The Freak Show Foreman

"Now, is it safe?"

The girl almost fell asleep, feeling a sense of relief spreading through her body.

What barely held her consciousness together was a chilling voice that came from beside her.

"Wake up. It's not over yet."

The girl, who was about to catch a cold, snapped her eyes open.

Although the monsters that had been chasing her were now gone, it was not a time to relax.

Beyond the alley, the screams and shouts of people still echoed.

A growl, like that of a beast, followed them from behind.

A silhouette, as if it had twisted and broken a human body, cast shadows between the buildings.

And inevitably, a sound of something crunching followed.

The girl missed this morning. Back then, when everyone was suffering from the curse plague, it seemed better than now.

There was hope that things would get better if they endured.

But now, there was nothing.

The girl couldn't even move a finger.

Her mouth remained sealed shut.

Some invisible force was holding onto her body.

The girl looked up at the magician standing beside her.

He was about twice her age, with white hair and pale skin.

Wearing a black dress with a thin cardigan and a red beret on her head.

Her features were sharp and clear, giving her a doll-like beauty.

The girl remembered her.

She was part of the group of the handsome magician who had saved her.

She was the benefactor who saved her from being devoured by her mother.

But the girl couldn't feel any warmth towards Maya.

It was because of the atmosphere she exuded.

There was no emotion on her face, no fear of the appearance of monsters, no anger at the deaths of people.

She just stood there numbly.

Maya's mind remained calm even in the hellish situation.

Her mind organized the information she had gathered from the scenes she had witnessed.

Infected individuals can infect others by coming into contact with them. Infected individuals are not interested in corpses. They only seek the living. The abilities of infected individuals are similar to when they were alive, but they can transform with a purpose if necessary.

Maya's expression did not change as she immersed herself in her thoughts.

Her indifferent attitude felt as eerie as the monsters to the girl who had just lost her parents.

"Uh, Mom…."

Maya looked at the girl trembling with fear.

The fear in her eyes was familiar.

The gaze of ordinary people looking at her.

Maya wanted to ask her.

You were almost killed by your mother, why are you afraid of me?

But she didn't say those words.

She acted according to the 'learned social behavior.'

"Get up. I've released the telekinetic force."

As Maya spoke, the girl fell backward as if pushed.

Because she had been exerting force to move away from Maya.

Maya watched her until she got up from the ground.

There was no other intention.

She just wanted to see if the girl could use her motor functions properly.

But to the girl, her indifferent gaze seemed coercive and oppressive.

The girl quickly brushed off her clothes and stood up.

Maya confirmed that she could walk on her own and pointed to the empty alley.

"Hurry and run. You can make it to the church if you run in this direction."

Maya didn't say it twice.

She walked past the girl and went in the opposite direction of the church.

The girl, hesitating whether to express her gratitude, awkwardly nodded and ran towards the distant church hill.

Maya glanced back for a moment.

She also wanted to follow the girl to the church.

But her feet hesitated to move forward.

At the time when the competition between Wonderstein and Valentina reached its 20th round, she emerged from there.

There was not much she could do there, except for looking at the anxious state of the director, who became precarious with each patient he treated, with a worried gaze.

She envied Valentina.

Unlike her, Valentina could assist the director who was suffering beside her.

Sitting side by side with the director in a friendly manner, she felt an inexplicable cruelty.

She didn't know why she had such thoughts.

It was an emotion Maya had never experienced before.

How should she interpret this?

Many words crossed her mind, but each one was unrelated to her and a lifetime of experiences.

Another scream echoed.

She erased all unlikely inferences from her mind and left only the most plausible candidate.

The answer was clear.

She was the director's disciple.

"Wha—"

Wally expressed some dissatisfaction with her conclusion.

"Quiet. It's not the time to be pondering this now."

Maya harnessed the swirling magic.

"Yeah. I am his disciple."

She looked towards the church again.

There was no need to worry about the Director.

He was wiser and more capable than anyone else.

Besides, there was that saint with a formidable divine power by his side.

With her help… they should be safe.

As his disciple, she had one task.

To fulfill the wishes of her master.

What would he want to do if he was here?

The answer was obvious.

To help people.

Maya cast several illusion spells simultaneously.

Figures of villagers with terrified expressions appeared.

She had confirmed that the infected fell for illusions.

Using these illusions, she would lure the infected.

Maya made the illusionary villagers run behind the real residents being chased by the infected.

The illusionary villagers sprinted through the village street.

Their fearful expressions felt real.

The infected left the residents alone and chased after them.

"Screams!"

"Eating… them!"

"Ugh!"

The terrified residents skillfully leaped over mud puddles and crossed fences in an unbelievable manner, given their physical limitations.

Since they were illusions, they could perform actions that would be impossible in reality.

Maya used illusions to save the residents being chased by the infected every time she saw them.

***

The treatment resumed, and soon people began pouring into the church. At first, I thought they were exhausted and demanding treatment in a stern manner, as if they were waiting in line. However, many of them had already received treatment and seemed shocked and frightened.

I briefly worried that our members had come to the village, but I sent messengers to instruct the soldiers to hold dinner first, knowing they might not necessarily follow my orders. Especially Ella, who might suspect me of plotting something and come looking for me.

But that wasn't the case. The people were talking about their family and neighbors who had turned into madmen. They claimed that these transformed individuals had become monsters craving the blood and flesh of the living. Some even testified that they could deform parts of their bodies and launch attacks.

"Could it be that the curse plague is resurfacing?" Ivanenko suggested, and Valentina shook her head.

"No, it can't be! If that was the case, I would have known immediately! Besides, the curse plague is just a disease causing physical pain; there's no power turning people into demons!"

Valentina was clueless about why people were behaving like this, but with the information they provided, I could quickly figure out what they meant: fanatics.

They were undoubtedly describing fanatics. Throughout the TTT series, various types of enemies were introduced to fit the theme of each installment. Acrobats in TT1, the Matrix in TT2, and fanatics in TT3. The fanatics were followers of Wonderstein, and TT3's story mainly revolved around the conflict between the warriors and the religious cult worshiping Wonderstein.

These fanatics appeared excessively in each stage, portraying ordinary victims influenced by Wonderstein's power. They could control their deformities to some extent and even imitate Wonderstein's abilities like the "Mantula's Knife " or the "Spear of Bonghog."

Why had they suddenly appeared here? The events of TT3 were supposed to take place six or seven years later. Could it be that worshippers were already here, bowing down to me?

The content of TTT was different from what I knew. Even if history had changed, and I, as the cult leader, was present, it was impossible for worshippers who hadn't been created yet to fall from the sky. Something else must be at play.

Recalling the game's content, I remembered how Wonderstein created fanatics through a ritual involving drinking his blood.

"Wonderstein, are you okay?" Valentina asked, breaking my thoughts.

"I'm fine," I replied with a smile, but Valentina's worried expression remained.

"When you were about to collapse and die, you were still smiling like that! It's hard to believe the words of a skilled liar like you!"

While she meant it partly as a joke, her words inadvertently revealed her concern. I decided to make a self-deprecating remark.

"Haha, you're right. How can anyone trust a mage like me?"

Valentina looked visibly flustered.

"Oh… I didn't mean it that way…"

At that moment, a loud thud echoed, and a thick wooden door closed with a latch. The last person from the village had entered, and the gate to the church was locked.

I looked around for Maya but couldn't find her distinctive white hair. A hint of worry crept in; after all, a magician of her caliber should easily handle fanatics. If only the status bar had recovered, I could use the new ability gained at a Fame level of 150.

While I was feeling uneasy, a young man walked forward.

"Wait a minute!"

All eyes in the crowd focused on him. The soldier next to me recognized him as the messenger sent to the circus.

"Weren't you the messenger from the magician's circus?"

"Yes, that's correct. Please listen, everyone! I witnessed something terrible there."

As he explained, a sense of dread enveloped me. Fanatics were talking about how fun it would be to cook and kill people.

"A horde of monsters?"

"Was your circus a monster circus?"

Ivanenko and the soldier stared at me in horror. Upon hearing the young man's words, I realized it was a line from the script.

I calmly laughed, trying to convey how absurd this misunderstanding was.

"So, are you saying that you are a member of a monster circus?"

The majority of the villagers loosened up, but the messenger and Ivanenko still seemed skeptical.

"So, it's true that you have monster members?" Ivanenko asked, and I had to clarify the misunderstanding.

"Yes, but they are just people with slightly unusual appearances."

"Well, that's right! But why do they have such peculiar looks? Have you ever heard of 'Cursed Ones'?"

The young man shouted to the villagers. Most couldn't understand what he was talking about. The Curse Plague was a terrifying rumor they had heard, and the symptoms and aftermath of the disease were well-known to the villagers.

The young man seemed to revel in the revelation of a great secret.

"The Curse Plague has symptoms, a mortality rate, and severe consequences even if you survive. There's a high probability of infertility, and even if you manage to conceive, there's a serious problem."

As he spoke, an uneasy feeling crept over me.

"Even if you survive the Curse Plague, there's a high chance of becoming infertile. The deformities caused by the Debulroots can be a significant issue. But above all, it's a severe problem if you get pregnant. Or rather, it's even more serious."

He took a gulp, as if relishing the attention.

"The children of those affected by the Curse Plague are highly likely to be born as deformities. At best, they may be dwarfs or have a mild skin disease. Usually, they have multiple limbs, or their appearance is so gruesome that it's not from this world."

Shock and horror spread across the faces of the villagers. Privately, I bit my lip.

Curse Plague, Debulroots, monster members. Could it be that everything was connected in this way?