Chapter 37
Vivian, Vivian—what was the first image of Joo Hyowon etched in her memory? To put it bluntly, a "batshit crazy fucking bitch."
She'd been lying in ambush, suddenly jamming a knife into someone else's back, then muttering something like, "Tch, you're not a monster after all?" What else could you call a lunatic like that? Vivian couldn't think of a kinder word.
Of course, she'd beaten the crap out of her. If she hadn't been reinforcing her body with Gather Qi as a precaution against monsters, that single stab might've ended her. Sparing her life right then was mercy enough, in Vivian's book.
But soon enough, she realized her own fists—the ones doing the beating—were more battered than the girl's. That meant the kid already knew how to circulate Qi. Why the hell was a girl who looked no older than middle school, maybe even elementary, holed up alone in an apartment with a knife, ambushing people?
Had she missed the evacuation somehow? Even then, going on the offensive against monsters instead of hiding? That was straight-up insane.
When Vivian demanded to know why she was there, the girl gave an answer that lived up to expectations—pure madness.
"My parents were killed by monsters. So I'm gonna get revenge."
The motive made sense. Or rather, it didn't, not really. Vivian's own parents were the asshole scum who'd shoved their academy-aspiring daughter into a crime syndicate and worked her to the bone. Whether those bastards got devoured by monsters or not wasn't her problem.
They'd waltzed into a gate on their own two feet pretending to be gutter rats—getting killed by monsters was just natural causes, as far as she was concerned.
Still, she knew revenge for one's parents was a universal driving force. What wasn't universal were this brat's eyes.
People don't go mad for revenge that easily. It's fundamentally useless for survival. Evolution over billions of years doesn't let you throw yourself into acts that don't propagate your genes.
Especially against monsters—existences that looked like incomprehensible disasters to any normal person. For a kid to grab a lone knife and chase vengeance? Damn near impossible.
Most folks would chalk it up to an unavoidable calamity and move on. If they sought revenge, it'd be by enlisting heroes directly or supporting them indirectly.
But this little shit? Her head was completely fucked. What a waste of talent.
"Don't you value your life?"
"My parents are dead—if I can't do anything and just waste it away, then no, I don't!"
So that was it. Peak kid logic. They didn't know shit about life, so they tossed it away without a second thought—saying and doing the dumbest things.
Letting a useful idiot like this die here would be a waste.
"Follow me. I'll back your revenge."
...Yeah, not exactly a great first meeting.
A middle-school brat whose head got messed up after her parents died. Instead of guiding the poor kid, here she was, a rotten adult scheming how to use her. A clichéd tragedy—ugly, no room for romanticizing.
Yet in her final moments, that's the memory that surfaced. Life's funny like that.
"I'm executing the traitor now. Any last words?"
The nominal boss of Vivian's gutter rat crew declared. She didn't bother with crap like, "I never betrayed the organization..." Pointless anyway. His goal wasn't really about traitors.
Late as it was, Vivian had learned the idiot got a shady commission from some mystery source: kill academy freshmen, 100 million per head. Stinking of trouble, and he'd dumped it on her—the syndicate's longtime top performer—without a heads-up.
If it'd succeeded, her standing might've improved. But it bombed spectacularly. Now the cops and academy were on their asses, the whole org teetering on collapse.
And instead of rallying, tightening bonds, this fool was purging their last heavy hitter? The rats' fate was sealed.
Not that it mattered—rats always had it coming.
"You let our top asset, Joo Hyowon, enroll in the academy on your own. And that same Joo Hyowon didn't help the org—in fact, she outright turned hostile. That's serious betrayal. Admit it?"
The other rats nodded along with the logic. Fair enough—from a crime syndicate's view, it was betrayal.
No point excusing it. That day she'd cluelessly tagged along to her dad's workplace. The moment she'd reflexively flung the hero trying to arrest him out the window. The instant she realized monsters swarming below, craving human blood and flesh.
Vivian's life had ended then. Everything since was just pathetic overtime.
In that gross extension, she'd raised a spiritual daughter and sent her into the world. That fulfilled her reason for living.
Time to end it.
"Sorry, Hyowon. I wanted to see you one last time, but looks like I'm going like this."
She swallowed the bitter afterthought—It's better if trash like me never shows up again for your sake...—and closed her eyes.
Then a deafening roar tore at her eardrums, hot liquid splattering her body.
"Huh?"
What the—? Aside from the throbbing ears from the blast, no pain. Just a familiar smell and feel jolted her eyes open.
What she saw: lower bodies that hadn't even realized their upper halves were pulverized, still not collapsing. A mass slaughter so futile it questioned the meaning of life.
Even Vivian, who'd witnessed countless deaths as a criminal, had never seen anything like it.
"Hyowon—that means Joo Hyowon, right?"
A girl's voice. Wiping blood from what looked less like a fishhook and more like a meat hook for hanging cattle, the girl clacked her way in on heels.
Obviously, she was the culprit. Questions like how could such a tiny girl do this were pointless. This world hid too many profound secrets under a normal facade.
"I came to dispose of dead weight, but overheard something good. That Hyowon you mentioned... you mean the academy's Joo Hyowon?"
"...No idea what you're talking about."
Her shallow lie didn't land.
"You're shaken. Shaken means I hit the mark, right? Humans love attaching meaning to calling out someone else's name at death's door. So Joo Hyowon is special to you? Mutual? Or one-sided?"
This kid was dangerous. Vivian judged instantly.
She didn't know why Hyowon's name came from this girl's mouth. But she couldn't let even a scrap of info about Hyowon slip from her.
Vivian desperately gathered Qi and lunged.
"Raaahhh!!"
She bellowed to drown her surging primal fear. Not even inside a gate, so Qi was scarce; battered from the lynch mob, her body was wrecked. Even at full strength, she doubted victory.
She'd die. Exactly what she wanted.
"That reaction... yep, you're definitely deeply connected to Joo Hyowon."
The girl's hand seized Vivian's heart. Flesh, bone, muscle—all pierced like water, core grasped in that tiny palm.
"You look useful. Decent talent. Maybe chum-level."
A bit extravagant for bait... but you don't catch sharks with earthworms.
"I'll make you my knight. Hope you make fine bait for landing a monster catch."
※
Hmm, guess we really won't meet.
Tomorrow I move to the academy dorms, and right up to the last second, the woman who'd given me a home never showed.
She'd left with such finality, like we'd never cross paths again, so I hadn't expected much. Still, if possible, I'd have loved one last face-to-face chat.
Questions I couldn't ask back then amid the chaos—I could now.
If she really was the Vivian that rat leader mentioned, matching what I'd guessed, she might be a police target by now.
Our reunion could be through jail bars. Worst-case scenario.
I just wanted to say thanks.
For sustaining my life so far. For getting me into the academy—on original Hyowon's behalf...
...No chance, so nothing to be done.
We might run into each other again, unexpectedly.