Chapter 39

After escaping from the mansion.

I had just ended the broadcast and was heading to where I parked the truck.

‘Huh? Did someone else come here?’

I noticed a rather luxurious foreign car parked there. It was a vehicle I hadn’t seen earlier.

‘No. Did they just arrive?’

Upon closer inspection, the engine was still running. And just then, the car doors opened, and people started getting out. One from the driver’s seat and one from the passenger seat.

‘Hmm… They don’t look like ordinary people.’

Their attire was unusual. Were they cosplaying? It was a style I’d never seen before. Naturally, my gaze was drawn to them.

‘It’s not a hanbok, but maybe a modernized version of traditional Chinese clothing?’

It felt like the attire of a shaman or a monk, but much more stylish and refined. The clean design made their outfits intriguing without feeling too out of place, even in the bustling city. People only glanced at them a few times.

‘One’s wearing yellow, and the other’s in white.’

The reason I thought they were cosplayers wasn’t just because of their clothes. The person in yellow had animal ears twitching on their head. They looked like cat ears, though I couldn’t be sure.

‘They’re quite unique,’ I thought.

Just then—

“Huh? Senior! That guy’s ridiculously handsome!”

The cat-eared woman pointed at me and shouted. Her voice was so sharp that everyone could hear.

“Shut up. What are you doing, being so rude?”

The woman in white next to her frowned deeply and smacked the back of the cat-eared woman’s head.

“Ow! Why’d you hit me?!”

“Because you’re being rude.”

“What’s rude about calling someone handsome? Should I call them ugly instead?”

“Just be quiet. Keep those thoughts to yourself.”

“Wait! That guy… Isn’t he from the broadcast you were watching earlier, Senior?”

“Shut up, you crazy bitch.”

The cat-eared woman got smacked again. Were they filming a comedy skit? As they got closer, I could see they were quite beautiful up close. They looked like celebrities here for a shoot.

‘Given their unique outfits, maybe they’re really here for filming?’

Well, it wasn’t my business. I was about to ignore them and walk past when—

‘Ah.’

An important thought crossed my mind.

‘Should I warn them about the yokai in the mansion?’

Given that they parked here, they were likely here for the mansion. Maybe they were urban explorers like me.

It might be meddlesome, but I felt I should at least warn them about the yokai. It’d be unsettling if someone died here because of it.

‘I don’t know if they’ll believe me, but I’ll at least tell them.’

As I turned to warn them, the woman in white was staring straight at me. She muttered something under her breath.

“So, he’s really human… Good. He’s not a yokai.”

She said it quietly, so I couldn’t hear. When I tilted my head in confusion, she smiled and spoke first.

“Hi.”

“Uh… Hi.”

It was a sudden greeting. Why was she speaking so casually? Since she started with informal speech, I followed suit.

The woman in white looked at the teddy bear I was holding and asked, “Are you taking that teddy bear home?”

“This? Yeah, why?”

“…No reason.”

As our disjointed conversation continued, the cat-eared woman, who had been staring at us blankly, suddenly chimed in.

“What’s going on? Do you two know each other? You’re talking so naturally! I thought it was just a one-sided broadcast—”

“Shut up.”

She got smacked again. It seemed like a daily occurrence for her. Or maybe getting hit was her hobby.

Anyway, I decided to cut the small talk and warn them about the mansion.

“By the way, are you guys planning to go into that mansion? There’s something dangerous in there, like a yokai, so be careful—”

“It’s fine. We’re here to deal with it.”

The woman in white cut me off, as if she already knew about the yokai.

Were they not cosplayers but actual shamans or exorcists? No wonder their outfits were a bit unusual.

“Anyway, thanks for worrying. It was nice meeting you. Be careful going in.”

“Huh? Senior, are we leaving already? It was nice meeting you too, handsome guy!”

The women exchanged greetings and naturally headed toward the abandoned mansion. The lingering scent of maehwa (plum blossoms) was strong where they had stood.

‘…Will they be okay? The teddy bear said the mansion’s owner is dangerous.’

I was worried, but their confident demeanor suggested they were experts in this field. So, I decided to let it go.

‘Well, they’ll handle it. I should just go home.’

As I was about to head back to the truck, I felt the teddy bear in my arms trembling violently.

[We… We need to run. I’m scared. This time, it’s certain. They’re exorcists.]

Seeing the teddy bear shake like that, it seemed the women really were exorcists. I’m not sure how they’re different from shamans, though.

‘…Wait a second. Was that woman the viewer named Maehwa Tree?’

The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

The strong scent of maehwa that lingered. The unfamiliar profession of an exorcist. The rude, informal speech. The way she seemed to know me and the address here.

Putting it all together, it was highly likely she was the viewer who went by the nickname “Maehwa Tree.”

“The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Why didn’t she just admit she knew me?”

[I’m scared. I want to run. I want to leave.]

“Huh? Okay, I get it. Stop rushing me.”

[I’m scared. I want to live. I’m scared.]

Anyway, since the teddy bear was scared, I decided to ignore the trivial matters and headed straight for the truck.

***

I put the teddy bear in the passenger seat and even buckled its seatbelt. Being a yokai, it didn’t know how to do it itself.

As we headed home, I asked the teddy bear various questions about exorcists. The trip was boring, after all.

Of course, the teddy bear didn’t know much either. The information it had about exorcists came from what the stone statue yokai had told it. It had never seen an exorcist before today.

[Exorcists aren’t human. They’re not yokai either.]

“What do you mean by that?”

[Exorcists are yokai. But they’re also human.]

“……”

The teddy bear’s explanation went on for a while.

From what I understood, exorcists were beings who were half-human and half-yokai. In other words, hybrids.

And the reason they hated yokai was immediately understandable.

All hybrids were raised like livestock by yokai. To be precise, yokai would abduct human men, extract their essence, give birth to hybrids, raise them, and then eat them. Apparently, great yokai could impregnate themselves using human essence.

“So, from birth, they were destined to be food for yokai? No wonder they hate yokai.”

[That’s right. There are many bad yokai. But exorcists are bad too. They kill even good yokai.]

The teddy bear continued to share all the information it knew. None of it was particularly important.

***

As we were almost home, the teddy bear, who had been dozing off, suddenly perked up.

[Oh, right! I forgot to mention something!]

“What?”

[Those humans earlier lied! They said they came up, but they didn’t! They lied! They’re bad humans!]

“Huh? Who are you talking about?”

[The humans on the first floor! The four women!]

“Ah, those guys? But there weren’t four women…”

I didn’t finish my sentence. Suddenly, my head felt foggy.

“…Did I even meet anyone on the first floor?”

[……]

“I don’t think there was anyone in the mansion besides me…”

It felt like a fog had settled in my mind. The memory was on the tip of my tongue but wouldn’t come out.

Then the teddy bear spoke.

[Their souls were eaten. Their existence vanished. Humans can’t remember. Only yokai and exorcists can.]

“Their existence vanished?”

[Don’t worry about it. They were bad humans.]

I didn’t understand what it was saying, but since the teddy bear said not to worry, I stopped thinking about it. I felt like I could remember if I tried hard enough, but it seemed like my head would explode if I did.

***

Inside the red room on the mansion’s third floor.

The cat-eared woman jingled a small bell and spoke.

“Senior, wasn’t that teddy bear a yokai too? Why did you let it go?”

“…It didn’t seem like a yokai that would harm humans.”

“Huh? What’s gotten into you? You used to kill them all without hesitation. Are you afraid that guy will hate you?”

“Shut up.”

As the two women were having this conversation, the tree yokai beneath them let out an angry voice.

[How dare… How dare you…! You mere food…!]

“How dare this and that. Is that the trendy word among yokai these days?”

*Stab!*

The cat-eared woman’s sharp claws pierced the tree yokai’s core.

[Guh…]

And just like that, the tree yokai weakly dissipated. It was an insignificant end.

“Hmm. This one’s similar to Senior’s species, but it’s really weak.”

“It hasn’t eaten many humans.”

“My mother didn’t eat many humans either, but she was strong.”

“…Do you still call that cat your mother?”

“Well, she was good to me. Except for the part where she tried to eat me at the end, she wasn’t that bad of a yokai.”

“……”

“By the way, Senior, were you born from a fruit? I’ve always been curious, but you never told me.”

“None of your business.”

After finishing off the tree yokai, the two women continued their idle chatter as they dealt with the remaining yokai and cleaned up.

“Oh! Senior! I have to go back to Hong Kong next week.”

“Hong Kong, not Japan?”

“They said I need to attend some training.”

“…Alright. Go ahead.”

“Aren’t you going back to Taiwan, Senior? You’ve been in Korea for quite a while.”

“No.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“I need to watch the broadcast.”

“You can watch it in Taiwan too.”

“…Taiwan’s too far. If Se-hoon’s in danger, I can’t go help him.”

“Wow… You’re practically a stalker fan…”

As their conversation continued, the cat-eared woman found four humans in the corner of the room.

“Eugh…”

“Uh… Uh…”

The naked humans were moaning, their eyes unfocused. Seeing this, the cat-eared woman frowned.

“Ugh. Their souls have already been drained. What a pity.”

“…Their bodies haven’t been eaten yet. What a hassle.”

“Right? Huh? What’s this? A fake dick and fake boobs? Was there a cross-dresser among them?”

The cat-eared woman picked up the fake genitals and examined them. The woman in white pushed her aside and approached the soulless humans.

“Move.”

“Are you going to handle them, Senior?”

“You can’t do this yet anyway.”

The woman reached out to the naked humans.

“…At least let their bodies rest in peace.”

A short while after her words, four maehwa trees sprouted through the mansion’s third-floor roof, intertwining and standing tall like a single tree.

And so, the humans who had gone missing in this mansion were forgotten in the memories of others. Forever.

---