A New Development
Scarlet, disengage autonomous driving mode.
The cars came to a stop. Their own vehicle, now with autonomous driving disengaged, also halted with the engine still idling, and for a while everyone remained frozen in a tense stalemate.
Even so, the upbeat music kept pouring from the speakers, leaving Mina with a feeling that was strangely difficult to describe. Seok-jun kept his grip on the rifle he had briefly lowered and trained it on the motionless vehicles.
A few minutes later, the car on the right edged forward as if testing the waters.
BOOOOM!
THUD!
At the quiet pull of Seok-jun’s trigger, the vehicle sank as its front tires exploded sideways. The hood now sported a clean hole straight through it, revealing the asphalt beneath.
Only then did any thought of probing further vanish. The occupants could be seen talking into what looked like walkie-talkies before they tried to reverse, but they couldn’t.
WEEEOOO WEEEOOO!
From behind them, police cruisers and prisoner transport vans of every type were racing up with sirens screaming.
Their faces twisted with even greater panic. Deciding their chances were better against the single car on this side, they tried to veer toward it—only to be stopped again. Not only was Seok-jun still holding them at gunpoint, but—
RUMBLE!
“An armored carrier?”
Mina turned at the noise behind them and saw armored vehicles and transports rolling up side by side to block the road. It was a scene straight out of a war movie. The lead car among their pursuers rolled down its window; a baseball bat with a white shirt tied to it waved back and forth—a clear white flag.
“Whew. Looks like we can finally relax,” Mina sighed in relief.
Seok-jun’s voice reached her. “Now we can root out the one who dared to mess with you, Miss Mina.”
“What? How, from here?”
“It’s not impossible. No matter how strong it is, magic power still has a limited range.”
“I think I’ve heard that before.”
Normally the range of magic power was decided by its volume, but when it was cast on others or involved special abilities, the effect weakened the farther one moved from the caster. The longer the range, the weaker the power—it was only natural.
“Yet even while we were being chased, the way I felt about you never changed or grew any weaker.”
“Which means…”
“Exactly. The awakened who tampered with you is among them.”
Mina swallowed hard at the thought that she might finally see the culprit’s face, but then she noticed the armored carriers and police cars closing in and realized the problem.
“Ugh, Mr. Seok-jun! What about all these other people seeing me?!”
The magic’s effect was surely still on her. If this many people suddenly turned hostile, what was she supposed to do?
“Here.”
Mina caught what Seok-jun tossed her and lost the ability to speak. It was a yellow paper bag that unfolded into a square. Someone had even thoughtfully cut eyeholes.
“Why a paper bag…?”
“Put it over your head.”
“You can’t be serious!”
Wasn’t this the exact ridiculous disguise that always showed up in comics? The classic paper-bag-over-the-head method. And now she was expected to do it.
“Covering your face should lessen the magic’s influence.”
“Even so, anyone who sees me is going to think I’m a total weirdo!”
But there was no time to complain.
Knock knock.
“Seok-jun in there?”
“Eep?!”
Captain Jeong had already walked up and was rapping on the window. Mina yanked the paper bag over her head. Seok-jun opened the door and stepped out first; she hurriedly grabbed his sleeve and followed.
“You said you’d bring a spoon to the party, but you showed up with armored carriers?”
“If you’re going to do it, do it right. I thought about bringing a tank, but the fuel consumption was terrible, so I settled for these and the transports.”
While Seok-jun chatted, Mina stayed glued to his back, trying to make herself small. Captain Jeong’s voice turned curious.
“By the way, why is Miss Mina dressed like that?”
“H-hello…”
She peeked up, but the bizarre stares were too much. She buried her face against Seok-jun’s back.
“An awakened pulled some strange trick on her,” Seok-jun explained.
“A trick?”
Seeing his suddenly serious expression, Mina felt a flicker of relief—until a shrill voice cut through the air.
“Let go of me!! Who do you think you are, grabbing me like that?!”
“Ma’am, I’m trying to cuff you—”
While soldiers blocked one end of the road, police who had sealed the other side were dragging people from the cars and forcing them to their knees. Among the shouts came the furious voice of a woman.
So there had been a woman among their pursuers. The voice sounded oddly familiar. Mina tilted her head, puzzled, when a leg emerged from the car the shouting had come from. The moment the woman stepped out, Mina’s eyes flew wide.
“Whoa…”
“You idiots! What are you gawking for?!”
“S-sorry, sir!”
The woman was so stunning that even the soldiers had unconsciously sighed in admiration, earning a bark from Captain Jeong. She was none other than Jeong Su-ji from the reunion.
“Why is she with them…?”
“You know her?” Captain Jeong asked.
“We’re alumni, I guess.”
Mina was still trying to process why Su-ji had been among the people chasing them when their eyes met. Su-ji’s lips curved into a strange, unreadable smile. Then she started walking straight toward them.
“Miss! You can’t just walk over here!”
“I said I have business here! Wait!”
The angry policeman tried to grab her, but Su-ji shook him off and planted herself in front of them. She looked at the paper bag over Mina’s head and laughed.
“Haha, Lee Mina. How the mighty have fallen. You ignored me at the reunion too, didn’t you?”
“Ignored you?”
No one there had even remembered her face.
“Ha! Don’t play dumb! Or is it that I’m not even worth remembering?!”
When Mina asked again, genuinely confused, Su-ji shrieked even louder.
After grinding her teeth for a long moment, Su-ji seemed to calm slightly—only to glare back and forth between the indifferent Seok-jun and Mina hiding behind him.
“But you… you’re so strange. Why don’t people hate you? Why? Why! Why!! Why?! Why are you standing behind that man?!”
Before Mina could even process the outburst, Su-ji kept screaming.
“I took your charm! You should be spending all day getting cursed at, ostracized, hated! That’s how it should be!! So why—?!”
“Do you know the chronic problem with the police and the courts?”
Su-ji never finished her sentence. Seok-jun’s calm voice cut in.
“They forget the simple truth that a criminal is a criminal, whether the person is a man or a woman.”
“Keeeek?!”
His fist connected with Su-ji’s face. The blow was so hard she literally tumbled across the ground.
“Ha, this guy…” Captain Jeong pinched the bridge of his nose.
The soldiers who had been secretly mesmerized by Su-ji’s beauty, the police, and even the detained suspects all stared with their mouths hanging open.
“You can take the bag off now.”
While Mina was still blinking in confusion, Seok-jun added, “I’ve caught the one who used magic on you.”
“No way!”
She looked at Su-ji, who had been sent flying by that punch. But the person lying there was no longer the Su-ji she remembered.
“Huk! You hit me? You actually hit me?!”
Yet the voice screeching while clutching her face in pain was unmistakably hers.
“What are you doing?! He hit me! Where are the police?! Where’s the military?! He hit meee!”
She stomped the ground like a child throwing a tantrum and pointed at Seok-jun. No one answered her. It wasn’t simply because she was acting brazen while being arrested.
“What the hell…?”
Everyone stared in shock. The sudden chill in the air finally made Su-ji realize something was wrong. She stopped screaming and looked down at herself.
“Where did it go? Where did everything go?! What happened to it all?!”
Her arms and legs were thick with flabby flesh. Rolls of fat jiggled beneath clothes that could barely contain her.
“Now I see what kind of magic was used on you,” Seok-jun said, shaking his head as he watched her. “It doesn’t apply power directly to the target. Instead, the caster steals the target’s appearance and charm for themselves and leaves a kind of feedback on the victim.”
“In other words, the feelings I used to have when I looked at you are now what I feel when I look at her.”
“Ah!”
Seok-jun pulled the paper bag off Mina’s head. A breeze blew past, tickling her nose.
“Ugh, sand!”
Sudden grit stung her eyes. As she wiped away tears, she felt stares landing on her from every direction. It seemed the magic had worn off, but the attention felt even stronger than usual. Mina shrank back behind Seok-jun—only for another scream to ring out.
“Give it back! Give it back! It’s mine! It’s mine! It belongs to meeee!”
Su-ji was stomping toward her, face twisted hideously with rage, jealousy, and every ugly emotion in between. The moment Mina recoiled—
THWACK!
“Kuek!”
“Ah.”
Seok-jun’s fist had planted itself in her face again.
“Suspect subdued.”
“Good lord, is that really how you’re handling this?”
Seok-jun casually dusted off his hands while Captain Jeong could only let out a long, weary sigh.