“Let’s inhale this first before we enter in earnest.”
Kim Iseo held back Kim Yul, who looked ready to rush in at any moment, and took out a small device from inside her jacket.
It was much like the inhalers commonly used by asthma patients. The white liquid inside sloshed gently in time with the motion of Kim Iseo’s hand.
“It’s a mental stabilizer. It lasts for ten minutes and blocks most mental attacks. Of course, your own resistance matters most, so don’t let your guard down.”
“Ugh, that tastes awful.”
Kim Yul stuck out her tongue with a pout and scrunched up her face. Kim Iseo paid her no mind and pressed the inhaler into her hand.
“We’re not taking it for the taste. It’s better to drink it preemptively than to get ensnared for no reason.”
“Uugh….”
Reluctant, Kim Yul squeezed her eyes shut and brought the inhaler to her mouth. Lee Minsu and Kim Milyeo also took long, deep draws from theirs. Ian hesitated briefly, then cautiously placed the device in his mouth.
In truth, Ian’s mental barrier wasn’t particularly lacking. He had never been entranced by anything before, nor had he ever sensed the slightest sign of it. The fact that he alone hadn’t fallen into the dream during the monkey dream incident was proof enough that his willpower far surpassed that of ordinary people.
He couldn’t be sure how he compared to the agents. But if asked whether his barrier was lacking? He didn’t think so. It would be strange if his mental barrier were insufficient when he was using an Outer God’s grimoire without issue.
Still, there was no reason to gamble by refusing the stabilizer. Whatever the case, it was best to handle matters thoroughly and take precautions without cutting corners.
“….”
Ian carefully pressed the release button on the inhaler. At the same time, the liquid stored at the bottom of the device heated rapidly, turning into something like steam. White smoke circulated inside the canister, rushing up the open passage toward the mouthpiece.
“Sss….”
He slowly inhaled the rising smoke. A terrible taste slammed into his sense of taste and smell in an instant, but Ian squeezed his eyes shut and breathed it in. A moment later, the inhaler finished discharging and crumbled into tiny pieces on its own, falling to the ground.
“……Urk.”
Ian forcibly swallowed the rising nausea, took out the water he had packed in his bag, and gulped it down. After that, he felt a bit better.
“……The taste is atrocious. Did you make this out of food waste?”
“We don’t know the manufacturing method for the inhalers either, hnngh, very well. However, Santa makes the liquid itself,” Kim Iseo answered, wiping spittle from the corner of her mouth.
“If I get the chance later, I’ll show you.”
“……Forget it. Let’s focus on the mission.”
Ian exhaled a long breath and turned his head. Kim Yul, who had been the first to use her inhaler, was hanging her tongue out toward the ground and drooling, but she wasn’t what mattered right now.
The village scenery was slowly beginning to be bathed in sunlight. The figures of villagers started to appear beyond the windows of the small houses, not far away.
Their arms, legs, torsos, and lower bodies were no different from those of ordinary humans. They didn’t look to be painted in blood. But their expressions were somehow unnatural.
Faces caught between a smile and a stern mask. Tears streamed down from their eyes, curved in arcs, while their grotesquely bent fingers picked something up.
It was leather. But not ordinary leather.
Human-skin masks.
Tools made by flaying human facial skin to create masks.
They donned masks crafted without regard for gender. Their bloodshot sclera were fully exposed through the hollowed-out eye holes. The corners of their mouths were stitched with thread, fixed in a smiling state. From the villagers’ original mouths visible inside, an incomprehensible muttering continuously flowed out.
“Ugh!”
“Kgh…!”
Though they heard no proper words, the moment they perceived the muttering, a shock like a hammer blow struck the minds of everyone except Ian. A sensation like bugs crawling between the folds of the brain. A terrible feeling that seemed to crush the ego whole raked through their consciousness. Fingers stuck to their faces of their own accord; they felt driven mad with the desire to tear off this damned skin attached to their muscles.
*Ah, why do humans wear such cumbersome leather? Why is there any need to make expressions other than a smile? Laughter, happiness, smiles, radiance, praise, joy, pleasure—all of these ultimately stem from a bright, innocent expression. There is no reason to be angry, no reason to be sad. Because humans have a duty to always be happy. We must follow the will of the Buddha and preach happiness. We have a duty to paint smiles on the faces of all people. We have a duty to tear off their cumbersome skin and use it as a stepping stone for happiness. That beginning is always oneself. I must change first if I am to change the world. Did not Sakyamuni say so as well? He who conquers himself is the greatest victor. We insignificant beings always fight against falsehoods—anxiety, misfortune, despair, ruin, frustration, and so on. We must protect ourselves from emotions far removed from happiness and claim victory. Therefore, this is the foundation stone. To ascend the first step toward Nirvana by flaying one’s own facial skin, to become the foothold for attaining Buddhahood, the first staircase leading to enlightenment must be climbed—*
Crack!
The encroaching thoughts subsided along with terrible pain. Blood trickled from the tongue he had forcibly bitten. Perhaps because it was an area dense with blood vessels and nerves, the bleeding was considerable, and the pain was immense. But thanks to that, he could come to his senses.
“Kgh…!”
Kim Iseo spat out the blood pooled in her mouth and quickly looked around. In the distance, she could see the villagers slowly emerging from their houses and her companions, who had yet to come to their senses.
Despite having definitely taken the stabilizer, it was a mental attack so severe that it could strip away one’s ego in an instant. Kim Iseo had managed to regain her senses because she had experienced something similar in Hansel and Gretel in her childhood, but the others were not so lucky.
Lee Minsu and Kim Milyeo were scratching at their faces like madmen with their fingers, while Kim Yul was letting out vacant giggles with a dazed expression.
And Ian…….
“Hoo….”
He was gazing at the villagers with an unperturbed expression.
*
It was a sudden disaster. The moment the villagers donned their human-skin masks, the faces of everyone except Ian went blank and slack. Then they brought their hands to their own faces and began straining as if to tear the skin off.
The worst off among them were Lee Minsu and Kim Milyeo. Their faces were already covered in blood. They didn’t have serious wounds; the bleeding was caused by scratching their skin with their nails. It must have hurt like hell, but it wasn’t life-threatening.
Kim Yul simply laughed vacantly. Drool dripped from between her parted lips. Her wide-open eyes began to turn increasingly red from dryness. However, unlike Lee Minsu or Kim Milyeo, she hadn’t completely lost her mind. She was gripping the pinky finger of her opposite hand with a trembling hand, as if she might twist it off at any moment. If left as she was, she would likely break it the other way to come to her senses.
And Kim Iseo—whose face had been laughing madly just moments ago, making it all seem like a lie—approached him, her lower face stained with blood.
“……Sh-Shin Ian. Are you alright?”
Ian looked down at her and nodded.
“I’m fine. I don’t feel a thing.”
“H-how……?”
“My mental barrier must be tougher than yours. Enough of that. Is it okay to leave the current situation as is?”
Ian shifted his gaze back toward the villagers.
In total, roughly thirty or so people. They were all approaching with human-skin masks on, wielding things like kitchen knives and axes. None of them were running. They all walked slowly, muttering something.
“I can’t tell what they’re saying. Is it even Korean in the first place?”
“……You can’t hear them?”
Kim Iseo asked, rising on trembling legs.
“‘One who is foolish like a beautiful flower that has color but no fragrance, who does not know the Dharma and whose mind is unstable—if he considers himself foolish, he is already a wise person. If one associates with evil people, their evil rubs off on him, and even after a long time together, the stench does not disappear.’…… All of those sentences the villagers are muttering are things Sakyamuni said.”
“……It sounds like Korean to you?”
“Yes. However, the very fact that it sounds normal is probably……”
“It means you’re entranced.”
Ian clicked his tongue, opened his grimoire, gripped a pistol in his other hand, and tilted his head.
“Those two will cross over to the other side if left alone. First priority is waking them up with a shock or something.”
“Ah, understood. Then, the mage Kim Yul—”
“I’ll do it.”
Kim Iseo nodded at Ian’s words. She spat out the blood beginning to pool in her mouth again, drew a knife, and unhesitatingly brought it down on Kim Milyeo and Lee Minsu’s shoulders. Then she twisted the blade tip that had reached their shoulder bones, scraping against the surface of the bone.
“Kuaaack!? Kgh……!”
“Uurk……!”
With the terrible pain, clarity returned to the two people’s eyes, which had been blank and unfocused. They quickly assessed the situation, gripped their respective weapons, and steadied their breathing.
Ian stood before Kim Yul and looked down at her silently. Her bloodshot pupils turned precisely toward Ian and trembled violently. Her mind seemed to be awake, but her body wouldn’t follow. Ian holstered his pistol for a moment and gently wrapped his hand around hers—which was clutching her own finger—before speaking.
“Here goes.”
Of course, there was no response. Regardless, Ian used Kim Yul’s own hand to bend her finger the other way.
Crack!
A terrible sound rang out as the joint dislocated and the skin tore. At the same time, her rigid body began to move.
“O water, respond to my will. Become a single wave that pierces through them!”
The moment she came to her senses, she chanted a spell.
Rumble……!
The flasks hanging at Kim Yul’s waist shattered all at once and condensed into one spot. Then, rippling like a small wave, it crushed the legs of the villagers walking at the very front. Blood mixed into the surging waves. The water, turned crimson, crushed the upper bodies of the fallen villagers as well before disappearing.
“Hugh, hgh…… haak……!”
Kim Yul, having used magic, let out rough breaths and turned to look at Ian. She grinned, cold sweat trickling down her face.
“Thanks.”
Instead of answering, Ian drew his gun and fired at the villagers.
Ratatatat!
The thick smell of gunpowder spread heavily over the reeking, bloody water.