CH 21

Whether playing chess or negotiating, he never makes a move he thinks he can lose. The initiative is his from the start. I merely choose from the options he has willingly given me, among which the right answer is fixed.

“Okay, I’ll do it. …whatever it is.”

“Good.”

A satisfied smile spreads across his face. I wonder how many people have been captured by that narrow-eyed smirk, though it’s not for the likes of me who can see through the blackness and fall for it.

“I’ll send someone to your house tomorrow at this time.”

I was about to ask him how he knew where my house was, but I swallowed my words. He already knew that I was going to this café for the interview, but if he didn’t know my home address, it would be easier to just give up.

“I’m sorry to hear about your job, then.”

“Yeah….”

What a shame. He planned on not being able to find a decent job. Simeon shrugged it off as if he didn’t notice, even when I gave him a disgruntled look. My eyes followed him as he stood up from his seat, and a small question suddenly occurred to me.

“But.”

The short word stopped Simeon in his tracks, and he looked up at the man who had just stopped beside him and asked.

“Why am I wearing this around my neck? If it’s a crown, I should be wearing it on my head.”

It was an offhand question.

His black eyes stare down at me wordlessly. A large hand reached out and gently cupped my cheek. After a moment of frowning at the cold touch, he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Your face is too beautiful to be injured.”

My mind went blank for an unexpected reason. His laughing voice echoed in my head, and by the time I came to, he was long gone.

The next day, I left the house a little early, just in case. At the appointed time, a black sedan pulled up in front of me. The man who stepped out of the driver’s seat was the bodyguard who had stood guard at the door while I was locked up.

“Hello.”

I greeted him in kind, but he didn’t say a word and only opened the back door for me. I knew his kindness to me was on Simeon’s orders, so I got into the car in silence.

“Where are we going?”

Again, no answer. After a long drive in silence, I ended up in the underground car park of a building. No matter how much I looked around, there were no clues to my destination. I got into the lift and stuck like a barnacle in the corner.

When the lift doors finally opened, a woman in scantily clad clothing bowed politely.

“Welcome.”

Behind her was an interior reminiscent of a hanok. There was an enormous tiger statue in the hall, with long corridors on either side. There were no windows, so it was dimly lit, and the ambience was enhanced by a soft yellow glow.

Judging from the interior and the staff’s demeanor, it looks like it’s a Korean restaurant that charges 50,000 won for a piece of meat. Anyway, it was clear that it was a place I would never voluntarily come to in my life. The employee then walked ahead of me, slightly bowing his head as if to ask me to follow. There were no open spaces, just private rooms. It was the kind of place you see in films where politicians and entrepreneurs meet in secret.

Soon after, he stops in front of a door. He knocked and entered and saw a familiar face.

“Welcome.”

Simeon, who had been waiting for me, greeted me with a smile.

“Wasn’t it hard on the way here?”

“Well, I was just sitting in the back seat.”

I awkwardly took the seat across from him and glanced around. The room was as simply decorated as the lobby, with a Hanok feel. Nothing was spared, from the faint scent of cypress to the ink drawings of red plum blossoms on the walls.

“You should have told me that it’s a place like this.”

“Why?”

“I’ll at least get dressed properly.”

If I’d known where we’re going, I’d have avoided hoodies and jeans. Seeing Simeon in his impeccable suit made me feel even more self-conscious about my outfit. Simeon didn’t seem to mind.

“I like you in your natural state.”

“…That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“It’s a private room, you don’t have to worry about what others think.”

After that, the staff came in and brought out colourful Korean dishes, and the fairly large square table was soon full. I was happy to be served, but I still felt uneasy. Usually people buy you expensive food when you ask them for a difficult favour, but I wasn’t sure about Simeon.

“So what’s the favour?”

Well, at least it’s something I can do. I swallow down my anxiety and pop a nicely cut rib into my mouth. Simeon, who had been watching me eat, spoke in a casual tone.

“I need you to come with me to the gate and stop flood of spirit beasts.”

“Kek.” A cough erupted and I nearly spat out my food. I drank lukewarm water and finally caught my breath. On second thought, it’s ridiculous. What was I supposed to do, go through the gate and stop a runaway spirit? Me?

“Excuse me.”

“Heo-sang.”

“No, I don’t want.”

At this point, I can’t believe how much time he has to correct his name. With a clink, he sets his cup down and looks up, his face blank. It’s clear he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“Listen, I’m not a hunter, and I don’t have the ability to fight monsters.”

“That’s okay, because I need your body.”

“Body…?”

“Your body that won’t die.”

Simeon made a silent gesture, and the bodyguard walked over to me. He set down a tablet in front of me. The dark screen lit up to reveal a picture of an old, faded book. A title was written on the hardcover, but I couldn’t read it because it was in a foreign language.

“This… What is this?”

“The <Codex Gigas>, a Class A artefact. It’s also known as the Devil’s Dictionary.”

The <Codex Gigas>, which is over 20cm thick, is a dictionary that records legendary demons. For example, it contains a description of the 72nd demon, which is said to have been sealed by King Solomon. It was created by a priest to ward off demons, but during the war it was looted by devil worshippers and used as a summoning book.

Each time I flicked the screen sideways, I was greeted with a series of grotesque pictures.

“Is this the spirit that went on the rampage this time?”

“No, no. The book became a spirit ten years ago and is now in Europe.”

“Then why….”

“Part of the <Codex Gigas> was lost in the riots of that time.”

Spirits are indestructible in most ways. However, when they run amok, like the Codex Gigas, they are unable to overcome their own power, and parts of them are cut off. Damaged spirits do not cease to exist, but rather share in the power of their body in proportion to their number of parts.

“How much is missing?”

“Eight in all, and so far we’ve been able to locate four.”

“…That’s still half the book.”

“And the fifth page cracked the Great Seal last month.”

I can’t imagine the power of a part of the spirit that ran amok in Europe coming this far. It’s also strange that the gate is still open. I don’t know of any gates in Korea that have been closed for more than a month.

”It’s been a month and the gate is still open?”

“Yes. Other hunters have tried several times in the meantime, but they all failed and came back.”

I, who had never been inside the gate before, had no idea how they had failed. When I looked confused, Simeon explained.

“In order to end the spirit’s rampage, you must enter the gate and complete a specific task.”

“What kind of mission?”

“Different for each spirit, mostly related to its origin.”

He goes on to give the example of the iconic French film, <The Fall of the Sun>. The guillotine that ended the life of Louis XVI with the French Revolution. The hunters who entered the gate to stop his rampage had to complete another emperor’s execution safely, because that was their mission.

“It’s like getting a quest in a game….”

”It’s easier to understand if you think of it that way.”

A mission involving origins. The <Codex Gigas>, then, was a natural choice for a mission. True to its reputation as the Devil’s Dictionary….

“Are there demons roaming around inside the gate?”

“No. …not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet?”

“Because we have to summon the demons on those pages ourselves and destroy them.”

It’s bad enough that I can’t get into the gate, now I have to… do it?

I almost screamed at the sight of his smirk. I hoped I’d lost my mind for a moment and misheard him. As I stared, Simeon kindly drove a wedge.

“It’s the testimony of the hunters who sealed the four pages earlier, so I’m sure.”

I didn’t need that kind of reassurance.

After a brief moment of reality avoidance, I decided to accept it. The only way to untangle the vines around my neck is to go along with Simeon’s will.

With a sigh of frustration, I asked.

“So who is the demon on the fifth page?”

Simeon gestured silently to the tablet, and I could see the grotesque figure floating across the screen.

It had no torso. Instead, it floats on six wings on either side of its head. The pure white colour of the figure makes it look saintly, but when you look at its face, you realise it’s a demon. Its oval-shaped head has degenerated eyes and a nose that have disappeared, leaving only a pair of lips that are white as a sheet. According to legend, some have hailed it as an angel, seeing only its snow-white wings wrapped in feathers like a bird. But it has a face, but it is not human; it has wings, but it is not a bird.

A creature that cannot exist in this world.