Oppa’s a Bit Crazy, Isn’t He? - 1
“So what you’re saying is, someone tried to bury me socially?”
“I didn’t put it that way, but isn’t that exactly what it looks like? A hundred percent, in my book.”
She was right. Even from my perspective, it was a hundred percent. A civil servant committing sexual harassment? That wouldn’t end with a slap on the wrist from the department. The reporters would swarm like sharks smelling blood, and the headlines would be enormous. From what I’d heard, they’d even fabricated an outright sexual assault. It made a DUI look like a parking ticket. My life as a public servant would be over, and my entire life along with it. This was an underwater operation designed to completely destroy the person known as Baek Seojin.
“You really are a strange oppa. Why do all the weirdos flock to you? Do you give off main-character pheromones or something?”
The actual main character is Lee Hyunwoo, so this feels pretty unfair. The Elders went to him, and now even you? My skin was practically crawling. Hyun Sujin was one thing, but Irina was on another level of terrifying. At least she was an ability user and not a villain. If she had been a villain, then probably…
‘The world would have ended up drowning in mint chocolate.’
Her tension was impossible to predict, and she was a hardcore mint-choco supremacist. In every way, she was certifiably insane. The villains really knew how to pick nicknames.
“Oppa. Any guesses who it might be? Sounds like you’ve racked up quite a few grudges.”
“Hmm. I have people I hold grudges against, but I don’t think there’s anyone who—”
Wait. There was. Now that I thought about it, it had to be recent. The kind of guy I had in mind would absolutely stoop to these methods. And he had the backing to pull it off, so it wasn’t exactly a stretch.
“Your face says there is someone, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah. Seems like it.”
“Who? And why would they do something like this?”
“Actually, I recently demoted a student from Gold to Bronze at the Academy.”
“Ehhh? Ah—pfft! Bwahahahaha!! Ahahahaha!!”
At my answer, Irina suddenly clutched her stomach and burst out laughing. For someone who called herself an ultra-beauty, that laugh was way too rough. She was cackling like a complete madwoman.
“Um, Irina?”
“Ahahaha! This is fucking hilarious!! Ehehehe! Demoted to Bronze!! He said Bronze! Bwahahaha!!”
It sounded strangely unnatural hearing “fucking hilarious” come out of a Westerner’s mouth so naturally. I knew her soul was more Korean than anyone else’s, but it still threw me off. At the same time, she delivered it with such perfect rhythm that it somehow suited her.
“No way! How did that even happen?! A Gold student got dropped to Bronze?”
“The kid was acting incredibly arrogant. So I sparred with him and set conditions. If you win, I’ll do whatever you want. But if you lose, you drop from Gold straight to Bronze.”
Irina looked ready to roll around on the ground laughing. She was laughing so hard that passersby were stopping to stare, wondering what was going on. Because of that, people who hadn’t recognized her at first began gathering. She wasn’t disguised this time and was wearing the official uniform given only to S-rank ability users. Anyone who still couldn’t recognize her at this point wasn’t Korean—they were a spy.
“Irina. People are starting to crowd around us.”
“Ah. This popularity of mine. It’s so exhausting, you know?”
I was starting to wonder if she also had a chuunibyou setting. While I was thinking that, Irina struck poses, generously telling people to take as many photos as they wanted.
“Anyway, if that’s what happened, I totally get it. Wow, from Gold to Bronze? Even I’d want to kill you.”
“That bad?”
“I’m an Academy graduate too, remember? Even if I graduated ridiculously early. Look, if someone volunteered for it, maybe. But that almost never happens. And not even to Silver—to Bronze? Man, even I’d get murderous urges!”
Screeech—!
A car suddenly slammed on its brakes beside us. Before I could wonder what was happening, a person burst out of the vehicle.
“Irina-nim! You need to head to the Association right now! We don’t have time for this!”
“Stop rushing me. I said I’ll go when I feel like it. Keep pushing and I really won’t go at all.”
“T-then the president will actually kill me!”
“It’s fine. At least you won’t die by my hand.”
What the hell was this now? I genuinely couldn’t figure out this woman’s identity. One moment she seemed like a seasoned ability user, the next like a high-school girl still stuck in her edgy phase. Then she’d radiate the overwhelming aura of one of the strongest beings alive.
“Oppa. Truth is, I’m being dragged to the Association right now.”
“Pardon?”
“I told you yesterday. I had a little ‘chat’ with those people. But I got a bit too serious, so they ended up pretty broken. Naturally, the Association president is furious.”
The way she said “broken” sounded a lot like “I half-killed them.” I could roughly understand why the president was angry. They were scum, but not villains, so there was no justification for an ability user to intervene. And not only had she intervened—she’d beaten them into a pulp. It must have created a massive headache.
“So I decided to wear the uniform for the first time in a while. I usually hate it because it’s tacky, but since I’m going to get scolded anyway, I figured I should wear it. How does it look? Good on me, right?”
The black uniform Irina wore was issued exclusively to S-rank ability users. It might look like an ordinary uniform at first glance, but the material was anything but. It was crafted from only the highest-grade monster byproducts.
‘It can block most weapons and magic, right?’
Thanks to that uniform, already powerful S-rank ability users became even stronger. If they could mass-produce and distribute them, it would be ideal. Unfortunately, each set cost an astronomical amount—nearly the Academy’s entire annual budget. The Academy was already extravagant, but this uniform took it to another level.
‘It just shows how vitally important and precious S-rank ability users are.’
Of course, from Irina’s perspective, it was just embarrassing, cumbersome, and uncomfortable. To her, it was apparently nothing more than one of those dark pieces of clothing.
“Irina-nim!! Please, I’m begging you! We only have twenty minutes left!”
“Ugh, seriously. I could run there in five minutes. Stop rushing me! Can’t you see I’m talking to oppa?!”
…Should I make a run for it? The crowd was getting bigger. At this rate, I wouldn’t appear in the news as the sexual-harassment civil servant—I’d appear as the guy standing next to Irina.
Vrrrr—
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, a strange sensation passed through me. It felt like the ground had trembled lightly, but it was so brief I thought I might have imagined it.
“What the— Oppa noticed it too? You really aren’t ordinary. You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
Before I could respond, Irina suddenly stripped off her uniform and tossed it to her secretary.
“Ugh! I-Irina-nim?”
“Put that on and run. Even if something happens, you won’t die.”
“What? What do you mean by—”
Rumble rumble rumble—
The cars that had been moving normally came to abrupt stops. Streetlights and digital billboards flickered out. An eerie noise filled the air as the world itself began to distort violently.
This phenomenon. This sound. Yes. It was exactly what I had witnessed right after my possession.
“W-what? A gate?! But how—the suppressor is supposed to be active!”
“You’re not running? I won’t take responsibility if you get swept up in this.”
At Irina’s words, the secretary threw on the uniform and bolted. That was the correct choice. Non-ability users could die and resurrect a thousand times and still be helpless against gates and monsters. Guns, cannons, missiles? Unfortunately, attacks without ability power were completely useless. That was precisely why ability users had become the most prestigious profession in the world. Even slightly superior ability users looked down on those beneath them.
Rooooooar—
“Ha, damn it.”
Wasn’t there still a year left? Yet the precursor symptoms were already appearing? I tried to recall if there had been a scene like this in the novel, but nothing came to mind. Maybe it was a part that had been skipped because the story focused on the Academy.
Naturally, gate suppressors were installed around the city. Their effective range wasn’t huge, but their effect was certain. Research had shown they reduced the probability of gate generation to under three percent. Thanks to that, gates almost never appeared in crowded areas.
“Irina. Has anything like this ever happened before?”
“No. First time for me too. Maybe the suppressor malfunctioned?”
It was entirely possible. Suppressors became useless the moment their power supply was cut. Their effectiveness was matched only by their monstrous energy consumption. Even villains prioritized power stations as targets, but they never actually followed through.
‘Because they’d end up getting wiped out by the monsters too.’
In the meantime, a black void had formed not far away. That giant maw was the gate itself. Its appearance had completely rewritten the world. For humanity, it was both the descent of hell and the milestone that divided history into a new era.
“Hey, handsome oppa?”
“I’ve told you multiple times, my name is Baek Seojin.”
“Why? You don’t like the nickname? All the other guys loved it. Are you actually a woman pretending to be a man?”
“Let’s just drop it.”
If I kept talking, my insides might explode from pure frustration.
“Anyway, Seojin oppa. Looks like there’s more than one gate. That one looks kinda fun, and the one next to it is a total hotbar. Hmm, how about this? I’ll take the fun one, so you handle the other.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Aren’t you an ability user? This is exactly when you’re supposed to step up.”
“No— I mean, yes, but I’m not a field operative! I don’t even know the gate’s rank!”
Ranks existed among ability users for a reason. Each rank was meant to handle gates and monsters of corresponding difficulty. D-rank for D-rank gates and monsters, A-rank for A-rank gates and monsters. That was why no one could complain even when rank supremacy ran rampant.
“Ah, it’ll be fine. You can do it. From what I see, Seojin oppa, you look like you’d handle it perfectly!”
“Hey! What kind of nonsense are you—”
But Irina didn’t listen. She simply shot into the sky.
Kwaaaaang—!
‘…Did she just stomp once and cause that? The ground is completely wrecked.’
Was she really the same species as me?
Sssssss—
Meanwhile, the gate Irina had called a “hotbar” finally revealed its full form. Soon, monsters would come pouring out from beyond it.
Could I actually do this? The thought flickered through my mind. With the slightest thread of hope, I activated the Third Eye.
ANALYSIS COMPLETE
Manifested Traits: 0
Available Perks: NONE
But not a single trait manifested.
Ah, I’m screwed.