***
Inside the Red Room on the 3rd floor of the mansion.
The woman with the cat ears jingled a small bell and broke the silence.
"Senior. That Gomdori doll from earlier, wasn't it a yokai too? Why did you just let it go?"
"...It clearly wasn't a yokai that would harm a human just by looking at it."
"Huh? What's gotten into you, Senior? You, who used to kill them all without any distinction? Could it be, you did that because you were afraid that guy would hate you?"
"Shut it."
As the two women were having that conversation,
the tree yokai they had pinned beneath them let out a voice filled with rage.
［How dare you... How dare you...! Mere food, how dare you...!］
"How dare you, my ass. Is that a trending word among yokai lately?"
Stab!
The Catgirl's sharp claws pierced through the tree yokai's core.
［Kugh...］
And just like that, the tree yokai dissipated helplessly.
It was a pathetic end.
"Hmm. This thing's a similar species to your host body, Senior, but it's incredibly weak."
"That's because it hasn't been able to eat many humans."
"My mother was strong even without eating many humans."
"...Do you still call that cat your mother?"
"But still, she was good to me. Except for the part at the end where she tried to eat me, she wasn't that bad of a yokai."
"..."
"Right. But Senior, were you born from a fruit? I've been curious forever, but you never tell me."
"None of your business."
Having finished off the Kkwangkkwangnamu yokai, the two women continued their idle chatter.
While they killed the remaining yokai and dealt with the aftermath.
"Ah! Senior! I have to go back to Hong Kong next week."
"Hong Kong, not Japan?"
"They say I have to get some kind of training."
"...Is that so. Go and come back."
"Aren't you going back to Taiwan, Senior? You've been in Korea for quite a long time."
"I'm not going."
"Huh? Why not?"
"I have to watch a broadcast."
"You can watch that from Taiwan too, can't you?"
"...Taiwan's too far, so no. Because I can't come help him if Se-hun ends up in danger."
"Wow... At this point, you're just a sasaeng fan..."
As that conversation continued,
the Catgirl discovered four humans in the corner of the room.
"Ughhh..."
"Uh, uhhh..."
The fully naked humans had lost the focus in their eyes and were letting out moans.
Looking at that pitiful sight, the Catgirl frowned and said.
"Yeesh. These women have already had their souls completely drained. What a shame."
"...Looks like their bodies hadn't been eaten yet. Annoying to clean up."
"Seriously. Huh? What's this now. A strap-on testicles and a strap-on penis? Was there a woman cross-dressing as a man here?"
The Catgirl picked up the strap-ons and examined them from various angles.
The woman in the white outfit pushed past the Catgirl's shoulder and approached the humans whose souls were gone.
"Move aside."
"Are you going to handle it, Senior?"
"You can't do stuff like this yet, anyway."
The woman extended her hand towards the naked humans.
"...At the very least, may your bodies rest in peace."
After the woman's words ended and a short time had passed.
Puncturing through the mansion's 3rd-floor roof, four Plum Trees rose up, wrapped around each other, towering like a single tree.
And then.
The humans who had gone missing in this mansion were erased from other humans' memories. Forever.