Rank 0 at the Awakened Academy — Episode 12: The Bystander
"We should probably start heading back soon."
Moon Yoojin said it as he pulled the earphones out of his ears.
He was right. Twenty minutes left. Even if they rushed back to the starting point right this second, it would be a tight squeeze.
I know. Jiwoo knew it too, but…
Yoojin slung the bag he'd set down lightly over one shoulder and was already striding away into the distance.
Jiwoo shouted at his retreating back.
"You're really just going to leave?"
The long legs stalking through the underbrush stopped mid-stride.
This time it was Jiwoo who strode toward Yoojin, closing the distance in quick, deliberate steps.
"Let's go look for her."
"Look for what, exactly?"
"Lim Lisa. Something might have happened to her."
"She could have just gone back on her own."
…Left in the middle of an assignment, just like that? What about her grade? Is that even allowed?
While Jiwoo stood there, mouth open and words failing, Yoojin stared at him steadily and spoke again.
"Just leave it."
"…What?"
"The two of us have already collected nine magic stones. That probably won't get us first place, but it's plenty for a passing score."
What is he even saying right now?
First place, passing scores—why does any of that matter?
"Is that seriously what matters to you right now?"
"Then what does?"
"There's an Abyss near here. What if she's had an accident?"
"If she's an Awakened, she can handle that much herself."
Incredulity bloomed in Jiwoo's eyes.
"Do you even know what 'accident' means? Accidents don't happen for no reason. They're called accidents because you couldn't see them coming."
"Even if there were an accident, it wouldn't be our job to save her. That's what rescue teams are for."
Forget it. This is pointless. We're not communicating at all.
"Our job is perfectly clear. Find magic stones, and get back to the starting point on time."
How could he be so calm when a member of his own team had vanished? Not a trace of turmoil could be found in those dry, ash-gray eyes—if anything, they felt almost clinical.
Jiwoo stared up at that infuriatingly composed face and muttered, half-desperate.
"Is that how you got first place? Like that?"
A flicker.
For the first time, a faint crack appeared in Moon Yoojin's expression.
"…What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm asking if you've lived your whole life ignoring anything that wasn't your business, only caring about your own grades."
Of course, Lisa wasn't his friend or anything of the kind. Forget friendship—he'd never even spoken to her before today.
But he'd seen it this morning, hadn't he? The sight of Lisa being bullied.
'Maybe I keep worrying about her because of Jihyo.'
Whatever the reason, one thing was certain: Jiwoo couldn't just pretend not to see Lisa.
He shouldn't have to.
But Moon Yoojin, apparently, was built differently.
"We check down there first, and if she's still not there, then we tell a teacher. The teacher will call in a rescue team."
He wasn't wrong.
No, he wasn't wrong at all.
"You know she's being bullied. That's not nothing, is it?"
"……?"
Yoojin tilted his head slightly, as if he genuinely had no idea what Jiwoo was talking about.
Jiwoo bit down hard on his lower lip.
When he'd first seen Moon Yoojin, Jiwoo had assumed he wasn't a 'target.' Because the video hadn't shown anyone who looked like him.
'I was wrong.'
Even if someone never appeared in that video, it didn't make them any less of a perpetrator. While Jihyo was being tormented, Moon Yoojin must have looked away and pretended not to see.
Exactly the way he was treating Lisa now.
It was called complicity—bystanding.
'The worst kind.'
Jiwoo's fingertips began to tremble.
Calm down. I have to stay calm. If I let myself get shaken up more than necessary, my core could go berserk again.
Jiwoo steadied his voice as much as he could and spoke again.
"It's possible someone did something bad to her on purpose. And this place is right next to an Abyss. Rescue team or not, by the time anything happens, it'll already be too late."
"……."
"And you'd still just walk away? Because we've already got a passing score as it is?"
Is that it, then? As long as nothing touches him, nothing else matters?
Moon Yoojin… is this how this guy kept his number one rank in the whole school?
"And what's wrong with that?"
The voice that came back was so placid it made Jiwoo's strength drain right out of him.
"…Ha."
A dry, hollow laugh escaped between his lips. Perhaps unsure what the laugh meant, Yoojin's brow rose faintly.
It had been like this the whole time. Conversations with this man went nowhere. Neither of them understood what the other was saying—just circling the same empty ground.
But one thing had become crystal clear.
Moon Yoojin. He and Jiwoo didn't mix.
"Enjoy your first place all by yourself."
Clatter.
Jiwoo dumped the magic stones he'd been holding onto the ground like so much trash, spun on his heel, and pushed into the undergrowth on the opposite side.
"……."
He felt eyes on his back, but Jiwoo never once looked back.
And Yoojin didn't follow.
Before she knew it, the sun was sliding down behind the ridge of the mountain.
Darkness spread through the black forest like spilled ink. She had no idea how much time had passed.
Alone in the stillness, Lisa swallowed her sobs.
"Hhic…"
Drawn by that crying, small insects—ants and the like—began creeping toward her from every direction.
It was, in a word, a miserable situation.
Gu Minjae had long since pretended not to notice and left, and her phone was gone too—perhaps lost when she fell from the cliff.
But worse than any of that was the 'thing' right in front of her—
An Infected, from who knew where.
Granted, this was close to the Abyss, so an Infected being around was hardly surprising. She simply hadn't imagined she'd run face-first into one.
Infected creatures sometimes appeared near the Abyss, and when they did, a deafening alarm would blare across the entire school—like the day Jihyo had started attending.
But today, not a single sound had been heard…
'I'm scared.'
With her core, Lisa couldn't hope to take down an Infected completely.
She'd managed to knock it unconscious for a while using venomous insects, but that was all. The poison of a centipede or a spider was nothing capable of killing an Infected.
…And so, Lisa had already spent an hour sitting there beside the unconscious creature.
There were only two ways out of here.
Climb the cliff, or
get past the place where the Infected lay sprawled.
'…Should I use my core?'
If she used the insects cleverly enough, she might be able to climb the cliff.
But Lisa abandoned the thought almost immediately.
'What if the Infected wakes up because of all the bugs moving around?'
Timid as she was, she simply couldn't summon the courage.
The sky beyond had begun to darken at the edges. There was no sign of any person nearby. Most of the students had probably finished turning in their assignments and gone back by now.
Wincing, Lisa crouched down on her aching leg.
…If she just waited, a teacher would come looking for her. Even tonight, maybe. All she could do was pray the Infected stayed asleep until then.
Tears welled up in her dark eyes.
How long had she sat huddled like that?
Step—
A footstep sounded from the top of the cliff.
"…!"
Forgetting the pain in her leg entirely, Lisa shot to her feet.
Someone had come? A teacher? Or the rescue team?
The footsteps grew closer and closer.
Then she saw someone peek their head over the edge of the cliff.
"Lim Lisa? Are you down there?"
Thump. Her heart dropped.
…It was Jihyo.
"Ah, um—"
She should be begging to be saved, asking for help—but the moment she saw Jihyo's face, her throat closed up tight.
"Stay there. I'm coming down."
"N-no, don't!"
Lisa cried out before she could stop herself.
"There's an Infected down here! It's—it's dangerous, you can't come down!"
Had her voice been too loud? From behind her came a soft rustle, like leaves drifting down one by one.
The fallen Infected had begun to twitch.
Lisa sucked in a panicked breath.
"Go, hurry!"
"……."
Jihyo gazed down at her for a long, silent moment.
Then her figure disappeared from the edge.
'…Did she leave?'
The strength she'd been holding in her legs gave out all at once.
Right. That was fine. That was enough.
She had no right to resent Jihyo for not saving her. Hadn't she done exactly the same thing herself?
"…Sob."
Tears welled up again. Lisa scrubbed roughly at her eyes with the back of her hand.
And then—
Thud-thud-thud!
Just as she heard the sound of something violently striking the dirt—
"Hey, move!"
BOOM!
Something crashed down right in front of her.
Startled, Lisa staggered backward.
"Owowow…"
Jihyo, having landed spectacularly on her backside, winced and rubbed at her rear, whimpering.
She'd—she'd jumped down? From way up there?
'Why?'
As Lisa blinked her wide-open eyes, she spotted Jihyo's palms, scraped raw against the gravel, blood dripping steadily.
"Ji-Jihyo, are you—"
"Are you okay?"
Jihyo beat her to it.
Jihyo's blue eyes reflected Lisa's stunned face perfectly.
"Are you hurt? What on earth were you doing down here? And what's wrong with your leg?"
"……."
"Wait. Where's the Infected?"
"……."
"…Lim Lisa?"
Whoosh.
The tears she'd been holding back all this time finally gave way, pouring down like a waterfall.
"Hey! What's wrong? Does it hurt that much?"
Flustered, Jiwoo looked Lisa over carefully. Her left ankle was swollen and puffy, but beyond that, she could see no other injuries.
But more importantly—
Jiwoo's gaze slid past Lisa's shoulder and landed on the enormous shadow behind her.
The Infected.
The creature was staring at them, its joints bending at grotesque angles.