When Negotiation Fails, Resort to Threats

If negotiations fail, then threats.

And if threats don’t work, throwing a tantrum like that becomes the best option.

In that regard, the old man had something far more overwhelming than I did.

Which meant...

"He’s completely immature."

Even at his age, he hadn’t grown up at all—

Bang!

"Argh!"

Clutching the back of my head, I winced in pain.

"Why did you hit me all of a sudden?!"

"Your eyes were full of insults."

"When did I—!"

Damn it.

Should I start wearing a mask? How on earth did he know?

"Hmph."

Shin Noya dusted off the hand he had used to hit me and turned back to the turtle.

"So, hurry up and do it already."

"Your shamelessness knows no bounds...."

The turtle sighed deeply and pointed his staff in our direction.

"The duration will be three days by the Mangye standard."

"Excuse me?"

"If you move too vigorously, it may break, so be cautious."

"What are you talking about—?"

Before I could finish expressing my confusion,

Fwoooosh---!!!

The staff’s tip radiated a blinding light. Unlike before, when the light had been directed at the air, this time it was aimed straight at us.

"Ugh!?"

I instinctively shut my eyes against the dazzling brightness.

Was this an attack? Should I counter it? As I debated, the light began to fade.

When the brightness receded enough, I cautiously opened my eyes.

"It’s done."

The turtle nodded in satisfaction as he looked at me.

Meanwhile, Shin Noya stood beside him, covering his mouth and shaking with laughter.

It was as if he was trying to suppress his amusement.

What was going on? Why was he acting like that?

Confused, I stood dumbfounded until the turtle pointed his staff behind me.

"The usual methods don’t work on that one, so this was the best option."

Following the direction of his staff, my gaze naturally shifted.

The place he was pointing to was where Cheonma stood.

"Huh?"

When I saw her, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

"What...?"

Cheonma looked strange.

Her overall appearance was the same, but... there was something under her legs.

What was that?

Could it be—

A tail?

Attached to Cheonma was a fluffy, fur-covered tail.

It was undoubtedly a tail.

Cheonma, noticing the odd sensation on her body, turned to look behind her.

It wasn’t just attached—it seemed she could control it. Cheonma gave the tail a little wag.

"...Hey, you."

Why did she suddenly have a tail...?

"Wait."

Breaking off my thought, I frantically checked my own lower back.

It wasn’t just her.

"Damn it."

Something similar to Cheonma’s tail was attached to me as well.

A tail with dark blue fur.

I tried moving it, and sure enough, it wagged according to my will.

...What was this?

As I stood there speechless, Shin Noya’s suppressed laughter broke through.

"Snrk... Hah... tails and ears on that face..."

Struggling to hold back his laughter, his face turned red as he barely managed to speak.

"...Noya, what is this?"

Just as I was about to demand answers—

"Wait a minute..."

What had he just said?

Tails and ears?

A cold sweat broke out.

My trembling hand reached for my head. The moment I touched it—

Squish.

"..."

There was a soft, squishy sensation where nothing should exist.

Squish. Squish.

"..."

Squish, squish, squish, squish.

"What the hell is this?"

Why could I feel this?

I turned back to Cheonma, but there was nothing on her head.

"Noya...?"

I looked at Shin Noya urgently.

He had mostly calmed down by then, though a faint smile lingered as he spoke.

"Heh... Hah... You must’ve heard the turtle say it’s temporary..."

"Pick one: laugh or explain."

"The effect lasts three days. Don’t move too much, or it might come undone. And don’t cause trouble."

"..."

He immediately stopped laughing, as if he’d just been pretending to mock me.

...Was he insane?

"What is this?"

The squishiness on my head, the tail—what was it all about?

"It’s a precaution to keep you safe while wandering around. Be grateful I went to this trouble."

"What do you mean, ‘wandering around’? Where am I supposed to be going?"

"Didn’t you say you wanted to find a way back?"

"...!"

I paused at his words.

Returning to Zhongyuan—that had been on my mind.

"Also, there’s much I could teach you, but I’m busy at the moment. There’s work to do, and it’s faster for you to see and hear things yourself. Just go once and come back."

"What are you—"

"I’ve already arranged a guide for you. Go safely. Turtle."

"Ah, what a life...."

At Shin Noya’s signal, the turtle raised his staff again.

Sensing the ominous intent, I shouted in panic.

"Wait, explain properly—!"

But before I could finish,

Fwoooosh---!!!

Light enveloped me again, and my vision flickered out.

When I finally regained sight, I realized—

"...You’ve got to be kidding me, you old bastard."

I had been sent back to the world I had first arrived in just days ago.

**************

As Gu Yangcheon and the woman vanished, only Shin Noya and the turtle remained. The turtle rested his staff on his shoulder and looked at Shin Noya.

"I’ve done as you asked, but are you sure about this?"

There was an inexplicable unease etched on the turtle’s face. Shin Noya smirked as he turned to look at him.

"What’s there to be unsure about?"

"I’ve masked them, but that doesn’t make it infallible. Especially..."

The turtle leaned in and whispered quietly to Shin Noya.

"If they come across the master’s gaze beyond the barrier, there’s no need for further explanation."

Shin Noya burst into laughter at the turtle’s words.

"For someone who claims to ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) have touched the heavens when it comes to spells, you sure sound timid. Weren’t you the one who said they’d be fine for three days?"

"As I always say, Master," the turtle responded in a low voice.

"Touching the heavens and truly being what the heavens are—those are entirely different matters. Especially in this place."

To have touched it and to be it were fundamentally different things. The turtle’s voice carried a distinct note of worry, something Shin Noya couldn’t possibly overlook.

And yet, Shin Noya found the turtle’s concern amusing.

"You were so openly reluctant just a moment ago, and now you’re worried after they’ve gone?"

Not long ago, the turtle had dismissed Gu Yangcheon as a monster. Now, after sending him off, his attitude had changed.

"Worried? Of course, I’m worried," the turtle admitted flatly.

Shin Noya raised an eyebrow, surprised at how easily the turtle admitted it. He hadn’t expected him to concede so quickly.

"Master, you don’t know what’s bound to that child you brought here," the turtle said.

"Hm?"

Shin Noya tilted his head, intrigued.

"You call it a curse, but that word is far too narrow and feeble to contain its scope."

"There you go again, making things complicated. Does your shop need to collapse before you start speaking plainly?"

"Just a sliver. A single sliver," the turtle emphasized.

"A sliver holding on by the barest margin—if that breaks..."

It would be inevitable.

The turtle could see things others couldn’t, and to his eyes—

"A calamity will be born."

Because to him, Gu Yangcheon truly looked like a monster.

As if to prove his words, the turtle’s worry wasn’t for Gu Yangcheon but rather for the Mangye itself

********************

"Shit."

I muttered the curse, clutching my forehead. Ever since I arrived here, it felt like I couldn’t go a day without swearing.

"Ah, damn it...."

Another curse slipped out. It didn’t really help, but it was better than keeping it bottled up. Though venting didn’t actually solve anything, it felt like some kind of release.

"Damn..."

Just as I was about to curse again, pouring more emotion into it—

"Shit?"

"..."

I froze at the sound. It wasn’t me.

It was Cheonma who had spoken.

"What does 'shit' mean?"

She asked with her usual stoic expression, her gaze fixed on me.

I never expected her to ask something like that.

"Shit?"

Cheonma repeated the word, tilting her head in confusion.

I spoke up, seeing her cluelessly mimic the word.

"...Don’t repeat it."

"Why not?"

"Just don’t. If I say don’t, then don’t."

"Alright."

She nodded obediently.

"Hah... damn..."

I suppressed another curse, sighing deeply. I glanced at Cheonma out of the corner of my eye. Thankfully, she didn’t seem to mimic me this time.

Honestly, it didn’t matter if she did or not, but I stopped anyway.

Not because I didn’t want to see her mimicking curses.

Absolutely not.

Turning my attention back to the unfamiliar situation I was in, I frowned.

"Damn old man."

Couldn’t he at least give me some kind of explanation before throwing me out like this?

And then—

"What the hell is this nonsense?"

Feeling the ears and tail, I barely managed to suppress my growing irritation.

Everything else was manageable, but this was the real problem.

Squish.

I touched the ears that had sprouted. The annoying thing was that they felt oddly soft and pleasant to the touch.

"Insane."

Suddenly having ears and a tail felt even more ridiculous than being thrown out.

"Hey."

Cheonma, who had been silently watching me, suddenly spoke up.

What now?

"Can I touch them?"

"Get lost."

I answered immediately.

"Really?"

"Does it look like I’m joking?"

"...Alright."

Cheonma stepped back, her expression tinged with disappointment.

Unbelievable.

Grit.

I ground my teeth in frustration. How had things come to this?

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

What exactly was the old man trying to achieve by sending me out here?

"What did he say again? Something about being busy, so I had to see it for myself?"

That’s what Shin Noya had said, more or less.

As ridiculous as it sounded, it was what he had told me, so I tried to process it.

But what exactly was I supposed to see?

Questions swirled in my mind.

"Can I go back in?"

I stared at the empty air.

Maybe if I found the same kind of disturbance as last time, I could break through again.

Focusing on the possibility, I scanned the space intently.

"...Nothing."

I couldn’t sense anything.

Even with my spiritual vision active, there was nothing. Last time, it had been visible, but now it wasn’t. Why?

"Did the turtle do something?"

The radiant crimson light that had emanated from his staff—

Did he do something with it? If not, there weren’t many other explanations.

"Just who is that old man, anyway?"

Could I even call him an old man? The figure Shin Noya had called "Turtle"—

What was he really?

And more importantly—

"How does he use spells like that?"

It was an incredible power.

Just thinking about it made me want to see it again.

"Could I do that too?"

The countless threads and lines of the spell, the way they unfolded...

Even though it felt like my brain would explode just trying to comprehend it, the sheer amount of information it contained only made me more curious.

"How was it structured?"

I thought back to the order and arrangement of the threads.

The spells used by the Jegal family seemed simple, despite having numerous threads. This was entirely different.

"It had too many rules."

Too many, and too complex. It wasn’t composed of just one thing.

Was that why it had appeared in so many colors?

I flexed my fingers as I recalled the process.

Step by step, I tried to reconstruct it in my mind.

Buzz—

The chain around my heart trembled faintly.

Threads of energy began to form at my fingertips like strands of silk.

I built on it, slowly shaping the threads.

I thought I was getting close to replicating it when—

"...Excuse me."

"...!"

A voice behind me startled me, and the energy I was gathering dispersed.

I turned around abruptly.

Because of that, I didn’t notice the momentary rainbow-like shimmer as the energy unraveled.

"Good grief... Who are you?"

I frowned at the figure who had addressed me.

"What are you doing here?"

"..."

The person who spoke to me was none other than Gubong, his face marred by a vivid blue bruise.