Why Is This Threatening Us?
Why are we being threatened?
As they reached the end of the corridor, it branched into three connecting passages that looked like routes to other buildings.
Three men stood blocking each passage.
Against the walls beyond them, paper charms clung tightly, casting a gloomy atmosphere.
“Then, miss, you’ll come this way.”
“I’m going alone?”
Chayeon asked with a puzzled expression.
“Yes, we’ll be handling each case individually.”
The woman explained in a flat tone.
The word “case” carried an unsettling nuance.
Is this okay?
I don’t know.
These useless bastards…
While she hesitated, a man from another passage had already approached Namyeon and was guiding him.
“Then, young man, come this way.”
“Ah, yeah. See you later, Chayeon.”
Namyeon waved at her without suspicion and followed the man.
“...He said he’d follow me as my protector, didn’t he?”
Chayeon stared at the disappearing back of Namyeon with an incredulous look before turning to follow the woman into the opposite passage.
***
Clink—
Guided to the end of the connecting corridor, they entered a room. The moment she stepped inside, Chayeon heard a foreign metallic sound.
She felt something cold and hard touching the back of her head.
“...?”
“Don’t move. If you show any suspicious movement, I’ll shoot.”
The woman’s voice came out like a mechanical monotone.
Only after hearing those words did Chayeon realize what she was feeling on the back of her head.
Could this woman be pressing a gun to the back of my neck?
Things happening in twenty-first-century South Korea that couldn’t even be imagined.
She hadn’t realized yesterday’s events were already impossible to call reality, but she never thought she’d end up in life-threatening danger.
“...What the hell are you doing all of a sudden?”
Chayeon’s voice sounded strangely high compared to usual.
Her body had gone rigid from the unfamiliar situation. From beyond the front wall, two men emerged.
Both were holding long, sharp blades.
Shit, we’re screwed.
She knew it was an extremely dangerous situation without knowing the details.
Why are we being threatened?
If you don’t know, what do you expect me to do, you bastard?
She cursed inwardly at Heokgu’s dumb remark.
“Calmly reveal your identity.”
The woman’s voice dripped with coldness.
“If you ask who I am, I have nothing to say. Name’s Jeon Chayeon, twenty years old.”
“Don’t waste time with excuses. How did you know about Jindal and come looking for it?”
She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet this treatment out of nowhere.
She wanted to punch him in the face, but with a gun barrel pressed to her head, that would just get her killed.
“I never imagined I’d have to explain myself in a situation like this. Alright, here’s what happened:”
Before she could open her mouth to explain, Heokgu interrupted.
Hide everything about me. Tell me lies.
Why do I have to do this all of a sudden?
As long as you don’t mention the word “Black Nine-tailed Fox,” it’s fine. I’ll explain later. Just stop talking about me for now.
Shit, then what am I supposed to say?
Chayeon opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly clamped it shut. The woman slammed the gun barrel against her head roughly.
“Stop beating around the bush and tell the truth.”
...Is this place some criminal gang’s den?
She didn’t want to die here, so she quickly thought of an excuse, but nothing came to mind.
Since she was told to hide everything about the Black Nine-tailed Fox, she just wouldn’t mention that word.
Chayeon decided to get as close to the truth as possible—keep it short and concise.
“Yesterday, something entered my body. That something is now a supernatural ability user, so it told me to go to the Jindal Academy. That’s why I’m here. Can you please put the gun down?”
She regretted it the moment she said it. She’d slipped up and used a filterless remark at the end.
“Terrible excuse.”
“You must be a low-ranking demon who doesn’t know much about supernatural abilities.”
The two men watching silently opened their mouths.
“...It’s not an excuse. That’s the truth.”
Chayeon was genuinely pissed. She had said everything exactly as it happened, only avoiding the Black Nine-tailed Fox word.
“It seems you have no intention of telling the truth. We’ll handle you.”
The woman showed signs of pulling the trigger. Chayeon said urgently.
“No, shit! I’m telling the truth! I swear, that something told me to come here!”
“It’s impossible for a supernatural ability residing inside a human body to convey such intent. And if there really is one inside you right now, you wouldn’t even be standing.”
That had happened before.
People who obtained supernatural abilities on their own and discovered and came to Jindal.
Seo Yeonju, who managed entrance at Jindal Gate, would bring them here to this place where seals suppressing their abilities had been cast.
It was a kind of test.
To see if they were truly supernatural ability users who had come looking for the academy, or if they were some other kind of being with ulterior motives.
The three passages led to different roles, and this one connected to the supernatural ability’s innate sense in the body.
Those who had trained inside the academy would know, but according to the girl, if someone had only just received a supernatural ability yesterday, it was normal to lose balance and fall over.
Of course, if the girl’s supernatural ability is one of the Seven Divine Positions, that’s a different story.
The woman erased the thought.
There was no way.
All Seven Divine Positions were alive and well.
She was an unknown girl who had suddenly appeared and tried to enter the academy.
She claimed to have a supernatural ability inside her, but that was clearly a lie.
And on top of that, her appearance was strikingly beautiful.
It was a mix of cuteness and allure that seemed born to captivate people.
It was highly likely she was a demon trying to intrude on the academy.
Even if she wasn’t a demon, she was definitely hiding something.
The situation was murky.
She recalled the instruction to leave judgment to her discretion.
Handle her.
The woman pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang—
But before the trigger could be pulled, something suddenly lifted the gun into the air.
“Eh?”
While the woman was startled, the two men standing in front reacted swiftly.
They judged that the demon was starting to respond and rushed forward, drawing their blades.
But their bodies felt like solid stone and didn’t move at all.
“Heh, so you really are a demon. Using some strange ability.”
The two men glared, but Chayeon was dumbfounded.
“What I... did...”
A voice came from above her head.
When she looked up, the girl who had been missing just moments ago was floating in mid-air.
“Sorry, I forcibly stopped your movement. To my eyes, you two seemed to judge too hastily, so I held back.”
The woman who had been aiming the gun looked startled and said, “S-Sunbae Seo?”
“Yeonju, long time no see.”
The girl descended to the ground and planted her feet.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your work. But to my eyes, this girl doesn’t look like she’s lying.”
With a wave of the girl’s hand, the men who had been frozen relaxed and staggered before toppling over comically.
The girl named Yeonju said with a rebellious tone, “But if she really got a supernatural ability yesterday, how could she stand straight inside this?”
“That’s right. We’ll have to find out gradually. But it’s certain that this girl isn’t lying.”
Yeonju’s blue eyes sparkled with reflected light.
Seeing that, Yeonju lowered her head in a hurry, her expression saying ah, crap.
“If Sunbae Seo says so, then it must be true. I was too hasty.”
The girl lowered her head, and Seo stepped in front of Chayeon.
Chayeon’s red eyes had widened like rabbit eyes.
“Please leave this girl to me.”
“Understood. I’ll register her in the entrance log.”
The woman bowed deeply.
Meanwhile, Chayeon couldn’t stop staring at Seo ever since she appeared.
Her ash-gray hair that reminded her of the ashes left after burning.
Light ash eyes with a reddish aura.
Gold earrings on both ears.
Even the glamorous white shirt outfit that revealed a body beautiful enough to be mistaken for a model.
She definitely hadn’t been mistaken.
Chayeon opened her mouth without realizing it.
“Sasa noona?”
At that, Seo tilted her head.
She examined the face of the unfamiliar girl standing in front of her.
Then her eyes widened.
“‘Sasa noona’? Could it be... Chayeon?”