The Senior's Secret
It was midnight, and yet the streets of Black Road were still buzzing with life. Crowds streamed past in both directions, and here and there I even caught glimpses of deals being struck with genuine fervor. Honestly, it was pretty fascinating. This was my first time setting foot on this street, after all.
Click. Click.
Senior Seolhwa walked ahead without a word. Being something of a celebrity, she drew the occasional glance, and a few people even came up asking for an autograph. She declined politely, of course — we were on duty.
Has my ability recovered a little?
Last night I'd needed physical contact to hear someone's thoughts. Now I could pick them up just by being nearby. So it seemed my power had come back to some degree — enough that I could hear Senior's inner voice. An anxious, trembling thought still surfaced now and then, but on the surface she looked perfectly composed. What was she so worried about? I honestly had no idea.
Click.
Senior's footsteps stopped. She'd halted at the mouth of an alley. There were shops scattered along it, but compared to the street we'd just come from, it was sparsely populated. Senior Seolhwa pointed down the alley and spoke.
"You need to be careful of places like this, Assistant Lee Jihun. Alleys like these are where villains are most likely to appear."
She was my senior, after all — looked like she intended to teach me properly. I nodded, slipping into the role of a diligent student.
"Do villains really show up in alleys like this a lot?"
"It's not that alleys themselves are dangerous. The merchants of Black Road and their regular customers each have their own private information networks. How does this alley look to you, Assistant Lee Jihun?"
"It's quiet. That might just be because it's an alley, but unlike the shops we passed earlier, there aren't many people around either."
"Exactly. In a place as lively as Black Road, a stretch with no foot traffic is a red flag. It could mean a villain showed up to make a deal — and was spotted."
That was actually useful. She really was trying to teach me properly, being my senior and all. The thought currently running through her head, however, was filthy beyond belief.
Ah... if we had sex in an alley...
"..."
I quietly pretended I hadn't heard a thing.
"All right. Let's move on to the next location."
"Uh... so we're just leaving this place as is?"
"It's only a guess, after all. Even if we had solid intel, unless we can pinpoint a villain's exact location, it's better to leave things alone. Can you guess why?"
"Because of the collateral damage from a standoff."
Awakened or not, they were still superhumans. When superhumans fought each other, the surrounding area wasn't going to come out unscathed. In a place this packed with people, minimizing confrontations was the smarter call.
I resumed the patrol with Senior Seolhwa. Nothing much happened, though. Then again, incidents weren't exactly a daily occurrence. Maybe the villains were lying low because an S-Rank Awakened like Senior Seolhwa was making the rounds. The mere presence of an S-Rank was enough to drive villain terrorism rates into the dirt.
"Let's head back."
"Yes."
It was 2:20 in the morning. Shift change. I headed toward the entrance with Senior Seolhwa. The patrol continued even on the way back — not retracing our steps so much as taking a wide loop around.
Click.
That was when it happened. Senior Seolhwa stopped at a certain side street.
"..."
"Senior?"
"Let's take a different route."
"Sorry?"
I looked at her, puzzled. Senior Seolhwa kept her poker face as she spoke.
"There's something called a Safe Zone within Black Road."
"And that's that street over there?"
"Yes. Every transaction that takes place in a Safe Zone is fully legal, so the odds of a villain living there are extremely low."
"But they could use that very fact to hide—"
Ordinarily I would have just nodded along by this point, but Senior Seolhwa's reaction was off. More precisely, her inner voice was.
I can't go there...
A voice that sounded like she was desperately trying to avoid that street.
"The odds of that are almost zero. There's a reason a Safe Zone is a Safe Zone. Each one has its own guardian."
"Are they Guardians too?"
"No. They're merchants. Merchants with skills that rival a Guardian's, though."
It looked like she was giving me another tip, same as before — but I could tell. That was the place. There was something down that street she didn't want me to find.
"If you're ever on patrol in Black Road and something dangerous happens, run straight to a Safe Zone. You'll be all right there, at least. Now let's head back."
"Yes."
I nodded and followed her. She could say whatever she wanted — I'd heard her inner voice, so I knew the truth. Odds were I'd never be assigned to patrol Black Road again.
Still, I'm curious.
We were on patrol right now, so I couldn't go down that street. But I planned to check it out tomorrow. If my hunch was right, Senior Seolhwa's secret was waiting down there.
Five o'clock the following evening. After clocking out of the Magic Tower, I found myself back at Black Road. Naturally, I intended to check out the street I hadn't been able to visit yesterday. There was just one problem... my mind-reading had gone silent again.
Why?
I'd been sure it had recovered last night, but starting this morning, people's voices had grown fainter and fainter until they vanished entirely. I had a pretty good idea why, though.
The reason it recovered yesterday was probably...
My ability activated on its own. More precisely, I had no idea how to control it — I couldn't turn it on or off. Which meant it had recharged while I was resting after leaving work early yesterday, and I'd burned through that charge last night until it switched itself off again. Either way, the only real solution was to learn how to control it. Not that standing here thinking about it was going to solve anything, so I started walking.
The place was definitely...
Fortunately, Black Road was large but not complicated. Every intersection had a map that clearly marked your current location. I stepped onto the street Senior Seolhwa had been so reluctant to enter yesterday.
It looks pretty ordinary...
How to put it? There were fewer people than on the other streets, but the goods on display were... normal? For a stretch of Black Road, where illegal deals were sold out in the open, this street was remarkably mundane. Ordinary restaurants, cafés, and an adult toy—
"...!?"
My eyes flew wide. An adult toy shop. Or more precisely, a familiar figure visible through the glass of the shop's entrance. If I wasn't mistaken, that was definitely a real doll.
No way...
A bell chimed as I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Passing the counter at the entrance, I headed straight for the doll. It wasn't the silver-haired, blue-eyed figure I knew, of course. This one was a bit smaller, with blonde hair and crimson eyes, and a faintly seductive look about her. How to describe it... a vampire vibe, maybe? She was dressed in an SM latex outfit that left very little to the imagination, apparently displayed to show off the costume.
Just in case, I quietly reached out and touched the doll's finger.
I knew it...
The texture was the same. That silicone-rubber feel I'd gotten when Senior was in her doll form. I was certain now. This was where she'd bought the doll.
That was when it happened.
"Excuse me?"
"!?"
I spun around, startled. A woman was looking at me with curious eyes. She was beautiful, almost otherworldly — like a fairy. Blue hair, sky-blue eyes, and an exotic face that didn't look Korean in the slightest. She regarded me with a gentle smile.
Ah...
That foreign appearance told me immediately. She was an Awakened. And a powerful one, at that. It was well known that an Awakened's body changed under the influence of mana. I tensed up without meaning to, stumbling over my words.
"Y-yes?"
This was no ordinary Awakened. At the very least, she was on Senior Seolhwa's level. There was a reason Senior Seolhwa's eyes were blue — it was proof of the immense mana she carried. I swallowed hard, my face tight with nerves.
"Um... is something the matter?"
"I was just wondering if there was something you were looking for."
"Sorry? Ah..."
Looking closer, I spotted a red logo on the pink apron she was wearing.
She was either the owner or an employee.
"Ah, well, the thing is—"
"Are you interested in this product, perhaps?"
As she said it, she stepped in front of the doll and pointed at the SM outfit it was wearing. A little embarrassed, I shook my head.
"Ah, no, that's not it. Um... do you happen to sell anything like a doll costume? Something you can wear?"
"Pardon?"
Her eyes widened in surprise. Then a faintly suggestive look crept into them. She smiled faintly.
"Ah. So you're one of those customers."
"Those?"
"Yes. Would you like me to show you, if that's what you're after?"
"..."
I swallowed.
What should I do? Should I take the tour? No — there was nothing to think about. I'd come here to find out about that very thing. I nodded.
"Yes, please. I'd appreciate that."
"Hehe. Right this way, then. Follow me, would you? Ah, before that."
She started rummaging through a pocket on her apron.
Click.
A small click sounded, and then—
Bzzzzzz.
"...?"
A vibration started up from somewhere. It was so faint I couldn't tell where it was coming from.
"I'll show you the way, then."
"Ah, yes."
I followed her toward the second floor, a slightly uneasy feeling in my gut. And there, on the deserted first floor, the doll I'd taken for a mannequin gave a quiet twitch of its legs.
Twitch. Twitch.