Chapter 64: The ghost of the opera, appear!

The B1 food court was a horrific sight, unbearable to witness.

Everyone was gripped by chaos and madness.

—Thwack!

“Ha… haha!! I caught one…! I caught a sacrifice!! Now our daughter can live too!”

“Damn it! We’re all going to die like this!! Everyone, let’s catch whatever sacrifices we can and throw them to those crazy murderers! Then we can live!”

“If we keep hiding them, only innocent people will die! Let’s just hand over the sacrifices and let those who can live, live!!”

In addition to parents brutally killing sacrifices, now even those fleeing began to root out sacrifices.

It was a situation where it had been calculated that handing over the sacrifices to the mad murderers, who swung their knives without distinguishing friend from foe, was far more advantageous.

The Prankster was observing such people with great interest.

[Truly despicable and dirty sights… I realized once again that humans are animals who sacrifice others for themselves so easily! Ah, but there’s no need to feel any guilt at all. Everyone values themselves the most, don’t they?]

—Hehehe.

The mascot costumes were still clutching their bellies and pretending to roar with laughter, in sync with The Prankster’s words.

[Ah~ Humans really are… always acting as expected, now as in the past… It’s appealing, yet I quickly get bored. It’s about time to end this second prank—]

At that moment, a girl who was holding her ground in a corner, not backing down even when facing people with knives, caught The Prankster’s attention.

[Hmm…? Why is a frail girl, who isn’t even a sacrifice, confronting people? She doesn’t seem bound by the rules either… How strange.]

The sky-blue haired girl was protecting another friend, who was trembling behind her, from the assailants.

At her sight, not backing down a single step for her friend even while bleeding, The Prankster felt an inexpressible thrill.

[Ah… Aah… Aaahhh…! Yes, this is it! This is the new stimulus I wanted to see…! A beautiful, frail girl sacrificing herself for her friend…!]

The girl stood with her back against the wall, as if saying she wouldn’t leave if her friend couldn’t, continuously protecting her friend.

Her eyes, which matched her light sky-blue hair perfectly, and her splendid movements.

The sight of the girl, not abandoning her friend even while receiving minor injuries from the knife-wielding assailants.

[Beautiful… If you’re also human, your own life must be the most precious…! The nobility of not backing down a single step to protect your friend! The resolve felt in your unyielding gaze! Ah… at this rate, I might forget my title as ‘Director’ and become a ‘fan’ of you.]

The Prankster, who proclaimed himself an artist, had his heart completely stolen by the sky-blue haired girl, Yoo Shina.

****

“Damn it, aren’t you ashamed to face your own children?! You’d kill innocent people to save your child? Fine, just you dare come closer. If you even touch a hair on my friend, then I’ll die, and all of you will die too!!”

Yoo Shina.

A girl who used harsh words so much it was hard to believe she was a university student who had just turned 20, but whose heart was warmer than anyone else’s.

No matter how bold a girl she was, one would surely be scared when seeing people attacking with weapons, ready to kill, but no such fear could be found in Shina.

Because she was not an ‘ordinary girl’.

Thud!

Wham!

Bang!

“Just because you’re holding knives, you think you’re hot shit?! I’m finally getting to use what my old man taught me since I was a kid!! Come at me, you bastards who aren’t even human!”

People began to be sent flying by Shina’s straight punches and spinning back kicks.

Even though they held weapons, the attacking parents were still just ordinary people, no match for Shina.

“Do you know the heart of a parent who lost a child?! We are desperate people too! Hand over the sacrifice you’re hiding behind you while we’re being nice!”

“A young girl putting on such a pathetic show of bravado!”

“Don’t interfere!! I have to save my daughter!”

—Slash!

But even for a girl stronger than ordinary people, it was difficult to handle a situation where dozens of people rushed at her, swinging knives.

‘Damn it… I’m getting cut, little by little. There are too many of them.’

Blood began to seep from minor stab wounds on the girl’s arms and thighs.

“Crazy humans in front… and a fucked-up ghost story behind them… This is a truly dog-awful situation.”

No matter how positively she tried to view it, the situation before her was the worst.

There was no one around to help, and everyone was busy saving their own lives.

But even so, Shina did not give up.

“Hey, Lee Yeonwoo! I told you to run away while I’m blocking them, didn’t I?! Seriously, I’m going to die first protecting you!”

“Sh-Shina…! I can’t go any further here…! Something like an invisible wall is blocking me!”

What The Prankster had said last, the rule that sacrifices could not escape this place, was preventing Yeonwoo from running away beyond a certain distance.

“Shina, you run away at least…! You can get out of here…! I, I’m confident in running! I’ll try to escape somehow! So please, you go first…! *Hiccup*…! I, I won’t cry anymore, so don’t worry…! *Sniff*!”

Yeonwoo clung to Shina’s clothes, whimpering and trying to push her outside.

Yeonwoo, who was always timid and tearful, never wanted her friend to be harmed while protecting her.

“Lee Yeonwoo, stop sniffling and talking nonsense. How are you, someone whose passive skill is always trembling like a hamster, going to survive without me? I’m absolutely going to get out of here with you. Got it?”

“B-But… you’re bleeding, bleeding so much…! I-I’m not strong like you, Shina, and I’m scared, so I know you always worry. But I don’t want you to get hurt because of me… I don’t want that…!”

“Lee Yeonwoo… you really won’t listen—”

—Stumble.

At that moment, Shina’s vision blurred and her legs began to tremble from losing too much blood.

“Ha, what the hell is this—”

And as if not to miss that moment, the knife-wielding assailants immediately rushed at Shina.

“Get out of the way!! That sacrifice is mine!”

“Kill that interfering b*tch in front first! Now’s our chance while she’s disoriented!”

“I claimed that b*tch first! I have to save my son!!”

The girl quickly tried to regain her posture and focus, but her body had already reached its limit.

‘Ugh… I’m dizzy…! Oh, no! If I collapse, Yeonwoo…!’

No matter how many martial arts and combat skills she had learned, she was still a young girl; after hours of protecting her friend and fighting murderers, she was utterly overwhelmed by mental and physical stress.

“Kill the sacrifice!!!”

“We have to kill the b*tch in front first! If she comes to her senses, she’ll interfere again!”

At the very moment an assailant’s knife was about to strike her.

Click!

[That’s enough. If you lay another hand on my ‘muse,’ I’ll shatter not only the child but also your heads into pieces.]

What ironically quelled the madness-gripped situation in an instant was none other than the culprit, The Prankster.

He had intentionally orchestrated a desperate situation, planning to save the girl at the extreme moment.

Precisely to win her favor.

However, Shina was disgusted by The Prankster’s attitude.

“Damn it, seriously. If you hadn’t started this in the first place, these people, me, and my friend could have spent a happy weekend, so what’s with this pretending to be generous bullshit!”

[Oh my, oh my, for a lady of such beautiful appearance to have such coarse language. It makes me like you even more, actually? Would you insult me a bit more? That gaze of yours, and your conviction… the sensation of being trampled by such a girl is the ultimate pleasure!]

“Perverted bastard…”

[They say there are flowers that bloom beautifully even in mud, and it’s true. Your clear blue eyes and sky-blue hair… truly beautiful.]

In sync with The Prankster’s words flowing from the speakers, a clown doll approached Shina and extended its hand.

[How about it? If you just say one word, that you’ll become my personal heroine, I will save your friend behind you. I’ll also remove the sacrifice mark and let her leave immediately.]

The Prankster’s condition: to become his toy in exchange for her friend.

[I am a director who loves many classics, musicals, and scripts. Among the creations you humans have made, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ resonated deeply with me! My muse… was it Yoo Shina? Shina, will you become my angel of music, my Christine, just for me?]

“……”

Shina herself knew well how dangerous a deal with The Prankster was.

Their words should not be trusted. The Prankster was simply a twisted being who enjoyed seeing humans suffer and grieve.

But just as not everyone can follow knowledge they know intellectually, Shina’s heart began to waver little by little at the words that Yeonwoo’s life could be saved.

“……Will you really save Yeonwoo…?”

[Of course! You saw how I returned the daughter of the father who committed murder to normal, didn’t you? I am different from those unscrupulous Pranksters who deceive humans. What I pursue is only fun and art! I am a gentleman who always keeps his word.]

“If you break your promise, I’ll bite my tongue and die right in front of you. If you don’t want to lose your muse or whatever, erase the mark above Yeonwoo’s head right now.”

[Hahaha, as you command.]

“W-Wait…! I don’t want that!! Shina, what will happen to you instead of me, at the hands of The Prankster—”

Click!

As the clown snapped its fingers once more, the flag above Yeonwoo’s head disappeared, and she lost consciousness, fainting.

[Your friend values you highly too, it seems. I put her to sleep for a bit so the parting wouldn’t be difficult… Was that presumptuous of me? Hahaha!]

“……It’s fine.”

Shina gently lifted the sleeping Yeonwoo, carefully placed her in a corner, and covered her with clothes.

“I’m sorry for being stubborn… Yeonwoo.”

After stroking the deeply sleeping Yeonwoo’s head once, the girl turned and approached the clown doll.

“So… what do I need to do?”

[As I said before, I love the play ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ very much. Please go up to the central stage I’ve prepared and show me a dance with the puppet I’ve arranged! Everything you show me will bring me unparalleled emotion.]

Shina raised both hands and flipped off the clown.

“……f*cking bastard… Go to hell.”

[I’ll take that as a compliment. Hahaha!]

****

‘Still, I’m glad I could save Yeonwoo…’

When Yeonwoo wakes up and finds me gone, she’ll cry her eyes out, but…

“It’s fine… It’s more beneficial for the world if a kind and pretty girl like Yeonwoo lives than me anyway.”

Shina sighed and stepped onto the stage that The Prankster had prepared.

The burning orange sunset light streamed through the windows, becoming a beautiful illumination for the stage.

In the center of the stage stood a man whose entire face was covered by a black suit and a white mask, just like the Phantom from the play.

“Damn it… ‘artist,’ my ass… When did he prepare this kind of partner? That damn Prankster bastard.”

It seemed The Prankster wanted to capture her endlessly dancing with that phantom.

Shina slowly approached the man in the phantom costume and took his hand.

The girl, who had set aside herself to save her friend and stepped onto the stage, spoke to the man who would be her partner for the last time.

“Are you also trapped by that Prankster? I’m sorry. That your last dance while alive is with a difficult woman like me.”

“……”

The masked man, as if having given up on life, said nothing and simply stood there, holding Shina’s hand.

The girl stared intently at the man.

Dark brown hair and a tall stature. A man who felt sturdy and well-kept, as if he exercised a lot.

His clothes and mask felt somewhat awkward, as if bought from a cosplay pop-up, but perhaps because the costume itself was good, he also looked cool.

‘C-Cool, my ass…! What am I, a woman like me, thinking in this situation!’

Shina shook her head vigorously, then spoke to him again.

“I know you don’t like this situation, but at least say something—”

The moment Shina took a step closer to the man,

—Whoosh!!

A pitch-black aura erupted from the man’s body, and his appearance began to change.

His brown hair gradually darkened as if being encroached upon by shadow.

His eyes, visible through the mask, grew increasingly dark.

“Y-You are…?”

Shina knew who the man in front of her was.

The being who saved Yeonwoo at the convenience store last winter. A destruction-level Prankster with immense power, but the only one who pitied humans.

“Phantom…?”

[The false play ends here.]

To save herself, who had become Christine from The Phantom of the Opera, the real ‘Phantom’ appeared on stage.