Red Yellow Red - Part 2
I just wanted to run away. If that wasn’t possible, I wanted to faint on the spot. The wish Irina’s secretary was praying for was extremely simple.
“What did you just say?”
But that woman wouldn’t allow either running or fainting. She couldn’t. Neither losing consciousness nor moving from her seat. Staring into those terrifying eyes left her completely unable to do anything. She almost wished Irina would just beat her like she did the villains. Her body would hurt, but at least her mind would be at peace.
“I said, what did you just say?”
Irina rose from her seat and strode forward. The secretary’s heart froze solid. Terror carved itself deep into her bones. It felt like death itself was breathing down her neck.
“Last chance. I’ll ask again. I’ll ask you again, okay?”
At those words, the secretary’s face turned deathly pale. The single most dangerous moment when dealing with this woman was when she switched from casual speech to polite, formal language.
“What… what did you just say?”
She had to answer. Yes, she needed to answer, but fear had sealed her mouth shut. What if saying it made her body explode while she was still alive? Or maybe she’d simply vanish without a trace? All kinds of horrific possibilities gripped the secretary, clamping her lips together.
Would an ability user really do that? A normal one? Probably not. But the woman standing before her was Irina. The Crazy Yellow Bitch. The one the Association had practically begged and bargained with just to keep under control. Without that effort, she would have torn every villain to shreds. And if something irritated her, that target could easily become someone who wasn’t a villain.
The way she had crushed the Jinhan Group was a perfect example. When she suddenly announced she was infiltrating the back alleys, the secretary had desperately tried to stop her. Irina had stormed off anyway, returned dragging several strange men, and fumed the entire time. The very next day she had charged straight into the Jinhan Group and wrecked the place. Even the secretary had no idea what had set her off.
Though the title was “secretary,” in reality the man’s job was little more than a messenger who reported Irina’s movements to the Association. Or perhaps a buffer who played along with her whims just enough to keep her sane. Those were the actual duties attached to his position.
One thing was certain: the mid-tier conglomerate known as Jinhan had nearly been erased from existence. And not through forced acquisition, merger, or sudden sale. No. Literally. Physically. Without leaving a single trace in this world.
“T-there were… v-villain-looking individuals… causing chaos in the middle of the city.”
“And? Don’t stop talking.”
“Ah, yes. When we arrived on scene, the student Kim Suhyun—Grandpa Kang Minsung’s granddaughter—was there, and…”
“When did I ask about that part? I don’t care if the old man’s granddaughter lives or dies. Skip it.”
Irina’s uncontrolled power begins to leak.
Hsssss—
Whether because she couldn’t control her ability or had simply given up trying, the area around Irina started to burn. The overwhelming pressure crushed down on the secretary’s entire body. The primal fear of standing before an absolute powerhouse. He knew he had to answer, but the words refused to come out.
“Th-the examiner we met before… Baek Seojin… he was there too.”
Clinging to the desperate will to survive, the secretary barely managed to finish his sentence.
“….”
Irina said nothing. Not a single word. For someone who usually spat out whatever came to mind, it was shocking. There was even a saying circulating in the Association: “Silent Irina is dead Irina.” That was how abnormal the current situation was.
“…They touched him. My handsome oppa.”
Some time passed before Irina’s lips finally parted and a faint murmur escaped.
“They touched the one I already marked as mine.”
“I-Irina?”
“It was already disgusting enough that some weird bastards tried to put scratches on him… and now even villain bugs are swarming around?”
With a sharp “Hah!” Irina spun on her heel. She began walking away with heavy, determined steps.
“Irina! W-where are you going!?”
“To crush the bastards who damaged what’s mine.”
“What? N-no! Wait! If you suddenly leave now, then here…”
This wasn’t South Korea. The two of them were currently at a port in Russia. Intelligence had come in that Russian-flagged ships had been cleverly smuggling drugs. As a result, the leadership of both countries had planned a joint investigation through close communication and cooperation.
Originally, it should have been handled by Korean and Russian investigative agencies. But several problems arose during the process. Some of the drug organizations were made up of villains, and the area in question unofficially fell under the influence of one of the Elders.
It was far too dangerous for non-ability users. Disaster was all but guaranteed. On top of that, Russia’s internal situation had created another complication.
“Currently, most of our S-rank ability users have been dispatched to St. Petersburg due to a large-scale Gate incident. With only one available personnel member, if the Republic of Korea could provide support, our nation would be deeply grateful for your assistance.”
In other words, if they sent an S-rank, Russia would repay the favor somehow later. The Korean side accepted the condition and decided to dispatch an S-rank ability user. And as escort for the Korean personnel being sent by the Ability User Association, they had attached none other than Irina.
Of course, the escort mission had only been approved because Irina herself volunteered. She figured there was a chance she might run into an Elder, which sounded fun to her. The woman who usually hated escort duty had actually insisted on coming along.
“…In short, that fat-bellied bastard is scared.”
“Pardon?”
“What’s so scary about a guy who just gropes women’s breasts? So if I just make sure that guy can’t come near this area, my job’s done, right? And after that, I can do whatever I want. There’s no problem with that, is there?”
At Irina’s question, the secretary unconsciously nodded. If his future self had seen that moment, he would have screamed: You shouldn’t have done that. You really shouldn’t have said that.
“Irina? W-where are you going?”
“To remove the problem.”
After saying that, Irina turned and lightly kicked off the ground. In an instant she became a golden flash and vanished beyond the sky. Not long after, a massive explosion erupted in the distance.
The battle had begun between the S-rank ability user Irina and the Elder Alexei—beings also called demigods or half-gods.
“Why the hell is this crazy bitch picking a fight all of a sudden!”
From the Elder’s perspective, he had no intention of getting involved, but he had been struck by lightning out of nowhere.
Trash bastards. If you’re going to do drugs, do them in your own damn country. Why crawl into someone else’s nation, spread that filth, and cause trouble?
“They really are terrible people. How dare they bring drugs into our drug-free Republic of Korea?”
The person who had come over and started chattering away was none other than Kang Hana. The student council president was suddenly acting so strangely that it was almost suspicious. She had been blooming into full conversation mode right beside me—a mere civil servant who wasn’t even a student.
“Because of people like them, we civil servants end up with even more work.”
“That may be true, but it’s completely unrelated to me. They’ll handle it themselves.”
Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position where I needed to worry about police work or drug enforcement. If anything, the fact that we had put Russia in our debt this time was a gain, wasn’t it?
“Um, by the way. Miss Kang Hana. Don’t you have classes to attend?”
“Today is a free period. You don’t need to worry.”
“Then what about student council work?”
“I finished everything in the morning. There weren’t any special agenda items.”
I had been hinting that she should leave because her constant presence was burdensome. Whether she genuinely didn’t understand or was pretending not to, Kang Hana remained firmly planted in place.
“I saw the article a few days ago. The civil servant who stopped a Gate incident this time fought a bloody battle against villains.”
“It wasn’t exactly a bloody battle. We just traded blows at an appropriate level.”
“But the eyewitnesses said something different? They claimed Examiner Baek Seojin did everything.”
No matter how hard I tried not to look, I couldn’t help but see it. Those sparkling eyes of Kang Hana’s and the burdensome gaze pouring down on me. It looked like she wanted something. Like she had something to say. But instead of saying it outright, she was carefully watching my reaction.
Is this about the Silver rank exam? Does she have something she wants to tell me?
No matter how I thought about it, that seemed the most likely. Between Principal Ma Hakjun’s support and my colorful rhetoric toward the Silver students, we had created a somewhat positive change. But there were definitely negative looks and opinions as well. It couldn’t be helped. Not everything could receive only positive reactions.
The place that received the students’ complaints the fastest and in the greatest volume was the student council. They couldn’t overturn the current situation, but they could raise objections. I had wondered several times whether they might be preparing some kind of collective action or trying to find a compromise point in advance.
“You really are an amazing person every time I see you.”
But Kang Hana showed no such signs at all. At this point I was starting to wonder if she had simply run out of things to do and was bored.
“Examiner!”
From far away, Kim Suhyun came running with a bright smile. She had cast off the Genius Fallen into Inferiority Complex trait and had finally awakened as the Red Witch. It was fortunate that the trait carrying such severe penalties had disappeared. And since the Red Witch trait hadn’t been created by villains this time, I felt a little more at ease.
Though I’m still anxious. Very anxious.
What was done was done. I had no choice but to see the good in it. Perhaps awakening as the Red Witch had always been Kim Suhyun’s fate. The important thing was what kind of trigger led to that awakening.
“Hey. Suhyun!”
Kang Hana, who had been beside me, waved at her. During our earlier small talk I had learned that the two knew each other. They had apparently called each other “unnie” and “dongsaeng” in the past, so they must have been quite close.
“Why is Senior here…”
“I was just talking with the examiner for a bit. Are you feeling better now?”
“Ah… yes. Thank you for worrying about me.”
For reference, Kim Suhyun had been forcibly put on two days of rest by Kang Minsung. He had said she must have been very shocked and needed absolute rest for both body and mind. When Principal Ma Hakjun heard the news, he had grumbled, “The doctor says she’s fine, so why are you making more fuss than the patient? Anyway, I wish we could just strip that hero title off you,” which was an added bonus.
“I’m so glad. Really glad.”
Kang Hana smiled brightly and gave Kim Suhyun a light hug. If you only looked up to that point, it seemed like a very affectionate sisterly moment…
Then why was her face suddenly hardening? Suhyun. Please smile. You’re scaring me.