Chapter 379
Chapter 379
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 380
Chapter Title: The Drowsiness Outbreak
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“Director, you’ve worked hard.”
“No, it must have been tough waiting. You’ve worked harder, Manager.”
“Haha, no, not at all.”
After finishing the opening ceremony schedule for the Taehwi Festival, Han Se-yeon climbed into the back seat of the car amid her secretary’s greetings.
The secretary, seated in the driver’s seat, glanced at Han Se-yeon’s expression and spoke up.
“……By the way, did something happen inside?”
The sudden question made Han Se-yeon look at her secretary with puzzled eyes.
“No, nothing happened. Is there a problem?”
“Ah! Your expression just seemed off. It must have been my imagination. Haha.”
At those words, Han Se-yeon slightly lifted the corner of her mouth.
She must have unconsciously hardened her face due to something bothering her.
She had always been confident in managing her expressions.
“Maybe I’m just a bit tired. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
“......Hmm.”
The secretary let out a groan at that.
No one knew Han Se-yeon’s killer schedule better than she did.
For someone in her early twenties, it must have been hard even to keep up.
Han Se-yeon gave her secretary a small smile, as if to say not to worry.
“I’m fine, so don’t worry too much.”
“That’s a relief, but…… Hmm. Yes, let’s head out.”
The car glided forward smoothly. Han Se-yeon glanced at her secretary in the front seat before turning her gaze to the window.
The long road and beautiful natural scenery……
And the sight of outsiders who had come to watch the festival.
At that moment, events from the Wizard Academy flashed through her mind.
Kim Jin-woo preparing as student representative……
No, Kim Sun-woo, and Choi Seo-yoon, who had been amicably fixing his appearance right in front of him.
“……What are they to each other?”
“Pardon? What did you just say?”
Her secretary asked, having caught the unconscious mutter.
Han Se-yeon shook her head in surprise.
“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”
“……Hmm? Oh, yes. Understood.”
The secretary felt a moment of doubt at her flustered demeanor but refocused on driving.
Han Se-yeon let out a small sigh and fidgeted with her hands clasped over her thighs.
Then she recalled the situation from before.
—There are rumors they’re dating!
Lee Hee-young’s excited whisper.
As she said, the two had looked quite close, almost like they were dating.
No, even if not quite dating…… it was clear that Choi Seo-yoon at least had a deep interest in him.
In that instant, an inexplicable frustration welled up.
Between ‘Kim Jin-woo’ and ‘Kim Sun-woo’, which was more precious to him?
Seeing him today, she thought the life of ‘Kim Sun-woo’ might be more precious.
That Kim Sun-woo was the real one.
Kim Jin-woo was fake. So Kim Jin-woo was just a mask for Kim Sun-woo.
Then what about me……
What am I to him?
Feeling that bitterness, Han Se-yeon pulled out the key her father had left behind from her pocket.
Her father’s keepsake, presumed to hold clues related to the Mystery.
It could only be used on some island in the Pacific, so she hadn’t gone yet, but once her backlog cleared, she’d have a couple of days off.
She didn’t know what she’d learn there, but she’d push on a little longer until then.
[A minor change in the future has been detected.]
[Causality rate increases by 0.3.]
As I wandered around the school festival grounds, a message popped up in front of me.
The causality rate rising without reason was something I’d experienced often lately, so I ignored it and dismissed it from view.
“Wow, there are so many people.”
Yoon Ha-young muttered excitedly beside me.
I looked around.
As she said, the school grounds were bustling with crowds.
Students in uniforms, reporters out for coverage, civilians there to see Yoo Hong.
Even kids dreaming of becoming wizards and their parents.
—Hey, isn’t that Kim Sun-woo and Choi Seo-yoon?
—Yeah, for real? Wow, she’s so pretty. And Yoon Ha-young next to her? Kim Sun-woo’s famous best friend.
—Looks like it. She’s super pretty too. And Kim Sun-woo looks way better in person.
—Seems like he dressed up a bit since he’s student rep.
“Ahem.”
I cleared my throat at the voices coming from around us.
The blatant praise made me feel awkwardly embarrassed.
Then a sudden curiosity struck, and I turned to Choi Seo-yoon, who was happily taking in the festival.
“But is it okay for you to just hang out here like this?”
The Taehwi Festival had various events prepared.
Good performance in events earned ‘coins’ that could be exchanged for prizes.
As a third-year, I wasn’t participating, so it didn’t matter, but Choi Seo-yoon, a second-year, probably wanted to.
“The prizes this year aren’t great, so I’m just taking it easy.”
Choi Seo-yoon said with a smile.
The Taehwi Festival prizes this year were probably ‘International Gate 10-Use Passes’.
Compared to last year’s ‘Training Room Entry Ticket’, they seemed a bit lesser.
“And I’m participating in the cultural arts festival tomorrow anyway.”
“Hmm. True.”
The cultural arts festival, the flower of the Taehwi Festival, was tomorrow.
Just participating earned a lot of coins, so she planned to stock up there.
Then, thoughts of tomorrow’s events crossed my mind.
Unnecessary tension rose. I was worried about Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ah-ra performing fire magic in front of the audience.
Of course, something even more worrying was……
The law professor’s latent trait, drowsiness inducement, going berserk today.
There was still time.
The professor was probably feeling deep fatigue in the staff room by now, resting, and the berserk causing an incident would be in the afternoon.
Still, no room for carelessness.
Then Yoon Ha-young, who’d been watching me warily, whispered quietly.
—Sun-woo, so something’s really going down today, right?
She’d noticed and followed after all.
No point denying it, so as I prepared to answer honestly.
A urgent shout came from somewhere.
“Make way!”
A man’s desperate cry.
The noisy festival grounds fell silent for a moment.
Someone lay slumped on his back, as if passed out.
People stared in shock.
“……What’s going on?”
“Looks like they collapsed suddenly.”
“Oh my. What happened?”
I squinted at the sight.
Was that the law professor’s ‘drowsiness inducement’?
“Tch……”
I bit my lip.
In the original, the berserk of drowsiness inducement was supposed to happen in the afternoon.
“Sun-woo, this……”
Yoon Ha-young muttered, sensing the gravity from my expression.
And shortly after.
—Kyaaah!
—Here, people here!
A piercing scream erupted, filling the space.
Panic spread across people’s faces at the sudden situation.
“Se-Sunbae! Isn’t something happening?”
“Let’s go.”
We hurried toward the screams.
At the park’s edge, the stage set up for the invited performance came into view.
The gathered crowd stood with confused faces.
“Make way!”
I pushed through the crowd and took in the scene of the incident.
Dozens of people lay collapsed like corpses beneath the stage.
At least over 30, from a rough count.
Among them were students in Wizard Academy uniforms.
In that moment, I knew.
The law professor’s latent trait berserk had begun.
—It’s Kim Sun-woo.
The crowd, who had spotted the situation first, noticed me.
Ignoring them, I rushed over and checked the people’s conditions.
Injecting mana, I felt the flow of mana in their bodies.
Like hypnosis, it affected the brains of those around, putting them to sleep.
Similar to a mana reflux phenomenon.
I said to Yoon Ha-young, who looked at me anxiously.
“It’s okay. They’re just asleep. Their mana’s a bit tangled, though.”
“……Just asleep?”
Yoon Ha-young wore an incredulous expression.
I immediately untangled the knotted mana in their bodies.
Then, belated footsteps approached.
Turning, I saw Association wizards dispatched for the Wizard Academy’s security.
“……What the hell? Terrorism?”
“No. No signs of killing.”
“Not terrorism, but why are so many collapsed?”
“No idea.”
I spoke to the panicking group.
“Their mana got tangled from an external force, putting them to sleep temporarily.”
“……External force? Wait, you’re Kim Sun-woo?”
I nodded to the stunned wizards.
“If left like this, they might not wake up. Hurry and help.”
“……Uh, uh, okay.”
“I’ll request backup!”
One Association wizard stood and ran off somewhere.
I glanced at the departing wizard, then turned to Choi Seo-yoon and Yoon Ha-young.
“You two, come help.”
“Ah, yes!”
Thus, under my direction, the Association wizards, Choi Seo-yoon, and Yoon Ha-young got to work.
Even berserk, it was still just a latent trait.
Since it used a third force beyond mana, the people’s conditions weren’t severe.
Citizens watching from behind looked at me with amazed eyes.
I felt stares prickling the back of my head but ignored them, steadily untangling the knotted mana.
“But if it’s an external force, there must be a cause……”
One Association wizard muttered questioningly.
“Probably a latent trait berserk.”
“……Latent trait?”
The wizard blinked blankly, unfamiliar with the term.
“It’s like a special talent some few people have.”
“No, I know that much. But can a latent trait cause something like this……”
As I untangled mana, I explained.
“If it’s a latent trait berserk, yes.”
“Ah! I’ve heard of that. But how do you know for sure?”
“If it were mana or Mystery causing it, it would’ve been detected already. And it can’t be tools, since that wouldn’t explain the mana reflux.”
“……Wow, yeah. You’re as smart as the rumors say.”
I knew the answer, so I pieced it together, but couldn’t reveal it, so I shrugged.
After untangling the mana of the citizen I was handling, I stood.
“I’ll head out now. Stay and help the collapsed ones.”
“……Huh? Help together. Where you going?”
“Gotta prevent more victims.”
The Association wizard squinted at my words.
“You know who did this?”
I nodded slightly.
“I have a suspect.”
Meanwhile, due to the commotion outside, Lee Seo-jun and his group, preparing for the play, came out to check.
The Taehwi Festival grounds, meant to be joyful, were in chaos for some reason.
“Argh, I knew this would happen!”
Shin Young-jun’s urgent shout. Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ah-ra looked puzzled.
“Knew what would happen?”
“Kim Sun-woo. He looked off today.”
Lee Seo-jun recalled Kim Sun-woo’s expression from earlier at Shin Young-jun’s words.
Even after nailing the student rep speech, tension outweighed satisfaction on his face.
“……You saying Kim Sun-woo already knew something like this would happen?”
Yoo Ah-ra asked incredulously, and Shin Young-jun nodded.
“Isn’t it obvious? Kim Sun-woo’s patterns are spot on day after day. Nearly two years like this.”
“……Kinda convincing in a weird way.”
Yoo Ah-ra muttered quietly.
Lee Seo-jun pondered their conversation.
……Kim Sun-woo knew about today’s incident in advance?
“Hey, people collapsed over there?”
At Shin Young-jun’s words, Lee Seo-jun and Yoo Ah-ra looked over.
At the end of their gaze, countless people lay slumped as if fainted.
And at the center, a man staggered along with drunken steps.
“……Isn’t that the law professor?”
With every step the law professor took, people around him fainted one by one.
Lee Seo-jun instinctively realized.
That professor was the cause of the commotion.
As he rushed to stop the professor.
An unknown sensation seeped into his mind, causing intense dizziness.
Lee Seo-jun staggered back, hand to his forehead.
“......Ugh!”
An indescribable immense power—not mana, what the hell?
“……Professor!”
Lee Seo-jun shouted loudly at the law professor’s back.
But as if he hadn’t heard, the professor continued stumbling sleepily as before.