Honestly, I Was Planning to Kill You!
"To be honest, I'd have killed her!"
"......Raebi?"
I'm an idiot.
"......Secretary Kim. Did this one always have trouble talking?"
"I'm sorry? Oh, no, she spoke just fine whenever she was with me..."
Since I refused to open my mouth, the Ambassador shot me a puzzled look. And of course, I would have loved nothing more than to play along.
But...
I'm sorry. It's not that I won't talk — I can't.
Ha... How did I not think of this?
Four years had passed since the Gates first tore open, and the world had undergone sweeping changes. Professions that dealt in danger — police officers, firefighters, and the like — had largely been replaced by Hunters.
Back then, certain individuals with strong track records had been granted the chance to undergo Forced Awakening — a benefit that, in truth, the wealthy had already been enjoying for some time.
It was common knowledge by now that the Gates had appeared on Earth far earlier than the public was led to believe. Politicians and business tycoons who'd known in advance had secured Awakened ability users for themselves, and used them to awaken early in turn.
'Granted, that part is partly my own speculation...'
But think about it logically. Does it make any sense that the Hunter Academy would spring into existence the very moment the Gates opened? And besides, the overwhelming majority of Awakened were politicians and billionaires.
A single round of Forced Awakening cost a minimum of 10 billion won, with repeat attempts allowed for low grades — so one's mana reading, graded from E to S, was effectively one's class.
...And class, in turn, was national power.
Diplomats stationed abroad were the face and pride of their nation, which was why they'd been among the first to receive those benefits in the Gate era's early days.
'And then there's this gentleman in front of me right now.'
"......Um, Raebi? Are you, by any chance, scared of me?"
Lee Chang-jin, South Korea's Ambassador to Egypt and a B-rank Hunter. This man in particular was famous enough that I remembered him.
A former homicide detective who underwent Forced Awakening — the man who single-handedly held off a C-rank Dungeon Break for a full twenty minutes. Even driven to the brink of death, he had desperately protected a single Egyptian tourist. The story made headlines across Egypt, and the Korean government, in the interest of diplomacy, had specially appointed him Ambassador.
'In other words — absolutely not someone to be taken lightly.'
I mumbled quietly.
"...Yes. You scare me."
"Hmm? Why? I've never met a kid who called me scary..."
Figures. The dashing, handsome Chain Blade Master, Lee Chang-jin. You're a hero to the school-lunch crowd.
But I'm a magical beast right now. If I get caught, they'll tear me limb from limb on the spot.
"Haa... You can't just send me back to Korea, then?"
"Mm... You already know this, asking anyway, but that's difficult. Besides, one of the caretakers overseeing the deportees has gone missing, so even for a student like you, identity verification is mandatory."
...!
My jaw dropped on the spot.
'...I'm screwed. Genuinely screwed.'
That was one hundred percent Kim Young-hak he was talking about, and if my mana reading got exposed here, things were about to get very messy. And judging by his tone, I could feel him mentally slotting me onto the suspect list too.
'Sh-should I run?'
But even if I ran... would I actually get away? Against a veteran Hunter, upper-tier among B-ranks?
...Absolutely not. This man is a professional. He survived that insane battlefield for a reason — I couldn't even count on him letting his guard down.
"I-if I just don't say anything at all...?"
At that, Lee Chang-jin's expression changed. The gentle warmth he'd been using to soothe me vanished, and his speech dropped right back into informal bluntness.
"We'll start with an Awakener test. Then I'll ask your hair and your eyes just who exactly you are."
...A-a DNA test...!
But the crisis didn't end there.
"By the way..."
"Yes?"
"...Do you know something about the disappearance case, Raebi?"
"N-no? Why do you ask?"
"Hmm... Usually kids are curious about who went missing first. You went straight to panicking instead. Or maybe not — who knows."
'Right, this guy was a detective.'
...He suspects me. One hundred percent, he suspects me.
I shouldn't have panicked...!
But come on — if I actually were the killer, and it was my first murder at that, how the hell am I supposed to keep a straight face?!
Lee Chang-jin just kept staring at me like that. With a bone-deep chill of pressure pressing down on my entire body — a pressure I absolutely was not imagining — I clasped my trembling hands together in my lap.
'Calm down, hands, please...! Stay calm, and you can survive even inside a tiger's den...!'
...But a moment later, what was coming finally came.
"Ambassador, I've brought the testing kit."
"Mm. Hand it over — I'll do this one myself."
Lee Chang-jin took the palm-sized device.
Oh no. No, no...!
'Portable Awakener Testing Kit.'
A device developed through research into people allergic to mana. A substance inside reacts to the subject's mana and decomposes; the degree of that reaction is measured to determine rank. There was a margin of error, sure — but the fact of being Awakened itself could not be hidden. And so...
I'm... I'm done for.
I'm going to die again...!
"M-Mister, I don't want to do this..."
"It doesn't hurt, and it'll be over in a second. There we go — finger right here."
I resisted with trembling hands, but a B-rank Hunter's strength was beyond me. All my struggling was for nothing; my hand was drawn straight to the device.
'Ngh — aaaaagh!!!'
Beep—
[Subject is an Awakened individual.]
'Measuring rank...'
Having completed the awakening judgment, the device's screen spun with a round little loading wheel. Apparently the detailed measurement took time.
'This life is ruined too...'
I simply hung my head and waited for the moment of my execution. And then, after a short while—
"Hm... mm."
A strangely dissatisfied voice from Lee Chang-jin. I stole a glance upward to find him frowning faintly at the device. On its screen, the letters E and D were flickering back and forth without end.
He tilted his head.
"So it means D-rank at most, E at the low end... Which would make it hard to believe she could take down a C-rank, let alone—hm."
He was very clearly flustered. It seemed he really had marked me as his prime suspect.
'Awakened minors do have a high crime rate, to be fair...'
But I was just as baffled as he was. Granted, I'd been injured, but I'd sent Kim Young-hak off with a single strike — even accounting for my weakened state, that was the kind of feat only a top-tier D-rank Awakener could pull off. I'd expected at least a D, maybe even a C.
...And yet here I sat, straddling the line between E and D. Which meant—
"I suppose that takes you off the suspect list...? Sorry about that, Raebi. It's an occupational hazard — I hope you understand."
No, no — your instincts weren't wrong at all.
Something right now is just... wrong...
'Oh!'
And then it hit me.
'The status window!'
Pwah!
Th-that's it! Essence Deficiency!
If the "power" here referred to raw physical force rather than overall capability, everything made sense. My strength might be drained, but my speed would be untouched — so pinning down a weakened Kim Young-hak wouldn't have been out of the question.
'So the debuff was being reflected in my mana reading...'
The knot in my chest came undone all at once. As the tension melted away like snow, relief rushed in to fill the empty space it left behind — and then the tears burst out like an avalanche.
"Sniff... hhhic... sob..."
"Huh? Wh-why are you crying!"
"You—you keep looking at me all weird, Mister! It's already hard enough that I can't remember anything, and then you... hic... sniff... hck!"
"Wait, then why did you hide being an Awakener—no, never mind. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There, there, dry those tears, okay?"
Lee Chang-jin flailed in absolute panic, at a complete loss for what to do.
...I'm sorry, Mister.
I was just scared out of my damn mind, and I'm crying from relief, that's all. That little outburst was just an excuse.
Well — to be fair, since the root cause was being terrified that you'd kill me, it's not entirely unrelated, is it?
After that, I was dutifully patted and soothed by Lee Chang-jin, then scooped up and carried off to a lounge.
"You must be exhausted. Rest here for now."
"Yes... thank you."
"There you go."
"......"
"......"
Why was he still standing there?
When I stared at him flatly, our eyes met, and Lee Chang-jin hesitated before speaking up.
"...Well, I really hate to say this, but because you hid the fact that you're an Awakener, there are a few procedural interviews we'll have to conduct."
...Interviews?
"I have to be questioned again?"
"I truly am sorry... Still, your mana reading is low enough that I don't expect any real trouble."
"......Understood."
I nodded calmly. This much had been within my expectations anyway. Lee Chang-jin gave me a rueful smile and took his leave.
'...Haah! The crisis is behind me.'
I flopped face-down onto the bed. Whether it was the sheer mental stress or what, despite having done nothing particularly strenuous, my eyelids slid shut in an instant.
A soft mattress and clean blankets for the first time in ages. I sank into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while.
In the days that followed, I ate and lodged at the embassy. Lee Chang-jin kept trying to persuade me to take the DNA test, and I refused just as stubbornly. Thankfully, he seemed to assume I had my reasons.
Then, a few days later, I received a certain proposal.
"Adoption...?"
"That's right. There are families all over the place dying to adopt an Awakened child. I made some discreet inquiries here and there, and people who want to adopt you have already started popping up."
...Is that a good thing? I don't exactly have fond memories of adoption.
"...And if I say no to adoption?"
"Then your holding period here gets longer. You claim you can't remember anything, you refuse the DNA test — and your fingerprints turned up nothing at all, so there's simply no way to verify who you are right now."
In other words, I could only enter Korea once my identity was guaranteed. If I was adopted, the adopting family would shoulder that responsibility entirely, allowing my identity to be fast-tracked into existence.
Meaning the nation could pin it all on a single private party and wash its hands.
'Staying here forever would be a burden on everyone anyway.'
"I'll try to think positively. But... could I possibly see the list of candidates in advance?"
"Of course. Here."
He held out a single sheet of A4 paper. I took it carefully and began reading down the page.
And then—
...Oh Hwan-sung.
...Kang Ha-na.
'Huh?'
'D-Douglas Kim?'
......Why is an S-rank family after me?