Ch.177177 – The Snake’s Tail 6

# 177 – The Snake’s Tail # 6

It was an enormously large snake.

I couldn’t even estimate how long it was.

On the head of this snake was a woman’s body with multiple arms attached, staring at us with a sinister grin. The whites of her eyes were black, and her black pupils were white eyes.

“Uhh… I’m not the only one seeing this, right?”

At first glance, she had a beautiful face, but looking closely, it was extremely hideous and grotesque. Her bright red mouth was split all the way to her ears, the most vivid red I’d ever seen.

Ah-.

When she opened her split mouth, a snake-like long tongue swayed from side to side. It seemed like she was trying to seduce me, but at the same time, it felt like a warning.

We were all stunned by the sight, and Jeongseok was approaching the snake woman one step at a time, as if entranced.

“…This isn’t a ghost or demon. It’s beautiful… something else. What could it be? I can’t believe something like this exists. I want to know more about it. More details…”

Jeongseok, who was as cowardly as Kwon Sua, was reaching out toward that creature.

He seemed unaware of what he was doing.

But I understood what Jeongseok meant.

A terrifying yet beautiful being.

This bizarre creature seemed to embody both explicit murderous intent and maternal instinct. Perhaps this is what Mara’s daughters who tempted Buddha looked like.

“Yeongwon, don’t go!”

If Dahui hadn’t grabbed my arm, I too might have approached as if entranced.

“Hey! You idiot! How can you find such a terrifying monster beautiful! You absolute pervert!”

Bong Jiyeon grabbed Jeongseok firmly by the nape of his neck.

Now that I noticed, it seemed that to the women, including Bong Jiyeon, this being appeared only as an incredibly frightening monster.

Did the shaman appear differently to me and Jeongseok than to the women?

While I was deeply confused, Kim Miryeong’s voice spread clearly through the quiet temple.

“That’s half-divine! I can see it too! Humans can’t handle this! Untie me quickly! Damn it! If we stay like this, we’ll all die!”

Her almost screaming voice snapped me back to my senses.

Jeongseok seemed to have come to his senses as well.

“Aaaah!”

As Bong Jiyeon pulled him back by the neck, Jeongseok stumbled backward and fell with a thud. That was when the giant snake woman lunged toward us.

More precisely, toward Kim Miryeong.

“Aaaah! Aaaah! That thing kills anyone who just looks at it! Damn it! Aaah! We’re all going to die! Aaaah!”

Kim Miryeong screamed hideously and even wet herself. But no one could mock her desperate struggle.

If I were the one being attacked, I would have been worse.

“Sisssster-.”

Just before Kim Miryeong was caught in the snake woman’s grasp, the fluffy-haired ghost Kim Aryeong appeared.

She briefly confronted the snake woman, but the snake woman grabbed fluffy Kim Aryeong’s body and tore her apart like paper.

“Yaaagak!”

Kim Aryeong was shredded to pieces.

The artificial ghost that we had been so wary of died as easily as an insect in a child’s hand.

The snake woman’s white pupils now turned toward Kim Miryeong, who had Yang Juhui’s blood smeared on her face.

“Heek! No! Nooo!”

The snake woman approached the struggling Kim Miryeong and reached out her hand. Then she grabbed the arm attached to Kim Miryeong’s shoulder and twisted it off with unimaginable strength.

Crack-.

A living person’s shoulder was ripped off like a radish. As Kim Miryeong spewed blood like a fountain and rolled her eyes back, the snake woman attached the arm to the empty space on her own shoulder.

“The arm she dropped when I shot her with the gun! I can’t believe that’s possible!”

Teacher Hong Miri flinched slightly.

She seemed amazed that another monster could attach and detach arms while she herself could attach and detach her head. Soon, the snake woman struck Teacher Hong Miri with her long tail.

“Kueeek!”

Teacher Hong Miri flew away with a scream.

Did the snake woman remember that Teacher Hong Miri had shot her?

After easily defeating Teacher Hong Miri, the snake woman opened her mouth wide toward Kim Miryeong, whose arm had been torn off.

[Aaaaaaaa-.]

“Damn it! You bastards! If I die! I’ll come back as a ghost! I’ll curse you all!”

The shaman’s mouth opened impossibly wide, about to swallow Kim Miryeong in one bite.

At that moment, a skeletal woman appeared from somewhere and rushed toward the snake woman’s mouth.

“Sisssster-. Run away.”

It was Kim Aryeong who had been torn apart.

The snake woman swallowed the once-fluffy ghost Kim Aryeong in one bite instead of Kim Miryeong, and taking advantage of that moment, Kim Miryeong sprawled on the floor and crawled away.

[…….]

After swallowing Kim Aryeong, the snake woman’s cold yet beautiful eyes now turned toward Yang Juhui.

“…Damn it.”

Yang Juhui muttered a quiet curse, as if foreseeing what was coming for her. Then she fled without looking back.

Pabapat-.

Yang Juhui’s legs were very fast. And the Gandara shaman crawling after her was equally fast.

Like someone jumping to escape from a moving train.

“Yeongwon, snap out of it!”

Slap slap-.

Dahui slapped my cheeks.

I thought I had come to my senses, but I was unconsciously watching the shaman again.

Soon, Kim Miryeong, clutching her torn-off arm, gritted her teeth and shouted:

“It’s no use. Men can’t resist that woman. They lose their focus without even realizing it! I don’t know what it is, but finish this quickly! Hurry!”

She was right about finishing quickly.

We had no time.

Yang Juhui could run for about 10 seconds at most.

Yang Juhui was already slowing down, and it was clear to everyone what would happen if this continued.

I thought I needed to save Yang Juhui. There must be a way! Something! Soon I noticed the collapsed building debris around me and Kwon Sua trembling.

“Sua! Draw her attention! Then crawl in there!”

Kwon Sua had a trait that could steal attention.

“《Attention Stealing》: An innate charisma that cannot be acquired through effort. Can irrationally steal the attention and focus of surrounding beings.”

Irrational charisma.

Even a half-divine snake woman would notice Kwon Sua. Above all, Kwon Sua looked delicious. If I were an enormously large snake, I’d want to swallow Kwon Sua in one gulp.

“Uuuu…uuuu…uuuu, I don’t know! I don’t know! Hiyat!”

Kwon Sua made a V-sign with her fingers and placed them over her left and right eyes. It seemed like starlight was shining from Kwon Sua, and that dazzling illusion stole the snake woman’s attention.

Pop-!

The snake woman sprang toward Kwon Sua like a coiled spring.

Startled, Kwon Sua crawled away beyond the nearby collapsed debris.

She had successfully drawn the attention.

Taking advantage of that moment, Yang Juhui caught her breath and shouted:

“Hurry and get the key! Find the box or whatever and match the pattern!”

Yang Juhui was right.

I slapped Jeongseok’s cheek, who still seemed dazed.

“Hey! Snap out of it! We need to go! We need to go!”

“It’s no use, this idiot! He can’t snap out of it! He’s completely entranced!”

“Uuuu-.”

Jeongseok seemed to be captivated by the shaman’s fatal charm. No matter how much Bong Jiyeon pulled him or slapped his cheeks, it was useless.

But with Teacher Hong Miri easily knocked down, Jeongseok was the one who knew the most about the snake shaman! I was so worried I thought I might develop acute circular alopecia, and then I came to a conclusion.

“Bong Jiyeon! Give Jeongseok a kiss!”

“What?”

“A kiss will snap him out of it! It’ll wake him up! You have to do it!”

“What nonsense! Are you crazy!”

“We’ll all die if we don’t do something!”

I had experience with kisses.

Getting a kiss from a pretty girl was guaranteed to snap someone back to reality.

The only thing that could save Jeongseok from the snake shaman’s spell was the power of his love for Bong Jiyeon.

I believed in Jeongseok’s feelings for Bong Jiyeon.

If those feelings were genuine, a kiss from Bong Jiyeon would surely bring him back to his senses.

[…Are you done playing around?]

Someone spoke then.

It was a beautiful voice.

The snake woman.

Who knew the snake woman could even speak?

Damn, isn’t that cheating? Come to think of it, the demon who turned out to be the onmyoji also spoke to us. It wasn’t strange that the snake shaman, a similar being, could speak too.

Wasn’t she Japanese? Her Korean is really good.

[Are you done playing around?]

The snake woman gave us an eye-smile.

This is crazy. I don’t know why that monster looks so pretty. Maybe she has some trait that bewitches men.

“Damn it!”

Finally, Bong Jiyeon, realizing there was no other way, grabbed Jeongseok’s cheeks and pressed her lips against his.

Chuuuap-.

It was a very strong kiss. And it was very effective, as Jeongseok’s eyes regained their focus. His dull expression became animated.

“…What’s going on?”

“What do you mean what!”

I was happy.

So Jeongseok’s feelings for Bong Jiyeon were real.

Despite there being many other pretty girls, and even a childhood friend who liked him, he remained devoted to Bong Jiyeon.

“Jeongseok, you really are crazy. I acknowledge that.”

I helped Jeongseok up.

Then we ran with all our might toward the temple with the stone door open.

# # #

The inside of the temple was like a winding maze. I don’t know why they built it this way. It felt like we were being prevented from reaching the center.

“Hey, isn’t this the way we came? Huh? Isn’t this the way we came?”

The corridor inside the temple was so narrow that only one person could pass through at a time. While we were anxious about what was happening outside, Jeongseok took out a marker.

“We’ll mark our way with this. I’ve roughly memorized everything already. From here, we need to go right to find a path we haven’t tried yet. Then right again.”

I was someone who couldn’t memorize paths well.

But Jeongseok, with his good memory, had apparently memorized the interior of this maze while we were moving.

I’m glad I helped Jeongseok snap out of it.

If I were alone, I would have wandered in this maze and wasted all our time. Then we’d all die, and I’d have to use my already scarce points to turn back time.

Honestly, everyone has played their part well so far.

Even if I turned back time and tried again, I didn’t think things would go as smoothly as they had now.

And points aren’t infinite.

As they say, strike while the iron is hot—we needed to settle this now, whatever we did.

“Found it! Ha Yeongwon! That’s it! That!”

We had somehow reached the center of this bizarre temple.

There was a box placed there, about the size of a chocolate pie box, with something like red silk spread underneath, and what looked like burnt matchsticks scattered on top.

“If we arrange those wooden pieces in the right pattern, we can calm the Gandara shaman!”

“That’s fine, but what about the key!”

The key to open the fourth floor door.

As I looked around to find it, I froze when I met white pupils staring at us from the corner.

The upper body of the snake woman had followed us into the maze.

Swoosh-.

A long hand began to reach out. I could easily imagine my neck being strangled by that hand. If we stayed like this, we’d die.

Jeongseok needed time to fiddle with those wooden pieces and arrange them in the correct pattern.

In this situation, there was only one option.

“Wait a moment, please!”

This shaman was actually someone we could communicate with.

Let’s try talking to her!