Absolute Regression Chapter 97

Episode 97: Why Are You Obsessed with My Mask?

The evil Soma came to see me again the next day.

“I thought you wouldn’t come by now.”

“How could you not come when you hold the power over my life and death?”

Yesterday, I responded to the evil Soma’s mockery of my offer to live in my own way.

“Please wait a moment. There is something that needs to be taken care of quickly.”

“Don’t worry about me, just take your time.”

He could have stopped work for a while, but the world made him wait.

The evil Soma walked to the window and asked.

“I didn’t see that flower yesterday.”

I answered, stamping the document.

“I think Inspector Seo went out for a moment to get some water.”

Review the following documents and stamp them again. Stamp them again. Stamp them again.

The evil Soma, who had been looking out the window, sat down on my desk, perhaps tired of waiting.

And then he looked down at me working, thinking, “You made me wait, so I have to put up with this level of rudeness?”

“Why are you making things so difficult? Just kill them all.”

I smiled and said to him.

“Soma-sama lives too easily.”

The evil Soma laughed heartily at my words. Don’t be fooled by this casual appearance. Those who let their guard down in Soma will all die, and only those who are tense in the evil will survive.

“It’s all done.”

After stamping the last document, I raised my head and the evil Soma said something unexpected.

“Will you really spare my life if I become your successor?”

Of course, you shouldn’t be fooled by this either. Would he really have come to beg for his life?

He enjoys this whole process. He wants to see me collapse one day while interacting like this. He is the type of person who can only feel better when he laughs and mocks me.

I took out a dagger and drew a line on the table.

“I’ll spare you. But in return… … .”

I drew a vertical line slightly to the right of the center.

“You have to come here to live.”

Soma gave an interesting look.

“What is this?”

“It’s the extent of my love.”

“Oh! Something like this?”

“You have to live more than half of your life. If you have a friend who doesn’t like you at all, aren’t you no different from anyone else? Friends die in words alone.”

“It’s hard, surviving.”

“We have to get over it somehow.”

“Where might it be now?”

I drew a vertical line a little past the starting point.

“Is that all?”

“It’s already here.”

The evil Soma looked down at the line, then looked at me again, and then looked down at the line again.

He can’t help but get caught up in this relationship.

Not only will you treat me badly, but you will also feel a sense of justice and agreement that you will never find in your school. That will be a spice that will stimulate the evil Soma even more.

“What does the scholar think of the cult leader?”

The reason he asks is probably because he suspects that I trust my father and am doing this. Or maybe I received a secret order from him.

“I don’t think about my father. I just try to feel it at the time. My father is not someone I can understand by thinking about it. It’s just making things difficult for me.”

The evil Soma laughed, as if he sympathized with what I said.

“If you’re done talking, please stand up. It’s time for me to eat.”

“You should eat. Let’s go out.”

I left the office with the evil Soma. As I was leaving the building, the evil Soma followed me.

“Where do you eat?”

“I think I’ll go out to Magachon and have a meal today.”

“Let’s go together.”

I asked him, pretending to be surprised.

“Is that okay?”

I have never heard of him eating with anyone because he never took his mask off.

“It’s okay. I’ll just sit and eat my meal.”

“Not Soma-sama, but Magachon. Is that okay?”

Only then did the evil Soma laugh out loud when he realized that it was a joke telling him not to cause trouble or kill anyone.

We headed out through the smokehouse, with Seo Dae-ryong watching us with concern, holding a flower pot to his chest from the other side.

* * *

Just before entering Magachon, the evil Soma said.

“Do you know? I’ve never been to Magachon before. When I had to go out, I just passed by, but this is my first time walking here.”

“Isn’t this a good thing for the people of Magachon?”

He laughed at my joke.

“Can I walk down the street?”

“If you’re worried that people will be shocked and confused, don’t worry about that.”

“Why?”

“You will know when you go.”

So we entered Magachon. As we walked down the street, everyone passed us by without a care. A few people who recognized me bowed their heads to greet me, but no one was frightened by the sight of the evil soma next to them.

“Why isn’t anyone afraid of me?”

“Well, no one thinks of him as an extremely evil soma.”

“If you see this mask, you should know it’s me, right?”

“Look over there.”

I pointed to a vendor across the street. The stall was selling all sorts of things related to the Cheonmasin religion.

“There’s a Soma-sama mask there too.”

“!”

The evil Soma was surprised.

There were masks hanging there that were actually worn by the maskless. There were white masks, and even some that were colored or had pictures drawn on them.

“These things!”

When the evil Soma raised his hand as if to blow everything away, I pulled at his sleeve.

“I think I might need this hand over there.”

At that moment, a child passing by on the other side of the street, holding his father’s hand and wearing a mask of an innocent person, was waving his hand fervently at the evil Soma wearing the same mask.

“It doesn’t cost anything, but please wave your hand.”

When I slightly shook my sleeve, the evil Soma waved his hand in defeat.

The child passed us by, perhaps unaware that he was the only person to whom the evil Soma had waved.

“Don’t be so surprised. That’s possible too.”

The vendor next to him was selling wooden dolls. He was selling dolls modeled after the Palma Zone, as well as dolls modeled after the Heavenly Horse.

When he saw the Cheonma doll, the evil Soma was truly surprised.

“Is it really okay to do this?”

“Where else would you sell these items if not in the village near the Cheonmasingyo? You can’t sell them in front of the Murim Alliance, right?”

“It would be better to sell it in front of the Murim Alliance than here.”

“It’s because my father was generous. He allowed me to make and sell as many as I wanted. Since that day, products related to my father and the Amazons have been pouring out. It may seem uncomfortable and unmanageable, but the power of making money is truly great.”

“This is really funny.”

Now, the evil soma laughed loudly. Passersby glanced at him, but no one thought he was the evil soma and passed by.

“When Soma-nim or I come here, we naturally feel like the main characters, but this is a world where those people are the main characters. When they recognize us, they are afraid and lower their heads, but what’s important to them is not us, but their own lives. In order to live each day, they have to earn money, meet people, and raise children. Magachon is a place like this.”

“Interesting. How does this scholar know so much?”

“Ever since I was little, I would sneak out of school and wander around Magachon. This Magachon was my world.”

I told him this. If he had traveled far and wide, he wouldn’t believe me, but since I was from Magachon, it seemed plausible.

The evil soma’s gaze turned again to the vendors selling masks and Cheonmahon dolls.

He unleashed his poisonous magic, the evil spirit, without hesitation. The peddlers who were selling the goods frowned and touched their chests as if they were frustrated.

“The author will soon put on the mask he was selling and stab the person next to him to death. If they die, it will be because of Lee Gongja. Lee Gongja is the one who brought me here.”

“Don’t be stubborn. The one who followed me to eat is Soma-sama. The one who killed me is also Soma-sama. And there’s one thing you must know.”

“What is that?”

“If you commit murder in front of the Hwangcheonjeokju, you will be executed. Why don’t you trade them for each other? Their lives and Soma’s life.”

I took the first step and added:

“You can touch the father doll over there, but you can’t touch the livelihood of the person who is making a living.”

I felt the evil spirit behind my back gathering its evil heart. It was not something I started with the intention of killing, but rather to see my reaction.

He’s having fun playing with me right now. He’s probably expecting that the more he gives in, the more thrilling pleasure he’ll get when he kills me.

The place I arrived was a tavern.

“Okay, this is my regular place.”

“It’s shabby. Why here of all places?”

“It’s a bit boring since we come here often, but I like the owner of this place. He’s the only person who knows that Soma-nim is the real Soma-nim.”

That man, Jo Chun-bae, came out and greeted me warmly as always.

“Welcome, my lord.”

His gaze turned to the evil Soma.

Jo Chun-bae flinched for a moment and made a fearful expression.

“This person really knows who I am.”

“Because you came with me. That’s how I know the real thing has come.”

I said to Jo Chun-bae with a smile.

“You are right. Fortunately, I am the only one eating, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“yes!”

However, the pressure from the evil Soma seemed to be greater than that from his father. In the rumors, the evil Soma was a villain who killed people for no reason.

“Of all the guests I’ve ever had, I think he’s the most afraid of you, Soma-sama. Even more so than my father.”

“Has the leader come too?”

“yes.”

“That’s unexpected.”

“Everyone has a first time.”

“Everyone starts with a scientist.”

I smiled faintly and he smiled back out of habit.

This time I asked.

“Have you ever eaten at a tavern like this?”

“I was young.”

“Who did you eat with?”

He didn’t answer.

But I could tell who it was. He said that before he became Soma’s disciple, he had eaten food with his father in the market. It was a memory that remained like a picture in his memory.

I suddenly remembered that scene. The little boy who entered the tavern holding his father’s hand.

The evil Soma said that he was born with a life of murder, but was that really the case? Was the child who entered the tavern full of murderous intent in his eyes?

In the meantime, the meal was served.

Jo Chun-bae must have thought that if he made even one mistake, he could really die, because he was so careful about even breathing.

His eyes looked like this as he returned safely after finishing his cooking. Thanks to him, I have become a successful bar owner today.

I said with my eyes. I don’t know, Master. I don’t know what kind of position will be created.

I picked up my chopsticks and asked the evil soma politely.

“Would you like to eat together?”

“How can I eat food if my mask doesn’t have a mouth hole?”

“How about lifting the mask slightly and eating from underneath?”

“Can’t you see it?”

“Then there is no way.”

“I’m not a market person, so don’t worry about it and eat.”

“Okay, then I’ll eat first.”

I actually ate alone. The evil Soma just watched me. Someone might think I was crazy, but I was doing the difficult thing of eating alone in front of the evil Soma.

“Isn’t it hard to keep wearing a mask?”

“It would be harder for someone with engineering skills than me.”

“Me?”

“Without a mask, you have to make many different facial expressions every day, right?”

“Oh, that could be the case.”

I told him many stories, starting with that one.

I told him about the Bloody Cheon Doma, Ilhwa Geomjon, and Mabul who came here, the weather, and how selling Baek-ui Mask in front of the Murim Alliance would sell well. He just listened to my story without saying anything.

As I finished eating and put down my chopsticks, the evil Soma said something unexpected.

“Lee Gongja, I have a favor to ask.”

“Please speak.”

“Please tell the cult leader to lift my ban.”

I flinched. But when the word “request” came up, I expected to make this request. Originally, it was a request I would make to my brother, but now that our fates have changed, he is asking me to do it.

“It is not an easy task.”

“That’s why I’m asking the engineer. I think the engineer might be able to solve it.”

“What will you do for me if I release you from the ban?”

“Just tell me. What do you want? Do you want my full support?”

My brother wanted that, but I was thinking of a bigger picture.

“no.”

“You don’t want my support?”

“I don’t want forced support. It only breaks the unity of those who support me.”

“Then what do you want?”

I said, staring into the two eyes behind the mask.

“Please take off your mask, even if it’s only when you’re alone with me.”

“!”

The atmosphere froze for a moment.

“Why on earth are you so obsessed with my mask?”

“It’s not about being obsessed with the mask.”

“sure?”

“If we’re going to be friends, I want to be real friends.”

“!”

The evil Soma, who had been silent for a while, asked coldly.

“Can you handle me without my mask?”

I stared into his eyes, shining with primal evil within the gaping hole, and asked calmly.

“Can you handle me without that mask?”