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The light of the streetlamp flickered on one side.

A swarm of insects desperately tried to block the light.

Underneath it, a man twisted his body between the boundaries of darkness and light.

The man moved,

twisting his body, flailing his feet, and hopping around with laughter.

That face, illuminated by the shadows, that face!

Look at that face, which plays hide and seek with the dimming and returning light.

As it lengthened and shortened, didn’t it resemble a long, hooked nose sniffing the air?

The corners of his mouth stretched and seemed to rip up to his ears, with manic glints in his eyes radiating a chilling aura.

His feet danced as if doing a tap dance, moving back and forth, up and down. The heel hit the ground, followed by the toe, making an X shape with his feet and then spreading wide. He spun like a figure skater, soaring into the air only to crash back down, and his legs extended gracefully to the floor like a ballerina.

To call it dancing was bizarre, and his movements were more akin to those of a puppet than a human.

As if he were being controlled by unseen strings…

Or maybe,

like shoes strapped to his feet which made him dance on their own.

So bizarre.

“Hi, hiick…”

From that bizarre sight, a scream involuntarily escaped my lips.

Unable to shout loudly, it was a weak, feeble cry.

That scream rose high only to be smothered and scattered like insubstantial fog, shattered like a fading dream.

And as that request was trampled, the man began to approach them.

Tap.

Tap.

He moved his feet,

changing forms between light and shadow.

From shoes to high heels.

High heels to boots.

Boots to sneakers.

Sneakers to the kind of shoes a clown might wear.

The shape of the shoes transformed.

As the shadow illuminated, the hooked nose lengthened and shortened.

As the man drew closer… and finally reached a point where the outline of his face was revealed.

“Uh, uh…?”

Only then could his face finally be recognized.

Chaine involuntarily exclaimed at the sight of the familiar face.

‘That time, that…?’

It was a familiar face.

Having seen it only once but distinctly remembered, it was that face.

The madman from that time.

The madman who had helped her!

The one who called himself a journalist…!

That madman was now approaching, one hand holding a hammer and the other a knife.

Approaching, moving in that bizarre manner!

“You see, if you wear someone else’s shoes, you can become anything. If you slip on the cold steel shoes that someone has danced in, you could become a stepmother. You could be a wicked sister or even a witch. Wear shoes made from straw and you can become a worker, and if you wear casually wrapped leather shoes, you become a traveler. If you put on shoes left carelessly outside, you might even play the part of a husband and receive a warm welcome inside; that’s the special thing about shoes. The specialness of shoes!”

The man moved towards them with a creaky, rigid body.

“If you steal and wear a pregnant woman’s shoes, you will bear a child. If you wear the shoes of someone you love, you will receive their love. Put a four-leaf clover in the heel and walk while wishing for marriage, and oh my! You will connect with the first man you meet! That’s the power of shoes, shoes, shoes! Shoes are linked to the future. Shoes lead to descendants. Shoes connect to partners. This is the magic of shoes, Smickling!”

“But just because you’ve stolen shoes, you shouldn’t jump around in glee! That’s a thing to be cautious about! If you step on the gold of bricks, you will end up marrying a brick, and if you step on the gold of a stick, you might marry a stick! A brick may have a hole but cannot give birth, and a stick may be long but cannot bear children!”

“The wedding will be attended by beetles! It will be a miserable wedding with no blessings or congratulations! And at the end, a bear might come and tear your body apart, oh how miserable, how miserable! So, you shouldn’t jump around carelessly in shoes!”

“Gold, gold, gold. Watch out for gold, one, two, three! Light and bouncy footsteps. Heels forward, toes back! Regardless of the order, dance with glee! Waltzing one, two, as if wielding a rapier, tap-tap! But be careful with gold, careful with gold! Step on gold and your mother’s back will break! The cherished dish of your mother will break, and so will her back!”

That bizarre scene was something ordinary people couldn’t endure.

It made the body tremble and overwhelmed the instinct to escape.

“Hiyaak!”

So one of the two women ended up fleeing.

Abandoning the frozen one, she turned and ran back the way she came.

“Uh…?”

Now, there was only one left.

A woman recalling a familiar face in frozen shock.

It was Chaine.

“Did you run away…? Did you leave me…?”

Her manager had abandoned her to flee, leaving her as pale as a ghost.

And she too tried to move her body to escape by any means necessary.

But it was as if she were exposed to a tiger’s gaze, trembling uncontrollably, unable to move properly, with her legs giving way beneath her.

Her waist buckled, making it hard to twist, and as she tried to crawl away, the unnamed assailant approached her too quickly.

Tap.

Tap.

The assailant moved slowly, but considerably faster than walking, as he approached her.

And finally, reaching Chaine, he grinned and spoke.

“We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“Hi, hiick.”

“You remember me, don’t you?”

The assailant leaned in closer, presenting his face directly to her, questioning her.

But when there was no answer, his chilling smile broadened as he tilted his head.

Tilting his head at a 45-degree angle, the assailant stared hard at Chaine.

“It seems you don’t remember? Let me jog your memory. Back then, I knocked on your door. Do you remember? Knock, knock.”

He mimicked a knock, his mouth producing the sound that truly resembled knocking on a door.

“And then I said, ‘Nice to meet you, Ms. Chaine. I’m Lee Jae-soon from the Society Department. Can we have a chat for a moment?’ Yes, at that time, I introduced myself. What did I say? ‘I’m Lee Jae-soon.’ What was my occupation? ‘I’m a society journalist.’ That’s how I introduced myself and made my presence known. Do you remember that time? Do you remember? You must remember!”

“Hik…”

“You seem to recall, don’t you?”

Lee Jae-soon paused, having said that.

Then, looking straight into Chaine’s eyes, he asked.

“But why aren’t you answering, Ms. Chaine?”

“Hiyaak…!”

In one hand, he held a hammer.

In the other, a sharp cutting knife.

Clutching deadly weapons with his crazed, gleaming eyes, he stood before her.

Chaine couldn’t contain her trembling lips.

Naturally, she couldn’t move her tongue or lips.

In a dizzying panic, she could only tremble in silence.

“Ah, that’s okay. Today, I’m not here to interview you, Ms. Society Journalist Lee Jae-soon. I’m here to gather information, but it isn’t about you. Why? Because I’m not a tabloid journalist, chasing gossip and rumors. I’m not one of those! I’m a promising new talent, renewing my career every day as a society journalist. I’m here to report on something that will shake society!”

“Sundae, sundae, my distant descendant. And don’t forget to utilize my power at the same time. With the shoemaker’s hands, I can tailor shoes and use them to cast magic, so you must pay homage to this bloodline!”

“Oh, I know. As a shoemaker’s descendant, I must handle leather and make shoes, don’t I? Cutting leather, punching holes, threading laces in between. That’s part of what I’m supposed to do. But today, I have to steal someone else’s shoes, so I don’t need a cutting knife or a hammer, right?”

“Oh, my descendant with no sense at all! You are my descendant, who has been too fond of alcohol to be in your right mind! Didn’t you need to punch holes with a hammer and cut them with a knife since you wore shoes that don’t fit? Only by tightening the laces in the holes you make can you walk comfortably!”

“Oh, Ancestor, Ancestor. I don’t quite understand.”

“Oh, you drunkard! It’s just like how you drink from different-shaped cups!”

“Ah, I understand! Ancestor, you are truly amazing!”

“Ah, you drunkard, drunkard, you drunkard!”

Reporters like Lee Jae-soon seemed to hold a conversation with himself like a person with a split personality.

That sight was truly terrifying.

Combined with his bizarre movements, it made him less than human.

Chaine couldn’t muster her voice amid that horror.

“Yes, Ms. Chaine. What was your real name? Kim—what was it? Ha, I don’t remember well. Is it the alcohol? Anyway, Ms. Chaine, I obtained materials indicating that your agency’s CEO is connected to Japan. But looking through the materials, I felt that it might be related to the person I’m looking for. So I intend to enter there, but oh my, you are about to be dismissed, so you are of no use… Is the person next to you not? That’s why I plan to borrow that person’s face for entry, okay? But, Ms. Chaine, what’s your name again?”

“…”

“I can’t seem to recall. Descendant, what was this woman’s name? Hey, Chaine, what’s your name?”

“…”

“Ugh. I just can’t remember your name. I feel I need to know your name to have a deeper conversation; hey, Ms. Chaine. You’re really not going to tell me your name?”

“…”

“Ugh, fine. I don’t want to hear your name anyways. Let’s see you later. Right now, I’m more busy chasing the one who ran away! It’s way more important to strip that woman of her shoes! There might be an exclusive story in there, one sweeter than a ship filled to the brim with gold coins! More intoxicating than stealing and guzzling down liquor guarded by a dragon! Ha-ha-ha!”

Lee Jae-soon kicked his tongue at Chaine, who watched him with trembling eyes, and walked away.

Chasing after someone who had fled, as he said.

As he stepped forward, he suddenly paused after taking a few steps.

Not out of any change of heart to attack Chaine…

But because someone appeared where he intended to go.

“ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ—–.”

 

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