Chapter 147
Chapter 147
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: Part 2 Episode 10
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Monsters that appeared out of nowhere and tore people apart.
Every time they were shoved into the lairs of those murderous creatures, it felt like standing right on the edge of hell’s railing.
But on days when they were with Saebyeok, everyone always made it back alive.
It wasn’t just her snap judgments and decisiveness that stood out the most, but also the fact that she never hesitated to throw herself in front of someone about to die.
‘Doesn’t hurt. Not dying. No time to cry—hurry up and get the medics.’
Even when sharp claws pierced her body all over, she never showed it, just curling up the corner of her mouth with unyielding toughness.
“Cut it out already and let me go…… You won’t kill me, right? Yeah?”
The servile sight of her kneeling on the ground, trembling, and begging pathetically to be spared.
Her heart felt like it stopped dead.
Moon Se-rim covered her mouth lightly, suppressing her quickening breath as she tore her gaze away from Saebyeok.
Crash!
She grabbed Park Min-gi by the collar and slammed him hard against the wall.
“You brought this guy here to shove it in our faces?”
“N-No, no! I thought you’d like it!”
“Why.”
“I figured since he’s unawakened, you guys look down on him a bit…….”
“Who looks down on him.”
Moon Se-rim ground her teeth as she pressed him, then clamped her mouth shut for a moment. From the outside, he really did seem like the easiest target.
The weakest member of the fear squad, with that subtly aggravating way of speaking.
If she put herself in their shoes, she’d target Saebyeok first, too.
‘Lately, I’ve been getting picked on more than usual, and it’s pissing me off. Not dying to monsters, but about to get killed by the wrong people.’
‘Anyway, protect me a bit. I wanna live long. I admit I’m lacking compared to awakeners. Fuck, this sucks.’
Suddenly, she recalled what Saebyeok had said last time, mentioning she had some worries.
“Besides this time, has he been dragged off somewhere else?”
“…….”
“From that hesitation, looks like you know something. If you don’t talk, I’ll bury you with an open gate.”
Caught off guard by the unexpected reaction, Park Min-gi panicked, having planned to mess with Saebyeok while grabbing some profit for himself.
But that lasted only a moment—killing intent laced with mana pressed on his breath, making his body tremble involuntarily.
“The people you guys hate would often take it out on him…….”
“Who.”
“There were hunters, kids from your group who dragged him here and beat him, regular awakeners…….”
Park Min-gi racked his brain in that short time, trying to redirect even a little of the anger heading his way.
“Th-That, last time he got called by Im Soo-jin’s crew and beaten until he passed out!”
“……Don’t lie.”
Moisture welled up in Moon Se-rim’s eyes as her words ran dry.
“There’s no way Saebyeok’s that helpless…….”
“He probably is. Not against gates or monsters, but at least against awakeners.”
Yeo Woo-hee, who had been quietly listening to Park Min-gi, gnawed her nails until blood welled up.
Staring at the helplessly captured Saebyeok triggered cognitive dissonance in Yeo Woo-hee, who wondered for a moment why Saebyeok hadn’t escaped.
‘Gotta sell him off since he’s unawakened.’
‘……Monsters aren’t the problem—people are.’
Saebyeok’s words to her came back.
Gates could be prepared for after scouting their type beforehand, but ambushes by awakeners in everyday life were fatal to the unawakened, leaving her powerless.
It all made sense why Saebyeok had been trembling so much lately.
After everyone around her awakened, Saebyeok had shifted from relying on physical power to fighting with her wits.
With no info on targets, she could only keep trembling in fear.
“Ah…… Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Yeo Woo-hee couldn’t bring herself to look straight at Saebyeok and just muttered curses under her breath.
Yeo Woo-hee bit her lip as she looked down at Saebyeok, who kept begging to be spared.
Tears soaked the blindfold covering Saebyeok’s eyes.
Saebyeok couldn’t act to save her life, so every word and tear had to be real.
They’d thought she was someone who never felt fear or terror, always acting unfazed in front of them.
Given Saebyeok’s personality, she’d probably been soaked in fear but hid it from them.
After Kim Woo-sung died and things improved, with no more whining kids around like before, her hidden fragility was bubbling up.
Looking at Saebyeok like that with that thought made her mind reel.
§ § §
‘I’m pathetic.’
‘I’m wronged.’
Squeezing my brain for self-hypnosis, I spat out another line that made me look miserable and servile.
“Why…… why are you doing this…… just tell me that much…….”
I’d been repeating the same lines over and over, cranking my pitiful act to the max.
The key was squeezing out tears, and thanks to that perfectly timed yawn while getting beaten earlier, my tear glands were loaded, so plenty fell.
Crying dramatically was tough, so I’d practiced yawning like crazy.
I’d tried going to tear-extraction master Seol Doyoon for lessons, but she looked at me like a bug and taught nothing, so I figured it out myself.
Since they thought I was just a regular person, they didn’t use much mana when hitting, so it was bearable.
The shitty part was getting hit blind—brought back tons of memories from my supervisor days. Made the trembling act easy.
They hit harder than expected.
Even as a master at taking hits, scattering impacts every which way, some unanticipated strikes still landed.
If I thought of it as training to minimize incoming attacks with eyes closed, taking them wasn’t hard.
But stimulating the kids’ emotions required careful buildup, which was tricky.
Lately, I’d deliberately hung around the fringes of kids Yeo Woo-hee had messed with, poking at them gently.
Result: total success.
Enraged little flies targeted me, harassing me after school every time.
I’d slowly gathered evidence of what they did to me.
With Yeo Woo-hee’s crew having the image of a sociopath Abyss group, highlighting us as pitiful kids struggling to adapt through me would help.
Investigation showed A-Class kids were making life hell for B to D-Class in daily routines.
Combine that with what I’d collected now for a second shot at redemption.
In short, laying the groundwork for proper Abyss comeback rights.
Judging by how hard they were hitting now, a second chance at this school seemed impossible—had to aim elsewhere.
Of course, I’d already picked the transfer school.
Nagil High nearby, packed with kids Yeo Woo-hee had gathered for her Abyss hunter cartel plan.
Nagil High had tons of gate-awakened kids, more friends of Yeo Woo-hee than here.
Then, I could button the first one properly by stepping up aggressively.
To grab this second social adaptation chance, I needed to reset Yeo Woo-hee’s crew’s mindset.
To do that, showing who was taking their shit in a provocative way was best.
My noble, steadfast image from helping awakened kids was paying off handsomely now.
“Who looks down on him.”
Hearing that, my solid image in the kids’ minds seemed intact.
Thought they’d dismiss me as dog food by now.
Back when I voluntarily boosted their abilities, I wondered if I was just that nice, but nah—just instinct as an unawakened judging survival moves.
Kids I’d saved a lot as a kid still thought they’d have survival issues without my attention, clinging with affection.
Didn’t know imprinting my necessity from childhood would work this well.
“The people you guys hate would often take it out on him…….”
“Who.”
Piecing together snippets from around me, it seemed a fight broke out after they figured out I was the one getting beaten hard.
Couldn’t see clearly, and voice-distortion magic muddled who was saying what.
Anyway, time to ramp up the emotional poke again.
“Spare me~”
Mid-line, I froze.
Loosening brain control even a bit brought out sarcasm like this.
Luckily, they were too busy fighting to hear.
‘I’m pathetic.’
‘I’m wronged.’
‘I’m the most unfortunate in the world.’
Mindset set.
“Why’s no one coming…….”
“…….”
The whole process was cringey as hell, but it was working, so I held it in.
As I kept whimpering about being uncomfortable, someone reached out, untied my legs, and laid me down comfortably.
Wanted them to remove the hand binds and blindfold too, but they left them, probably ashamed of what they’d done to me. Hands tied to stop me unblinding myself, maybe.
“Why are you doing this to me…….”
Not many lines came to mind, so I repeated NPC-style.
Lines too contrived? One Abyss kid seemed to be holding me—no response.
“……Who is it.”
“…….”
“Woo-hee? Se-rim? Here to save me, right?”
“…….”
Someone hugged me, so I squeezed my voice into a tremble again.
Felt the arms tighten— one of the two. Broad chest meant Moon Se-rim, probably.
Good thing the blindfold stayed on. Too calm an expression would lessen guilt.
Pulse racing against my skin—huge shock.
Boring argument dragged on, then impact sounds. Sounded like the guy who brought me getting hit.
‘After all this, their thug crap won’t continue, right?’
Sharp hits made me a bit anxious.
If they used this as an excuse to hover and restrict my movements, I’d be truly fucked.
“Sorry…… Should’ve noticed sooner when you asked me to protect you……. I’ll catch them all and kill them for you. I…… I…… Later, you can kill me or beat me.”
Ahh, this is unsettling.
Moon Se-rim’s strong but kinda dense, misses the point. Well, Yeo Woo-hee gets it and’ll handle.
More than that, blind and frustrated. Begged to remove blindfold—still no, guilt probably.
“What the hell are you doing!!!”
“Saebyeok!!! What are you doing there!!!”
Suddenly, a new voice with different tone and vibe appeared.
Footsteps from what felt like the entrance—others entering the gate.
“You crazy bitch Yeo Woo-hee, are you even human?”
“…….”
Voice choked with suppressed sobs.
‘Woo Ji-yoon……?’
That nuance sounded like Woo Ji-yoon.
How’d Woo Ji-yoon know this place?
Yeo Woo-hee hid the hideout cleverly to dodge tracking—even I didn’t know till caught.
Then someone snatched me from Moon Se-rim (presumed) and swung a fist. Heavy impact.
I racked my brain for pitiful lines.
Sounded like Moon Se-rim, hard to damage, flying far—guessed holding me now was Byeon Woo-jin or Lee Kyung-seop.
I reached out, burrowing into the hugger’s chest.
“Fuck. Thought I was dead. Don’t know who, but get me outta here quick.”
Shook my body exaggeratedly for pity points. Shaking used intuitive muscles—did it well, even I thought.
Appealing to Woo Ji-yoon or Byeon Woo-jin’s side could add good restraint on Moon Se-rim and Yeo Woo-hee.
“……Knew it was too much to hope.”
“……?”
“Psycho bastard.”
“……Woo Ji-yoon?”
Byeon Woo-jin doesn’t talk much, Lee Kyung-seop stutters.
Sharp tone like Woo Ji-yoon’s bite, but not her physique.
“Who is it. Voice recognition magic’s on—can’t tell who. Untie the blindfold.”
“No.”
This jerk tied my legs and torso too when I asked.
‘Familiar temper…….’
Thought Seol Doyoon for a sec, but she’s swamped with gate papers lately.
Thought of 3-4 more with similar tempers, but passed around like a baton—gave up deducing.
More people entering—other Abyss kids cleaning up, probably.
Blind, couldn’t track, but everyone passing spat a curse.
Suddenly, cool air. Someone finally dragged me outside.
“……Wait a bit. Association President’s coming for you.”
Someone whispered softly.
Only Byeon Woo-jin whispers like that—definitely him.
Byeon Woo-jin untied my hands and removed the blindfold.
Eyes felt refreshed—mood lifted. Finally.
“Why wait till now?”
“……Better not know who was there.”
Said assuming I didn’t know.
“Moon Se-rim, Yeo Woo-hee, Park Ye-chan…… them, right?”
“……?”
Face said how’d you know. I shrugged, wriggling to untie legs and torso.
Tried getting down, but Byeon Woo-jin blocked.
“Why.”
“…….”
Byeon Woo-jin stared silently at my ankles. Slightly bruised blue.
“What’s this. I can walk.”
“…….”
Byeon Woo-jin silently pulled out his phone, texted Lee Yu-hyun.
[Come quick.]
Voice message reply.
[Arriving in 10. Keep her safe.]
Byeon Woo-jin frowned at Lee Yu-hyun’s reply, texted back.
[Don’t reply while driving.]
Sent another text, played the voice for me.
[Arriving in 10. Keep her safe.]
“……Keep her safe.”
Repeated Lee Yu-hyun’s tail end in a whisper, eyeing me.
“Tch, got it. Don’t know the connection, but carry till treated.”
Byeon Woo-jin nodded.
I peeled off the tiny gate drone controller from my palate, spat it onto my palm.
“Whew, survived intact somehow.”
Slightly cracked, but worked.
Snatched Byeon Woo-jin’s phone, opened ‘MyGateBot’ app, linked my prepped gatebot.
Waited—spider gatebot scurried from afar.
“……?”
Byeon Woo-jin gawked, baffled.
“……?”
“What’re you staring at.”
Set target to Byeon Woo-jin’s head—spider bot climbed up.
Retrieved bot, checked footage, smiled.
“……What.”
“What else. Clear school violence evidence on Yeo Woo-hee’s crew and the Tumbler gang. They’ll have to settle with me, the victim with proof. Shit, fucking hurts.”
Left blackmail material assuming guilt alone wouldn’t change them.
“…….”
“Why, what. They did all that, I silently took the blame—gotta clear it. They never left evidence, screwed me over.”
“…….”
Byeon Woo-jin, hating violence, eyed me with what seemed contempt, but I ignored, backing up to cloud.