Finals Celebration Party (10)
Nam Da-eun took the shocked Nam Da-hee to watch TV together, while Liliana, bored, plopped down next to us and munched on snacks as she listened in.
"Hmm, where should I start?"
"Info on tomorrow's terror attack."
I'd figured it wouldn't pass quietly, but hearing it was real made my head spin. Why couldn't I just have happiness? Quiet sex, everyone falls for me, harem auto-completes, Demon King dies of a heart attack in his sleep. Was there no such blissful worldline? It felt like all the bad luck piled on me alone. Life was so unfair in every way.
Rebecca pondered my question before slowly opening her mouth.
"The terror attack... well, about that terror. Truth is, I don't know much."
"...What?"
What the hell was this?
"It's being led by a guy named Reinhardt. He's a brute who handles everything with raw power... but that makes him strong."
"Reinhardt... oh, Reinhardt?"
I remembered. A big, muscular white mine. A villain who showed up a few times in the original story. Not great at magic or brains, but pure power—classic tough guy archetype.
"You know him?"
"Yeah. The one whose muscles bulge all over during fights, right?"
"Whoa... baby daddy, where do you get all this Pandemic intel?"
"Classified. But no other details?"
"Nope. Actually, I messed up. They asked for my help with the terror, I refused, and turns out it was tomorrow's. So no specifics."
"Hmmm..."
Rebecca shot me an apologetic look. No need to be sorry.
What a pain.
Already swamped, now prepping for a terror attack too.
"It's fine, disappointing but okay."
Rebecca was probably high up in the ranks. Her abilities and combat power aside, brainwashing meant perfect loyalty. Hiding details was annoyingly thorough.
"Couldn't be helped. Best I could do."
Her guilty expression showed she really cared. With that witchy allure that bewitched people, she had a soft heart.
"No choice. Still grateful for this."
Knowing about the terror versus not—the difference was huge. Get complacent, suffer big. Shame I couldn't coordinate with others to stop it. My Pandemic knowledge was too valuable. Casualties from the attack would prick my conscience... but for the future, this minimized them. Assuming the happy ending, Pandemic vanishes anyway. No happy end? I die regardless.
"Oh yeah, you mentioned centaur info too?"
"Yeah. This one's solid."
"Oh?"
Her confident face suggested real intel this time.
"The centaur uses mana and magic structures never observed before."
"Unobserved mana?"
"Yep. I saw it myself... denser, darker, more sinister than a mine's."
"Sinister mana..."
Mana more sinister than a mine's—what kind? Wait. Centaur's dark mana. Something clicked—
Rebecca continued. "Not perfect info, but... got a feel hanging with baby daddy's girlfriend today."
Swoosh—her gaze shifted to Liliana, munching snacks beside us.
"Huh? Why?"
Liliana, oblivious, grabbed a chocolate cookie with a question mark practically over her head.
"One of baby daddy's girlfriends... has similar mana."
"...I'll explain."
Her gaze moved, memory hit. Liliana's mana—darker than a mine's. Hell's mana.
"Sigh... okay, gotta start with origins."
Succubus girlfriend from hell, same mana as apostles. I slowly explained my connection to Liliana.
* Pandemic didn't operate in groups. Excluding top executives, they acted solo, over half suiciding on capture to withhold info. Non-executives only had basic brainwashing—no deep control. Among executives, the dumb, curse-ridden Reinhardt was plotting with Maestro's mines.
"A frontal assault!"
Reinhardt spread the academy map, puffing his chest proudly. True to his aggressive nature, he proposed a direct charge, but the mines below sweated.
"...Reinhardt-nim. Guards are heavily reinforced."
"Hmph. Then what?"
Mines waited silently as he scowled in thought. Unless brilliant, he'd ignore it.
"...I have a plan."
As eyes darted, a scarred-faced mine raised his hand. Once handsome, now mine-ruined, with weird tentacles sprouting.
"Oh, a plan? Speak."
"Infiltrate one mine into the guards. Create a gap, open entry."
"Hmm... solid. Who's infiltrating?"
One sneaks in, opens path at attack start. Simple, effective. Even with guards, chaos among students achieves goal. But risky—early detection dooms the infiltrator and op.
"Give me the chance. I'll open it, whatever it takes."
"...Fine. If confident, go."
Short deliberation, Reinhardt approved. Felt the mine's burning zeal. Deep hatred and malice even swayed him. Serious commitment—good.
Meanwhile, the bowing mine smirked inwardly.
I'll die throwing myself at them if needed.
Moon Sulin and Lee Ho-yeon. Shin Dong-min, now a mine, lived for them alone.
I finished telling Rebecca about Liliana. Fell from another dimension to Earth, met me, ended up living together—summarized short.
Explained apostles and Liliana shared hell origins, thus similar mana. Rebecca sniffled, touched. Probably resonated—lost her Rune Clan, lived alone. Liliana had loneliness too; made sense.
"Sniff... must've been tough. Us... uh, name again?"
"Liliana."
Liliana eyed us bored. Interested in centaur, not our backstory.
"Right, Liliana... snagged by a playboy from some nowhere land..."
"...Rebecca?"
Playboy? True, but stung. Baby daddy calling me that?
"Nah, it was fun enough."
Liliana backed me—good. Rebecca stopped sniffling, stared intensely.
"Got it. If same mana, breakthrough possible. I'll research."
"Helpful, but what'll you find?"
"Not sure, but... Rune Barrier can break brainwashing."
"Brainwashing gone means no human hostility?"
"Yeah. Probably stops that behavior. I saw it."
Like her Rune Barrier purge, for centaur too. If so, easy win. Please go smooth.
"Hmm. Yeah. Wait—what? Me?"
Liliana whipped her head between us, confused—talk went on without her.
"Obviously. Uh, Liliana? Let's get close."
Rebecca grinned, grabbed her arm. Liliana panicked, tried pulling away—futile against Rebecca.
"Wait, wait! Help! Ho-yeon! No, master!"
"Liliana, go. Nothing weird."
"Eek..."
I waved as Rebecca dragged her. Unavoidable sacrifice. Rebecca outclassed me in Rune Barriers; I couldn't help research. Her work might yield centaur counters.
Tonight's worries piled: Liliana-Rebecca, tomorrow's terror, centaur, heroine routes. Lots, but... first, woman behind me.
"...Da-eun."
"Yeah."
"Got a lot on my mind tonight..."
As they vanished, Nam Da-eun clung tight, hands hugging my abs, face to my back.
"Hate dancing publicly at festival... embarrassing."
"..."
"But if no choice, I'll endure."
"Busy, but okay."
Chilling. Every word icy. I turned slowly, met her eyes. Words tough, but cheeks faintly red—shy.
Too cute. I pried her hands off, spun, faced her.
"Da-hee asleep?"
"...Yeah."
"Seemed super shocked. How'd you calm her?"
"Don't. Hard soothing her after 'sister stolen'."
"Kuk."
'Sister stolen' cracked me up.
"...No laughing."
"Got it. Bed?"
"Yeah."
We headed to bed.
Current Status: Can I do well? It's been a while, I'm nervous...
Been a while?
Recalling, about a week. Same roof, yeah long.
Nam Da-eun stripped, waited in bed. I approached, kissed deep.
"Mmph... mm..."
My tongue dove in; she tensed cutely. Short kiss ended, she stared dazed.
"Okay?"
"...Yeah. Do what you want."
Best words from a woman in bed. I smirked, started undressing her.