Chapter 4

The Moon Jar looked anxiously at the clock.

Ding—Ding—

The bell rang, announcing exactly two o’clock in the afternoon.

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

“Just because we’re closing doesn’t mean we can’t advertise, right?”

The horrifying result of So-hee becoming obsessed with advertising slowly began to rise.

Squirm, squirm… wobble, wobble.

Wheeeeeee—!

As the harsh sound of a powerful air blower filled the area, So-hee jumped to her feet.

“Rise!”

“Damn it. She’s starting again.”

The two of them stared at the obscene-looking objects beginning to stand upright in front of the motel.

A week earlier, So-hee had requested that those giant, eight-foot-tall ghost-like figures be made for her.

After struggling to position the things in front of the motel, she had crouched down and looked at the deflated figures with a proud expression.

“Do you know how much attention these will get? Now all we have to do is fill them with air like this… Ta-da!”

Wheeeeeeeeeee—!

The loud sound of the air blower accompanied her ridiculous little ta-da.

“……”

The Moon Jar was so dumbfounded that he couldn’t even speak.

He could only stare blankly at the hideous things.

When he saw the pair of cloth figures resembling eight-foot-tall ghosts flapping their arms and legs around like evil spirits, he thought…

That was probably one of the top five moments in his entire existence when he had wanted to ascend to heaven.

“Absolutely not.”

“Why? Look at how much attention they attract…”

“They are extremely unpleasant. They are distracting. If your goal is to drive people away, then you have succeeded.”

“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 kind of cute.”

Wheeeeeeeeeee—!

After a small argument between So So-hee and the Moon Jar, they agreed to operate the pair of giant ghost balloons for exactly one hour each day.

So-hee had stubbornly refused the suggestion that they only be turned on during the villagers’ nap time.

Only after she half-threatened that the villagers of Wicheon would be shocked and start filing complaints did she finally accept.

Besides, the characters who entered Wicheon with the Grim Reapers didn’t sleep during the afternoon anyway, so it wasn’t as though the advertising would have absolutely no effect.

Once So So-hee returns to her own world, those two will be the first things I chop their heads off.

The two balloons, unaware of their future fate, continued flapping enthusiastically as they advertised the motel.

The characters who had just entered Wicheon hesitantly backed away from the two bizarre creatures shaking their bodies.

The words written in huge letters across their bodies—

“REINCARNATION SPECIALISTS”

“SUPPORTING CHARACTERS & EXTRAS WELCOME!”

—had become especially prominent as their inflated bodies swelled.

“Hmm. It’s working well.”

The Moon Jar almost asked So-hee if her eyes were broken as she gazed at them with satisfaction.

But he swallowed the words.

What would be the point? She wouldn’t listen anyway.

After confirming that everything was operating properly, So-hee returned to her seat.

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

Since So-hee was human, she wasn’t affected by it.

Which meant she could freely use this time.

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

The Moon Jar felt a headache coming on.

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

So-hee, who had been diligently writing something on paper, lifted her head.

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

So-hee also put down her pen and straightened her clothes in preparation for reopening the business.

That was when it happened.

She heard two sets of footsteps simultaneously.

One was a light, cheerful tap-tap-tap.

The other was a rough, leisurely set of footsteps.

The corners of her mouth naturally lifted.

“They’re here.”

So-hee quickly went to the entrance and opened the glass door.

Standing outside were a young girl wearing a maid’s uniform straight out of a romantic-fantasy novel and a young man with curly, reddish-orange hair.

“Miss So-hee! I bought some new fragrances and colors today. There were so many pretty ones. But I held myself back and only bought the things we really needed.”

“To me, 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 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.”

Since Riri’s concern was completely sincere, the cook standing beside her, Kuku, lost all motivation to respond.

So-hee suppressed her laughter and opened the entrance wide for the two of them.

“They must be heavy. Come inside.”

The basket Riri was carrying contained dyes and fragrances in various colors.

Kuku’s basket was filled with fresh ingredients.

The two had gone to the market early that morning to secure the best goods before anyone else could get them, and had only just returned.

“Oh! That’s right! We have a guest!”

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

“I’ll prepare the meal, then.”

Riri skipped into the lobby like an excited fawn.

Kuku followed behind her with his own hurried footsteps.

They both had plenty to do.

Cute.

So-hee watched their backs with a pleased smile.

And they weren’t merely cute.

They were highly capable as well.

Very early in her attempt to establish a proper direction for operating the motel, hiring these two—who had previously been nothing more than villagers—as motel employees had probably been the best decision she had made since arriving here.

“Heh heh. This is a familiar room.”

Tang Je-ik let out a hearty laugh without realizing it.

From the second day after arriving at the Reincarnation Motel, he had been able to stay in a room prepared exactly like the place where he had lived during his lifetime.

The Reincarnation Hotel—and the motel as well—had a system capable of creating rooms according to the preferences of the characters staying there.

However, everything was normally created only in shades of gray.

For that reason, many guests actually preferred not to use the system.

After all, they wouldn’t want to make their precious memories look dull.

But Riri had given this room the perfect colors.

It was impossible not to admire the result.

“Even the scent of ink. How did you manage to prepare all this?”

He looked around the room in wonder before asking So-hee.

“Our staff are quite talented.”

Riri, who possessed the ability to reproduce colors and scents with perfect accuracy, had received a portion of Tang Je-ik’s life selected by So-hee.

It contained 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 soothe his body and mind.’

She had brought ink-scented fragrance from among the available scents and allowed it to spread subtly throughout the room.

She had also prepared a complete set of the Four Treasures of the Study in one corner.

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

There was something even more impressive than the fragrance.

It was the colors.

Everything had been communicated to Riri purely through written descriptions.

It wasn’t something simple like:

‘The robe is green.’

‘The shoes are brown.’

No.

They were absurdly abstract and difficult colors such as:

‘Blue like the sky after a single drop of water falls into it.’

‘Yellow like a butterfly’s wings through which sunlight is shining.’

Despite the ridiculous difficulty, Riri had worked herself nearly pale to reproduce them perfectly.

And now she was sleeping in the break room as though she had been knocked unconscious.

“This is almost too generous a reception.”

“To us, sir, you deserve nothing less.”

“Heh heh.”

Tang Je-ik sat down and gently ran his hand over the inkstone beside him.

The familiar texture brought back memories.

He picked up the brush as well.

When he saw the partially ground ink and the brush soaked in water, his heart seemed to surge unexpectedly.

Images flashed through his mind.

His wife, who had shared this room with him.

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

And his grandchild running into the room before tripping over the threshold and bursting into tears.

A faint smile appeared around his lips.

Then disappeared.

They must all be dead.

He didn’t want to believe it.

But that was the conclusion Tang Je-ik had reached.

While he was lost in thought, So-hee spoke.

“I’ve been reviewing your life record again and looking for anything that might be important. However, there is one thing I’d like to ask clearly.”

So-hee carefully continued.

“The direction of the reincarnation process can change significantly depending on its purpose.”

She hesitated before speaking again.

“You gave up the possibility of becoming a protagonist in the next work and chose reincarnation instead. So I was wondering if perhaps I’m overlooking something extremely important…”

“Becoming a protagonist in my next life… Could I perhaps withdraw my signature on the agreement?”

“…What?”

“I was joking.”

He laughed lightly.

So-hee relaxed her tense shoulders.

“Why, you ask…”

Tang Je-ik’s expression became thoughtful.

“What life is without regrets?”

“If I could change just one thing…”

So-hee quickly opened her folder, preparing to write down whatever he said.

Tang Je-ik seemed to find it difficult to bring up his own story.

Perhaps trying to calm the emotions stirring inside him, he looked out the window.

Then, after a moment—

he seemed to be pulled back into the novel in which he had lived.

“If I could go back…”

“I would take the Heavenly Demon under my command.”