Coaxing

“Hey, why are you making that face?”

I rubbed my eyes, wondering if the blood smeared all over was obstructing my vision. But I could still see her clearly.

I touched my ear, thinking blood might have gotten inside. My ear was clean, without a single drop of blood. Yet his voice still reached me.

“Fuck!”

The curse burst out uncontrollably.

How could someone survive having their neck sliced open? Was she some legendary Durahan?

Salome scanned his surroundings to assess the situation.

Was anyone else unaffected? No.

The two who had just returned, the one he’d been conversing with, and the others amusing themselves nearby-all had unnaturally dilated pupils. Whatever was happening, that bitch must be behind it.

Salome drew his dagger again and threw it at the woman’s arms and legs this time.

But instead of flesh tearing and agonized screams, the woman simply shook her head as if it meant nothing.

“Resistance is futile… Huh?”

“Ha! You think I’ll fight you?”

Fighting something incomprehensible was a fool’s choice.

Salome had learned this painfully during the war a decade ago.

In battlefields where situations changed every second, he’d always fled the moment he couldn’t grasp what was happening. That’s how he’d survived while others became crippled or died horribly.

Though he felt slightly guilty toward his subordinates, alerting headquarters was better than dying pointlessly against this unknown threat.

Salome shattered the window and leaped from the hotel room.

The high floor might injure him, but that beat dying. Minor injuries were acceptable if it meant escaping.

Having made his decision, Salome braced for impact-only to tumble gracelessly.

“Nothing you do matters.”

“Wh-what is this…?”

Thud, thud.

The woman’s footsteps echoed behind him. Cold sweat trickled down his spine, his mouth parched.

“F-fucking hell! I just escaped! That window led outside! What is this?!”

The familiar scenery before his eyes confirmed it-despite jumping from the 13th floor, he hadn’t fallen.

The reason was simple: beyond what appeared to be the hotel exterior lay another identical room.

“Damn it!”

Ignoring his catatonic subordinates, Salome headed for the broken window where night winds blew through. Same result-he remained in the 13th-floor room.

Doors, walls, floors-every exit attempt led back here. The severed head still smiled while his men stared vacantly.

“…Headquarters, respond! We’re under attack! Unknown hostiles! They’ve discovered us! Headquarters!”

-Kzzzt… Kzzk.

“Fuck!”

Continuous calls yielded only static. He couldn’t tell if transmissions went through.

“Running won’t help.”

“Y-you…! What did you do? Explain!”

No trap-setter reveals their mechanisms. Salome knew this, yet he kept shouting-to avoid succumbing to this indescribable terror.

Contrary to expectations, the woman answered plainly.

“Hypnosis.”

“H-hypnosis…?”

“Yes. That’s why you can’t escape.”

You’re under hypnosis right now.

As if knowing changed nothing.

“Breaking the window to flee, decapitating me, throwing daggers, breaking walls, smashing through floors, contacting headquarters-none of that actually happened.”

“S-such advanced illusion magic can’t exist…!”

He knew illusion magic existed-spells that deceived senses by making the unreal seem real. But sustaining something this scale would require impossible amounts of mana. Not even an Archmage could manage it.

“Not illusion magic-hypnosis. …Guess I’ll have to show you.”

The world flipped instantly. The hotel room appeared unchanged-no broken windows or holes. Peaceful.

“Impressive, right?”

…He couldn’t move. No pressure, no sense of being controlled-just paralysis.

“Since… when?”

“Hmm?”

“When did I… fall under hypnosis?”

“Who knows?”

The hotel scenery had become a scorching desert. Blazing sun, sand-scoured skin, shimmering heat haze.

Before he could process it, the desert morphed into a snowy wasteland. Scorching heat replaced by bone-numbing cold.

Landscapes cycled wildly-cities, farms, volcanoes, space, glaciers, mines…

Within minutes, Salome couldn’t distinguish reality from illusion.

“Where are we now? Adrift at sea? A jungle? Or a battlefield?”

“Ah, ah, aah…”

“What’s real? Care to guess?”

“Th-the hotel. We’re definitely at the hotel.”

“Oh?”

“You can’t manipulate memories, can you? Haha, hahaha…! I’m certain! My men and I were at the hotel!”

Salome shouted desperately. He’d never stood a chance. Couldn’t even guess when he’d been compromised.

At least he wouldn’t play along. Ophelia asked her question.

“Why?”

“No reason to tell you! Kill me if you want-I won’t betray the organization!”

“Ooh… Such admirable loyalty.”

He’d always fled hopeless battles during the war. Branded a coward and traitor, he’d been disgraced and abandoned.

Only the organization had taken him in. Understood him. For them, he’d sacrifice anything-even his life.

“Then why were you at the hotel?”

“Asking again is pointless! I won’t answer!”

“No need to speak. Thinking is enough. …Why were you at the hotel?”

Of course it’s to assist Ophelia-nim.

“…?!”

What was that thought?

This woman was the enemy. The organization’s orders were clear: When Ophelia-nim arrives, assist her with everything…

“Y-you…!”

“Don’t worry-I won’t kill you.”

A horrifying realization dawned. Could she be…?!

“Your loyalty will prove useful elsewhere.”

“S-stop it! Stop!”

Mustn’t curse at Ophelia-nim. Nonsense! She’s my savior!

…Ah.

He felt his emotions transforming-hostility into loyalty, fear into reverence. Despair filled him as affection grew for his tormentor.

“No need for guilt about betraying your organization.”

Ophelia-nim spoke.

“You’ve always worked for me, haven’t you?”

“Yes, Ophelia-nim.”

Salome smiled at his benefactor.

(T/N: Someone reminds me to add mindbreak tag)