LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 71
Images flicker and distort, reflecting in a myriad of ways.
Each reflected image spreads to another mirror, and the images reflected again multiply, transforming one person into dozens or even hundreds. In the mirror facing me, countless reflections are duplicated as if they are connected to another realm, with mirrors dividing the world into sections, continuously copying and reflecting, adding to the bizarre spectacle.
And at the end, where it transformed into a dot, an image begins to stir.
Is it the master moving?
Or the shape inside the mirror?
Just a fleeting glance makes my ego tremble, the scene threatening to drive me mad.
In the center, a diviner was playing with cards.
She twirled a card on her finger like a top and shuffled playfully, flicking cards back and forth.
Her antics resembled those of a magician playing with cards, or a jester amusing themselves during a dull wait for guests.
Swoosh.
Just then, as the diviner continued her hand tricks, something unusual occurred at the tent’s entrance.
A subtle sound, like a whisper, reached my ears.
“Oh my~ Looks like someone is almost here?”
It was a tiny sound.
A sound you might hear when an insect flutters and collides with something, when a multi-legged creature crawls nonchalantly despite the noise, or when a spider missteps and falls from the ceiling.
Such a minuscule sound.
Yet it persisted, revealing its clear presence.
Swoosh.
The sound grew louder.
The tiny noise crawled across the tent’s entrance and up the walls.
Swoosh.
Another sound followed.
It was like a bird flapping its wings and pushing through the air, soaring up to the ceiling.
Swoosh.
The secretive sound resembled a snake slithering along the ground, turning its body upside down. The sound was not that of a smooth belly, but the unsettling rustle of scales against the earth. It was reminiscent of sand brushing against scales and squirming. That sound conjured a disturbing vision of something serpent-like crawling on the ground, gazing back at me.
And all these sounds began to converge into one spot.
It was reminiscent of a swarm of insects buzzing, and eerily similar to the quiet rustle of tiny leaves shaking on a chilly night.
“Darling, are you here?”
As the diviner observed the insects assembling into a mask-like shape, she laughed as if she had been waiting for them.
Then she stopped her card tricks and rose from her seat.
The insect shapes slowly began to speak, moving their mouths as if mimicking a human opening their lips. A mosquito flitting about took on the role of a voice, while a moth bumped against its fellow and added sounds to augment it.
[ Hello—? ]
A slow, garbled voice, cracking and disjointed.
It was a thin, murky voice, enough to raise goosebumps just by listening. Yet the diviner seemed unfazed by the eerie voice, chuckling softly in response.
“I’m not well, darling. Not at all.”
“You cause such a ruckus, how could I possibly welcome you, you bastard?”
Her voice had a feminine tone, tilted upward in mockery.
Following that, a low, gruff voice echoed from the mirror.
“That stench! I thought I caught a whiff of something unhuman.”
“Darling, did you learn the courtesy of leaving disgusting little insects at someone else’s doorstep?”
“Given how your little one’s smell vibrates, it seems rather excessive.”
“Have you been bathing in blood or feasting on rotten corpses? That stench is overwhelming! How can the scent permeate even with the boundaries set by the tent?”
The diviner stroked her beard and glared at the Jinseong.
She assumed a boxing stance, glaring still.
With a card readied between her fingers, she stood poised to strike.
She seemed eager, jabbing her fingers animatedly.
Countless.
So numerous, it was hard to even count the figures of the diviner.
Reflections multiplied and duplicated, each acting differently while watching Jinseong.
From the mirror facing her, the diviner stepped across walls, while the one standing firmly on the ground began to shatter and morph. The reflection suspended in mid-air surrounded Jinseong, while on the earthly walls, steps led to an infinitely expanding space, wandering in a confusion of direction.
[ I came just to greet you, is this how you treat guests? ]
The being of the diviner became a swarm, the swarm turned into a legion.
Her body formed from insects felt like she was surrounded by an army, yet Jinseong felt no pressure as he spoke.
“Greetings are for humans, not for you, monster.”
“I think I know who you are. There was a lively one among the pretty ones, and you, you’re the shaman next to her, aren’t you?”
“I could tell from the faint smell that you are not ordinary.”
“You smelled so grotesque when you passed by the tent, I almost threw up.”
“And leaving insect spawn at the entrance was especially unpleasant, you bastard.”
“At that moment, I realized, oh, today a monster would be arriving here.”
Countless voices of the diviner echoed in turn, cycling through masculine and feminine tones as they drew a card from their collective hands. The card pulled from the mixed deck of playing and tarot cards was the Sun.
Vibrant sunflowers blossomed in yellow and crimson, reaching for the sky, and amidst them was a woman in a dress smiling in the illustration.
“Oh, simply a lively pretty one, yet a monster has come knocking!”
“How brazenly you flaunt your little sister, might as well be from the Habsburgs. Why not just marry her off? Such a spawn likely wouldn’t even be recognized by their mother.”
“Oh dear, that kinda talk wouldn’t really matter. Seems the stench indicates you’re not even blood-related.”
“Of course, someone so monstrous as your little sister couldn’t possibly be human, hahaha!”
As they taunted Jinseong, the flames erupted from their hands. The sunflower depicted on the Sun card turned into blazing fire, glowing and shifting like the flowers, taking a form that resembled either a sunflower or a miniature sun.
Inside the tent, now filled with chilling, flickering flames as if the dead were resurrecting embers from their graves became an instant banquet hall where all sorts of flames danced, shining as the light that lures wandering lost souls.
“You disgusting little monster! Get out of my home this instant!”
And with that angry shout, the light began to draw lines.
Like shooting stars falling at a horizontal angle, the light reflected in the mirrors sped toward the insects. It resembled flames writhing like tentacles or countless soldiers firing flares into the pitch-black darkness.
Crack!
Smack!
Tap!
The mask quickly disintegrated back into insects trying to escape, yet in the distorted vision and writhing space of the tent, there was hardly a way to evade it. One by one, the insects ignited and turned to ash, falling to the ground until not a single one remained.
With that, all the insects disappeared.
The bizarre shape of the mask was lost too.
The garbled sounds that had once provoked were silenced.
Yet the diviner remained vigilant.
“Don’t let your guard down. It can’t be this easy.”
“Oh dear, I know that much.”
“I’m sure more will come. Ugh, those wretched little spawn.”
One of the diviners contorted their face grotesquely.
“That little rascal was a necromancer?”
Darkness began to sprout from the spot where the insect remains lay.
The ashes seemed to merge into darkness, melting and spreading like paint, forming shapes as if they were alive.
What appeared to be shadows soon took on human forms, gleefully dancing while shredding their own heads with claws, crafting a wide grin that extended ear to ear.
“I thought you were a corpse sorcerer or a voodoo practitioner. Damn. Why do you give off such a stench as a necromancer?”
“Maybe it’s because you’ve killed a lot of people?”
“How many must you have killed for that smell to emanate? It seems to be coming from the inside, not just the surface. Did you feast on human flesh three meals a day since exiting your mother’s womb?”
“Could be true, who knows?”
As the diviner watched the delightfully eerie figure delightfully dance and twist, she pulled a card from her collection.
Some diviners held up cards depicting staves.
Some showed cards adorned with swords.
Others displayed cards with a seductive vampire maiden dripping blood from her lips.
So, these countless diviners wielded their cards like weapons, surrounding the dancing evil spirit.
And amidst that threat, the evil spirit revealed its crimson maw and began to sing.
“The little neighbor is getting married—”
From that gaping maw, filthy blood began to pour out.
“The young lad from behind is going through a hanging.”