Ch.118118 – Shooting Star 1
by fnovelpia
# 118 – Shooting Star # 1
“‘Monkey’s Paw.’ That’s what Daegon called it, but no matter how I looked at it, it didn’t resemble a monkey’s hand. It had one more finger and joint than a human or monkey would have. Such a creature couldn’t possibly exist.”
“Granting wishes. My younger brother Daegon still believed in such childish nonsense. Perhaps that’s what made her love him. Daegon is bright and cheerful. Meanwhile, I’m surprisingly dark and gloomy, even to myself. I have many illnesses and live with countless allergies. I, Cheon Taegeon, was cursed from my mother’s womb.”
“They were about to get married. I developed a terribly selfish desire. If only her affection could be directed at me just once… At that moment, I heard something snap. The little finger of the monkey’s paw that I had carelessly tossed onto the desk was broken.”
“Everything changed after that day. I made my final two wishes on the fingers. Don’t harm my family. Only listen to family stories. No one died after that day.”
“Monkey’s Paw…?”
Jeongseok frowned.
“I’ve heard of it. It’s an object that grants wishes. But it fulfills them in strange and grotesque ways that lead people to ruin. If you wish to make a lot of money, it might kill your beloved family so you receive a massive insurance payout—that kind of twisted object.”
Was this connected to how the monster Cheon Taegeon came to be?
But as I looked at it, something seemed off.
“This is Cheon Taegeon’s diary. But something’s strange. Something…”
I felt a sense of incongruity.
The Chairman. The monster. A woman named Ayeon. Self-portrait. Wedding. Names carved on a tree. Twins. Teacher Hong Miri whom the Chairman adored.
All these things… seemed interconnected, tangled together.
After mentally untangling this knotted mess for a while, I realized something.
“Jeongseok. You said the Monkey’s Paw grants wishes, right? But the method is horribly twisted, ultimately making people unhappy.”
“That’s right. Why?”
“According to Mrs. Danvers, Chairman Cheon Daegon doesn’t have an allergy to lily of the valley. But look at this. The antidote on this desk.”
An antidote sat on the desk in the study that only the Chairman could access. Only the Chairman could take it.
If my deduction was correct, the Chairman would have had to pass through a garden of lily of the valley every day to enter his study.
And that process… would have been life-threatening for the Chairman.
“The twin brother Cheon Taegeon who became gloomy due to frequent illnesses and allergies. But… that monster lived in the basement of this Chairman’s office and crossed the flower garden without any problems.”
I reached a conclusion.
I had experienced something like this before.
Cheon Taegeon and Cheon Daegon had switched places.
“The monster isn’t Cheon Taegeon. The monster is actually the cheerful younger brother, Cheon Daegon! The current Chairman’s name isn’t Cheon Daegon but his older brother, Cheon Taegeon!”
A story of twins switching names and fates. I already knew this well from Hong Miri and Hong Yeri’s case.
Perhaps… the reason the Chairman kept the Hong Yeri and Hong Miri twins by his side was because he saw himself in their eyes?
“Hey, why does it matter whether that monster is Daegon or Taegeon? We still don’t know how to defeat the monster.”
Yang Juhui expressed her irritation.
But I had a sense of what was happening.
“Jeongseok, is there a way to defeat the Monkey’s Paw?”
“I’m not sure if it can be defeated. But usually these stories focus on the limitations of the ‘hand’ as a body part. One wish per finger. After making five wishes, all the fingers break and you can’t make any more wishes, so that might be considered defeating it.”
According to the diary, this “Monkey’s Paw” had six fingers.
The diary’s owner had made three wishes, so there were three wishes left. But the monster I saw had only two intact fingers on its right hand.
“Guys, even if it grants wishes in a twisted way, what kind of wish would have the least negative consequences? Think quickly! Hurry!”
One shouldn’t make wishes to the “Monkey’s Paw” lightly.
If I said, “I want to be rich,” a cash transport plane might accidentally crash from the sky and bury me under enormous gold bars, killing me.
A wish that wouldn’t have such playful consequences.
Two wishes.
Everyone fell silent, seemingly deep in thought about the two wishes I suggested.
“Come on, guys, think faster!”
I urged my friends.
Because the terrifying monster was beginning to appear outside the Chairman’s office window.
Jeongseok spoke.
“There’s a problem with making wishes. The diary’s owner already set conditions: ‘Don’t harm family’ and ‘Only listen to family stories.’ We probably can’t make wishes.”
“That’s not a problem! Just think of at least one!”
“Actually, wouldn’t any wish be fine?”
Yang Juhui said nonchalantly.
What did she mean?
“The diary’s owner made two more wishes after that. But there’s nothing written about any side effects of those wishes.”
Thinking about it, she had a point.
Yang Juhui’s simple yet insightful thinking sometimes shone like this.
I finally made a firm decision and left the Chairman’s study.
“Hey, will you be okay? You said bullets don’t work on that monster!”
Jeongseok asked in panic.
I replied to him.
“It’ll be fine. I’m Luke Skywalker.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You guys, hide in here well.”
Pop-
I closed the door and headed toward the lily of the valley garden.
The monster was slowly approaching me.
But if my prediction was correct, the monster… probably wouldn’t attack me.
It had been that way from the beginning.
I didn’t die from the poisoned dinner.
Nor in the burning mansion.
And even during the fight when the aunts and sisters were holding guns, the monster didn’t kill me.
It couldn’t kill me—that would be a better way to put it.
If it killed me, it would violate the wish made by the diary’s owner.
“Stop right there. This is my wish.”
I wanted to stop the monster.
My voice was trembling, and my legs were shaking pathetically, but I somehow gritted my teeth.
A once-in-a-lifetime gamble.
At the tense moment when I wondered if it would work, the hairy man stopped abruptly.
Crack-
I heard something break.
Only the index finger remained on his right hand.
After steadying my breath, I asked.
“Why did you try to kill people today? Why today of all days? Answer honestly. This is also a wish. My last wish.”
The man was beast-like.
His uncut hair and beard were so bushy that he looked like a person with long fur.
A monster.
But this monster must have been living relatively well in the mansion until now.
So why did he suddenly start killing everyone today?
Grin-
The man revealed his white teeth and smiled.
“You wished for it. For accidents and incidents to continue endlessly. You made that wish while carving into that tree.”
“…”
I suddenly felt dizzy.
I had thought it was strange.
The diary’s owner had made three wishes.
But the man I saw had four broken fingers.
It meant someone had made one more wish, and to my shock, it was me.
It was true that I felt the days of defeating ghosts and exploring corridors with everyone were like shining youth.
I wanted everyone to continue gathering, laughing, and talking, and for such days to continue.
I also wished this vacation would last forever, fearing that today’s memories would fade once we all became adults.
To think that my feelings had caused everyone’s deaths.
Swish-
The man’s massive body turned to dust and scattered in the summer breeze.
He crumbled ephemerally, like a cicada that falls and dries up in the scorching sun.
Soon, text appeared before my eyes.
[Congratulations! You have defeated the ‘Monkey’s Paw’!]
[Beginning calculation for 9 survivors.]
[You gain 900P.]
# # #
Evening came quickly.
Yu Dahui and the other housekeepers brought lots of meat.
“Guys, we’re having a barbecue in the garden tonight!”
Yu Dahui chuckled.
The housekeepers and Mrs. Danvers began setting up the barbecue grill in the garden, and everyone excitedly lit the fire and turned on the outdoor lights.
“Ugh, there are so many mosquitoes.”
Slap-
Yang Juhui hit her shoulder with her hand.
As I was looking at her gloomily, someone held something cold against my face.
“Eek!”
“Why so gloomy? Everything worked out well, didn’t it? Honestly, I still can’t believe what happened.”
It was Kwon Sua.
I took the ice-cold can of cola from her.
As Kwon Sua said, we had survived the threat at the mansion.
We also earned plenty of points.
I had 1124P.
My wallet was practically at an all-time high.
But I couldn’t help feeling a bit depressed.
There was a sense of emptiness—was it really that easy to end?—and guilt that it might have been my fault. Of course, despite the situation, I was hungry, and the meat tasted delicious.
Buzz buzz buzz-
Night had fallen.
Cicadas were still loudly singing in the summer evening.
I realized once again that the situations I was experiencing were neither pleasant nor enjoyable. What I needed to do was end this abnormal and extraordinary situation as soon as possible.
Even if the result meant living a boring, tedious, and lonely daily life.
“Ah, guys! Look at that!”
Yu Dahui raised her hand and pointed at the sky.
As everyone looked up, exclamations of wonder spread everywhere.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh-
In the clear night sky, countless stars shone like a river or sea.
And numerous shooting stars fell like rain.
Whoosh.
The scene was so majestic and powerful that I felt almost crushed by the vast night sky. It was the first time in my life I had seen such an amazing sight.
“Guys, what are you doing? You should make wishes on the shooting stars!”
Yu Dahui called out cheerfully.
The word ‘wish’ made me feel a bit uneasy.
One shouldn’t make wishes carelessly.
Nevertheless, the sight of stars falling with long tails was so beautiful that it felt like all past misfortunes were being washed away.
“I wish my family could be happy like before. And I want to become a hair designer.”
Yang Juhui said, looking at the sky.
I already knew she wanted to restore her family’s happiness, but her desire to become a hair designer was unexpected.
0 Comments