Chapter 67.1

Chapter 67 – Rule 24. The Leader Pursues to the End (4)

A+.

That was the grade given to Oh Baek-seo.

Children born in the factory were graded based on their innate magic power.

Those who received an A+ were separated and transported to the Zero Zone facility, a restricted area.

Baek-seo was no exception.

In the Zero Zone facility, Baek-seo was bound to a mechanical device, forced to repeat a special training regimen.

She later learned it was training to unlock their potential—a degraded form of magic cultivation, aimed at indirectly enhancing the quality of their magic power.

The machine infused the children with magic daily.

Rough, thorny magic molecules relentlessly wrapped around Baek-seo.

She screamed every time, but no one came to help.

The children had no freedom.

Lee Doo-hee, the Head Principal of Neo Seoul, knew that performing the magic cultivation method during infancy would produce the best talents.

She called it the “Golden Time.”

If an infant could instinctively master the magic cultivation method during the Golden Time.

They could achieve unparalleled growth.

This was the secret of the new humans.

The process boasted the highest efficiency and stability.

But it was impossible to teach an efficient magic cultivation method to infants who couldn’t even speak.

There was only one case where someone instinctively mastered the magic cultivation method during the Golden Time.

The greatest genius in human history, expected to reach Argonaut at an early age, Goliath.

So, the method devised by Head Principal Lee Doo-hee was to forcefully wrap children in dense magic, making it seep into their bodies.

Considering the survival rate, the targets were children with at least A+ grade innate magic.

It was akin to torture.

To achieve even slightly higher efficiency, they needed to give strong stimuli.

Many children whose magic circuits were destroyed and whose blood reversed during the process were discarded.

To Head Principal Lee Doo-hee, it was as psychologically impactful as drinking plain water.

Creating one good talent was overwhelmingly more efficient than raising all the A+ children.

For her, it was just an opportunity cost.

Baek-seo endured and survived the Golden Time.

However, what the Head Principal desired was Goliath’s level.

Though Baek-seo didn’t reach his level, she met half of the Head Principal’s standards, making her a half-successful product.

She no longer needed to undergo forced training.

But by then, Baek-seo’s mind was already broken.

She spent her time in the facility, suffering from aphasia, banging the same toy against another, her head wrapped in bandages, staring at the floor with lifeless eyes.

Then she met Kim Dalbi.

Baek-seo would look at Dalbi whenever she heard her voice.

When their eyes met by chance, Dalbi would smile.

Feeling awkward, Baek-seo would avoid her gaze.

But Dalbi’s smile always seeped into Baek-seo’s heart.

“Hello!”

One day, Dalbi greeted Baek-seo with a charming smile.

It was after all the other children they had lived with were discarded.

“We’ve met before, right?”

Perhaps because they survived the same process, the two became close quickly.

Dalbi would frequently hug Baek-seo.

That warmth brought life back to Baek-seo’s eyes.

The Head Principal allowed Baek-seo and Dalbi, as half-successful products, to play like normal children.

Baek-seo and Dalbi first saw a small but beautiful flower garden outside the facility that had seemed like a prison.

Near the desolate Zero Zone.

It was a place they had always seen outside the window.

The sight of the blue sky and the flower garden, viewed for the first time, excited the two children.

That day, Dalbi picked a purple peony and said.

She read in a book that the flower language of this flower was “anger.”

Demanding that Baek-seo praise her knowledge, Dalbi triumphantly put her hands on her hips.

That scene remained vividly in Baek-seo’s memory because she realized something at that moment.

Like gears failing to mesh, something had been wrong since birth.

Birth shouldn’t be this painful.

There were so many beautiful things in the world.

“Ah.”

Baek-seo finally understood the unknown emotion that had been rising inside her.

Then, she picked a purple peony.

***

The sound of rain washed away the memories of the past.

Present.

A dark alley.

“Honestly, you were really annoying…”

Dalbi’s voice, tinged with blood, blended with the sound of rain.

Despite the aggressive remark, Baek-seo remained indifferent.

“I know. We’re similar.”

“Hehe, we really have no affection for each other…”

Dalbi stared at Baek-seo.

Her face overlapped with the kind face that exchanged affectionate glances with Woo-jin.

In the past and now, Baek-seo was endlessly bright in Dalbi’s eyes.

The sense of incongruity Dalbi felt when looking at Baek-seo became clear.

A sudden, new question swirled in Dalbi’s mind.

‘That’s right…’

Why did it have to be her to protect Ahn Woo-jin?

There was someone strong, bright, and loving by Woo-jin’s side.

Baek-seo was likely acting boldly now to protect Woo-jin’s everyday life.

‘What am I doing…’

In comparison, what about herself?

As Moon Chae-won said, Dalbi had become nothing but an obstacle to Woo-jin.

She had become a woman clinging to the past, like mud.

Dalbi’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Her bright eyes and cheeky smile faced Baek-seo’s grim face.

Her thoughts had cleared.

“Why are you here…? No, let me guess. You’re here to deal with the friend of the Disciplinary Committee Leader, right…?”

It was obvious Baek-seo planned to deal with Moon Chae-won if she came to the Zero Zone.

Baek-seo didn’t deny it.

“You’ve completely missed the timing… You should leave now…”

You need to leave here right now.

“Judging by your tattered state, there are many of the Head Principal’s people around.”

Baek-seo said.

The Zero Zone had little surveillance from the Head Principal.

That’s why Baek-seo and Dalbi could speak openly.

“You look like you resisted the Head Principal and got beaten up like a dog.”

“Hey, that’s too harsh… You should compare it to something else…”

Dalbi chuckled.

“There’s something I need to ask you.”

Baek-seo said firmly.

“What is it…?”

“Why did you leave me? I never heard why.”

“Ah.”

Dalbi hesitated for a moment before smiling.

“You mean when we were told to decide who would leave between us…”

Baek-seo nodded.

During their childhood, a Spartoi subordinate of the Head Principal had made a proposition to Baek-seo and Dalbi.

─ ‘One of you becomes my dog. In return, I’ll let the other go outside.’

The decision was left to the two children.

She said the first one to say they wanted to leave would get the choice.

Baek-seo and Dalbi promised not to betray each other.

But after Baek-seo woke up.

─ ‘Kim Dalbi chose first. She left at dawn.’

Hearing that from the AI robot, Baek-seo’s mind went blank.

She checked Dalbi’s empty room and her gaze turned somber.

It was a memory Baek-seo could never forget.

“I told you last time… It wouldn’t mean anything if I said it.”

“It’s important to me.”

Baek-seo couldn’t let go of the words that Dalbi had left her.

She didn’t blame Dalbi for it.

All the blame lay with the Head Principal.

She just kept asking “why?” over and over in her head.

Why did Dalbi leave without a word? Baek-seo wanted to know.

“…I’ll ask again. Did you want to get out of here so badly that you abandoned me?”

“…?”