Chapter 44
Chapter 44
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Maladjusted
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Training was over, and Yubyeol-ha finished her shower. She stepped out of the shower room, wiping off the water with a towel as she glanced at her phone.
Baek Do-hyun: Come to the meeting spot by 22:00. Map's pinned above. You remember AOD, right? Like I said before, this job needs a lot of teamwork.....
The secret society's plan to create an artificial rift.
The riot of criminal Psykers that would erupt at the juvenile detention center.
And the terrorism organization called Irregulars, led by a classmate from her grade.
She was curious how Baek Do-hyun knew all this intel, but she didn't bother asking.
He'd only ever told her the truth so far, and at the very least, everything he was doing was aimed at wiping out the secret society.
"......"
To be honest, Yubyeol-ha felt uneasy about joining this AOD group.
Her dream was to follow in Lee Gyeo-ul's footsteps and become a Special-Class Hunter.
She lived solely to rise as a Special-Class Hunter, eradicate not just the Dimensional Beasts but the society's roots hidden in human society, and sever the head of their leader, Zero One.
If she joined AOD, her face would naturally become known to the others besides Baek Do-hyun.
Sure, Baek Do-hyun had probably vetted them well, but could she really trust them?
Unless she saw it with her own eyes, it was too much to blindly trust strangers.
"Haa... whatever."
Yubyeol-ha let out a sigh. This wasn't the time to be picky.
If she didn't stop it, catastrophe would strike the academy city, and with no better options, she had no choice but to follow Baek Do-hyun.
"Wonder if it smells..."
Yubyeol-ha sniffed her training clothes.
Her roommate Haena Rolling washed them every day with fabric softener. The sweet floral scent still lingered, but...
"No helping it."
It would definitely feel gross to put on sweat-soaked clothes again. Yubyeol-ha changed into her Arcana uniform and left the training room.
For Yubyeol-ha, who wasn't usually that fussy about cleanliness, this was surprisingly out of character, but she didn't realize it.
And so, Yubyeol-ha headed to the meeting spot.
The rendezvous was an abandoned school in the academy city.
The legendary Maria Girls' Academy, shuttered after scandals and corruption scandals.
Yellow caution tape screamed "No Entry Except Authorized Personnel" everywhere, but was it okay to go in?
She pondered for a moment, then chuckled at herself—Yubyeol-ha, who'd slain anomalies within the academy city, worrying about this?
She made her way to the only lit building inside the abandoned campus.
"C-C-Can I... have just a sip of water...?"
Yubyeol-ha watched Cheryl pick up a water bottle with trembling hands.
"Huh?"
Cheryl Bloomingrose being here wasn't surprising.
Yubyeol-ha had heard the rough situation from Baek Do-hyun. But what threw her was that the woman before her was unmistakably the academy city's Guidance Chief.
The Cheryl who always smirked slyly and seized control of conversations was incredibly tense right now.
"Sure, sure. Drink as much as you want. Looks like the last guest is here—why not come in?"
It was a familiar voice. One she'd heard somewhere before. Incredibly warm, yet strangely unfamiliar.
Yubyeol-ha swallowed hard and stepped inside. That's when she understood why Cheryl was so on edge.
A woman was using a pink-haired girl on her lap as a pillow while she fiddled with her phone.
The woman was a Hunter who frequently appeared in Arcana textbooks and training videos, so Yubyeol-ha recognized her immediately.
"Hell Dog...?"
"Honored that a rising star in the academy city knows my name. Nice to meet you, Junior Yubyeol-ha."
Lee Gyeo-ul smoothly rose from her seat. The girl's head thudded to the floor from her thigh.
"Eek."
Ignoring the girl, Lee Gyeo-ul extended her hand to Yubyeol-ha.
Yubyeol-ha stared blankly at the hand. A senior at the pinnacle of her dreams was offering a handshake. And she knew her name.
She had no idea why Lee Gyeo-ul was here, but did that matter now? She grabbed the outstretched hand firmly.
"I-It's an honor to meet you, Special-Class Lee Gyeo-ul."
"Call me sunbae—I'm an Arcana alum too, you know."
"Yes... Lee Gyeo-ul sunbae..."
As Yubyeol-ha and Lee Gyeo-ul shared this touching moment,
the boy who'd called them here made his entrance.
"Alright. Everyone's here."
Baek Do-hyun clapped to draw all eyes to him.
"Let's start with introductions—who's who—then I'll explain AOD and brief you on the Irregular crisis unfolding in the academy city right now. This is our inaugural meeting."
Only five people were gathered here, but this was the monumental first assembly of AOD, where many would eventually unite against the secret society.
For Yubyeol-ha, annihilating the once-vague 21st Century Secret Society was no longer a pipe dream.
The night deepened.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Kang Chang-su arrived at the abandoned factory on the outskirts of the academy city. He sat on a dusty drum barrel like a chair.
The grimy, dust-choked factory was so repulsive that no one ever came.
That's why Kang Chang-su made it the Irregulars' hideout.
"You're here."
A man entered the factory, shaking a vial of reagent.
Red hair, monocle, clad in an antique robe like something out of the Middle Ages—an alchemist.
Alchemi, a monster from the 21st Century Secret Society.
"Yeah."
Kang Chang-su responded flatly to Alchemi's greeting.
"The big day's here, but it's awfully quiet inside... Your crew didn't all bail on you, did they?"
Kang Chang-su's expression didn't change at Alchemi's taunt.
"No fun."
Alchemi shrugged.
"Did you distribute the Experimental Awakes I gave you to all your members?"
"They're delivered to the criminals in the juvenile hall too, so don't worry. Told them it was just a doping agent."
"Heartless as ever, our leader..."
"They're all murderers anyway, with no qualms about killing. Criminals or destined to be. If their end brings Dimensional Beasts that doom the city, it's a fitting conclusion."
Kang Chang-su spoke calmly.
Alchemi liked his attitude.
To change anything, one had to discard humanity for their goals.
Kang Chang-su's dreams aligned closely with the society's aims from the start.
His boldness in rejecting society's order, his promising Hunter future sacrificed for conviction—it impressed Alchemi more than any human in the last 50 years.
"Society's deploying 72 operatives for this op. Rift opens in about 12 hours—the sky might turn red from the effect, so handle that."
"Got it."
"Rest is on you~~ Succeed, and I'll invite you and Ichika to the paradise the society's building!"
Alchemi dissolved into smoke and vanished.
"This really will make it irreversible."
Akeboshi Ichika, watching quietly from a corner, spoke to Kang Chang-su with concern.
Kang Chang-su pulled out an Experimental Awake from his pocket and stared at it.
"Irreversible is fine. But you... are you really okay with this, Ichika? You could sit this out."
Kang Chang-su had no attachment to the Irregulars organization itself.
But Akeboshi Ichika was different. They'd known each other since her first year at Arcana.
The bond they'd built over time wasn't something he could dismiss lightly like the Irregulars.
He wished she'd bow out this time.
This op could get them killed, and she wasn't the extreme nihilist he was.
Ichika shook her head.
"I swore I'd follow you to hell if that's what you want. Backing out now isn't my style. And..."
She added that he always charged ahead, so someone needed to watch his sides and back.
"Understood."
Kang Chang-su slowly stood.
Organization members trickled into the factory, one or two at a time.
The once-silent factory soon filled with Psykers in black hoods.
All misfits who couldn't adapt to this academy city, each for their own reasons.
Ones who couldn't control their power, those scarred from childhood as family monsters, natural-born psychopaths.
Kang Chang-su thought the name Irregulars fit these gathered misfits perfectly.
He bellowed to the Irregulars in the factory.
"Everyone, attention!"
His speech carried charisma.
Words like a devil's temptation, driving people to limb and limb.
Those resentful of the academy city for their own reasons felt something stir in their chests at his words.
Pent-up grudges, injustices, rage began to seize their bodies.
"We're tearing this city down."
The Irregulars began to move.