Death Cast

01.21 | Grecia Bella Theatre

「Deux ex Machina」

It literally means 'a god from a machine', an existence of idiosyncrasy where things happen without a rational explanation - a lifesaver in unsalvageable circumstances.

Life on Earth would be much easier if ever such a thing truly existed. People would not worry about problems since solutions would rain out like miracles. These were Jaerim's thoughts when he tucked the piece of paper into his pockets. Such a theatrical device will remain a tool since it's impossible to occur in real life.

A god? What a funny thought. More like a false god.

He raised his head and found himself facing the mirror. From that, he noticed that Noel was looking at him with a profound look. His gaze was deep and calculating as if Noel could see the deepest part of his soul that made him shiver. He turned his head around to confront the individual face-to-face rather than relying on reflection.

"What?" Jaerim could only ask.

Noel did not expect Jaerim to suddenly turn around. His eyes flashed with uncertainty as if someone was trying to leap into the darkness. It looked very complicated, so complicated, that even Jaerim, who is quite good at reading people, could not comprehend. Before Jaerim could detect the unusual glint in the person's eyes, Noel averted his gaze, looking ahead towards the person entering the room with an unhurried gait.

The jester is finally here.

There is a smile on the jester's face. The lips that were stained with red rouge seemed to look like a devil's lips outstretched in a thin line. The powder on his face appeared coarse at the moment as if showing the true face behind the colorful mask. The eyes that had the color of the fair sky shone brightly with an unmasked sinister, enough to make them shiver.

His steps against the tiled floor are quite loud in the empty room. The click-clack of the wooden shoes matched the very beat of his heart, making it impossible to breathe properly. Jaerim tried to remain calm as he watched the jester that seemed to get bigger and more sinister the closer he got, his shadow elongating in a weird angle behind him like an assassin lingering in the air.

The bright room seemed to be draped with a cloth as it began to dim, the bulbs flashing on and off, and the smell of something burning entered his nose. Jaerim subconsciously took a step back, his face aghast, feeling the sudden change in temperature around him. The movement from the corner of his eyes made him look at the mirror in reflex, which allowed him to see a different reflection than before.

It's burning. Everything on the other side of the reflection is burning. The clean stalls, green plant decorations, and white tiles had been stained with a red fire that seemed to consume whatever it touched without mercy. He could feel it - Jaerim could feel it - the intense temperature that seemed to melt even his reflection. Death slowly conquers the soul as if it were the fuel for its life, and it is painful and terrifying.

He wanted to run away, but he couldn't, his limbs not listening to his thoughts. He remained erect in his position, helplessly watching himself being consumed by fire. Just when he thought he would finally meet the death god here, a phrase suddenly appeared in the mirror. There are three words, all written in cursive.

Deux ex Machina.

Click-

"I think there is more of it, but the contents are enough to tell you that there is something more than it. We are getting closer-"

Ken's loud voice suddenly broke the eerie silence. He is obviously talking with someone, as there are more than a pair of steps coming in their direction. Jaerim looked ahead, across the jester, and found Ken speaking with Judith. The female companion seemed to have noticed that they were entering the male restroom, so she turned to the other corner. Carl walked ahead and found the restroom occupied.

The person asked, with a confused expression, "What's up?"

Carl found the three people standing around the room weirdly. The first thing he saw was the jester, who turned around upon his entrance. The clear frown of the individual made Carl shiver, so he immediately averted his gaze towards the two people in the back who looked like cornered animals.

Ken was blindly walking forward since he was discussing something with Judith and did not notice Carl stopping. He crashed against the person's back, pushing Carl towards the jester. Elias could see the person falling in his direction, so naturally, he avoided it by taking a step to the side. The scenario ended with Jaerim and Noel looking at Carl, who fell face-planted on the ground.

A round object had fallen upon Carl's demise and was rolling towards Jaerim's shoes. He naturally picked it up and found that it was an old Boy Scout badge. Jaerim immediately started acting—he is a natural when responding to dangerous situations.

"Finally, found it! It seems like you found it," Jaerim dashed towards the fallen Carl and helped him sit up by pulling on his arms. "I've been searching for so long. It seems like this senior has found it."

Carl was still woozy from the sudden fall, so he wasn't able to catch the act. He looked at Jaerim with furrowed brows, as if he was looking at a lunatic. Jaerim feigned ignorance as he continued the act. Ken was also quick to enter the stage as he quickly integrated into the group. He could see the cries of help coming from Jaerim's eyes.

He quite liked Jaerim and Noel for being witty. It would be bad if they got eliminated early on.

Jaerim held the badge in his palms and showed it to Carl. His eyes shone as if he had redeemed something very important. He reached out and touched Carl's hand to show gratitude and integrity that had been oozing since he found the badge.

"Thank you very much. This badge is very important to me-, ahem," Jaerim coughed loudly to hide the mistake. "Very important to him. It was a gift from a friend in the past. We thought we had lost it."

Carl is about to say, 'What are you talking about? This is my badge' but Ken covered his mouth right on time. The kind-looking senior directed his concerns towards Jaerim with a wide smile of a hero saving the day.

"Ah, so that must be from you? Thank goodness, we finally found the owner."

The two exchanged pleasantries as if someone is very grateful that someone found a treasure while the other was doing good for charity. Carl watched the two tell wonderful lies and just lowered his head to hide his disgusted expression. The jester is also watching their interaction with a frown.

As if he could not take such a greasy scene, the jester said, "What bullshit is this?"

The heavy word immediately stomped on the tense hearts of the performers. Noel flinched from the corner while Jaerim's hand shook a little. Ken only focused his attention on Jaerim since he could feel the increasing aura around them. The jester walked around the trio doing the drama on the floor and looked at them with an unhidden vexation.

"Aren't you supposed to be enemies? Why are you getting friendly?"

The jester knows that these two additional people are not part of his group. Seeing them interacting with his crew made him feel irritated. They are from the opposing group. They should not be friends like this!

He glared at Jaerim, "Finish this transaction already and return to your room. You still have a performance tomorrow. Rest and don't roam around!"

The jester left the scene with a scoff. The actors left, waited for a few minutes before collapsing from their roles. Ken held his chest while doing breathing exercises while Noel directly lied on the ground. Judith had been listening to the door, so she was able to see the displeased expression of the jester. She took a peak from the door frame and found the guys wilted to the ground.

She blinked her eyes. "What happened?"

Ken shook his head. He had no idea what was happening. He turned his head to ask Jaerim the question, which the person immediately explained. Jaerim narrated the events from the time they entered the old-looking room up to that weird experience in the mirror's reflection. Of course, he excluded seeing the words Deux ex Machina in the mirror.

Carl looked at Jaerim with amazement as he placed his hands over Ken's shoulder. He said, "You just entered a special instance!"

Jaerim looked at him confusedly. "A what?"

"A special instance!" Carl repeated. "It is a special condition where Death Casts would be able to enter a distorted space that shows the events that will happen in the future without external influences. Which means, if there is no us, those events will truly happen."

Jaerim remembered seeing fire. "So, this building will really catch fire in the future?"

Ken and his group had found some evidence around, all pointing out to a fire incident. With Noel occasionally smelling smoke, it is already obvious that they will end up being engulfed in such a fiery situation. Jaerim looked at Ken, who was discussing something with Carl while giving orders. Ken noticed Jaerim staring at him.

"What's wrong? Something to add up?"

Jaerim shook his head. He found some burn marks on Ken's elbows. It wasn't bleeding or developing blisters, but it was horrible to look at. It's like the skin has been peeled but then patched by another skin to cover it. Ken did not seem to feel any pain.

"Anyways, you guys must be careful next time. Even though that boss of yours was not important, he is still a character in this world. Consider their presence to be similar to that of video game guards. Being caught doing unusual things is equal to death."

Jaerim and Noel nodded in affirmation.

"Anyway, senior, you were talking about the contents of something. Did you find some clues?"

Ken is a bit surprised that Jaerim was still able to focus his attention on them while he was talking with the jester. He was planning to tell them about it later anyway, so he revealed the information without hesitation. Ken handed them a couple of old letters with papers in the colors of yellow and brown, and a crest of the rose on the flap.

Noel joined in the gathering and found the same letter in their hands. Jaerim conveniently showed the one they found in the study.

"We found this letter, together with some documents, was placed in a quite hidden location. The seal is still locked," Jaerim said.

"It is sealed?" Ken pondered over the letters they found. All of them had been opened, some even had rips on them. He is a witty person, so he could guess what Jaerim was trying to say.