Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Bad Child
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Trembling hands came into view.
Wandering eyes. Stammering lips. A face drained pale.
"How....... No, why....... My little brother?"
Yuna blurted out her questions in a jumbled mess.
It was understandable.
Yuna was cute and kind, but she didn't have the ability to see everything from her seat.
But who am I!
The first time we met, I slipped into Yuna's shadow. And I saw her memories.
The shadow spread out in all directions.
Among them was Yuna's home.
My shadow took root there. And it headed toward her family.
So I could see it.
"Yesterday. On the way home. Um. It seemed like they just targeted her for money!"
Yuna stammered again at those words, then groaned.
"C-Can I step away for a quick call?"
"Sure!"
There was still plenty of cake and tea left, but tea time could happen anytime!
Besides, Yuna wasn't really "here" in the first place.
She staggered to her feet—or seemed to—then vanished in a flash.
The Foundation wouldn't just let an employee waltz into isolation like that, right?
She must have used some special method, like the mannequin I used when moving elsewhere.
Fwoop!
Just then, I glanced sideways and saw my new friend shoving an entire plate of cake into her mouth.
"Sluuuurp!"
She naturally set down the half-eaten plate.
Looked like my new friend needed some training.
"Alright, let's start with a name!"
Back when I was human, I didn't know much about the behavioral principles of Anomalies.
I'd observed and experienced various things, but that was all from a human perspective.
In a word, incomplete.
But now it's different.
I've become something not human myself.
The thing before me resembles a human, but its sense of self is faint beyond belief.
I know how to strengthen that self.
"You are Dasom. Lee Dasom. I have given you a name, so use it as your anchor to build a defined sense of self. This is the greatest grace I bestow upon you."
Dasom's brown eyes reflected my own.
Blue eyes swirling like a vortex. If Yuna saw them, she'd probably freak out and fall backward again.
"Hee hee."
That thought made me laugh involuntarily.
Dasm, newly named, tilted her head curiously, then mimicked me.
"Hee, hee."
Her sense of self was still weak, but I could see the seed had been planted.
In a little time, she'd make a fine tea table companion!
Meanwhile, Yuna was frantically making calls.
To confirm if her little brother had really gone missing.
And soon enough, her face went blank, as if her soul had fled.
I didn't bother checking what response she'd gotten. I already knew the answer.
Soon, Yuna returned.
Normally, she'd have to ask permission every time she contacted me. Even for requests.
But she didn't this time.
She just came back and pleaded desperately with me.
"P-Please, my brother......"
I smiled.
How far ahead had the Foundation planned?
Did they have no way to stop Yuna from acting out of turn?
In a place like this, nothing could be more dangerous than unexpected actions from insiders, right?
I doubted it.
So maybe Yuna's outburst wasn't so unexpected after all?
They wanted to see how I'd react to her plea.
What I'd demand in return.
How the situation would unfold.
Maybe something like that?
I couldn't be sure about this part.
At least, no such discussions happened inside this facility.
But I couldn't deny the possibility.
This place—the Foundation—was dedicated to isolating dangerous Anomalies for humanity's sake, after all.
An organization like that wouldn't be so sloppy, would it?
"Hee hee."
So I told Yuna.
"Don't worry!"
She really didn't need to.
I'd find her brother and punish the bad guys too.
South Korea has pretty good public safety.
Supernatural phenomena happen here too, but that's true everywhere.
So relatively speaking, Korea was quite safe.
But does that mean everyone lives carefree, peaceful lives without ever touching crime? Of course not.
Even in safe places, crimes happen.
"Ugh, this little brat's a real pain."
"Told you we should've used sleeping pills."
"Idiot, we can't hurt 'em, remember? Didn't you hear?"
"I did. Bring this kid, and we get 10 billion."
These men in a dim basement had contributed plenty to Korea's rising crime rate.
And not just this job.
For the right price, they'd do anything.
Murder. Kidnapping. Blackmail. Torture. You name it.
This time, the client just wanted a child snatched.
"Hah, should've known something was off when the payout was that high."
He'd thought this job would be easy.
Just grab a kid from an ordinary-looking family.
But reality didn't match expectations.
All sorts of unforeseen issues cropped up during the snatch.
Bodyguards lurking in the shadows. Meticulously planned routes.
The kid was protected like some VIP's heir.
But in the end, he pulled it off.
He was competent, after all.
"Just one more day to hold out, though."
"Tomorrow we swap the kid for the payout, right?"
And now the hard part was over.
Just wait here, exchange the kid for cash, done.
No worries about getting caught. It was a well-crafted hideout.
He was confident he hadn't left a single trace during the job.
Flicker, flicker-.
So he didn't notice at first when the lights started flickering.
"What? Bulb burnt out?"
"We just installed it."
"Defective maybe?"
While they chatted, the lights kept flickering. Then suddenly.
Poof-.
The lights went out completely.
It was a basement with no windows, pitch black. They panicked briefly, then pulled out their phones for light.
Poof-.
"Why the hell did the bulb crap out......"
But the man who turned on his phone light felt something off and froze in confusion.
Something was wrong.
"What's up?"
"S-Something's, weird, right?"
"What? How?"
"No...... Was that kid that tall?"
The man pointed toward the bed.
There lay the child they'd kidnapped this time.
"Tall? Dunno."
"No! How don't you know! We snatched a 6-year-old boy...... Why's it a girl?"
"Wasn't it a girl?"
"No! It was a boy! Fuck, not that big either! Hair was normal black!"
"This one's silver-haired?"
"I can see that!"
The man panted in panic, then whipped around to glare at his useless yapping partner.
His phone light swept over what he thought was his partner.
No, over the thing he thought was his partner.
It had silver hair.
It was a girl.
The very thing that had been lying on the bed moments ago.
"Hi?"
Blue eyes looked at the man.
A chillingly beautiful and terrifying presence gazed at him.
The man gasped for breath.
He couldn't make sense of the situation.
Whoosh!
The man swung his phone light around again.
Now he saw the figure perched on the bed.
The silver-haired girl staring at him.
"What're you doing?"
The girl asked with an innocent expression.
A beautiful smile on her face.
"Hah, huff, J-Jinwook! Jinwook!"
The man called his partner's name.
He couldn't comprehend the situation. So he called for his buddy.
But no one answered.
He was alone here.
Then the girl spoke again.
"Why isn't he answering?"
The man backed away gasping, then hastily pulled something from his pocket.
A knife appeared in his hand.
Terror-stricken, he decided to eliminate the source of his fear.
Not exactly rational thinking, given the circumstances.
But to him, it was the only solution.
Yet it was the worst possible mistake.
He'd dared to disturb the girl's mood.
"You're a bad child."
"Uwaaaaaah!"
The man swung his knife wildly at the girl's voice right behind him.
Slash!
He felt it connect!
He slashed and slashed frantically.
Wet liquid splattered his body. Something was in agony! Dying!
"Agh! It's me! Jinwook!"
His partner's pleas rang out.
But the man didn't stop. It had to be mimicking the voice!
"Agh! Aaaagh!"
The man felt ecstasy.
He'd killed that unidentified thing! He was killing it!
Lost in that thought, he laughed.
Poof-.
The lights came back on.
"Ah."
Only then did the man realize who he'd been slashing.
He'd been stabbing himself. Hacking his own body to pieces.
His whole body was soaked in blood.
Blood from his own body.
"Hngh, huaaah!"
Too late, pain hit him, and he groaned. But it was far too late.
His eyes were closing.
To the end, he never realized.
There was no partner named Jinwook.
He'd always worked alone.
Jinwook.
Was his own name.
"Hee hee hee."
The kidnapper was dead.
Even in death, he wouldn't escape my shadow.
Most importantly, Yuna's little brother slept soundly on the bed nearby.
Yuna would come pick him up herself soon, probably.
I smiled and took light steps away.