Ch.29What Exactly Are You? – 4

# “The Elder!”

I instinctively took a step back.

Even accidentally running into one would make my body tremble with fear. And of all things, I had recently blocked the path of another Elder.

And now in this situation, an Elder suddenly says “Found you”?

“I’m doomed.”

I glanced around discreetly. Is there anyone who could help me?

Right. Of course not. This isn’t the Academy, just the middle of a street.

There’s no Hakjun Ma who stopped Hyuk Kwak, nor Jiyoon Han who fought an Elder.

Here, I’m completely alone. I have to find my own way out of this situation.

“But how?”

The Sole Arbiter ability hasn’t manifested.

Even if it were active right now, I vaguely knew one thing.

That I could never defeat this woman with my current abilities.

Just like with Hyuk Kwak, I might resist a few times, but that would be it.

“So it’s you. The examiner that gloomy guy said was interesting.”

Sujin Hyun stares at me with extremely eerie eyes.

Looking into those eyes makes me desperately want to turn around and run away.

But I held back. I had a gut feeling that doing so would lead to disaster.

“No need to look around like that.”

Did she notice I was looking for someone to help me?

As I let out a groan, Sujin Hyun said:

“I didn’t come here to see blood. Don’t worry about other people.”

What kind of nonsense is that?

I was looking for someone to help me, and she’s talking about worrying about others?

Actually, it’s ridiculous that she would even say such a thing.

She recently attacked the Academy and took dozens of innocent lives.

And now she says “I didn’t come to see blood” with a straight face?

It was absurd, and I wanted to retort immediately, but—

“If you keep losing focus, I might start by destroying your surroundings first. If you don’t want people’s bodies rolling around nearby, let’s just stay like this for a moment, pretending nothing’s happening.”

I decided to follow her lead since she seemed to want a conversation.

If something happens here, not only would I die, but everyone around would be killed or injured.

The thought that it would be because of me made it even more concerning.

“Your answer?”

“What do you want?”

“I have something I want to ask.”

Sujin Hyun takes another step closer. It felt like death itself was approaching.

“You, what are you exactly?”

Everyone’s been asking similar questions lately.

And for such questions, I have only one answer.

“I’m a level 9 civil servant. And an examiner dispatched to the Academy.”

At my answer, Sujin Hyun blinked a couple of times and suddenly smiled.

But somehow, that smile didn’t seem to have any good intentions behind it.

“That’s a strange way of saying you don’t want to answer.”

Suddenly, I instinctively stepped to the right.

I’m not sure why I did that. My body just moved on its own.

But when I did, Sujin Hyun looked at me strangely.

“Hey, you…”

She stopped mid-sentence and turned her head sharply.

After fixing her gaze somewhere, she soon clicked her tongue.

“Annoyingly quick. That crazy woman.”

Turning her attention back to me, she spoke with a slightly more urgent voice.

“Fine. Then, let me ask you again. Do you plan to keep living like this?”

“Excuse me?”

“Will you keep submitting, groveling, and accepting everything as you live?”

What on earth is she talking about?

A villain—not just any villain but an Elder—comes to find me and asks if I’m dissatisfied with reality?

“Ah, could this be some kind of recruitment offer?”

It’s highly possible. From their perspective, I might be quite attractive.

After all, I’m someone who survived after blocking an Elder’s path.

“Honestly, I have thought that living like this isn’t quite right.”

That was somewhat sincere. Civil servant life was truly awful.

Getting a complaint for being friendly to a child is still legendary.

Having to use formal speech with a child who looked about four years old? No wonder speaking informally makes my heart race now.

“You thought it wasn’t right? Really?”

At my answer, a strange light flashed in Sujin Hyun’s eyes.

Perhaps she thinks I’m interested in the villain lifestyle?

She might be expecting that she could recruit me, that she could have such an interesting guy as her subordinate.

But me becoming a villain would never happen, not in a million years.

Because I love justice? Of course, seeing what villains do makes me not want to get involved with them.

But that’s not the only reason I don’t even consider becoming a villain.

“There’s Hyunwoo Lee and Rina Lee, and so many other powered individuals. Later on, villains are destined to crash and burn.”

Why would I buy stock when I know its future value will plummet?

Unless I want to dive into the Han River.

“But you know what? I still don’t think that’s right.”

So keep doing your villain stuff all you want.

In about a year, you’ll understand why I answered like this.

At my response, Sujin Hyun silently stared at me.

Her eyes conveyed the feeling of “I have so much to say but I’m holding back.”

It wasn’t my imagination. Her lips were clearly twitching, confirming it.

“Next time. Next time, we’ll talk again.”

“What?”

And that was it. Sujin Hyun, who had been standing right in front of me, disappeared instantly.

Like a deep shadow that vanishes when light enters.

As if her existence had never been there in the first place.

While I was standing there dumbfounded, wondering what just happened—

“What’s this? A handsome oppa who’s single?”

Looking up, I saw a woman in a black uniform standing on top of a streetlight.

Unpredictable energy, overwhelming strength that even Hyunwoo Lee would acknowledge.

“Ms. Rina?”

“Yes. It’s me! Ta-da!”

Rina jumped down from the streetlight and strode toward me.

Then she went “Hmm,” quickly scanning the surroundings before speaking.

“By any chance, have you seen a strange woman around here?”

“A strange woman?”

“Yes. A creepily eerie woman. Less pretty than me, fatter than me, and weaker than me.”

Rina is among the top-tier S-class powered individuals.

It wouldn’t be surprising if she sensed the Elder Sujin Hyun’s presence in that instant and came looking.

Sujin Hyun who suddenly approached me. And Rina who came looking for her.

I suddenly found myself in a serious dilemma about what answer to give.

“Being honest is probably best. But what if Rina saw me talking with Sujin Hyun from the beginning? I might become suspicious.”

An extremely dangerous Elder among villains came to find me.

And there was no destruction or terror, just conversation before she left?

Anyone would say, “That guy seems suspicious, doesn’t he?”

For reference, if you’re suspected of having any connection with villains, you’re immediately investigated.

And having a connection with an Elder? It definitely won’t end with just “Please come to the station.”

I simply rejected a recruitment offer, but I might end up being suspected as a villain.

“But who in their right mind would tell the truth?”

Moreover, if the S-class powered individual in front of me had been Jiyoon Han, I would have been honest.

But this Yellow Madwoman in front of me was… as terrifying as a villain.

Even now, I’m worried she might smash my head in while asking, “Handsome oppa, are you playing with Elders?”

I decided to mix truth and lies appropriately in my answer.

“The only woman I saw was someone I bumped into just now, and when I apologized, she cursed at me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Um… come to think of it, she did seem to have some kind of strange energy about her.”

To the question of whether I met Sujin Hyun, I answer with a feeling of “I think I did.”

And I conclude by making it seem like there was no special purpose,

just a random friction that happened as we passed by each other.

“Hmmmm…”

Rina was rubbing her chin, seemingly deep in thought.

Watching her made my heart race, but I tried to appear calm.

“Handsome oppa.”

“I’m Seojin Baek.”

“Yes. Handsome oppa. It seems like you have a talent for attracting strange people around you.”

Hey, if you say “strange people” like that, doesn’t that include you too?

“Yesterday or so? I was on an undercover stakeout in the entertainment district to catch some villain minions.”

“That must have been tough.”

“Thank you. Anyway, while I was there, your name suddenly came up. Something about setting a trap, framing you for sexual harassment to socially destroy you.”

What is this now? Setting a trap? Sexual harassment? Social destruction?

“Me?”

“Yes. Handsome oppa. Seojin Baek.”

“What on earth is that about…”

“I was curious too. So I looked into it. Oh! How did I find out? Very quickly! Effectively! I asked those guys’ bodies directly. They spilled everything after a little stroking.”

Rina said that while subtly clenching her fist.

“Say hello. This is ‘conversation.’ Our ‘conversation’ really makes everything easier to resolve!”

…The villains were right. She is indeed crazy.

*

Swish—

The shadows gathered and dispersed repeatedly before finally taking human form.

“Phew.”

After catching her breath, Sujin Hyun sat down anywhere she could.

She had almost encountered the crazy yellow woman if she’d been a little late.

Even for someone like her, Rina was not easy to handle.

“I should have talked more.”

Once she’s been to a place, Rina monitors it terribly thoroughly.

In other words, it would be extremely difficult for her and that man, “Seojin Baek,” to meet again.

“Indeed, he’s no ordinary man.”

When he gave an answer that seemed to be testing her, she unconsciously used her ability.

An extremely subtle shadow that penetrates without sound or presence.

But Seojin Baek accurately sensed the direction of that shadow.

He even showed signs of trying to avoid it by calculating its direction.

He’s no ordinary person. He’s clearly someone extremely disciplined.

It wasn’t a lie that he survived after being hit by Hyuk Kwak’s spear.

Even Sujin Hyun had to acknowledge that he was by no means careless.

“Perhaps he really… might be related to the laboratory.”

Will you keep living like that, knowing you’ll be abandoned, will you keep living that way?

To that question, Seojin Baek answered with self-deprecation that he had no choice.

“There’s no choice, Sujin. This is, I am. This is why we’re here.”

The memory of someone who smiled like that while exhaling increasingly faint breaths came to mind.

Crunch—

Sujin Hyun bit her lip until it bled.