Chapter 119

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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My hand slipped.

Coins spilled out from the belly of the severed stuffed doll’s lower half.

“…!”

I hurriedly blocked it and put the two pieces of the stuffed doll together in vain.

“Brown?”

But naturally, there was no response.

The upper half of the stuffed doll merely slid off the lower half.

“…….”

No….

No. Maybe it was because I was keeping my eyes on it…!

“Brown.”

Turning my head and closing my eyes, I placed the doll close to my ear.

And then….

-■■, ■■■■■….

“…!!”

A vibration was heard from the doll.

It was clearly a signal.

But however, it was very faint, crackling like a radio frequency casually grazed.

‘It is still remaining.’

It was still there. If so….

‘The Blood Tub!’

Click, I locked the train restroom door right away. Then, I pulled out a small tub with a checkered pattern and blonde hair from the tattoo on my wrist.

The so-called Bath of Youth.

Thud, the tub stood on the floor, and I carefully put the nearly severed doll inside, and then…….

I picked up the cutter blade dropped by the passenger who had failed in the attack and fainted.

I slashed my forearm just like that.

Blood flowed continuously from the ruptured vein.

‘In an urgent situation like now, there’s no alternative or anything…!’

Because if I slashed the arm of the fainted human, he might wake up, or I might not be able to stop the bleeding.

‘I can’t stand a situation that is more out of control.’

My blood poured into the Blood Tub. The scent of wood and fragrant aroma wafted up thickly.

Imbibing the bath additive fully, the doll began to enlarge as if swelling up gradually….

Rejuvenating.

The stuffed doll’s fur grew cleaner and glossier, and a subtle light shone from its pebble-like eyes.

And it rapidly began to grow in size.

As if crossing some boundary line. Wet with the bath additive, the doll escaped its keyring size and became huge enough to fill both hands.

Just like the original ‘Good Friend’ doll.

Snap.

The bowtie-shaped hairband, unable to withstand the pressure, popped off and stuck to one side of the tub.

The change was that distinct.

But, but….

The doll was still quiet.

“…….”

Holding my breath, I turned my head and listened closely to the doll’s side again.

Even the vibration heard earlier was not heard.

The stuffed doll, severed at its waist, merely floated on the fragrant bath additive of the Blood Tub….

“…….”

I stared at the doll again.

The ‘Good Friend’ stuffed doll, which had become huge enough to fill the small Blood Tub, was glossy like a doll handmade by a craftsman and just shipped out.

But however, it remained severed in two.

‘Ah.’

The Bath of Youth literally restores youth… it does not heal wounds…….

“…….”

Actually, I had known it.

No, I knew, but it was closer to having tried it anyway….

The Good Friend stuffed doll was broken.

I took a deep breath.

‘…It’s fine.’

I just need to get it again.

Right, wouldn’t it be fine to get it from the original source instead of a goods box.

Pleasant Theme Park still existed. The Good Friend stuffed doll was an item that could be obtained at the souvenir shop there.

‘I had to go anyway, so this is actually efficient.’

Let’s get the nice doll there. And if I summon it again exactly as I did before….

…….

“……Sigh.”

Let’s not kid myself.

Did I not already know?

The method of summoning ‘Good Friend’ is not to call a specific entity by designating it, but to call ‘someone in the other world.’

‘Where is the guarantee that the same entity will come out again just because I summon it again.’

No, rather, the situation where it is summoned exactly the same is what is strange.

Even though I read the <Records of the Dark Exploration> with the fun of watching someone different emerge for each summoning record.

‘Haha,’

Sigh….

“…….”

I had no choice but to admit at this point.

Regardless of mental pollution, I had become quite attached to this strange stuffed doll….

‘But isn’t it inevitable.’

Because it was truly a ‘Good Friend.’

A friend who encourages when things are hard, gets angry together when angry, shares deep conversations, and chats while watching variety shows late at night.

A friend who puts me as a priority without calculation.

Because such a friend is someone you can meet only when going to school in childhood….

“…….”

Right.

Let’s do more of what I can.

“Should I try sewing it at least.”

If that failed, I could look for restoration items, enter a ghost story that repaired things… there were many things I could try by looking up information.

Even if only for the sake of my mental state.

“Let’s do this.”

I calmed down a bit.

The head, which had been excessively bewildered by the incident occurring without warning or guess, regained calmness and began to calculate.

‘First, salvage.’

I put my hand into the Blood Tub and pulled out Brown’s dangling upper and lower halves.

And it was the moment I was about to organize the cotton roughly and store the doll.

‘Oh?’

A fluttering piece of cloth on the back of the stuffed doll caught my eye.

A small square silk sewn on the line connecting the head and the torso.

‘…A tag?’

Apparently, what had sprouted like a trace in the Blood Tub last time had returned completely with this bath.

‘Is it the product label of the Good Friend….’

You know, those things. Like putting the country of origin, washing instructions, care instructions, or the signature of the buyer or maker.

My gaze went to it inadvertently.

It was indeed written in a standard label size and frame, with unknown characters densely packed in strange line sentences.

However, there was something overwhelmingly more conspicuous than that.

On top of all that information, a huge word scribbled with black marker as if censored.

Label Removal Mandatory

[Ah.]

[Here you were.]

Grab.

A huge hand snatched the tag.

It was a hand wearing a stylish dress glove.

That thumb flipped and covered the writing on the label so it was barely visible, pulling the tag.

[Found it.]

That hand was.

Surging up from inside the halved ‘Good Friend’ doll I was holding.

Creak, crunch.

The lower half of the doll split, and beyond the arm that emerged completely from within, the shoulder slipped out, and the other arm reached out roughly and gripped the sink.

Eventually, the rest of the huge body also poured out, filling the small restroom.

A huge body dressed in a stylish brown three-piece suit, long legs, black laced shoes worn underneath, and…….

A spherical television set attached instead of a head.

A smile.

[]

Squeezing out of the lower half of the completely broken doll, the huge spherical TV head tilted toward me.

[Mr. Sol-eum!]

The head shook.

The host held my shoulders.

[My, you must have worried about me a lot. Haha! You don’t have to worry anymore. Now… your reliable host, Brown, has arrived here!]

The host in the ghost story wiggled the tag between his fingers. The tattered upper half of the stuffed doll dangled.

[Ah, restoring this tag was truly an excellent choice! Thanks to it, I was able to find my way to this address. Phew.]

[Ah, I won’t refuse admiration, praise, or applause… Haha, to speak humbly, it was possible because I had just finished the live broadcast rehearsal.]

[In any case, we met again so quickly!]

“…….”

[Mr. Sol-eum?]

What was this?

[…You don’t seem very happy. Hmm…… Ah, is it because this cotton doll is broken? Yes. An audience is always bound to be influenced by what is visible… Ah, right!]

Snap.

The host snapped his fingers.

[How about this?]

The emoticon disappeared from the TV head.

Instead, something trudged out from within the screen.

…The rabbit doll, Good Friend, wearing a bowtie.

[Here is your friend, the body filled with cotton! How about it, isn’t it still cute inside my screen? Oh, it is waving its hand.]

“Good Friend is….”

[Yes. Isn’t it right here? Your Good Friend! I, Brown!]

It wasn’t.

“Good Friend is….”

“Is the doll.”

…….

…….

[Mr. Sol-eum.]

Click.

A pinpoint light pierced into the narrow studio space that had been the restroom.

The spotlight was now shining on the legendary host and me.

I couldn’t turn my head.

[No wonder you were passive; you were making a big mistake…. It’s fine. Though it’s awkward to say it myself, the one standing before you right now is a very kind and capable show host.]

[As always, I have a specialty in explaining. Now….]

The gloved hand properly picked up the broken doll, not the tag.

The rabbit doll, Good Friend, which was being broadcasted on the TV screen attached instead of a head, vanished with a whish, and a smiling emoticon filled its place again.

And…….

Whoosh.

…The Good Friend stuffed doll in the host’s hand.

Was incinerated.

[This is nothing.]

Brush, brush, every time the host dusted his hands, less than a handful of ashes fell from his glove and scattered onto the floor.

I watched it blankly.

But.

‘So it wasn’t about letting a part of him dwell in the doll, making him like a friend….’

[Now… let’s recall again. How did you call your friend?]

…….

A strange object that invites someone from the other world, letting a part of their spirit dwell inside a doll to make them a friend.

In other words,

I, using the stuffed doll, the necktie, and the coins….

[Invited me.]

The host pointed at himself.

[Does a dinner appointment get canceled because the telephone is broken? Does a bill disappear because you smash the mailbox? Do lovers break up because you tear the love letter? We already know the answer.]

[Of course not!]

[If so… here is a question.]

[Does your invitation get canceled because the doll is broken?]

The host spread both arms wide.

[No way!]

Ah.

[What you did is an eternal ritual. Oh, yes indeed….]

“…….”

My stiffened head slowly formulated the sentence.

‘In other words,’

The Good Friend ritual was not about summoning only a part of a non-human entity and trapping them in a doll to make them a friend.

It was merely that the entity was limitedly revealed only in part by the filter that the stuffed doll filtered out.

Like a children’s roleplay.

[Do you wish to keep calling this entity a friend? If so, I have become your friend eternally. Mr. Sol-eum! Ah, what a wonderful phrase, eternal friendship!]

The emoticon on the TV head briefly displayed an expression filled with emotion, then returned to a smiling face.

[And our MVP participant, a genius of timing this time too! It is just a very good time. Mr. Sol-eum….]

The hand grasping my shoulder patted my back as if encouraging.

And spoke.

[The preparation for the new talk show is finished.]

“……!”

[New personnel, new set, new music, new season… all preparations for filming are complete. It is my humble talk show solely for the enjoyment of the audience.]

[I introduce with joy, your new workplace….]

No.

I reflexively backed away.

Opening the door and going out for now, escaping this spotlight, my head, my thoughts….

[Oh dear.]

The smiling emoticon inside the TV head disappeared.

No.

The screen went pitch black.

[You said you were a fan of my show and that you were so happy with merely applying as a participant, yet you would flee at the moment of opportunity to become a part of the talk show? For you, who has received my advice, help, full support, and dedication until now, to make such a choice.]

[Mr. Sol-eum, isn’t a friendship originally a complementary relationship? Such an emotional and one-sided rejection! I, I… am heartbroken.]

I felt like vomiting.

“S-sorry….”

[Oh dear! But you don’t need to apologize. Mr. Sol-eum. Thoughtless apology is not a virtue required for a show creator.]

[And I am always a host who can check and understand the opponent’s inner thoughts and feelings….]

[Therefore.]

The next moment.

[I, Brown, will persuade you with all my heart.]

Wide.

Smiling emoticons filled the entire screen.

Fully.

In abundance.

“Wait……”

However, the huge spherical TV head drew closer and closer.

Closer.

More.

Closer.

[Now….]

Look at me.