066. Promise

As predicted, the blonde foreigner was a viewer of my stream.

She stammered at first, as though trying to hide her identity, but when I pressed her on how she knew my name, she readily revealed who she was.

She was Dick Lover.

‘...I never realized Dick Lover was a foreigner.’

She spoke Korean fluently.

And she used Hangul so skillfully, I'd assumed she was Korean this whole time.

When I asked,

she said she wasn't white and hadn't been born or raised in Korea.

She explained that she was just very interested in Korea and had studied both the language and the writing system diligently.

‘Well, that was not what mattered then.’

What mattered now was why they were all here.

"...So, why are you here?"

I looked at Plum Blossom, then at Dick, and asked.

Plum Blossom answered first.

"W-Well... you know I'm an exorcist, right, Se-hun? I happened to get word that there was a yokai here and came to exorcise it..."

"Senior, don't lie. You were stalking him."

"Shut up before I actually kill you."

The lie was obvious.

She'd stammered when she answered, for one thing.

And Catgirl, plastered to Plum Blossom's side—

from what her so-called junior said, it was clear she hadn't come here for an exorcism. She'd been following me.

‘Was this bitch insane?’

I swallowed the curse.

Whatever the reason,

she'd come charging in to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠save me.

"Alright, Dick. What about you?"

I looked at Dick Lover, who hadn't said a word.

"It's Dick, not Dick..."

"Same thing. Quit nitpicking pointless shit and tell me why you're here."

"Uh... actually, I was just passing by out front and got thirsty, so I came in for a drink. I had no idea you'd be here, Se-hun. This kind of coincidence..."

"You fucking cunt. If you're gonna make an excuse, at least make it sound believable. You didn't think that through at all, did you?"

"..."

Apparently, Dick Lover had been stalking me too.

"Sigh..."

I let out a sigh the moment I looked at these stalkers.

‘...Whatever. Dick Lover came to save me too, so I'd let this slide just once.’

I could hold her accountable for her mistakes later.

First, I decided to deal with the yokai corpses in the living room.

I had to sort out the situation.

*

*

*

I moved the bodies into a corner.

According to Plum Blossom,

if these had been pure yokai corpses, they would have dissipated at once—or within a week at the latest.

But she explained that these bodies wouldn't disappear no matter how much time passed.

She said it was because Parasitic Yokai had taken over human hosts.

I looked at Plum Blossom and asked,

"Parasitic Yokai?"

"Yeah. Parasitic Yokai use humans as hosts. The ones that parasitize the brain are the most dangerous of all. Like these yokai."

It struck me that there really were all sorts of bizarre yokai.

Seeing Lee Yu-sun's corpse with its head so severely destroyed, I asked another question.

"Can you tell when she was parasitized?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering. Whether the Parasitic Yokai set this all up to eat me from the start."

There was no particular reason for the question.

I was just curious— when I'd first met Lee Yu-sun,

had her body already been taken over by a Parasitic Yokai even then?

Plum Blossom shook her head.

"Unfortunately, that's not something I can find out. She's already been beaten to death by you, so we can't exactly ask her directly."

Plum Blossom's gaze fixed on a particular body.

Lee Yu-sun, who'd died an especially gruesome death.

I scratched my head and said,

"I didn't actually intend to kill her..."

"You didn't intend to kill her? After you turned her head into that?"

"I didn't know her head would be that soft."

I genuinely hadn't meant to kill her.

I'd only planned to subdue her.

I'd put all my strength into that downward strike, but I'd figured that since she wasn't human, I needed to hit that hard.

"This doesn't count as murder, does it?"

"Of course it isn't murder. She was as good as dead the moment she was parasitized. She was just an empty shell without a soul."

"Good, then."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Catgirl approached the corpse, her tail swaying gently.

She looked at me and said,

"Should I resurrect this yokai for you? If we bring her back, you can ask her all the things you were curious about."

"You can do that?"

I asked in return.

Since Catgirl wasn't a viewer, I used polite speech.

"Maybe? Look."

Catgirl grinned and turned her head toward the corpse.

Then she shouted,

"Are you finished!?"

A moment of silence fell.

Nothing happened.

Catgirl scratched the back of her head and tilted it.

"Huh? Usually when I yell that during an exorcism, the yokai jumps right up and attacks. How strange."

She seemed like a bit of a simpleton.

Here ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd thought she actually had some kind of resurrection ability.

Plum Blossom looked at Catgirl with pity, then heaved a long sigh and said,

"Ignore her, Se-hun. She's just a fucking idiot."

"Seems that way."

Right then,

Dick Lover, who had been leaning against the wall with her arms crossed in silence, spoke up.

"Hey, Se-hun."

"Yeah?"

"What are you, really? That movement you showed earlier didn't look like a normal person's... and that superhuman strength..."

She sure asked quickly.

To be fair, I had badgered her about her own identity earlier—she probably hadn't had the chance.

"I've been wondering that myself."

"Me too. A strong man is so rare!"

Plum Blossom and Catgirl had clearly been wondering the same thing; they were staring at me, waiting for an answer.

I swept my gaze over them before responding.

"I told you on stream. I'm pretty good in a fight."

"..."

"I don't watch your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stream!"

Dick went quiet, apparently deep in thought.

And Catgirl—she'd been called an idiot, so I decided to just ignore her.

"If you don't want to believe it, don't. I don't care either way."

"N-No, I'll believe you. I saw that insane display of fighting skill for myself... But if you're so strong, why is your stamina so terrible?"

Plum Blossom asked another question.

That was something I'd been wondering about for ages myself.

In this world, my body's stamina was absurdly weak compared to my strength.

"I don't know either. Maybe because I've been cooped up at home? For some reason, my stamina is just abysmal. For the record, my stamina was fine in my previous world."

"Previous world..."

"Of course, I've been doing steady cardio and I've restored my stamina to a certain degree. This body seems to develop fast. Not to the point where I can go mountain climbing yet, though."

"No... hmm..."

The questions stopped there.

Plum Blossom had apparently given up trying to think it through.

Catgirl's eyes had gone cross-eyed like her brain had blown a fuse, and Dick was still deep in contemplation.

‘Come to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think of it, Dick didn't seem like a normal person either...’

Since I'd given them an answer, I had the right to ask Dick.

But I decided not to press it.

I had the feeling she wanted to keep it hidden.

‘I had really gotten a lot more considerate lately, hadn't I?’

I was congratulating myself on my personal growth.

Then I remembered someone I had momentarily forgotten.

‘Ah.’

I'd completely forgotten about Bubblegum.

***

We hurried to the basement.

Everyone knew about the basement's existence except me.

I was curious how they knew, but rescuing Bubblegum was the priority, so I didn't ask.

When we reached the basement, we saw a small figure drenched in blue blood.

"Oh? Se-hun?"

It was Bubblegum Collector.

Around Bubblegum, chunks of flesh that had been brutally hacked apart lay scattered on the floor.

"Why's Se-hun here... Oh, right! I was supposed to eat with you today!"

Bubblegum sprang to her feet and beamed brightly.

That smile was chilling.

And not just because of all the bodies strewn around.

"Bubblegum, your arm..."

Her left arm was missing.

"Huh? Arm?"

Bubblegum's eyes shifted to her left side.

Red blood was streaming from the stump, but her expression was as sunny as if nothing was wrong.

"Oh, is this what's bothering you? It's fine! If I just do this...!"

Crrrick.

Bubblegum concentrated and grimaced.

Like she was straining to take a dump.

Then a white bone shot out from the severed end of her arm.

Next, blood formed around the bone, then muscle, then flesh.

"Ta-da!"

Bubblegum thrust her left arm into the air.

It had completely regenerated.

‘...What the hell was that? Wait—was Bubblegum a yokai too?’

I wasn't the only one shocked.

Plum Blossom, Catgirl, and Dick Lover standing beside me were equally stunned.

"What is she, Piccolo or something?"

"Her arm regenerated? Anyone can see she's not a yokai—how is this possible?"

"...Test Subject."

From what they were saying,

thankfully, she wasn't a yokai.

‘If she was not a yokai, what was she? That couldn't be possible for an ordinary human...’

I stared at Bubblegum, dumbfounded.

Then I looked at Plum Blossom.

Then Catgirl, and finally Dick Lover, scanning them all.

One was a monster who could regenerate a limb in an instant.

One was an exorcist who could create plum blossoms.

‘They said exorcists were Half-Yokai...’

One was an exorcist with cat ears.

‘Which means those might not be a cosplay—they might be her actual ears.’

One was a superhuman who could sprint like lightning.

And on top of that, she was packing a gun.

‘...What the hell, was there not a single normal person here?’

Looking at it this way,

everyone was abnormal but me.

I was the only ordinary person here.