A Sudden Encounter
So now I'm getting tangled up with him too.
On my way back after finishing the Tower, my mind was a tangled mess of thoughts as I recalled the princess.
I can't feel the princess puppet at all.
I had considered the possibility of her coming out with me when I left the Tower, but there was absolutely no sign of her presence anywhere.
And it wasn't just the princess.
The pillbug puppet is the same.
The pillbug puppet I had embedded in the high priest's heart was also completely out of range of my senses.
It's one thing for the princess, but for the pillbug to be undetectable...
Was it because it was embedded inside the high priest's body? I would need to investigate this further.
Just then, I heard footsteps approaching from ahead.
I looked up to see Seo Harin running toward me in a panic.
"Ha Yuna!"
"Huh?"
"You just cleared the tenth floor, didn't you?!"
"Y-yes?"
I tilted my head, bewildered by the sheer urgency on her face. What was wrong with her?
"Did you not stop to think that clearing the tenth floor at the exact same time as the Transcendental would expose you?"
Ah.
My face slowly froze.
S-she was right. I hadn't thought about that at all.
Seo Harin stared at me with an exasperated expression and let out a long sigh.
"You tell me to cover up your information for your own sake, and then you go and make a blunder like this?"
I had put on such a grand, confident act in front of her, yet I had completely overlooked this. I hated my painfully average brain.
"W-what should I do?"
"...*Sigh*, you won't get caught just from this one time. It's not like there are only one or two people in the world challenging the tenth floor."
People wouldn't immediately jump to the conclusion that an E-rank Hunter was the one breaking the records. Seo Harin was just an anomaly. In fact, if I hadn't panicked, she might not have even noticed.
"But if it happens a second, third, or fourth time, people will start to get suspicious."
Well, that was a relief. Next time, I would make sure to take precautions after clearing a floor.
Maybe I should hang out in the Puppet Workshop for a bit before leaving.
If I was inside the workshop, it would probably look like I was still inside the Tower anyway.
I should start from the Puppet Workshop before entering the Tower next time.
That way, even when the Tower run ended, I would emerge inside the workshop. I could just spend that time crafting puppets before heading out.
"Thanks, Harin."
When I offered my gratitude, Seo Harin narrowed her eyes and studied me.
"It really is strange. You were so incredibly ambitious when you were blackmailing me, yet normally you're so soft. Shouldn't you just pick a lane?"
She wasn't wrong, but...
"Both of those are just parts of who I am."
I couldn't help being this way. At first, I had struggled a lot with my identity.
Originally, I was neither a girl nor a teenager. I was a man who had lived as an adult, a functioning member of society. That was why, when I first became Ha Yuna, I felt incredibly confused. My occasionally(?) timid side, my clumsy moments like today—I kept doing things I would never have done when I was an adult.
It was probably just the inherent nature of the original Ha Yuna. But that Ha Yuna was also me. Just as I had accepted being Ha Yuna over the past fourteen years, I was Ha Yuna now, and I would continue to be Ha Yuna in the future.
That was why I could answer her so easily.
"There's nothing sadder than denying who you are."
"..."
Seo Harin fell silent, staring at me. A flicker of complex emotions crossed her eyes.
"...Denying."
She muttered the word to herself, her expression turning complicated. What was with her?
"Harin, is something wrong?"
When I asked gently, she stared at me for a long moment.
"Nothing. I was just wondering how someone who looks so soft can possess such a resilient mind."
"Do I seem resilient to you?"
That sounded an awful lot like a compliment. Ahem. I couldn't help but feel a little proud.
"Yes. I've dealt with many adults through my work, and not many of them have a mind as strong as yours."
She leaned in slightly closer to my face.
"So I'm curious. Just how much can that mind of yours endure?"
She was a member of the Hunter Management Association's Special Administration. Seo Harin had entered that world while hiding her real age. She must have gone through a lot while being raised in that environment. Frankly, I doubted it was a healthy upbringing. A child's life had been dictated by adults. The thought of it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Could Harin's narcissism be...
Perhaps it was an unconscious defense mechanism against her environment. By believing that she was the one using the adults rather than being used by them, she protected her own sanity. If that was the case, her hatred for adults made perfect sense.
"Harin, I'm not anyone special."
I didn't know how she viewed me, but I knew our relationship couldn't keep going like this.
"I'm just an ordinary kid you can find anywhere."
Seo Harin snorted.
"An ordinary kid who shatters Tower records, is best friends with the S-rank Hunter Yoo Chaerin, and recently befriended Hwa Yeonhwa, the youngest daughter of the Hwaseong Group?"
"That's just how other people see me."
Who I was hadn't changed much from the past to the present.
"Chaerin, Yeonhwa... in the end, it's the people around them who make them special. They're just fourteen-year-old kids like me. And..."
My gaze locked onto Seo Harin.
"You're the same, Harin."
A sixteen-year-old girl. Seo Harin was also just a girl who could have lived a normal life.
Seo Harin's eyes widened slightly. She realized that my words were directed at her. Her brow furrowed, showing her displeasure.
"What do you think you know about me to talk like that?"
"I don't know anything."
To me, Seo Harin was just the person destined to become 'Pride' of Axion in the future. Naturally, I didn't know her deeply.
"That's why I'm only talking about the Seo Harin I see right now."
People often judge others as they please. I was no different. But those arbitrary impressions always changed once you actually spent time with the person. Just like how I viewed her, and how she viewed me. Eventually, the day would come when those views would change.
Come to think of it, Seo Harin was deeply involved with the government. She might know something about the National Intelligence Service, which my dad used to be a part of.
But it's still too early.
Seo Harin didn't fully trust me yet. Building that trust would take time and effort.
If possible...
I wanted to prevent Seo Harin from joining Axion too. Spending time with Chaerin, Yeonhwa, and Harin had given me a vague idea of what kind of group Axion really was. In the end, Axion was just the desperate cry of children in pain. I didn't want that to happen. I still believed that society should protect its children.
Meanwhile, Seo Harin stared at me in disbelief before taking a step back.
"Why is a fourteen-year-old brat trying to lecture her older sister?"
"We're the same age right now."
"The years we've lived are different. The years."
It seemed Seo Harin really wanted to be treated like the older sister.
"Whatever. Talking to you feels like a pointless argument. It's exhausting."
Was it?
"Well, I actually enjoy talking to you, Harin."
"...That's exactly what I mean."
Seo Harin gave me a displeased look before turning around.
"Anyway, be careful. You should be more aware of your own situation."
"Thanks for coming all this way to check on me."
"Keep your cheap gratitude. I only did it because it would be a pain for me if something happened to you."
With that, Seo Harin walked away. Watching her retreating figure, I realized that night had already fallen.
Come to think of it, the other kids must have already returned to the dorms. Seo Harin was the exception; school had ended long ago for everyone else. This meant the school was practically empty, save for the nurse who had left just a moment ago.
Shudder.
A sudden chill ran up from my toes, spreading across my entire body. It felt as if a long-haired ghost was about to pop out from behind me at any second. I-I really hate the dark. Ever since I was young, I had an unusually hard time dealing with the dark.
"H-Harin!"
Wait for me!
I ran as fast as I could, but Seo Harin was already out of sight. Where did she go so quickly? Her stride was much longer than my short legs could match. Ah, I was going to have to walk back alone.
I hunched my shoulders and took a cautious step forward, only for a terrifying shadow to flicker across the opposite end of the hallway.
"Hic!"
I let out a tiny shriek and collapsed to the floor, tears welling up in my eyes. I had no choice. I would just have to ask my puppets to carry me.
"You there."
Just as I was about to open the door to the Puppet Workshop, a low, deep voice from behind froze me in my tracks.
Clatter!
Sensing my danger, the puppets instantly poured out from the workshop. They flooded the hallway, radiating intense bloodlust, when—
Zap!
With a sudden burst of sparks, all the puppets froze in unison.
It happened in the blink of an eye. My eyes widened as I recognized the face standing before me.
Namgung Yuon. He was here.
Small sparks crackled around him. It was his lightning ability.
Namgung Yuon let out a long, sleepy yawn as he looked around at the puppets surrounding him, all of them completely paralyzed. Seeing this, a realization struck me.
Ah. My compatibility with this guy is the absolute worst.
Namgung Yuon's electricity was fatal to my mechanical puppets. Still, it was good to know. At least I had identified a weakness in my puppets.
Creak.
However, there was one puppet that hadn't been affected by his electricity. The spider puppet slithered out from behind me. Since it was made of an unknown material, it seemed capable of withstanding his current.
Namgung Yuon glanced at the spider puppet, then looked back at me.
"I didn't mean to scare you. Sorry."
"N-no, it's fine."
It looked like he had fallen asleep somewhere and missed the dismissal bell. Feeling embarrassed about how easily I had been startled, I brushed myself off and stood up. Namgung Yuon was quietly staring at the puppets.
I braced myself, expecting him to call them creepy like Chaerin had, but he asked an entirely unexpected question instead.
"Can you make humans too?"