QHIM chapter 55- Fake Ghost

* * *

As the fire in the hearth, which had burned all the logs, went out, the inside of the house began to cool, enough for my breath to show in the air.

Fortunately, the blanket I slept under was thick, or else it would’ve been no different from sleeping outside in the cold.

‘It’s amazing I can still fall asleep in this cold. Or could it be… am I not sleepy, but freezing to death?’

Nyaa.

Just then, while I was wrestling with the cold, Jerry sluggishly climbed onto the bed.

When I lifted the blanket after feeling him cautiously tap my arm, he burrowed into my side as if he’d been waiting for the invitation.

Watching him purr made me feel sleepy, too.

‘I didn’t realize, but this guy is really warm. Did I used to sleep like this with young Jerome too?’

As my body warmed up, my eyes naturally closed.

I don’t know how long I slept, but then I heard a strange sound coming from outside.

Creak, creak…

It was like the sound of someone stepping on rotten wood.

Shortly after the footsteps, warmth began to spread into the room that had been so cold.

It seemed Jerome had returned after gathering some firewood.

‘Jerome’s back.’

I wanted to get up and help him move the logs, but so much had happened today, and perhaps because I hadn’t been out of the heretic’s stomach for long, I couldn’t move at all.

On top of that, delayed muscle pain made my whole body ache.

In the end, I gave up trying to get up and drifted back to sleep.

But something really strange happened.

Even while I was sleeping, almost unconscious, I felt a gaze on me.

It was sticky and obsessive, as if someone were dissecting me.

My body twisted as if I were being held down by a nightmare, and I inhaled deeply.

It wasn’t the muscle pain.

A large hand, belonging to someone I didn’t know, was choking me.

✽ ✽ ✽
I kicked and struggled in the suffocating horror, but for some reason, my body wouldn’t respond.

The murderous intent was so sharp, it felt as if a knife was carving into my skin.

My mind went blank.

‘Who is it? Who’s trying to kill me?’

I gasped for air and barely managed to open my eyes.

Once my sight adjusted to the darkness, I saw a familiar face.

In Jerome’s blackened eyes, devoid of any emotion, I saw my own suffering reflection.

His once beautiful platinum hair was now stained black, like it had been drenched in ink.

A soft, crescent smile formed on Jerome’s lips.

The grip around my neck tightened.

[Poor thing, you’ll never defeat me. Jerome will go mad, holding your corpse. Hah, how pathetic that’ll be.]

Over Jerome’s shoulder, scorpions and centipedes swarmed in, and thick-bodied snakes crawled up my legs.

I knew instinctively—it wasn’t Jerome choking me.

It was Mephisto.

Jerome, with madness in his eyes, muttered under his breath.

[I will tear you to pieces and leave no trace of Maya’s soul in this world.]

Drool slipped from between his parted lips.

As my mind grew more and more clouded, strange, unfamiliar words pierced my ears.

It was a bizarre sound, like an old radio playing in reverse.

“Hah…!”

I jolted awake, convulsing, and looked around in panic.

There were no scorpions or snakes.

Only warm sunlight filled the room.

I grasped my still-throbbing neck.

‘Was it just a dream?’

Since I woke up alive, it must have been a dream, but it had felt so real that I was trembling even after waking up.

Rubbing my pounding forehead, I let out a deep sigh.

I must’ve had a nightmare because I was so exhausted.

Nyaa, nyaa.

I heard a pitiful meow from somewhere.

After searching around for a while, I finally lowered myself to check under the bed.

For some reason, Jerry, who had been curled up next to me before I fell asleep, was now hiding under the bed.

I reached out to the kitten, who was clutching the fabric with both paws, crying softly.

“Why are you under there? Come out.”

Jerry quickly shook his head. I looked at him in confusion but eventually gave up and withdrew my hand.

The silence was unnerving, and I started to feel more and more anxious.

Jerome was nowhere to be seen.

“Jerome, where are you?”

I tied my hair back and ran down the stairs two at a time.

When I got to the bottom, I saw the logs in the fireplace had completely burned to ash.

“Jer—”

I wandered through the house, searching aimlessly, until I suddenly stopped.

Jerome, who I had been searching so frantically for, was curled up asleep in the bathtub.

The room was hazy with smoke from the tobacco leaves he had burned nearby.

‘Why is he sleeping in there?’

Frowning, I moved closer, but then a brown bottle lying on the floor caught my eye.

I instinctively picked it up, and the moment I read the label, I froze.

‘Pazhu’s venom…’

Pazhu’s venom wasn’t just any poison—it was a deadly toxin.

In this world, it was infamous for killing a fully grown bull with just a small dose.

There was an antidote, though—tobacco smoke.

Still, it didn’t make sense for Jerome to have consumed all of that venom, leaving none behind.

Suddenly, I remembered the time Jerome had shoved a poisonous centipede into his mouth.

I had a feeling he was deliberately poisoning himself.

‘Why?’

Just then, I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror, and my breath hitched.

There were clear finger marks on my neck.

Proof that what had happened last night wasn’t just a dream.

Sensing movement, Jerome slowly opened his eyes.

For a brief moment, light returned to those eyes that had been so lifeless.

“You poisoned yourself to paralyze your body.”

“…”

“To stop Mephisto from taking over.”

Jerome neither confirmed nor denied it.

He just stared at me with a blank expression.

After a long silence, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

His voice, hoarse and cracked, broke the stillness.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“…”

“I haven’t even shaved yet.”

Even in this situation, Jerome was joking.

He staggered to his feet and rummaged through the cabinet beside the bathtub.

His hands, practiced from years of shaving, moved smoothly as he sharpened the razor on leather.

“Isn’t it strange? Poison… It hurts so much at first, like your bones are melting. But eventually, you get used to it.”

Jerome’s hand holding the razor trembled. It seemed the tremors were a side effect of the venom.

With those shaking hands, shaving would almost certainly cut his throat.

Jerome, noticing my worried gaze, added a comment.

“It’s kind of like misfortune, isn’t it?”

His lips smiled, but his eyes were dark.

He wasn’t really joking. It was more like he was trying to ignore the unbearable reality he was facing.

I watched him in silence for a moment, then held out my hand.

“Give me the razor.”

“Hm?”

“If you shave with those hands, your nose will definitely get cut. And your nose is about the only thing worth keeping on your face. It’d be a shame to lose it.”

The smile vanished from Jerome’s lips.

After hesitating for a moment, he handed me the razor without a word.

As I took the razor from him, I couldn’t help but think of Jeanne from the original story, who had stabbed Jerome with a dagger.

‘If it were the original Jeanne, he would’ve stabbed him by now. Not only has Jerome been weakened by the poison, but he’s also handed over the razor.’

Last night, I had genuinely feared for my life.

I couldn’t shake the thought that one day, the Mephisto inside Jerome might kill me.

If I killed Jerome now, Jeanne could avoid one of the bad endings that awaited him.

Always prioritizing survival, I knew keeping Jerome alive was a foolish decision.

Jerome, sitting in the bathtub, waited for me to help him.

I looked down at him with cold eyes and adjusted my grip on the razor.

“You know, us sitting here like this… it really feels like we’re married.”

Ignoring Jerome’s embarrassing remarks, I focused on shaving.

In the end, I didn’t kill him.

No, to be more accurate, I couldn’t.

My mind was a mess.

Even though I was certain that I would regret this choice one day, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t kill him.