Chapter 77: S#13. Scary Woman (4)

The woman took Hilda Hyper hostage.

“Just try to come closer. You’ll see what’s inside this girl’s head.”

As the cold muzzle touched her head, Hilda froze. Her eyes were full of confusion.

The woman’s finger was on the trigger.

I couldn’t move recklessly. Neither could the other spectators.

Hilda’s life and death were in the woman’s hands, in the form of a gun.

The woman took Hilda out of the auditorium.

She got into her car. Hilda was forced into the passenger seat. The gun was still aimed at her.

“What’s your plan?”

I asked as I followed them out.

The woman, sitting in the driver’s seat, smirked and caressed Hilda’s face.

“Your skin is smooth. White and firm.”

“…”

“This time, I like this face. I’m starting over with this pretty face.”

The woman intended to take Hilda’s face.

The car started.

The crazy woman left the parking lot with a trembling Hilda.

It was car chase time. I have to follow the woman and rescue Hilda.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a car. Or a license.

But if you don’t have teeth, you chew with your gums.

I ran on foot.

Hilda had always been good to me.

She was always a good employer and a good friend.

I won’t let her die.

The woman who took Hilda is a murderer.

Twenty years ago, she stole a beautiful face, and now she wants to steal Hilda’s.

I won’t forgive her.

I squeezed every muscle and ran as hard as I could.

My thighs and calves were taut. It felt like my tendons would snap, but I didn’t stop.

My heavy body gained momentum. I nearly caught up with the car.

“This is insane… 60 km/h…?!”

The woman, surprised, accelerated.

Before the car could get away, I leapt.

Thud-

My body landed on the back of the car.

I punched the rear window. Grabbing onto the broken glass, I held on tight.

I hung on like that.

“Persistent!”

The woman driving turned around. She aimed the gun at me, hanging from the back.

Bang-

A bullet pierced the glass.

I barely dodged by lowering my head as soon as I saw her move.

Sharp glass shards flew everywhere. A ringing filled my ears.

The part I was holding shattered, leaving no grip. I clung to the trunk like a frog.

The car didn’t slow down. It sped up.

“Let Hilda… go…!”

“I can’t lose my new face.”

The woman swerved violently to shake me off.

The car swayed left and right like in a stunt. I clung desperately. I felt like vomiting.

Beyond the sound of the wind, I heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t worry, lady! This beast will save you!!”

It was Bob Bojangles.

He was chasing us in a police car.

With his flabby belly exposed, he sped along with a blaring siren.

“Stop! Let the lady go!”

Bob said into the loudspeaker. The police car pressed close to ours.

Crash-

The sides of the two cars collided, sparks flying.

Neither the woman nor Bob slowed down. A battle with no concessions.

Then, Hilda in the passenger seat gathered her courage.

She grabbed the gun held by the woman.

“Hilda, it’s dangerous!!”

I shouted, but Hilda couldn’t hear me.

Trying to take the gun could result in getting shot.

Hilda and the woman struggled. One trying to keep the gun, the other trying to take it.

The woman didn’t lift her foot from the accelerator. The wheels seemed ready to catch fire.

“You dare…!”

“Come on, lady, take the gun! It’s actually mine!!”

“Aaaaaaa slow down…!!!”

The shouts of the woman, Bob, and me were all tangled together. Utter chaos.

I crawled up onto the car roof. The wind battered my body. It felt like surfing in hell.

I intended to break the front windshield and knock out the woman.

At that moment, the woman pulled the trigger.

Bang-

Fortunately, the bullet missed Hilda.

Instead, it hit Bob in the driver’s seat of the police car.

The pursuing police car veered off.

The struggle between the two women over the gun continued. The frantic drive didn’t stop.

A large obstacle loomed ahead. It was a bridge pillar.

The car was speeding towards it. If we crashed into the pillar at this speed, we’d all die.

The woman was too focused on the gun to see ahead. The steering wheel was free, and the car was like an unbridled horse.

What should I do?

I couldn’t break the windshield and grab the steering wheel. If I let go of the car roof even for a moment, I’d be thrown off.

The giant concrete pillar was right in front of us. If we didn’t avoid it, we’d crash and the car would be destroyed, killing everyone inside.

As the life-threatening crisis approached, time seemed to slow down.

The pillar rushing towards us looked like it was in slow motion.

I had to think… there must be a way to survive…

“…Huff!!”

I gripped the car roof tightly.

In that position, I leaned my body to the side.

With all my might, I shifted the car’s center of gravity. The left wheels lifted off the ground.

We narrowly avoided the bridge pillar. A close shave.

Instead, the car lost its balance and went airborne. It flipped like a somersault.

Crash-

A tremendous impact struck.

I was thrown out of the rolling car.

I was flung onto the asphalt. Stars flashed before my eyes.

“Cough…”

I spat blood.

The car rolled over about four times. The road turned into chaos.

Shattered vehicle debris scattered everywhere. Smoke billowed from the car as it stopped rolling.

I barely managed to stand and hobbled over.

I tore open the overturned car door and pulled Hilda out.

“Hilda, Hilda…!”

Her frail body was limp.

My heart sank.

Is she dead?

But soon, Hilda opened her eyes. She was breathing.

I sighed in relief.

Hilda hugged me tightly. Her shoulders were trembling.

She must have been terrified, thinking she was going to die.

Luckily, she wasn’t injured. I patted her back.

Unlike the miraculously unharmed Hilda, the woman in the driver’s seat was a wreck.

The woman bled as she laughed.

“Heh heh… Look at this. The parade was a success…”

We were at the edge of town.

The parade where ‘Beauty’ and ‘Beast’ march to the end of town…

Anyway, the woman had succeeded in the parade march once again.

I looked into the overturned driver’s seat.

“Get ready for prison.”

“Prison? Beauties don’t go to prison.”

“Maybe not. But you should. Because you’re not a beauty.”

“What…?”

“You fit the role of beast.”

The woman’s face twisted in a grotesque scowl.

She aimed the gun at me. She still had it in her hand.

But before she could pull the trigger, someone grabbed her wrist.

It was a pale arm from the passenger seat.

Who was it? I had already pulled Hilda out of there…

“…Give me back my face.”

It was a ghost.

The ghost tore the woman’s face off with its bare hands. It was revenge, 20 years in the making.

The woman screamed in agony.

The ghost slapped the torn-off face onto its skull. The face found its rightful place.

No longer did the ghost look hideous. It was the pretty face that had proudly taken the role of beauty 20 years ago.

“I told you. I am the Beauty, and you will be the Beast.”

The ghost and I stood facing each other.

Hilda, clueless about the situation, looked back and forth between us in bewilderment.

“It wasn’t me who was cursed… it was you.”

“That’s right. Thanks to you, the curse has been lifted.”

The ghost lifted its heels and lightly kissed me.

Soft lips. Cold yet warm.

“…Thank you.”

The ghost vanished softly.

It was a satisfying liberation.

I clasped my hands together and murmured, “Amen.”

“Aaaaagh…!!”

A horrifying scream erupted from behind.

The woman was crawling out of the overturned car.

Even with her face torn off, she was still alive. It looked like a scene from a zombie movie.

She staggered away. I watched her retreating figure.

The woman headed for the village cemetery.

As soon as she set foot there, smoke started to rise from the ground.

From the smoky ground, a skeletal hand emerged.

It grabbed the woman’s ankle.

“We’ve been waiting…”

They were the two candidates for Beauty who had been murdered in the past.

The woman screamed shrilly. The ghosts laughed and dragged her underground.

A large pit was left in that spot.

It was the grave of a woman whose heart was as ugly as her actions.

—
Raei  Translations
—

The ‘Beauty and the Beast’ festival concluded.

Bob Bojangles, despite being shot, completed the march.

Thanks to his natural bulletproof vest (fat), he wasn’t seriously injured.

Instead, he got caught by his wife for entering the contest without permission and got smacked on the back.

This year, for the first time, the Beast marched alone without Beauty.

The leading candidate for Beauty was dragged to a grave with her face torn off, and Hilda Hyper also voluntarily withdrew.

Hilda was scolded by her sister.

For twins who were like one body, individual actions like today were dangerous.

Still, it was a relief that she wasn’t hurt.

I returned home with the Strode sisters.

As I lay down on the mattress in the garage, a familiar voice echoed in my head.

-And so, the Axe Murderer entered Chapter 2

“…Narrator?”

—