Otherworld TRPG Game Master - Chapter 344



344 – Summer Horror Special – Someone is Inside Me – 2

Faceless is living in a nightmare.

Fear, anxiety, all sorts of emotions shake her head, making normal thinking impossible. Her sleep deprivation is so severe it feels like someone is stabbing her head with an awl.

But she can’t sleep. She must not sleep.

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

On a cloudy, dark night, Faceless lights a bonfire. And she tries to eat her first meal of the day, a roasted deer leg she had hunted.

Eyelids are heavy. Faceless, in a hazy daze, stared at the deer leg roasting. And then, a nod, it seems she dozed off for a moment…

Blink.

Eyes opened.

What… was I doing? Right, preparing a meal. With sleep-blurred eyes, she grabbed the deer haunch and took a bite.

Squish.

Strange. The texture is off, and inside, something… squirms. A sickening stench rushes up her nasal passage. This is rotten meat. Crawling with maggots.

That sensation reaches her brain, and once her brain finally grasps the meaning.

“Ugh, UWWEEEEEH──!”

Faceless threw the meat away, spitting out stomach acid and maggot remnants. Disgusting. Her stomach is churning. How did this happen? It was freshly cooked meat. There’s no reason it should be this rotten.

Unless–a great deal of time has passed.

“……..”

She urgently scans her surroundings. It’s still night, the campfire is still burning, but the sky is different. It was definitely full of clouds, hiding the moon… now it’s clearly visible.

Time, a lot of time has passed. Maybe several days at least. And during that time, what moved this body…?

“Damn it, damn it…!”

She just dozed off for a moment and ended up like this. That’s why, that’s why she didn’t want to sleep.

She doesn’t want to fall asleep!

She shuddered and tried to rinse her mouth with her water flask. But the flask was light. If she turned it upside down to empty it, it was completely empty.

Rummaging through her belongings, nothing is intact. Everything is broken or damaged. Looking down at the dirt floor, bizarre letters were engraved in it. Those damned letters she couldn’t even understand!

“Uh, UaaaH──!”

Faceless wailed. She kicked the campfire to extinguish it, and vented her anger by breaking a tree with a fist imbued with magic. But the formless terror doesn’t disappear.

She was being robbed of her body by an unknown entity.

After a long, frenzied struggle, she collapsed. Her strength drained away. Her body, tormented both mentally and physically, was crying out for rest.

Then.

“……Mooon.”

Her arms moved on their own. This, this wasn’t Faceless’s intention. As if a puppet manipulated by someone, they moved as they pleased.

She shoved two fingers into Faceless’s mouth, pulled them wide, forming a smile.

Now, even the control she had while conscious… was slipping away. The nightmare was crossing the threshold of sleep, slowly consuming reality. The nightmare wouldn’t end!

“aaargh, aaargh–!!”

She screamed. But her face, contorted by her fingers, wore a grotesque smile. She screamed while smiling. Alive, she was falling to pieces.

Now.

She couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh, or to scream, anymore.

–

Here are some possibilities:

One, she was possessed by an undead entity like a demon or spirit.

Two, she was suffering from a mental breakdown caused by someone’s mental magic.

Three, some other unusual situation had occurred.

When such problems arise, the aid of a Goddess Church priest is needed. Divine power is focused on restoration and maintenance, therefore in most cases, it can be effective.

However, grabbing a local priest and forcing him to provide healing services had no effect. A higher-ranking priest was needed.

But the current leadership of the Goddess Church is controlled by the “Reformists,” and Bennet, the one who stabbed her, is a prominent figure in the Reformist faction. Contacting them wouldn’t end well.

That being said, connecting with an Illusion Mage is also too risky. “The Lamb,” who would have been someone to ask for help in this situation, wasn’t in a normal state, and most other Illusion Mages were much less skilled.

The most skilled illusion mages are holed up in the violet magic tower. Naturally, making contact with that tower is suicide. A mad mage would tear you apart in a myriad of ways.

“Then, then…”

Only one option remains. Fortunately, there’s a high-ranking priest, who’s also at odds with the ‘Reformists’ and can wield divine power.

Faceless, accompanied by his meat puppets, used the networks of black mages and Redburn to track down the excommunicated Cardinal.

Those who’d been conspiring with local nobles and staging protests to reinstate the Cardinal’s position, were all dead. They’d been pierced by Saint Tara’s sword and vanished pointlessly.

So, the remaining excommunicated Cardinals in this world are just a few, hidden in the corners of some forest or mountain, concealing their existence. Faceless had found one of them.

Step. Step.

After about 30 minutes of hiking, Faceless reached his destination.

A cabin made of dull-colored logs, in the mountains that locals called Raven Mountain, where ravens particularly liked to dwell. If you listened carefully, you could hear voices talking inside.

“The Goddess has said that your body is full of impurities, so I will purify it with this holy and pure body of mine. Go ahead and lie down on the bed.”

“Ah, Goddess… Thank you, Priest, thank you.”

It sounded like he was cunningly sweet-talking a village girl.

That disgraced old Cardinal, even while hiding out in this mountain valley, he still deceives people to fill his own pockets. Faceless scoffed and kicked open the cabin door.

*Bang!*

“Eek!”

“Wh-what is it… who are you?!”

The excommunicated Cardinal, clumsily pulling up his pants, became wary. It wouldn’t have been a problem if the one who’d opened the door was just a young white-haired girl, but behind her stood dozens of meat puppets, unmoving.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the village girl, picking up her scattered clothes, cautiously eyed the scene, and then fled.

Faceless, watching the village girl’s retreating figure as she ran down the mountain path, snapped his fingers. Immediately, one of the meat puppets began chasing her down the mountain. It was better to have no witnesses.

“Cardinal. There’s someone else inside me. I need to be healed. Or I’ll have to find out just how far your body can stretch, while you’re still alive.”

“⋯This, this b*stard. I am favored by the Goddess! How dare you—!”

“If you still haven’t grasped the situation, let me enlighten you. To a maddening degree.”

*Snap.*

Faceless snapped their fingers, and three of the meat-puppets lunged into the cabin. And merciless violence erupted.

“Ugh! Aagh! aaagh!”

Dull, breaking, and shattering sounds echoed relentlessly. But there was no one to hear the screams.

–

The bloodied Cardinal, with his aged body, completed the preparations for the ritual. He placed a large tub in the center of the cabin, lit candles at each compass point surrounding it, and positioned a large mirror directly in front.

“Here, here you must remove all your clothing and enter… “

“Keep your eyes in check. If you look at me with a lecherous gaze, I’ll pluck one out.”

*Swish, swish.*

Faceless stepped into the tub, naked. Their figure reflected in the mirror before them. Overbearing and fierce, yet… a flicker of fear danced in the corner of their eyes.

That fact infuriated them. To be afraid of this, *this thing*, it scratched at their pride. Faceless clenched their fist tightly.

The Cardinal dared not look at them directly, instead tilting a pitcher over Faceless’s head, pouring holy water. The stream flowed down their cheek, jaw, and neckline.

*Flicker, flare.*

Then, the candlelight grew and shrank repeatedly, exhibiting strange movements. And the surface of the mirror began to ripple like water. Faceless swallowed dryly.

No, don’t be scared. What is there to fear, anyway?

Faceless bared their teeth in a smile to conceal their fear. But.

“……….”

The Faceless in the mirror was not smiling.

A chill. My heart starts pounding like crazy.

Indifferent. The reflection in the mirror, it looks like someone else. She stares back, a vacant, dreamlike look in her eyes. My fingertips tremble.

The Cardinal spoke.

“Now that your body has been purified with holy water, the mirror will reflect the washed-away filth, your impurities. Let us engage in conversation to ascertain what you are dealing with…”

Conversation. Right.

If that thing inside me is some kind of evil spirit, it’ll say things I don’t know when we talk. If it’s a fragment of myself, it’ll only know what I know.

“You, you are… who the hell are you?”

“White.”

The girl beyond the mirror answers. Indifferently. Faceless stumbles over her words in her anxiety.

“Where…where are you?”

“You.”

“…Your purpose, what is it?”

“Doing as I taught you.”

What is that supposed to mean. I can’t understand.

“What the hell did you teach me? All you’ve ever done is torment me, you b*stard?!”

To Faceless’s question, the girl beyond the mirror replies.

“Sa’raml Zuginun gun Na’aphn zitIdam’onn.”

“……..Huh?”

She answered in a bizarre language, mixed with strange rhythms and cadences, one she’d never heard before. That incomprehensibility, that unfamiliar language, it fuels the fear.

“Why are you tormenting me? Tell me what you want?!”

“I told you.”

“ANSWER! ANSWER YOU FUCKING b*stard, I’M ASKING WHAT I HAVE TO DO TO MAKE YOU STOP THAT SHIT──!!”

“You already know.”

*BANG!*

Faceless pounded the mirror with both hands. *Crack*, a spiderweb of fissures spread across its surface. But, that didn’t make the girl beyond the glass disappear.

In the shattered, fragmented reflection.

“Heh heh heh.”

The girl laughed like a doll. As if forcing her facial muscles, a smile like a dried-up pig’s head, utterly barren.

*Whoosh.* The candle went out. Now, the mirror reflects only her own distorted face.

*Grind.* *Grind.*

Faceless gnashed her teeth. Okay, she understood perfectly. She got the message loud and clear. That thing lodged in her…it’s going to torment her till death. That smile was a declaration of war, and a mockery.

Daring her to try and resist.

“Don’t make me laugh. I’ll win. I won’t be played by your tricks, you just wait and see, you just wait—! I’m going to kill you──!!”

Faceless clutched the mirror, unleashing a torrent of curses at her own hideously contorted reflection for a long time.

A futile and meaningless act.

–

Idiot. So slow to understand. Whitey told them everything. They know but keep playing dumb. Can’t read but they still understand the spoken word, right?

And so bad. Despite all the warnings, Faceless hasn’t changed. They don’t seem to understand that just as they can suffer, so can others.

They don’t even know that showing their naked body to other men is shameful. Why is it always Whitey who feels the humiliation?

“ANSWER! ANSWER YOU FUCKING b*stard, I’M ASKING WHAT I HAVE TO DO TO MAKE YOU STOP THAT SHIT──!!”

Stop being wicked, and just smile for everyone, huh?

Then I’ll stop.

If I say it, you’ll probably just play dumb again. So I need to show you with my body. Hayang grinned with all her might. She even let out a sound expressing her joy. Hahahaha.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m going to win. Your trickery—”

But she didn’t seem to understand…

–

Faceless tortured himself.

*Whack-*! *Whack-*!

He relentlessly whipped his own back with the meat doll. The pain, enough to make his consciousness reel, flowed through his spine. He drooled, panting.

But right now, this pain is welcome. Because it’s chasing away the drowsiness.

And that’s not all. This is part of an exorcism. To drive out whatever is inside of him.

“Ugh… A-hahahahaha! How does it feel, huh, how does it feel?! Painful, right? It must be painful?! There’s nothing good about being inside here, so, so please just get out…”

“……..”

“Get ooouttttttttt—!!”

But it was no use. The mad wizard’s soul-reinforcement was incredibly thorough and functional, protecting Hayang’s personality from the pain. Only Faceless was suffering. So.

With no repentance, it was just a meaningless act that couldn’t even become atonement.

It felt like his soul was breaking. He wanted to escape the pain. Faceless collapsed onto the floor of the hut, sobbing. Was it this terrifying, having his own body move on its own?

I, I’m the one doing the controlling. I’m the one doing the controlling, I tell you. Not the one being controlled. I can’t be the one being controlled!

Wait, a soul…?

“Hee, ehehehe… Keu, uh, hahah, hahahahaha—!”

Faceless burst into laughter.

It came to her.

From noble mtl dot com

She had a powerful parable, so she didn’t need to use the black mage’s methods. Until now.

But now it’s different. Black mages… they could amplify their magic by burning not only the souls of others but their own. Yes, souls!

“Yes, I’ll burn your soul. Then, then you won’t appear again. Right? Isn’t that right?”

Faceless drew a magic circle with her blood, stammering an incantation. She coughed up blood when the spell went wrong midway, and her left arm twisted in an odd direction.

But she didn’t care. Relying on memory… she reproduces the human sacrifice magic circle that Duke Redburn had shown her once.

Wooom──!

Now, now she can see. There were two souls in this body. One small and fragile, and one big and powerful. Two.

But Faceless, who had no knowledge of black magic, could not tell which was hers.

But, but the big and powerful one must be hers, right? Isn’t that right?

Faceless clenched the small soul in her magic-wielding hand. As if strangling it. If she just… burns this, the nightmare will end.

“How, how is it. Now it’s, now it’s your turn to be afraid. You!”

“D, don’t.”

“Don’t? You finally, finally grasped the reality?! Yes, now you’re done for. I will completely crush your soul, and make you face a painful death!”

“I, diot.”

It’s over. Pay the price. Receive your comeuppance!

“Regret it, regret it as you die──!!”

*Crack*.

Faceless twisted the small soul with all her might.

“Ah.”

And, with a terrible, sharp pain, she collapsed forward. Watching her life shatter and drain away, she realized.

That soul, that small, wretched soul…it was hers.

It didn’t make sense. Why? Why was *my* soul so pathetic? It can’t be. I was such a capable assassin, I killed so many people…

………

–

“Mooong.”

And where Faceless had died, Hayang bloomed.

I don’t know why she made such an extreme choice. But I can guess. She crushed her soul while screaming that she regretted it and should die, so… maybe she was reflecting?

Her sins were so shameful, she couldn’t possibly live with them.

If that’s the case, then Teacher Kim Hayang did teach her students properly. Still, it would have been better to atone by doing good deeds instead of returning to death.

“Then, I’ll help a little, moong.”

I can do that much. Hayang is kind.

First, the ability… they called it a fable, right? I’d learned how to use it by watching. That was the only helpful thing Faceless ever did. She used 『Flesh Control』 to heal her wounds.

She washed her clothes in the stream until they were clean. Now she’s spotless.

Finally, Hayang walked down the mountain, and collected the pouch of money she’d secretly hidden and buried. And then, she arrived in the village and found a taxi… a carriage. She jumped right in.

The driver asked the snow-white girl,

“Little miss, where to?”

“Seoul, or Crown Hall.”

“I don’t know where ‘Seoul’ is, but I know the Imperial Capital.”

“Mooong.”

*Krrruurr.* Wheels grind. The carriage slowly recedes. Thus, what was once one being became two, and finally returns to being one again.

Baptized in untainted innocence.