Thanks for the Preemptive Strike, Mr. Han Daeri!
The elves' fury swept in like a storm. Naturally, the entire assembly hall plunged straight into chaos.
"No! This isn't the opinion of all elves!!!"
"The World Tree is our mother!!! She's not just some big tree!!!"
"Catch Lucian alive! Bring him back alive!"
"Offer the blood of the one who insulted the World Tree!!!"
"The World Tree definitely exists! She's not some stupid owl-blue thing!!!"
"Everyone, please be quiet!!! Calm down!!!"
The moderator tried desperately to settle the elves, but it was hopeless. One small individual could never hold back such a raging wave of anger.
By then, Lucian had already fled. Under the lead of some particularly extreme elves, an impromptu pursuit squad was even formed to hunt him down. The entrance door shattered. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls. The ground itself trembled.
The temporary pursuit team burst out through the broken doorway, and we quietly slipped out after them.
"Hye-ji, I told you I had a big picture in mind. This is the big picture."
"Shinwoo, the picture was so damn big I didn't realize the canvas was tearing apart."
"Shinwoo-chan is seriously a crazy human being desu wwwwwww."
Next up, another elf from candidate number two was supposed to come out and speak. Of course, I had zero intention of sticking around to watch that.
After all, I'd already achieved my goal.
Since it was a day off from classes anyway, the three of us—me, Hye-ji, and Kyoko—wandered around the academy and had fun. We even got some decent entertainment watching Lucian desperately running from the elves in the distance. By the time our bodies started screaming for rest, we split up and headed back to the dorms.
The moment I tried to flop down in my room—
You pulled quite the stunt with those elves.
'What the hell? It was real? I thought it was just some hallucination my brain cooked up in a crisis.'
A woman's voice echoed inside my head. Honestly, I hadn't thought it was real at all. I'd assumed it was just some fake my consciousness had created to cope.
This body truly exists!
'But how did you know I messed with the elves?'
I was watching through your eyes.
Having some entity voyeuristically watching through my eyes felt pretty damn uncomfortable. That meant she'd seen everything I'd done, right?
Take it easy. My bones are aching.
"Fuck."
Then I realized I didn't even know what to call her.
"By the way, what should I call you?"
Just call me Big Sis.
'Did your conscience just fucking die?'
No matter how I thought about it, she wasn't Big Sis material. Her speech pattern alone screamed that she was ancient.
Shut up! How big could the age gap possibly be!
'Your speech pattern alone makes calling you Big Sis feel super weird, doesn't it?'
Is the speech pattern the problem? Then shall I speak like the young maidens of your era?
'No, it's not that one-dimensional of an issue.'
It didn't seem like she'd listen no matter what I said. My head was already spinning. But the next words she spoke made me even dizzier.
Total noob♡. Retard♡. Worthless trash with zero skills♡
'Why the hell are you using that kind of speech pattern!'
It's trending these days, don't you know♡. Total noob♡. Go die♡.
'Please just shut up.'
Sleep was clearly off the table, so I headed to my desk to read a book. Of course, the weird voice in my head kept going the entire time.
Friendless loser♡. Stays in the dorm even after exams end♡.
'Seriously, if you don't want to suffer, please be quiet.'
Don't wanna♡. This noob isn't going to listen♡.
My anger was slowly reaching its limit. I growled, trying to warn the voice inside my head.
'Is there seriously no way to turn this voice off? Even if I cover my ears it sounds like goddamn surround sound.'
Impossible impossible♡. Be grateful for this beautiful girl's voice♡.
'I warned you. Seriously, please just be quiet.'
Right before the last thread of my patience snapped. But the other side didn't stop.
Not scary at all♡. No matter what a noob says♡. Same old same old♡.
"You're fucking dead."
I immediately turned on my phone and accessed the Shinbi Soolsa gallery. I searched for the user Han Daeri and clicked on one of the posts that came up.
I'd already been wrecked by it lololololololololol. The moment my vision started getting polluted, both me and the voice in my head screamed at the same time. But I couldn't close my eyes. This was to deal damage to the voice in my head. So I used every ounce of strength I had to keep my gaze fixed on the screen.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!"
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
"Fuuuuuuuuuuck my eyeeeeeeeeees!!!!!"
Why does something like this exist why does something like this exist
"I told you to shut up!!!!!!!!"
Save me save me save me save me save me
I hurriedly exited the Shinbi Soolsa gallery. At the same time, the voice in my head went completely silent.
"I told you to be quiet, you bitch!"
I spat out a lament toward the now-silent voice. If it hadn't been for Kang Hyuk, I wouldn't have had any resistance built up and would've fainted the second I saw it. Still, I don't miss you, you fucking bastard.
The moment I obtained this battered peace—
A text suddenly arrived from an unknown number.
When I saw it, I typed out a reply and sent it.
Ten minutes later, while I was reading a book, another text came from an unknown number.
I read the text and sent a reply.
Then I attached three images.
And with that, I immediately blocked the number. I thought I heard a scream coming from somewhere nearby. You fucking bastard, don't disturb other people's rest.
Because of the word "ripped" that I spat out at the end of my spar with Lucian, I received a call saying I had to be disciplined under the election law violation clause. So now, on what should have been a golden weekend for everyone else, I was being dragged out and heading somewhere.
The destination was the academy's access control department. Still, I wasn't going alone.
"Why the hell is that an election law violation, you son of a bitch."
"Shinwoo, at least I'm going with you. Be grateful."
"...But Hye-ji, why did you insist on coming?"
"I'm curious what they'll make you do. If it's something weird, I won't help."
From my perspective, having more people was better than going alone, so I just let it be. However—
"Jung Ayeon, why the hell did you drag her along?"
"I didn't drag her."
"This lady is following to receive guidance, that is all."
Even someone I didn't think was necessary had tagged along as an extra. Jung Ayeon, wearing her usual black martial arts uniform with her navy blue ponytail, looked like a baby bird faithfully following its mother as she trailed after Hye-ji. I'd heard that ever since she was utterly defeated by Hye-ji during midterms, she'd been following her around. Anyway, I figured I could put her to work somehow, so I brought her along.
Finally, we arrived at the access control department. What greeted us there was—
'Is this the access control department or a morgue?'
The employees had such dark, sunken eyes they were practically indistinguishable from corpses. They were endlessly rewatching CCTV footage. Then one of the women who noticed our approach spoke up.
"Ah, welcome. This is the access control department. Are you perhaps Student Shinwoo?"
"Yes, I'm here because of the disciplinary action."
"I'll explain right away. You need to find unidentified entrants within the academy."
"Unidentified entrants all of a sudden?"
"Ha... Yes, that's right."
The employee's explanation was as follows. Due to orders from higher-ups, the elves had been given free pass access. In the process, a large number of unidentified entrants had appeared. That's why they were currently searching for the intruders.
"But only elves got the free pass, right? Everyone else should have filled out the proper application forms like usual."
"Some of them stuck colored paper on their ears to look like elves and came in."
"Still, wouldn't their appearance make it obvious at a glance?"
"These days, if you carelessly comment on someone's appearance, you can face disadvantages for racial discrimination remarks. We can't ruin our performance evaluations."
"Isn't the hole that's been drilled in the system the reason everything's ruined right now?"
"...Anyway, the higher-ups said it's because of their own decision, so if we resolve it this weekend, they'll pretend it never happened."
As expected of this idiotic academy. The ones who caused the mess were the higher-ups, yet the people below had to clean up the shit. The employees forced to come in on the weekend and endlessly watch CCTV footage looked truly pitiful.
Meanwhile, the woman who had been talking with us brought over a few photos and showed them to us.
"For now, the unidentified entrants we've identified look like this."
There were images of the entrants' appearances. The moment I saw them, the silhouette felt way too familiar. When I looked at the others, they seemed to have the same reaction. Without even needing to coordinate, we all spoke at the same time.
"They're Chinese."
"They're Chinese."
"They are Chinese, indeed."
"Yes, that's correct. They are Chinese."
One might wonder 'How did you know?', but it's simple. Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese people have something that lets them recognize each other at a glance. It's similar to how white people can immediately tell each other's nationalities apart. Normally, the Korean academy has active exchanges with other countries. Like Kyoko who came to visit this time, there are often exchange students and such coming and going. However, China is the exception.
The reason is simple.
'The first student who came caused such a massive shitstorm it was insane.'
The first exchange student from China caused all sorts of big and small inconveniences everywhere he went. Conversely, the Korean exchange students who went to China suffered severe bullying from the Chinese students. After that, exchanges with China completely stopped.
Still, we couldn't be one hundred percent certain they were Chinese. There was one last possibility left.
"It seems like China sent a few people in with the intention of planting them here."
"But are you sure they're really Chinese? Optical ability users could have disguised their appearances and come in, right?"
"When we checked the locations of all registered optical ability users from each country, while the general area was close, there were absolutely zero people who had come to the academy."
The last possibility had vanished. They were definitely Chinese.
At that moment, Hye-ji spoke to me.
"But Shinwoo, if they're disguised, how are we supposed to catch them? Should I just throw a bomb or something?"
"...You're just saying that because you want to throw one, aren't you?"
"Just let me fire one Bird Missile, please."
Hye-ji's hands were trembling. She looked like an addict going through withdrawal. This time, I asked for Jung Ayeon's opinion. Since China was the homeland of martial arts, a martial artist like her might have some thoughts.
"Jung Ayeon, do you have any ideas?"
"If they were sent from China, they are surely reclusive experts. Even if we find them, they will escape immediately, that is all."
"Since they're not golden-dodging experts, it should be manageable."
"...Please stop trampling on this lady's heart any further."
Jung Ayeon made a gloomy face, but I didn't particularly care. Leaving Jung Ayeon be, I recalled the voice phishing call I'd received yesterday. No wonder the voice phishing had come out of nowhere—it must have been Chinese people who could speak Korean. Sneaking in and doing voice phishing as a side job? What absolute bastards.
The woman from the access control department let out a sigh and continued speaking.
"We don't know their exact purpose, but it doesn't seem like anything good will come from just leaving them be."
"If China sent them directly, there's a high chance public security officers are nearby as well."
"Yes. If we catch the intruders and try to punish them, those people will just take them away and there won't be any punishment at all."
"Well, that's perfect then."
"Pardon?"
"I'll go take care of it and be back."
There is a saying: using barbarians to control barbarians. Just like catching barbarians with barbarians, we can catch Chinese with Chinese. It was time to punish those voice phishing criminals.