Ch.15Red Eye 3

I slowly explained my plan to the Red Mage.

However, her expression remained unimpressed as she listened.

“So you’re saying you want to sell cocktails like potions?”

I silently nodded.

“…”

The Red Mage stared at me with a look that said, “Is that really all there is to this so-called plan of yours?”

“My cocktails have various buffs. Potions taste terrible and you have to drink a lot of them. Mine are effective with just a small amount.”

Only then did the Red Mage show interest, resting her chin on her hand.

She seemed to recognize the merit of replacing nearly a liter of potion needed to restore health with just a single glass.

Her interest culminated in calculation.

The Red Mage flicked her lighter habitually, contemplating whether this little girl’s proposal could actually be profitable.

“Is mass production possible?”

“Well, that’s…”

That’s actually my fatal weakness.

My cocktails only gain buffs through the effect of Angelic Hand, so they obviously can’t be made in a factory.

Does that mean I’d have to produce hundreds of cocktails every day?

I already get tired using my skills—if I overuse them like that, I’ll end up dead like in my past life.

Seeing my troubled expression, the Red Mage smirked as if she’d expected as much.

I worried she might lock me up here and squeeze potions out of me until I died.

“So at most, a few dozen bottles?”

“Yeah…”

The Red Mage sighed deeply, as if she’d wasted her time.

For her sake, I immediately prepared my next pitch.

“So here’s the thing—since mass production isn’t possible anyway, I’m thinking of a different strategy.”

“A different strategy?”

“I’ll sell my handmade cocktails at famous raid camps. Selling on-site means we can charge more, right?”

People tend to get desperate when facing immediate danger.

When healing is scarce, they’ll go crazy at the sight of a decent buff drink and buy everything available.

I gave her a thumbs up, telling her to trust me.

This was something I’d learned while serving at the frontlines in the military, so I was certain.

“All you could come up with is being a wandering merchant?”

The Red Mage looked at me with disbelief.

“It’s closer to a golden carriage than a wandering merchant.”

“Golden carriage…?”

“It’s a thing. Something soldiers always wait for.”

The Red Mage tilted her head.

She seemed curious about how I knew military terminology.

“Oh, well… I have an older brother. When he came home on leave, he talked my ear off about it.”

“I see.”

When family came up, the Red Mage’s eyes narrowed.

“Is he still alive?”

I hesitated to answer that question.

The “brother” I mentioned was actually myself before the possession.

“No. He passed away when the gates opened.”

“…”

The Red Mage’s red eyes gazed at the floor, creating a sorrowful atmosphere.

I never expected such a reaction from someone who was always honed with killing intent.

“My father also died then.”

The Red Mage turned her head to look at the work table.

On that plain surface sat a single picture frame containing a family photo.

In the frame, a young girl stood happily with her father.

He was indeed very handsome, just like the beautiful Red Mage.

A face that looked like a scene from a movie even just sitting in an office.

He had the air of a handsome middle-aged actor.

“He was handsome.”

“Yes, he was.”

The Red Mage’s expression softened at the mention of her father.

Thanks to this, I could tell she was a warm person, at least toward her family.

Even though she had killed countless hunters without batting an eye.

Holding the frame, she bit her lip.

I instinctively sensed that something bad had happened between the two of them.

“I… committed a sin against my father that I can’t repay even in death.”

The Red Mage said this while staring blankly at the picture frame.

The momentary silence transformed the tense office atmosphere into a melancholy one.

The owner of the office soon rolled her eyes to look at me.

Her red pupils held resentment toward the guest who had plunged her into sad memories.

“Let’s stop with the personal talk.”

She covered the frame as if she thought showing me that side of herself had been a mistake.

Then she leaned in and asked again.

“So you bothered me just to get a few bottles of alcohol, is that it?”

It seemed like her sharp fangs might bite into my neck at any moment.

I raised both hands and made a desperate suggestion.

“H-how about trying my cocktail first before making a judgment?”

“I already gauged your level with that gin and tonic.”

Her expression remained resolute.

But I didn’t back down either.

“Don’t worry. This time I won’t disappoint you.”

“How do you plan to prove that?”

The Red Mage asked with her palm outstretched.

I gently interlaced my fingers with hers.

“Like this.”

The moment our fingers intertwined, a soft light emanated from my fingertips.

That light transferred directly to the Red Mage.

「Angelic Hand」

The Red Mage’s red pupils gradually lost focus.

When I first met her, all I saw were the dummy’s memories.

Since it was a dummy created for slaughter, it naturally only had such cruel memories.

But now before me is the Red Mage’s true self.

This time, I should be able to properly glimpse her memories.

You can look forward to it.

This time, I’ll perfectly match your taste.

I wanted to be a model.

Captivated by the confident and beautiful models I saw on TV as a child, I mindlessly practiced copying their poses.

That passion became clearer when I entered elementary school, and I was finally able to seriously talk to my parents about it.

My mother opposed it, saying being a model was an unrealistic dream for me.

But my father was different.

Despite my mother’s objections, he allowed me to pursue the path of modeling.

My father confidently told my mother:

“Let’s trust her once. Look how serious her eyes are.”

Thanks to my father’s belief, after ten years, I finally became a top model.

The day I signed a contract as the exclusive model for the famous brand Red Snake.

I went to the department store with my father to celebrate my glamorous debut.

That day, I planned to give my first gift to my father who had never bought himself a single piece of clothing while supporting me.

And that gift was supposed to be the most expensive brand suit in this department store.

But he insisted on choosing a Red Snake necktie, saying wouldn’t it help more to buy from the brand his daughter modeled for?

Since he was as stubborn as me, I had no choice but to buy him that necktie as a gift.

After finishing our shopping, we were heading to the first basement floor for dinner…

‘How did it come to this?’

The first basement floor had certainly been filled with people’s laughter.

But now it’s overflowing with screams, wails, and the sounds of people pushing each other down to survive.

Frozen by the ear-piercing noise, I just watched people jostling toward the exit.

While they pushed through each other to get out, bodies of people trampled to death piled up on the floor.

People rushed like beasts toward the exit that was gradually building up like stairs.

But I couldn’t simply look at it with disgust.

Because that was the only escape route from the first basement floor.

Almost no one would calmly line up to exit through the last remaining escape route.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t jump into that crowd.

Because my body was completely pinned under a fallen pillar of fire.

As the building collapsed, fire explosions occurred everywhere.

Mannequins wearing burning clothes fell with debris and covered me.

They clung to various parts of my body like living people.

In the end, I could only lie here while my entire body burned.

It’s hard to maintain consciousness due to the acrid smell of oil and the heat haze.

I can only look at my father in the distance.

My father, who had stepped away to smoke, pushes through the escaping crowd and reaches out to me.

“Just go…”

I muttered words that couldn’t reach him.

I truly wished he would leave me and escape this hellish department store.

It’s not a daughter’s heart wishing for her father to survive.

It’s just that I no longer want to live.

My body has melted in the hot flames, my face horribly disfigured.

Rather than surviving with such a terrible appearance, I’d rather die.

Then at least the news would feature photos from when I was beautiful, not my mangled face.

“Top model Han Su-rin. Lost her life in department store fire.”

In the end, I received attention until the moment of death, so it could be considered a good death.

The reason I’m so obsessed with appearance is simple.

For a full ten years.

During that long time, I worked countless hours to become a model.

I never rested outside scheduled times, and I’d slap myself if my expression went blank.

If I lost focus and failed to maintain a pretty expression even slightly, I might make mistakes on the runway.

When people looked at me, I had to be a perfect doll.

But that would be impossible now in this state.

It’s futile.

My body, built through a lifetime of pain, disappearing in an instant.

The sorrow of parents losing a child must be like this too.

A daughter they supported and invested in their whole lives, suddenly dead.

As I was quietly dying with such thoughts, someone called me.

I knew well who it was.

“Su-rin…!”

My father calls from a distance.

He finally breaks through the crowd and starts running toward me.

But this newfound hand of salvation only feels frightening to me.

Don’t come.

Don’t come, I said.

Even if you save me, all that remains is this hideous body.

I don’t want to live looking like this.

A falling ceiling tile strikes my father’s shoulder.

But he approaches me, staggering while clutching his shoulder.

Hot gas wells up from the floor.

He keeps walking without stopping, coughing.

Eventually, my father arrives within ten steps of reaching me.

Yet the person before his eyes is now just a monster, unrecognizable as his daughter.

“Daddy’s here…”

How strange.

Though I wanted to push away my father so badly, now that I face him, my heart aches.

“Why did you come… how am I supposed to live looking like this…”

“Don’t say that. You’ve only suffered your whole life. How could you die like this? It would be too unfair!”

He keeps pulling at my arm where the skin has peeled off, exposing muscle fibers.

But my body didn’t move at all.

It seems so precarious, as if my arm might tear off if he pulls any harder.

Finally, my father changed his approach to clearing the debris with his hands.

The more he cleared, the more his hands became covered in broken nails and red wounds.

One pinky finger bent backward when he hurriedly cleared away a fragment.

“I’m not feeling unfair at all… so please, at least you escape.”

My father didn’t even pretend to listen.

I couldn’t understand why he was being so stubborn.

While thinking this, strangely, my father says something similar to my thoughts.

“Who did you inherit this stubbornness from? If you make it out alive, you’re really going to get it…”

He begins lifting a boulder as big as his own body while groaning.

I wonder if this skinny man always had such superhuman strength.

When the veins on his forehead bulged with effort, the rock crushing me finally began to rise.

At last, I could move a little.

I thought all my pain receptors had melted away in the fire.

But when my father’s hand touched me, I felt a warm sensation.

That warmth transferred to me, breathing life into me.

Thanks to that, I decided to stop being stubborn just this once.

I finally stood up and stared at my father who supported me.

“Do you remember why I allowed you to become a model?”

“No. It’s been ten years already.”

My father looked at me and smiled gently.

Then he told me.

“I said our daughter has such serious eyes, and that’s wonderful. Your looks are good too, but I gave permission because I saw what was inside you.”

At first, I felt nothing at his words.

But as we walked toward the exit, I suddenly felt my eyes growing hot.

If I made it out alive, I would apologize to my father.

For telling my parent that I wanted to die.

But I would never be able to say those words to my father.

“—!”

As if punishing me for my stubbornness, the ceiling began to completely collapse.

Debris showered down like rain, and through it appeared something massive.

It was neither a car, nor a train, nor an airplane.

It was the foot of a giant creature with tough skin and claws.

The moment that foot pressed down on the ground, the ceiling structure came crashing down on us.

In that instant, my father shoved me forcefully to the side.

“Dad…?”

My father, who had been right beside me until just a moment ago, instantly disappeared under a pile of rocks.