My abdomen and thigh, where I was stabbed by the fountain pen, throbbed with every step.
While fighting the Class President, adrenaline filled my body, making me forget the pain.
Now that the fight is over and everything has returned to normal, the pain clings to my body like a debt collector.
“Nam-jin, are you sure you're okay to move already?”
As I left the infirmary and stepped into the hallway, Geum Tae-seong was waiting for me. He examined my complexion and then placed his hand on my shoulder.
“I can heal your wounds.”
Geum Tae-seong was the healer of our group. I'd often wondered why he held that position, but it seems I finally have a chance to find out.
“How can you heal them?”
“My ability is Reversal. I can reverse the state of myself and whoever I touch.”
Sss-.
A faint light emanated from Geum Tae-seong's palm, and then the pain that had been tormenting my abdomen and thigh vanished as if washed away.
“Awesome.”
The ability to transfer one's own wounds to another and to take another's wounds upon oneself.
It was literally a fitting application of the concept of reversal.
As I marveled at this incredible miracle, Geum Tae-seong dripped cold sweat from his forehead.
“Ugh, it hurts more than I thought─.”
Thud-.
Geum Tae-seong fell to his knees.
“Ugh, hey, how were you even thinking of walking around with a body like this?”
“I'm used to pain. Tae-seong, thanks to you, I witnessed something amazing. But just give me back my wounds. I can’t transfer my injuries to someone else.”
“What? But...”
“People should know how to affirm and love themselves. Even those wounds and pains are a part of ‘me’ that I should love.”
Perhaps due to the pain, Geum Tae-seong frowned as if he didn't understand my profound words. I took his hand and helped him up, and he reluctantly reversed the wounds back to me.
“...I’m really not cool.”
“Don’t be discouraged. It's just that I'm too awesome.”
My abdomen and thigh ached again, but it was bearable.
Rather, the moderate pain felt like it was waking up my dormant mind.
“Tae-seong, I have something for you. Someone asked me to give this to you.”
I handed Geum Tae-seong the cross necklace I received from the short-haired girl of Villainerz. He took it with a paler expression than when he received my pain.
This is the first time I've seen him so flustered.
“Who gave you this?”
“A girl who looks like a Menhera. Tae-seong, you're popular with strange girls. I can sympathize with your troubles in many ways. I'm also popular with girls, you know.”
“......”
Geum Tae-seong stood there for a long time, looking at the cross necklace in his hand. Just as I was thinking I should leave him and go, he spoke behind me.
“Nam-jin, you spoke of my concept as if it were amazing, but it actually has many limitations. I can only reverse states between Awakened.”
Our conversation ended there.
I headed to the 「Special Custody Room」 in the basement of Hero-mili School.
# # #
“Ha Nam-jjin!”
“My friend! Are you okay?!”
“......”
The No Leftovers Day friends were gathered in front of the 「Special Custody Room」 building.
They approached me, circled around, and checked my condition. It seemed they had a lot to say.
Especially Bangdeng-i.
“I arrested the Class President! Aren’t I amazing!”
It was said that Bangdeng-i made the biggest contribution to the arrest.
She was also the one who tied the rope around the Class President.
Life is full of surprises.
I passed by my friends and went down to the basement, where I saw the custody room, one side blocked by a solid, transparent acrylic wall.
Captain and Chief Kim Jang-dong, who had already settled there, were conversing about something. They noticed me, and Captain spoke first.
“Ha Nam-jin. You don't have to push yourself.”
“He said he would only talk to me.”
I was curious about what the Class President wanted to say to me.
So, I headed towards the custody room where he was confined and faced him through the transparent wall, his whole body restrained like a lunatic.
The Class President, who was so popular just half a day ago, is now being treated like a crazy cannibalistic murderer, Hannibal!
“You’re here.”
The Class President greeted me lightly.
His voice was as if he was meeting an old friend.
“Press the power-saving button on your smartwatch. It will disable the function for 10 minutes. If others hear our conversation, both you and I could be in trouble. Until then, no talking.”
He has a lot of demands for a trapped rat.
Beep-.
I turned off the smartwatch.
Then the Class President grinned behind his mask.
“Good. We don’t have time, so I’ll get straight to the point. The school won’t announce to the public that they’ve caught the Judge.”
“What?”
“Because I’m still young and attractive, others might sympathize with me. They'll bury it like this. Until it’s forgotten in everyone’s memory.”
I wondered if the Class President was delusional, but upon reflection, his words made sense.
「Judge」 was actually an elite from Class D of Hero-mili School, handsome like Ha Nam-jin, and a person with good reputation─.
─The story of how the son of a high-ranking prosecutor became the incarnation of vigilante justice was an exciting story for people to get worked up about.
“Maybe they'll announce some pathetic substitute as the 「Judge」. To make him a laughingstock. But that’s impossible too. I have the perfect successor.”
“Who?”
“You. Ha Nam-jin. You will take over my role. You're the only one. You're like me. You have the qualifications and the motivation. I can trust you.”
Class President Jeong Eui-seon, the serial killer Judge, seemed to see something similar to himself in me.
We faced each other across this thick acrylic wall.
From our handsome appearance to our eloquence and widespread popularity, we were alike in every way.
It's like looking in a mirror!
If even one of my life choices had been different, I could have been trapped there instead of him.
“Ha Nam-jin, perhaps this is something only you can do now. I told you. Who benefited the most from the N-Mart department store arson case.”
“Who?”
“It was the South-West Group. The N-Mart arson incident fueled the public’s fear and gave momentum to the inhumane 「Awakened Regulation Bill」. Everything went as the Ruling Party and South-West Group planned.”
“Planned? You’re saying a company intentionally set fire to a mart?”
“I can’t tell you the details. If I do, both I and you will certainly die. I’m not afraid of dying, but I still have things to do.”
“Since you’re trapped there, it seems like you have nothing to do but eat and shit.”
“If you go to my ‘secret base,’ you’ll find out a few things. Here are the coordinates.”
After giving the coordinates, the Class President closed his mouth.
Soon, the power to my smartwatch returned.
“What did you talk about? Did he tell you why he did this?”
As I came out of the basement, Chief Kim Jang-dong was curious about the conversation between the Class President and me.
Beside him, Officer Jin Ramen was standing like the guardian kings of hell, watching my lips.
“He was just crazy.”
I decided to give a vague answer. If the South-West Group and the Ruling Party were involved in this incident, I didn’t know who might be connected and how.
Officer Jin Ramen frowned at me.
“You, if you’re thinking of lying, I won’t let you off.”
“Ri-hyeon, that’s enough. What are you trying to do to someone who’s hurt? Just go back and rest.”
Chief Kim Jang-dong blocked Officer Jin Ramen and showed me favor.
Thanks to that, I was able to start my way home.
Should I go to the coordinates the Class President gave me?
“......”
Fortunately, the coordinates of the Judge's hideout were not far from King of Hell's abandoned factory, so I could save time.
An old container warehouse.
Inside, it was full of photographs and documents.
They seemed like important information.
Stagger-.
However, my legs kept giving way, and my vision blurred. I touched my forehead and found I had a high fever.
# # #
“Late.”
Seo Ga-eul decided not to tolerate it today.
The boy was too late coming home.
She was hungry and bored.
When the boy comes, I’ll sharpen my nails and scratch him-.
Just as she made this resolution, the iron door opened.
“Hey, do you know what time it is?”
“No.”
“What? You little brat, are you defying me right now?”
Whipping-. Seo Ga-eul grabbed the boy's wrist.
Soon, she was startled and let go.
“What, why is your body like a furnace─.”
“Seo Ga-eul, you...”
The boy tried to say something but collapsed with a thud.
He seemed to have lost consciousness with a burning fever.
“What the.”
Seo Ga-eul first laid the boy on the mattress and placed the cool Inging-i on his forehead to lower his temperature.
“Is it okay for a kidnapper to be this careless? Why do I have to clean up after you? I've been starving since last night.”
Seo Ga-eul, who was truly hungry, decided to eat her lunch and opened the boy's bag.
Ziip-
As Seo Ga-eul rummaged through the boy's bag, her complexion turned the color of fallen leaves.
「'Awakened Information Registration Act' and Other Companies' Estimated Profit Report」
「Variable Control for 'Second Awakening' - Sprout Orphanage」
For some reason, top-secret documents of the South-West Group were in Ha Nam-jin’s bag.
‘Why does this guy have Level 0 classified documents? Did the company approach him? No, there’s no way they’d just hand over these documents. Then how did he...?’
Feeling puzzled, Seo Ga-eul manipulated the boy's smartwatch and checked the GPS locations he visited. And she realized he had stopped by a suspicious place before coming home from school.
“It’s close from here.”
Crack- Clang-! Seo Ga-eul exerted strength in both hands and snapped the chains that bound her body with a bang.
Then, without hesitation, she strode out of the basement.
If the South-West Group had contacted the boy, time would be of the essence, so there was no time to argue.
Wheeew-
The scent and wind of the outside world, which she hadn’t experienced in a while, felt particularly refreshing, but Seo Ga-eul didn't indulge in sentiment and ran towards the GPS coordinates.
Soon she found an abandoned junkyard and an old container warehouse.
‘It seems the company didn’t contact Ha Nam-jin. Then what is this place?’
Clank- Creak-. Opening the warehouse door, she found it full of documents and photographs. As she rummaged through them, a particularly familiar picture caught her eye.
Below the picture, someone had written.
「Mysterious woman at N-Mart parking lot, 1 hour before arson.」
The picture showed a woman exiting the underground parking lot of a large supermarket.
Perhaps printed from CCTV footage, the quality was poor, and her face was covered with a hat and mask, but Seo Ga-eul could immediately recognize who the woman in the picture was.
‘I have to get rid of this picture quickly!’
About an hour passed.
Seo Ga-eul returned to her basement and restored the chains on her hands and feet using the concept of 「Restoration」.
As if nothing had happened.
As if she had never left this place.
However, the wondrous cloud Inging-i, who had been watching the whole process, made a strange cry as if interrogating Seo Ga-eul.
━Inging-ya-ing.
“Inging, you saw nothing. Do you know what will happen if you tell Ha Nam-jin what just happened? If you understand, say Ing-.”