KEG 98

Thud–

“Ugh, haa…!”

My body crashed to the ground. The vine that had been wrapped around my neck lost its grip and went limp.

I sat up to assess the situation and looked around.

“Whoa, that was a close call!”

A voice rang out from somewhere.

I turned my head to see people posing in flashy uniforms layered with multicolored lace, standing alongside a broadcast camera. One of them was holding a dagger and a piece of the vine in their hand.

It seemed I had been saved by her.

“Don’t worry, everyone! Our Twinkle Guild has arrived on the scene! Since first touch failed, this video will likely focus on urban rescue operations~! Sorry we couldn’t capture a cool raid!”

By “first touch,” did she mean the right to claim the gate first? I struggled to catch my breath as I stood up fully from the ground. My ankle ached; it seemed I’d hit it on something while being dragged here.

“The monster we’re facing today is none other than~ whoa!”

The person speaking into a microphone strapped to her waist easily dodged a flying vine. Then, mid-air, she pulled out a white mage’s staff with a pink gemstone at the tip.

Now that I looked at it, her outfit wasn’t just flashy, with all the ribbons and frills, what was this….

“We, the Twinkle Fairies, will save everyone! Watch us, Twinkies!”

It was the kind of impractical outfit you’d see at a kids’ school play. They cheerfully chanted a spell.

Boom!

A beam of light burst from the pink gemstone and struck Station 3.

Station 3 turned black and burst into flames in an instant. The aftermath of the attack sent a gust of artificial wind whipping through the area.

“Ugh!”

The smell of burning and ash instantly filled my nostrils. I wasn’t sure, but this was definitely an inappropriate attack to use in a densely populated city.

With so many people still evacuating, why use such a wide-area spell?

“Guh, cough, cough…”

As I bent over and started coughing, someone stepped in front of me to shield me with their body.

Being able to avoid some of the acrid wind made it easier to breathe. stolen content When I looked up, I saw white hair fluttering in the breeze.

“Wow, they look just like magical girls!”

Lee Yuksam, who had approached unnoticed, said this upon seeing the scene. Only then did it click for me.

So this is a guild of Hunters with a magical girl theme.

“It’s really cool seeing them all do that together!”

“You’re right~ I should’ve joined a guild too~”

Lee Yuksam marveled, and Baek Yejun laughed.

Upon closer inspection at the group called the Twinkle Guild, I noticed a few middle-aged man mixed in. They also wore the same dazzling outfit. Their expressions were somber, yet resolute; it that conveyed the weight of a family provider’s responsibility.

It was a tough world out there, no matter what field you were in.

“Did you bite your tongue? Your mouth is all red.”

Baek Yejun grabbed my face as I was distracted. I thought I tasted blood, had I bitten my tongue?

I turned my face away and wrapped my arm around Baek Yejun’s shoulder. My ankle was aching; it seemed I’d really hurt it.

“I’m injured. Help me up.”

“I just looked away for a second and you got hurt already.”

“You’re still alive~ I knew Ho-hyung was the protagonist!”

I wish they’d just stop messing around and let’s get moving. I just want to go home.

But Lee Yuksam and Baek Yejun were just staring at my face.

What kind of nonsense are they planning to pull now?

“Ho-hyung.”

Lee Yuksam called out to me first. Then he brought his hand to my ear and ran it through my hair.

“How long has this been there?”

A sudden chill sent shivers down my spine.

“This”?

No way.

I raised my hand and ran it through my hair. Something thin and soft caught my fingertips.

That sensation made my body freeze. Not just my body, but my breathing and time itself.

It felt as if everything had stopped.

Lee Yuksam and Baek Yejun weren’t looking at my face.

But the tiny thing blooming by my ear.

“Fucking hell.”

A flower had bloomed on my head.

I raised my hand and tried to rip the flower blooming by my ear off.

Snap–crack…

“Gah…”

It felt like I was tearing off one of my own ears. The sensation of ripping off a part of my body was horrifying. It was a bit too much for me to tear it off myself, like Lee Yuksam had done.

“Yuksam, tear it off.”

I told Lee Yuksam, who had plucked the flower with his own hands and remained unscathed, to remove mine.

Lee Yuksam replied briefly, “Okay,” and placed his hand on my ear. However, he was stopped by Baek Yejun.

“I’ll pluck it for you.”

Baek Yejun’s tone and expression were the same as usual. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.

“Huh? Ho-hyung told me to do it.”

“I’ll do it.”

“But I’m the one who received the order.”

Lee Yuksam and Baek Yejun were arguing over something trivial.

Well, Baek Yejun had always been a jerk, so I could understand that, but I never expected Lee Yuksam (who usually just obeyed) to act like this.

“Orders are absolute.”

Lee Yuksam swatted away Baek Yejun’s hand as he tried to stop him. I knew he was unusually obedient, maybe he had some kind of obsession with following orders.

Well, whatever the case, it’s none of my business.

The most important thing for me right now was,

“Fuck, just do it.”

The throbbing in my head was getting worse.

On top of that, the headache was getting worse. It was a level of pain completely different from the migraines I usually experienced.

It felt like someone was drilling into my skull.

“Don’t clench your teeth. You’re bleeding.”

Baek Yejun grabbed my jaw again and rubbed it with his fingers. Apparently, blood mixed with saliva had been dripping from my mouth.

Throb!

“Guh, ugh…”

The headache intensified and my legs began to give out. These were the symptoms of the mutation about to begin.

It was getting harder and harder to think rationally.

“Hurry…! Tear it off!”

I grabbed Baek Yejun’s wrist, which was holding my jaw, and bit down. My vision turned red.

Shit, are my eyes bleeding too?

Ssssh, ssssh–

The sound of flesh tearing echoed out. Someone was tearing the flower.

My blurred, bloodshot vision was filled only with Baek Yejun. My entire body w stolen content as leaning on his arm.

This useless, weak body.

I clenched my teeth even tighter.

I bit into the Esper’s flesh.

It was hard and tough.

It didn’t feel human.

Strange skin.

A ringing echoed in my ears, and the red expanse before me turned black.

I couldn’t tell if my eyes were open or closed.

A white dot appeared in the distance. It got closer and closer.

No, maybe it was not getting closer, maybe it was getting bigger.

The dot grew bigger and bigger until it filled my entire field of vision.

And so I reached that white world.

***

“Are you awake?”

A person wearing a flower wreath was waving at me. I was lying in a field of black flowers.

“Welcome. You must be quite surprised.”

The person waving at me suggested we go to the village where they lived.

A complete stranger suddenly inviting me to their village? I immediately raised my guard, but there was no real reason not to go either.

“Why am I here?”

“Ah~ You’re surprised, right? Everyone is when they first come here.”

I followed the person leading me. It felt strange seeing him walk on tiptoe, trying not to step on the flowers in the garden.

What’s so special about these black flowers that they’re acting like this?

I just walked right over them.

“You probably don’t remember why you were lying there, or who you are. Right?”

“That’s true.”

“I was like that when I first came here too~ I was so flustered~”

“I see.”

What is my name? Why am I here?

All my memories were hazy. But I didn’t feel particularly anxious.

Because the landscape of the white and black plains spread out before me was peaceful.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

The person in front of me gazed at the scenery as if they unauthorized copywere beholding something rare. I didn’t really feel it was beautiful.

The only thought that came to mind was that it was peaceful because it wasn’t noisy.

“Oh dear, you must have lived a very harsh life in your previous life. Seeing as you don’t react to this scenery by saying it’s pretty or fantastic.”

“I think so too.”

My mind was calm. I must have been a dry person in my previous life.

Judging how I was starting to get annoyed instead of feeling happy even when I saw something nice. No, maybe I was just a rude bastard.

“Those are graphite flowers.”

The person who had been walking carefully to avoid stepping on the flowers pointed at my feet and said.

It probably sounded like a warning not to step on them. But I didn’t really [stolen content]feel like tiptoeing either, so I just said, “Oh, okay.”

“Haha… Anyway, that’s the village over there.”

I could see the “village” at the tip of the guide’s finger, though I wasn’t entirely convinced. The village was filled entirely with black buildings.

Walls, roofs, floors, chimneys. Even the clothes worn by the people inside were black. Come to think of it, the person who had guided me was also wearing black.

“Ugh…”

I raised my hand to cover my nose against the foul, sweet stench wafting from the village.

The air, a mixture of rotten meat and flowers, made my stomach churn.

“It’s the village’s sacred fragrance. You’ll get used to it soon.”

Fragrance? How can anyone call this a fragrance?

I wanted to rip my nose right off.

“What am I supposed to do here?”

I asked the guide first. I realized that they wouldn’t just bring a stranger into the village on a whim.

I didn’t know why. Was I always someone who didn’t trust unconditional goodwill?

“Just go see the Master.”

“The Master?”

“Yes, the Master of the village. Our Master.”

“Is this a village of slaves?”

At my question, the guide looked slightly dumbfounded.

“It’s just that talking about the ‘master’ with that ‘on drugs’ look on your face makes you seem like a slave.”

“A ‘on drugs’ look…?”

I didn’t even know why I was talking like such a jerk. I let myself ramble, and now I was just spouting nonsense.

What kind of life had I lived to be so rude?