episode_0376

An afternoon as twilight faded.

I slipped out of the church steeped in resentment.

The guillotine that had crashed into the chapel vanished into the darkness of the ceiling, and the voices from the confessional had fallen silent.

All that remained was the crimson sunset casting its glow on pale pink hair.

The cool autumn breeze whispered against my cheeks.

I survived.

“……Haa…”

Finally, as her plump shadow stretched long and she exhaled a cold breath into the autumn wind,

Yang So-ah could truly feel she had survived.

Fluffy~.

Yang So-ah, her tension melting away.

Hugging the ‘mirror’ she had taken from the church’s [Confessional], she rolled back and forth on the ground.

Fluffy—. Fluffy—.

A furball tumbling leisurely across the deserted sidewalk.

Buried in wool-like soft pink hair, she chuckled faintly.

No strength left to go on,

No courage left to turn her head and look back at the ‘church.’

But… hugging this ‘mirror,’

She at least had the energy to keep rolling.

『The ground is dirty. Stop rolling.』 “Yaaang… yaaang…”

I survived.

With Eunha.

That’s enough.

…….

Piriririk… piriririk… Piril…

“……Team Leader…”

— Yang So-ah. Where have you been all this time?

How long had she been rolling around like this?

Finally gathering herself, Yang So-ah fished her phone out of her hair and called her ‘Team Leader.’

Her mission: to monitor the ‘Rare Hunter’ Eunha.

Now it was time to report the results.

“…….”

Yang So-ah of Team 4, [Rare Hunter Protection-Elimination Division].

Her final report.

— Why didn’t you answer? Where are ‘Goat’ and ‘Raccoon Dog’?

“……Uuhm…? Didn’t meet…”

She began her first and final prank.

— Didn’t meet…? We headed to the church you mentioned.

“Couldn’t meet…… No calls either…”

The parking lot near the church.

A fluffy cotton-candy-like figure lay sprawled in the compact car space, fidgeting with her phone, face tense.

She was lying to her ‘Team Leader’…

Her horns throbbed as she absentmindedly rubbed them.

『It’s alright. You’re doing fine.』

A tiny voice.

She bowed her head at the warm encouragement.

Beneath Yang So-ah, lying face-down in the parking lot, was an old ‘mirror.’

Fluffy. Fluffy.

Yang So-ah reflected in the mirror—Eunha, the temporary Mirror Ghost,

Smiled as she scribbled a ‘script’ and showed it to Yang So-ah.

— Tsk. You wouldn’t lie to me, would you? What gives you the confidence?

“…….”

— Haa…… Fine. What about the ‘Rare Hunter’? Did she leave the church?

The ‘Team Leader’s’ question.

Yang So-ah lowered her head.

Eunha in the mirror blew a breath—whoo—

And traced letters onto the mirror’s steamed-up surface with her finger.

[Be honest this time.]

The words on the mirror.

Eunha’s handwriting is pretty too.

Blushing, Yang So-ah answered the ‘Team Leader.’

“Yeah… left the church… safe…”

— Report back.

Fluffy fluffy.

A lone pink furball curled up on the roadside.

Following the script Eunha provided, Yang So-ah recounted what had happened at the church.

How they had discovered Team 1 of the [Rare Hunter Protection-Elimination Division], engaged in battle,

And escaped safely with only Eunha.

She opened her mouth to continue the ‘script’ from the mirror.

“…….”

Would this work?

Yang So-ah glanced nervously at the mirror.

Eunha inside gave a reassuring thumbs-up.

Aside from Ban Ha-rin and ‘Mouse,’ the other team members…

Ban Ha-rin had once said,

Before she properly recognized the abnormalities, the other teammates vanished one by one, leaving only ‘Mouse’ and her… yet she never noticed anything strange.

If so, Yang So-ah’s ‘Team Leader’ must be the same.

— ……Damn. So there was an accomplice after all… Why did I think Team 1 only had two members… Nothing seemed off…

“…….”

— Got it. ‘Goat’ and ‘Raccoon Dog’ must’ve been ambushed by Team 1.

When something unnoticed suddenly enters one’s mind, people focus on it.

‘Team Leader,’ already suspicious of the ‘accomplice’ who took Ban Ha-rin’s body, sighed deeply and accepted Yang So-ah’s report.

Fluffy…

She’d fooled him.

Curled up like a hedgehog, Yang So-ah pressed her cheek against the mirror.

Eunha, who’d strained her rarely-used brain to console her, slumped in relief inside the mirror.

The teammates who had left Ban Ha-rin behind…

Please, even now, resent me—

Who used their names in lies meant to save Yang So-ah.

Eunha smiled as usual.

— ……Right. You took the ‘Rare Hunter’ and escaped the church.

“Yeah…”

— What are you doing now?

Slump…

Her gaze dropped.

Herself, curled up like a hedgehog on the roadside,

And the mirror beneath her…

She recalled the words Eunha had written earlier.

[Be honest this time.]

Fluffy… fluffy…

She felt sleepy.

Just answer honestly.

“Yaaang…… Right now, pinned underneath me.”

— Wha…

Rubbing her half-lidded eyes drowsily, she spoke.

Eunha in the mirror flailed her arms, protesting.

Yang So-ah answered honestly.

“Can’t say anything… just waving arms…”

— Uh… Hmm… Well, got it. Congrats.

“Sheep?”

— Right. That method wasn’t completely off the table… So it’s you, Yang So-ah…

The flustered emotions of the ‘Team Leader’ leaked through the phone.

Huh? Did I say something wrong?

Yang So-ah, who’d been rubbing her soft cheek against the ‘mirror,’ frowned, but the ‘Team Leader,’ quickly regaining composure, hurriedly continued.

— Right, well. Anyway… uh, whatever… Never mind. I’ll handle tracking down ‘Goat’ and ‘Raccoon Dog.’ You keep doing what you’re doing.

“Yeah…”

— You succeeded in persuading the ‘Rare Hunter’… Until further notice, you’re in charge of her.

“Yeah…”

Pirolong.

Seems like something urgent came up.

Without further questions, the ‘Team Leader’ entrusted Eunha’s surveillance to Yang So-ah and abruptly hung up.

Because she held the reins to her life,

Because she’d obediently followed orders so far,

Perhaps he dismissed the possibility of Yang So-ah deceiving him.

But in the end, she had deceived him… so it worked out.

Tucking her phone back into her hair, Yang So-ah dragged her obsidian-shiny horn across the mirror.

“Success… Eunha su-nbae amazing…”

『……Well. Good is good, I guess.』

“Said to play with su-nbae…”

『I don’t recall such a conversation. So the Association’s secret division uses coded calls too.』

Flattered by Eunha’s praise about the ‘secret division,’ Yang So-ah puffed up like cotton candy.

Was this the same principle as animals fluffing up when petted?

Must be warm in winter.

『…….』

An extra-fluffy pink cotton candy.

Hugging that would definitely feel good.

Eunha, watching Yang So-ah from the mirror, swallowed a sigh.

Was this what they called ‘the moon in the water’?

Resentment brewed.

‘Do sheep molt too?’

Eunha thought positively.

Somehow, she’d bought time from that ‘Team Leader’ bastard… Now it was time to save Yang So-ah.

Fluffy…

She saw Yang So-ah in the mirror.

Pink hair cascading down to her thighs.

A girl curled up like a hedgehog.

The pitch-black metal horns jutting sharply from her head.

She’d asked to have those removed.

‘If I could leave the mirror, I’d cut them off with a wire saw myself… Should I call [The Red Lady]? If I stick just the horns through a bathroom door crack…… No! That’d be bad! If Eunhong got hold of them, she’d probably yank them as handles and drag me out.’

She imagined a pink fluffball dangling and swaying as Eunhong tugged her horns.

The sound of sheepish cries echoing from far away.

No good.

Did she even know what those ‘horns’ really were?

Rubbing her stiffened cheek from too much smiling, Eunha fell into thought.

Gah…

Ever since leaving the ‘Pathfinder Church,’ her worsening headache made it hard to focus.

『Hmm…』

A brief dilemma.

Trapped in the mirror, needing someone’s help.

Frustrating indeed.

Flop…

Eunha, in Yang So-ah’s form, dug through fluffy hair and pulled out a phone.

Trururururu… Beep.

“Grandpa!”

— 『Don’t drag “us” into human problems that aren’t yours.』

Pirolong…

The wise old man, vagabonding in [Euncheon Park].

But the moment Eunha called, he hung up at lightning speed.

She’d been scolded.

Pouting, Eunha quietly tucked the phone back into her hair.

Wise old man, my foot.

Next time, I’m visiting the park uninvited.

‘Actually, good. The more she tangles with abnormalities, the more Yang So-ah suffers… Huh?’

Come to think of it, Yang So-ah had gone quiet at some point.

What’s she up to?

Halting her thoughts, Eunha peered outside the mirror.

“…….”

『Yang So-ah?』

The sidewalk outside the church.

Yang So-ah, curled up like a hedgehog.

“…….”

After ending the call with the ‘Team Leader,’

“Yaaang…”

She propped the ‘mirror’ against a nearby lamppost,

Lay before it, and began to pray silently.

…….

…….

Eyes closed.

Flat on the ground before the ‘mirror’ from the [Confessional].

Perhaps because her tension had eased.

Escaping the church, answering the ‘Team Leader’s’ call,

Only now did she feel she could breathe.

Yang So-ah took time to reflect on the day.

Crunch!

The sickening sound of ‘Goat’s’ neck snapping,

The taut thread’s touch against her fingers,

The dull thud of the collapsing body hitting the wooden floor…

All resurfaced vividly.

She’d hurt someone.

“Yaaang… yaaang…”

Of course, a twisted neck wouldn’t necessarily kill,

But the unconscious ‘Goat’ had no chance of surviving that horrifying church.

Fluffy…!

She’d used her ‘Skill’ to attack someone.

Like the delayed pain of a scraped knee,

The belated guilt now disrupted Yang So-ah’s breathing.

“Yaaang…”

As if a piece of her heart had chipped away.

Her unbalanced mind sought something to lean on.

Like the desperate turning to religion.

So did Yang So-ah.

Fluffy…

Crouching before the old ‘mirror’ from the underground [Confessional],

Beyond it gazed back a smiling ‘Yang So-ah.’

( It’s okay to make mistakes. )

A wounded, tilting heart.

It leans recklessly against the ‘mirror’ propped on the wall, pressing its cheek close,

And Yang So-ah, lying sprawled too, faced her reflection.

Fluffy…

Only tiny hands peeked out from the voluminous hair, clasped together neatly.

『…….』

A pious believer… if only that were true.

Eunha didn’t know how to comfort Yang So-ah praying to her.

Trapped in the mirror, unable to soothe with words or touch.

『……Speak your mind if you want.』

So,

Eunha deliberately said it.

If comforting words meant piercing the heavy heart to let the grief pour out,

Then what was needed was someone to hold that grief.

Like a cross hung on the church wall,

Eunha simply existed there.

“……Eunha su-nbae.”

Hands clasped, Yang So-ah spoke.

The little lamb speaks.

If only I could leave the mirror and hold those hands.

A pang of regret. Did the ‘Pathetic Mirror’ always feel this way?

“By any chance… how did… Ban Ha-rin su-nbae treat you…?”

The first step in unloading was a question.

Without asking why, Eunha fell into thought.

Ban Ha-rin as usual.

Acting up while lounging in the cafe every morning,

Sneaking into the break room to grope her, whispering ‘Once a day… I haven’t forgotten,’

Lurking around trying to help,

Appearing behind her the moment her name was called…

Honestly, she was a weirdo.

Eunha chuckled at the thought, and Yang So-ah, watching the ‘mirror,’ pursed her lips.

“……Envious…”

『Envious of what?』

Eunha wondered—what was there to envy?

Then Yang So-ah, as if resolved, began to spill everything.

『Our team… [Rare Hunter Protection-Elimination Division] Team 4…… our method of managing ‘Rare Hunters’…』

“……?”

『Make them easier to manage… bury them socially… confine them to their homes…』

Yang So-ah confessed.

Words she’d never spoken to anyone.

[Rare Hunter Protection-Elimination Division].

A department ensuring Hunters with rare skills stayed under the Association’s control.

The more attention a ‘Rare Hunter’ drew, the more work it created.

Managing their contacts, warding off guild scouts, even handling overseas interference.

And once a ‘Rare Hunter’ outlived their usefulness—

A ‘kill order’ would be issued.

So their existence was erased.

For easier management. To avoid outside eyes.

Methods varied.

『…….』

“And… I too…… was a ‘Rare Hunter’… just like Eunha su-nbae…”

Yang So-ah, former Rare Hunter managed by Team 4.

Giggling, she hugged the ‘mirror’ and rolled back and forth on the dirty sidewalk.

Fluffy. Fluffy.

Rolling on the grimy ground,

She felt no resistance at all.

…….

…….

( Did you… do this? It’s your Skill. )

( A wonderful ability to protect people. )

Even now, she remembered clearly.

Peaceful days.

Napping in Grandma’s embrace one day.

When she woke and opened her eyes,

Grandma’s body holding her was so cold,

The wool Grandma had been knitting for her sweater tangled around her neck like she’d tried to hide Yang So-ah within herself—

( Rare Hunter Yang So-ah secured. Returning now. )

Someone must’ve reported it.

Men in white masks stormed in…

Shook Grandma, who wouldn’t wake,

And dragged Yang So-ah away as she struggled.

…….

( Unconsciously activated her ‘Skill.’ )

( [Thread Manipulation]… Must be because it controls threads, the mana cost is too low to register. )

( No wonder this kid was flagged as a Rare Hunter. )

( It’s an ability meant to kill. )

Yang So-ah was isolated in a cell.

No funeral for Grandma.

The little girl curled up like a spiky hedgehog.

( It’s okay to make mistakes. You’ll have lots of precious people and things you love. )

Mistakes—

Weren’t okay.

…….

A life prolonged out of fear of death.

Where could she find meaning?

​

Someday… like Grandma said.

Would she really find people and things she loved?

Now, she’d never know.

​

​

She dreamed of happiness.

​

One sheep. Two sheep.

As if dreaming.

​

​

( You’re a sinner. )

​

​

Crunch!

The little girl’s dream.

Severed alongside her budding horns.

​

​

( In place of the grandmother you killed, we’ll ‘manage’ you. )

One day, an adult entered Yang So-ah’s cell and spoke.

Since ‘I’ am a sinner, work for others, they said.

Crunch!

An ‘safety device’—her original horns were cut off, replaced with black metal ones.

The girl named Yang So-ah.

Soon, she was assigned to Team 4 of the [Rare Hunter Protection-Elimination Division], the very team that had managed her.

『…….』

“The Team Leader always orders killings… but using my ‘Skill’……”

『……You couldn’t kill anyone because it reminded you of Grandma?』

Fluffy.

Yang So-ah nodded.

Then, she pulled out the remote ‘Goat’ had dropped in the church and fidgeted with it.

A remote with two switches.

One, a ‘rotate’ button.

The other, a rotation timer extension button.

Pressing the ‘rotate’ button turns the horns.

Not pressing the extension button also turns the horns.

That was her ‘safety device.’

Slump…

Hearing this, Eunha rubbed the corner of her mouth.

Her usual,

Smiling face.

『…….』

Why was she trapped in this mirror now?

What was that ‘Pathetic Mirror’ doing with someone else’s body?

A twinge of resentment.

Fluffy…

Then, having finished her story, Yang So-ah gazed at the ‘mirror.’

Pink hair, fluffy like lambswool despite rolling on dirty ground.

She smiled faintly at Eunha in the mirror.

“But… when I used my Skill on ‘Goat’… I didn’t hesitate…”

Facing ‘Goat’ in the church.

When he pressed the remote, somehow Eunha in the mirror had taken the pain.

Then Yang So-ah had twisted ‘Goat’s’ neck.

Uncharacteristically furious for some reason.

“Because Eunha su-nbae was next to me… here didn’t hurt…”

Recalling that moment, Yang So-ah smiled.

Saying it hadn’t hurt here,

She pressed her hand firmly over her heart, not the horned head.

“They said I… never killed anyone… Zero people…”

About what happened in the underground [Confessional].

Overwhelmed with emotion, her words spilled out incoherently.

Had she ever talked this much?

“Ban Ha-rin su-nbae… Grandma too…… they said I didn’t kill them…”

『…….』

“What…… do I do now…?”

Now that the halted time had started flowing again,

The orphaned child spoke.

『…….』

And,

Hearing those words,

Trapped in the mirror, unable to stroke that fluffy head,

Struggling to console Yang So-ah with her misfiring brain—

『…What to do? Flip everything upside down.』

Eunha said it easily.

“Sheep…?”

『The more I hear, the angrier I get. Wait here a moment. Don’t go anywhere.』

“Yaaang…?”

『Ah, so much resentment.』

Blink.

While Yang So-ah was bewildered by the laughter-filled reply,

Eunha, having resolved something, vanished from the mirror.

…….

“Yaaang?… Sheep?”

Eunha was gone.

Peering into the mirror showed only the scenery behind her.

Deeeng——.

Alone in the evening.

As twilight ended, the crimson world slowly darkened.

“Sheep? Yaaang? Sheep?”

Flustered, Yang So-ah, like a lamb with separation anxiety, pressed her cheek to the mirror.

But Eunha didn’t return.

One minute, two…

The old mirror reflected nothing,

And Yang So-ah’s anxiety, curled on the sidewalk, ballooned like a snowball.

“……Sheep…”

How much time passed?

Clutching the mirror in the darkness,

Her half-lidded eyes shut tight,

Just as the swelling snowball threatened to slide down her cheek—

Click!!

Whoosh!!

A swift second hand’s tick,

And a woman with an expressionless face slid to a stop before Yang So-ah.

“Ha… Ha… They said there was a roadside clam spawn… Didn’t think it’d be real…”

“……Sheep…?”

“Are you Yang So-ah-nim?”

The woman’s left eye was covered by an eyepatch.

Out of breath from sprinting, she looked down at the pink hedgehog.

At the voice calling her name, Yang So-ah peeked out from her fluff.

Ban Ha-rin.

Not the ‘Ban Ha-rin’ whose neck she’d twisted… the real Ban Ha-rin.

“Urk… Ban Ha-rin-ssi… My back’s breaking…”

“My back is fine.”

Under her arm, a sweatpants-clad Kang Nari dangled like a sack.

“…….”

What in the…

Yang So-ah stared blankly at Ban Ha-rin.

The Association’s monster, an A-Rank Hunter.

Her expressionless face was terrifying.

The aura radiating from ‘that’ made it hard to believe she was the same rank.

I tried to kill someone like this? Me?

Facing the real Ban Ha-rin, Yang So-ah curled up like a pill bug.

Had she come for revenge?

“I… not tasty…”

“Came on someone’s behalf.”

“…Sheep?”

“This debt collector is Kang Nari. She’ll painlessly extract your cavities.”

“Ban Ha-rin-ssi. What kind of introduction is that?”

But whether Yang So-ah was scared or not,

Ban Ha-rin, catching her breath, stepped closer—and emotionlessly spread her arms wide.

“Guhk!”

Kang Nari, tucked under her arm, dropped to the ground.

“…….”

“Came to hug you instead. Bring it in.”

A cold voice.

Yang So-ah stared blankly.

…….

Eunha in the mirror.

She had brought someone to heal Yang So-ah, and someone to hug her.

( 『Don’t drag “us” into human problems that aren’t yours.』 )

Like the wise elder said,

She brought ‘people’ to help Yang So-ah.

“…….”

Her head spun.

Eunha disappearing suddenly, Ban Ha-rin appearing suddenly.

Come to think of it, today had been hectic since morning.

“…….”

So,

More thinking would just hurt my head.

Isn’t it okay to stop now?

Fluffy…

The dilemma was brief.

Yang So-ah stopped thinking and gave in to her heart—

Flop…!

She rushed into Ban Ha-rin’s open arms.

Ban Ha-rin hugged her without expression.

“Wow… XX.”

“Ban Ha-rin-ssi!! Watch your language!”

A madwoman.

But not a scary one.

Yang So-ah burst into laughter.