Chapter 7: The Human Boy of Punk City Part 6

It is snowing.

According to the weather forecast, it seems like it will snow often this winter.

Sonia was already bouncing with joy at the announcer’s words that we could look forward to a white Christmas.

She loved the snow.

It was proof of purity.

Amon, who had to clear snow after getting his ID card, in the military, at work, and at home, felt too old in spirit to enjoy the snow.

However, the word “Christmas” was a magical word that could excite even an old soul.

Though he pretended otherwise, Amon was just as excited about Christmas as Sonia.

“It’s already Christmas.”

Christmas in this world was no different from his previous life.

Christmas trees were decorated on the streets, adults gave gifts to children, and various events were held.

The only difference was that the person born on Christmas was not the Son of God but the Daughter of the Goddess.

Other than that, everything was the same.

While he was thinking about it, Amon headed to the drawer in his room.

He was gathering envelopes of money in preparation for the upcoming Christmas.

“This is for donations, this is for Sonia’s gift, and this is for the orphanage director…”

Amon transferred the money into the envelopes.

His sources of income were limited to errands and government assistance disguised as pocket money.

However, since Amon was a very ascetic person, his spending was almost nonexistent.

Thanks to that, the amount he saved up over the year was quite substantial.

Nodding his head appreciatively, Amon wrote notes on the envelopes.

Hand cream for the orphanage director, lotion for Sonia, a lighter for Mr. Johnson, whom he usually owed a favor to, etc.

It was definitely a moment when the money he had saved for a year would slip away, but Amon was so happy at this moment.

The very fact that he had the luxury to give to someone else felt like a blessing to him.

After classifying his final donation to the Goddess, Amon locked the drawer.

Then, he left his room to go to the swordsmanship dojo with Sonia in the afternoon.

***

When he stepped out of the room, the orphanage was bustling.

“Huh?”

He turned his gaze toward the crowd that had gathered to see what was happening.

The nuns were controlling the children with serious expressions.

The young nuns sent the children back inside, while the more experienced nuns formed a circle to surround something.

A translucent barrier unfolded around the circle the nuns had made.

From this alone, Amon roughly understood the situation.

‘Looks like some kid got possessed.’

It was not uncommon for orphans to become possessed by spirits.

Located right next to a brothel, the orphanage was a perfect place for the restless souls of lost babies to gather.

Thanks to that, incidents of orphans being possessed occurred about once a year.

The only fortunate thing was that the spirits of newborns were not very strong, so the nuns could manage to suppress them.

Curious to see the face of the protagonist of this possession incident, Amon tilted his head toward the scene.

He caught a glimpse of the situation between the gaps in the barrier the nuns had formed.

Before long, he recognized the protagonist.

“Oh dear… I knew those kids would cause trouble sooner or later.”

It was Jimmy and his friends.

Amon’s casual remark drew a slightly bitter smile from the nun standing next to him.

Even from their perspective, the boys’ possession was largely self-inflicted.

The items they had been holding tightly were the offerings sent by the spirits to possess the orphanage.

These offerings were mixed in with gifts for Black Friday, most of which were sent to storage after being censored by the nuns.

While they could seal or block the spirits, they needed an expert for exorcism, so they planned to handle it all at once later.

However, Jimmy and his friends had gone so far as to tear open the seals and take the offerings out of the storage.

From the nuns’ perspective, it was hard not to think that they got what they deserved.

As much as they wanted to tease them, the nuns, who were meant to care for the children with love, expressed their feelings with slightly bitter smiles.

Amon also joined in with a faint smile.

Inside the barrier, the culprit was lost in a daze, repeating nonsensical words.

“Hehe… my precious…”

Jimmy was hugging and petting a black vase tightly.

The other friends showed similar symptoms.

Seeing their condition, the orphanage director assessed the situation.

“They’re still in the entranced stage. It doesn’t seem like a complete possession yet, so let’s try to wake them up. If that fails, we’ll put them in the isolation room.”

Having operated the orphanage for 30 years, the director had seen all kinds of possessions, so this situation was not particularly special to her.

She calmly sprinkled salt or holy water on the entranced children.

Fortunately, a few of them regained their senses.

But Jimmy did not.

While the other children had brought back only one item, Jimmy had stuffed himself with items on both sides as he left the storage.

This meant that there was not just one spirit possessing him.

Because of this, he was firmly entranced to the point where salt or holy water wouldn’t be effective.

The orphanage director looked at Jimmy with pity.

“Jimmy…”

Although he was currently in the entranced stage, being entranced was merely the groundwork for possession.

If the entrancement was not resolved in time, possession would be inevitable, so the director made a cold judgment.

“We have no choice. Let’s put him in the isolation room.”

Once possession begins, one tends to feel a bit fatigued.

Though the spirit of a newborn baby was not particularly threatening, Jimmy was a boy who had entered puberty.

In terms of pure physical strength, it was a bit tough for the nuns to handle him.

Therefore, it would be much better to throw him into the isolation room while he was still half-conscious.

At the command of the orphanage director, the nuns threw Jimmy into a room.

Inside, he was left alone in an empty room that could not be opened from the inside.

Taking in the last sight of Jimmy through the crack of the closing door, the orphanage director locked it with a key.

“The exorcist will come the day after tomorrow, so please ensure the children don’t touch this lock. I’ll also inform you of the guidelines for special situations.”

The nuns carefully noted the director’s detailed instructions.

Moments later,

***

Thud!

Jimmy banged loudly on the isolation room door.

[Mom~! Mommm~!!!]

He shouted with a voice mixed with baby cries.

The nuns sighed in relief, thinking that if they were even a moment late, he would have grown tired.

In the meantime, Jimmy’s voice changed again.

With a bizarre, deep tone, Jimmy scratched his throat and yelled,

[Sister-in-law!! You can’t do that to me! Why did you do that to me!!]

The nuns, terrified by his chilling voice, took a step back from the isolation room.

Unlike the other nuns, the orphanage director remained unmoved.

Instead, she made the sign of the cross toward the room where Jimmy was and offered a prayer.

“May there be salvation for that child.”

That evening,

Amon rustled in bed, kicking off the blanket and sitting up abruptly.

“Ah… Did I drink too much cola?”

Rubbing his messy hair, Amon got out of bed.

It was pitch black, but his body, having memorized the structure of the room he had lived in his whole life, easily found his slippers.

Dragging his slippers along, he headed toward the bathroom, relying on the soft light of the hallway.

Unfortunately, the way to the bathroom passed in front of the isolation room.

Amon yawned and nodded his head toward the nuns guarding the isolation room.

No answer came back.

The nun on guard was also asleep while sitting.

Seeing this did not evoke any particular feelings in Amon.

He understood the nun’s fatigue too well to say it was insincere.

It was too harsh to expect her to host guests, wake up the possessed children, and also keep a night watch.

After all, the isolation room was not so flimsy that it needed a nun to guard it.

The orphanage director had said that even if a bomb went off inside, it wouldn’t matter.

Considering the thickness of the steel door, it was made of steel plates thick enough for a tank.

‘Where on earth did she get something like this?’

With every passing moment, Amon became more curious about the identity of the orphanage director.

Anyway, since the room was practically a safe, it was safe to say that even if the nun fell asleep, Jimmy wouldn’t be able to escape.

Amon nodded goodbye to the sleeping nun and continued on to the bathroom.

Drip, drip, drip…

After refreshing himself and relieving the moisture in his body, Amon made his way back to his room.

On the way, he passed by the isolation room once again.

The nun was still asleep.

Amon gave a nod as a goodbye that wouldn’t be received and proceeded on his way.

Just then, a voice came from inside the room.

“Amon. Is that you?”

It was Jimmy.

Not the strange, alien voice typical of a possession, but the pure voice of Jimmy.

Amon stopped in his tracks and turned back toward the door.

“How did he know? Jimmy called out to Amon from the other side of the door.

“I’m free from possession now. I’m really hungry, so could you open the door for me?”

“I’m so hungry that I could eat a whole cow.”

Amon narrowed his eyes.

Then, without saying a word, he flipped Jimmy off through the door.

Suddenly, Jimmy fell silent.

From that reaction, Amon was certain.

“I’ve never seen a possessed spirit colluding with a human before.”

Amon spoke to the door as if Jimmy could hear him.

In typical possessions, there’s a struggle for control between the original owner of the body and the spirit.

Because of this, the spirit usually goes through a process of weakening the original owner’s mind and body to possess them more easily.

However, there are rare cases where the original owner and spirit coexist harmoniously.

Just like in shonen manga, where the spirit earns the original owner’s approval and they suddenly reconcile, or they become friends after using their bodies together, or sometimes the spirit was just a kind soul all along.

Of course, not all relationships are filled with hope.

Sometimes both the original owner and the spirit are complete bastards, and they get along just fine.

Amon believed that Jimmy fell into that latter category.

The proof was that, with a thick steel door in between, Jimmy still knew it was Amon passing by.

It was evidence of possession.

The fortunate thing was that both Jimmy and the spirit had rather low intelligence, which made it clear they were aware of the possession.

No one would fall for such fools.

Amon didn’t feel the need to pay them any attention and tried to return to his room.

Then suddenly, a curiosity sparked within him, and he asked Jimmy and his soul mate,

“How did you two become friends? With so many spirits entering the body, it must have been hard to get close.”

No answer came back.

But Amon knew an easy way to make the spirit of the grudge speak.

“I’ll hold a ritual for one person on a first-come, first-served basis.”

It’s ambiguous whether the word ‘ritual’ exists in America, but the spirits understood the nuance.

Perhaps because they were all focused on appeasing their grudges, a response came immediately.

One of the youngest spirits spoke up.

You said you would help us possess you. Since it’s too cramped for many to inhabit one body, we accepted.

“Aha. So Jimmy suggested it first?”

Yes.

Amon nodded.

Right.

This is how Jimmy should be.

‘Jimmy, I’ll revise my evaluation of you.’

Jimmy wasn’t a bastard.

He was a naturally great ship.

‘Oh, that’s a good thought. Good thought.’

A curse that nearly slipped out was barely held back, and Amon crossed himself.

‘Inner peace. Strong as a river…’

While silently singing a hymn, he suppressed his anger.

Only after finding inner tranquility did Amon promise the spirit of the grudge that he would hold the appeasement ritual and tried to leave.

But someone caught Amon’s foot.

An old spirit, borrowing Jimmy’s voice, spoke behind Amon.

Aha…

The voice, cavernous like a cave, mixed with Jimmy’s voice as it flowed out.

Amon ignored it and moved his feet.

The old spirit, undeterred by Amon’s attitude, continued speaking.

Your eyes are truly clear.

They belong to one who seeks wisdom, having no interest in vanity or fame.

Aha. Are you not curious about the afterlife? Are you not curious about the truth of this world?

He was not curious at all.

Having already experienced the ending of the light path and met the goddess after passing through the afterlife, there was no reason to be curious.

Moreover, how could a being that roams the Nine Spirits due to not being able to ascend know about the afterlife?

Thus, Amon had no reason to listen to the spirit’s words.

But he was curious.

What the foolish spirit would ramble on about.

How a fool would try to entertain him.

So, he stopped his feet and turned back toward the door.

The old spirit took Amon’s behavior as curiosity and began to spout false truths.

It is said that people go to the afterlife after death.

But most humans cannot go to the afterlife because they lack sufficient rank.

To move on to the next world, one must stay in the Nine Spirits and build up enough rank, said the spirit.

“I will raise your rank.”

Typically, obtaining such rank in this life requires long training.

However, the old spirit was on the threshold of ascension.

Therefore, if Amon could open this door, he promised to show him that moment of ascension.

Not only that.

He even whispered that he would bestow upon Amon the truths and wisdom of this world learned after death.

While the spirit was tempting Amon, Amon’s shoulders trembled.

The spirit mistook this for a common reaction seen in seekers of wisdom who have witnessed fragments of truth.

The truth was that Amon was struggling to hold back laughter.

‘Clowns don’t realize they are clowns, hence they genuinely amuse people.’

It was a situation reminiscent of a phrase he had heard somewhere.

Was the spirit trying to make Amon laugh to death? The spirit, excited, began to share a taste of some false truth with Amon.

“Aha. You don’t need to live kindly in this world.”

Amon stopped holding back his laughter.

What the heck was this spirit trying to say?

Amon lent his ear to the spirit’s words.

The spirit continued, mistaking Amon’s attention as interest.

Things like virtue are merely false values created by the rulers to control people.

This world doesn’t operate on karma or anything like that.

The world functions purely as a sophisticated system.

Good and evil have no influence on that system.

“…How can I believe that?”

Because I have seen it.

There is no god in this world, and it merely operates as an intricate system.

Clunk.

At that moment, something snapped in Amon’s mind.

His head lowered, and a shadow fell across his face.

He said nothing and quietly unlocked the door to the isolation room.

By the time the nun, who had been sleeping beside him, awoke to the clatter, the lock had already been opened.

Before she could admonish Amon, the thick iron door swung open.

Through the opening, Jimmy, with a sardonic grin, appeared.

The nun stood in shock, trying to protect Amon.

Jimmy looked at Amon, who was bowing his head, with pity.

“Was it that shocking?”

It would be. Nothing hurts more than seeing the virtues you’ve believed in your whole life being denied.

“Aha. But don’t worry. You are still young. I will whisper the truth to you”

Jimmy halted mid-sentence as he noticed Amon’s hand.

In Amon’s hand was a scripture.

But if it were just being held, Jimmy’s gaze wouldn’t have been drawn there.

The reason the gaze was directed there was simple.

Amon’s hand was shaking, as if filled with various emotions.

A question mark appeared over Jimmy’s head.

It was difficult to read the emotions behind that tremor.

Because of that, his reaction was slow until Amon came right up to him.

Jimmy’s eyes followed Amon’s hand, which lifted the scripture.

The scripture was angled toward Jimmy.

If he looked just a bit down, Amon’s forearm, swollen to the point of bursting with veins, was visible.

Lower still, Amon glared at Jimmy with a face that seemed to kill a malevolent spirit.

Ah…Aha…

To the foolish spirit, Amon shouted in a voice loud enough to wake everyone in the orphanage.

“This blasphemous being

The scripture split the spirit’s world in half.