Can't I Just Confess Straight Up? Principal or Trap?
Just confess right away? Whether it's the Principal or not. Whether it's a trap or not.
There are a few ways to tell them apart.
The most effective one is...
'Just ask.'
I moved my finger right away.
First, I saved the number under the name "Principal."
The Principal typed and deleted messages over and over.
I could see traces of his hesitation at the bottom of the chat interface.
Probably. But that probably is the correct answer.
The Principal himself, or whoever ordered him to kill me.
One of the two.
Whoever ordered the Principal to kill me isn't an idiot.
So I could be certain. The one sending these messages is 100% the Principal.
If it had been the one trying to kill me sending messages to trick me, they would've mentioned the checkpoint timeline.
To kill a regressor, you have to know about the checkpoints.
That's the only way to break their mind.
The current me has the option to release the checkpoint, but they probably don't know that.
I can use that too.
"I think I gotta go."
"Huh? Suddenly?"
"Sorry. Something came up."
"What is it?"
"...A friend thing."
Ja-an responded to my announcement with a voice full of questions.
But no matter what he said, my chosen course of action wouldn't change.
'No, more than that, it kinda hurts.'
Ja-an and Han Ye-seo's faces looked a bit... suspicious. Like they were asking if I even had any other friends besides them.
'Anyway, I have to go.'
I calculated the risks and rewards.
Any info I could get now was better gotten now.
'And the trade of information.'
I chose one piece of info the Principal didn't know as payment, and I had to extract something beneficial in return.
If not info, money or relics would do.
I'd scrape together everything I could right now.
Ja-an placed a hand on my shoulder.
Ah, this sensation again. I still couldn't get used to it.
The numb senses coming alive, dead nerves reacting.
Hard to put into words.
Maybe because I'd been stabbed in the side at the convenience store, I barely managed to keep my expression steady this time.
"Why?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Can't tell us what it is?"
"...Yeah."
Ja-an nodded.
"Got it. Even with friends, everyone has something they wanna keep secret."
He flashed a grin at Han Ye-seo.
Her cheeks puffed up again, but her expression was decent enough.
...She was being considerate of me.
I whispered softly.
"Thanks."
Ja-an looked a little surprised.
I quickened my steps and left the shop.
Ja-an saw Ivy off and sat back down in front of me.
'The spot where Ivy was just sitting... her butt warmth is probably still there...'
If my calculations were right, Ja-an definitely liked Ivy too.
Can't he just confess straight up?
So frustrating.
'Argh, screw it! Should I just tell her for him?!'
I was thinking that when Ja-an spoke up.
"Ye-seo."
"Yeah?"
"Wanna try this piece of cake?"
What the heck? And that's a crumb off the table! Why eat that?!
I blinked at him in confusion, and Ja-an urged me on.
"Try it. You'll get what I mean right away."
"Uh... okay!"
I picked up the brownie crumb with my fingers. Honestly, it was suspicious. But Ja-an was trustworthy. He wouldn't pull a prank like this. Probably. Uh. Probably?
I popped it in my mouth.
"Urk!"
It had no flavor. Just sweet! Insanely sweet!
So sweet my tongue mistook it for bitter. My tongue felt like it was rotting.
Something was wrong.
"What is this?! I'm complaining...!"
"Calm down. I put it in."
"What?! Put what?!"
"Syrup. On top of the brownie when Ivy wasn't looking, and stuffed a ton inside."
...Why would he do that?
No, more than that... why feed Ivy a brownie loaded with syrup?
'How he even put it in is the real question.' Just sprinkling on top or stuffing inside wouldn't make it this sweet. If even the fallen crumbs were this bad, he'd filled it meticulously.
'One of Ja-an's abilities?'
Ja-an spoke.
"Dulled sense of taste. You can guess what's going on, right?"
"Hold on, you..."
"You've noticed Ivy's been acting weird lately too, haven't you?"
"Ja-an." I hardened my expression.
For a moment, faces from the front lines flashed by.
I'd always acted like an idiot, aiming to live smiling and carefree.
That was my vow, my promise.
The purple-haired bastard in front of me had shattered my goal and vow.
"You better be ready to take responsibility for what you say. Be serious."
"...Ivy might be using drugs."
"Why guess that?" Ja-an's mouth paused briefly.
Speculation...? No solid proof yet.
'If you're throwing out "drugs" on just a hunch, I'll be really disappointed in you.'
As Ivy's potential boyfriend, Ja-an was more than passing grade. Way beyond.
So when I realized Ivy's feelings pointed to him, I was relieved deep down.
But that's that, and this is this.
I'd never give passing marks to someone accusing another of drug use without proof.
That's my principle.
'Ja-an, answer me.'
I thought to myself.
Ja-an's mouth moved slowly.
"I have proof, but I can't tell you."
I scowled for a split second.
His answer was outside my expectations—and not what I wanted.
"You wanna die?"
"...Trust me."
"You call that an answer? 'Ivy's a junkie. It's true. But I can't show proof'?"
Clear killing intent. A feeling I hadn't harbored in ages.
I couldn't control it properly.
Ja-an flinched. His body reacted to the intent first.
Anyone who's seen the front lines does that.
Seeing him like that reminded me of my past self, so I shut my mouth and sank into thought.
Regaining my calm.
I didn't even fully understand why I was mad.
I was just mad.
My precious friend suspecting another precious friend—no, that wasn't reason enough.
I knew better.
His words rang true, so I was faking anger to deny it.
I wasn't actually that mad.
Realizing that, my emotions settled again.
'Is he trustworthy?'
Ja-an was trustworthy.
Everything he'd shown so far was genuine. No masks, no fakes.
Honest, diligent, nosy to a foolish degree—helping others at his own expense.
Truly believed all lives were equal, would sacrifice himself without hesitation to save two others.
Judging by what I'd seen, a real hero drunk on heroism.
Yeah. A hero.
No fancy words needed—he already had the qualifications.
'He's trustworthy.'
Hoo. I took a deep breath.
Ivy's habit must've rubbed off on me.
Ja-an was gauging my mood.
"So? What do you want me to do?"
"Tail her."
"...?"
"Your abilities mean you can tail without getting caught."
"Thing is..."
The real liar here was me.
My ability, Cave Allegory, wasn't shadow manipulation or turning my body into shadow.
It made my body transparent. But in exchange, my body was fixed in place from activation—no moving.
Main body: immobile and transparent.
Instead, I could control nearby light and shadows.
Not physical force, but could fake it.
Black shadows deceiving human senses.
There was one extra effect, but I didn't bother explaining.
Complete detection within a small radius. Just auxiliary for handling light/shadows. Short range. Useless for tailing.
I slowly explained my full ability to Ja-an.
He was trustworthy. I trusted my judgment.
Thus, I trusted Ja-an, whom my judgment trusted.
Simple logic.
"...Hmm."
Ja-an fell silent after hearing my ability.
My ability couldn't tail. Limited detection only around my transparent body. That's it.
And I couldn't move while active.
Anyone knowing the ability would know counters naturally.
Like area attacks if shadows twitch.
After pondering, Ja-an said,
"Can that ability hide me too?"
"Huh?"
"Leave getting close to you. Can you cover me with your ability?"
"Transparency's only for me. Covering... probably shadows over you. Risk of detection. Not perfect."
Ja-an nodded.
"That's enough."