Chapter 120
I couldn’t breathe. I don’t even know what I drank. It felt like it had gone down somewhere inside me. Lee Hoin carried me while I kept vomiting something out.
It sounded like he was trying to say something.
“Ugh….”
A stale, fishy, lye-like taste filled my mouth. Then, in my ears, I heard a strangely familiar voice.
“Put him down. Mm-hm, that’s just because he’s right on the verge of dying. Even so, offering your whole body like that is-mm-hm-no easy task.”
It was that kid’s voice from earlier. Lee Hoin’s voice sounded like it was submerged underwater, but the kid’s voice alone rang out abnormally loud.
‘…That way of speaking.’
That’s not how a kid talks. As I exhaled, the muffled sounds slowly came back into clarity.
—
[The first wish has been used!]
[What a loyal companion!]
—
As if I had been yanked up from deep underwater, all my senses snapped back into sharp focus in an instant.
“But you know, mm-hm, how should I put it? It’s not like I didn’t expect this. Mm-hm, when people come here, usually a few of them are already completely wrecked. Lucky, right? Only one of you is on the verge of death? You even saved one wish, mm-hm.”
As my consciousness was forcibly pulled up, I felt the pain of my bone fragments being forced back into place. I clenched my teeth and swallowed my scream.
I writhed on the ground like a bug for dozens of minutes.
I heard Lee Hoin shouting, asking if I was okay… to me, and to someone else… but I couldn’t respond.
Because it hurt like hell.
It felt like the recovery, which should have been done gradually to avoid strain on my body, had been forced all at once.
As I gasped for breath for a long time, I heard Lee Hoin arguing with that thing above my head.
“Where is there such a thing as an action without a price? Mm-hm? Everything demands a price. There’s nothing in this world that comes without one. You don’t know that yet? Mm-hm?”
That was true. So instead, I just grabbed Lee Hoin, who was probably standing nearby.
That bastard was a ‘Third Party.’ Arguing with him like this right now wouldn’t do any good. It’s still early.
“You’ve come to your senses, mm-hm? Right?”
In front of me stood that same kid-faced bastard.
The only difference was that he was now wrapped in layers upon layers of draping cloth, so that neither his hands nor his feet were visible.
“……”
A ‘Third Party’ interfering like this in this event… There was only one.
The one who created this event.
The Brat of Nightmares.
He flapped his hands playfully.
“Now then, it’s your turn. I’ll grant you one wish! Well, there’ll be all sorts of restrictions, mm-hm. But you know, even if I explained all the restrictions, people always end up making the dumbest wish anyway, mm-hm. So just say it! I’ll tell you whether it works or not, mm-hm!”
“Does a question count as a wish?”
At my words, his eyes widened.
Then he burst out laughing, rolling on the floor as if it were hilarious. Every movement he made felt like an animation.
Even the way that bundle of cloth rolled around.
“You’re fun, mm-hm!! What the doggy said was right! You’re really fun!! It’s been so long since I’ve heard that question, mm-hm! Usually, people just ask questions without thinking!”
Doggy?
He snapped his head up, eyes sparkling.
“Say, say. If it did count as a wish, what would you do? Mm-hm? Then what kind of question would you ask? Just one question in exchange for your life. Hm? That’s really interesting.”
I exhaled once before answering. My entire body was still trembling like a leaf. Even though I wanted to stand properly, I couldn’t because of the shaking.
In the end, I gave up and answered while looking up at him from the ground.
“In that case, I wouldn’t ask.”
At my obvious answer, he suddenly froze mid-bounce.
“…What? Mm-hm? That’s a boring answer….”
“I already risked my life to get through this. If the reward were just one question, I wouldn’t have even tried. High risk, high return… that’s the proper rule, isn’t it?”
At my words, he looked down at me.
After staring at me expressionlessly for a moment, he shrugged.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re not wrong. Not fun, though.”
—
[One life per question! At that exchange rate, it’s better not to ask anything at all!]
—
Of course, if it were worth asking, it might be worth trying.
‘If I had an extra life.’
Right now, I didn’t have an extra life… and there was nothing worth risking it for.
Lee Hoin glanced at me.
“Hey, are you okay?”
He took out some water and quietly handed it to me.
I took a sip and caught my breath.
‘A wish.’
What should I wish for? What could that thing give me?
Within a limited scope.
Originally, ‘Third Parties’ weren’t omnipotent beings.
They couldn’t do things outside their domain.
So if I told a crafting-type Third Party that I wanted to shoot fire from my hands right now, they couldn’t grant that directly. Instead, they’d make me use a weapon or item to produce fire.
So I had to consider the nature of the Brat of Nightmares.
Lee Hoin’s wish earlier…
“…What did you wish for?”
“…That you’d be saved.”
Lee Hoin wished for my survival, and that thing granted it by pulling my body forward into a “future where I had recovered.”
And a Third Party’s nature was usually explicitly reflected in their title.
‘The Brat of Eternal Recurrence and the Closed Nightmare.’
Among that ridiculously long name, the phrase “eternal recurrence” stood out.
At the very least, that thing had experienced regression.
Whether it became a Third Party through repeating it or for some other reason, didn’t matter.
Pulling the future forward.
The inclusion of the word regression.
I exhaled slowly and blinked.
“‘The space of the Third Parties.’”
I raised my head and looked straight at him.
Even as Lee Hoin frowned, not understanding what I meant, I continued.
“A chance to go there at a time of my choosing.”
At my words, his eyes curved into a narrow smile, as if he’d just heard something delightful.
‘Third Parties’ usually existed in their own independent spaces.
The reason was simple; their individual egos were too strong.
And even if they gathered, what would they do besides trade stories?
Those with some level of relationship would contact each other privately.
‘Except for one place.’
A joint event that would open much later.
An event created collectively by numerous Third Parties.
‘The Screening.’
Or a recital. Either term worked, depending on preference.
Each would “screen” or “read” stories according to their tastes.
This was the first proxy contract event.
You would put your story on display and appeal to the Third Parties to form a contract.
Of course, if you didn’t want a contract, you could just present some uninteresting story.
Even if offers came, you could refuse.
Life might get a bit troublesome, though.
‘But becoming a proxy meant you’d be protected.’
You received protection in exchange for your identity, life, or story.
It depended on which Third Party you contracted with.
If you made a deal with a decent one, you might become a well-loved proxy with a successful story.
Otherwise…
‘You might just become disposable.’
Usually, it was the latter.
It couldn’t be helped.
If you try to forge a masterpiece from poor materials, more must be consumed.
It was a place for those who wanted to escape the world… people better than average, but not talented enough to earn a title.
‘At the first screening, many will become proxies.’
The timing was perfect.
Right when people grew exhausted from constant destruction.
Right when they realized this wasn’t an illusion… but something they’d have to fight forever.
The Brat, with a childlike face, grinned widely.
“That’s interesting! Mm-hm?! You’re saying something really interesting!”
Correction.
He burst into a wide grin.
Then he leaned in close, as if dissecting me with his eyes.
“You really know something, don’t you? What the doggy said was right! It really was! Mm-hm!!”
He spun around midair, jumping excitedly.
“This is really fun! This world is really fun!! Mm-hm!!! What the clown said was right too! This world really is!”
He bounced around wildly, then suddenly stopped.
And returned to me.
“Say, why do you want to go there? If it’s you, no matter what you present, they’ll all want to take it!”
Why I wanted to go to the Screening.
It was a more fundamental question than I expected.
Why?
It was simple.
‘Third Parties gather there… and it’s not just for contracts.’
You could also buy and sell stories.
It was the first contract event, not the last.
‘If I play my cards right, I can sell my worthless stories for a high price.’
Trade is always about profit.
Even if I don’t contract immediately, leaving a good impression could lead to a contract later.
So, Third Parties sometimes made disadvantageous deals to secure someone they liked.
‘If I enter the Screening together with everyone else…’
Attention gets divided.
‘When my value is at its peak, when all attention is on me…’
That’s when I need to enter early and monopolize that attention.
That way, more Third Parties would take losses just to buy even my trivial stories.
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