Chapter 3. The Cycle of Obsession and a Gambling Escape
Chapter 3. The Cycle of Obsession and a Gambling Escape
Chapter 3. The Cycle of Obsession and a Gambling Escape
[Support Department] exclusive lecture hall.
The sounds of the [Combat Department] students' shouting could be heard from the training grounds outside the window, but my head was filled with an unrecognizable noise.
'Something is definitely wrong. No, it's completely off-track.'
Sitting at the lecture desk with my chin propped up, I traced back the contents of the original [Hunter's Age].
In the original work, Kim Sia was a character who struggled even after becoming an adult because she couldn't realize her own abilities.
Why was she exuding the aura of a fully awakened individual from the very first day of school, when she was supposed to climb the stairs step by step while witnessing the crises of her peers and the absurdities of the world?
Even worse, that holy power of [Wish] was manifesting not as the salvation of humanity, but as 'possessiveness' toward a mere male student like me.
I rubbed my arms, which were covered in goosebumps.
The chilling look Sia had just sent me, the sticky gestures that felt like she was inspecting the quality of her prey's meat.
That was definitely not the Kim Sia I knew from the original work.
What if all the 'insurance' I had thrown out to prevent her misfortune had actually become the nutrients that awakened the monster named obsession hidden deep inside her?
'What am I supposed to do...?'
"Student Park Haneul, could you see me for a moment?"
While I was lost in thought, the professor in charge of the [Support Department] called me over with a troubled expression.
With question marks floating over my head, I followed them into the faculty office, where an unbelievable document was placed in front of me.
[Combat Department Special Task Agent Dispatch Application - Applicant: Kim Sia]
"Th, this is...... what is this?"
"Kim Sia-yang, the top student of the [Combat Department], requested it strongly. Her unique ability, [Wish], carries a high risk, so a dedicated healer must be by her side, and she designated you as that partner. The school also decided to grant an exception, as they highly value Sia-yang's talent."
There was an apology in the professor's voice.
In this [Gender Reversal] world, sending a male healer to the dangerous front lines of the [Combat Department] is practically the same as throwing prey into a den of beasts.
"But I'm in the [Support Department]......."
"Sia-yang proved it to the school board herself. That her magic efficiency increases by over 300% when you are by her side. This is a figure that cannot be ignored even at the national strategic level."
I was dumbfounded.
Increased magic efficiency?
There was no such setting in the original work.
That was likely a result of Sia forcibly twisting her [Wish] ability to keep me tied to her side.
When I opened the door to the faculty office and stepped out, Sia was standing at the end of the hallway.
As if she had been waiting for me, she approached with an elegant yet chilling smile.
"Haneul-ah, did you hear the news? From now on, you'll be taking classes with me."
"Si, Sia-ya. This is too much. You didn't even ask for my opinion......."
"Opinion? Haneul-ah, you're too kind for your own good. There are so many villains and dangerous monsters outside; who would protect you if not me? Hmm?"
She whispered as she meticulously straightened my necktie.
Every time her touch brushed near my neck, a chilling sensation, as if a snake were constricting my throat, washed over me.
This wasn't just consideration for a friend.
It was a predator's persistent declaration that they would never let go of the treasure that had entered their territory.
I was certain.
If I continued my academy life like this, I would become a doll that would never see the light of day again, trapped in the massive swamp that is Kim Sia.
'I have to escape. To a place where Kim Sia's eyes cannot reach.'
But in this impenetrable academy, and with the surveillance of Sia, who possessed the strongest potential in humanity, there was no way to run.
'No, there is one way.'
Knowledge of the original work.
And using the 'incident' that was about to occur.
A few days later, the academy's outer training grounds.
Joint training between the [Combat Department] and the [Support Department] began.
Throughout the training, Sia held my hand tightly, or if there was even a slight distance between us, she would threaten the surrounding female students with a cold glare.
Thanks to that, I became a famous figure at the academy, but my insides were burning black.
'It should be coming soon.'
I watched the shadows of the dense forest beyond the training grounds.
The first raid by the villain organization 'Black Wings,' which turned the academy upside down in the middle of the first part of the original work.
Their goal was to weaken the academy's strength by kidnapping key talents or pretty boys like me.
And I knew very well who would be the vanguard for that.
Seu-euk—
There was an illusion that the temperature in the air had dropped sharply.
The students' shadows began to stretch abnormally long.
"Huh? What is this?"
"The shadows...... are moving!"
With screams, pitch-black shadows rose from the floor and grabbed the students' ankles.
In the center of the training grounds, which had become a scene of chaos, a woman tore through the atmosphere and revealed herself.
An ominous black energy enveloped her entire body.
However, the silver hair and cold beauty peeking through the gaps told me she was no ordinary person.
An executive of the [Black Wings], Han Sohee. She was the wielder of the [Shadow] ability.
"Target confirmed. They said you were a national treasure-level pretty boy, and indeed......."
Her gaze was directed exactly at me.
The reason was obvious; it must be because of my beauty.
Her ability to connect spaces within 50 meters through shadows to jump was optimized for kidnapping.
"Haneul-ah, hide behind me!"
Sia shouted and blocked my path.
Golden magic exploded from her entire body.
Under normal circumstances, I would have been trembling behind Sia, being protected, but this time it was different.
I intentionally shook off Sia's hand and stumbled toward Han Sohee.
"Haneul-ah!"
Leaving behind Sia's scream of disbelief, I stared straight into Han Sohee's eyes.
In her pupils, there was not the cruelty typical of a villain, but a sense of guilt and sadness that was hard to describe in words.
'I know, Han Sohee. Why you are doing this.'
Her younger brother was currently suffering from an incurable disease and was dependent on the life-support devices of the [Black Wings].
She was in a state of self-loathing, playing the role of a villain she didn't want to be in order to save her brother.
Han Sohee grabbed my wrist.
The cold touch of the shadow burrowed into my skin.
"I'm sorry, kid. If you want to resent someone, resent me."
She murmured softly.
There was a clear tremor in her voice.
I did not resist.
Instead, I entrusted my body to her as if I were being held in her arms.
"No!!! Let him go! He's my Haneul! He's mine!!!"
Sia's scream shook the training grounds.
Her [Wish] ability went berserk, and the surrounding ground was overturned, but Han Sohee's shadow movement was faster.
"Crazy...! A first-year academy student doing what...?!"
Of course, it was inevitable to be shocked by Sia's monstrous destructive power, which was different from the original work.
"......Goodbye, Sia-ya."
I muttered only with the shape of my lips.
The next moment, my vision turned black, and the sensation of space twisting covered my entire body.
When I opened my eyes in the darkness, I had arrived at the hideout of the [Black Wings], which was filled with cold mechanical devices, not the academy.
In front of me stood Han Sohee, who had taken off her shadow cloak and let her gorgeous silver hair hang down.
She was looking down at me with an exhausted expression.
"......You're not running away? You've got guts."
Han Sohee made a threat she didn't mean.
At her appearance, I smiled leisurely.
"Because I know that Nuna isn't a bad person."
"What?"
Han Sohee's pupils shook violently.
I stood up leisurely and brushed the dust off my clothes.
"I know about your younger brother, Nuna. And my ability is [High-Speed Recovery]. The reason you're being held by the [Black Wings]...... I think I can solve it~"
At my suggestion, Han Sohee's expression was filled with shock.
A male student kidnapped by a villain proposing a negotiation—this was a development that couldn't exist in the original work.
But it didn't matter.
To escape from the side of Kim Sia, who was tightening her grip on me with insane obsession, I needed a first step to build my own force.
'I have to give up the thought of just hiding under Sia's shadow and living a lazy life as planned!'
The sound of Sia's mad roar and the ringing of her bizarrely twisted [Wish] from far away.
Kim Sia was no longer the protagonist of this world I knew.
She was not a target to be kept by my side and have a straw stuck into, but a monster.
'A monster trying to lock me in her own cage and make it so I can never escape!'
Plan changed.
I knew Kim Sia would become the strongest hunter in the world, and I had invested time until now, but I, who had mastered all the knowledge of the original work, knew.
'Even if it's not Kim Sia, there are many people who can protect me from the final boss and the villains.'
Even just looking at Han Sohee right in front of me, she was a powerful ability user who held the title of 'protagonist Kim Sia's rival.'
In fact, from the middle of the original work, Han Sohee, who had been suffering from the sight of her younger brother who was neither dead nor alive, solved her brother's incurable disease with Kim Sia's help.
"From now on, I am your shadow. I will dedicate my ability, my life, and everything I have to you!"
She was a character who showed a sub-protagonist-level appearance, swearing loyalty and fighting alongside her until the battle with the final boss.
'After I cure Han Sohee's younger brother and make Han Sohee, who would have gone to Kim Sia, my ally...... I have to return after becoming strong enough that Sia wouldn't dare to lock me up.'
I finally smiled with relief in the middle of the villain's den.
But at that time, I didn't know that the smile wouldn't last long.......