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“I’m… infected?”

“Indeed. You have been infected,” Jinseong said, glancing at Lee Jae-soon, who looked as if maintaining his composure was a struggle.

“What could be infected? What could have transferred from others to you? Can you truly grasp that? Can you understand it, the genuine you beyond the mere illusion?”

“What… nonsense….”

“Infection of experience, Smickling. Why does a maiden in love steal and wear the shoes of the man she wishes to captivate while waiting to meet him? Why does a woman desiring a child wear the shoes of someone who was pregnant, or has been pregnant? What does it mean to place a four-leaf clover in her shoes while waiting for her fated partner?”

A maiden in love wears the shoes of the man she loves hoping to win his affection, as shoes are considered an extension of the body, something familiar, so she wishes for him to feel comfort and familiarity upon seeing her wear them.

A woman wishing for a child wears the shoes of a woman who has been pregnant to gain a child, as shoes represent a part of the body. To don them is to hope that the blessing of having the child that pregnant woman once bore resides within her, wishing for the angel to bless her with a child.

Putting a four-leaf clover in her shoes is for fortune, as a four-leaf clover represents unexpected luck. Just like finding a four-leaf clover without thinking while looking at the ground, placing it in her shoes symbolizes her desire to encounter her destined partner, arriving unexpectedly like luck.

I wish to replicate experiences.

I wish to spread experiences.

Smickling thus stemmed from such sentiments.

But there is something that must be understood.

The spreading of experiences, the replication of experiences, cannot bring only good things.

In a world where all things possess good and evil, how can one expect only to gain the good?

Thus, it is wise to be cautious and wary.

“At the turn of the 19th century, there was a boy.”

Jinseong began reciting the record he had seen calmly.

“This boy suffered from whooping cough from the time the sun began to blaze hot. His eyes turned horrifically red and dried out. Amidst it all, he coughed incessantly, and the cough grew steadily worse. With each cough, he felt the pain as if his lungs were being wrung out, and eventually, he could scarcely breathe.”

Whooping cough, known for its extraordinary contagiousness, means a cough that lasts for a hundred days. It is caused by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria and is a deadly disease for children.

The characteristic of this disease is a powerful cough. Not just any common cold-level cough, but an intense cough that can make breathing difficult. In young children, it can even cause brain and lung damage, ruining bodily organs.

Now, with the development of vaccines, it is rarely seen and has even been forgotten by people, but in the 19th century, such expectations were impossible.

If one caught it, they could only endure the endless suffering of coughing.

“Ughhh— wheeze— As soon as I inhaled, my lungs seemed to go into convulsions, as if an unseen hand were wringing them. All the air in my lungs escapes, irritating my vocal cords, sending vibrations through my throat. Therefore, while coughing in agony, a sound akin to a flute emerges from my mouth, how infuriating it is! In the midst of unbearable pain, the mocking flute-like sound flows from my throat; ah, cruel and brutal.”

Another characteristic of whooping cough is its distinctive sound when coughing. When air rushes in with the glottis shut, a peculiar sound emerges, similar to a flute. That’s why whooping cough is also called ‘Whooping cough’— it sounds like someone gasping for air while laughing.

“But a passerby said, ‘If you raise a cat at home, let it stay in the same room; then the infection will move to the cat.’ With some hesitation, the child’s parents had no choice but to comply. And after some time had passed, the coughing ceased, the blood from his throat stopped, and the red spots on his face started to fade, and finally, the boy recovered. And those who witnessed it said….”

“….”

“Ah, he was cured through infection!”

“And the cat died!”

Jinseong said as he looked at Lee Jae-soon.

Lee Jae-soon was struggling to breathe, making soft wheezing sounds.

“Ah, this is also Smickling. Also an infection, the transmission of experience. Infection can be such a terrifying and dreadful thing.”

Wheeze—

Wheeze—

“Having heard this story, you have surely gained a lesson. You have truly gained a lesson. To recklessly carry another’s belongings means that experience is spreading, and being together with others signifies that experiences can be both transmitted and contracted. Thus, you must realize, you foolish one, can you tell what you have been infected with?”

Wheeze—

Lee Jae-soon could not reply.

He no longer had the strength to speak.

“Even with a mouth, you cannot speak; even with a tongue, you cannot move it. Lee Jae-soon, the one bewitched by fairies, with malice in your heart, you have finally been captivated. Young man, who created a space within your brain for the fairy to reside after drawing near to it and ultimately losing the initiative. I shall tell you this. Truly, I shall convey this to you; you must ponder over this realization again and again.”

Jinseong spoke to Lee Jae-soon, who gazed at him with dazed eyes.

“Firstly, I say unto you, you have been infected by desire.”

The world swirls with desire.

And it is created by those living each day with karma.

I wish to progress.

I wish to earn money.

I wish to succeed.

I wish to gain power.

Those countless desires swirl, collide, and blend, evolving to shape the world.

Sometimes extending in good directions, sometimes in bad, sometimes wandering, sometimes failing to grow and withering away.

Thus is the nature of how the world is formed, created, and evolves.

Therefore, it is vital to govern one’s desires.

If one cannot regulate their desires, they will merely be swept away in the flood of varying desires, inevitably bursting and shattering like bubbles.

In that sense, Lee Jae-soon failed to govern that desire.

It does not mean he held a wrong desire.

Wishing to progress, to succeed, to achieve honor—what is wrong with that?

Those are perfectly natural desires.

But if there is a mistake in Lee Jae-soon’s actions, it’s that he obsessed over them too much.

Instead of setting proper standards himself, he began to use others’ gaze as his criteria, measuring his desires against others’ standards, gradually becoming unscrupulous.

His appearance, hefty with desire, mindlessly devouring it until he resembled a balloon, foolishly inflated.

Thus, he would later be nicknamed ‘the demagogue.’

“Secondly, I tell you, you have been infected by fairies.”

But now it has changed.

Because Jinseong intervened.

Thanks to that, Lee Jae-soon has transitioned from writing articles based on fabricated narratives using wicked methods and fragments of information to instead writing articles rooted in information extracted from divine objects. Throughout this process, he used those pieces of information like currency to widen his connections and flourished.

But could it be due to excessive ego?

Was it due to the near-arrogance of confidence befitting insatiable desires?

Or was it the obsession with the divine objects that did him in?

Lee Jae-soon began to cling to divine objects, relying on fairies.

And in the process of that dependence, he swiftly grew closer to the fairies, all while ignoring the precautions and warnings imposed by the enchantments associated with them, irresponsibly neglecting the warnings.

Thus, he was infected.

By the spirit of the Fairy Mimicry.

By the confusion bestowed by the Fairy Mimicry.

And so, he became infected.

“And.”

Jinseong looked at Lee Jae-soon, who was now unable even to meet his gaze.

Lee Jae-soon’s chest subtly rose and fell, announcing that he was alive, and his slightly parted lips drew air in and out.

Had he fainted?

His head hung slightly, and blood-tinged saliva trickled from his lips.

His eyes, seen among the insect corpses, were rolled back, and his limp body exuded the unique feel of someone who had fainted.

Thus, Lee Jae-soon could not hear Jinseong’s words.

Because he had fainted.

He had lost consciousness.

But Jinseong spoke.

As if explaining to someone.

“What he has been infected with.”

“Thirdly, I say unto you.”

And with that, he opened his mouth, tearing his gaze from Lee Jae-soon and looking into the dark beyond.

Then, he questioned in silence.

Didn’t he want to hear more?

That silence bore a potent question.

So irresistibly alluring that there was no way to resist its temptation.

“I’m indeed curious. What is the third infection?”

Thus, the one in the dark had no choice but to step forward.

 

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