067. Promise
067. Promise
We decided to refrain from prying into each other's identities.
Everyone had at least one secret, after all.
If we really got curious.
I told them they could ask later, after we'd cleaned up the situation neatly.
It was to prevent another chaotic mess from breaking out.
I was already dead tired from all the confusion as it was, and adding more chaos on top of that was the last thing I wanted.
"This dead yokai here... It seems the parasitic yokai were able to reshape their shells because this one was lending them power from nearby. And just looking at the corpse, it's definitely a Greater Yokai. Seems like a top-tier specimen, high-ranking even among Greater Yokai..."
Plum Blossom examined the yokai's corpse as she spoke.
Apparently, she could gauge its level just by looking at the body.
"Wakyapya. It was a little strong! But it was so flabby and fat it couldn't move properly! If it had been fast too, I might've lost, you know?"
Bubblegum said with a giggle.
Plum Blossom looked at Bubblegum with a subtle expression.
"Senior. That kid scares me..."
Catgirl seemed frightened of Bubblegum too.
Only Dick Lover stood there calmly.
It was just a guess, but she seemed to know quite a bit about Bubblegum's true identity.
‘I thought I'd heard her mutter "test subject" quietly earlier.’
As I said before.
We had promised not to pry into each other's identities for now, so I decided to hold back even if I was curious.
I could just calm down, go home, and ask about it step by step later.
"...Anyway, I'll take care of this corpse and the one in the living room myself, so you all go on out first."
Plum Blossom, who was crouched in front of the body, looked at us and said.
We left Plum Blossom behind.
The rest of the group, including me, went up from the basement into the hallway.
And as we were walking down the hallway to leave the house.
Bubblegum suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and shouted.
"Oh, right! I left my cell phone in the living room!"
We had no choice but to stop by the living room again.
*
*
*
"Excuse me. Brother?"
Catgirl called out to me.
Using the title "brother" out of the blue.
Well, titles didn't matter to me anyway, so I answered without minding it.
"Yes?"
"Did you happen to eat the food set out on the dining table here?"
"No. I didn't touch it because Bubblegum went to the bathroom."
"That's a relief."
"Why?"
"This is human flesh."
"Human flesh...?"
I was a little surprised.
But it wasn't shocking news.
I had already guessed it wasn't ordinary food.
That was why I'd felt strangely reluctant to eat it.
"Human flesh?"
Hearing Catgirl's words, Dick Lover picked up a fork and stabbed a piece of meat.
Then she held it up to her eyes and observed it carefully.
"Hmm... Now that I look closely, it definitely doesn't seem like ordinary meat. It looks like some kind of drug was sprinkled on it too... Sleeping pills, maybe?"
"Well, it probably was laced with sleeping pills. That would make it easier to subdue me. I thought those yokai were strangely weak."
"Se-hun, aren't you bothered at all? You nearly ate human flesh, so why are you so calm?"
"I was surprised too. But it just makes me feel disgusted, not enough to make a fuss. I already knew that yokai eat people."
"...You really aren't normal. Putting gender aside, this is a situation where any ordinary person would be shocked."
"And you're totally fine with it?"
"Me, well..."
Dick Lover trailed off.
She apparently didn't feel like answering this time either.
Was it because she was afraid her identity would be exposed?
The more I looked, the more she seemed like a woman with a lot of secrets.
"Ah! I found my phone! It was under the dining table!"
Anyway, now that Bubblegum had found her phone, we decided to leave the house.
Since we had no more business here.
"But shouldn't we dispose of that food too?"
"Senior will take care of everything. You don't need to worry about it."
Dick Lover and Catgirl chatted as they entered the hallway, and Bubblegum and I followed behind them.
***
Before opening the front door.
Dick Lover glanced back and asked.
"But Se-hun. What are you going to tell the viewers?"
"Explain what?"
"Even if we keep what happened here quiet, you'll still have to explain why Plum Blossom and I are here. Look at this."
Dick Lover showed me her phone screen.
【Reformed Guburi】─Gye Bastard-hun, get back here and explain!
【Min-ji】─Explain! Ppu!!!
【Semen Thief】─Explain! Explain!
【Gyejipsa】─Wakyapya! Gye Bastard-hun! Explain! Ppu!
【Hottie Licker】─When he's back, I'm gonna fucking lick him dry.
【Se-hun Defense Force】─Maybe I should've gone too.
【Yoho】─Why are Dick Lover and Plum Blossom there... I'm so worried right now my head is spinning...
【Qkrnfl892】─When is Se-hun coming back. I'm dying to know why the hell those bastards are there.
【BigGirl】─They said there are circumstances. Don't spam and wait calmly.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─I can't trust what Drift says.
It was total chaos.
Apparently, they knew that Plum Blossom and Dick had come here.
I asked Dick.
"Did you come in through the front gate?"
"I don't know about Plum Blossom, but I came in through the front gate."
"We came through the front gate too!"
When Dick answered, Catgirl also answered on behalf of Plum Blossom.
"No. There's a back door, a side door, and you can even climb over the wall, so why the hell did you come through the front gate? You wanna die?"
When I scolded them, they both looked baffled.
"Don't people normally come through the front gate...?"
"That's what I thought..."
Dick and Catgirl said in cowed voices.
"No, you fucking bitches. Think about common sense. What kind of illegal trespasser struts right in through the front gate? The normal thing is to climb over the wall like a proper intruder. And I'm not saying anything about you, Cat, so don't worry about it."
"...Sorry."
"If you said 'bitches'... I think that includes me too... I'm sorry."
"As long as you know you messed up, that's fine."
"Wakyapya. Se-hun is nice."
Honestly, it wasn't something worth getting angry about.
I just suddenly remembered that they had stalked me, felt a surge of irritation, and cursed them out.
Anyway, I decided to let them off with just that.
I felt refreshed after pouring out a round of swearing.
"So, how are you going to explain it?"
As I was about to open the front door and step out, Dick Lover asked once more.
"I'll just say I invited them."
I answered nonchalantly, then swung the front door wide open and headed for the main gate.
***
I picked up the camera in front of the main gate.
Then I explained that I had personally invited Plum Blossom and Dick Lover.
Saying that the two of them happened to be nearby, and I'd sent them an email telling them to come if they wanted.
【Reformed Guburi】─Gye Bastard-hun, you fuck! Give a proper explanation! Explain how you knew they were nearby!
【Qkrnfl892】─That's obviously a lie. lolol
【Se-hun Defense Force】─The part about them being nearby and inviting them sounds like a lie, but sending an email invitation for a meal might be true.
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─What. So they really are invitation girls.
【Min-ji】─Why'd you invite them but leave me out. -_-
【Yoho】─Host. If you keep acting like this, I'm not going to stay quiet either.
【Hottie Licker】─lolol What are you gonna do if you don't stay quiet? You're so fucking cute when you talk. Lick.
【Yoho】─I'm really mad because you promised to have some kind of offline meetup? Fan meeting? with me first.
"Quit your bullshitting. I'll invite you guys later too."
【Yoho】─When? -_-
【Min-ji】─Set a date! -_-!
"I'll set a date later. But just so you know, I'm not inviting any little shits who type annoying crap in chat."
【Yoho】─Pick any date that's convenient for you. lol
【Min-ji】─I'm free anytime, so just tell me when it's good for you! lol!
【Hottie Licker】─Idiots. lolol
【Reverse-Rape Maniac】─Why'd you act up if you were just gonna back down right away? lol
【Qkrnfl892】─lol Easy to quell the riot.
【Reformed Guburi】─But is that disgusting bastard with the cat ears Plum Tree?
I saw Guburi's chat.
I glanced briefly at Catgirl, who was next to me, and said.
"She's Plum Blossom's coworker. She's not a viewer, just a regular person."
【Reformed Guburi】─I'm sorry.
【Hottie Licker】─lolol Guburi's cute. Smooch.
【Qkrnfl892】─She apologizes right away when told it's not Plum Blossom. lololol
While that was happening.
Catgirl leaned close to me and whispered.
"Brother. Could you angle the camera to the side a bit? So the house behind us isn't visible."
I didn't know why she was making this request, but I moved naturally and shifted the camera's direction.
And the moment I looked at the house.
Crackle-crackle-crack.
I saw the outer walls of the building splitting apart and the roof collapsing.
‘So it was because of that.’
I let out a small sigh of admiration as I watched the scene before me.
Countless plum trees were sprouting up everywhere, growing at an abnormal speed and devouring the entire house.
***
Parasitic Yokai Lee Yu-na.
Bubblegum had shown her mercy and spared her life, and she was now slipping out of the house through the back door.
"Huff, haah...!"
Lee Yu-na kept running.
Determined to get away as fast as she could before Bubblegum changed her mind.
"Haah, huff...! What the hell kind of monster was that..."
She entered the mountain behind the house.
After climbing the mountain for a long while, Lee Yu-na's stamina finally gave out, and she collapsed on the spot.
"Haa, hah... This fucking rotten body..."
At that moment, as she was leaning against a tree, catching her breath.
"Haa, haa... Still, this is an opportunity... Now, without being controlled, I can eat humans as I please and grow stronger..."
Thud.
"...Huh?"
A mysterious chunk of metal fell from the sky.
It rolled across the ground and stopped right at her feet.
［I speak. I say goodbye.］
And at the same moment an unknown voice was heard.
Kwaaaang-!
The chunk of metal glowed red and exploded.
The parasitic yokai couldn't even comprehend the situation.
She didn't even realize she had been caught in the blast.
Her entire body shattered to pieces, and her life came to an end just like that.