Chapter 73
Chapter 73
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Second Mutation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I didn’t bother swatting away each and every hand clinging to my tail one by one.
Before long, even other freshmen from the Class of ’16 had joined in.
Seeing Na-yeon, Sihyun, Soo-yeon, and Hee-jin sparkling with excitement as they fondled my tail must have sparked their curiosity.
“Um, if it’s okay……”
She trailed off, but I could tell exactly what she wanted. She was asking to touch my tail just once.
It felt petty to refuse, so I just gave permission.
“Sure, go ahead.”
They hadn’t exactly looked at me favorably at first, but there was this innocent gleam in their eyes as they stared at my tail…… Well, it was only natural they’d find it fascinating.
Exclamations of awe rose from all around.
It wasn’t much different from the reactions of the original quartet who’d just touched it.
Yeah, whatever.
I could handle this level of fan service.
Of course, I wouldn’t tolerate the guys laying a hand on it.
That’s when I spotted one guy hesitating awkwardly.
Sung Yoon-hwan.
The very same jerk who’d dumped the group project PPT on me and bolted.
I used to get seriously pissed whenever I saw him…… but now?
Eh.
Maybe it was because I’d seen so many bizarre monsters lately.
Anyway, it’d be unfair to brand him a total scumbag just for screwing up one group project.
More than that, I had no desire to bully the underclassmen like some of those old-school seniors who loved throwing their weight around.
I beckoned the guy over as he stood there blankly.
“Oh, me?”
He seemed about to say something, but I shot him a telepathic message first.
-That thing back then? I’ll let it slide. I’ll chalk it up to a clueless underclassman’s mistake and move on, so just enjoy yourself for now. Oh, and this is telepathy, so don’t say it out loud or it’ll be awkward.
He stared at me blankly, then gave a slight nod.
Yeah, this was the best way to wrap it up.
Better to end it here than drag it out and give it more attention.
I already had more than enough on my plate these days; no need to waste energy on something this trivial.
I let the other hands touching me go on for a bit longer, then swished my tail to shake off the underclassmen’s grips.
“Alright, that’s enough. Think we’ve had plenty, right?”
“Yesss……”
The underclassmen fidgeted with their hands, looking disappointed. Hey now, that’s as far as it goes.
“Come on, kids, you’ve all had your drinks—time to head back and crash. Anyone who wants more booze can do it in another room.”
“Yesss!”
Whether she’d caught my drift or not, Na-yeon started tidying up the room.
The underclassmen moved to other rooms.
Yoon-hwan took a bit longer to leave, though. He looked at me and said,
“Um, sunbae. Got a sec?”
I’d been planning to end it there, but he clearly had something to say.
“What is it?”
“Uh, well……”
“Got it. Girls, unnie’s stepping out for a bit.”
“Yesss…… See you later.”
They knew about the minor beef I’d had with Sung Yoon-hwan, so they just nodded.
I followed him out right away.
* * *
“Um…… I’m sorry.”
“About that group project thing?”
“Yeah. I was so rude back then.”
He bent at a full ninety degrees in apology.
Hard to stay mad when he was going this far.
I’d planned to brush it off earlier, but it looked like it had been eating at him.
“It’s fine. I was annoyed at first, but now that things have changed, I don’t really care anymore. Just don’t pull that crap again. I get PPTs are a pain, but…… dumping it on someone else isn’t cool. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Yes. I’m really sorry.”
“I said it’s fine. Keep apologizing and I’ll just look like a nagging old-timer.”
“You’re not a boomer. It was my fault. I should’ve apologized way sooner…… Sorry.”
He kept his head bowed the whole way back.
Well, he didn’t seem like a hopeless case at heart.
Back in the room, the girls were waiting for me.
“What’d he say?”
“Just that he was sorry, so I said it’s cool.”
“Ah, got it.”
“Oh, and Yoon-hwan……”
“Guess everyone knows, huh?”
“The seniors mentioned it. He’s been scared stiff ever since.”
“Ah, got it.”
I nodded at Hee-jin’s words.
So that’s what happened—my classmates had gossiped about it plenty.
People always shrink when the rumors reach them.
Even so, at least he hadn’t ignored it outright…… He wasn’t completely clueless.
“You girls not drinking more?”
“We’re not big on booze.”
“That’s surprising, coming from Kim Na-yeon—she headed to another room.”
“Na-yeon unnie’s a total boozehound, though.”
True that.
“Alright, then let’s crash. I’m not in the mood for anything else anyway.”
“Okay.”
“Wanna use my tail as a pillow?”
“Yes!”
“Um, can I too?”
That’s when Hee-jin looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
“Sure.”
“Heehee, thank you!”
My tail was long enough for all three to pillow on it comfortably.
It didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. I barely felt it, really.
Thanks to the novel texture, they fiddled with it as they chatted about this and that before drifting off.
Especially from Hee-jin, I heard some stuff about Ha-rin.
She was still wearing that mask, huh. Good to know.
I’d tease her next time I saw her at the bureau.
* * *
The next day, we returned without incident.
Just needed to write up the report, and the field trip was done.
Once back from the trip, time flew by insanely fast.
I blinked, and it was group presentation day. Blinked again, and finals were right around the corner.
Finals wrapped up smoothly, and just like that, the semester was over.
I let out a sigh.
It had been a long one. Just one more year, and I’d graduate.
That’s when it hit me.
Starting from the day finals ended, a strange sensation lingered around me.
And I wasn’t the only one feeling it—bureau agents, even Sia, mentioned it to me.
“Doesn’t something feel off lately? Like…… something big’s about to happen.”
“You too, Ha-rin?”
“Yeah. Yeon-hwa unnie said the same…… Feels ominous. Doesn’t wanna leave her room.”
“She still drags herself to work every day, that unnie. Oh, speak of the devil—here she comes.”
“Ughhhh……”
Yeon-hwa unnie shuffled in like a zombie.
“Want some blood?”
“Nah, I’m good…… Just, everything feels weird lately.”
“Tell me about it. What’s going on…… Sia unnie’s feeling it too, apparently.”
Clueless about what this eerie premonition was, we tilted our heads.
……Bad vibes.
Like something was about to go down.
* * *
A few days later, unable to sleep for no reason, I was scrolling on my smartphone in the living room with Seo-ah—who was also wide awake at dawn—when a sudden intense energy made me glance out the window without thinking.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t come out!”
I yelled at her and used magic to block the light streaming in from outside.
“Why?”
“I said stay put!”
Even as I said it, I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.
……This was bad. Real bad.
“It suddenly got so bright…… What is it?”
She found my frantic shouting weird and asked me.
“That was mutation light.”
“What?”
“The exact same light I saw when I mutated. That was it, just now.”
“……Huh?”
Seo-ah stared at me in disbelief.
And honestly, I was just as stunned.
Didn’t mutations only happen once?
* * *
Sia gazed at the World Tree with eyes full of emotion.
Finally, finally, the World Tree had fully taken root in this world.
The sheer fulfillment of it made her throw her arms around it.
At first, she’d wondered, what kind of tree is this?
But…… yeah, tending to it must’ve made her grow attached without realizing.
She suddenly recalled the post she’d written on the community forum, starting with “The tree spirit is angry.”
She giggled at the memory. Back then, she had no idea it’d come to this.
The completed World Tree blanketed the entire territory she’d claimed, living up to its name.
The California governor praised her efforts upon hearing of its completion.
Now, under this World Tree’s guidance, countless mutants could build their own homes.
Plus, the revenue from it.
More and more mutants were relocating to the mutant village. They’d learned just how terrifying the root giant Sia had summoned could be, so they obeyed her without question.
Sure, a few tried stirring trouble, but whenever that happened, the World Tree would bind them tight, leaving them no choice but to fall in line.
Anyway, it was finally complete.
The framework for the mutant village was mostly set, and her grand dream of creating a mutant paradise was on the verge of reality.
But then…… a beam of light shot from the completed World Tree straight to the heavens.
The beam tore open the sky, bathing the world in a massive pillar of light.
Sia knew that light all too well.
It was the exact same light she’d faced when she mutated into a High Elf-type Mutant.
“……Huh?”
Sia let out an incredulous sigh, wondering what the hell was happening.
Something massive was changing.
And it had started from the World Tree.
* * *
I woke up, and the world had flipped.
No surprise there.
The Second Mutation had begun—something no one saw coming.
The silver lining, if you could call it that, was that like the first one, it hit at dawn, so hardly anyone got beamed.
Probably the same overseas.
And among those hit were some of my classmates.
Yoo Han-gyeol and Han Tae-hoon.
These two had suddenly become mutation targets.
Watching the signs manifest on their bodies left my mind in a whirl.
Unfortunately, I didn’t even have time to process it deeply.
Because from that day on, work came pouring in like crazy.
This is insane—we’re the Mutant Crime Management Bureau.
We’re not the agency handling mutations themselves……!