### Chapter 300 – Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (22)
—
– The Theater
As the scene changed abruptly and a nine-tailed fox appeared on the screen, the theater buzzed with surprise. Jinchul’s mouth fell open, utterly shocked.
“What the heck is this? The protagonist is a nine-tailed fox all of a sudden?”
Elena frowned, puzzled.
“How does this lead from the coffee shop scene? Is the nine-tailed fox going to reveal its true identity? I’ve heard the script might get broadcasted…”
Sanghyun showed his distress.
“This is nonsense! We all saw the first story, right? In that universe, there’s an organization called the ‘Vatican’ that hunts down monsters. A nine-tailed fox on air, begging to be killed? Is it asking for a death sentence?”
Songee tried to wrap her head around it, muttering.
“Well, if we’re nitpicking, the first story was strange too. It was a movie, so we kinda rolled with it, but a wife who killed her in-laws and husband just spills the beans?”
Sanghyun quickly retorted to Songee’s observation.
“Songee, that’s totally different. It’s a matter of humans killing humans, so the government’s justice system kicks in. But this happened twenty years ago, plus the house was burned down right after! There’s no evidence left now. Even if the truth comes out, it was self-defense. At this point, it’s a non-issue.”
Kain nodded in agreement.
“Right. Just being a nine-tailed fox is a death sentence. The Vatican would come and roast it alive…”
As the inquiry continued, Ahri sighed, listening to her confused companions.
“You guys are overthinking this. It’s a simple story.”
Kain looked alarmed.
“What?”
“I’m not ten times smarter than you, just that this type of thing happens in reality, so I’m accustomed to it.”
“Occasionally? I can’t imagine it at all.”
Everyone’s eyes turned towards Ahri.
“First off, you need to differentiate between the story in the frame and the conversation outside the frame.”
Sanghyun answered as if he understood that part.
“If the story we, as characters, are participating in is ‘real’, then the conversations characters have with the writer outside is their ‘memory.’”
“That’s it. The first character, Sumi Park, is reminiscing about her honeymoon, and almost twenty years have passed since; Yoori Han has also had several years pass.”
As the teammates looked around at Ahri with still confusion in their eyes, she simply responded.
“At the time Yoori entered the café, she had completely forgotten her past identity as a nine-tailed fox. She probably only has memories of bizarre deaths happening around her in school. She must have come out to speak about that. So, in the second story, we need to create Yoori’s ‘current situation’ through the film’s progression.”
“You say we create Yoori’s current situation through the film’s progression? What’s her current situation?”
“Do you remember when Mooksung was handling things and Yoori got bashed by a loser with a fire extinguisher? After that, the Eunsol version of Yoori had no idea she was a ‘nine-tailed fox’ until she left school.”
Kain’s mouth gaped halfway open.
“There’s a way to erase the memory of her being a nine-tailed fox? No, let’s assume she used some mythical magic—why erase it?”
Songee answered with a puzzled nod.
“According to Eunsol unnie’s monologue, it’s to suppress her ‘hunger for humans’.”
“No matter what, isn’t it too risky to suppress everything to the point of getting killed by a normal person?”
“Suppressing the nine-tailed fox’s mind is indeed to control the hunger, but there’s a genuine reason for that kind of magic.”
“What is it?”
“Wiping her past. By erasing her own memories, even if she turns into a human and the Vatican investigates her later, they won’t discover anything.”
Kain was left speechless.
“You mean, to become a human in the future?”
— Bang!
Ahri slammed the table, halting their diverse discussions.
“It’s a lengthy tale, so just listen up. And don’t just listen to me, watch the movie too.”
The group’s eyes shifted towards the film, ears perked towards Ahri.
“You’ve probably seen movies or novels featuring a ‘nine-tailed fox wishing to become human’. What must one do to become human? Each story has its own requirements, but generally, it’s quite challenging.”
…
“Usually, the nine-tailed fox fails. The cliché is always similar: they must eat the energy of a hundred humans but end up dying at the last one—the passing scholar.”
…
“However, have you ever thought? Why do they always fail? Are there no successful nine-tailed foxes?”
“… Interestingly, Eunsol unnie had a similar monologue.”
*
– Lee Eunsol
In a run-down haunted house, embodying a wretched monster, I thought.
As I remembered the bright and lively figure Yoori displayed at the movie’s start, it all started forming a sinister urban legend in my mind.
Yoori, you’re amazing.
Through sheer grit and determination! Just by working hard! Eating a hundred humans to become human!
Should I be praising her for that?
The movie was probably considerate because on the table lay Yoori’s diary. In it, she meticulously noted the number of people she had consumed and the experiences she encountered while disguising her identity.
And…
Eventually, she wrote down her bucket list of what she wanted to do when she became human.
“First, I’ll erase the unpleasant memories! I have the magic of forgetting. Once I’m a person, it’s fine to forget the strange memories forever.”
…
“I want to find a good man. When I find him, I won’t kill him. Money… Having plenty is nice, but money isn’t everything! He should be handsome and tall! Above all, he must love me like no other in the world!”
…
“One day, I want to appear on TV. Honestly, I’m prettier than those actors! I’m confident I can speak entertainingly too!”
…
“I want to live in a nice house. I can’t stand this creepy, dilapidated place anymore. I want to lie in a warm, soft bed. I want to bathe in a hot tub every day and fill my whole house with S Electronics appliances.”
…
“Yesterday, Dasol died. The hunters sent by the Vatican burned Dasol’s head. Saerom and I fled without shedding a tear.”
…
“One day, I’ll burn this diary. When everything is over. When the pain ends, and happiness comes… When that time comes, I’ll burn it all.”
“Don’t do this…”
I sighed. Reading the impoverished, pitiful story did evoke feelings of sympathy. However, every time I glanced at the number written on the pristine white paper, my heart froze.
“Remaining number: 28”
“I need to eat a hundred livers, and if there are 28 left, then I’ve already eaten 72.”
This nine-tailed fox worked so hard. In fact, after all that effort, she even achieved her dream.
She actually became human and, using the spell of forgetting, wiped away her past unknowingly while half-achieving her dream of wanting to appear on TV. Truly a victory of humankind… or better yet, a victory of the fox.
…
— Beep!
I felt an unbearable urge wash over me.
Just to make sure, I played the flute, but instead of calming my impulse, it completely shattered the faint remnants of ‘the spell of forgetting’.
Thinking back, it was a natural consequence.
What I felt now was simply hunger. Just as a person feels hunger when they’re starving, Yoori’s body as a nine-tailed fox craved human flesh.
Hunger is a natural impulse of the body, not a wicked spell or a mental illness. Clearly, it’s not something the flute could eliminate. In fact, it was the ‘spell of forgetting’ that suppressed that hunger, a truly unnatural magic.
So instead of alleviating my hunger, the flute completely wiped out the spell of forgetting, fully awakening the nine-tailed fox’s identity.
Meaning, I became hungrier while recalling various knowledge.
…
“Hahaha!”
I laughed. I couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t because I didn’t know what to do next, but because it became so clear.
“Shall I eat?”
I could consume people.
I could kill 28 humans to pluck out their livers. Only then could I become the lively girl ‘Yoori’ from the coffee shop, turning into ‘human Han Yoori.’
And after becoming human?
I could invest all remaining magical energy to use the ‘spell of forgetting’. No longer would I have to set it up to dissolve when I stepped outside of school like in the past. The last use of the spell of forgetting after becoming human would need never to be undone.
Of course, I did wonder how I could gain a legitimate human identity. But the dreamer of nine-tailed foxes, our protagonist Yoori, had endured in the shadows of humanity for such a long time.
Surely she would have her own tricks up her sleeve. Honestly, I doubt the movie would require me to go that far.
…
— Clink!
As I walked outside, I pondered. Is this really the standard plot?
That a nine-tailed fox becomes a human after killing and eating another 28 innocent lives and lives happily, having cleansed her past as human Yoori?
Is this truly the only possible conclusion? Though it’s a movie, should we really craft such a fortunate ending just for a monster?
… I might have fallen into pointless musings.
After all, the happenings inside the hotel are different from reality, right? This current situation is even a movie within a movie. Do I really need to regard the people that exist in such a world as real?
An incessant wicked voice tickled my ear. It sounded like the beautifully harmonious voice of Yoori.
“Sister.”
I shook off my distractions and turned my head. A slender girl approached beneath the dim lights of the city’s neon signs.
“… Saerom.”
“Have you regained your senses?”
“Yeah.”
“Why did you lay the spell of forgetting so heavily today? It was dangerous. You nearly met a crisis with that idiot this morning.”
“…”
“Are you struggling? Just hold on a little longer. We’re nearly there! You have nine tails, and you’ve already collected 72…”
“Tails, you had… seven, right?”
“Yes. Just 22 more, and I can have eight tails.”
As soon as I heard that, information about the ecology of the fox spirit flashed in my mind.
“Every time I eat a hundred humans, I get an extra tail.”
“Yes? That’s right.”
“Once I gather the nine tails and another hundred…”
The moment we heard the word ‘dream,’ Saerom’s eyes brightened. The girl looked so happy just thinking about it.
And I… made my decision.
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