The Ones Only I Can See
Ever since he was little, Cha Eun-hyeok had been able to see strange things.
"What? A person?"
"Yeah, over there. Can't you see it?"
"...What are you talking about? It's just an empty lot."
"......"
"Did you see a monster or something?"
"It's not a monster, though..."
They sometimes took shapes that resembled humans.
"...Sorry. Must've been imagining things."
"Are you sure you're okay, Oppa?"
"Guess I just haven't fully woken up yet."
Like the long tail of a squirrel or a street cat trailing through the underbrush, or standing stock-still like a tree while giving off some odd fragrance, or drifting high overhead as if they were clouds themselves...
He knew they were fundamentally different from any animal or plant he had ever known. Sometimes the resemblance was close enough, but other times they were grotesquely crude.
"You've been pushing yourself too hard lately. Why not take a break?"
"I can still manage."
Like most wild creatures, they never acknowledged him.
"Gotta work while I still can."
So Cha Eun-hyeok deliberately pretended not to see them either.
Does that mean no one else can see them but me?
He had thought hard about what they really were.
...Ghosts, maybe? But if they were ghosts, they'd look more like ordinary people. Those things definitely look like animals. Sometimes they only mimic ears or tails. Hallucinations, then? But they leave actual traces, so that doesn't fit either. Monsters? Yet regular monsters aren't usually that indifferent to people.
Sometimes they danced. They sang, admired flowers, or floated on the water. Cha Eun-hyeok had the gut feeling that as long as he left them alone, they would never harm him.
Only very rarely did the dangerous ones appear.
"Apparently their house caught fire."
"No wonder that lady's been so forgetful lately..."
"The whole family burned to death in that house, I heard."
The villagers blamed the fire on a housewife who had dementia. Maybe that was true, but Cha Eun-hyeok knew the real problem lay elsewhere.
"......"
One of them, carrying a bundle, had been following that lady around.
Ah. So that's it.
That thing had definitely killed her.
He still didn't know exactly what it had done. But from that day on, Cha Eun-hyeok understood that even among them, some could be dangerous.
He never sensed any malice from those creatures, yet their mere existence could be a threat to people.
So they really are a kind of monster, after all.
That was how he defined them.
"Oppa, are you going to keep selling bungeoppang?"
"They sell pretty well, actually."
"City people aren't giving you a hard time? Places like that are especially bad about discriminating by citizen rank..."
"Everyone's been friendly so far. Haven't met anyone who looks down on me for being a 3rd-Class Citizen yet."
The truth was, he had neither the time nor the energy to worry about monsters or whatever those things were.
"Of course some people drop hints, but the youngest will need his initiation ceremony soon."
"......"
"We'll have to buy priest robes, pay the dorm fees, and give him spending money for living there."
"...Of all things, he had to awaken as a priest."
"I've got two hunters in the family. Feels plenty secure and nice to me."
Both of his younger siblings were Awakened.
His sister was the lowest rank—F-Class—so the only work she could get was as a porter. The pay wasn't great, and he still had to buy her gear that would raise her odds of surviving inside a dungeon.
The youngest, his little brother, had awakened as a Priest—a job that was completely useless unless he contracted with a god. But finding a god on his own was nearly impossible, so he needed the temple's help just to receive even a meager blessing.
"Still, we got lucky. The Solar Church in Seoul called for the youngest."
"......"
"Our little brother's about to become a 2nd-Class Citizen. And you're working too—how am I supposed to sit around resting? I've got the eldest son's pride to maintain."
"Well, I'm Awakened... and my stamina's better than yours, you know."
"I know, so stop worrying and rest."
"...Should I come work with you? If the Seoul people try anything, I can protect you..."
"Someone needs to stay home and watch the youngest."
They were short on money.
"Don't worry."
So of course he had no room left to spare for those unidentifiable creatures.
As long as I don't get too close, nothing dangerous will happen anyway.
Those things seemed to have lives of their own. Just like you wouldn't get hurt if you left a poisonous toad by the roadside alone, the ones that were happily playing by themselves were harmless as long as you didn't pick a fight.
It's not like I can't see them and therefore can't avoid them. There's no way I'd get into trouble when I can see them so clearly. It's fine. No problem.
The only issue was that there came moments when simply avoiding them wasn't enough.
"......"
"......"
He just hadn't expected that moment to arrive right as he was packing up after selling out of bungeoppang.
"......"
What now?
It's been staring at the bungeoppang this whole time.
The "thing" that had approached at this odd hour was a man wrapped in a pitch-black cloak.
He was extremely tall, and his clothes looked expensive. But because everything was pure black, he also looked a little like a guest at a funeral. The air around him had gone heavy and dead, sending a chill down the spine.
It didn't even feel like a reaper or psychopomp. Compared to those beings who possessed self-awareness and collected souls, this one felt far closer to nature itself...
He could tell with certainty that it was one of them.
"......"
Should he speak to it, or not?
I've never seen anything good come from interfering with these things.
But ignoring something that was staring so openly felt like it might bring its own kind of trouble later.
I want to see the youngest.
He was trying hard to act calm so he wouldn't provoke it, but cold sweat was pouring down his back.
Cha Eun-hyeok had already decided these were a type of monster. They were gentler than the ones people could normally see, true.
But the way they sometimes destroyed a person without a shred of malice was still enough to make anyone's blood run cold.
...Still just staring at the bungeoppang...
If I give it one, will it leave?
That was when it happened.
"How much for one bag?"
"......"
It spoke?
A monster?
He didn't show it, but he was startled.
He had often seen ones that took human form. They frequently mimicked human lives, but their actions never had any real substance, and not a single one had ever actually spoken until now.
And it even asked how much?
It's imitating humans this thoroughly?
"Ah..."
Still, he couldn't ignore a direct question.
"Five thousand won for ten."
"Do you only take cash?"
"Cash would be best, yes."
"......"
The black-cloaked figure, who had been standing with his hands clasped behind his back in silence, reached inside his hood. Cha Eun-hyeok wondered what he was doing—then a gem sparkling with transparent light appeared in the man's hand.
Even a provincial like Cha Eun-hyeok could tell that the beautifully cut stone was worth far more than ten bungeoppang.
"Would this not suffice?"
"......"
Just when he had started to think the human imitation was quite convincing, the creature pulled a stunt like this. It was enough to make him resentful.
Who pays for bungeoppang with a gem?
A chill ran down Cha Eun-hyeok's spine.
The attempt at barter, the complete ignorance of conventional value—no matter how well it mimicked a human, everything about it only deepened the sense of wrongness.
And yet it still feels so human that it's even more unsettling.
He managed an answer.
"...That's way too much."
"I have no other goods on hand."
"Do you not have a card...?"
"A card works?"
"Uh... yes."
"I see."
Against all odds, the man actually produced a card.
"......"
"......"
"...I was just packing up, so I'll have to bake a fresh batch. Is that all right?"
"It's fine."
"It will take a little while."
Having resigned himself quickly, Cha Eun-hyeok began making the bungeoppang.
This is a disaster all by itself.
Business had been so good today that he hadn't even made it to the terminal before the last bus left.
He already had a permit, so he wasn't worried about getting arrested. He had planned to sleep rough for the night—then this new customer had shown up.
A customer who was some unidentifiable monster, no less.
"......"
Clack.
The hand closing the bungeoppang mold trembled slightly.
...It won't just kill me out of nowhere, right?
Like ordinary monsters, most of these things seemed to follow their own private rules.
Only open their eyes while the sun is up. Stick forever to a blind person's side. Walk only on white stones.
Many of the rules were as childish as a kid's game, but some of them threatened humans.
But I've never met one that can talk, so I can't judge.
This was the first one that imitated humans so well.
The sense of wrongness was everywhere, true, but aside from that strangely chilling atmosphere, its speech and behavior were remarkably human.
It even has a card.
Then Cha Eun-hyeok realized something.
...Unless it stole someone else's, that means another person lent it to him.
So maybe somewhere out there, this thing had a guardian?
"...Are you with anyone else?"
"I was, but not at the moment."
"......"
"They're probably asleep by now."
For a split second he thought it meant it had killed them.
This is the first time I've felt this resentful toward a complete stranger.
In a world where you couldn't even walk a dog without a leash, how could anyone just let something this dangerous roam free, no matter how human it looked?
"......"
No—wait a second.
If they gave it a card, that means they thought it could use one just fine.
There was no way a monster invisible to everyone else would be able to use a card.
So was the person standing in front of him not a monster, but a human?
"...Is this your first time..."
Cha Eun-hyeok carefully opened his mouth.
"...in Seoul?"
"It is not my first. But I am sightseeing, yes."
"Ah, sightseeing. Have you been to Gyeongbokgung?"
"Yes. There was a wide variety of food. It was enjoyable."
The conversation was choppy and awkward, but he had gotten enough information.
Other people can see him too?
Then was he really just an ordinary person with a creepy aura?
Or maybe one of those humanoid monsters that textbooks always introduced as mandatory knowledge...
"......"
"Kkureuk."
Cha Eun-hyeok flinched.
A bird?
A faintly glowing bird had popped out from between the folds of the black hood.
"Honey, get back inside."
"Kkurrreung..."
"I'll give you some later, so stay inside."
"Kkung-kkung."
"That's right."
The way he ordered the compact little monster around looked exactly like the "Tamers" people talked about, but... well. For some reason Cha Eun-hyeok couldn't bring himself to think of the black-cloaked man and that bird as an ordinary human-monster pair.
That sense of wrongness became even clearer the moment his eyes met the bird's.
"......"
"Kkurrreuk."
"......"
Cha Eun-hyeok couldn't hold the gaze and dropped his head.
...Dangerous.
Cold sweat was no longer enough—his hands and feet felt ice-cold.
That one is truly dangerous.
The bird, with its honey-sweet coloring and dainty body, would have looked pretty and adorable to anyone else. But to Cha Eun-hyeok, who could faintly sense its true nature, it was nothing but a sick joke of a deception.
Whether the name "Honey" had been given by its master or not, the bird's essence was like a storm-whipped wave. Impulsive, rough, and powerful. The only reason it wore that fragile form was probably because its master wanted it that way.
"......"
Then what kind of being was the black-cloaked master himself?
Damn it. I never expected it to turn out like this.
Among the things only he could see, there were definitely some that took an interest in human food. They would savor the rice villagers left out for ghosts, or steal side dishes one by one from restaurants.
But none of them had ever ordered food this openly. Most of them only took human shape and mimicked daily life; they never tried to actually interact with people.
I let my guard down.
He should have been more careful.
And that bird doesn't even seem to like me much...
The bird watching him from deep inside the black hood was downright oppressive.
"...Here. Ten bungeoppang."
"Thank you."
The black-cloaked man accepted the bungeoppang and paused for a moment.
"......"
"A gift."
"Excuse me?"
"You've worked hard through the early hours."
"No, wait a second..."
As Cha Eun-hyeok tried to refuse, the black-cloaked man continued.
"If I frightened you, I apologize. I only came because of the smell of bungeoppang, but I made you stop packing up and mess everything up again. I owe you both an apology and my thanks."
"It's fine, really."
"Thank you."
He left behind one of the blue gems he had shown earlier and drifted away as leisurely as he had come.
"......"
Cha Eun-hyeok stared after the black cloak until even the trailing hem vanished from sight—then he crumpled.
"...Ha, haha..."
Shit.
I'm alive.
I thought I was going to die.
From the moment he realized he could see things other people couldn't, he had always felt that kind of ending waiting for him. I'm going to die in some bizarre way no one will even be able to properly determine the cause of. That was what he had always believed.
But still—dying while selling bungeoppang was a bit much.
"Whoa..."
Cha Eun-hyeok scrubbed both hands hard over his face.
"That scared the hell out of me."
He still had no idea what the black-cloaked man really was.
If other people could see him, did that make him human? But his essence was too distant and too vicious for that. Then was he the same kind as the things Eun-hyeok usually saw? But communication had been far too smooth. A humanoid monster? There wasn't even a dungeon nearby.
If it was none of those, then maybe it was some kind of monster he simply didn't know about.
"......"
And whichever it was, it was terrifying.
Can anyone even survive meeting a humanoid monster?
That was when he heard it.
"Kkureuk?"
"......"
He had heard that sound earlier.
"Kkureuk..."
"......"
"Kkureuk, kkureuk, kkureukkureukkureuk."
"...Uh..."
"Kkurr."
When he lifted his head, he saw a massive beak. He saw the teeth packed beyond the throat. He saw a pitch-black tongue.
"Kkung."
A beak as hard as metal swallowed half of Cha Eun-hyeok's head.
"......"
Tap. Tock.
It made a few chewing motions, then spat him back out.
"Kkureung."
"...Wh-what..."
"Kkeuk."
When he could see again, "Honey" had returned to the compact form from before.
"......"
It looked so much like nauseatingly thorough coyness that it made him sick.
"What the hell was that?"
The bird flew away.
"What even was that, really..."
He still understood nothing for certain—except that he had just nearly died.
The bird the color of honey seemed to be saying:
This much is fine.
That was how it felt.
"......"
It seemed to be saying he had passed.
Goosebumps rose all over him.
"...Tomorrow I'm moving my stall..."
He never wanted to meet them again.
And the next day, at two in the afternoon.
"Are you selling bungeoppang?"
As if by some curse, Cha Eun-hyeok met the black cloak once more.
"...Yes..."
"Ten, please."
"Understood."
What was he supposed to do when the world was this small?
(To be continued)