It wore an ordinary T-shirt and pants.
However, every part that should have been exposed skin was made entirely of black smoke.
The same was true of its head.
No proper facial features were visible.
"Ability gear."
The black smoke stared straight at Haseol as it spoke.
"You have ability gear."
"Didn't you say that if I put on the cloak, other people wouldn't be able to see me?"
Haseol asked as he stepped backward.
[It heard your voice because you kept talking so loudly.]
"You two were talking even more."
[Other people cannot hear our voices.]
"Ah."
Haseol let out a short exclamation.
"You should have told me that from the start."
Haseol laughed in disbelief.
[You came inside Rootstream before we had time to explain anything.]
"You kicked me in the butt and sent me in, Myun."
[Ha~. Look at this one. You cannot let a single word go.]
"What should I do? Please decide quickly."
[Capture it alive.]
[Kill it.]
Haseol gave a faint smile at the two still-divided opinions.
"I'll decide for myself."
Then he made his own decision.
"It doesn't seem to be the ability gear we are looking for, but it does not matter."
The black smoke spoke as it approached.
Haseol moved slightly to the side and changed direction, but the black smoke was still looking toward where it had heard the voice.
It seemed unable to pinpoint him perfectly.
"Hand over all the ability gear you have. Unless you want to end up like that human."
"Wait a moment. Is ability gear what you call things like this?"
"Yes, that."
"Before that, what are you?"
Haseol asked the black smoke.
[Do you think it will tell you just because you ask? Just kill it. Honestly.]
"What am I?"
The black smoke slowly ran a bloodstained hand across its face.
"Type: Force. A Bully. Threat level F-."
Haseol's head automatically tilted to the side at the black smoke's introduction.
"I've never heard anyone introduce themselves that way before."
"Hmm? Is that the sort of introduction you want? I am a being born from humanity's negativity, one of the kind called ghosts."
Even after the black smoke changed its introduction, Haseol was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Huh?"
A short exclamation filled with bewilderment.
[It really told us its true nature? Is it insane?]
[Given that it calls itself a Bully and a ghost, it appears to be a being far removed from common sense.]
Haseol blankly stood there for a moment, then shook his head after realizing that this was not the time for it.
"You said earlier that you were looking for ability gear. Why are you looking for it?"
Haseol showed the knife he held to the Bully.
"Because supernatural abilities must be erased from this world."
"Not ability gear?"
"Ability gear is included within supernatural abilities."
"Then......."
Haseol slowly pointed a finger at the sky.
"Was this enormous dome made to erase supernatural abilities?"
"That is exactly right."
The Bully nodded.
"It was made to destroy ability gear, eliminate every being included within supernatural abilities, and kill even those with the potential to enter the realm of supernatural abilities!"
The Bully rushed Haseol.
Though Haseol flinched, he raised the knife Myun had given him.
Waycut.
The knife that showed him the path he needed to swing along.
It was exactly as Myun had said.
A steel-colored trajectory appeared before Haseol's eyes.
It extended from his hand and passed through the Bully's neck.
Haseol took a step forward.
Following the trajectory, he swung Waycut.
The blade passed through the neck of the Bully as it came at him with a fist raised.
SPLURT!
Something like black smoke burst from the Bully's neck like blood.
"Th-th, aaah."
The Bully fell to the ground.
"I cut its neck and knocked it down for now."
[Good job. If it is a strange bastard in a strange phenomenon, you have to kill it.]
[Tsk. I told you to capture it alive.]
"Waycut only showed me a trajectory for its neck."
Haseol spoke as if he had no choice and looked at the fallen Bully.
Black smoke kept gushing out.
"This thing said earlier that it would kill supernatural abilities, along with every being that had the potential to enter the world of supernatural abilities, right?"
[It did.]
"How extensive is that?"
[It will likely resemble the future we saw.]
"Then humanity will be wiped out."
[There will be survivors.]
"If you phrase it that way, it sounds as though the conclusion will be the same, doesn't it?"
[You may be able to live a long, long life alone in this country.]
"That would not make much difference."
When things turned bad, he had wondered whether perhaps it would not be the worst possible outcome after all, but it was not.
"It is still the worst."
Haseol smiled bitterly.
[Rootstream does not appear to have changed. The Bully you just killed was not maintaining Rootstream.]
"Should I look around a little more?"
[No, come out for now. It said "us" earlier, so if there are more enemies, we should bring in more gear before going farther, shouldn't we?]
[Head farther toward the center.]
[What?]
[We killed an enemy inside. The next entry may be blocked. We have to learn as much as possible before you come out.]
[What if he dies doing that?]
"Wait a moment. You two, stop fighting and please be quiet."
[Why now?]
"Black smoke is rising from the Bully's body like a signal fire."
[So?]
"You......, will die here......."
FWOOSH!
The Bully scattered into black smoke.
The clothes it had been wearing vanished cleanly as well.
"Did you hear that just now?"
[I heard it.]
"First, the Bully that was here completely scattered into black smoke and disappeared just now."
[There really are more of them. Get out.]
[Head toward the center.]
"I think it is already too late."
Haseol slowly looked around.
"Our comrade has died! Find the ones connected to supernatural abilities!"
"They definitely have ability gear too!"
Beings with bodies of black smoke were walking toward Haseol from the alleys and even from the wide boulevard.
[It is good that they clearly state what they want. I do not know why they are making such a fuss about supernatural abilities, though.]
Myun sounded exasperated.
"Did something from the world of supernatural abilities do something to ghosts?"
[I do not know what you think supernatural abilities are, but they are anything beyond the common sense you, an ordinary person, know. From your perspective, those things have supernatural abilities too.]
"Seriously? But they are getting closer to me. What should I do?"
[How many are there?]
"Four."
[Can you run away?]
"I don't know."
[Are they looking at you?]
"They are all looking this way and coming toward me."
[It seems they are detecting and approaching the ability gear itself.]
"Then what do I do?"
[What else can we do? We have to kill them all.]
"Is there no other way?"
Haseol asked with an expression that truly yearned for another option.
[Can you not capture just one of them?]
"There isn't one."
Haseol gave up with a blank expression at Eska's alternative.
[You heard him, didn't you? Keep quiet.]
Haseol let out a faint breath as he looked at the black-smoke-like beings approaching him.
"What are your names?"
Haseol asked.
"Bully."
"All of you?"
"Yes. Bullies. Type: Force. Threat level F-."
"That sounds like a job."
"Ah~, if you are asking about our true nature."
The black smoke nodded and answered.
"We are ghosts."
It was the same answer as the Bully from before.
It felt as though he was facing manufactured duplicates, not different lives.
"Let me check one more time. You were not born because a person or another living creature died, right?"
"It means we are beings born from the negative emotions of humans."
The ghosts strode toward Haseol.
"I learned this much more, so it is enough, right? Please be satisfied."
[I will concede that. You did well. Personally, I would like to know why they are trying to erase supernatural abilities.]
Haseol gripped the knife stained with black blood tightly.
"I'll kill everyone with supernatural abilities."
A Bully rushed Haseol.
"Please find that out personally later!"
Haseol tightened his grip on the knife and prepared to fight the Bully.
A trajectory for the knife to follow appeared.
Haseol first twisted his body to avoid the fist, then drew the knife along the trajectory carved in the air.
SLASH!
The knife passed through its neck.
Black smoke gushed out like blood.
Haseol charged face-first through that blood toward the next enemy.
"Grab him!"
The trajectory of Haseol's knife appeared, sharply bending.
Haseol swung the knife along that trajectory.
His body naturally turned with it.
SLASH!
He cut the hand reaching out to grab him.
"Aagh?!"
The ghost clutched its wrist and screamed.
Another trajectory appeared.
Following it, Haseol swung the knife and cut its neck.
[How is it going?]
"Two!"
The other ghosts rushed at Haseol.
Haseol moved along the trajectory marked in the air.
The knife's movement and the trajectory it followed intertwined with the enemy.
Haseol lowered his stance to swing along the trajectory marked at the ghost's side.
WHOOSH!
A ghost's fist passed over his head.
The knife sliced through its side.
Then, turning once along the trajectory,
SLASH!
He cut the back of the ghost's neck.
"One!"
"Aaaaaah!"
A ghost rushed forward, throwing a punch.
The trajectory was marked above him.
Haseol swung the knife along it.
The ghost's severed fist flew up.
FWOOSH!
Spraying blood, it scattered into smoke.
Haseol stepped aside and swung the knife one more time.
THUNK!
The knife embedded itself in the ghost's neck.
"Ghk, ah, ah."
When Haseol pulled out the knife, the ghost spewed black blood and collapsed to the ground.
"Haa, haa, haa."
Haseol breathed heavily, holding the knife.
He could feel his heart pounding.
Both his hands and his body were covered in black blood.
[How did it go?]
"I finished clearing them out."
[How were the ghosts? Were they fast, or did they use any strange abilities?]
"No, nothing like that. They just felt like ordinary people."
[That may be because their threat level is F-.]
"They are probably small fry."
Haseol wiped the blood running down his face with his arm.
"Still, I hope I do not have to fight next time."
[.......]
[.......]
There was no reply.
"Hello? Why are you not answering?"
[Because that seems unlikely.]
[Hey, just let him have some hope. It seems like he will have to go into the next Rootstream alone again anyway.]
"Ha. Shit."
Haseol laughed in disbelief at the two's conversation.
"Has anything changed outside? All the ghosts I killed are disappearing."
[There has not been much change......, hmm? Wait a moment.]
"All right."
Haseol stood blankly in the street, which was thickly spattered with black blood.
It was a busy shopping district.
Many people were walking around, but no one in particular looked at Haseol.
"Eska."
[Speak.]
"Thinking about it, while I was fighting the ghosts, the people just walked by as if they could not see anything."
[That would be so. Ghosts clearly belong to the realm of the nonordinary.]
"Is it a similar situation to when you said no one would notice us landing earlier?"
[That is it.]
Haseol nodded as though he did not know the reason but understood the result.
[Oh, Haseol. Look up.]
"Up?"
Haseol lifted his head.
[The ceiling of Rootstream is vanishing as though it is opening.]
"Oh....... It really is."
The pure-white dome was disappearing.
[It seems you resolved Rootstream's problem. Well done.]
"Hearing praise so suddenly makes it feel like you really intend to make me work again next time."
[Even if you can feel that, what can you do? It is not as though you can escape.]
"Ahaha, I had a feeling that would be the case."
Haseol looked up at the gradually vanishing Rootstream.
He took off the cloak covered in black blood, wrapped the knife in it, and held it so others could not see it.
"Then I will come out for now."
[Yes, we are at the spot from earlier.]
"All right."
Haseol set off, moving the slippers sticky with black blood.
"Ah, excuse me!"
Someone called out.
When Haseol turned his head, he saw someone running toward him.
"Excuse me! Thank you for helping me!"
It was the woman who had been beaten by a ghost earlier.
"Ah, yes."
"I was so grateful that I hurried and bought these."
The woman held out convenience-store coffee and chocolate to Haseol.
"Ah, thank you."
Haseol accepted the coffee and chocolate with a bewildered expression.
"Um......, do you remember being beaten by a ghost?"
Haseol carefully asked the woman.
"What? A ghost?"
"The one made of black smoke......, ah, no. That Bully's face just looked a little ghostly."
"Ah, yes."
When the woman wore a troubled expression because she did not understand, Haseol immediately changed the subject.
"Why did it pick a fight with you?"
"I think it was looking for something, but I do not really know."
"Ah, I see. Then, please be careful."
"Yes, thank you so much!"
The woman gave Haseol a deep bow, then left.
With the cloak-wrapped knife in one hand and the coffee and chocolate in the other, Haseol walked on.
Then he looked at the coffee and chocolate and smiled faintly.
[If it was looking for something, it must have been something related to supernatural abilities.]
"Probably. But I am covered in black blood, and she was not bothered by the sight of me at all, so it seems things related to ghosts are not visible to people whatsoever."
As Rootstream descended and disappeared, Myun and Eska began to come into view.
Rootstream vanished completely.
FWOOSH!
The wind blew.
Myun, Eska, and Haseol narrowed their eyes slightly against the wind.
"Ordinary people have no reaction."
Eska spoke.
"Seems like only we can feel this wind."
Myun answered.
"Does anyone want coffee?"
Haseol asked.
"No."
"No need."
The two refused, and Haseol immediately opened the coffee and drank it in great gulps.
"Haaah."
Then he let out a breath and squatted down on the ground.
"Ah, Myun."
"Why?"
"This."
Haseol held out the cloak and knife to Myun.
"Why?"
"They belong to you."
"Keep them. I think you will use them often."
"Ha."
Haseol gave a hollow laugh and drank more coffee.
"Then what do we do now?"
"Has another Rootstream appeared?"
At Eska's question, Myun asked to confirm.
Haseol only sipped his coffee with an expression as though his soul had left him.
"No."
"Then should we not wash him first?"
Myun pointed at Haseol.
VRRRMMM.
However, the sound of a car came from beside them.
At the sound drawing near, the three turned their heads.
A large SUV came to a stop right beside them.
One person got out of the driver's seat.
She looked over two meters tall, and wore a black suit tailored close to her body, a tie, and gleaming shoes.
Her red hair reached down to her waist like a lion's mane, and she wore sunglasses.
She was a woman who carried all the beauty of an adult woman, her very presence brimming with an adult's coolness.
"Did you finish?"
The woman asked.
"Ah."
Haseol recognized that the woman's suit matched the one in the profile picture he had seen in the chat room.
"Shura. You are late. This one already finished it."
Myun said, pointing at Haseol.
The woman squatted down before Haseol, facing him.
Shura, the werewolf, the King of the Moon.
"Do you smoke?"
Shura asked Haseol expressionlessly.
"No."
"Then wait. I will smoke a cigarette, then we will go to my villa to talk."
Shura said that, rose to her feet, and began to smoke.
Haseol looked at Myun and Eska as though to ask whether this was really all right.
The two calmly got into the car on their own.
"I have blood all over me. Is it all right for me to get in like this?"
Haseol asked Shura, who glanced at him and nodded.
"Just get in."
"All right."
"I can just throw the car away after using it once."
"......I'll take my clothes off before getting in."
Haseol began to take off his shirt and pants.