Chapter 169

Chapter 169

It is a common legend that something evil asks for an invitation.

Even a divinity that seems omnipotent had things it could only do after asking permission. Not being able to just enter someone else’s house, not being able to leave unless you were helped, well, things like that.

“...”

“...”

The guild members exchanged glances.

“...Mr. Seo Gio?”

At the trainee team member’s question, the voice outside the door answered.

“Yes, my name is Seo Gio.”

The contradictory emptiness of that voice made them doubt for a moment.

The Collector, where all manner of bizarre works gathered, was a place full of ghost stories by nature. They were certainly waiting for ‘Mr. Seo Gio,’ but they found themselves worrying whether the wrong choice right now might bring calamity.

Then, Curator Garasani, the Fifth Floor Chief, rose from his seat.

“Floor Chief.”

“What are you worried about?”

“Ah, well...”

“...”

“...I’m sorry.”

“Tsk.”

After sweeping his eyes over his juniors, Garasani soon opened the meeting room door.

“...”

“Welcome, Mr. Seo Gio.”

Before him stood a platinum-blond man.

Softly cascading hair and eyes that held the summer sea. Garasani did not meet that gaze head-on; instead, he bowed, showing courtesy toward the work. He was a servant to countless works.

“We’ve been waiting.”

“I’m not late, am I?”

“No, you came right on time.”

The current time was 4 p.m., exactly the appointed time.

The trainee team member who had arrived first looked at the large man visible beyond Curator Garasani. Despite that color that seemed as if warm sunlight might cling to it, it wore an expressionless face chilling enough to raise goosebumps.

‘So it really does resemble a funeral.’

Spotless without a speck of flaw, yet heavier than that, and with a gloomy air...

“...”

Ah.

‘...Our eyes met.’

It gently curved its eyes.

“Nice to meet you.”

Death that resembled a corpse became sunlight in an instant.

It was easy to realize that it was a monster imitating a human.

* * *

Within the Collector, the black cloak’s position was that of a ‘work being kept free-range.’

So-called ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ was not hard to run into inside the Collector building. Sometimes it was in human form, and sometimes in the form of a portrait. And the employees avoided talking about him as much as possible.

There were reasons like not wanting to receive some possible curse, but the most common reason was...

‘If you get caught up, you’re screwed.’

‘Absolutely no overtime...’

‘As long as it’s not me.’

That’s right—they didn’t want to know any complicated details.

“Ah, of all things, he’s friendly to humans.”

“If only he had zero social skills...”

No matter how much Visabel treated his own guild members like his collectibles, it wasn’t as though he treated them as less than human. He clearly distinguished between human collectibles and non-human works.

Would Visabel be crazy enough to keep a dangerous ghost story free-range inside the headquarters? In that same vein, this ghost story, ‘Mr. Seo Gio,’ was unusually kind to humans, which meant that the more you built a relationship with him, the greater the chance you’d end up doing extra work.

“Look at Yoo Seong-woon.”

There was an extremely fitting example, too.

“Poor guy—he probably can’t even go home.”

“But wasn’t Curator Yoo Seong-woon busy to begin with?”

“That doesn’t change the fact he ended up taking on all sorts of extra work related to Mr. Seo Gio.”

“Ah, true. I should never get involved.”

That’s how it ended up.

Because of that, the Collector’s guild members, even if they saw ‘Mr. Seo Gio,’ tried not to act like they knew him. Following directives, they kept as much courtesy as possible while clenching their teeth and avoiding his presence. They didn’t want to get close to the eye of the storm and be swept up in disaster.

There were also many who were cautious because they feared ‘Mr. Seo Gio.’

“Friendly is friendly, but you never know how he might change later.”

“As a Collector guild member, I respect Mr. Seo Gio’s existence and behavior... but he’s still scary.”

“More than that, do we really have to go out of our way to make friendly conversation with a ghost story...?”

They did not regard ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ as a human who required interaction. He was one kind of natural phenomenon, the ghost story itself that quietly and chillily burrowed into their daily lives.

Even now, few people would want to strike up a conversation with a ghost story like the Red Mask that still exists in Korea. I mean, would you really want to build a personal friendship with the nurse ghost wandering a hospital late at night, or the woman in a white dress on a deserted roadside?

“Well, I’ll do it if it’s necessary.”

“If they tell you to, do it.”

“If they demand it, sure.”

The Collector’s capable, responsible employees never did work they weren’t told to do, and this was no exception. Even if an order came down, they would take it as something like ‘Say something nice to the potted plant once in a while!’

“But isn’t this workplace bullying?”

“...Does that even apply to a work?”

“Ah, right. Guess not.”

To them, ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ was Visabel’s eerie work. It was only something wearing a human shape, not a real human, and so they felt no need for special interaction.

If he really were a coworker, they would have at least said something friendly now and then. The Collector’s guild members were highly individualistic, not bad at social life. But ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ was a work, wasn’t he?

“I ran into Mr. Seo Gio yesterday.”

“And you still managed to come to work today.”

“He was gentler than I expected, so... it was fine.”

“Guess you’ve been living kindly.”

“We introduced ourselves normally, and I came back with a gift.”

“Neat.”

The ‘Mr. Seo Gio response guidelines’ Visabel had distributed before also played a part in this atmosphere.

Now, to them, ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ was recognized as something like ‘an eerie work that, on the rare chance you run into it, will give you a gift if you successfully talk to it.’

So, not a coworker, but more like a chilling natural phenomenon that coexisted in the workplace. The Collector’s guild members had adapted to ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ in their own way.

“...”

“...”

And back again, the meeting room where the dispatch team had gathered.

‘...So this is Mr. Seo Gio I’d only heard about. The black cloak that gives gifts to good people...’

‘His pressure is definitely different—he looks like a perfect human, but that makes him even more alien.’

‘I heard he’s skilled at interacting with intelligent beings, but how far can his human imitation go?’

A subtle tension lingered there. They had become a team with none other than the headquarters’ famous ghost story.

As a work Visabel cherished, there was little chance they would be put in danger, but after confirming its existence in person, they couldn’t help but be tense.

‘No matter how I look at him, the impression of perfection is strong.’

‘It feels like I’m looking at some ideal something that can’t exist...’

Its appearance was exceedingly beautiful, and its build was neither too thin nor too thick. That look, as if it had been calibrated to an average ideal, only strengthened the sense that it was inhuman.

‘Is it taking on that form because it wants to give other humans a favorable impression?’

Especially in Korea, where people feel strong attraction to a counterpart’s looks, it was the perfect strategy. In fact, there were many guild members who had fallen for that beauty—as if looking at a priceless jewel or relic.

“...”

A silver-haired woman with bronze-toned skin swept her gaze over the situation. Since the Fifth Floor Chief who had opened the door for ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ had stepped back, this was silent pressure being sent to the other employees.

‘Is he telling us to properly mingle?’

It was a special situation, so she didn’t know whether they’d be able to receive gifts, but according to the guidelines, the very first thing to do was to exchange names with the black cloak.

Having finished sorting out her thoughts, the woman rose from her seat and greeted ‘Mr. Seo Gio.’

“Mr. Seo Gio?”

“Yes, my name is Seo Gio.”

“You’re so handsome I was shocked—handsomer than I’d heard.”

“Is it a face you like?”

“It’d be hard not to like it.”

With her characteristic banter, she greeted him.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yu Jina.”

“Yu Jina, is it. How should I address you?”

“You can call me like you just did, or you can comfortably call me Jina.”

The trainee team member curved her narrow eyes.

“Please take good care of us on this raid.”

Indeed—he really looked human.

‘...She doesn’t seem to know that looking a bit imperfect feels more human, does she? Still, aside from seeming overly, ideally perfect, everything else is exactly like a human. With this level of mimicry, people who don’t know what it is will be helplessly fooled. It’s so skilled it’s actually dangerous.’

From him there was almost none of the sense of wrongness that other bizarre mysteries often revealed while mimicking. And even that wrongness was only ‘too ideal’—there wasn’t anything you could clearly pin down.

‘They said at first his human imitation wasn’t this polished... maybe it’s growing...’

The growth of an unknown mystery was bound to provoke human fear. Forcing down the fear she felt, Yu Jina continued her introduction with friendliness.

“Over here are Kang Neuru and Danmi!”

At that, the field staff sent Yu Jina grateful looks and spoke.

“Hello, I’m Kang Neuru, a field staff member at the Collector.”

“I’m in the same division as Neuru. I’m Danmi. Please take good care of me.”

At the straightforward introductions, Yu Jina shrugged.

“One more person from our trainee team is supposed to come, but it looks like they’re running a bit late because they’re taking care of work on the first floor.”

Around then, the Fifth Floor Chief stepped in.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Seo Gio. If you permit it, I will go and fetch them.”

Someone else might think, ‘They could just be a little late—aren’t you being too humble?’ but the other party was a work of the gallery. There were not so few works that would massacre people simply because the appointed time had been broken.

The reason they hadn’t already gone to grab the remaining member was that ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ had generous standards. Toward rude people, he showed only a little displeasure, and on the premise that the same mistake wouldn’t be repeated, he dealt with them leniently.

‘But you never know how far he’ll let it go.’

That was why the Fifth Floor Chief stepped forward first, to gauge the work’s mood.

“If you’re very displeased...”

“I think they may be busy.”

Fortunately, ‘Mr. Seo Gio’ did not show displeasure.

“They said something suddenly came up, so it can’t be helped.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“I truly appreciate the attentive reception, but on the other hand, I feel sorry.”

He folded his gentle eyes as he smiled, imitating ‘awkwardness.’

“Are you afraid of me?”

“No.”

The Fifth Floor Chief showed a clear smile, like an old man looking at a grown grandson.

“It is only an honor.”

It was a smile Curator Garasani was said to show only to works.

“We are familiar faces to one another, but to you, Mr. Seo Gio, we must still be unfamiliar. This is a place for us to grow familiar with each other before the raid, so I hope you will also join us comfortably.”

“Thank you for your great consideration.”

“Not at all... You usually work at dawn and show your face then, Mr. Seo Gio, so you probably don’t know these people’s faces well. Let’s slowly talk and grow familiar with one another.”

Having safely seated ‘Mr. Seo Gio,’ Curator Garasani still did not relax. It was because the employees had stiffened from the pressure and deathlike aura this being of origin naturally carried.

They had hidden it as best they could, but Garasani could see it.

‘And if it’s visible to my eyes, then of course it’ll be even more visible to Mr. Seo Gio.’

It was a worrying part.

‘We’ll need to match well with the role-play Mr. Seo Gio wants.’

As a curator, Garasani had a lot of experience with this and could respond skillfully, but for the trainee team or the field team it would be a little difficult—acting out a play according to a bizarre mystery’s assertions.

Thinking that, Garasani set teacups down in front of the team members.

“This is Azanka tea, newly prepared this time.”

“Oh, we can trust the Floor Chief’s tea-making skills.”

“I’d like some light impressions.”

Hoping they would safely adapt to one another, Garasani smiled.

* * *

Creak—!

A woman opened the meeting room door and came in.

“I’m sorry, it took longer to wrap things up...!”

Then she froze.

“Ah, Mr. Gio is seriously so funny!”

“You really did it like that? Not as a joke?”

“That’s insane... the smiling tyrant of the seaside village... it suits you so well...”

“No, how can a person do that—should I call this impressive?”

A warm, cheerful atmosphere she had never imagined.

“...”

“Ah, welcome.”

And the platinum-blond priest at the center of it looked at the trainee team member, who had pitifully stiffened without understanding the situation. In a soft, beautiful voice that seemed capable of melting everyone, he spoke.

“My name is Seo Gio.”

“Huh? Ah, yes.”

“What is your name?”

“Kim Nana...”

“I see.”

The black cloak asked calmly.

“Would you speak with me?”

“...”

Isn’t this a classic brainwashing scene?

‘...What on earth did he do to my coworkers?’

Goosebumps ran down trainee team member Kim Nana’s spine.

(To be continued in the next episode)