The Weakness of the Hide

"Okay, so first— that line about the resident bird from the fan's description. Wouldn't that mean a magpie?"

"Why a magpie, of all things?"

"When you think of Korea's birds, the magpie's the one, right? It shows up all over paintings and folk tales, too. And…."

Go Gyumin went on to lay out his reasoning for the theory.

Listening to him, my eyes lit up.

The thread of the quest that had felt hopelessly tangled was beginning to unravel.

"Good. For final confirmation, we need to dig deeper into the Jangsanbeom."

"But the illusions will only get nastier the further we go, won't they? Like, say… showing us the scenes we fear the most."

"Fear?"

"You know how it goes. Some trauma, or tormenting someone who's tangled up with you…."

As the speculation continued, Jang Siwoon's face darkened sharply. Mine was no different.

Go Gyumin, by contrast, wore the same indifferent expression he always did.

"Well then, I guess I've got nothing to hallucinate about. I'll wake you both up if it comes to that."

"…Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely sure. I'll even bet you on it."

"No, thank you. I'd rather not bet."

Honestly, I was only half convinced.

A man without a single relationship or past that could be turned against him had entered this museum?

Then what on earth had Go Gyumin wished for?

He spoke with such overwhelming confidence that I had no choice but to believe him.

"However it happens, I'll get you out. So make sure you find the crack in that thing with that knife."

Still, if Go Gyumin—who grumbled about everything—was going this far, it had to be worth a try.

From before the sun had even risen, we were on the move, hunting the Jangsanbeom.

Anxiety had gnawed at us, leaving none of us able to sleep properly even in fits.

We'd spent the whole night working out a plan for the quest—now we had to put it into action.

…….

And yet, no matter how far we followed the white powder trail left behind by the Jangsanbeom, not even the tip of its long tail appeared.

The resolve that had once filled everyone's faces was slowly giving way to sweat-soaked exhaustion.

"So what happens if we follow this path all day and the Jangsanbeom still doesn't show by sundown?"

"Please, don't say such horrible things, Teacher Go."

"Mr. Pessimism, at your service."

I could see Go Gyumin and Jang Siwoon slowly grating on each other's nerves.

Even I, silent between the two of them, felt my lips going dry.

The sun's up….

Sunlight filtered into the cave, and before long the sky outside the cave mouth had brightened completely.

Morning had only just arrived—there was still plenty of time until sunset.

But anxiety had cut our conversation to almost nothing.

"Wait a second."

Jang Siwoon suddenly stopped in her tracks and spread both arms wide.

Eyes wide, scanning our surroundings—her intuition had activated again.

"Do you hear that?"

Go Gyumin and I pricked up our ears, straining to listen.

Now that she mentioned it, a faint sound was drifting from somewhere far off.

"Birds are calling! The resident bird—look, over there! It's magpies!"

Jang Siwoon pointed at the sky above the cave.

A flock of magpies was sweeping across the sky.

"You were right, Teacher Go—the fan's resident bird really is the magpie!!"

When I referenced our conversation from before dawn, the corners of Go Gyumin's mouth curled up.

He even gave a thumbs-up, as if he'd expected nothing less.

With his theory holding up, hope for success flickered back to life.

…….

Unlike the two of us, swept up in hope and losing our composure, Jang Siwoon still wore a doubtful frown.

Had she sensed something unpleasant circling the air around us?

"But it could be the Jangsanbeom mimicking them."

Chak… chak… chak— chakchakchekikikikikikikkekkek—

Then it happened.

The moment Jang Siwoon finished speaking, the birdsong twisted into something grotesque.

A fork scraping glass. Foil being ripped apart without mercy.

A sound so sharp it raised the flesh on my arms reverberated through the cave.

"?! What is that sound?"

"Look up there!!"

Jang Siwoon lifted her head and pointed at the sky.

The flock of magpies soaring overhead had turned to bone in an instant.

Bird skulls flew through the air like the pterosaur skeletons in an exhibit hall, spinning a scene of pure horror.

Wait a second….

The sun was moving, as if someone were fast-forwarding a video.

Between the whipping clouds, the sun sank lower and lower.

"The sun—it's setting…!"

"That's impossible. The sun only just came up!"

Jang Siwoon and Go Gyumin cried out at the unbelievable sight.

Time was streaming past at a maddening pace.

How much time has passed?!

I raised my blade to catch the sky's reflection. Sure enough, the sun still hung above.

It hadn't set—but far more time had passed than any of us had realized.

Time can't possibly move this fast. This is fake.

A ploy by the Jangsanbeom to throw us into disarray.

"It's an illusion. Everyone, stay calm!"

"…!"

Go Gyumin and Jang Siwoon turned to me at the same instant.

"Don't worry. I'll—"

"You're going to shatter my illusion? Keh, keh, keh. I've heard every last word of your little plan."

"?!"

In that instant, every syllable rang out in a different person's voice.

I jolted violently, trembling, and whipped my gaze toward the sound.

Just like yesterday, the Jangsanbeom was using its illusions to unravel us.

"Let's find the faintest voice inside you."

"I don't have anything like that."

I focused my mind hard, refusing to be seduced by the beast.

Determined to steady myself, I answered the Jangsanbeom in a deliberate, full voice.

At that, the Jangsanbeom chuckled and sneered at me.

"As if. All things under heaven have a weakness. And I will find yours, and the one entangled with it. For instance…."

It felt like fingers rifling through my mind.

The Jangsanbeom's voice was seizing my brain, hunting for my weakness.

A weakness—and the one entangled with it.

"Then you must have a weakness too, don't you?"

…….

Before it could read that person out of my mind, I hurled the question at it.

At my provocation, the Jangsanbeom fell silent for a beat.

"I was born to mock and trample mankind. I could never have a weakness."

I raised the dagger in both hands.

In the dagger's mirror-like blade, a black mass was reflected.

A black mass floating in midair. The Jangsanbeom's voice—and its bluff, its lie.

"Then let me carve that lie open."

"?!"

"Both of you, stick close to me!"

Exactly as we'd planned, Go Gyumin and Jang Siwoon pressed in at my sides.

Now was the time to cleave the falsehood with this Unbending Dagger.

"Hyaaaah—!!"

I swung the dagger with everything I had at the mass reflected in the blade.

Light burst from the dagger, and the black mass that had been hiding all this while stood exposed before my eyes.

I struck the mass dead center and split it apart.

Krash—!

With the sound of shattering glass, an entirely different world unfolded before me.

Am I inside?

A dark night. A lone house deep in the mountains.

Living as a recluse in the wilds, its thatched roof was old and small.

I looked back and forth between Go Gyumin and Jang Siwoon.

Even with the two of them drifting away from my body, nothing in particular seemed to happen.

"Seek the painter in the deep valley…."

The Jangsanbeom's eerie voice slipped through the hanji paper doors and burrowed inside.

We followed the sound into the house.

The painter was drawing, laying down fine lines of ink with meticulous care.

Oblivious to the flickering oil lamp, he lost himself wholly in his strokes.

Then the black mass came slithering close and poured itself into his ear.

"The magpie is surrounded on all sides by towering mountains."

…….

"Upon the beast beside it, lay a coat of white."

"…I'll need white pigment. Master."

The painter's pupils were hollow, and the hand sweeping the brush moved as if it were no longer his own.

Aaaaah…!

A pain like a rope cinching tight around my brain seized me.

I clutched my head and screamed.

The Leaflet flashed before my eyes like a burst of lightning.

But before I could properly read it, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I was swallowed back into the world of the illusion.

I have—I have to keep watching!!

The Jangsanbeom was trying to cast me out of its memory.

My skull felt ready to burst, but I gritted my teeth and held my ground, refusing to be shoved back.

"?!! Wh-what in the world is this."

The painter recoiled in shock at his own finished painting.

Though no wind blew, the oil lamp swayed perilously and the paper fluttered.

The whole ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠canvas is smeared with the signs of the Jangsanbeom.

A magpie, hemmed in and hidden by encircling peaks.

And a beast draped in a white hide, grinning vilely.

"Now that the passage is sealed, this beast cannot come out. Not unless it returns by another way."

The moment I heard the Jangsanbeom murmuring to itself, the description of Go Gyumin's fan surfaced in my mind.

The resident bird was the magpie. And the beast beside it in the painting had to return by another way.

By singing a song about the beast—each in our own way.

That's it!

Now I had to get us out of here, quickly.

I turned my head, searching for Jang Siwoon and Go Gyumin.

Siwoon…!

Jang Siwoon was clutching her head in agony, just as I had been moments ago.

This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time, the Jangsanbeom was attacking her mind to force her out.

Seeing her suffering, unable even to scream, made my heart race with urgency.

The dagger—where's the dagger?

Somewhere along the way it had slipped from my hand and now stood firmly planted in the ground.

The instant I reached for it, the floor stretched impossibly far away.

No matter how I leaned my body toward it, the distance would not close.

If we all end up trapped inside this illusion—

The dreadful thought sent a chill down my spine.

"Hyap-chaa!!"

THWACK—

Just then, a hard blow landed on the back of my head.

My brain rang with a shrill ziing— and my senses snapped back.

My bleary vision slowly regained its focus and sharpened.

Go Gyumin was steadying me, his face etched with worry.

"Ugh…."

"Kim, you alright?"

"Teacher Go…. Agh…."

"You were the one who'd intruded into the Jangsanbeom's mind, so the way out had to come from you. I didn't have a choice."

As I clutched my throbbing skull, Go Gyumin cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Turns out the Jangsanbeom isn't just a thing that whittles away time. That was a close call, Kim."

"What do you… mean?"

God.

Two whole blocks of ink had vanished without my noticing.

So its psychic attacks drained my stamina directly.

I'd almost been eliminated because of the Jangsanbeom.

"Quite a lot of time has passed. The sky's already starting to turn gold."

Go Gyumin nodded toward the heavens.

Just as he said, a yellow glow was spreading across the sky. Soon it would flush red.

That's how long I'd been tangled inside the illusion.

"Ugh…."

"I hit you with the fan, so it shouldn't hurt too badly. Now I get why Siwoon here resorts to physical attacks."

Go Gyumin gave an embarrassed grin and flourished the fan.

Impressive, really, that a folding fan could make a sound like that.

Jang Siwoon, for her part, just stood there blankly, clearly not following the joke.

"You okay, Siwoon?"

"Yes. It's nothing."

…….

Jang Siwoon coolly wiped the tears clinging to her eyes with the back of her hand.

Somehow, I doubted it was nothing.

Time was running short, and both our gauges had taken a hit—the quest needed to be resolved, and fast.

"You were right, Teacher Go. We really did shatter the illusion."

"It wouldn't have worked with any other illusion. He has no one he's attached his feelings to—so the Jangsanbeom has no voice of his to mimic."

Go Gyumin gave a hollow laugh and shrugged.

The one the Jangsanbeom had latched onto—the figure tied to weakness—was the beast in the painting.

Jang Siwoon and I each had someone like that too.

But Go Gyumin, true to his boast, hadn't been touched by the beast's attack at all.

"This is why I've lived a life with no one to answer for."

"You absolute—"

As Go Gyumin sneered, the Jangsanbeom revealed itself, its white fur bristling.

Enraged at having its weakness seen through, the beast snorted and huffed at us.

"Now, it is time for the beast that will press this creature down to descend."

Shwak—

Glaring at the Jangsanbeom, Go Gyumin spread the Chirping Fan wide open.