Beware of the Red Thread

Chapter 16

“Look!”

I quickly grabbed Verseppo’s hand. Treatment took precedence over anger. The red thread that quickly encroaches is about to ride up the palm of the hand and up to the arm. I wasn’t in very good shape yet, but I took a deep breath and stretched out my hand. However, Abel’s grabbing hand was faster.

“Don’t use it.”

He looked down at me with no expression and commanded. I ignored it and tried to reach out, but my body didn’t move. It was a cruel use of God’s power. Let me see this! In the midst of an unbearable eye-fight, Verseppo, bluish pale, fell to his knees. The buds sprouting from his crown trembled pathetically.

“You, you are the master of the underworld. I’m sorry I didn’t see you! Lian, I’m giving this, so make sure to cook it! I’ll get going. I’m really sorry!”

In the meantime, Verseppo, who handed me the basket, hurriedly ran down the dark hill, holding his charred hand. Ver, Ver! I tried to call him sadly, but he suddenly disappeared like a dandelion stalk blown away by a strong wind. I twisted my forehead and tried to open my mouth, but this time Abel was faster.

“Why don’t you say that it’s just a pet*? Huh?”

(T/N: The term pet he used has a more connotation of a toy rather than companion animal.)

Abel’s bright red eyes, completely buried in darkness, fell. The sun had just set and it was pitch black all around. It was perfect for creating a sense of fear. Normally, I would have gotten scared at this point, but I couldn’t see it because of my anger. “What pet!” I groaned and slapped my gripped wrist.

“How could you do such a thing! Verseppo is my benefactor who has been a tremendous help for me to settle here!”

Among the spirits, Verseppo was very shy and had a very low sociability. He was originally a herbal healer at the Temple of Lemda, but due to his passive nature, he would go to work at least once every hundred years. Not long after I fell into this world, I scoured the forest for a living and met Verseppo.

It must be me who is surprised, but he sees me and ah-ah-ah! And he ran away in a haze of confusion. Because of that, I had to contemplate for a few days whether I am the worst looking spirit to the spirits. Anyway, since then, he has been secretly spying on me while I was digging for herbs – I did not know that the owner of the forest was Verseppo – and he was impressed by a human who enjoys eating mushrooms, lettuce, and sesame leaves -by chance no one likes it, it’s just a weed to the monsters- so deliciously. He was deeply moved, and I gained deep trust by treating his burn, which was badly injured in the wildfire, and became friends until now.

Verseppo’s mentality, which had little interaction with others, was as fluffy as a bud stuck in the top of his head. Perhaps, running like that, Verseppo would go into an oak hole, cover himself with the leaves of the popula, and weep alone. In my experience, it would take three months and ten days. As I finished my brief recollection, I became even more annoyed and tossed around.

“He’s timid! He was sorry for stepping on my foot for three days! What a kind and tender friend he is! What the hell are you-”

“Friend?”

Yes, friend! Chingu! Verseppo is my boyfriend – no, my male friend. He is neither my lover nor anything, but when I tried to explain, I gave up looking at the eyes filled with anger only. Am I talking to a gas stove right now?

“So, you’re saying I did something wrong? You and… No. It’s that guy who broke in and interrupted my time?”

No matter how hard it is, what’s the point of burning his hand? I wanted to spit out nagging. Abel doesn’t know much about feelings. It was still unreasonable to try to convince that stupid demigod, who had a very dichotomous thinking in the first place, of delicate human empathy or something subtle about human relationships. I promised to stay quiet and leave, but there was no need to make a fuss by pouring oil into the fire, which seems to have gotten worse these days. I felt tired and let out a sigh.

“No. Let’s stop.”

…… What? I walked past Abel, who stood stiffly, and cleared the table. The food was already cold. I roughly cleared the table, and although it was still early, I went upstairs with a pillow and a blanket. I was in the attic on the second floor, where I had nothing more than just piled up rubbish-looking out of the window when it was raining-but roughly spread the bedding and I’ll be fine.

I laid the blanket and leaned my back against the cold wall. It was pitch black outside the window. I looked down blankly at the box I had brought up and the wad of parchment I had written my plans on. I couldn’t even open it to fear. The pain at that time was so unfamiliar. No matter what I do, I must have vomited blood yesterday. It is evidence that there is trauma, not just pain. Even if I had to endure the pain and remove all the red threads, it is clear that my body itself would not be able to withstand it before that.

When I fell into this world, I had a gut feeling that I wasn’t the female lead, but it wasn’t just because I looked different. I had a risk to my ability. The female lead, Saintess Lucia, had no risk of suffering this kind of pain. On the other hand, I am only half the ability. It looks similar at first glance, but it cannot break Abel’s curse. I closed my eyes, hugging the box with the heart.

No matter how much I thought about it, there was only one conclusion. The answer is to find the female lead, Saintess Lucia, and put Abel. Prevents Assand from killing him and convinces her to put Abel’s heart back in place. And if Abel was immortal, I would wait patiently and return home. Yes. It’s very simple. No other plans were needed in the first place. I wrinkled the parchment and sighed.

Kuang-

Then there was a sound from the door downstairs. Abel seemed to be leaving, but I couldn’t afford to hold onto him. I quickly closed my eyes at the rush of water.

*

When I woke up, it was morning, and I was lying on a soft mattress. It’s definitely on my bed on the first floor.

…… Apparently I slept in the upstairs attic? When I woke up, something fell. A semi-wet towel. Did he take care of me even though he was so pissed off yesterday? Feeling a bit of emotion, something absurd was coming, I called him.

“……Abel?”

Why didn’t he answer? Did something happen? The red thread on my wrist seemed somehow thick. My spine was shivering.

“Abel!”

As I jumped out of bed, startled by the ominous instinct, my nose got stabbed by the burning smell. Moving forward, stirring off the black smoke, the source was the kitchen. Abel, who seems to be the main culprit in the act, was doing something while wiping his hands. Oh, f***. While occasionally muttering profanity, it seems that something is wrong. I felt the threat of suffocation as I got closer, so I stopped and asked quietly.

“……What are you doing?”

Startled, Abel hid the frying pan behind his back. I opened my eyes and held out my palms. The thin red thread fluttered with freshness.

“What are you doing? Look.”

“Nothing.”

Don’t play dumb while talking casually, I can see everything. The bagel, which had been deprived of life by the energy in his hand, was horribly crushed and scattered. It looked like a warlock controlling a bagel. When I pretended not to know about the tearful alchemy, I decided to take the frying pan. Fortunately, the bottom was originally black, so it was easy to pretend not to know.

“Are you interested in cooking?”

“Uh, a little.”

He was still pissed off, but he got into trouble. The reaper (age N, preliminary villain) who tried so hard to pretend to be cool was truly miserable. Still, it was strange that he took care of me and cared for me in the morning, so I skipped the nagging. Anyway, it was only after wiping the frying pan – I used ten kitchen towels – that I could have a proper breakfast.

In the morning I went out to town. Abel followed me from a distance as if he wasn’t at my party, but he got closer and walked side by side with me at the end of the day. As I was shooting here and there like in my front yard, I felt Abel looking at me strangely. Alright. What do you think of me, who couldn’t even find the bathroom and became a lost child many times at Abel’s temple. Your temple was too big. Contrary to that, I can visit the city of Lemda, where I have lived for five years, even with my eyes closed.

The first place I requested for sugar cubes was at the sugar store, and the second place I stopped by was Mr. Jiinen’s shoe store.

“Oh, Lian!”

Mr. Jiinen, who was repairing dozens of shoe soles with round glasses on the tip of his nose, stood up with a smile. While shaking hands, the other arm is still picking the sole of the shoe. “Is the Reaper next to you? Nice to meet you.” Unlike other priests, he calmly asked for a handshake.

“Yes. You must have come to match your shoes? Sneakers as usual?”

“Yes. One blue sneakers and one sandal because it’s summer, please.”

“Let’s see- I’m sure I have a set-”

He tells me to wait for a moment, then climbs the long ladder on one side and disappears one by one. Jinen was a shoe fanatic. He created things he had never seen before, just by looking at the descriptions and drawings of my feet. He even put out works that were better than most brand shoes in appearance and quality.

“Then, here it is.”

He immediately put out two shoes, as if he had already modeled them, and paid attention to Abel, who was standing still.

“Doesn’t the Reaper need a match?”

“Not a day goes by anyway.”

“Aha. I think it’s a scam. I made a mistake.”

What’s wrong with you? I feared it would scratch Abel’s nerves, but he quickly notices and offers her an apology. He’s quick-witted and talented, and he says, “If you need it, I’ll let the little ones deliver it too!” He says Abel’s going far away, so he says something like that. He’s a really good monster. Abel felt it too, so he threw a few words out of the shop.

“He seems like a pretty smart guy.”

“Yes. But he doesn’t get recognition because of his appearance.”

There are classes among the monsters. Insects that look particularly ferocious. Arthropods in particular are not treated very well. The arachnids were all the same, but since there was the Cherkopia Priest, the arachnids were on the good side. He was a talented person to work at a shoe store in a rural village like this, but it was a pity that he was despised because of his appearance.

“So did I.”

Huh? After the conversation was over, he spit it out after a while, so I wondered what it was.

“When I was a kid, no one dealt with me. Because of this damn energy.”

Abel said, looking down at his pale palms. The energy of the dead that takes away life. He seems to be controlling a lot now, but it comes out if he is still angry or has severe emotional changes. It didn’t work for me, whether it was because of the red thread or because I was a foreigner, but I could tell how dangerous it was just by looking at the gods dying at once.

When I saw the vague expression on the handsome man – he often does things that make me angry, I often forgets about it – and makes me miss him later. It’s faint now, but it reminds me of Abel’s past. After the reaper chases after the friends who don’t play, he accidentally kills one of his friends. When the terrified village children can’t run away anymore, Abel thinks that he can only earn attention and love if he kills someone, obsessively, and acts provocatively. After that, as you can see, the result is a yandere obsession.

It may have been trauma in its own right. Oh, this punk. Why am I thinking of this now! I shook my head silently. I’m very sorry that I got mad about Verseppo yesterday – of course I was wrong.

“……”

No. I can’t. In the meantime, Abel’s expression was getting darker and darker as if he was reminiscing about the past. It’s time to say something! Emotionally, now was the time for healing. The world is in full swing here!! I needed a word with an impact, something that could turn him away from blackening and becoming a villain.

If it was the female lead, she would say these words well, but sadly, I couldn’t think of any such words as I’m not the female lead. That’s what I came up with as I was squeezing my head and hesitating.

“Ch, cheer up, Abel. I’m here!”

Dad, cheer up. We’re here- no, f*** it. I don’t even know why it suddenly came to mind. Belatedly, I felt the urge to sew my mouth shut, and a light slowly spread across Abel’s sculptural face, who had been staring blankly at me.

“…Yes. You’re here.”

Oh no, I mean. Without time to question, he nodded his head alone, and then I dared to say it again.

“I am here.”

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…… uh. It seems like something very impressive. Tell me it’s right. The morning market tour came to an unsatisfying end with such a strange ominous feeling.

—–

Note:

The ‘Cheer up, dad’ song was a very popular children’s song in Korea. Part of the lyrics goes ‘Dad, cheer up, we’re here’. That’s why Lian had that song pop in mind ^^