The Black Cross's Judgment
“Yeah… So you’re planning to deny everything till the end, is that it? Fine. Then I’ll just have to use other means.”
Having driven him this far into a corner without getting any meaningful reaction, the girl frowned in irritation. Meanwhile, Il-seong felt like he was dying inside. Who the hell was this guy named Seo-jun? Sure, he’d told plenty of lies while doing this kind of work, but he swore he’d never even heard that name recently. Yet this girl had barged in out of nowhere and was causing this mess. Anger was one thing, but the sheer unfairness of it all made his chest tighten.
The girl, whether she knew his thoughts or not, moved on to her next action.
Flash!
“!!!...”
Gasping for breath, Il-seong stared ahead with anxious eyes, only to freeze in shock. When the girl opened her hand, a small cross suddenly appeared within it. Unlike the pure white crosses from before, this one radiated an inky black light. She grabbed the black cross with a blank expression and approached him, her face hardening with each step. The sight was anything but reassuring, so Il-seong thrashed desperately. But the two massive crosses impaled in his shoulders didn’t budge. They only tore his wounds wider, intensifying the pain.
Meanwhile, the girl’s hand holding the black cross drew closer until it was right in front of his face. Without giving him time to turn away, it slammed straight onto his forehead.
Thud!
“Ugh!!!??! Uwaa… aa… aaaa… ........”
Il-seong convulsed as if electricity had coursed through his entire body, then went limp like a corpse. The girl paid no attention to his reaction. Instead, she grabbed his chin with her other hand and lifted his drooping face upward. The man’s revealed face was completely vacant. His eyes were glazed over, and not a trace of rationality remained on his expression. It was an extreme change compared to the pained grimace he’d worn just moments ago. To an outsider, he looked like a drugged-out wreck, but this was all the girl’s doing.
Confirming that the man’s ego had vanished, the girl’s pure white eyes gleamed as she slowly opened her mouth.
“…I’ll ask one more time. Kim Seo-jun. Where is he?”
Her voice was cold and merciless, devoid of any warmth. Combined with her eerie appearance, the temperature inside the room plummeted. The already dark atmosphere only made the chill feel heavier. Yet beneath that dignified and arrogant tone, an unmistakable anxiety lingered.
At her question, Il-seong’s body convulsed several more times. The muscles around his slightly parted lips began to move slowly. The girl watched with a delighted smile, but her expectations were soon shattered.
“…Don’t… know.”
“?... Huh?”
“I said I don’t know!!! Why are you doing this to me?! Fuck, what the hell did I do wrong?! Those idiot subordinates of mine cause accidents every damn day, the cops are dying to kill me, and now some little brat’s about to finish me off! Shit!!!!...”
Once the dam broke, Il-seong screamed out all the pent-up resentment in his heart. The sudden outburst caught the girl off guard, and she backed away with a dumbfounded look. She hadn’t expected this reaction at all. But even upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem like the hypnosis had worn off. Having vented everything, the man lowered his head again. It appeared the ability to draw out his unconscious inner thoughts had succeeded. In other words, this was his true feelings.
Realizing the situation had veered completely off her predictions, the girl fell into deep confusion. This couldn’t be right. According to the records from the previous world, the Demon King Kim Seo-jun should have made contact with this man and his group around this time. She wondered if the timing was off, but quickly shook her head. In the previous world that no longer existed, she and her companions had conducted long investigations to find the Demon King’s origins. What was his true identity, and where had he started his activities? Researching events that had already passed might seem like pointless suffering, but understanding the roots was necessary to prepare countermeasures.
Based on that investigation, the timing had been pinpointed exactly to this period. If anything, it should have been later, not earlier. Yet the truth before her eyes denied that outright. Her solid belief began to crack, soon overwhelmed by anxiety and doubt.
While the girl groaned in anguish, Il-seong, still under hypnosis, muttered in despair.
“…Ha. If this is how it’s gonna be, those rotten subordinates rotting in jail are better off than me. Fuck… They’re the ones who caused the mess, so why is this happening to me…”
“Huh? Jail? What do you mean? At this point, your subordinates are supposed to be missing, right?”
“What the fuck are you talking about… Missing, my ass… Those guys are in jail right now… Eating prison food together… Damn it. Of all people, they had to get caught by Investigation Team 5, who are thorough as hell…”
At the girl’s question, he poured out his answer as if he’d been waiting for it. But that only raised another question.
‘Around this time, for some unknown reason, most of his subordinates went missing… and the Council’s Investigation Team 5 also suffered major losses around the same period. The exact truth was completely covered up, but someone who commissioned these guys probably eliminated everyone to prevent leaks. In the end, the gang this man led was wiped out, and he barely survived with his life.’
After calmly organizing her thoughts one by one, the girl reached a conclusion. Just like the incident reported in the news, this man’s future had also diverged significantly from the previous world. That meant someone’s interference had artificially altered the flow of the past.
The pieces were slowly falling into place. The resulting truth was quite troubling for her.
‘I expected something like this, but… there’s another being besides me who retains memories of the previous world. Whether it’s the Demon King himself or a third party, I don’t know.’
For now, this was the most plausible theory. She didn’t know what method they’d used, but thanks to it, she’d been completely blindsided. She could no longer track the Demon King’s traces from the previous world. Since everything had started differently from the beginning, the future beyond would also show clear differences.
Seeing that things weren’t resolving as easily as hoped, the girl let out a deep sigh. She had wanted to deal with the Demon King as early as possible in this timeline. Countless enemies would appear in the future, and the ‘Ashen Demon King’ she was targeting had no countermeasure she could use at the moment. Moreover, for the sake of her ‘dear friend’ who had sacrificed her own existence at the very end to create this golden opportunity, she had wanted to achieve meaningful results… But the trail she thought she’d grasped was once again lost in the fog. It was like a fish she’d caught slipping back underwater.
‘It’s a shame to lose him now, but… at least I’ve firmly remembered his name and face. That’s some consolation. Plus, if his whereabouts haven’t fallen into the Council’s hands because the future changed, I’ll run into him at least once in this narrow underworld someday.’
She would aim for that moment. No matter how much he hid his identity, he wouldn’t be able to avoid showing his face even once in this tiny hunter society. To prepare for that moment, she needed to recover her previous strength as soon as possible.
With that thought, the girl broke free from her deep contemplation and moved immediately.
Thud!
“Kuhak!!...”
It was over in an instant. Still clutching the black cross in her small hand, the girl drove it into his heart without the slightest hesitation. With a short death cry, his eyes widened greatly as if the hypnosis had broken, filled with countless emotions. But the dominant one was the emptiness of meeting death so absurdly.
“You didn’t seriously think you’d survive after seeing my face and abilities, did you? Anyway, even if you lived, you’d only cause harm to others. Killing you here is better for the world.”
The girl looked down at him with eyes devoid of even the slightest warmth. In contrast, his already cold body twitched once before going limp. Having finished her business, the girl turned away without a shred of regret and left the room.
The corridor connected to the room was swallowed in deep darkness. Yet the corpses of people collapsed everywhere were vividly visible. They all shared one thing: their eyes were wide open, faces blank as if they had no idea what had happened. And the only external wound on each of them was a black cross embedded in their hearts.
The girl, who had calmly exited the building filled with a chilling aura, had already returned to her original state. Ordinary black hair and black eyes. She fiddled with her long hair for a moment, then turned her gaze to the blue window that appeared before her eyes as she opened her mouth.
“Status Window…”
The girl partially summoned her status to check her current condition. The numbers were noticeably more pitiful compared to before. Especially her level, which had taken weeks of desperate effort using every method possible to raise even this much. It was clear that recovering her original strength would take quite a long time.
‘By the way… fourteen years old. I really have gotten a lot younger. At this age, I was just a clueless little kid. The good old days when I had no idea what was going to happen… It’s almost a distant memory now.’
After briefly reminiscing about her past self, the girl quickly shook her head. There was no point in thinking about it now. What mattered was the present. To prevent the tragedies that would occur in the future, she had no time to rest.
After organizing her thoughts for a moment, the girl pulled out her phone from her pocket. Numerous missed calls appeared on the screen, which she had set to silent. She frowned slightly upon seeing the caller, but still pressed the call button and brought the phone to her ear.
“Miss Seo-jin!!! Where on earth are you?! You suddenly disappeared and now everything’s in chaos! The chairman has been grilling me nonstop… Please save me. At this rate, I’m really going to get fired……”
The call connected immediately, and a man’s voice mixed with relief and fear came through. Though she had expected it, the intense reaction made Seo-jin break into a cold sweat as she opened her mouth.
“…I clearly texted that I was just going for a walk alone. And I told you to keep quiet so no one would know. Isn’t it Secretary Kim’s fault that it got exposed in the first place?”
“That’s really too much! What power do I have to fool the chairman’s countless eyes… Just kill me instead. It’s good to see you’ve awakened your abilities recently and become more active, but… this is a bit much. At least if you’re going outside, take me with you!”
At Secretary Kim’s screams coming through the phone, Seo-jin rubbed her throbbing forehead. This had been a problem lately. She remembered that overprotectiveness was especially severe at this time, but she hadn’t expected it to be to this extent. No matter what she tried to do, countless eyes and bodyguards followed her, driving her to the brink of madness.
“Aah. Anyway, that’s enough. What about the thing I asked you to do before? Did you get Dad’s permission?”
“Again, again with changing the subject… Are you talking about the academy matter? No, how am I supposed to handle that alone… You already have a school you attend. I did ask, but the result is as expected. It’s beyond me. You’ll have to persuade him yourself, Miss.”
“Ha… So that’s how it is. Well, I expected as much. Alright. I’ll head back now, so don’t worry too much and wait.”
“Wait!!! At least tell me where you are right now…”
Click.
Before his screams could continue, Seo-jin quickly hung up. She felt sorry for him, but she couldn’t tell him where she was either. The GPS function on her phone was already turned off. If she got caught later, she’d get a huge scolding, but she could just say it happened by accident.
Putting the phone back in her pocket, Seo-jin looked up at the sky. To prepare for the disasters ahead, she needed to grow stronger starting now. And to level up effectively and legally at this age, she had no choice but to enter ‘that place’ earlier than planned. It was a place she was originally supposed to enter three years later… but in this world, she needed to advance the schedule.
With her resolve renewed, she calmly walked out of the alley swallowed in darkness. Though it didn’t show on the surface, the future of the world had once again veered in an unpredictable direction.