Chapter 82

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 82

Chapter Title: 15. School's Star

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Mom sat me down on the bed, my fists clenched in tension. The story began.

"One month ago, the police contacted us saying that several members of the Black Jaguar organization had escaped from prison under that guy's leadership."

I calmed my gaze and roughly calculated inside my head. One month ago—that was right around when I lost contact with Master.

"Even though their memories were erased with magic, 40 organization members escaped. I don't know how that guy did it, but it seems he restored their memories. The biggest problem was that the prison was Electron Lock. They said he hacked the prison system to escape."

I flinched, recalling how that guy's hand had pierced through the house's barrier.

"During the terrorist attack, some information on our elementary school students had already fallen into their hands. To protect the students, we cooperated with the police and immediately formed a pursuit team. Our older sister and Brother Baekhan became the leaders of the pursuit."

I widened my eyes slightly in surprise at the continuation.

"Minhee's teacher and Master...?"

"Yeah. The ringleader of the escape was an outstanding hacker before being a C-rank criminal. Hacking isn't something you can dominate with magic alone. It was revealed after his arrest that he was a hacker capable of breaching an A-rank security system using only non-magical tech. And in Korea, only a few people could counter and chase him—Brother Baekhan and our sister were among them."

I see. I didn't know much about Minhee's teacher's magic, but Master's was game magic, specialized in creating systems. If he could work as a game developer, his computer skills must be top-notch beyond just magic.

"But one thing's for sure: that guy not only hacked all the student IDs but also shut down the school's entire security system, which means his hacking skills surpassed our sister's. The biggest issue was figuring out which student they were targeting. We thought the most at-risk were you kids who escaped right in front of them and the ones they'd already captured once."

Teacher Junhwi's expression darkened. This time, Min Teacher spoke up.

"Brother Baekhan and Sister Mina cut off contact with you kids... it was unavoidable. Those two are special. A-rank mages personally chatting with elementary students from Daeyeon? The opponent is a hacker—if any info leaked, you'd be the first targets. So the two on the front lines cut ties with you and wiped all the contact data clean. Soon after, we cut off contact with you too, just in case."

"But wiping everything would raise suspicion. We excluded people who were just casually acquainted with you."

"For example, us."

Brother Je-hyeon pointed to himself, Brother Cheonho, and Sister Eunhee. I nodded slowly.

"We told the police and school to dispatch people to check on every elementary student under the pretext of a field investigation. So-called escorts. We even hired high schoolers since using only organization members would be too obvious. But Eunha's house has Kim Seona there, so... um, we couldn't focus on it."

Min Teacher trailed off, scratching his head.

"Kim Seona is also Inha's mother, a victim herself, and above all, we couldn't scare the students by revealing the escape. It was a secret investigation. But even with that minimal effort, Auntie Seona caught us right away. ...And during that field investigation, we found two remnants."

"Was one near our house...?"

"One was, but... the other was near Minhee's house."

"Minhee's..."

"And it wasn't targeting you. It was Inha."

I stiffened my expression. Teacher Junhwi swallowed a sigh.

"About a week after starting the investigation? The first hack happened."

"..."

"We moved all the student info to a separate location and built a bunker with complete signal isolation to prevent hacking. That's why your contacts bounced back."

I'd heard this from Mom before. Hacking comes in various forms. Some mages infiltrate via signals. She said those types are the trickiest.

"But that guy breached even that and stole info on over 100 students. Knowing faces alone is useless without addresses. No way they'd act near the school with so few people after that breach. Students rarely leave through the gates anyway. Elementary kids all commute via teleport badges. Faces alone make abductions hard without home locations, especially nationwide teleport commuters. Those guys precisely extracted the info they wanted."

Teacher Junhwi counted on his fingers.

"52 students they'd captured once, about 50 who'd revealed magic to them, and several fourth-graders besides. Over an hour, he dueled our sister and brother, then leisurely took the info he wanted."

But something was off. Obvious to us who knew the facts. Yoo Eunha—you—and Kim Hyunho weren't on that list.

'What...?'

I widened my eyes.

Brother Je-hyeon spoke up this time.

"Turned out, during the incident, only Inha, Hansu, and Minhee openly used magic. You hid your face, right? And Hyunho didn't use magic at all?"

Flustered, I rummaged through my memories. Ah... right.

At the words of the man in smart glasses, Inha, Hansu, and Minhee got heated and used magic. Hyunho didn't, and I kept my face covered from start to finish.

Teacher Junhwi nodded.

"Yeah. Back then, you weren't a target at all, Eunha. Not even on the list. Even after escaping, they were still after talented kids, but they knew they couldn't kidnap indiscriminately. The guy who tried for Minhee got caught by Je-hyeon, and interrogation revealed their leader... that man had set exactly 7 targets."

I shrank back. Min Teacher frowned.

"We sent escorts to the 100 whose info leaked. We even got cooperation from Auntie Seona, who'd already noticed. We promised to protect you and Inha for sure. Of the 40 escapees, only three were C-rank. The one chasing you was the strongest among them: CC+, C, C-, and the rest all D-rank. Based on that, we formed escort teams."

I stared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down quietly. The situation had gotten pretty complicated. Min Teacher shrugged.

"We even extracted memories, but it didn't seem like he told anyone all the targets. Each got info on 5 kids, planning to nab up to 7 then bail. If it seemed too risky or fewer, they'd go underground."

"But stealing the info narrowed the targets. He probably meant to siphon it secretly... maybe thought no one could trace the hacked data."

Hack 100 people's info, target max 7? Terrifying plan. Teacher Junhwi tapped his thigh with his fingers.

"So the reason we and the teachers cut contact was..."

"Yeah. To prevent you from becoming target candidates even if info leaked. Especially Minhee and Hansu, and you two—Kim Hyunho and Yoo Eunha—who were close to Inha but not targets. We wanted to keep you out of danger."

Teacher Junhwi brushed back his hair. Those guys only saw the info, so they probably didn't know you were close.

"So we cut contact with you two especially thoroughly. Even in the investigation team, anyone who'd gotten specially close to target candidates used special communicators and kept contact cut for a while, just in case."

It made a half-sense, half-not sense. No, they did steal the info. I asked cautiously.

"But what about the bomb terror...?"

"That happened during break..."

Not just Brother Je-hyeon who answered, but Teacher Junhwi, Min Teacher, and even Mom all sighed. Teacher Junhwi continued.

"Before break started, two students got kidnapped. One from Daeyeon, one from Yuran."

"What...?!"

I raised my voice in shock. Mom looked a bit surprised too, as if hearing it for the first time.

"Why Yuran all of a sudden?"

"Random target, I guess. Talent's all that matters. Yuran didn't have our tight secrecy like us. But the Yuran kid was found quick. Apparently, one of their students has amazing tracking skills. Found her in less than a day."

"Good lord."

"And get this—an elementary kid. Same age as you, Eunha?"

I widened my eyes. Wow, someone my age like that?

"The Daeyeon kid was found too after checking nearby CCTV. Lucky."

As Min Teacher finished, Teacher Junhwi turned back to me.

"That got Yuran helping out too. Anyway, before break, we recaptured about 20, interrogated them, and nailed down all their targets. Every one of them knew Inha, Hansu, and Minhee's faces. They gave up on Inha and Hansu—world rankers' kids—but obsessively targeted Minhee."

Minhee... My chest tightened; I wrapped my stomach with interlaced hands. So those people...

"They really didn't know I existed or where I was?"

"Yeah."

Teacher Junhwi nodded solemnly.

"But hearing your story, Eunha... that stalker knew about you. We interrogated all comrades, no info, yet he alone went after you..."

Min Teacher sighed, brushing back his bangs.

"As he said, he probably found you by chance. No face, no info, no address—how else target you specifically? But that chance... damn. We thought you weren't targeted. Weird stuff kept happening to list kids, suspicious shadows, even hired goons for cash, but none around you."

I shook my head.

"But that guy... seemed to follow me even before break."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

I bit my lip hard.

"He'd been around our neighborhood for a while. Think I saw him about a week before break too."

"Dodging Auntie Seona's senses?"

Mom's face paled too.

"I didn't notice either."

No, but thinking back, he only appeared when Auntie Seona was briefly away. Before break, only saw him a few times jogging, yeah, glimpsed him over the fence. He clearly showed himself only after break. And only when I went out. So thorough. My face paled and stiffened.

"Seona could miss it. She's super strong but not sensitive. Keen on gazes or malice, but um..."

Mom shook her head.

"But me not noticing..."

I hadn't noticed the guy's actions until Mom left either. I'm way more mana-sensitive than Mom. No... I lowered my gaze. Well, I'm indifferent to people.

"The bomb terror started after break. Once break hit, we expanded the pursuit. Auntie Seona and Yuyeong—Hansu's mom—noticed us during field ops and watched us. They refused hacked bystander info, using only school communicators. They're acquainted with you, Hyunho too..."

"..."

"Then we explained to parents of leaked kids and urged them to dorm at school temporarily. Meanwhile, we narrowed 'targets' via overlapping names from interrogations. 60 students came to dorms, 40 stayed out. We attached escorts to the 40, patrolled homes under 'suspect search' pretext—careful not to expose elementary homes. Didn't give full addresses to patrols either. Just routes."

"Post-break, actions escalated. Especially that stalker bastard—attack power nothing special, but hacking and disruption B-rank level easy. Nearly nabbed a couple more, even faked bomb terror with aliases to divert eyes. Good thing Mina Sister and Baekhan Brother's probe revealed it was Black Jaguar."

Teachers Junhwi and Min's words flowed. That's why I really... Brother Je-hyeon, Brother Cheonho, Sister Eunhee grumbled. Said the perp escaped by barrier-blocking magic during chases. But the stalker never showed once.

We ramped up searches, nabbed one by one. With Auntie Seona's power added, a week into break, all other terrorists caught. Yet he persisted alone, bizarrely.

"Couldn't believe he'd target like this. Breached school dorm security, stole Daeyeon and Yuran info, pulled all Daeyeon members..."

Heat welled in my eyes as I listened.

"Better to go dark and strike later, right? Everyone grumbled it was weird. No sightings, no location leaks, why so obsessive?"

"Sister ground her teeth, vowing to catch him..."

I bowed my head lower. My chest sank deep. That man's face I didn't want to recall floated up.

"Patrols circling elementary homes coincidentally found you cornered. Even that—your mom requested sent first due to worry, and you happened to reach Je-hyeon..."

"..."

"So Eunha, we're... sorry. We really didn't know. That you were..."

"..."

"That you were being targeted. Sorry."

"..."

"Apologizing now won't comfort you or erase your pain, but..."

I bit my lip.

"...Sorry."

I wasn't on the leaked remnant info. Not on their target names. They narrowed by name overlaps. But nothing linked to me anywhere.

I clenched my fists tight. Mom took my hand; hers trembled.

"During the bomb terror, all special communicators got hacked and wrecked. Bunker system fried too. So Mom got called up. For smooth comms—Mom's computer skills are known in Korea. Anti-hack measure too. And Mom... can attack via comm links, pinpoint locations on hit."

Attack through networks, locate on success. I clenched my fists, voice breaking.

"So Mom... was essential to catch him quick. The guy hid targeting me so thoroughly..."

No, probably didn't hide at first. I exhaled a sob. Likely just the plan initially. Then chanced on me. Used the plan to grab me.

'How many decoys he set.'

Chanced on me, fell for me. Changed plans. Auntie Seona leaving—coincidence? Mom leaving—not? Dad not coming home... coincidence?

"Yeah. Sorry. Still worried, kept calling... Why didn't I? As Mom, didn't notice you weren't the one answering..."

Mom sniffled too. I stayed silent a moment. Thoughts drifted blankly. Then friends' faces came to mind.

"Wh-what about friends..."

"Hm...?"

"Did friends... know they were dormed because targeted...?"

"No, they didn't. Most of the other 60 dorm kids didn't either."

Teacher Junhwi said seriously. I see. They didn't know.

I bowed my head wordlessly, staring at my legs. Silent, I thought step by step.

Chanced on me, fell for me? When did he fall? When did he target? Not sure exactly. Around my first 'that dream'? Or a bit before...

'Ah...'

Something surfaced. Around when contact with Master cut—something odd happened. I recalled the man's actions. Whenever conveying something via me, he always slipped cards in the mailbox.

And around my first dream of him, a similar card came.

『Found you.』

Ah... I trembled, hand to mouth. Yes, from then! He started showing his face around me clearly from then.

'Found you' card, man appearing nearby. Right after, Master contact cut. Had that dream. Mom gone. Man started tailing. Thought just frequent encounters at first, then realized stalking.

Contact with Master or teachers cut—maybe not his aim. Master just blocked signals to protect info max. But sequentially, couldn't contact anyone.

'Could hack my phone to block other calls anyway... or make it ring to him like then...'

But wrecking communicators intentional. Intensified hacks to summon Mom. As planned, Mom went to Seoul.

Then he really cornered me. His magic and hacks meshed into pure terror.

Tears threatened again; I bit my lip. If I hadn't kept student ID in bag, if he'd hacked it like terror day, if I hadn't recalled it, if I hadn't stockpiled mana stones in drawer...

I held back tears desperately. But now it's all over. All... over...

Even thinking that, tears fell. Mom hugged me again.

"Sorry, Eunha. Shouldn't have gone. Why didn't I sense the bad omen? Hyunho, other kids not targeted, no info on you, so thought you safe, only good thoughts..."

I screamed silently, pulled from Mom's arms. One thought blazed: raced to bookshelf, pulled 'that card' tucked in a notebook once.

『Found you.』

I'd tucked it there in case for someone else. Clutching it, I opened the door and went downstairs.

Rushed to living room. Piles there: notebook stacks, cakes, pricey-looking accessories, rose heaps enough for blankets, my sorted photos in one spot.

"Eunha?!"

Mom called flustered behind. Footsteps down stairs. I went to master bedroom, grabbed phone, back to living room. Reinserted battery, powered on.

"Eunha, what's wrong?"

Phone had tons of texts from 'Rex'. Rex—heartbreaking name.

'Rex... mail... no way, right...?'

Gifts, love—all bullshit. I flung phone at roses.

Blurred eyes on photos I'd kept as evidence in envelopes. Guy's stamped criminal anyway. Add stalking—what changes.

Blank gaze, mechanically flipped photos. Well-shot, even sans ulterior. Me varied: laughing, reading, eating, ah, sky-gazing too.

Now see, only two home shots. When no Auntie Seona, mid-break.

Flipping, something fell—note scrap. First time noticing. Unfolded, read.

『—With love.

I always want to watch over you.』

My face twisted. I scoffed inwardly. Ha, with love?

'Bullshit.'

I flung photos down. Dozens crashed loud. I glared, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠panting, tears welling.

"Good lord, what's all this..."

Adults behind stared blankly.

I levitated it all, set ablaze atop. Traces he left: phone, accessories—all engulfed.

"Eunha...!"

"You bastard!"

I spat rage at burning pile.

"Damn... fucking bastard!"

Then collapsed, bawling again. Even this, seemed unforgettable. Truly.

Mom hugged slumped me. Sorry, sorry. Sorry couldn't stay. Truly sorry. I burrowed, tears flowing.

If he truly loved me, wanted traces left—yeah, he succeeded. Definitely.

So heartbreaking, couldn't stop tears.

Delayed friends a bit, explained details again. They insisted start to finish despite pain—I did. Never lingered on past much anyway. Nothing unsayable. Not clueless kid then; carved trauma deep, could speak clear. Trembled, sobbed telling, but all, everything.

Day first sensed his existence, first talk, first oddness. Step by step.

Dream entry triggered anti-magic barrier, hacked all comms, 'love you' texts, gifts.

Story dragged, inwardly exasperated more. Matched Teacher Junhwi's—realized targeted obsessively more than thought.

Ha, hate saying, but him becoming stalker fortunate? If not twisted affection, nabbed before sensing. Better than vanishing unknown...

Finished, tears dripping. But all bullshit anyway. Either way, horrific same.

Just skipped Rex mail bit. Still unsure. Just guess. Hate imagining...

"Crazy psycho fuck..."

"Fucking...! How to a kid..."

"That bastard, I'll kill him!"

Min Teacher glanced, trailed curses. Mom bawled rage hearing. I gulped tears, leaned sofa. Sudden drowsiness poured.

...Not sudden. Stayed up waiting Mom. Before, no deep sleep. Stomach ache, anxiety—no real rest.

"Hey, Mom. Hey, brothers, teachers..."

Rubbed blurring eyes, mumbled.

"Don't tell friends... They too ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠young for stalker concept... Can't say nothing, so say relentlessly chased by terror remnants. Don't say he tried attacking... Too young..."

"...Haa. Got it, got it. Yeah, bit much for them..."

I nodded, knees hugged. Kept dozing off. Doorbell rang; friends entered.

"Eunha!"

"Ah! Teachers and Je-hyeon brother too...?"

"Eunha! What happened?! Teachers and Eunhee sister said something happened..."

"Mom said someone hurt you, you injured?"

"Said chased by someone, what's that?!"

Faint smile at rushing friends.

"Eunha... ha... ha...?!"

Voice floated distant. Vision faded.

Seeing friends snapped tension. Sleep miracle'd in, unslept backlog.

Woke next morning. Asleep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on living room blanket.

Kids clustered asleep around: Inha beside me, Hansu other side, Hyunho by Inha, Minhee by Hansu—huddled.

Seeing, laughed—what's this.

Not just friends. Below sofa, Brother Je-hyeon sat asleep; Dad leaned sofa side asleep. Ah...

'Dad, you came.'

Eyes stung, sniffled.

Other sofa side, left: Teachers Junhwi and Min asleep close. Seeing snugged, thought wake them first.

But just thought—flopped back down.

Slept dreamless. Gazed ceiling bit, grabbed nearby phone. Mine burned, so... ah, Inha's.

Internet via phone. Logged site, opened mail. Over 10 piled. Found recent exchange address. ...No mail from him.

Sent daily over two days straight. But four days since last reply—no new.

So that's it, I thought. Maybe not, but near certain.

Set phone down, closed eyes amid friends. Curtains I'd shut—now open. Gotta remove window boards, paper too. But now...

Sunlight through window, drifted to sleep again.