City of Witches

༺ Festival (1) ༻

1.

The aquarium wasn’t the only thing inside the big building.

Different halls, stores, restaurants, theaters, and other convenient and fun spots were also here.

Since they planned to spend all day there, Siwoo brought the twins to a restaurant for lunch.

“Ahh…the food was tasty…”

“I’m so full, I can barely walk! Can’t you give me a piggyback ride, Mr. Assistant?”

“Sure, I’ll give you that. Back at home, that is. For now, let’s just walk normally, shall we?”

“What? I want one too then!”

“Yes, you’ll have your turn too, Ms. Odile.”

For lunch, they ate kimchi stew.

Siwoo chose this particular dish because the twins were making a fuss about how they wanted to taste the food from his hometown.

At first, he was unsure if it would suit their palate, but both of them ended up loving it.

In fact, they devoured almost eight servings of it in one go.

“Wasn’t it spicy?”

“Not really? It was a little salty, but the dongchimi¹A variant of kimchi using radish. solved that problem.”

“The tender pork belly was amazing! Also, the oysters!”

“Well, I was worried that it didn’t suit your tastes…glad that you two liked it so much.”

Kimchi was the classic Korean traditional food.

Seeing how it managed to satisfy the twins’ refined palates, Siwoo felt a sense of pride welled up within him.

He personally fed them the kimchi, because they still weren’t used to using chopsticks. The way they kept asking for more made him feel like he was feeding a pair of baby birds.

After they finished their lunches, they went to Baskin-Robbins, getting the twins an ice cream cone each, before heading towards the arcade.

For the twins, the arcade was like a whole new world, a completely different world than the aquarium, and they were really excited to thoroughly explore the place.

“W-W-What is all this?!”

“L-Look at these cool artifacts…!”

Stuffing all the remaining ice creams into their mouths (by the way, they thought that the ice cream was just fine, not great or anything), the twins eagerly dashed away.

They looked around, exploring all the game machines that played out some scenes on their screens and the machines that had weird gimmicks.

“Look at that, Mr. Assistant! It’s spinning like crazy!”

“Mr. Assistant, are those dolls?! There are so many dolls!”

‘They love the arcade more than the aquarium it seems…’

The twins couldn’t contain their excitement as they hopped around and bounced from one spot to another.

They seemed so energetic that Siwoo became worried if he were to take his eyes off them for a moment, they’d disappear.

He exchanged three ten-thousand won bills for game cards.

“Is there anything you want to play?”

“What are all these? Like, what can we do with them?”

“Uh, play? You know, they are a kind of entertainment.”

“Like chess? Or duck hunting?”

“Umm…”

The twins knew nothing about electronics, so Siwoo found himself in a bit of a pickle trying to explain the concept of video games to them.

Thankfully, they got distracted by the flashy arcade games rather quickly.

Odile went for a shooting game while Odette went for a crane game.

“I want to try this one! How does it work?”

“So, if you step on this pedal, you can hide. You can try to aim the targets with the gun and shoot. To shoot, you just need to pull the trigger, just like a real gun. And to reload, just shake the gun a little.”

“Okay, I’ll give it a go! It sounds doable for me.”

With a serious look, Odile took a note of all his instructions and took aim at the screen.

As her sister was going through the tutorial, Odette excitedly dragged Siwoo along.

“Mr. Assistant, I want to try this one! How do I get those dolls?”

They stood in front of the crane machine that had a mountain of dolls piled up inside.

In this case, it was easier for Siwoo to give a live demonstration than going into a lengthy explanation, so he did exactly that.

“Here’s how it works. You use this lever to control the crane and use this button to make the crane come down. Then, it’ll pick up the dolls…”

“Ah, so close! You almost had it!”

Maybe because both of them were young, or they could learn quickly to begin with, both of them absorbed everything in no time.

Odette promptly took hold of the lever, aiming fervently at the rabbit doll she had been eyeing since earlier.

‘Ever since we were at the aquarium, she had been fawning over random rabbits…and she was the one who picked the pajamas with the rabbit design…what’s up with that?’

‘By the way, does she know that rabbit meat is tasty?’

The memories of the rabbit stew he had shared with his father resurfaced in Siwoo’s mind.

“…Siwoo orabeoni.”

He stood by Odette’s side while keeping an eye on Odile so that she didn’t wander off somewhere.

Odette, who had been trying to grab the rabbit doll that was seemingly impossible to grab due to the maliciously set up crane, called out to him.

Perhaps thinking that Odile wouldn’t hear them from this distance, she referred to him as ‘Orabeoni’ again.

This was what they had decided on, she’d change her way to call Siwoo when they were alone.

It made him feel like they were having a secret affair or something.

“Yes, Ms. Odette?”

“I just wanted to call you. You know, I came up with a new way to call you, but I couldn’t use it! It was upsetting…”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! Thanks to you, I’m experiencing a lot of fun things! So, thank you, Orabeoni!”

“Well, I’m living a good life thanks to the Countess, so it’s natural that I’m doing all these things for you.”

“That’s just the result of all your good deeds!”

Siwoo affectionately patted Odette’s head as he found her adorable.

Because she was focused on the rabbit doll, she was surprised to feel his touch, causing the crane to end up in an unexpected spot.

The number of remaining attempts, initially at 50, dropped to 0 as the crane hung helplessly above the prize chute.

Unfortunately, even after she used up all the money Siwoo charged on her game card, Odette still failed to grab a single doll.

-Ding!

An electronic sound signaled the end of the game.

Odette started to complain to Siwoo, her shoulders shaking vigorously.

She only wanted to have some fun, but she ended up getting really frustrated instead.

“This is ridiculous! I definitely grabbed it properly! Ugh, I even calculated all five possible scenarios when the crane descends and rotates! I caught its head, but it still didn’t lift the rabbit! This is a scam! Scam, I tell you!”

“Ahaha…”

It was odd even in Siwoo’s eyes.

Due to the dolls’ arrangement, he initially felt that it wouldn’t be easy, but this was a little too much.

Odette swallowed her frustration and asked Siwoo.

“Can I use magic? Just a little telekinesis…”

“Of course not, it’s not that kind of game…anyway, shall I try it for you?”

“No! This is my battle!”

“Okay, I’ll charge this card, so wait for a moment.”

“Alright, I’ll come up with more plans in the meantime.”

Leaving Odette with her pursed lips, Siwoo moved to charge the game card. Then he realized that Odile was still standing in front of the machine he left her at.

“Huh?”

‘Wait, quite some time must have passed, right?’

He glanced at her screen, which was now filled with screams and explosions.

In the game, Odile’s appearance was like that of a western outlaw.

Her character was swiftly moving the gun’s barrel and pulled the trigger without mercy.

Whether tracking the enemy’s movements or flicking shots, all ten shots she took hit all ten enemies cleanly.

The sudden appearance of obstacles on her screen didn’t faze her.

She detonated five grenades mid-air with skilled aim and precise shots.

Even when multiple enemies appeared from all sides, she skillfully stepped on the pedal, shook her gun to reload and swiftly cleared them all out.

“What…?”

Being a guy, Siwoo had naturally played the game before.

Since most shooting games were designed to be cleared by two players, including this one, he couldn’t even clear the first boss whenever he played solo.

When he indulged himself by watching a montage of her impressive gameplay, Odile, who had just cleared the final hidden boss with just one coin, looked around and spotted him.

“Huh? How long have you been watching, Mr. Assistant?”

“Wow, you’re amazing.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t this your first time playing this game? I couldn’t even make it to the second stage no matter how hard I tried…”

“Well, I’m always good at shooting, but even Odette should be able to do this much. It isn’t that fun though. The shots are unrealistic and the guns are unnecessarily loud. But, it was a good experience! Is there anything else that is similar to this? Something more challenging?”

Though she brushed off his compliment, her shoulders lifted higher, appearing proud when he praised her.

Normally, Odile would just brag about how good she was instead of complaining about the game, so it was obvious that this was just an act.

She was trying her best to act as if it wasn’t a big deal.

With a suppressed laugh, Siwoo pulled Odile close and suggested a game they could all enjoy together.

“That’s fine and all, but let’s check out the other games too. See that? That one’s pretty fun too.”

“Really?”

“Mr. Assistant, I got it!!”

At that moment, Odette, who finally succeeded in picking up the rabbit doll, came running with a big smile on her face.

For their next game, Siwoo chose the air ping pong game.

A game that they could enjoy together in turns.

After a heated competition.

Odette lost every single round and became the luggage carrier.

2.

“…”

“Why the sulky face, Odette?”

“…”

“You don’t need to be so sulky~ Don’t I always beat you at games we play for the first time?”

“…”

“What? You can’t accept that you lost?”

-Squish.

As they rode the escalator of the department store together, Odette squeezed the rabbit doll she was holding.

Unable to tolerate it anymore, Siwoo intervened.

“C’mon, Ms. Odile, you need to stop teasing her. Please don’t take it to heart, Ms. Odette, don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone that you lost.”

Even Siwoo, who she expected to take her side, joined in on the teasing. Thanks to that, Odette’s patience finally ran out.

“Ugh, this is all your fault, Sis! Don’t talk to me! I want to go home! Take me home!”

“I was kidding.”

Siwoo coaxed and soothed Odette, who was about to throw a tantrum.

They were on their way to the women’s clothing section to complete their shopping for the day.

What Siwoo found out today was the fact that they had a remarkable adaptability.

At first, they thought that the lifts were some kind of a marvel, but now they just stood casually on the escalator as if it was nothing.

After he treated them to a shopping spree using the black card given by the Countess, they headed back home.

He planned to host the Shin Siwoo’s officetel’s specialty later, the ‘Sharon’s Food Delivery Parade.’

Save for the desserts, the twins seemed to be fond of the local cuisine.

“This is actually kinda cool. A staircase that moves while you stand still? Did they use some kind of spatial magic?”

“No, it’s more of a belt-shaped thing than a staircase. It goes round and round, moving up and down. No magic involved.”

“Ah, I get it.”

They could have taken the lift, but they opted for the escalator this time.

At that moment, Siwoo suddenly felt a commotion.

The place was never silent, but the noise he heard was unusually loud and distinctive.

Surprise, exhilaration and confusion, all of those emotions were mixed in the lively crowd.

As they rode up the escalator…

The twins noticed something strange near the ceiling on the opposite side.

Sticking close to the handrail, they pointed at an object floating in mid-air.

“Mr. Assistant, what is that?”

“We saw it at the aquarium didn’t we? A pi…ranha? Yeah, I think that’s what it is!”

“It’s so big! As big as a taxi!”

Siwoo followed the direction the twins were pointing at and widened his eyes.

“What?”

A peculiar creature floated in the air. Its fins gracefully moved, as if it was swimming.

The creature had a thin, elongated body, with jagged teeth that stuck out so far that made it unable to close its mouth shut.

It rolled around its eyes, uncertain where to focus.

The bustling noise coming from the lower floor turned out to be coming from people taking out their phones, trying to take pictures of the piranha, accompanied by their excited murmurs.

This wasn’t a strange reaction. After all, no one would anticipate such a thing in a normal department store.

The piranha gracefully descended, flapping its fins as it approached the onlookers.

“Eek! What’s that? It looks so gross…”

“Is this some kind of event?”

“Maybe a hologram? Hey, take a picture of it! Quickly!”

“Hello? Kyungsung? Are you still in the bathroom? Come here quickly, there’s something really cool here!”

Perhaps their reliance on modern society’s safety dulled their natural instinct to look out for danger.

They didn’t run away or scream and flee like they would in a monster movie.

Instead, they observed the thing as if it was an attraction.

“Run away!”

Siwoo shouted loudly to them.

“Huh?”

Suddenly the piranha lunged forward, opening its mouth wide and devouring the upper half of a student who was trying to take a close-up picture.

And that marked the beginning of the unexpected festival.

Footnotes:

• 1A variant of kimchi using radish.