Chapter 72
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: The Invisible Person (7)
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Today, unlike usual, Sia was minding the first floor. On days when Taeju had to go out for other work, she would sit in for him.
Of course, Sia didn’t know how to make drinks. The only cafe-related thing she could do was drink them.
“So, this letter was inside the shoe cabinet.”
“Yes! Woli’s shoe cabinet.”
But when it came to consultations—especially those involving monster tales—Sia was better than Taeju. That was why Seol-i sat demurely in front of her for the interim evaluation.
“Leave me alone...”
Sia said, propping her chin up boredly.
“I get why Woli left. She was convinced the other person had seen her.”
Given Woli’s personality, that was something worth being wary of.
What if something she couldn’t see was targeting the people around her? There was no way Woli could stand by if that thought crossed her mind.
“Probably nothing major will happen, though.”
“Nothing major?”
“Yeah. High probability.”
Sia didn’t bother explaining why.
“For now, let’s do the evaluation. You’ve done well so far. The incident itself is far from over, but still.”
“Really?”
Seol-i’s face lit up. Sia nodded.
“You got the intended result, so that’s a success.”
“That’s... success, right?”
Seol-i hadn’t been confident, but she was sure she’d succeeded in delivering the message.
“Of course, I should point out that you tried to make contact without even knowing exactly what it was, but honestly, with Woli there, you didn’t need to be that cautious.”
All in all, it was more praise than expected. Seol-i was a bit surprised.
“I thought I was really lacking!”
“Naturally, you are.”
Sia smirked. Seol-i looked a little downcast.
“But what you’re going through now is valuable experience in many ways. I don’t want to say ‘suffer while you’re young,’ but it’s true you won’t feel the drive to grow without some hardship.”
Besides, calling it lacking was just a matter of pace. They weren’t heading in the wrong direction, so no correction was needed.
“But... it doesn’t feel like I’ve done anything amazing.”
Seol-i said with a slight frown.
“I feel like I should be doing more.”
All Seol-i had done so far was spot traces of the invisible person with her eyes and write down the note’s contents.
“What more should I do?”
When Seol-i looked up, Sia smiled faintly.
“Feeling anxious?”
Sia’s response had nothing to do with Seol-i’s question, but it hit the nail on the head.
Seol-i fell silent for a moment before answering.
“Yeah. I feel like I’m not being much help.”
Her eyes were special, no doubt. She could see things others couldn’t.
Sia had told her she had talent, but she hadn’t accomplished anything impressive yet. If anything, she just made occasional mistakes.
Meanwhile, everyone else here—even Boyoung, who had nothing to do with monster tales—was achieving something.
“I feel like I need to do more.”
Seol-i was definitely getting impatient. Sia felt she needed to say something.
“You’re needlessly rushing things.”
“...A little.”
“Honestly, you’re not being helpful yet.”
“Ugh...”
Seol-i knew it, so she just shrank back a bit.
“Without you, we could’ve handled everything that’s happened so far without issue.”
Seol-i hadn’t been much help in the few incidents up to now.
“But that’s already impressive enough. You’re still learning.”
She only felt inadequate comparing herself to others. Seol-i was showing solid growth.
The proof was that she wasn’t getting in the way among this group.
“Plus, the help you provide is small but precise.”
“But it’s minor stuff.”
“Really?”
Sia smiled faintly.
“If I grabbed some random person off the street and told them to do what you’ve done, could they?”
“...No.”
Most of it came from her special eyes, but it definitely wasn’t something anyone could do.
“Then it’s not minor. It’d be one thing if a pro was satisfied with that level, but expecting more from a newbie is ridiculous.”
So there was no need to be discouraged.
“We could solve things among ourselves without you, sure. But we can’t do that forever. It might be easier not to teach you right now, but working just us will hit a limit eventually.”
So, Sia said, there was no need to despair over not being helpful yet.
“You’ll be helpful soon.”
It was definitely praise, but it also meant she wasn’t much help now.
“You think so...?”
That was why Seol-i still looked anxious. It showed so clearly on her face that Sia smiled.
“Isn’t what you’re doing already leading there? From what Taeju said, you’re doing well.”
“But it’s so hard!”
Seol-i gazed at Sia with eyes begging for a hint, but Sia just laughed.
“Taeju said not to give hints on things you can figure out yourself.”
“Ah, um...”
“But since this is your first time with a case like this, I’ll explain a bit.”
Color returned to Seol-i’s face.
“Why have monster tales been fading away lately?”
“Huh?”
It seemed completely unrelated, so Seol-i asked back.
“That has... to do with this now?”
“It does. This is a rare type of monster tale these days.”
Sia explained.
“This is clearly a case of a person turning invisible.”
It was different in nature from the other cases they’d handled.
“Let’s review the cases you’ve seen. People who met Mangnyang, people who watched the cursed video, and so on... In none of them did the person become the monster tale themselves. They just encountered something from one.”
Seol-i’s thoughts stalled for a moment. It wasn’t an invisible person meeting a human—it was a human becoming invisible.
It was definitely her first time with something like this.
“Oh, yeah? No, there is one!”
“Your sister, right? But let’s set that aside for now. This is about why monster tales are disappearing in modern times.”
Sia sat up a bit more seriously.
First, Seol-i answered Sia’s initial question.
“Aren’t monster tales fading because people don’t believe in them anymore?”
Seol-i had heard something similar before.
“The more people know about them, the more believe, the more they can exist, right?”
“Exactly.”
Sia smiled.
“Then do you get what it means for someone to become a monster tale entity in modern times?”
“No.”
Without experience, it was hard for Seol-i to understand.
“The cases we’ve had—right before you joined and after—almost none were like that.”
Sia herself had rarely seen any. They were that uncommon.
“People encountering monster tales is mostly coincidence. Of course, perfectly fine people don’t run into them.”
People with some issue meet them by chance.
“Then what about someone becoming a monster tale?”
“That happens when they’re in an unbearable situation.”
“What’s that mean? Like, if they wanted to be invisible, it happens?”
Seol-i couldn’t grasp it. But Sia nodded.
“Let me give an example. Sometimes there are days when nothing goes right. People call it ‘a demon’s on your back.’”
It was a common expression.
“On days when things go wrong by chance, some blame themselves. Others say a demon’s on them.”
It was common among those with major failures or big mistakes they couldn’t accept as their own.
“If they can’t accept it, people blame external factors. They say it’s because they were used by something bad.”
That’s when a demon gets on your back. Once explained that way, no other explanation is needed. A demon’s on you, so things go wrong. No need to talk about condition or lack of effort.
Monster tale explanations have that power. Like not wondering why lightning strikes if you believe in Zeus.
Monster tales make all other explanations unnecessary just by existing.
“Luckily, a simple ‘demon on your back’ can be shaken off quickly. People know it doesn’t last long. But what if it’s something unshakable, or not that strong but the person’s state is too severe?”
“...So they become invisible?”
“Whatever it is, it’s at least that serious.”
Sia didn’t know the exact type, method, or severity.
All she knew was it was some dire state.
“Taeju’s scary good at spotting these.”
Considering he pulled off his role so well without any special powers, Taeju might be the real monster here. Sia thought so.
“Now, think about the rest on your own.”
She’d given all the hints she could. Sia smiled.
“By myself?! From here?!”
Seol-i had expected more explanation and panicked.
“Isn’t this enough to understand? If not, I can explain again.”
It was a practice case, after all. Not too serious, something to dig into alone when she had time. Explaining more would actually hinder Seol-i.
But hearing she’d get no more help from here on felt a bit disappointing to Seol-i.
“I don’t know anything about invisible people, though.”
“You can still think of things even without knowing about invisible people.”
She was focusing too much on what she didn’t know. Clues come from doing what you can. Feeling a bit soft-hearted, Sia decided to give one tiny extra hint.
“Want one more hint to start?”
Sia thought for a moment, then asked.
“What does it mean that they sent a note?”
“A note?”
Seol-i hesitated.
“...Expressing intent.”
Short, but a clear expression of will.
“‘Leave me alone’?”
“‘Don’t look for me,’ right?”
Sia asked again.
“Who is it that says ‘don’t look for me’?”
“...Huh?”
It was an instinctive gut feeling, but she sensed it was an important question.
“...I don’t know.”
So she couldn’t answer easily. And it really was important.
“Well, no need to overthink it. Who tells someone not to look for them?”
“Um... someone who’s away or hiding... like that?”
“Most people who say ‘don’t look for me’ are like that.”
Don’t look for me.
“Someone who... wants to leave?”
“Who knows.”
Sia didn’t answer further. She didn’t seem inclined to. Seol-i decided to ponder it more.
“Leave me alone...”
Watching Seol-i mutter and think to herself, Sia smiled.
“It’d be nice if I could offer her something to drink.”
That was a bit regrettable. Next time she was alone with Taeju, maybe she’d learn how to use that coffee machine. Sia thought.