Chapter 132

The ghost stories about Black Cloak were famous, but Ju-hyeon was not especially interested.

'There wasn't any information I could access anyway.'

The recently appeared humanoid monster known as "Black Cloak" had its information and traces managed by high-ranking researchers. Ju-hyeon, who was still only an assistant manager, had no information he could access.

But he did know very well that he was some sort of portrait.

"..."

"What, have you lost your words because you beheld something too beautiful?"

"... Ah... You are... very confident, aren't you?"

"If it is me, should I not be overflowing with confidence?"

"That..."

The conversation was so natural that it was absurd.

"... Are you Black Cloak?"

He was far too different from the image Ju-hyeon knew.

"I heard Black Cloak used a stiffer way of speaking."

"That would be no fun. I know how to change to match my audience. That is my talent."

"I don't really understand what situation this is."

"Surprisingly, you are not dreaming, so I would appreciate it if you did not treat me as a hallucination."

"... I don't think you are... a hallucination."

His mind was still a little dazed, but judging from his own heart, pounding wildly from the shock, that seemed true.

"Why... why are you here?"

"It felt as if someone was calling me."

"At least I never called you..."

"I suppose not."

The portrait, its hood pulled down so deep that its face could not be seen, pointed below the frame.

"You look as though you would draw better than this."

"... Ah."

Where he pointed, there was a clumsy drawing of Black Cloak done in black crayon.

"..."

For some reason, the drawing wavered unstably.

"... Did you come out of this drawing?"

"If I had, I would have come out of that paper, my foolish gentleman."

"But that drawing did call you, didn't it?"

"That is how I was able to find this location, and thanks to that, I met you."

"Your way of speaking is really... all over the place."

"It is difficult for me to stay still for even a moment."

"You are too different from the Black Cloak I heard about..."

"Hmm."

His face was hidden by the shadow of the hood, but for some reason, he seemed displeased.

"This sort of conversation is no fun."

"..."

Only then did Ju-hyeon suddenly feel a sense of danger.

"... I'm sorry."

Whatever the other party's identity was, there was nothing good about earning his hostility.

He no longer even remembered how he had been agonizing until just now over whether to make a wish to Sankalut, the evil god. He was facing a situation so ridiculous that his head was not working properly.

For now, Ju-hyeon apologized first.

"If I offended you... um..."

"Are you going to offer me a sacrifice?"

"It's a little much to offer a sacrifice first when I don't even know who you are..."

"Excellent. Caution is a fine virtue for a human being to live by."

"But truly, why are you here?"

"I am certain I told you earlier."

"No one called you."

"No one called me, you say."

A very brief silence passed, and the portrait gently waved his hand.

"You called me, did you not?"

"..."

Unlike before, his voice was gentle and low.

"That is why I came."

"..."

"Because you were calling an evil god."

And then, once again, he became as blunt as a corpse.

"I am looking for a friend who will help me adapt."

"... A friend..."

By "adapt," could he possibly mean to human society?

Among gods, evil gods had an especially strong interest in humans. It was a truly unexpected point, but if "Black Cloak" was a kind of evil god like that, then Ju-hyeon could understand, to some extent, this situation where he had abruptly appeared and started talking to him.

'No, I can't.'

Did evil gods normally appear this out of nowhere?

"... I, I was... trying to call... another evil god... sir?"

"Whatever being you were trying to call, there will be no better choice than me."

"Uh..."

It was an extremely arrogant statement, but rather than feeling repulsed by it, Ju-hyeon felt fear and impatience.

'His presence is getting bigger.'

He understood that the other party's speech was fluctuating. Most mysteries of such immense stature could not fit themselves to human standards, so they often looked strange in many ways.

'He must be adapting, like he said earlier.'

But the pressure that Ju-hyeon had not felt at first was gradually growing, and that was a dangerous sign.

'Does his stature show more plainly the more he returns to that blunt tone?'

When he had been using his first way of speaking, which carried a somehow cruel interest, Ju-hyeon had merely found it absurd. But when his voice gained a reverent weight, and now, when his tone was more mechanical than that, his stature felt even clearer.

"..."

"You seem confused."

"... A little."

"How may I help you?"

"Could you make your tone... your way of speaking, a little more casual...?"

"Aha."

His tone rose in an instant.

"It seems you prefer less formality."

"... Yes, this is more comfortable."

At the same time, the pressure also eased.

'... Is his personality changing?'

For a moment, he thought he needed to report this new information about "Black Cloak," but it soon faded. Ju-hyeon found himself ridiculous for being unable to break free from his usual habits when he was even holding an evil god's sigil.

Watching Ju-hyeon's reaction, the portrait asked.

"Why did you call an evil god?"

"... That's unexpected. I thought a god would know without me saying it..."

"That would be an invasion of privacy."

"..."

"And right now, I am human."

"... Ah, yes."

Coming from a being who had popped out of a frame, it was not convincing, but Ju-hyeon understood, at least, that he was doing his best to match human standards. The proof was that even though this being claimed to be an evil god, there had so far been no witnesses whose brains had burst and died the moment they saw Black Cloak.

If he had not been considerate, countless victims would have appeared simply from looking at him. A god could become a disaster merely by being seen.

"You asked why I was trying to call an evil god."

Ju-hyeon muttered, then soon closed his mouth.

"..."

Who knew.

"... I don't know."

"You have no talent for revenge."

"So you do know all about my circumstances, don't you?"

"I merely smelled anger and came."

"Of course you did. I'm sure you did..."

There was no way someone like an evil god would not know the circumstances of a mere human, so all that joking about invasion of privacy seemed like a kind of disguise or consideration.

'No, an evil god wouldn't show consideration.'

Then perhaps it was an imitation of a human meant to make him seem as friendly as possible. Most evil gods were skilled and subtle at worming their way into the human heart, so that level of imitation would have been nothing to them.

If anything, Ju-hyeon felt more at ease.

"I believed in people."

"What people?"

"I believed in everyone."

In any case, Ju-hyeon had been trying to summon Sankalut recklessly, without even having a wish. He had wanted to resolve this unknown impulse of his, even through such a foolish method.

So even if he now played along with another evil god, it was not a major problem. The Black Cloak his family had talked about felt more familiar, if anything, so Ju-hyeon continued speaking.

"I believed in my family, I believed in my friends, and I believed in my colleagues."

"Are you the trusting sort?"

"I thought I was fairly suspicious of people... It's embarrassing, now that it has come to this in the end."

"What has it come to?"

"Some of my people died because of my stupidity, some betrayed me, and the rest abandoned me."

"That is an extremely sad thing."

"I was so angry. I was so angry I wanted to ruin everything, but I didn't even know how to ruin it."

"So you called an evil god?"

"I thought if I just called one recklessly, something might get better. I thought I might be able to ruin something, so I tried using my hands. I made it quite well, too."

No matter how easy evil gods were to call, seeing how quickly he had made it even with that in mind, he clearly had talent. Ju-hyeon mocked his own situation and talent, and also marveled at them.

"I wanted to do good."

He did not need honor.

"I just... anything..."

"Yes."

"I wanted to make a better world."

"What a beautiful heart."

"... That would have been enough..."

He had known it would be a difficult path when he walked it, but it had been harder than he had imagined.

"Isn't this too much?"

It was the sort of complaint he could make because he was dealing with an evil god.

"I know that just because you have good intentions doesn't mean you only get good results. I knew struggling alone wouldn't be enough, so I made a lot of family, and friends, and colleagues... but they all died, betrayed me, and left."

"..."

"Look at this. It's a sigil that can call Sankalut. If I hold this, an evil god can gaze at me more easily. I'm using the knowledge I learned at the Association's research lab like this. I even made it too well. And then I tried to summon an evil god when I didn't even have a wish to make."

Truly.

"It's the worst."

The situation surrounding him, and Ju-hyeon himself.

"It couldn't possibly get any worse than this..."

"Do you feel better now that you have said it?"

"... Black Cloak, are you an evil god?"

"At one time, quite a few people called me that. Not anymore."

"I understand you were sighted in Korea fairly recently."

"That was before I was here."

"I see. That can happen."

"As for your matter."

"..."

"What do you want?"

It was similar to a demon's whisper, demanding a wicked price.

Whether Black Cloak really was an evil god, or something vaguely similar. Whether he was even a god, or a monster. It was a situation where Ju-hyeon truly knew absolutely nothing, but...

There was no reason not to answer.

"... In a hell like a village where people die without value, where precious people are lost for no reason, and where people collapse helplessly before disasters that keep coming... where one has no choice but to live in fear..."

A terrible karma created by humans, monsters, and nature, which would indiscriminately destroy everyone without distinguishing between good and evil. Which would make it so no one could be happy, and no one could be at peace.

"I don't want such tragedies to repeat."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have the confidence to keep watching such sights anymore."

"Hmm."

"I don't want to see them."

I really tried so hard.

The cruelty of humans and monsters mixed together, and the world continued creating horrors too dreadful to look at.

"Can you grant my wish?"

To that, Black Cloak answered.

"? No?"

"..."

Ju-hyeon silently raised his head and looked at Black Cloak.

"... Wasn't this the timing where you would propose a deal, saying you would grant my wish?"

"I am sorry, but I do not carelessly associate with people of unsound mind and body. A deal? What a dangerous thing to say."

"Isn't it usually more profitable to make deals with people of unsound mind and body? More importantly, is an evil god allowed to say something like that?"

"Above all, gods are more pathetic and incompetent than you think."

Black Cloak asked as if he found it pitiful.

"Surely you were not thinking of wishing for something like world peace?"

"... I did think it probably wouldn't work, but still, aren't you being too honest?"

"Listen, gentleman. I merely came here looking for a friend to exchange letters with me. I am sorry, but it would be best for you to give up your dream of world peace."

"I wasn't wishing for world peace, I was just trying to contribute something..."

"Is that not ultimately the same thing?"

"... I can't say it isn't."

No, wait.

"... A friend to exchange letters with? So, you mean a pen pal?"

"Will you do it? I can send them to you in handwriting as pretty as possible."

"I have no idea why you would need something like that, but... if I do it, what is good for me and what is bad for me?"

"That you will never go hungry from now on, and the fact that, if you are careless, you might become a pig?"

"Those sound so identical that I can't tell which is the advantage and which is the disadvantage."

"How prickly. Why, you have the personality of someone with many friends, so let me join in too."

"There are things you can join, and then there's this..."

More importantly.

"... When you asked earlier if I wasn't hungry, were you serious?"

"You had the face of someone about to set off a nuclear bomb in the tiny little country of Korea, so I said it."

"You know about nuclear bombs too? No, but why did you ask if I was hungry? That doesn't explain anything."

"Usually, people who are about to cause trouble out of nowhere are hungry."

"I don't think that's usual."

"You could call it a human malfunction caused by an insufficiently full stomach."

"I think you learned humans wrong. What does causing trouble have to do with having a full stomach...?"

"That is why I am asking."

Ju-hyeon could feel the portrait smiling from within the shadow of the cloak.

"Are you not hungry?"

"..."

He kept asking whether Ju-hyeon was hungry, so he was an evil god strangely persistent about a truly odd point.

'... What is his intention? Since he is an evil god, I can't see it as the mercy of a traditional god. There must be something he wants...'

Ju-hyeon tried to think coolly.

"..."

He tried, but it was difficult to expect his usual reason from someone who had neither eaten nor slept for some time.

Half swept along, and half bewitched by the sweet voice. Ju-hyeon did not resist and affirmed it.

"... I think I am hungry."

A thought suddenly occurred to him. 'What would happen if I wished to an evil god for world peace?'

In that unreality, indistinguishable from a dream, Ju-hyeon briefly had such a meaningless, worthless fantasy.

Black Cloak held out his hand.

And Ju-hyeon was invited to a cabin.