Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
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After spending time at the internet cafe with Cecilia, Ian personally saw her off.
“Thanks for your help today. Drive safe.”
“Yeah.”
Vroom.
On the dim pre-dawn road, Cecilia turned the key in the ignition as she replied. It was a luxury SUV that didn’t suit her petite frame. An imported model, no less. Domestic for her, though.
Ian watched her expertly adjust the seat and tilted his head.
“Been wondering about this for a while—where’d you get that car? Rental?”
“The association provided it. It’s all legal, so no need to worry.”
“Legality’s whatever... But can your feet even reach the brakes?”
“...Rude.”
Cecilia furrowed her brow and shifted gears. Ian chuckled and waved.
“I’ll contact you when it’s time to head out on the request. Shouldn’t take too long.”
“...Yeah. See you next time.”
“Got it.”
Cecilia smiled softly and eased off the brake. The car pulled forward, merged onto the road, and sped away. Ian watched until it vanished around the corner, then turned toward his bike parked on the shoulder.
Squeeze...
As he pulled on the helmet hanging from the handlebars, a voice emanated from the bike’s linked Bluetooth device.
[Welcome, Shin Ian. Where to today?]
“To the workshop.”
Ian lowered the visor and mounted the bike.
“I’ll drive myself.”
*
Ian arrived at the workshop and immediately retrieved Eddie’s head from the fridge. The crushed skull and brainless head lay limp in his hands, utterly motionless.
Fortunately, decay hadn’t set in yet. No rotten stench, no blackened spots. Freshness preserved perfectly. Only possible because it was a mage’s corpse.
But corpses rot eventually. Without circulating blood or air, flesh turns to refuse, leaving only shabby bones. Even a mage’s body loses all magical value then. No point keeping it.
So he needed to run as much alchemy as possible beforehand. That was the sole reason he’d rushed to the workshop at dawn.
Conveniently, it was Thursday. Jupiter’s day. Also the day of wood. And Jupiter was a fluid gas giant.
Stars held immense weight in magic. Four Elements spells gained extra power on their corresponding days. Astrology could only be practiced by following stellar flows. Pentagram rituals aligned solely with planetary days.
Outer god magic ignored such trivia, of course. Planetary days? Jupiter? Venus? Didn’t matter.
Still, atmosphere mattered. With Jupiter’s day upon him, Ian decided to try ear-based alchemy.
What link ears and Jupiter? Jupiter’s gaseous, ears catch sound riding gas.
‘Eh, just shoehorning it in.’
Ian smirked to himself and sliced off both of Eddie’s ears.
Slice.
The neatly severed ears dropped onto the table. Blood trickled as the headless—er, earless—head flopped sideways like a doll. Ian picked up the ears, wiped them clean, sat down, and flipped through the grimoire. The Hand of Recreation vibrated happily in his grip.
“Dying Hearing, Dying Hearing... Ah, here it is.”
He confirmed the section and tapped the cover with his fingers.
[Dying Hearing]
[Whisper the target’s name into the ear and tear it. Their eardrums will burst, stripping them of hearing. Permanent damage to the auditory cortex makes recovery impossible.]
[Materials: Pair of salted human ears, pepper, bug corpses, 50ml mage (caster) blood, small amount of hair, knife.]
Simple yet intricate materials. All readily available. No issues casting.
Ian got to work, neatly arranging materials on the table before stepping out briefly to order the security guard ghost.
“Catch a few bugs from the officetel and bring them here.”
The guard ghost somersaulted joyfully at the rare command and dashed off to the officetel. Ian filled a bowl with salt and submerged Eddie’s ears.
“That should cover prep...”
Large items like hands, arms, or legs needed a full week in salt. But ears? Half a day sufficed. Waiting now wouldn’t push past Thursday.
Nothing else to do but wait. Ian sprawled on the rest sofa and browsed the community.
“Still chaos, huh.”
The traitor purge from about a week ago. Grandmother had posted it publicly without filters, and the revelation of a mage selling info had the mages collectively tearing into Park Seokhyeon.
[I knew that bastard was up to no good.]
[Ear Bug]
(Oriental magpie photo)
Felt off when he went on about pure humans and crap. Good thing they handled it quick—would’ve been more victims otherwise.
[Comments]
-Knew you’d say you knew.
ㄴEar Bug: Knew you’d say you knew I’d say I knew.
ㄴKnew you’d say you knew I’d say I knew you’d say you knew.
ㄴEar Bug: Knew you’d say you knew I’d say I knew you’d predict I’d say I knew.
ㄴThese retards all lose their minds at once? Wtf is this shit?
[Honestly, Dolores? Not worried. She’s infamous crazy bitch. But the newbie?]
[Rose]
Our newbie’s really okay? Should this mom go check?
[Comments]
-Newbie/3 months in/Eddie killer
ㄴRose: What? Newbie killed Eddie?
ㄴBeen off community for days? That bait dropped ages ago;;
ㄴRose: For real? Holy shit?
[Grandmother’s old personality shining through after ages... Kinda nice.]
[Taming Master]
Back when community was a total shitshow, daily execution proofs popping up like clockwork. Miss those days...
[Comments]
-★Grandmother: Why miss that? Annoys me just thinking back.
ㄴTaming Master: I liked it. Free materials rolling in?
ㄴ★Grandmother: Don’t use people in spells.
ㄴTaming Master: (Mage alpano con)
ㄴ★Grandmother: (Mage block con)
ㄴTaming Master: Stop, fuck!
-Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie: Boomer cunts lol talking old days reeks of ginseng candy. Burn them all in funeral rites.
ㄴTaming Master: I’m still in my 20s asshole.
ㄴStrawberry Yogurt Smoothie: Act your age at least lol
[Ohohohot! This young lady is fine! Killed all the sudden Mexican intruders!]
[Dolores]
(Selfie grinning wide in front of corpse pile)
Young lady strongest!
[Comments]
-Crazy gorilla bitch.
ㄴDolores: Rude! Butler will find and kill you!
-Ugh.
ㄴDolores: Why ugh? Explain! Ugh ugh!
-★Grandmother: Dolores, cleavage showing in pic.
ㄴDolores: Oh!
ㄴDolores: Fixed! Thanks!
ㄴFrom today, Grandmother is my enemy. Dogshit, cuntshit, filthy mage.
ㄴ★Grandmother: (Mage thumbs-up con)
Ian set his phone on his stomach after Dolores’s post and closed his eyes.
Better than expected—not too grave an atmosphere. Lively from the fresh bait, plenty raw hate for Park Seokhyeon, but no real serious vibe.
‘Guess they’re all confident their info won’t leak.’
Mages without strong egos weren’t mages.
Ian cracked his eyes, checked the time.
3:30 a.m.
Too late to sleep properly, too early to pull an all-nighter. He decided to nap while the ears salted.
No real schedule tomorrow anyway. No more requests till Deep Sea Chronicles fully recovered—plenty of time. Sleeping in one day wouldn’t hurt.
“Mmm.”
Ian closed his eyes again and relaxed fully. Soon, his breathing evened out.
*
Ian woke around lunchtime, whipped up a simple meal, grabbed the bug corpses by the door, and returned to the workshop. He waited till 3 p.m., then pulled the ears and set the table.
Drew the magic circle on paper, piled materials atop it. Poured pepper and blood over the central ears, dumped bug corpses in a corner. Hair at top, knife at bottom.
Ian nodded, opened the Hand of Recreation, and chanted.
“The Lord hath not permitted His voice to reach thee, heretic. Rot alone in eternal silence. Chant thine atonement lifelong.”
The incantation’s end ignited the circle. All but the ears burned to ash, powder slowly burrowing into the ear holes.
When the last speck vanished, the circle faded, leaving only the peach-colored ears. Ian lifted one to inspect.
‘No visible changes.’
Like the Dying Eyeball, appearance unchanged. But the alchemy had taken hold successfully.
“...”
Ian considered testing but held off. Too wasteful on an experiment. Better for the upcoming vampire hunt.
‘Tongue and nose... Not much combat use. Later.’
Ian wrapped the ear in cloth, slipped it into a glasses case, and stowed it in his bag.
Workshop tasks done for the day. He grabbed essentials and rode his bike toward his new place.
Then, a vivid moon caught his eye in the sky. Bright and huge as a full moon. Not pale—tinged faintly blue—the Earth’s satellite shone alongside the sun.
“...”
Seeing the moon in afternoon wasn’t odd. Common enough on blue skies.
But this size? This bright, full-moon brilliance? First time in his life.
At night, he’d shrug it off. But daytime, hours from sunset?
“...Feels off.”
An inexplicable unease gripped him. Ian twisted the throttle hard.
Then, faint singing drifted from a car pacing beside him.
[Twinkle twinkle little star—]
[How I wonder what you are—]