WTRM 04

Chapter 4

Dal Hangari looked at the clock with an uneasy feeling.

Ding—ding—.

The bells rang, announcing exactly 2 p.m.

This was the time when all the villagers of Wicheon fell asleep and every business closed its doors.

“There’s no rule saying we can’t advertise when we’re closed, right?”

The horrifying result of her advertising obsession slowly began to raise itself.

Squirm, squirm, gurgle, gurgle.

Wiiiiiiing—!

When the loud sound of the powerful blower rang out, Sohee jumped to her feet.

“Rise!”

“Damn it. She’s starting again.”

The two of them stared at the profane-looking things that were beginning to stand upright in front of the motel.

A week ago, Sohee had asked for those eight-foot-tall ghost-like figures to be prepared.

After struggling to position them in front of the motel, she proudly looked at the things while they were still crumpled up.

“Do you know how effective this is going to be for advertising? Now, if we just fill them with air… Ta-da!”

Wiiiiiiiiing!

Along with the ridiculous “ta-da,” the powerful blower made a tremendous noise.

“……”

Dal Hangari was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even speak.

He could only stare blankly at the grotesque things.

When he saw a pair of cloth-made, eight-foot-tall ghost figures flailing their arms and legs like evil spirits, he really…

That moment probably ranked among the top five times in his life when he had wanted to ascend to heaven.

“Absolutely not.”

“Why? They attract so much attention….”

“They are extremely unpleasant. They are distracting. If your goal is to drive people away, then it is a success.”

“Whether people like it or hate it, we have to make sure everyone remembers us! And if you keep looking at them, they’re actually cute.”

Wiiiiiiiiing!

After a small argument between So Sohee and Dal Hangari, they finally agreed to operate the pair of eight-foot-tall ghost figures for only one hour a day.

Sohee had stubbornly refused the suggestion to turn them on only during the time when everyone was taking their afternoon naps.

Only after she half-threatened that complaints would inevitably pour in from the shocked villagers of Wicheon did she finally accept.

Besides, the characters who entered Wicheon together with the grim reaper didn’t take afternoon naps anyway, so it wasn’t as though the advertising had absolutely no effect.

If So Sohee ever returns to her own world, the first thing I’ll do is chop the heads off those two.

The two balloons, unaware of the future awaiting them, continued flapping around enthusiastically in the name of advertising.

The characters who had just entered Wicheon cautiously stepped backward at the sight of the two grotesque figures shaking their bodies.

The words written in huge letters across their torsos—

‘Reincarnation, Regression & Transmigration Specialists’

and

‘Supporting Characters and Extras Welcome!’

—became particularly conspicuous as their inflated bodies puffed up.

“Hmm, it’s working well.”

Dal Hangari nearly asked Sohee whether her eyes were broken as she gazed at them with satisfaction, but swallowed the words.

What would be the point?

She wouldn’t listen anyway.

After confirming that everything was working properly, Sohee returned to her seat.

At this time, all the villagers automatically fell asleep as though someone had flipped a switch.

Since Sohee was human and unaffected by it, she could freely use this time however she wanted.

“Alright, then! Shall we come up with a new advertising strategy?”

Dal Hangari felt as though his head were beginning to spin.

Exactly one hour later, the noisy sound of the powerful blower died down.

Sohee, who had been diligently writing something down on paper, raised her head.

Outside the motel, everyone had awakened and was bustling about.

Sohee also put down her pen and straightened her clothes in preparation for reopening the motel.

That was when it happened.

The light and cheerful sound of quick footsteps—

Tap, tap, tap—

followed by the rough footsteps of someone walking leisurely, could be heard at the same time.

The corners of her lips instinctively lifted.

“Looks like they’re here.”

Sohee hurried to the entrance and opened the glass door.

Standing there were a young girl wearing a maid uniform that looked as though it had come straight out of a romance-fantasy novel, and a young man with reddish-orange curly hair.

“Miss Sohee! I bought some new scents and colors today. There were so many pretty ones! But I held myself back and only bought what we really needed.”

“To my eyes, they all looked exactly the same. I genuinely couldn’t tell the difference between sky blue and baby blue.”

The maid Riri covered her mouth with one hand and widened her eyes in surprise.

“Really? Could there possibly be something wrong with your eyesight?”

“……”

“I know a doctor. I’ll introduce you to him. Don’t worry too much. I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”

“…Thank you.”

Knowing that Riri’s concern was completely sincere, the chef Kuku standing beside her lost all motivation to respond.

Sohee suppressed her laughter and opened the entrance wide for the two of them.

“They must be heavy, so come on in.”

The basket Riri was carrying contained dyes and fragrances of various colors, while the basket Kuku was carrying was filled with fresh ingredients.

The two had gone to the market early that morning to secure the best products and had just returned.

“Oh! There’s a guest here!”

“Really? Then I should hurry and prepare the room!”

“Then I’ll prepare the meal first.”

Riri skipped into the lobby like an excited fawn.

Behind her, Kuku followed with his own hurried footsteps.

They both had things they needed to do quickly.

Cute.

Sohee watched their backs with a pleased smile.

And they weren’t merely cute.

They were highly capable, too.

Very early on, when she was still figuring out how to properly run the motel, hiring the two of them, who had originally been nothing more than villagers, as motel employees was arguably the best decision she had made since coming here.

“Hoho. This is a familiar room.”

Dang Jaeik couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh.

From the second day after arriving at the reincarnation, regression, and transmigration motel, he had been able to stay in a room prepared exactly like the place where he had lived during his lifetime.

Both the reincarnation, regression, and transmigration hotel and motel had devices capable of creating rooms in whatever form their guests desired.

However, because those rooms were normally created only in achromatic colors, people often preferred not to use them.

After all, no one would want to make their precious memories gloomy.

But Riri had given this room perfect colors, making it impossible not to be impressed.

“Even the scent of ink is here. How did you prepare all this?”

He looked around the room in wonder before asking Sohee.

“Our staff are quite capable.”

Riri, an employee capable of accurately reproducing every color and scent, had received part of Dang Jaeik’s life from the information Sohee had selected for her.

It included details about his hobbies and personal preferences—things he liked and disliked.

Riri had found the answer in the line:

‘Whenever his mind became complicated, he would grind ink and paint ink-wash paintings to calm his body and mind.’

So she had brought an ink fragrance from among the available scents and allowed it to spread gently throughout the room.

On top of that, she had perfectly prepared the Four Treasures of the Study in one corner.

“Ah… Even the color of the sleeve stained by the poison is exactly the same….”

There was something even more remarkable than the scent.

It was the fact that all the information about the colors had been conveyed entirely through words.

It wasn’t simply things like:

‘The robe is green.’

‘The shoes are brown.’

They were instead extremely abstract and demanding descriptions such as:

‘A sky blue with a single drop of water added to it.’

‘A yellow through which sunlight shines like it is being projected through a butterfly’s wings.’

Despite the difficulty, Riri had stubbornly managed to reproduce everything until her face became pale with exhaustion.

She had then collapsed into sleep in the break room.

“This is almost too generous a reception.”

“To us, Elder, you deserve this much.”

“Hoho.”

He sat down and ran his hand once over the inkstone beside him.

The familiar texture made him pick up the brush as well.

When he saw the brush with water and half-ground ink on it, his emotions suddenly surged.

Memories flashed through his mind.

His wife, who had once lived with him in this very room.

His son and daughter-in-law coming in to greet him.

And his grandson running inside, only to trip over the threshold and burst into tears.

A faint smile appeared around his lips before disappearing.

They must all be dead.

He didn’t want to believe it, but that was the conclusion Dang Jaeik had reached.

As he remained lost in thought for a moment, Sohee spoke.

“I’m going through your life records once again and looking for the parts we need. However, there is one thing I would like to hear clearly. I want to know exactly what your purpose in undergoing reincarnation, regression, and transmigration is. The direction we take can change considerably depending on that.”

Sohee carefully asked.

“Elder, you gave up the opportunity to perhaps become the protagonist of the next work and chose reincarnation, regression, and transmigration instead. So I was wondering if there might be something extremely important that I’m overlooking….”

“Become the protagonist in my next life…? Is there perhaps a way to cancel the contract?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m joking.”

He laughed lightly, and Sohee relaxed her tense shoulders.

“The reason… Is there anyone who has lived a life without regrets?

If I could change just one thing….”

Sohee quickly opened the file and prepared to write down his answer.

Dang Jaeik seemed to find it difficult to bring up his own story.

To calm his turbulent emotions, he gazed out the window.

And a moment later, it felt as though he were being drawn back into the novel in which he had lived.

“If I could go back, I would take the Heavenly Demon under my command.”