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Viktor spoke to his adjutant, who was guarding his side.

“Stay here and keep an eye out. If something seems off, shoot the organ without hesitation.”

“How much should I shoot?”

“Pour it all out as if to erase this entire amusement park from existence. Got it?”

“Understood.”

As if giving a command to the form of his face, Viktor ordered loudly to his adjutant and walked forward without hesitation. When he arrived at the place where mushrooms were singing, he hesitated slightly, but Viktor walked firmly, as if he didn’t want to show any weakness.

The sound of the shattered, worn-out stone floor clashing with his military boots resounded, and in sync with that sound, the mushrooms danced and sang.

[ A guest is coming~ ]

[ A guest is coming for a meal! ]

[ You can expect something great! ]

[ Today’s menu is fantastic! ]

Aside from the noise being overwhelming, the lyrics were troubling.

“Hey, can’t you shut those things up?”

[ No- can’t- do that- ]

He could hardly stand it any longer and asked the face form.

“I can’t figure out what kind of meat they’ve prepared to make such a fuss.”

[ You- can- look- forward- to it. ]

“Tsk. If it doesn’t live up to the expectations, I won’t let it go. And.”

Viktor glared at the face form with ominous eyes, then shut his mouth. But the face form, as if it knew what he intended to say, spewed the carcasses of insects from where its mouth should be and spoke.

[ Don’t worry- it’s definitely not human flesh. ]

Viktor looked at the face form with skepticism but continued to walk.

Before long, Viktor arrived at the front of the Ferris Wheel, the place he intended to go.

“Oh dear.”

What he saw upon arrival was a white flicker.

The Ferris Wheel, pouring out an excessive amount of light, was ablaze as if it aimed to render his goggles useless, and his camera, which had a feature for amplifying light for night activities, could only turn white, unable to accept the sheer amount of light.

As his vision was obscured, Viktor immediately restored his goggles, recalling what he had been trained to do, and simultaneously opened his senses to check for any threats. But there was no sense of life around, and upon confirming that the face form was floating quietly, he finally looked at the Ferris Wheel.

“Wow!”

Viktor gasped upon looking at the Ferris Wheel.

Flames were rising and drawing circles from the ground.

Without emitting any smoke, solely burning red and maintaining its form, it appeared as if the sun had descended to earth.

The place where once people would board became a small fireball, a part of the sun, while the frame acted as a conduit for the flames, shining brilliantly.

Despite being made of metal, it maintained its shape without melting, gathering flames that fluttered in the wind, forming a massive wheel of fire.

And at its center stood a pillar of fire.

From a distance, it resembled a lollipop made of flames; up close, it looked like a torture wheel spewing fire. To Viktor, gazing at it from such proximity, it felt as though the sun was captured in a pillar of fire.

“Absolutely amazing.”

To Viktor, who loved such sights, it was a spectacle more beautiful than any other.

[ V-Viktor. I thought you would like it. ]

“Flames and explosions. That’s the virtue of a soldier and what an officer should love.”

Viktor, not paying any mind to the bizarre sounds coming from his right, suddenly felt the raw voice mingling with the strange noise and hurriedly turned his head.

Standing where he looked was a boy, practically a child by Russian standards.

No, even by Eastern standards, he looked young.

The boy was draped in a robe-like cloth and wore a crown made of oak leaves on his head. In one hand, he held a small obsidian dagger that emitted a peculiar heat, shimmering orange as if it was reflecting the raging flames.

“Nice to meet you, Viktor. Viktor Alexandrovich Smirnov. I’m your humble shaman, the one who invited you here, and today, I shall serve you a meal. How’s that? Did your curiosity get satisfied by seeing my face?”

The boy’s face appeared quite youthful. At first glance, he resembled a young rabbit and, at another angle, a puppy. Just as one feels an urge to protect when seeing a young creature, Viktor felt an inexplicable familiarity rather than wariness when looking at the boy’s face.

Yet, despite his youthful looks, his demeanor was strange.

He was undoubtedly a boy, yet the words that came from his mouth bore the tone of an old man, and the intensity in his eyes seemed to possess a depth as if he had just emerged from an abyss. His face, filled with calmness, bore no sign of the boiling blood that one would expect; this was something one wouldn’t see in an ordinary person.

If one were to claim that what stood before him was human, it would be likened to an actor.

And if one had not studied acting, it would be something far removed from humanity.

“Sure. I took a good look at your face. You certainly look like a shaman.”

He spoke words that could be taken as praise or criticism towards the boy.

The boy responded by giving a faint smile, as if he found the remark amusing. His expression resembled a mask an innocent child would bring back from a school art class, looking awkward yet somehow provoking discomfort.

“The meal hasn’t cooled down yet.”

The boy raised his hand and gestured toward the Ferris Wheel.

“Look. That magnificent fire. Inside that blazing fire, a meal for you and me is prepared.”

As the boy pretended to grasp the air, something flew toward them from the center of the Ferris Wheel.

It sped through the air, and as it approached the people, it slowed down, eventually hovering in front of them at a speed akin to that of a tortoise.

Meat.

A roast that resembled either a rat or a pig.

“Quite unusual.”

Viktor chuckled as he realized that the meal the shaman had kept mentioning was not a metaphor but was indeed actual meat. However, his expression quickly hardened as he swiftly drew his sabre and aimed it at the shaman’s neck, growling in a low voice.

“Right, I’ve seen enough of your tricks. Now, it’s time for you to explain.”

“An explanation, an explanation!”

The shaman, seemingly unbothered by the blade poised to pierce his neck, looked at Viktor with exaggerated gestures.

“Don’t doubt it. As the old saying goes, the first meeting is a coincidence, but from the second meeting onward, it signifies a connection. To change the connection into a good bond, one must treat the other with kindness, and to turn it into a bad bond, one must treat the other with malice. So I have prepared a meal with only goodwill in mind.”

His exaggerated actions resembled something one might see in a cheap play.

“So, you are offering a meal to create a positive bond despite having met by chance?”

Even among shamans, there were many eccentric and outrageous ones, but this felt too suspicious.

Why offer a meal at the first encounter? And how did he know Viktor’s name?

He glared at the shaman, filled with questions.

And as if to address the curiosity that had not been voiced, the shaman opened his mouth.

“Oh, Viktor. Don’t you remember?”

“What?”

He asked with a boyish innocence.

Jinseong chuckled.

“This is our second meeting.”

With that statement, silence fell between them.

Viktor’s eyes widened, and he gripped his sabre tighter.

Then suddenly, his waist twisted slightly, and his arm shot out like lightning.

*Thwuck!*

Like pulling a trigger with a human body, the sabre made a small hole in Jinseong’s neck.

The blade, wet with the blood that flowed from his neck, burned the hole shut as it emerged, then leaped back to create distance from its master, moving away from Jinseong.

Despite having a hole punctured in his neck, Jinseong smiled nonchalantly. He seemed accustomed to such things, inserting his finger into the hole.

“Those who call upon the holy name do not die. It is as if a day repeats; it is like the sun being eternal.”

As Jinseong recited the invocation, the Ferris Wheel rained fire like baptism upon him. The flames clung to Jinseong’s neck and roared, and soon the fire transformed into flesh, completely sealing the hole in his neck.

“Kehepera.”

The embers were like dots.

An egg for a flame that ripples and swells.

An egg made of light, within which the flames are dormant.

“Ra.”

The embers turned into flames.

The candle-like flames sprouted, enveloping Jinseong’s neck, dancing around the healed hole as they blazed. It moved like a snake, wrapping around his neck and rising to his face, engulfing his head in flames.

“Atum.”

The flames that had covered his entire head caused him no harm, once again taking on the form of a snake. It glided down his face, and as if shedding its skin, it scattered the flames in every direction before vanishing.

But just like a young sun becoming an old sun, and the old sun rejuvenating to rise again, the flames did not completely vanish.

It floated in the form of embers, waiting for the time to come and created ropes of heat to connect to the Ferris Wheel.

This meant that as long as the flames of the Ferris Wheel did not extinguish, Jinseong could continue to regenerate indefinitely.

It was as if he could be assured of safety unless soldiers destroyed the Ferris Wheel with multi-launch rocket systems or Viktor kept his powers in check.

Jinseong spread his arms wide, revealing his chest as if to say he meant no harm.

“The first meeting is a coincidence. But the second meeting signifies a connection.”

He spoke to Viktor, who was on guard.

“I saw your fortune during the first meeting. And I realized that the connection between you and me was not merely that. In this second meeting, I have come to realize that I must offer you advice. This meeting has been arranged for that reason.”

Gently placing the meat he conjured in the air between himself and Viktor, he seated himself before the meat.

“I have seen you finally become a king.”

He stepped forward and sat down in front of the roast.

Then, smiling brightly, he said,

“And you desire to become a king, don’t you?”

Viktor’s expression stiffened at that statement.

“Now, do you feel like talking to me?”

 

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