“This voice…”
A chill crept up from the nape of her neck, spreading across her entire body.
The moment she realized the Red Mask was standing right behind her, it felt like her whole body froze. But for some reason, as she saw Taeseong charging toward her, a sense of calm quickly settled in.
Instead of resisting or running away, she obeyed his command.
“Y-Yes!”
A powerful sound of something slicing through the air echoed above her bowed head. Seizing the moment, Haeyoung threw herself to the ground and rolled, then turned to look back.
A tall woman with a mouth torn to her ears.
It was, without a doubt, the Red Mask.
‘That thing in her hand… Could it be the same woman who helped me?’
In the hand opposite the scissors, she was clutching a pale arm, lifeless like a corpse.
Each time Taeseong’s sword clashed with the Red Mask’s scissors, sparks flew, and the entire area trembled violently.
Boom!
Their battle was so fast that ordinary people couldn’t follow it with their eyes. To the elderly couple, their movements appeared only as fleeting afterimages. The shockwaves spreading with every exchange were enough to make their entire bodies tremble.
“M-Miyako!”
“My dear!”
Eunha and Gi-jun, now regaining their composure, attempted to join the fight, but by then, the Red Mask had already vanished.
Gi-jun hurried over to Taeseong and examined his injuries.
“Captain, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.”
As if to prove his words, the superficial wounds from the battle healed in an instant.
Seeing this, Gi-jun scratched his head awkwardly.
“Ah… You were called a monster before, but now you’ve truly become one in every sense.”
Taeseong didn’t care what others called him. As long as his abilities were useful, that was all that mattered.
He approached Haeyoung and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes… Thank you, Taeseong.”
Beside her, Eunha spoke with a rigid expression.
“It’s thanks to you, Taeseong. As the acting team leader, I should have handled things better… I’m really sorry, Haeyoung.”
“N-No, it’s my fault for leading the entity all the way here. I never expected it to follow me…”
Despite her panic earlier, Eunha reminded herself that, as a leader, she could never afford to show such behaviour again.
‘No wonder the team relies on Taeseong so much. I need to get it together.’
Haeyoung, gauging the atmosphere, carefully asked,
“But… why did it suddenly disappear?”
Taeseong gave a nod.
“My guess is that it sensed danger and fled.”
“Danger?”
“It was a bit troublesome, but nothing more. If I had a little more time, I could have subdued it completely. The entity must have realized that and ran.”
Haeyoung, who had only managed to run away earlier, felt a surge of motivation watching Taeseong’s composed confidence.
“Entities can run away?”
Eunha, now fully composed, answered in his stead.
“It’s not unheard of. The higher the entity’s rank, the more intelligent it tends to be.”
“Oh Haeyoung, explain exactly what happened.”
Haeyoung recounted every detail, from finding the bodies of the presumed administrators to encountering the towering woman who had helped her.
“A towering woman? That must be an entity too, right? What was it called again? I think… Palcheok—”
“Palcheok ghost. The towering woman Captain saw when we first arrived here, it must be the same one that helped Haeyoung.”
“But why would an entity help Haeyoung?”
“Some entities are known to be friendly toward humans, aren’t they?”
“True… but they’re extremely rare. Ugh, this is getting complicated. I knew something was wrong when the Japanese administrators didn’t show up, but three entities in a single village? I’ll report to HQ right away.”
“Understood.”
Though they had grasped the situation to some extent, many questions remained.
Taeseong approached the elderly couple to address one of them.
“You two.”
Even at his call, they remained silent, glaring at him.
“You seemed to recognize that entity earlier.”
“…….”
“You called it ‘Miyako,’ didn’t you?”
“…….”
“Is she your daughter?”
At those words, the elderly couple flinched.
That reaction confirmed to Taeseong that he was on the right track.
“So I was right. Are you going to stay silent?”
“…….”
“Gi-jun.”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Make them talk.”
“…Our way?”
“As humanely as possible.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“We’ll step outside for a while, then.”
With that, Taeseong and Haeyoung left the room.
Clack.
With Eunha already gone to contact headquarters, only Gi-jun and the elderly couple remained inside.
Out in the hallway, Taeseong and Haeyoung leaned against the wall, waiting for the interrogation to end.
“Um… Taeseong?”
“Speak.”
“What exactly happens in those interrogations…?”
“I don’t know the details myself. But Gi-jun seemed confident, so it’ll be effective. Don’t worry, I made sure to emphasize ‘humane methods’ just in case.”
“R-Right…”
Contrary to Taeseong’s expectations, Haeyoung wasn’t particularly worried about the ethical aspect—she was simply curious.
Despite her gentle nature, she was still a Tree administrator.
Having seen and experienced death countless times, she wasn’t soft-hearted enough to feel guilt over interrogating an enemy.
After about ten minutes, the door opened, and Gi-jun stepped out.
“Is it done?”
“Yes, but… Since I used humane methods, I couldn’t extract everything. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. You’ve made things easier for us.”
Curious, Haeyoung peeked inside through the slightly open door.
To her surprise, the elderly couple looked relatively unchanged, except that the ropes binding them were now gone.
‘What exactly did he do?’
“For now, it seems those two really are the parents of the Red Mask.”
“So it’s confirmed?”
“Yes. Her real name was Higashi Miyako. She supposedly hanged herself about 20 years ago.”
“Suicide? Why?”
“Well…”
Thump. Thump.
Oh no, my heart feels like it’s going to burst.
Will he accept my confession? What if he rejects me?
No, that can’t be. I’m sure he has feelings for me too.
Yeah, there’s no doubt about it.
We’ve locked eyes so many times during class—there’s no way that was all just my imagination, right?
If we start dating, it’d be nice to go to the same university.
Getting married in my late twenties sounds good.
Let’s have exactly two kids, no more, no less.
“Hehehe.”
Lost in all sorts of delusions behind the school building, this girl’s name is Higashi Miyako.
Her bangs completely cover her eyes as she anxiously waits for her classmate, Satoshi, whom she called here to confess her feelings.
She had been secretly harbouring a crush on him since the beginning of the semester, but only recently did she gather the courage to act upon it.
Just then, Satoshi appeared in the distance.
Step. Step.
Miyako fidgeted with the doll she had hidden behind her back— a Satoshi doll she spent a whole month making, staying up late every night without proper sleep.
Finally, it was time to confess her feelings along with the doll.
“You’re the one who called me?”
“…Yeah.”
“So, what do you want?”
Using the frantic pounding of her heart as a timer, she counted to five before thrusting the doll forward and shouting.
“S-Satoshi! I’ve liked you for a long time! I think you feel the same way about me! Let’s go out!”
…
A heavy silence fell over them.
Ten seconds passed, but there was no reply.
Slowly raising her head, Miyako looked at Satoshi.
He was staring at the doll— the doll made to look exactly like him— with a face twisted in disgust.
“S-Satoshi?”
“This… is supposed to be me…?”
“Y-Yeah.”
Satoshi’s face turned into one of utter revulsion as he asked,
“Who… who even are you? Do I know you?”
“You… You don’t know me? I sit two seats away from you! H-Higashi Miyako!”
“Higashi Miyako…? I don’t know… Are you even in our class?”
The shock was overwhelming— Satoshi didn’t even know she was his classmate.
His disgusted reaction made sense now.
A girl he’d never even noticed was handing him a doll that looked exactly like him.
Rather than feeling grateful, it only made his skin crawl.
It meant some stranger had been secretly watching him all along.
“W-What? No way… We’ve made eye contact so many times! I’ve seen you looking this way over and over again!”
At that, Satoshi’s face lit up with realization—
followed by disbelief.
“Oh, you mean you sit over there… You must’ve misunderstood something. I wasn’t looking at you— I was looking at Sakura, the girl sitting next to you. I like Sakura.”
Another heavy silence fell.
Miyako’s head drooped low, her body trembling slightly.
“Y-You don’t know who I am…?”
Watching her tremble, Satoshi felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
His survival instincts screamed at him to get out of there.
At that moment—
Miyako suddenly lifted her head, staring at him with bloodshot eyes.
“I-I guess… It’s possible you don’t know me…
But, but…”
Drip.
Clear liquid streamed from her veiny eyes.
“Why… why do you like that b*tch Sakura? What’s so good about her? Huh? What’s wrong with me? Why did you choose her over me?You smiled at me! You looked at me every day with such a loving gaze! What the hell is wrong with you!?”
“…Y-You’re just not my type!
To be honest, you’re ugly… and way too creepy!”
“……”
Blindsided by her outburst, Satoshi blurted out the truth in panic—
and immediately regretted it.
“M-Miyako, I didn’t mean it that way! I meant you’re just not my type, that’s all! I-I actually prefer girls with bigger mouths, and, well, your mouth is kinda small…”
Desperately trying to smooth things over, he spat out anything that came to mind.
“So, you like girls with big mouths, huh?”
A knowing smile crept onto Miyako’s lips.
Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
“W-Wait…! What are you doing!?”
When Satoshi saw what it was, his face went pale.
‘I have to stop her… I should say something…’
But the madness in Miyako’s eyes froze him in place.
“……”
Without a care, Miyako silently continued her task.
Snip. Snip.
The sound of scissors cutting echoed faintly behind the school.
Satoshi sat frozen on the ground, staring blankly at the horrifying scene before him.
He wanted nothing more than to run away— but his body wouldn’t move, paralyzed by fear.
Plop.
Finally, Miyako’s scissor work came to a halt.
She turned to him with a beaming smile.
Her face now resembled a crimson-stained poppy flower.
“What do you think?
Am I pretty now?”
Blood trickled down from the corners of her freshly cut mouth.
