Look at These Guys?

It was the second day of school. I finished my classes without incident and stopped by the supermarket to buy groceries for dinner.

A brief lapse in judgment led to the unfortunate situation of carrying bulging plastic bags up a steep hill, but I somehow managed to get home.

I should have just ordered delivery.

I can’t tell if I haven’t adapted to modern life yet, or if I’m just too old to use the conveniences of civilization.

There were two reasons why I decided to change my diet, which had been all cup noodles and frozen food.

One was that I felt like I was eating too much processed food after the possession, and the other was to have dinner with Yoon Sia.

Considering her tight financial situation, I had suggested that we eat dinner together on days when she had classes.

Yoon Sia hesitated at first, but after I told her that she had already eaten so many cup noodles, there was no point in worrying about it now, she agreed.

It wasn’t just an offer out of pity. I also felt a little lonely eating alone in this big house.

I thought it would be a win-win situation, as I could reduce my loneliness and Yoon Sia could avoid additional expenses.

[Where are you?]

I sent a text to get an idea of when she would arrive.

In my original world, I only knew how to make curry, spicy pork stir-fry, and pasta.

As someone living alone, I didn’t need a variety of dishes.

But in the martial arts world, I had to cook while camping with Master, and I was able to build a basic foundation in cooking, even if it was rough.

If it wasn’t delicious, Master would whine all day long, so how could I not improve…?

The nightmare of burning Master’s wild boar meat black…

Remembering that, I stirred the marinated meat in the pan.

The spicy and sweet smell of the store-bought marinade stimulated my sense of smell.

-Grumble

I haven’t eaten anything since lunch, so I’m hungry.

She’s supposed to be here at 8, so there’s about 30 minutes left.

I took a couple of pieces of meat and chewed on them, pretending to taste them.

Yeah, well…

Meat seems to be above average even if you make it roughly.

The rice cooker has switched from cooking to warming, so all the preparations are complete.

I cleaned up the messy kitchen and washed my hands.

After neatly arranging the food on plates and displaying them on the table, I took off the apron I was wearing and hung it loosely on an unused chair.

Now all that’s left is for the person to eat with to arrive.

It’s already 7:57.

Yoon Sia will be here soon.

[Where are you?]

The ‘1’ next to the text I sent earlier hasn’t disappeared.

I started setting the table with spoons and chopsticks, and looked at my phone.

The ‘1’ next to the message still hasn’t disappeared.

[Teacher, are you late?]

She might not have seen it because she’s walking, but I’ll send it again.

5 minutes, 10 minutes passed.

Yoon Sia didn’t come even after 20 minutes.

She was definitely on her way to class.

When she was near Inho’s house, Shin Jeonga appeared in front of her.

[I have something to tell you.]

She was surprised that the girl who bared her claws and growled every time she saw her spoke to her first.

[It’s about Inho. There’s something you should know.]

Normally, she would have ignored her. But the words “about Inho” caught Yoon Sia’s attention.

Seeing her interest, Shin Jeonga took a couple of steps closer to her.

[It’s a bit awkward to talk about it here. Do you have a moment? It’ll only take 5 minutes.]

Shin Jeonga said in a low voice, as if she had something incredibly important to say.

Yoon Sia picked up her phone to text Inho that she would be a little late.

But Shin Jeonga’s hands were placed over hers.

[It’ll only take a moment.]

She followed Shin Jeonga back down the hill.

They went down the stairs that connected to the park below the hill.

It was a park created by the city for environmental improvement, but it seemed to be poorly maintained due to its low accessibility.

Yoon Sia, who precariously descended the steep stairs instead of the usual hillside path, was able to reach a small park with benches, a gazebo, and a few exercise equipment.

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

Yoon Sia asked, addressing Shin Jeonga’s back as she headed towards the gazebo.

Even at this point, she didn’t feel any sense of crisis.

Perhaps she underestimated the cruelty of students of that age.

“Well, what should I talk about?”

Yoon Sia felt a slight chill from Shin Jeonga’s smiling face as she turned around.

And she began to realize little by little that something was going wrong.

“I thought you were smart, but you’re fucking stupid, aren’t you?”

Shin Jeonga, who had returned to her tone from when they first met, sneered with a crooked smile.

At the same time as she felt a presence under the dark gazebo, Fireflys began to glow.

Those long, stick-shaped Fireflys had red lights on their tails.

Someone grabbed the head of one and flicked it towards Yoon Sia.

The Firefly, which flew in an arc, fell at her feet.

Yoon Sia swallowed hard as she identified the Firefly, which emitted a pungent smoke and a sharp odor.

“…You?”

She felt like her blood was running cold.

“Why did you have to be so nosy?”

Shin Jeonga giggled and took a step back, and black shadows with even faint impressions slowly began to walk towards Yoon Sia beside her.

‘I… Inho.’

Yoon Sia desperately moved her trembling legs to slowly escape from them, thinking of the student who would be waiting for her.

Because he couldn’t get in touch with her, Inho came out of the house and waited for Yoon Sia.

At first, he waited in front of the house, but gradually moved down the hill, and stopped when he found something.

He bent down and observed what was on the ground.

“This is…”

It was just ordinary dirt.

But Kang In-ho was suspicious of this dirt.

He suddenly remembered the feeling he had when he was chasing bandits with Namgung Soyou.

This hill is mainly used by cars. The only people who walk around are himself and Yoon Sia.

But looking at the amount of dirt that had fallen and the faint marks, he could tell that someone had walked here relatively recently.

Kang In-ho went down the hill a little further.

The amount of dirt that had fallen gradually increased. That means the owner of these traces came up the hill.

“They went back down near my house.”

Another unusual thing was that the traces that had come up the hill went back down.

Kang In-ho turned on the light on his phone and shone it on the dirt.

It was dirt he hadn’t seen in the neighborhood.

There’s no place where this kind of dirt could have gotten on Yoon Sia on the way down the hill, past the convenience store, to the place where she takes the bus.

Inho began to walk down the trail.

Halfway down the hill, he could vaguely feel a number of people gathered in the park below the stairs.

“Ah… please.”

Inho hoped he was wrong.