Ch.241236 – Roar

Personnel changes are the easiest way to show that you’re making reforms.

When a new administration takes power, we see news of various committee chairs and government department heads being replaced.

In my past life too, nobles who lost in succession battles were purged without exception.

The difference from modern times was that purging wasn’t just political—it meant everyone from the head of household to the maids literally had their heads chopped off.

Well, looking at North Korea or Russia, things haven’t changed much even in modern times.

Dark clouds hung heavily in the sky.

At this rate, thunder and lightning would soon—

BOOM!

No sooner had I thought it than the gray sky flashed, awakening everything with a tremendous sound.

The downpour that started last night showed no signs of stopping.

Raindrops the size of hailstones beat mercilessly against my arms and back, threatening to pierce through my yellow raincoat.

I’d worn a raincoat thinking an umbrella would be useless in this windstorm, but now I’m thinking I shouldn’t have come out at all.

But since I’ve come this far, I can’t turn back now.

Pushing through what looked like the perfect backdrop for an unknown killer burying bodies in the mountains, I entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Violent Crimes Unit building.

Squeak-squeak-squeak-squeak—

“…?”

The strange noise created by my wet rain boots against the urethane floor drew the attention of everyone working in the first-floor hall.

Splish-splash—

Just ignore it. If you let it bother you, you lose.

“Hello? What brings you here, kid?”

A passing man, presumably a police officer, asked.

“I’m here to see Detective Ma Beom-il. He works in Violent Crimes Unit 2.”

“Oh, is that so? Wait a moment, I’ll call him down right away. What’s your relationship? Are you his daughter… wait, aren’t you NoName?”

How did he recognize me with my raincoat hood pulled up?

I guess people in law enforcement really do have sharp observation skills.

I quietly nodded and waited for Detective Ma to come down.

Eventually, a burly man skipped the elevator and came down the stairs.

His stubble seemed to have grown more bristly since I last saw him.

“Why are you here, Name? This isn’t a place for kids.”

It was raining too hard outside to go for a walk.

We found a quiet corridor and leaned against the wall.

Detective Ma gulped down a can of coffee in one go, then crushed the empty can with his hand.

I quietly sipped my rice drink beside him.

“Are you very busy?”

“I should be, but it feels awkward being this free. It’s been a while since I’ve slacked off during work hours like this. How’s my daughter Ji-hye doing?”

“Umm, not well?”

“Right, she’s always been quiet and never caused any trouble… Wait, what did you say?”

“She doesn’t seem to be doing well these days. I heard you’re moving soon?”

“Ji-hye told you that too? Yeah… somehow it ended up that way.”

“Isn’t it strange? The child you rescued from the capsule ended up in the same academy class as your daughter.”

“It is strange… but what in this world isn’t strange?”

Detective Ma kept looking at people passing through the corridor without making eye contact with me.

I could feel that he was finding it difficult to face me.

“Name.”

“Yes?”

“I’m really sorry. It might sound like an excuse, but I never imagined you’d been confined since birth.”

“Ah, I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

“And—”

“Detective Ma, you did nothing wrong. Everything you did to help me back then was the best you could do.”

“I wonder if it really was the best. I even broke my promise to visit the orphanage often, using busyness as an excuse. When I think about it, it seems like it was all my fault.”

Regret?

No, he seemed to have already reached the stage of resignation about this situation.

It was quite pitiful watching him massage his massive forearm as if experiencing nicotine withdrawal.

“Actually, I came to repay you for what you did.”

“What repayment? I don’t need anything like that. Just finish your drink and go home. Did you come with your father?”

He pulled out a cigarette pack and lighter from his back pocket.

“So you’re just going to give up like this?”

“Huh?”

“I asked if you’re going to give up. If Ji-hye transfers schools, she might end up resenting you later.”

“Children eventually grow up and understand their parents’ hearts.”

“What if she doesn’t? Can you be sure? And you don’t care if your relationship becomes strained in the meantime?”

“…”

Neither of us could easily answer this question.

As he said, Ji-hye might come to understand her father’s feelings as she grows up.

But if she doesn’t, it would be very difficult to repair a broken relationship.

“Sir, did you know I’m starting broadcast filming tomorrow?”

“Broadcast? What broadcast?”

“There’s a show called ‘Genius Discovery.'”

“Ah, I know that one! You’re going to be on it?”

“I don’t see why I shouldn’t be.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“But the filming schedule is longer than I expected. I thought it would be just one day, but they said it could take up to two weeks.”

The Genius Discovery team has over 20 PDs and writers.

It took less than 40 seconds for ZBS to respond to my email with a request to coordinate filming schedules.

They were so eager to capitalize on me that they broke their usual format of introducing two or three children per episode, announcing plans to split it into two parts aired over two weeks.

Longer screen time definitely has advantages for me.

I can say things I couldn’t fully express during the previous competition broadcast.

“I’ve heard bits and pieces. That your current job transfer is happening because of me.”

“Who told you that? It’s not because of you, Name. It’s just because there are empty-headed guys occupying positions they shouldn’t.”

“I think wrongs should be righted. So I have a plan for this broadcast. Would you like to hear it?”

Detective Ma wasn’t the only one who rescued me from the capsule.

There was also Cheon Se-min who first noticed my SOS report, and the detectives and paramedics who came to the abandoned house after hearing about it.

I haven’t forgotten Ha Sun-hwa, my first-grade homeroom teacher who took good care of me at school.

On the broadcast, I planned to visit all these people personally to express my gratitude.

If the treatment Detective Ma was receiving became public knowledge, it might not stop the personnel transfer completely, but at least it could prevent him from being sent to a remote region.

“But how do you know all these details so thoroughly?”

“Someone with experience gave me a little help.”

“Someone with experience? Who?”

“Someone who was a district prosecutor until last month. Recently got fired for getting on someone’s bad side.”

I stuck out my tongue and made a throat-slitting gesture with my hand.

This was actually the idea of Cheon Jeong-ho, the district prosecutor who had been betrayed by political forces.

Well, the information was half obtained through threats by Professor Cheon.

* * *

“You’re going to be on TV? Really? Wow, that’s amazing.”

Seo Yu-na asked, blinking her eyes.

The sparring coach who used to train only Ma Ji-hye had somehow naturally expanded to include Seo-ri and Yu-na as well.

The four of us were lying on the gymnasium floor, listening to the sound of raindrops hitting the academy gym ceiling.

“So what will you do there? I hope you show off your mental calculation skills.”

“I’m planning to approach it like a feat of strength demonstration.”

“What’s a feat of strength demonstration?”

“Oh, you don’t know what that means. It’s a bit hard to explain.”

A feat of strength demonstration is when humans showcase martial arts that seem to borrow bizarre powers, but since mana actually exists in this world, such terminology isn’t commonly used.

“I’m curious too—how strong are you really, Name? You never seem to be serious when you watch our sparring.”

“Can you jump from one end of this hall to the other in one leap?”

“I can do that even without using magic.”

“Really? That’s possible? How?”

Yu-na’s head tilted 90 degrees.

The other two friends, catching their breath, mimicked her action like chameleons.

“What about magic? Can you do things like Meteor?”

“Why would I waste mana on such inefficient magic? Please don’t try to use that later.”

“Then what should I use?”

“Just normally tie them up with something like rope to neutralize them. Then you can freeze them, burn them, or electrocute—”

“Aaah! That’s too cruel!”

“Hahaha! Ma Ji-hye, if you don’t behave, Name will turn you into electric barbecue!”

“So what’s the strongest first-circle magic? Can you teach me? Please, please, please?”

Yu-na pleaded earnestly while kneading my hand.

“Yu-na, there’s no real definition of ‘strongest.’ If you pump an obscene amount of mana into Light, you could blind someone—does that make it the strongest?”

“I’m not sure… isn’t something strong if it hurts when you get hit by it?”

“The simpler the magic, the easier it is to counter. What’s important isn’t strength but complexity—how difficult the operating principle is.”

That’s why the first unique magic I invented as a child felt so special.

While other unique magics were just slightly modified versions of sealed Corrosion, my current unique magic named “Adella” induces fatigue failure through precise fatigue strength settings at specific impacts.

Seeing is believing—for children who don’t understand, nothing is easier than experience.

“Want me to show you?”

“Yes!”

“Follow me.”

Splish-splash—

I grabbed a badminton racket lying on the floor and headed toward the main entrance of the hall where wind and rain were raging.

The entrance had an overhanging ceiling structure, so we weren’t directly exposed to rain.

However, our clothes got a bit damp from raindrops blown sideways by the wind.

I gripped the badminton racket in reverse and took a deep breath.

The children were watching me with trembling eyes.

I gave them a slight smile before focusing back on the racket.

‘How strong can I become in this life?’

With the different atmospheric mana concentration, it’s absolutely impossible to regain my previous life’s level.

But I’ve been reincarnated, and my Aura Heart is still in an immature state.

Yet I worried that unnecessarily stimulating it might trigger the awakening of Corrosion.

After all, the calamities sealed in my personality and Aura Heart bundles ultimately followed me through reincarnation.

‘Have I become too docile lately? It’s just an inanimate object anyway.’

What is there to fear?

I should just suppress it with greater strength.

The world always operates under the logic of power.

Wind blows from high pressure to low pressure, heat moves from high temperature to low temperature.

In capitalism, money is like magnetism, freely pushing and pulling people.

Magic is ultimately the same.

The racket drew a large semicircle from behind.

A simple downward strike.

With my first unique magic, if you set up the first strike correctly, impact stacking is possible even in mid-air without a clear target.

I retrieved the racket and extended it again.

Sometimes the racket decisively cut through the angry rain, sometimes it moved vertically alongside it like a companion.

Unused muscles screamed throughout my body.

I forcibly endured the pain and used aura to form positions that were difficult to achieve.

But my previous life wasn’t always superior.

In this life, I’ve realized that a world with mana exists in complex dimensions.

In other words, following mana flow is the shortest path.

‘What if I follow the mana flow with each strike…?’

The movement becomes much better.

People say magic defies the laws of nature, but this is a misunderstanding that arose in contrast to aura.

Humans cannot go against nature’s greater flow, so they can only make the most of it.

Those who follow heaven’s principles survive; those who forcibly try to defy them perish.

Perhaps my previous life was so arduous because I tried to defy nature with an inadequate body.

“Everyone cover your ears.”

While magic can’t be ranked, I took pride in my magic being the most excellent among first-circle unique magics.

Woooong—!

[Unique Magic – Estasha Style First Form – Adella]

“…!”

KWAAAAAAANG—!

A violent roar shook the earth as a shockwave spread in concentric circles, making our hair flutter.

An intense wind blew toward the front of the hall, creating the illusion that the falling raindrops had completely evaporated.

The red roof of the cafeteria building, previously obscured by the weather, became clearly visible.

As soon as the magic circle disappeared, raindrops filled the empty space again as if nothing had happened.

But all the leaves on the concrete floor had been pushed to both sides, creating a path to the cafeteria that looked like a trail through a forest.

Though the weather was cloudy, bright starlight twinkled in the children’s eyes.

“So, what do you think? Want to learn? It’s not free though.”

I forced a smile while gritting my teeth to endure the aching in my body.

A master should never appear weak, after all.