Ch.7Black Velvet 1

I stare at the broken glass.

Sharp glass fragments lie scattered helplessly on the concrete floor.

As I kneel to clean up the pieces, Jeksa looks down at me impassively.

“You’re moving too slowly. My employees are waiting.”

He touches my disheveled hair, forcing me to meet his eyes.

I need to stand up somehow, but my legs won’t cooperate.

To think I’d meet such a psycho right after coming back to life.

God must really be intent on punishing me properly.

“When are we going to get our order?!”

Jeksa’s employees kick their chairs and shout.

They put their dirty shoes up on the table.

The table I had painstakingly cleaned of grease stains is once again soiled with their dust and cigarette ash.

The harassment has officially begun.

They’re probably planning to buy this place cheap once the owner finally gives up.

In this world where government has disappeared, there’s no one to stop them.

It’s pathetic.

Is this the reality of possession?

I almost miss my body from before the possession.

Back then, my sister would have stepped in and subdued guys like these.

And she would have told me:

Stand up for yourself with dignity, why kneel when you’ve done nothing wrong?

But sister.

Reality doesn’t care about who’s right or wrong.

Cigarette ash falls onto my knees.

In this cursed world, power is all that matters.

“Ah…”

While lost in futile thoughts, I cut my finger on a glass shard.

Bright red blood flows down my finger, mixing with the spilled gin and tonic.

I put my finger in my mouth.

The metallic taste of blood lingers on my tongue.

That taste soon spreads throughout my body, making me hypersensitive.

“—.”

The bell at the entrance rings.

Thanks to that sound, I’m finally able to escape from my dark thoughts.

Everyone, including myself, turns toward the black silhouette at the doorway.

While most people would seek another establishment in such a tense atmosphere, the owner of those footsteps enters the hall naturally, as if accustomed to such situations.

The sound of combat boots fills the shop.

I slowly raise my head, following the sound.

Under the backlight, I see a silver-haired woman with her hair braided to one side.

That shining hair reveals she must be at least mixed-race or a foreigner.

The woman certainly has the kind of pretty face that would have been popular on campus in a bygone era.

But her thick black jacket and pants contrast with her silver hair, giving her a somewhat cold impression.

“…”

“A hunter killer, huh.”

Jeksa spins his chair to face the woman.

Thinking she might be in a similar profession as himself, his expression is now serious, unlike before.

But the woman’s gray eyes are directed not at him, but at me.

More precisely, at my bleeding finger.

I feel a chill from that gaze and turn my head away.

What’s going on? Why is she suddenly looking at me…

With her appearance, the previously noisy shop falls silent.

Even the father and daughter who were trying to escape from Jeksa’s gang stop in their tracks to observe the situation.

“Order. Take.”

Finally, her lips part.

The woman speaks to me in awkward Korean, cutting each word separately.

“Ah… well, you see…”

I glance nervously at Jeksa sitting beside me.

As if responding to my look, he fiddles with the ring on his finger and answers the woman instead.

“That’s going to be difficult. I’ve rented this place for today.”

“All of it?”

“Yeah, so come back later…”

I can’t hear Jeksa’s next words.

Soon I understand why.

It happens in an instant.

The woman draws the long sword at her waist.

And as soon as it’s fully drawn, a red crack appears on Jeksa’s neck.

Eventually, like the glass he had discarded, Jeksa’s head falls to the floor.

Black blood sprays across my face.

Jeksa’s face stops only when it reaches my feet.

Jeksa, who had easily disposed of a group of hunters, lost his life just like that.

The meaningless death of a villain gave me a strange feeling.

“B-Boss..!”

His employees, who were sitting at the table, jump to their feet.

Jeksa’s body remains seated in the chair.

The woman slowly pushes the chair over with her foot, then sits down in his place.

“Now. I’ll rent it.”

The employees gather around the woman who killed their boss.

Each holding swords and daggers.

But they hesitate to make the first move.

They don’t rush in to avenge their boss like in movies.

I couldn’t tell if it was because they weren’t as stupid as they seemed, or if they were paralyzed by fear that overwhelmed their anger.

They simply keep their distance from her while slowly collecting Jeksa’s corpse.

Having dealt with the small fry, she casually rests her chin on the table.

Then she stares at me intently with her cloudy white eyes.

“What would you like to order, customer…”

I ask her while barely supporting my trembling legs.

The woman blankly looks at the display shelf.

“The most. Delicious thing. Here.”

Why do people here only order in such a strange way?

Their speech is robotic, yet their orders are extremely abstract.

One guy says “the usual,” another woman says “the most delicious thing”…

I pretend to be selecting alcohol while racking my brain.

Judging by appearance, she seems to be in her early to mid-twenties.

Should I give her something sweet that girls that age typically like?

But seeing how she just used that sword, she’s not in the category of normal girls.

Her taste in alcohol could be terrible.

“Don’t think. About running away.”

Her previously expressionless face breaks into a smile.

In a normal world, seeing such a face would have made my heart flutter with its pure beauty.

But when it’s covered with red bloodstains under the eyes, it’s a different story.

I really could die here…

I barely manage to nod before turning my face away again.

As my head is about to explode from confusion, Jiyuk, who’s been watching me from the kitchen, gestures to me.

“Why are you calling me… I’m on the verge of losing my mind…!”

Jiyuk’s eyes tremble.

His lips quiver far more than when he saw Jeksa.

“Let’s run away.”

“What?”

“That person is Anna…”

“Who on earth is that?”

“A contract killer. She only works temporarily because killing is her hobby. She’s a crazy psycho who kills anyone who irritates her!”

“If we don’t irritate her, couldn’t we survive? If we serve her alcohol that suits her taste…”

Jiyuk interrupts me and shakes his head frantically from side to side.

“She asked for the ‘most delicious thing’ in the shop, right?”

“Yes. How did you…”

“No shop has survived after Anna said those words.”

Suddenly, I think of the dead Jeksa.

So like the glass he discarded, like his head, are we all destined to die?

“Hurry and get ready.”

Jiyuk throws off his apron and gathers his wallet and bag.

What should I do…

I look out at the hall visible from the kitchen.

I notice the father and daughter customers holding hands and trembling.

The young girl who was happily eating bread and the father who was watching his daughter with warm eyes.

Perhaps just moments ago, they were enjoying one of the happiest moments of their lives.

And I’m supposed to run away and leave them behind?

Guilt washes over me.

Just like when I ran away from the person I cared about.

The side of my waist where I was once stabbed with a dagger feels cold.

I learned through that pain that running away only leads to death anyway.

That pain gives me a strange courage.

If I’m going to die like that again, I want to face it properly this time.

“Senior, I’ll stay. I’ll somehow serve her a satisfying drink.”

“What?”

“Even if we run, we’ll obviously be caught and killed soon anyway.”

“But that’s still better than giving up, isn’t it?”

“Don’t worry, I have one method in mind. It’s better to at least try, right?”

He gives me a look of incomprehension.

In response, I roll up my sleeve.

“Thanks for the meal earlier.”

Jiyuk stares blankly at my back.

“Now watch what the hand you saved can do.”

With those words, I stride confidently to the counter.

As soon as I step out, Anna’s face comes into view.

Her eyes are a hazy gray, just like my sister’s when she died.

Because of that, I can’t tell what she’s thinking at all.

But even with someone like her, I have a way to find out what’s in her mind.

“Excuse me…”

Anna stares at me while rubbing her fingers on the blood-soaked table.

“Could you… hold out your hand for me…?”

“My hand? Why?”

At my sudden request, Jeksa’s employees and the father-daughter pair all look at me.

“Well…”

What should I do?

I need to touch her to glimpse her happiest memory.

Should I ask for a handshake, pretending to be a fan?

No, that’s ridiculous—what killer has fans?

Think.

There must be a reasonable pretext…

“I asked why.”

Anna leans her face closer to mine.

I feel like I could drown in her cloudy eyes.

“I-I’ll read your palm!”

It was a single sentence that burst through my tight throat.

I’m so surprised by my own words that I start hiccupping.

Jiyuk in the kitchen grabs his forehead and sinks down.

The faces of the other customers turn pale.

I’ve blown it.

Even I think what I said is idiotic.

What palm reading in this situation?

I was so desperate that I blurted out the first thing that came to mind!

“Is this. Some kind of. Korean service?”

But surprisingly, Anna puts her hand to her mouth and seems lost in thought.

Then, as if remembering something, she slowly extends one hand to me.

“Do it. I’m curious. About Korean magic.”

“Uh… thank you.”

I’m momentarily stunned by her hand that I’ve managed to obtain.

I didn’t expect it to work so easily.

But this is just the first hurdle.

The real challenge starts now.

I need to find out what’s behind those cloudy eyes.

I quickly grasp her hand.

Unlike her smooth back of hand, her palm is rough.

Just like my sister who was always devoted to swordsmanship.

Even pursuing the same power, people can become so different.

«Angelic Hand»

Let me peek.

At her happiest moment.

Surely even a crazed killer like her must have had happy moments.