Remorse (2)

“Cough….”

The first thing Mo Ye-ji saw upon regaining consciousness was the man's face. An utterly ordinary face. The neat, colorless impression blended seamlessly with his black hair, creating an appearance that seemed handsome at a glance. But compared to her own, this man was truly average.

“…You.”

As her dulled awareness slowly sharpened, the memories from before she blacked out resurfaced. This man had suddenly shouted, and immediately after, a monster emerged from the shadows. Not one of the training dummies, but a real monster. The boy who had volunteered for the rear guard crumpled in a single blow, and the beast lunged toward her.

Mo Ye-ji stared up at the colossal monster. She had undergone rigorous training since her cadet school days, but this was her first time laying eyes on a living, breathing monster. And one this enormous and repulsive… Its shaggy exoskeleton gleamed with a black sheen. Greenish fluids dripped from its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pincer-like maw. Its small, protruding eyes brimmed with fathomless darkness, impossible to discern what they fixed upon. The creature didn't feel real. It was like a vile nightmare she was trapped in with her eyes wide open.

Mo Ye-ji squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. Her heart seemed to stop; the world froze. Then a familiar sensation surged through her mind. This feeling—one she could never forget. The terror from the day she lost her family crashed over her like waves. The emotional torrent swallowed her whole. Unable to twitch a finger, her mind blazed with crystalline self-recrimination for some inexplicable reason.

I'm sorry for surviving alone….

Her parents slain by nameless beasts, her little sibling dead. The twelve-year-old survivor was shuttled from cousin to cousin like unwanted baggage. While her family's heads were severed one by one by those thugs, she alone lived on. The media hounded her daily. Amid the reporters' fervent pursuits, every household she entered fell apart one after another. If their goal was to drive the girl to suicide, they were making steady progress. There was no refuge for her on this earth, sold off like trash.

What began as kindness soured into malice, and after drifting through home after home, she finally washed up at the cadet academy. That was when she fully realized her awakening. Life there was grueling. Yet paradoxically, the physical agony drowned out her mental torment. Clinging to the singular vow of avenging her family, she delayed her suicide and chose to endure.

And in the instant her gaze met the grotesque monster's, Mo Ye-ji grasped her own folly. Fight this? Victory was impossible. Death was certain…. No—she should have died from the start. That night five years ago when her family perished.

Then a voice cut through clearly.

“Hey! Mo Ye-ji! Use your precognition!”

Mo Ye-ji jolted. She quickly pieced it together. Demonology lectures had taught that the closer a monster to a demon, the more it savored human fear like a spice…. Is this its ability? It seemed so. Her mind had felt off since their eyes first locked. Likely something that dredged up a target's tragic past. Come to think of it, Instructor Lee Jin-ah had quipped that demons amplifying fear was like sprinkling sauce before a meal….

Sudden laughter bubbled up. The terror evaporated. Mo Ye-ji shouted back toward the voice and obeyed its intent. She activated her precognition.

The man charged the monster. To avoid reading his future, Mo Ye-ji shut one eye. But in a world where even time was relative, fully isolating two entities in the same space was impossible. Blood streamed from her nose. Her brain boiled. Gasping for air, she pushed herself to the limit. To avenge herself against the beast that had ripped open her curtain of misery.

The man finally brought the monster down. Mo Ye-ji blacked out the moment she witnessed it. Then, amid hot breath and the faint press of lips, a clear revelation pierced her.

“Don’t die! You can’t die.”

Words she had yearned to hear back when misfortune shadowed every home she entered. Don’t die. Live.

“Cough….”

Coming to, the man before her was speaking.

“Hah, thank god….”

Thank god? For what?

“…You.”

Was he saying it was a relief that she had survived? The words from her haze lingered as vividly as that breath and lip-touch.

The incident wrapped up swiftly. After the rescue request, instructors arrived to clean up the site while conducting their own investigation. Aside from Yoon Sam-won, whose glasses had shattered and left him with severe facial injuries, Mo Ye-ji and I received treatment and answered questions.

By the time we finished and returned to the dorms, it was exactly midnight. I was the one going through what should have been Choi Ji-seong's ordeal. Was this for the best?

“…Who knows.”

Still, there were gains. I pulled a hidden pouch from my pocket. A shabby, rough-looking leather sack that seemed worthless. But incredibly, it was a subspace pouch.

These magical items only dropped from ma-beast rank and above after subjugation—good luck on my part. Subspace pouches were highly practical and expensive, not easy to come by.

“…Let's see. Hope it's still in good shape.”

I rummaged through the subspace pouch. The thrill of a palm-sized sack holding space as vast as my dorm never got old. Soon, my hand closed around something. I pulled it out.

A black orb emerged, shimmering with iridescent light. An item I'd secretly pocketed from the queen ant's corpse.

“…Essence.”

Essences were like inner cores found in monsters rank ma-beast and up. Those who had awakened talents could consume them to gain abilities—demons actually did this to acquire power or skills. But it was a crapshoot; unstable. Fail to digest it properly, and your body exploded on the spot.

That said, demon contractors could grow fast, but their limits were clear.

“…But not me.”

As a Visitor, I could upgrade my constitution to nullify essence side effects. Of course, I'd never absorb it at 100% efficiency.

Might as well check the shop while at it. Acquisition logs popped up, along with my holdings.

Subjugating a main-story ma-beast counted as an achievement, huh. Recouped the 8,000 points I'd spent on proficiency potions—and netted 5,000 more. Some of these points ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were probably from Mo Ye-ji. I'd saved her life, after all.

“Hm.”

I could check the details, but there were too many logs. Annoying. Skipping them, I used search to check constitutions.

Steep price. Out of reach. But Mana Affinity Body wasn't what I wanted anyway.

Anti-Mana Body. Upgrading to this would let me consume essences side-effect-free. Plus, handle 'mana-immune' types like today's queen ant with ease. Also ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠500,000 points—still miles away. Shelf it for now.

“Sigh.”

Come to think of it, the investigation meant I barely ate. I did eat, but prying eyes made it impossible to chow down properly. Swing by the convenience store for ramen? Solid plan. Tomorrow's tentatively canceled anyway—no morning worries.

I headed out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with that in mind.

“……”

By coincidence, Mo Ye-ji emerged from the opposite dorm, stairs between us. Like we'd planned it, our eyes met as we stared.

“……”

“……”

Mo Ye-ji turned away, as if my gaze burdened her. I passed without a word and descended the stairs.

Heading to the convenience store, I thought: Mo Ye-ji's eyes weren't as sharp as before.