The Monkey’s Paw Site
Enter your wish:
The words appearing on my phone screen felt deeply unfamiliar.
To think I’d traded this for a “Neuron Clear.”
It was only natural to suspect I’d been swindled for being a clueless newbie.
“Boribori, what do you think about this?”
Boribori had already swooped into the seat where the medicine buyer had been sitting and was busy shoveling tiramisu cake with a fork.
Whether I asked or not, she was completely immersed in sugar consumption.
The demon Boribori apparently loves desserts just as much as jjamppong and sweet and sour pork.
I suppose it suits her appearance, which looks around sixth grade in elementary school.
“A wish…”
I turned my eyes back to the phone screen.
A search bar-like box reading “Enter your wish:” felt both suspicious and, at the same time, made my heart pound with excitement.
I’m not that much of an idiot, after all.
Asking me to enter a wish is basically the same as saying they’ll grant it, right?
Of course, there was also the possibility they’d be stingy about it, like “They only said to enter it, not that they’d grant it.”
If that were the case, I’d cry my eyes out like a cat whose nuts were chopped off.
‘So what is my wish?’
I suddenly grew curious.
If someone said they’d grant one wish, what would be the most correct thing to wish for?
I started to ponder.
Even this morning, even up until I came to the cafe, I never thought I’d be thinking about something like this.
‘I suppose they’d only grant just one wish, right?’
I stared down the wish input box as if in a staring contest.
There was no number limit written, like how many wishes could be entered, but.
By the vibe of it, it felt like only one could be entered.
In that case!
“Expand the number of wishes… to ten.”
Tap, tap-tap-tap.
I tapped the phone screen and typed the above sentence into the input box.
Just as I was deliberating whether to press enter,.
Letters appeared below the empty search bar.
Danger: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â–
Danger?
Is that the English word “risk”?
The one referring to the risk of loss or negative uncertainty?
The phrase stock junkies love.
“Ahh!“
In that moment, I realized the absurdity hidden within this “wish input box.”
Nothing is free.
Equivalent exchange.
As the true nature of this Monkey’s Paw Site sank in, cold sweat ran from my back down to my waist.
And Boribori had neatly polished off the tiramisu cake.
# # #
I returned home and turned on my computer first thing.
Then I searched for something called the “Monkey’s Paw Site.”
The site didn’t come up.
It seemed that without the link or QR code that the medicine buyer, “Five-Clan Eliminator,” had handed me earlier, there was no way to access the site through external searches.
Instead, other things came up.
Things like the origin and history of this Monkey’s Paw Site.
The Monkey’s Paw.
The Monkey’s Paw
It was said to be a charm that appears in a short story by some British author named William.
Its effect was none other than granting wishes.
However, the way it grants those wishes is utterly twisted.
To be precise, something you’d call malice is imbued within it.
For example, what if I wished, “I want 10 billion won”?
Suddenly, misfortune would strike my family, and I’d end up receiving 10 billion won from their life insurance payouts.
What if I wished to come in first place in the race at the sports festival?
The other runners would get into sudden accidents mid-race and break their legs or something.
The lesson this “Monkey’s Paw” teaches, as far as I can tell, is probably this:
There’s no such thing as a convenient freebie.
So what about the Monkey’s Paw Site?
The site’s name and principles were probably taken from the “Monkey’s Paw” in that short story.
When you actually type letters into the window that asks you to enter a wish-.
A “Danger:” category pops up, warning you of the risk.
Like this.
The Monkey’s Paw Site
Enter your wish: 1 billion won
Danger: â– â– â– â– â– â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡â–¡
The danger gauge filled up.
5/10.
Half.
Is there any way to guess how much danger that level represents?
I suppose the short story “The Monkey’s Paw” I researched earlier would serve as a decent hint.
Around the level of a family member’s death and receiving their death insurance payout.
Or perhaps I myself would get seriously injured, collect the insurance for it, or some ‘danger’ of equivalent magnitude would strike me.
In that case?
What the hell would happen with the full 10-bar danger I saw when I tried to expand my wishes to ten earlier?
My feeble imagination couldn’t conjure anything.
“Haah, I feel like I’ve received something utterly outrageous.”
I leaned my shoulders back against the chair and stared at the ceiling.
As I rubbed my face with my palms and gave myself a dry wash, the face and attitude of “Five-Clan Eliminator” from earlier came to mind.
He said the link he handed over was something incredibly valuable.
Something you can’t get just anyone.
What was it he said?
He said it was like a limited edition that you could only obtain by doing something for about a year.
From what I could see, there was no lie in his expression.
Rather, a certain ‘pride’ or similar emotion was emanating from his eyes and his breath.
‘Even if there’s danger, the very possibility of having wishes granted is incredible.’
If I handed this to a wealthy collector, couldn’t I easily get hundreds of millions?
People like Warren Buffett, you know.
People whose money is piled up to the sky but who don’t have the time to spend it all.
Aged oil tycoons.
Cruel dictators.
If I gave this to people like that, they’d surely wish for ‘youth and health.’
If I were on death’s door tomorrow, I’d have wanted to get my hands on this ‘site’ no matter the cost.
Yeah, this is definitely worth more than that ‘Neuron Clear.’
The very possibility of ‘entering a wish’ already seems hard to put a price on.
Up until a moment ago, I thought I’d been scammed by having the medicine price haggled down, but.
Looking back on it now, I’d actually received an enormous ‘bonus.’
‘Was that Five-Clan guy really that desperate for the medicine?’
He did seem a bit anxious.
Startling at even the slightest gesture.
What kind of experience made him like that?
Will I end up like that someday too?
But not right now.
I’m a mage now, my head is full of excitement and curiosity, and I didn’t want to miss this chance to lie in bed looking forward to tomorrow morning.
“For now, let’s not enter a wish… and just save it.”
I needed information and knowledge.
Suddenly, I grew curious about how and where I’d obtained this Monkey’s Paw Site.
Five-Clan Eliminator.
Where did he say he got this?
He’d mentioned it with the feel of some kind of reward or compensation.
‘…An internet gallery.’
Monkey’s Paw and gallery.
My mind, which had been crossing those words back and forth, flashed with a single thought like a collector discovering a gem in a pile of trash.
“Monkey Gallery.”
# # #
“Successfully recovered the me-tubers Yun Huigon, Jang Geunbeom, and An Miyeong. I saw Jang Geunbeom and An Miyeong swallow the medicine, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
A man in a suit with glasses walked into the office and said in a bored tone.
The employees who had been looking at their computers glanced at the man and each spoke up.
“As expected of the field team’s ace!”
“But why did Deputy Kim take a twilight-tier request?”
“You know, that Thai witch they were chasing suddenly went into hiding. With a hole blown in the schedule, he’s taking whatever odd jobs to fill the quota.”
The murmuring grew louder.
Deputy Kim returned to his desk, took off his glasses, and pressed firmly on his eyes.
As he tried to relieve his fatigue in his own way, someone tossed a folder onto his desk.
“If it’s Yun Huigon, that ghost story unicorn? Didn’t he take the medicine?”
Deputy Kim glanced at the face of the woman who had approached him.
A sporty ponytail, a hoodie, and sneakers.
For those of them where strict discipline was paramount, her free-spiritedness was itself a privilege and proof of achievement.
Reflected in those green eyes, Deputy Kim couldn’t help but straighten his back.
“Yun Huigon didn’t take the medicine. Turns out he’s a user of that gallery.”
“Ugh, again? There’s been a lot lately. From that weird site. Then what about the other two? What were their names, Kim Iryeong and Meteor Shower?”
“It’s Ha Yuseong. Those two escaped the Torii Shrine on their own before I even pulled them out. I handed over the medicine, but I don’t know if they’ll take it.”
“Oh? Escaping that Torii Shrine by themselves? How interesting.”
“It is.”
Deputy Kim stated his honest impression.
Interesting.
Beneath the Dori Building.
An incomprehensible anomaly slept within the Torii Shrine, but its measured danger level was only ‘twilight-tier,’ with one or two deaths a year.
Those trapped or swept up in that place would simply wander the underground.
As long as they didn’t provoke the unidentified anomaly, their ‘lives’ were safe.
A rulebook was also issued for that purpose.
Those who drifted there were rescued by people like Deputy Kim after a set period.
That’s also why the rulebook didn’t include any method of ‘escape.’
Because without outside help, escaping on your own was absolutely impossible there.
But-.
There were two people who escaped such a place on their own.
Kim Iryeong and Ha Yuseong.
Deputy Kim recalled their profiles and shrugged.
“Well, things like this happen from time to time.”
“That’s true. Maybe they saw through some loophole we don’t know about within those rules. Are those kids also from that gallery? Or are they originals?”
Interest rose in the woman’s eyes.
However, Deputy Kim only chased the past with eyes still full of exhaustion.
“They’re neither.”
“Oh? Then?”
“They asked me this. Whether I was a mage.”
At Deputy Kim’s words, silence enveloped the office for a moment.
But only for a moment.
“Puhahahaha!”
“That’s hilarious!”
“Total newbies, huh?”
“Kim Iryeong seemed useful though. She said she drove that thing underground far away. Said it was thanks to her experience as a shaman or something.”
“Oh, she was a shaman? How fun.”
Deputy Kim was just tired.
He sank deep into his chair.
The woman asked him.
“Then how was this Ha Yuseong?”
“…Ah, no need to worry about him. He forced his eyes open for this case, but as a mage, he was third-rate with no spiritual energy felt at all.”
“Really? Deputy Kim tends to judge people who didn’t take the medicine with strangely harsh standards.”
“That’s not it at all.”
Instead of explaining himself at length, Deputy Kim thought about his prey, the ‘Witch of Isan,’ whom he had been chasing.
The fact that that high-ranking mage had vanished without a trace gnawed at him.
Whatever the reason, a rock that had ruled through fear had suddenly disappeared.
Into that hollowed-out space, new water would seep in and pool.
They’d all clamor to claim that spot.
So Deputy Kim fed the papers related to that ‘transfer student’ into the shredder.
They had no leeway to waste time on such trivialities.
And personally, he was irritated by their ignorance.
“There’s no such thing as magic in this world.”
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