episode_0242

“It’s always the same here. Where does [Black Man] usually stay?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Galaxy’s languid voice flows out from a fortune teller’s shop standing alone in a dark space.

Pitch black, like looking up at a night sky covered with dark clouds.

A place where pure white will-o’-the-wisps rise one by one and flow together as one.

Looking into the fortune teller’s shop through the only window, you can see Eunha sitting across from [the black man] across a round table.

A man in black, wearing a black hat and a black suit, all in black.

An upside-down ‘pure white cross’ decoration hangs from the edge of the hat, and the shadows underneath the hat are so thick that none of ‘that thing’s’ facial features can be seen.

Following the hands of the [black man] wearing black leather gloves, there is a table with a large plate on it.

On the plate is a freshly made, piping hot sora-bbang.

“Oh. Sora Bread.”

It’s nice to see my baking skills improving day by day.

As she picked up one of the round and round Sora Breads, the soft bread was pressed by her fingers, and the chocolate inside flowed out.

… … Except that the only thing that bothers me is that the chocolate in the Sora Bread is mint colored.

This is a very well made and mouthwatering sora bread.

“Why mint?”

“Favorite eating is not good.”

“Picky eating is when you avoid things you can eat.”

“I see.”

[The black man], tapping on the table, answers cynically.

I don’t know who the hell brought up the mint topic to [the black guy], but I bit into the sora bread, vowing that I would not forgive whoever it was.

I’m only eating the outer bread without touching the chocolate part inside, so [the black person]’s gaze looking at me is making me feel bad.

What do you know?

“It’s been a while, kid.”

“Hello. How have you been, [Beast]?”

The howling of a beast is heard from behind.

The [Beast], who had Galaxy sitting on his lap, stroked her entire body like a love doll.

Numerous hands extending from behind wrap around my entire body, making it difficult to move.

I always wonder, but what on earth does a [beast] look like? Even when I try to turn my head, a cold hand grabs Eunha’s head and holds it forward.

Eunha flinched at the grip of ‘that thing’ that grabbed her chest, and hands her the leftover Sora Bread over her shoulder.

“Want to eat?”

“Kurrr.”

Oh, I used to hate mint.

How much must you hate it to forget what people say?

Eunha closed her eyes tightly as the breath of the beast brushed against the back of her neck and chewed on her sky bread.

Perhaps because her emotions were running high, [the beast]’s cold hands gripped her chest as if squeezing it.

Eunha quietly turned her gaze out the window and smiled languidly as she looked up at the passing Milky Way.

I want to go back.

Why did you come?

… … .

… … .

There is no particular reason for coming here.

I’m on my way back from donating blood.

“Would you like to donate blood?”

Now a lovely voice.

Eun-ha, who returned to Euncheon-gu in Do Jong-ha’s car, found the [blood donation bus] in front of the convenience store.

Because I promised myself to donate blood every time I finish a task.

But recently, because the [Self-Recovery] skill has grown, donating blood no longer causes death, and this has become a new pain for Eunha.

Who knows the pain of having all the blood drained from your body while you are still sober?

A sight worse than death, literally.

So, Eun-ha made a promise to herself that she would definitely see [the black person’s] face during this blood donation.

“Can you please put one more needle in?”

I thought it was easy.

If you get pulled out twice, you won’t be able to withstand [Self-Recovery].

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I’m serious.”

“Don’t you intend to follow the rules?”

“Why now?”

I heard the blood donor sigh, but I thought it was a hallucination and ignored it.

What would he think of himself, who came to ask for a blood donation sticker while breaking the rules he had set up to keep?

Eunha, who was sitting on the blood donation chair and wiping her neck with an alcohol swab, looked up at the blood donation sister.

『… … Our daughter. She hated injections so much.』

“Huh?”

Po-ok…

He hugs Eunha’s head as she lies on the blood donation chair.

It was a word mixed with regret, and a gesture mixed with resentment.

The woman in the doctor’s gown closed her eyes tightly and stroked Eunha’s hair.

“… … .”

“I’m not crying anymore, and the injections are going well…”

Strange words.

Is this what it feels like to have a family?

I don’t know.

Eunha quietly closed her eyes and buried her face in the woman’s chest.

“Is it tingling? Tingling?”

Phew.

A needle thick enough to fit a little finger.

It penetrates the carotid artery and ruptures the blood vessel.

The sound of Eunha’s heartbeat, stronger than usual, reaches ‘that thing’s’ fingertips through the needle.

Phew.

Second pangs.

A new needle is inserted into Eunha’s abdomen.

The needle pierces the flesh, rips through the intestines, and enters, precisely piercing a thick artery.

Abdominal aorta.

She felt all the blood drain from her body in an instant. Eunha, shivering with goosebumps, grabbed ‘that thing’s’ wrist.

“Our daughter… Are you sleeping in your mother’s arms?”

but,

In the woman’s subsequent words,

Eunha let go of ‘that thing’s’ wrist.

Thump. Thump.

The approaching warmth became a piercing pain in my abdomen.

The face, distorted in pain, was buried in the chest of ‘that thing’.

The pain in my chest turns off the engine of the [blood donation bus], filling the bus with darkness.

Eunha closed her eyes.

… … .

… … .

『… … That expression doesn’t suit you.』

“… … … Oh, sorry. I got distracted for a moment. ”

After a brief reminiscence, Eunha put the Sky Bread in her mouth.

I raise the corners of my lips and look up at the Milky Way flowing outside the window.

Fluffy…

Will-o’-the-wisps appear one by one.

One by one, they blend into the Milky Way and flow away somewhere.

How many times have I gazed upon this picturesque scene?

Eun-ha, who was blankly looking out the window, discovered a dozen or so will-o’-the-wisps approaching the fortune teller.

Fluffy…

A tiny will-o’-the-wisps flicker like a candle. Without blending in with the Milky Way, it approaches the fortune teller’s shop where the galaxy is and knocks on the window.

A phenomenon I’ve never seen before.

While Eunha blinked and looked out the window at the will-o’-the-wisps, ‘they’ were trying to convey something by bumping their plump bodies against the window.

Dim and tiny like a candle, different from those blending into the Milky Way…

Mediocre things.

This time, I encountered this in a remote area I visited with Do Jong-ha.

Mediocre things.

“… … .”

“Thank you.”

One word.

Just one word.

Who are ‘them’ outside the window?

[The black person] said, while eating Sora Bread’s mint chocolate with his fingers.

Eunha, whose heart felt heavy at those words, reached out to the window.

But the outstretched fingertips didn’t reach anywhere,

‘They’, who had been banging their plump bodies against the window, turned around with their flaccid bodies and headed towards the Milky Way.

Galaxy, who had been blankly staring at the sight, returns her hand that had stretched out to the window and hugs the [Beast]’s arm.

“… … You can’t go outside the fortune teller’s shop, right?”

There was no answer in return.

Because it is not a question asking something you don’t know.

A pure white sigh flickers like a candle and disappears.

( “You worked so hard all by yourself, who noticed?” )

Who knows what,

Everyone knows it.

Hurry up.

I picked up a piece of the sky bread piled high on the table and ate it.

The freshly made, piping hot bread went down her throat and warmed her insides.

“It was worth the pain.”

Thanks to you,

Thanks to those mediocre things.

It’s been a really long time,

The galaxy smiled.

… … .

“That expression suits you.”

After a while,

Eunha, who had returned to her ‘usual smiling face’ at [the black person’s] words, scratched the back of her neck.

When I looked up at the Milky Way outside the window once again, it was no longer dark.

Dalgrakㅡ.

[The black man] took something out of his black suit pocket and handed it to Eunha.

Gray pill.

Not the ‘white pill’ of the past… but the gray pill.

I’m not sure, but I guess they’re giving it to you because you can eat it.

I’ve never seen a bad person among those who give out free food.

Eunha swallowed the pill without hesitation and leaned against the [Beast].

“It’s time to go back.”

“Already?… What a pity. If the fortune teller’s shop was a little bigger, I could have played around with [Black Man] and done something.”

『… … Is that so.』

Clap clap.

[The black man] clapped his hands, signaling that it was time. Then the fortune teller’s only light began to flicker, and the old wooden window began to rattle as if it was about to break.

Eunha stuffed the sky bread on the table into her mouth one by one, trying to eat at least one more.

Whether it’s mint chocolate sky-high bread or whatever, free food is a sin.

“See you later, kid… Oh, by the way, watch out for bugs when you get back.”

“Uhm?”

“What on earth are you doing?”

“… … ??”

What does that mean?

The moment Eunha, who had her mouth full of sky bread, showed her doubts, the [Beast]’s hand stretched out from behind her and covered her eyes.

Rattling. Rattling.

Flickering lights. Shaking windows.

[The black man] resting his chin on his hand with a face that asks what to do with this girl.

And darkness is always there.

There was nothing.

… … .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The wise tree met a person and sprouted.”

There was a man.

His job was to go to the clock tower and ring the bell when the time came.

[Deaengㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ.]

A huge bell tower.

The sound of a bell that spreads throughout the world.

The sunset I looked up at after chasing the years that had passed,

It was so beautiful it was blinding.

“The sprout that grew met love and became a tree.”

The man wanted to be wise.

I wanted to be the wisest person in the world.

How can one become wise?

“The wise tree met a person and sprouted.”

The wise man realized.

If what the elderly pass on to their children is wisdom.

If the boy becomes old and passes on wisdom to the newborn child…

So then, what exactly does the one who lives forever convey?

“The sprout that grew became a tree using the human corpse as fertilizer.”

​​

If you live forever and gather all the wisdom in the world,

Is he really a wise man?

“The tree of wisdom bore fruit like people who had been hanged.”

The boy wanted to be wise.

That was it.

… … .

… … .

“Ugh…! Ugh…!”

My head hurts so much it feels like it’s going to split open.

It’s as if someone is scraping off the scalp with a spoon and then hitting the exposed skull with their fist.

A sensation of the brain being crushed by the skull.

Eunha, who had come to her senses in her own bed, raised her heavy upper body while clutching her head.

She was now dressed for the outdoors in a boxy tee and jeans.

The box tee is dirty with blood that has flowed from the carotid artery and abdomen while drawing blood on the [blood donation bus] just now.

“Whew…… Now there are 2 left.”

Because of her unique center of gravity, she couldn’t raise her upper body straight, so she hugged her large chest and stood sideways.

As she takes out the blood donation card in her pocket, 18 stickers neatly attached to it greet her.

It was worth the pain.

Eunha, who had taken off her clothes and was now naked, got out of bed with her legs that were weak.

‘My head hurts… I have [self-healing], so why is this happening…’

I staggered to my feet and picked up my phone. It said 10:00 PM.

It was around 4pm when I got back to Euncheon-gu in Detective Do Jong-ha’s car… I must have lost consciousness for about 5 hours.

If you pass out to this extent, it would be similar to having had a deep sleep.

Eunha, who encouraged herself with a positive mindset, picked up her bloody clothes and came out to the living room.

Because we parted ways with [Red Woman] in front of the blood donation bus, Eunha is alone in ‘Room 904’.

But on the living room table, there was a bowl of ‘soy sauce egg rice’ that someone had just made, steaming hot.

A simple meal consisting of rice mixed with soy sauce and eggs.

I’m sure I was eating that back in May, when I first met [the Red Woman].

“… … I’ll eat well.”

Eunha threw her bloody clothes into the washing machine and sat down on the living room sofa to start a late dinner.

It seemed as if someone’s longing was seeping into the still warm rice.

Beep-.

[… … Next news. This afternoon, a group attempting to illegally trade organs at a shopping mall in ●● District was caught.]

[Do Jong-ha, a class A hunter who is involved in the work, said that the result was achieved through the efforts of a courageous hunter and gave all the credit to the unidentified hunter…]

I was bored just eating, so I turned on the TV, and a news program called [Hunter 24] was reporting on a familiar incident.

I raised the corners of my mouth at the familiar commercial-residential complex that appeared on the TV screen.

You can also see the glass window that Banharin broke and came in through.

The interior of the building, which was completely mosaic-processed, and the image of an association employee crouching in a corner, vomiting, seemed to indirectly reveal the horribly mutilated corpses.

‘It’s hard to watch while eating… Should I watch something else?’

I put down the spoon and turned my head.

My eyes meet the [Forgetful Saintess]’s, who is poking her head out from the veranda railing.

Eunha, who covered her large chest with one arm, naturally turned her head away and pretended not to see.

I guess you’re waiting because you couldn’t sleep at 10 at night.

Gyaruruk~!

Then suddenly, the sound of transparent footsteps is heard.

‘Something’ that had been running around the living room suddenly landed on Eunha’s thigh while she was eating.

[Next news… Chijik….. It is. Typhoon No. 17 Gorani, the last typhoon of this summer, has collided with the heat dome formed over the Korean Peninsula and dissipated.]

Kyauk~! Kyauruk~!

‘Something’ the weight of a child sitting on my thigh.

It’s definitely heavy and leaves a mark on my thigh, but it’s not visible to the eye.

“Hehehe~. Where did you go today, Mom?”

“I did this to bad people.”

Galaxy, who was checking if there were any fallen objects on the floor, hugged the [Transparent Baby] in her arms.

A tiny palm print presses down on Eunha’s large chest and settles down, then purses her plump lips.

『Here’s the news. A drunk driver crashed into a crosswalk on Daehak-ro in Dongcho-gu, resulting in 15 casualties.』

The saying that you don’t even touch a dog while eating is a lie.

Or maybe dogs are more polite animals than other animals.

Eunha continued her dinner, which had been paused, while supporting the back of the transparent baby who was snorting happily.

『Here’s the news. A Class B monster from the west coast invaded the city center, causing 23 casualties.』

『Here’s the news. There are 7 casualties from the villain’s terrorist attack at the Chusa-dong movie theater.』

TV news that lets you hear outside news even here at ‘Saetbyeol Apartment’.

Thanks to that, I am able to live happily even in this place where I am the only person.

『Here’s the latest news. [Changcheon Sword Master] Kim Ha-yang’s only daughter, D-class hunter Kim Sa-rang, has been found dead in the [Euncheon Academy] gymnasium.』

A cozy dinner.

A day that isn’t entirely lonely.

Eunha ate the soy sauce egg rice while holding the [transparent baby] in her arms.

It was a peaceful day.

… … .

… … .

“Galaxy Doryeo (道侶). Do you need any help? I think it would be good if Mommy worked here.”

“… … Do you know how to work part-time at a coffee shop?”

“Drink your coffee well.”

And the next day.

Eunha is approached by Kim Sa-rang, the swordsman of [Changcheon Swordsman], who is fluttering the sleeves of his black uniform like a butterfly.

He pressed his temple with a smiling face.

My head hurts.