Cat

As I was getting hit by small beads falling like hailstones, I suddenly felt proud of myself. I figured that shouting Estelle’s name upon entering Modiste at that moment required exceptional quick-thinking.

Ross, who died a few years ago, suddenly appears covered in blood, mentions the guild leader’s name, which had been secretly hidden, and then faints? No one could stand not being curious about that. Especially a secretly run, shady information guild would go crazy wondering about my true identity.

Isn’t this curiosity on par with sneaking into the faculty office after school and stealing the diary from your homeroom teacher’s desk that contains the daily life of the girl you like during summer vacation? Anyway, Modiste will safely protect me until the penalty is over. Curiosity is that scary.

It’s not like I’m particularly fond of self-praise, but it was a choice that made me mutter to myself, ‘I nailed it.’ To come up with such an idea with momentary wit, I’m almost unfamiliar with my own brilliant brain. It’s because I’ve regained the essence of the author, so I’ve regained my intelligence – no, thinking about it again, I think I’ve always pursued calm and rational choices.

My intelligence remains outstanding, but perhaps I’ve gained some mental余裕 (yeoyu – leeway/room to breathe). It could be that the positive mindset I had in games, always blaming others with the mindset that I’m never wrong, has returned. Isn’t it a meager quality of modern socialites to be generous to their own mistakes and never miss pointing out others’ mistakes like a pit bull biting their necks?

If so, there was only one thing for me to do during this boring bead-picking time. The most basic way to overcome depression, and an action that brings good results every time.

“Roel, you son of a bitch~”

This time, I almost died for real, so from the victim’s point of view, even 패드립 (paedeurip – attacking someone’s parents) is okay. However, since we share the same parents, I decided to only curse Roel. I wasn’t loved by my parents, but I’m still Cinderella, who values filial piety, the last Ross.

***

When I opened my eyes after the penalty, what I saw wasn’t a familiar ceiling, but an unfamiliar cat mask. For some reason, I had the stupid thought that the white mask might match my underwear. Anyway, as a girl looked down at me like a real cat, with her double chin slightly folded on top of me, I rolled my eyes and said.

“Estelle…?”

“Don’t call the guild leader-nim’s name so carelessly!”

From the fierce reaction, as if she were hissing, I could tell that it wasn’t Estelle. I awkwardly raised my upper body and examined myself. My blood-soaked body was clean without any traces. My skin wasn’t sticky, and the clothes that had been stained with blood had been changed into clean ones.

“You, you look exactly like someone who died two years ago, right?”

At the sudden question, I raised my head and looked at the girl wearing the mask. Her wary appearance made it seem like she would pull out a dagger from her bosom if I even moved a hand. Is she really going to hiss? Her sharp eyes instinctively make me shrink my shoulders.

“Suspicious. What’s your purpose for coming to Modiste? And why is your body covered in blood but without a single wound? Did you perhaps kill someone and run away to Modiste? Or resurrection…?”

It’s a valid suspicion. But right now, I’m a ‘guest’ with information that can solve Modiste’s curiosity. The one in the position of power and the subordinate are different. I twisted one corner of my mouth.

“There’s no reason for a guest who came to an information guild to give out free information. If you’re that curious, wouldn’t it be polite for the guild leader-nim to come and ask politely?”

“I’ll never put someone suspicious and shady-looking like you in the same room as the guild leader-nim!”

“If you’re that suspicious, you should have tied my hands and feet before I woke up.”

As I playfully brought my wrists together and held them out to the girl in front of me, it sounded like a growling sound came from the girl’s body. It’s only my loss if I mess around and get bitten. As I subtly pulled my hands away and met the girl’s sharp gaze with pure and kind eyes that had no malice, suddenly the wall flipped over and a woman wearing a black cat mask appeared.

“Hello. I’m Estelle, the guild leader of Modiste.”

“Ah, hello… haseyo.”

At Modiste, the guest is king. So when I first came to Modiste, I used informal speech without hesitation, like the other guests. The reason I spoke informally to Estelle, who was a year older than me in the previous world, was because it felt natural. But this time, I couldn’t speak informally like before.

It was because the woman wearing the black cat mask looked very similar to the Estelle I knew. The purple eyes visible through the eyeholes of the mask, the gothic-style dress. And even her small height, which came up to about my chest… I couldn’t treat her like a different person.

A nagging question arises. This world is only different from the previous world in terms of time. But the promiscuous Estelle who came to the guest room at night, which I experienced, and the Estelle in front of me now were completely different in appearance.

Could it be that extras who don’t have separate appearance settings have their appearances randomly determined in each world? If that’s the case, the appearances of the Messiah members who didn’t appear in the novel might have changed as well. But in the previous world, Luna’s appearance had no changes except that she wasn’t physically uncomfortable.

This definitely needed to be confirmed. It could be a coincidence that Luna in the previous world had no differences from my memory. Luna, who sometimes made me smile naturally with her ample presence when I leaned on her, might have tragically become an A cup here. Aria, whose mental age is close to 4 years old, might be a mature 8-year-old who doesn’t covet food that others have eaten.

Estelle, who had come closer to the bed I was lying on, said in a soft voice.

“When I called a priest to check your condition, they said there was nothing wrong with your body, so I thought you would wake up soon… but I was quite surprised that you didn’t regain consciousness for 3 days -no matter how many times I hit you-.”

I think there was something that passed by incredibly quickly in the middle of the conversation… must be my imagination. The appearance of the black cat mask was the same as the Estelle in my memory, but the intonation and pitch of her voice were different. Her 말투 (mal-tu – way of speaking) also changed a bit pretentiously, as if she were aiming for humility and sincerity as her motto. But….

“…I was passed out for 3 days?”

Now I noticed that the runic letters on my wrist were green. It wasn’t that it felt long because it was boring, but the penalty was really long. It seems that being slashed in the neck by Roel was a fatal injury after all. If Combat Continuation is activated, it’s obviously due to a fatal injury, but I didn’t expect it to take 3 days. Is it because of the severe bleeding?

“I’d like to talk to the guest alone, would you excuse us for a moment?”

At Estelle’s words, the girl wearing the white cat mask had another fit, like a cat betrayed by the can opener she trusted.

“Guild, guild leader-nim! Surely you’re not accepting someone suspicious and shady-looking like that as a guest, are you?”

I feel like descriptions about me are being added one by one. Estelle, as if used to the girl’s outburst, explained in a gentle tone.

“They came into the store and used the hidden passage without a password. Furthermore, if they’re someone who brought up the guild leader’s name, which was thoroughly hidden in secret… I think they’re an interesting enough person to have a conversation with.”

As expected, my prediction was right. An information guild is essentially similar in nature to a shady bastard like me. Honestly, what could be more exciting than finding out other people’s secrets? Moreover, they have the same face as the dead Ross…? If a person can stand this, they’ll get sick.

“But Roel-nim personally killed his younger brother, and they have the same face! It might be a demon’s trap!”

Her refusal to give up her argument despite someone else’s kind persuasion is just like Aria. She needs to be꺾이다 (kkeok-ki-da – bent/broken/yielded) a bit. As if agreeing with my thoughts, Estelle sent me a look as if to say, ‘Leave it to me for a moment,’ and turned her head to the girl wearing the white mask.

“Did you feel that the guild leader of Modiste was weak enough to be taken down by someone who hasn’t been awake for long? Or did you think I was such an idiot that I would fall for an obvious trap?”

“O-of course not! I’ve never thought that!”

“Then would you trust me, the guild leader, and leave?”

Silence fell in the room for a moment. Whether she was speechless, or whether she closed her mouth because she thought she would have to leave the room if she answered… the girl wearing the white mask kept her mouth shut and lowered her head to avoid Estelle’s gaze.

Watching that, Estelle sighed deeply, and for some reason, it overlapped with my own 모습 (moseup – figure/appearance) of looking at Aria with exasperation as she stole Luna’s cake.

“Danger, this is an order from the guild leader of Modiste. Would you excuse us?”

I was gloating at her powerless drooping head at the clear expulsion order, but I belatedly came to my senses at the word ‘Danger.’

“W-wait, what did you just say…?”

“…Pardon?”

Estelle tilted her head as she looked at me stuttering. I calmly calmed my excitement and pointed with my finger at the girl wearing the white mask who was lowering her head.

“You called that person Danger, right…?”

At my question, Estelle looked at me with a wary expression for some reason.

“…Do you perhaps know Danger?”

Despite Estelle’s wary appearance, I couldn’t help but nod stupidly. Danger was the name of the benefactor who saved Luna’s life, whom I had been searching for so desperately.