novelraw Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Beetle Comics (2)
Inside the stopped elevator.
Silence hung heavily.
Jack glared at the boy standing next to him with fierce eyes.
It was strange. Too strange.
The one with him is a boy named Ryu Jinwoo.
However, inside him resides ‘Balzac’, a member of Bremen.
A guy like a bizarre parasite had burrowed into the boy’s body and hijacked it.
But something was definitely different.
He said words that Balzac wouldn't have said.
Using the word ‘friend.’
That word had never once come out of that guy's mouth.
He was a guy who couldn't accept the concept itself, and if he had to use it, he chose the archaic expression ‘old friend.’ He had been like that for the past several years.
When he pointed that out, the guy started making excuses, looking slightly flustered.
The story that he naturally learned the word friend while living as a boy.
It wasn't an incomprehensible answer.
Living as another person would be a process of learning new things.
If it were only the use of the word friend, he might have just let it slide.
But after that, the guy took an even stranger action.
Balzac, who avoided even having something touch his right hand, nonchalantly shoved his hand into his pocket.
There was even the sound of coins clinking against each other.
Edward definitely said that ‘Balzac is still hiding the eye in his right hand.’
If so, it makes even less sense.
This situation where only the two of them are left after coming to the hideout.
On top of that, it hasn't been that long since the guy took over the boy's body.
It was natural for his ‘original habits’ to be revealed naturally.
However, the appearance in front of his eyes right now was different.
It was a scene too awkward to be the Balzac that Jack knew.
‘……Is this bastard really Balzac?’
Preposterous doubts began to arise.
Of course, he knows. This guy recognized Jack as soon as he saw him.
Edward also publicly declared with certainty that it was Balzac.
So Jack knew it was a preposterous doubt.
Nevertheless, he had a hunch that he should check before moving on.
Whether this guy really is ‘the Balzac I know.’
“Say the password.”
The moment Jack’s question was thrown, the ‘boy’s’ reaction was bizarre.
His gaze drifted to the side as if seeing something, and his brows narrowed subtly.
His lips didn't open, and a dazed look briefly hovered over his expression.
“Tsk, this damn bastard…… What are you dawdling for? Say the password!”
It was when Jack pressed him for the last time.
—Tak.
The boy quietly extended one foot diagonally, and simultaneously, the surrounding air changed.
The atmosphere surrounding the boy’s body flipped in an instant, like stage lighting changing.
Slowly, a gloomy, rough, and familiar scent began to permeate.
It was a strange pressure, as if something like an invisible shadow was blooming from behind his back.
“……Jack Valentino.”
A low and thick voice flowed out.
It was definitely a sound leaking from the same lips, but it was no longer the boy’s voice.
“I surely told you. That I have no intention of memorizing such trivial passwords-”
Jack’s eyes slowly widened.
The existence before his eyes was no longer a ‘boy.’
His back straightened stiffly, and his chin was slowly lifted high.
His eyes became fierce like the tip of a knife, and even the trivial movements of his fingers were spreading with arrogance.
The boy’s appearance hadn't changed, but another figure began to overlap over it as if a shadow was cast.
For a moment, an overwhelming feeling as if a sturdy man was standing in that spot exuded out.
That appearance was too familiar to Jack.
“Balzac.”
Jack spat out the name unconsciously.
The boy, no, Balzac, tilted his head obliquely with an arrogant smile.
“Right. Just who do you think I am?”
Now Jack could know.
Without a doubt, it was Balzac.
“……Tsk, I asked because you bastard were making it confusing.”
“Is living another person’s life a simple task? It is not.”
Balzac slowly thrust his head toward Jack.
“A process of thoroughly discarding the previous me is necessary. Do you need an explanation? Do Haru and I are tied by a relationship called ‘friend.’ In the language of boys and girls, they say it like that. Also, this boy uses a sword. I have to get used to holding something in my hand. I am discarding even my habits, and only then am I becoming this boy.”
Words poured out in the unique rapid tone that Balzac usually showed when he was displeased.
Jack listened silently to the words he shot out.
Soon, he clicked his tongue—tsk—and shrugged his shoulders.
“Got it. So move that damn head away. Because there is nothing more disgusting than your breath touching me.”
Jack thought once again.
That the damn Balzac had finally returned.
***
It was a strange sensation.
Assuming there is a maze of choices, a sensation as if it is clearly visible which place to head to.
Simply put, it was something like this.
‘Balzac would have done this.’
I can know.
As if I have become Balzac.
What posture he would take.
How he would express his arrogance.
What attitude to show to the opponent in front of him.
And in what way he would carry through his will.
I could know.
That this is the essence of [Mimicry].
Jack, who had been engulfed in silence for a moment after pushing me away as if displeased, finally opened his mouth.
“Tsk, let’s go the rest of the way.”
[Jack]
[Surprise, Relief]
The suspicion was wiped clean in a single moment.
And I, too, had returned to the original ‘me’ before I knew it.
The feeling of having become a different person, even for a brief moment.
A drowsiness like having dreamed a dream stuck to my consciousness like gum.
“You’re living while acting the role of a young boy quite well.”
While we were walking, Jack spoke as if throwing a scolding remark.
“Uncle is acting well too. It’s the same thing.”
Since I had already proven it properly once, Jack wouldn't suspect me.
I just spoke in my original style.
“I’m gonna puke. Damn it, it was originally disgusting, but after seeing your original appearance just now, it became even more disgusting.”
“That’s a bit too much.”
As expected, Jack didn't suspect me anymore.
I returned to being the original 17-year-old Academy cadet.
And we returned to the relationship of uncle and nephew again.
Walking behind Jack, I looked at the Mimic.
‘Did this guy licking me suddenly mean activating the Mimicry Instinct?’
Come to think of it, the Mimic had licked my body before.
When I faced Baekseok, and when Ju Yeonhwa threatened me.
I think it mimicked a rock back then.
It seemed the activation target of [Mimicry Instinct] had expanded to Balzac.
‘Under what conditions did the ability develop? By digesting Balzac?’
A question that suddenly brushed past.
[Kkiiihihihit! Tickle tickle! Kkiiihihihit!]
Perhaps this Mimic guy knows the exact details.
It would be nice if he told me coolly.
It’s a pity that he’s a bastard who only chatters about things being delicious or exciting, or just laughs.
Anyway, thanks to the Mimic’s tongue, I was able to break through the pressure tightening psychologically.
‘To think I could buy suspicion with trivial actions, I need to be careful.’
On one hand, tension lingered.
Because if a similar thing happens again, it isn't certain that mimicry will activate then too.
Indeed, there were a few more crisis situations until now, but mimicry didn't activate every time.
Even when facing Balzac immediately before, mimicry didn't activate.
So for now, let’s not create a situation to be suspected in the first place.
Looking at the back of Jack’s head walking in front of me, I made a vow.
Walking continuously like that, we finally stopped at a certain room.
At the end of the hallway, a door appeared before us.
[Representative Director Park Esther]
It was just an ordinary doorplate, but the air changed strangely.
It felt like an invisible weight was being placed on my shoulders.
“Then I’m going. To wait on your girlfriend.”
“It’s not really waiting on her. She’s not my girlfriend in the first place.”
“Tsk, sure she isn’t.”
He turned his back on me, raised a finger in a gesture of insult, and leisurely left.
“Phew…….”
After Jack left, I stood alone in front of the door.
A tension that raised goosebumps swept over my skin.
A meeting with the representative caught suddenly.
However, it wasn't a meeting with a real manhwa company representative.
‘Bremen.’
The group Balzac originally belonged to.
Furthermore, a dark shadow cast over my path after getting entangled with Balzac.
If possible, I want to keep as much distance as possible from ‘Bremen’ and focus only on Academy activities and the original story.
But I needed to clearly pinpoint what they want from me, and also what attitude I should treat them with in the future.
After all, it will be a connection that affects all my life ahead.
Knock knock-
I knocked on the door carefully.
“Ah! Come in!”
A high and sugary voice flowed out.
It was a tone of voice unique to middle-aged women.
‘……?’
I slowly opened the door.
I faced a woman sitting in front of a table placed perpendicular to the entrance.
[Park Esther]
[Composure, Comfort]
[Status: Suggestion]
“……Representative?”
“Ah, Jinwoo is here? It’s been a while~.”
She greeted me happily upon seeing me and started talking to me familiarly.
Starting from stories about my uncle to her own trivial daily stories.
To me, who was wondering what on earth was going on with this sudden chatter with a woman under suggestion, one peculiar point caught my eye.
That was the life-size cutouts.
A point where life-size cutouts of manhwa and animation characters were gathered in one corner of the room.
And one among them.
There was exactly one that gave off a deep sense of incongruity.
Because usually, if it were an inanimate object, ‘Name’ and ‘Emotions’ wouldn't be visible even if I looked with the Eye of Deception.
“……How long do you plan to hide?”
I opened my mouth quietly.
“Edward.”
And as if my words became a spell causing magic, one among the character cutouts on one side of the wall squirmed.
The printed smile distorted as if being torn, and the coated surface slowly twisted and swelled up like skin.
The matte pupils began to shine as if wet and increasingly resembled a human’s gaze.
Hair white as snow, a handsome nose bridge, and sharp yet soft slit eyes.
Finally taking a complete human form, he smiled softly and spoke.
“Ah, caught again? As expected, deceiving you is not easy.”
His gaze stared at me.
[Edward Allen]
[Gladness, Joy]
Wearing a soft smile and harboring happiness.
“Long time no see. Balzac.”
The sugary voice flowing from his mouth tickled my ears.