Chapter 104

After escaping the forest,

I descended a sloping hill and arrived at the village entrance.

“I can’t see inside the village from here.”

The village was surrounded by walls over 2 meters tall.

It felt like a small fortress.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Just see it in third person.

【Handsome Licker】─Se-hoon can’t see in third person, though. *Lick*.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Pathetic. LOL.

“But can I just walk in here?”

I stopped at the village entrance and muttered.

Maybe I need to buy a ticket or something.

Or maybe it’s a village that doesn’t allow outsiders.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Yeah, you can just walk in.

“How do you know that?”

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─It’s intuition. Sex.

【Handsome Licker】─Guburi’s intuition is trash, right? *Lick*.

【Yoho】─I think it’s okay to enter. If they didn’t want tourists, there’d be a sign or something.

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wakya-pya! Just go in! They wouldn’t chase you out, right?

【Maid】─Warukya-pya! Slam the door!

“Hmm…”

The hesitation didn’t last long.

Since there was no sign prohibiting entry, I decided to go in.

If there’s a problem, I’ll just apologize politely and leave.

*

*

*

The village was eerily quiet, almost like it was abandoned.

It seemed like all the residents were holed up inside their houses, as there was no sign of life outside.

“Seeing that there’s no one around, it’s probably not a famous tourist spot.”

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─I wouldn’t visit a place like that either.

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wakya-pya. It’s a hidden tourist spot not known to the world.

【Maid】─Warukya-pya. Hidden spot!

【Qkrnfl892】─It’s freaking deserted.

【Yoho】─Maybe it’s a failed tourist spot?

【Min Ji】─Maybe it’s not a tourist spot at all.

【Handsome Licker】─Is it a village where no one lives? It’s too quiet. *Lick*.

“That can’t be. The streets are clean.”

【Qkrnfl892】─Yeah, if it were abandoned, it wouldn’t be this clean.

【Handsome Licker】─No tourists mean no trash, right? *Sip*.

【Maehwa Tree】─There’s not even a single leaf or piece of trash. It’s proof someone’s maintaining it.

【Handsome Licker】─Ah, I see. *Slurp*.

【Yoho】─But why are there no tourists?

【Min Ji】─It’s probably because it’s too remote.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Nah, it’s because the murals are freaking trash.

Guburi’s words made sense.

The murals on the walls were so grotesque that just looking at them made you frown.

If I had to describe them,

they felt like a poor imitation of Munch’s *The Scream*.

Of course, they were nowhere near that level.

“How come there’s not a single normal mural here?”

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Seriously, they drew it so disgustingly. No wonder tourists stopped coming and it went to hell.

【Yoho】─The world of art is truly profound.

【Handsome Licker】─That’s not art, it’s graffiti. *Lick*.

The murals seemed to depict people trapped inside the walls, suffering.

As Handsome John said, this wasn’t art.

It was just trash that made people uncomfortable.

“…But the more I look at it, even though it’s just a drawing, I feel kind of sorry for it.”

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─It seems like they drew it to evoke discomfort and pity.

【Min Ji】─If that was the intention, they did a great job, right?

As I slowly walked,

admiring the murals one by one, that’s when it happened.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─What the hell is that head popping out over there?

【Qkrnfl892】─Whoa, that’s freaking tall.

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wakya-pya! I wanna steal that height!

【Maid】─Warukya-pya! So jealous of that height!

The viewers started spamming the chat, having spotted something.

I looked around and asked,

“Where?”

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Look at the right wall. There’s a head with a straw hat sticking out.

I turned my head to the right and looked at the village wall.

There was nothing there.

The “head” Guburi mentioned wasn’t visible.

“Are you messing with me? There’s nothing there.”

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─It disappeared suddenly.

【Qkrnfl892】─Not lying. It was really there.

【Min Ji】─I didn’t see it, though.

【Handsome Licker】─You were only watching in first person, so you didn’t see it. *Lick*.

“Are you sure you didn’t imagine it? I didn’t feel any gaze or anything.”

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wakya-pya! You weren’t looking!

【Maid】─Wakya-pya! Prince syndrome!

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Not prince syndrome, just a prince.

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Se-hoon, behind you!

“Behind?”

As the Defense Team’s chat popped up,

I immediately turned around and looked up at the wall.

【Yoho】─Gasp. That’s scary.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─When the hell did that bastard move there?

【Qkrnfl892】─Is it someone else?

【Min Ji】─What is that? Can a person even be that tall?

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Clearly not a person. Damn.

On top of the village wall, over 2 meters tall,

a head wearing a straw hat was sticking out.

It seemed to belong to an incredibly tall individual.

【Maehwa Tree】─Is that the Eight-foot Monster?

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Oh. That’s a yokai?

【Handsome Licker】─Are yokai usually this easy to spot? *Lick*.

【Reverse Rape Mania】─Exactly. I’ve never seen one in real life.

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wakya-pya! Now no one can say they don’t believe in yokai!

【Maid】─Warukya-pya! It’s all thanks to me!

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─This is my first time seeing a real yokai.

【Qkrnfl892】─The Maid is a yokai too, so what do you mean first time?

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Not some weak yokai, but a real scary one, damn it. I don’t count the Maid.

【Maid】─Wakya-pya! I’m a real yokai too!

【Min Ji】─Tsk! Maid-nim isn’t a yokai, she’s a cute teddy bear!

【Maid】─Wakya-pya…

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Tsk, this nonsense. LOL.

【Meng Yao】─Min Ji, didn’t you dislike the Maid? Why are you calling her cute now?

【Min Ji】─It’s love-hate.

【Yoho】─Why is everyone so calm? If that’s a yokai, isn’t this a dangerous situation?

【Maehwa Tree】─Nah, it’s not dangerous. Se-hoon will win anyway. It’s not a Great Yokai, just a regular one.

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─LOL. Maehwa, this guy doesn’t worry about Se-hoon at all now. He used to freak out and tell him to run.

【Maehwa Tree】─That was before I knew how strong Se-hoon is.

Trusting Maehwa’s words,

I couldn’t definitively say it was a yokai.

It could just be an unusually tall person.

“Maehwa, are you sure it’s a yokai?”

【Maehwa Tree】─Yeah, seems like it. Maybe it’s because of the special camera Drift made, but even through the screen, I can feel something.

“It’s not emitting any foul smell, and I don’t feel any chills.”

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Maybe it’s because it’s far away? Or maybe you’ve gotten used to it after living with the Maid for so long.

【Maid】─I don’t smell bad!

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Shut up, you smelly teddy bear.

【Maehwa Tree】─Every yokai is different.

【Maehwa Tree】─Right now, it probably doesn’t have any hostility toward you.

“…Really? If it’s not hostile, then I guess I don’t need to worry about it.”

It seemed like I could ignore it.

According to Maehwa, it didn’t have any ill intentions toward me.

I can’t just slaughter an innocent yokai for no reason.

Of course, if it attacks first, that’s a different story.

【Maid】─Wakya-pya! Come to think of it, Maehwa is a yokai too!

【Handsome Licker】─Maehwa’s an exorcist, though. *Lick*.

【Maehwa Tree】─Yeah, I’m not a yokai.

【Maid】─Wakya-pya?

【Reverse Rape Mania】─At first, I thought Maehwa was lying, but now that I know he’s a real exorcist, he seems cool.

【Maehwa Tree】─LOL.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Maehwa, can you make me an exorcist too?

【Maehwa Tree】─No.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Damn, you’re so cold. I hope you fail an exorcism and get eaten by a female yokai.

【Reverse Rape Mania】─There’s such a thing as a female yokai?

【Maehwa Tree】─Yeah.

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─?

Anyway,

I decided to ignore the Eight-foot Monster or whatever it was and look for a restaurant.

I’ve been starving for a while now, so I want to fill my stomach with something.

‘There’s no way there’s no restaurant in the village, right?’

Thinking that,

I was about to start searching for a restaurant when—

*Po. Po. Po. Po.*

A chilling voice that made my hair stand on end pierced my ears.

“What’s that sound?”

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Damn. That scared me.

【Handsome Licker】─*Lick*?

【Qkrnfl892】─That was startling.

【Min Ji】─What’s that voice…?

【Maid】─Wakya-pya…

The voice came from the direction of the village entrance.

I immediately turned my head to look.

And at that moment,

I locked eyes with a tall man with glowing red eyes.

It was the Eight-foot Monster wearing a straw hat.

*Po. Po. Po. Po.*

The Eight-foot Monster continued making strange noises, staring at me with unsettling eyes.

“Why is it acting like that all of a sudden? Does it want to fight?”

【Maehwa Tree】─Yeah.

【Qkrnfl892】─What do you mean “yeah,” you crazy woman?

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Whoa, it looks freaking scary from the front.

【Min Ji】─Let’s just run away…

【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wakya-pya! That yokai’s lost its mind!

【Maid】─Wakya-pya! Time to exorcise it!

【Reverse Rape Mania】─I want to see an exorcism. I’m curious how it’s done.

【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Just beat the crap out of it, and it’s exorcised.

“I guess it didn’t notice me earlier, so it wasn’t hostile.”

I prepared to counterattack, just in case the yokai attacked.

About a minute passed.

Contrary to expectations, the yokai didn’t make any moves.

It didn’t take a single step from its spot.

It just kept staring at me.

‘Maybe it can’t enter the village?’

Or maybe it never intended to harm me in the first place?

While I was pondering these questions,

*Po. Po. Po. Po.*

【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Shut the hell up, you bastard. Before I rip your dick off.

The Eight-foot Monster made the strange noise again and started gesturing for me to come closer.