I Opened My Eyes
“……You’re awake?”
A clear voice whispered softly. I looked up to see Kim Jin-seo crouched beside my collapsed form, her face darkened like storm clouds as she gazed down at me. Her usually fierce eyes were slightly downcast.
“What the…… Class?”
“Class ended a while ago. You were out cold for about an hour and a half…… and just woke up.”
Kim Jin-seo bowed her head silently at my question, and So Do-jin answered in her place.
I’d been unconscious for an hour and a half? I vaguely remembered sparring with Kim Jin-seo right before blacking out. But I couldn’t recall why I’d lost consciousness.
For some reason, my solar plexus throbbed painfully.
“……How did I pass out?”
“Kim Jin-seo’s thrust nailed you right in the solar plexus. Lucky it was a training sword—if it’d been a real one, you’d be dead.”
“Ah.”
Then it came back to me. Kim Jin-seo had gone into her attack stance, and I’d planned to block and counter with Bosu’s power. But before I could even call his name, her strike slammed into my solar plexus.
And then…… darkness.
My face burned with embarrassment. Was it from the medicine Kang Ji-a gave me this morning, or just plain shame? Probably the latter.
I wanted to crumble to dust and vanish.
“That’s on you.”
“……What’d I do?”
“You gave vague answers. And……”
Kim Jin-seo shot me a strange look, then suddenly dropped her head. She brushed back the hair falling over her forehead and muttered in a tiny voice.
“Sorry……”
Her apology was barely audible, her eyes fixed on the floor. She looked genuinely remorseful, like she didn’t know what to do with herself.
I didn’t think she owed me one. I’d deliberately given ambiguous answers to provoke her, and this mess stemmed from me being outmatched in the first place.
“No need to apologize.”
So Do-jin voiced my thoughts.
“She exaggerated her swing to bait your guard, then predicted the opening and transitioned into a thrust. That requires pivoting your attack trajectory—hesitate on power control, and your stance collapses completely.”
Kim Jin-seo’s eyes darted around in confusion at his explanation.
“To land the strike, she had no choice but to commit fully. No room to worry about knocking you out. Right?”
“……Yes.”
Kim Jin-seo nodded, her expression sullen. She hadn’t planned every detail like So Do-jin described.
So Do-jin shifted his gaze from her to me.
“Do Seon-woo, you did well too. Blocking the first strike was impressive—most students would’ve been done there. The second was nearly impossible to dodge, so we’ll call that an exception.”
“……But I still lost.”
“Your opponent was just too strong.”
I silently agreed. Kim Jin-seo could probably pin me barehanded without breaking a sweat. I’d been utterly crushed in this spar, Loa powers or not—and that was no excuse. She hadn’t even given me the split-second to summon one.
I shook off the throbbing pain in my solar plexus and stood. Kim Jin-seo kept her head bowed the whole time, looking mortified.
“By the way, Kim Jin-seo—no blessings in the spar. Why?”
So Do-jin stared at her steadily.
Come to think of it, she hadn’t used any against me either. She’d overwhelmed me with raw physical prowess alone……
That made me even more depressed.
Kim Jin-seo finally lifted her head, fixing So Do-jin with her usual sharp glare.
“……Preparing for situations where I can’t use blessings.”
“Because of your spar with Yeo Min-seo?”
“……”
Kim Jin-seo bit her lower lip, nailed on the spot. Last time against Yeo Min-seo, blessings were off-limits, and she’d lost repeatedly. She was practicing pure physical spars for that.
So Do-jin’s face hardened slightly, displeased.
“Anticipating scenarios is good, but go all-out in spars. Holding back isn’t courtesy.”
“……Yes.”
Kim Jin-seo glanced at me through her disheveled hair, replying uncertainly.
Ignoring her odd look, I scanned the area. A few students lay unconscious on the ground. At least I wasn’t the only one who’d passed out mid-spar.
It was a small relief—but pathetic that I took comfort in it. Passing out in a spar was humiliating; losing should piss me off. Not patting myself on the back because others did too.
“How’s the evaluation?”
I rubbed my still-aching abdomen and asked So Do-jin. He paused while checking the downed students.
“First day’s exempt. I’ll announce evaluation days before class. Criteria later.”
“Got it.”
“No need for the infirmary? Looked painful.”
So Do-jin nodded at my stomach. I shook my head silently.
It hurt like hell, but not enough for the infirmary. Compared to the backlash from overusing Granbwa’s power, it was nothing—that felt like fireballs churning my guts to slag.
“Fine, if you’re okay, no need to—”
Kyaaaah!
A sudden scream cut him off. It carried a dry, metallic rasp—desperate, gut-wrenching. It seemed to come from the Holy Training Ground’s restroom, but pinpointing it was impossible.
“……”
My body froze at the sound. Hackles rose; breath caught. My heart pounded.
It wasn’t just the scream’s eerie agony.
Baron Samedi’s prophecy from last night flashed in my mind.
Beware the screams and wails.
Beware the screams and wails, he’d said. The echoes of false pain.
Echoes of false pain. What did that mean? If screams were false pain’s echoes, were the screams themselves fake?
“Help! Please, save me! Teacher, kyaaaah!”
“Class is over—everyone back to the classroom! Don’t get involved, move!”
The frantic screams poured from the restroom. So Do-jin’s voice boomed across the Holy Training Ground—harsher, more forceful than his usual weary tone.
Students, startled from their stupor, fled with terrified faces.
Confirming they were leaving, So Do-jin turned to me and Kim Jin-seo, who were frozen.
“Wake the ones on the ground and take ’em to the infirmary. Please.”
He tossed the words over his shoulder, hand on his sword hilt, and strode toward the screams. Resolve emanated from his back—like he was used to this, or had anticipated it.
“Then you two get to class too. No telling what’s happening—”
“Ah, haaaah! Kahak……!”
Another scream sliced through his words—not a scream anymore, just metallic grinding. Yet the girl’s cries persisted.
“Don’t just stand there—move!”
So Do-jin bellowed. Kim Jin-seo snapped to, rushing to the two still-unconscious students sprawled on the ground—one girl, one boy.
The screams continued. Save me…… Teacher, save me…… The desperate pleas shattered the Holy Training Ground’s silence.
So Do-jin marched toward the restroom. Echoes of false pain. Baron Samedi’s cryptic voice echoed in my head. Beware the screams. What did it mean? Why beware?
I didn’t know.
“……You can’t go.”
I stopped him.
*
“Aaaah! Please, please…… Save me, just once……”
Even with the agonized screams right in front of him, So Do-jin halted. Do Seon-woo had stopped him—with a deadly serious expression and tone.
“Why?”
Any other student, he’d brush off. But Do Seon-woo was different. He spouted nonsense sometimes, but occasionally nailed sharp insights on instinct. Worth hearing out.
“……The scream’s too long.”
“What?”
So Do-jin scowled. Cryptic nonsense.
Do Seon-woo furrowed his brow, hand over his mouth as if organizing thoughts.
“If it was a magic beast, she’d be dead by now—no scream. No reason, just attack instinct.”
“……”
“Demons have intelligence—they wouldn’t let her scream. They’d gag her or slit her throat. So……”
Do Seon-woo bit his lip, searching for words. So Do-jin mulled it over and nodded slowly.
“Luring us in?”
“……Yes. More precisely, a trap.”
Do Seon-woo nodded. So Do-jin had considered it too. Once, patrolling with Kim Bok-dong, screams from the public restroom. Inside: a severed ear. The scream came from a startled girl. By the time they retrieved it and left, she’d vanished.
Then Bae Seong-hyeon appeared at Florence—a taxidermy doll puppet by Satanists, fake.
So Do-jin had attacked Do Seon-woo then, earning discipline. That night, forensics: the ear was Bae Seong-hyeon’s.
Why? Sending the fake, planting the ear—no clue. But Satanists luring teachers with screams? Certain.
“Ah, aaah…… Tea…… cher……”
Like Do Seon-woo said, the scream dragged on excessively. Maybe Satanists faking it to lure him.
“What if it’s real—not a trap? A student screaming for real help?”
So Do-jin asked. What if demons or beasts attacked her mid-class skip?
Satanist fake scream? Or genuine cry?
“Then…… she ditched class without permission, so……”
Do Seon-woo’s eyes dropped to the floor.
“Her own fault.”
“……”
Silence hung in So Do-jin’s ears. The pleas had stopped sometime ago.
“Scream’s gone. Gotta go.”
“No. It’s a trap.”
“Even a slim chance it’s not, I have to check.”
So Do-jin drew his sword, channeling blessing light to his legs. He glared at the restroom and continued.
“You’re right about the trap risk. I’ve got a plan. Don’t worry.”
He fiddled with the rowan twig in his pocket. Trap? Call other teachers. Crude one? Smash it himself.
Tang!
So Do-jin kicked off hard toward the restroom.
(To be continued in the next chapter)