My mind grew hazy, and my head went blank.
I was definitely at home just a few seconds ago... so when I opened my eyes, why was I in a plaza?
Does this situation even make sense?!
“······.”
Bosingak Plaza, where I had been forcibly dragged by the notification window.
This place was utter pandemonium itself.
Some people were sitting on the ground, trembling; others were staring blankly into empty air.
‘This crazy notification window...! At least explain the situation before sending me here.’
Honestly, even if it had explained nicely, I probably still would have refused to go.
Anyway.
‘Whew...’
I quickly scanned my surroundings to assess the situation.
As expected, the first thing to catch my eye was a small, silver-haired girl.
I wasn’t sure if it was okay to call ‘that’ cute, but...
Pale silver hair and glittering golden eyes.
If it weren’t for the dark, blackish-red energy surrounding her, she would have looked like an ordinary beautiful girl.
A Calamity-class ghost, the Collector.
Step, step—
“······You, interesting...?”
The Collector was slowly walking toward me.
Steps that were somewhat light, like a child who had found a toy she liked.
It seemed she had taken an interest in me, who had appeared in the plaza with a black whirlwind.
‘I’m so fucked.’
Was there any phrase that could more appropriately express my feelings?
A ghost that had blown away South Korea’s strongest Awakened with a single gesture.
A girl who could easily rank among the strongest beings in the world if a novel were defined as a world.
And such a girl had taken an interest in me?
‘It might really be better to bite my tongue and cross the Jordan River.’
...Hmm, for now, should I just prostrate myself on the ground and think about it?
Maybe if I begged for my life pathetically, she would spare me.
If someone could read my thoughts, they might think, ‘This bastard has no dignity.’
But!
I didn’t have a choice anyway!
Only the strong have the luxury of choice; if an ordinary person like me wanted to survive, I couldn’t afford to shy away from pathetic acts!
‘Okay, then I’ll prostrate myself right—’
Step.
‘Huh?’
While I was lost in such thoughts.
“······What are you...?”
The girl muttered, looking at me from a short distance away.
“What is this... this feeling...”
For a long while, simply quietly.
The Collector stared at me and muttered.
“I want to... see... up close...”
With those words.
Swish—!
The girl moved in front of me in an instant, as if she had leaped through space.
Right before my eyes.
“······.”
The Collector looked up at me fixedly from a distance close enough for our breath to touch.
Swoosh—
Soon, the girl slowly raised both hands and began reaching toward me.
As if trying to grab me.
‘H-ha, haha...’
Even at this life-or-death moment, with a Calamity-class reaching for me.
The only thing I could do was curse the notification window.
Since I couldn’t run from a Calamity-class ghost anyway.
‘If you’re going to send me to resolve the story, at least give me some kind of ability!! What kind of place sends you with nothing! What kind of trash game doesn’t even have a beginner’s package!!’
So this was how I died a lifelong virgin.
I cursed the notification window inwardly and steeled myself to bid farewell to this world.
Grip.
The feeling of the Collector’s small hand lightly clutching my collar.
To think that a woman’s touch after so long would be like this; even I had to admit it was a twisted fate.
‘I hope I’m born in another world in my next life... hahaha.’
The moment I thought that and closed my eyes.
Tight!
The silver-haired girl buried her face in my chest and hugged me tightly.
And with very tender hands.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It had already been ten minutes since the Collector hugged me.
Ten minutes that would normally have passed in a flash.
To me, it felt longer than ten years.
‘W-well, at least I haven’t fainted...!’
When I transformed into my ‘Night Form,’ I had often felt uncomfortable because my inner thoughts and outer appearance felt disconnected.
Now, that very discomfort had become a godsend that was keeping me alive.
Snuggle.
Whether the silver-haired girl knew of my confusion or not.
She kept rubbing her face against my chest and tilting her head.
“Warm...”
Saying it was warm, saying it was familiar.
She kept hugging me as if trying to confirm something, muttering words I couldn’t understand.
‘I have no idea what she’s doing... but for now, I need to shut up and stay still!’
The girl in front of me was a Calamity-class ghost.
If I showed a strange reaction and triggered something like an instant-death move, my head and body would immediately part ways.
If I didn’t want to go from ‘Yun Sihyeon’ to ‘Yun / Sihyeon,’ I had to act nonchalant for now.
‘First... let me organize the situation.’
A girl who had suddenly approached and hugged me.
No matter how much I thought about it, her behavior toward me didn’t seem like simple curiosity.
“I’ve waited so long...”
A voice that was somehow awkward and strangely tinged with sadness.
‘This... this is definitely the tone of someone who misses someone.’
—Bwaaah...! Sihyeon oppa! I’ve been waiting so long!
—Ahaha, sorry, sorry. I’m a bit late, right, Gaeun?
My one and only childhood friend, whom I had known since elementary school, had always called out to me with that kind of voice.
That was why I could be certain.
That the Collector, too, was longing for someone.
But.
If I kept letting her be deluded like this without even knowing who she was longing for, an enormous backlash might come.
Swindling a ghost, and a Calamity-class one at that?
Not even ten lives would be enough.
‘For now... since I shouldn’t lie from the start......’
“Hoo.”
I took a deep breath and slowly opened my mouth.
“······Um, sorry.”
“······?”
“I don’t know who you’re missing, but I think you’re confusing me with him.”
“Con... fusing...?”
The Collector paused for a moment at the word ‘confused,’ but soon she only tilted her head.
She was still clinging tightly to me, refusing to let go.
“······I don’t know you.”
“Then why did you hug me?”
“······I don’t know, just... a familiar feeling...”
Golden eyes peered even deeper into me.
The girl slowly hugged me again and whispered quietly.
“...It’s familiar. So... will you stay by my side for now?”
“...????”
No, how can it be familiar if you don’t know me?
What the hell does that even mean?!
* * *
Meanwhile.
While Sihyeon was struggling because of the silver-haired girl.
“A Calamity-class ghost... hugged that man?”
“A-am I seeing things right now?”
A small sprout of hope was budding in people’s hearts.
At first, they had thought everything was over.
A girl who had blown away Master Han Dojin and Director Seo Jihun, renowned as South Korea’s strongest Awakened, in a single blow.
There were no more Awakened here who could stop such a girl.
‘Since we’re trapped in a Calamity-class ghost’s domain, we probably won’t make it back alive...’
Just when everyone had resigned themselves to that thought.
Swooooosh—!!
A man revealed himself in the plaza with a black whirlwind.
Snow-white skin and smoothly flowing black hair.
Immediately after a man with eyes as deep and dark as the night sky appeared, the situation suddenly began to change rapidly.
Tight!
The silver-haired girl, who had shown no interest in anything, leaped into the black-haired man’s arms the moment she saw him.
They were quite far away, so it was impossible to tell what they were saying.
But the man and the girl were conversing.
So naturally, as if they knew each other.
“The Calamity-class is hugging him like she’s happy to see him... Does that mean that man is also a Calamity-class?”
“M-maybe...? But that man, could he be... the Phantom we’ve only heard about in rumors? The features are exactly the same.”
“...Huh?! Y-you’re right?!”
“The pitch-black man surrounded by black energy... that’s definitely the Phantom!”
A ghost with rumors that, despite his frightening appearance, he was actually kind.
The story of the unidentified man who occasionally appeared, saved people without warning, and disappeared was a rumor known by all who had heard it.
“B-but why did the Phantom come here...?”
“Could it be... he came to save us?”
“The Phantom is a ghost, but he always saves people and silently disappears...? Maybe this time too...!”
The thoughts of the panicked crowd gradually began leaning in one direction.
It didn’t take long to go from doubt to certainty.
And that certainty spread into complete belief.
“Everyone...! The Phantom has definitely come to save us!”
“Y-yes...! We’re saved now!”
“D-did he really come to save us...?”
The people in despair began regaining hope one by one.
* * *
“Ha, haha...! We’re saved now!”
“The Phantom came to save us...!”
Countless gazes were fixed on the Phantom.
In their eyes, flames of hope were blazing brightly.
However.
The very person who had given them hope, Sihyeon, was.
‘Stop talking nonsense and save me, you bastards!!’
Burning black with frustration inside.
Sihyeon’s situation could be summed up in one line:
‘As expected of you, hyung! You came to save us?’
No, I got caught too. Fuck.