Chapter 115.2

For some reason, the caller’s name consisted of four digits.

Woo-jin didn’t know who the caller was, but he distinctly remembered that number combination.

It was the same number Moon Chae-won had testified about—the one the Head Principal was following.

At that moment, the Head Principal, lying on the floor, grabbed onto Woo-jin’s pant leg, clinging desperately.

“Don’t answer! Please, don’t answer! I beg you…!”

The Head Principal pleaded, but Woo-jin kicked her away. However, she refused to give up and crawled back toward him.

“That child, that child…!”

The Head Principal’s frantic reaction filled Woo-jin with intense suspicion.

Who on earth was 1215?

Referring to them as “that child” suggested they were a student.

Woo-jin ignored her and answered the call.

The Head Principal froze.

“No…!”

Despair clouded her face, and a heavy silence settled in the room.

“…Who is this?”

Woo-jin asked, his voice cautious and full of suspicion.

And then, a familiar voice spoke.

─ So, you’ve finally come to finish off the Head Principal, haven’t you, senior?

Woo-jin’s breath caught in his throat.

His eyes widened involuntarily.

A voice too familiar, one he couldn’t possibly mistake, rang clearly in his ears.

It didn’t make sense.

His mind was spinning with confusion.

“You… Why are you…?”

─ Isn’t it cruel how the world works, senior? I really, really liked you….

“Lee Se-Ah!!”

Woo-jin shouted at the top of his lungs.

Hearing the voice of someone he had opened his heart to, in a place it had no business being, twisted his expression into one of fury.

─ Oh my, you’re so loud, senior. I’m a sensitive person, so please be considerate.

“You… What’s your connection to the Head Principal? Tell me right now.”

─ Hmm… Before that, how do you think I’m saved in the contacts? I doubt it’s under my real name since you didn’t recognize me at first. Was it a nickname, maybe?

“1215…! What does it mean? What’s it got to do with you?”

─ Ah! Oh wow, so that’s what it was?

Se-Ah laughed lightly, as if taken aback.

─ Do you remember our first conversation, senior?

Their first conversation…

The memory that surfaced was from early in the first semester, during a day of volunteering at a free meal distribution.

Se-Ah had spoken to Woo-jin for the first time.

The content of that conversation was:

─ ‘Did you check today’s horoscope?’

─ ‘Horoscope?’

─ ‘I’m a Sagittarius, by the way.’

Se-Ah’s birthday was under the Sagittarius sign.

And December 15th was a Sagittarius date.

Woo-jin let out a hollow laugh.

“What a ridiculous connection….”

─ It seems the Head Principal valued my birthday quite a lot. Looks like she planned to give me a gift this year too~.

“…Was that gift the Black Market?”

─ Yes, probably. Not that I didn’t already know, so it wasn’t exactly a ‘surprise.’

This semester, Se-Ah was supposed to become the ruler of the Black Market and meet her demise.

How did she manage to control such a massive, corrupt market filled with dirty money with just the Do-hwa Group?

Woo-jin didn’t know exactly how Se-Ah did it, but…
It was no longer hard to believe if the Head Principal, Neo Seoul’s most powerful figure, was backing her.

“So Anomia… was just a puppet meant to fall into your hands all along?”

─ Haha, but didn’t it make for an interesting game?

Anomia was the organization Woo-jin had defeated.

It was a group competing against the Do-hwa Group for control of the Black Market.

The major investor backing Anomia was part of the city’s power structure.

Although Woo-jin had no solid proof, he was convinced that the investor was the Head Principal.

“Got it. The Head Principal supported Anomia. She inflated Anomia’s size with hefty investments, making them a natural rival for your group. And then, of course, she had them fall under your control. All for your sake….”

─ Wow, senior, you’re spot on! I would have loved to see Anomia, who targeted me, groveling and crawling beneath me…. It would’ve been so much fun, right? But then you went and destroyed it all, so it came to nothing.

“Lee Se-Ah….”

─ But I don’t resent you or hold a grudge, senior.

Se-Ah’s playful voice softened.

─ I really did like you, senior.

“Then why did you help me all this time…? Even when we took down the Technomancer?”

─ The Six Sinners are just disposable pawns that can be replaced with time.

“What?”

─ I wanted you, senior~. I was weighing my options. I wanted you to be mine. So I decided to help you get your loved one back and join you on adventures to build a bond.

Disposable pawn.

The phrase made Woo-jin flinch.

─ Even if it was just for a brief moment, I thought that if you opened your heart to me and became mine, I could win you over. As long as I could have you, senior, I didn’t care about things like the Six Sinners.
“…….”

─ I begged the Head Principal not to lay a finger on you, Woo-jin, but… I guess she just couldn’t grant that one request. She probably thought it was for my own good.

Se-Ah let out a bitter laugh.

─ My heart sank every time something happened to you, senior. For that, I apologize. I’m sorry, senior. I’ll make sure your name is cleared completely, and I’ll ensure you won’t face any more trouble. I’ll even promise you a luxurious life. So please, don’t worry about the future. In exchange… please don’t kill the Head Principal.

Se-Ah’s light-hearted voice was now tinged with seriousness.

─ She’s kind of my parent, you see. In a genetic sense. I was born from her genes—out of all the stored genetic samples, I’m the only one born from hers.

Woo-jin’s brow furrowed. His gaze shifted toward the Head Principal.

The Head Principal was looking at Woo-jin with a sorrowful expression.

Finally, the questions Woo-jin had carried were unraveling in his mind like a knot being untied.

Even without further explanation, Woo-jin now understood the Head Principal’s purpose.

“Lee Se-Ah, you….”

Woo-jin asked coldly.

“Were you planning to devour Neo Seoul?”