episode_0371

When Yang So-ah first met Eunha,

she simply thought, “Ah, she’s just a pretty person.”

A ghost haunting the promotion exams, failing the E-rank test for over three years.

But now, a woman who has finally reaped the fruits of her labor and has even taken—and returned from—the C-rank promotion exam.

What is it that lifts her back up?

Unlike herself, who curls inward whenever something painful happens,

Eunha moves forward unfaltering even in failure—and surely, Yang So-ah isn’t the only one who sees that spark in her footsteps.

“……I want to shake her hand.”

She’s beautiful.

That was her first impression.

…….

The strange phenomena began appearing

from that moment onward.

…….

“Ah… Found her…”

October 5th, early morning.

Yang So-ah, limping on one leg, loitered around Morning Star Apartments.

Upon spotting Eunha on her way to work at the café, she began tailing her.

Clack-clack…

It wasn’t hard to find Eunha.

A stunning woman dragging a black suitcase, with an impossibly large chest.

Her defining traits were far too obvious.

Boing…

Yang So-ah couldn’t tear her eyes away from the graceful sway of Eunha’s chest with every step.

‘So big… No, now’s not the time…’

She needed to focus.

Now, she was the one who had to protect Eunha.

After all, she had been the one to eliminate Ban Ha-rin with her own hands.

‘Pull it together…’

She shouldn’t have drunk last night.

With knees haphazardly wrapped in bandages, the cotton-candy-pink Yang So-ah hobbled after Eunha.

Skitter-skatter…

From the streetlights she passed, pitch-black insects crawled down.

“…….”

Morning commute.

Eunha walked expressionlessly down the street.

Yang So-ah followed behind her.

Clack-clack…

The rattling of suitcase wheels.

They crossed the crosswalk.

Without even glancing left or right, Eunha strode forward, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Was she not afraid of cars?

“Squeak… Grrk…”

Across the crosswalk,

a chihuahua out on a walk hesitated at the entrance before crossing with its owner.

“…….”

The chihuawa, trembling as if gripped by terror, hesitated before stepping onto the crosswalk.

But moments later, when Eunha passed by dragging her suitcase,

it flung itself belly-down onto the ground, covering its eyes with its front paws.

Watching this, the owner frowned with worry as she checked on her trembling pet.

Clack-clack…

Eunha moved ahead after crossing.

“…….”

“Goodness, what’s wrong, Alexander? Don’t stop in the middle of the crosswalk.”

The owner reached out her hand as she glanced at the blinking signal light.

The terrified chihuahua bared its sharp teeth.

Boing…

Yang So-ah silently observed the scene.

Then, limping forward, she approached the chihuahua still sprawled and shaking on the crosswalk.

“Just a sec…”

Boing…

She activated her [Skill].

Her long, cotton-candy-pink hair, flowing down to her thighs, swayed like tentacles before gently wrapping around and lifting the frozen chihuahua.

“…Come…”

Yang So-ah retreated,

gesturing for the owner to follow as she stepped off the crosswalk.

Vroom—!

Right afterward, cars roared across the intersection as the signal changed.

“Squeak…”

Boing…

Only then did Yang So-ah set the squirming chihuahua down,

and the shaken creature immediately clung to its owner, wagging its tail wildly.

“Oh my… Really, thank you, dear. You saved us.”

“Yeah…”

“You’re about the same height as my daughter. Are you in middle school?”

“…Adult.”

“Oh, I’m sorry… Your knee’s hurt? Here, take this ointment. Make sure to see a doctor too.”

“Wait…”

“Thank you, miss!”

She must have been truly grateful.

Spotting the bandages on Yang So-ah’s knees, the lady pulled out a [Potion Bottle] from her handbag and pressed it into Yang So-ah’s hand before leaving, cradling the chihuahua.

Boing…

With her injured knee, she couldn’t keep up.

Blankly clutching the potion handed to her, Yang So-ah…

“……Myaa…”

Tucked the strangely warm [Potion Bottle] into her blazer pocket and

slowly turned her head.

Across the crosswalk.

“…….”

Eunha had stopped walking

and was staring back at her with a languid smile.

A shiver ran down her spine.

…….

‘What… was that just now…?’

Hobble… Boing…

She moved forward.

She trailed Eunha on her way to the café.

This was the task assigned to her by the Team Leader.

To find Eunha’s weakness, make her manageable,

and separate her from the suddenly close-knit [Cheoncheon Sword Clan].

But Yang So-ah intended to protect Eunha.

Because she was someone Ban Ha-rin had wanted to protect.

So,

by carefully getting to know Eunha, forging a friendship with her,

she planned to persuade her away from the clan—without needing to exploit any weakness.

A way where no one would get hurt.

Though this surveillance mission began for that purpose… something felt off.

An unknowable something had infiltrated daily life.

Clack-clack…

Suitcase wheels.

Skitter-skatter…

Scuttling insects.

Hahaha…

Laughter echoing from the back of her head.

Weird.

Yang So-ah continued following Eunha.

“…….”

Tap. Tap.

From the opposite side, a woman in a snow-white dress approached.

An extraordinarily beautiful person.

On the side of her dress hung ashen-gray cross ornaments.

Tap…

The woman stopped in front of Eunha and scowled.

“Ah… Resentment piling up.”

“…….”

“And what’s wrong with you?”

Whap—.

Then, the woman, her face unreadable,

slapped Eunha’s massive chest with her palm

and walked straight past her, disappearing into a dark alley.

A strange woman.

‘Pretty sure she was the one sitting in the corner booth at the café… Are they on bad terms?’

Anyway, just one more turn and they’d reach the café.

Yang So-ah rubbed her sleep-heavy eyes.

No threats on the commute.

Nothing unusual.

Slightly relaxing, she scratched her horns against a lamppost.

‘Then now…… I’ll pretend to be a customer at the café and try to talk to her…’

Creeeak!

Then.

Eunha’s neck twisted 180 degrees, locking eyes with Yang So-ah.

Unbelievably sudden.

“Yang?!”

Boing!

Startled, Yang So-ah ducked behind a building.

Had she been caught tailing her?

Creeeak.

Her neck still turned, Eunha rotated her whole body to realign herself.

Dragging her suitcase, she began trudging toward the corner where Yang So-ah hid.

Clack-clack…

The rattling wheels drew closer at frightening speed.

‘What the…? A human’s neck…’

A beautiful person.

But different.

Fundamentally, something was different.

Was she even human?

Was that what Ban Ha-rin had sought to protect?

She couldn’t tell.

“Myaa…”

She needed to hide.

Yang So-ah scanned her surroundings.

An alleyway, spotless without a speck of trash.

With her injured knee, she couldn’t move fast.

Should she use her [Skill]?

“Yang… Myaa…”

Clenching her fists, she fidgeted in place.

What to do. What to do.

Should she just greet her? But she was terrifying.

“Myaa… Myaa…”

Clack-clack…

The suitcase wheels inched closer.

Whimpering uneasily, glancing around frantically,

she hobbled painfully forward—

before

Yang So-ah,

“Myaa…!”

Fwump!

crouched low, squeezing her eyes shut.

She activated [Skill].

Clack-clack!

Moments later, Eunha—hugging her swaying chest—peeked around the corner.

…….

“…….”

An ordinary alley.

A clean pavement.

Boing… Boing…

Leaning against the wall,

a single pink backpack.

“…….”

Eunha stared intently at the pink backpack,

massaged her stiff mouth corners, and turned away.

Clack-clack…

The rattling wheels faded.

“……Myaa…”

[Fiber Manipulation] Skill.

Crouched low, Yang So-ah—having shaped her hair into a backpack—

exhaled deeply, buried in her fluffy strands.

Just what on earth was happening?

It felt like a nightmare.

A nightmare haunting her, tormented by vengeful spirits.

Was this the price for hurting Ban Ha-rin?

Had she been cursed?

Clack-clack…….

Yang So-ah held her breath inside her hair-made shelter

until the sound of suitcase wheels vanished.

10 seconds, 30 seconds,

a full minute…

“…….”

“……Ah, today’s an academy day off, so I came early.”

“Miss. As I always say, what should you be careful of?”

“Swords and snouts.”

“Correct.”

Voices.

Two sets of footsteps approached.

Yang So-ah strained her ears.

“Hm?… Knight Jeong So-ra. There’s a discarded backpack here.”

“Right… Wow, it’s crocheted? That must’ve been expensive… Hey, Miss, what are you doing?”

Clomp. Clomp.

Footsteps drawing near.

“Last promotion exam, Eunha’s dao companion hid in a bag… Looked amusing.”

“Wai—”

Squeak.

The backpack unzipped.

“…….”

“…….”

Eyes met.

“…….”

“……Yang.”

Squeak.

The backpack zipped shut.

“Guess I wasn’t the only one who found it amusing. My apologies.”

The woman—Kim Sa-rang, heir of the [Cheoncheon Sword Clan]—quietly rose and stepped back.

Tap. Tap.

Adjusting her black uniform,

she retreated a few steps from the pink backpack

before pressing a reverse-cross-shaped keychain on her sword hilt to her lips like a prayer.

“God bless you.”

“Why would gods bless you? Stop embarrassing yourself and let’s go.”

With a smack on the back, the two walked away.

This was a nightmare.

She needed to wake up.

Her spirits thoroughly crushed, Yang So-ah silently shut her eyes inside her hair-formed backpack.

Exhausting.

…….

Yang So-ah thought.

This woman, Eunha… Suspicious.

Beautiful, but suspicious.

“Over there! Can you grab some coffee beans for me?”

Time passed.

1 PM.

Slumped over a café table, Yang So-ah pulled out her phone and filed a report to the Team Leader.

A pink cotton-candy puff splayed across the table.

Black sheep horns sticking out.

Beneath them, delicate hands emerged from the cotton-candy fluff to tap at the phone.

But in this café, it wasn’t an unusual sight—

staff and customers paid the bouncing pink fluff no mind, absorbed in their tasks.

“Eun-byeol, here.”

“Thanks! I’ll restock the storeroom, so call if anything comes up!”

Eun-byeol, all sunny smiles, distanced herself from Eunha and headed toward the storeroom.

Eunha waved cheerfully before plopping her massive chest onto the counter.

Indeed… The pink puff sprawled on the table wasn’t particularly eye-catching.

Setting down her phone, Yang So-ah sipped her milk coffee.

‘Four employees… Rabbit girl, the ‘Rare Hunter’…’

Whoosh—

Reviewing the intel.

Half-asleep, blinking drowsily, Yang So-ah scanned the café.

Crash!

“Sa-raaang~~!”

Noise from the storeroom.

Kim Sa-rang, now dusted with coffee beans, emerged from the storeroom.

“My apologies. A box fell… Needlessly cleaved.”

“If it falls, catch it!”

Sa-rang, part-timer extraordinaire, squared her shoulders with pride—before promptly folding under the rabbit owner’s glare as she was ushered into the bathroom.

The treasured heir of the [Cheoncheon Sword Clan] Guild Leader.

Were Eunha and the guild so close they’d entrust their heir to her?

Troublesome.

“Stay still. I’ll clean it.”

Kang Na-ri, mixing coffee in the kitchen, sprinted toward the storeroom, azure hair ([Blue Dragon Family] trademark) swaying.

Eunha watched from the counter, amused.

‘……Isn’t this staff… too stacked?’

Two heirs from major guilds.

How did they all cram into this tiny café?

Did no one stop them?

The more she observed, the more grotesque Eunha’s surroundings seemed.

Ding-dong♪

Just then, the café door swung open, and a woman in snow-white robes stepped inside.

“Hmm… Is Miss Eunha not here today?”

Guild Leader Kim Ha-yang of [Cheoncheon Sword Clan].

Eyes closed, footsteps light, she arrived at the counter.

“Good afternoon, Madam Ha-yang.”

“Hm?”

A pause.

Then, as if sensing something odd,

she reached across the counter to grope Eunha.

Squish—

Kim Ha-yang, gripping Eunha’s absurdly large chest, tilted her head.

“Hmm…?”

“……Your order?”

“……Hmm. This’ll do.”

“Milk coffee, then. Please have a seat.”

Kim Ha-yang kneaded Eunha’s chest a while longer.

Finally, having placed her order, she flexed her fingers and sat at a nearby table.

Observing this, Yang So-ah pulled out her phone.

‘…Isn’t this too much?’

To let herself be manhandled like that—

they must be extremely close.

Separating Eunha from [Cheoncheon Sword Clan] seemed near impossible.

A plan was necessary.

Yang So-ah checked the [Operation Manual] sent by the Team Leader on her phone.

“……Yang?”

Then,

she felt a gaze.

Typing on her phone, Yang So-ah turned her head.

“…….”

Right at the neighboring table,

Guild Leader Kim Ha-yang sat ramrod straight,

silently staring at Yang So-ah’s phone.

What?

“……Myaa.”

Pupils shaped like inverted crosses.

Thoroughly unsettled, Yang So-ah calmly turned back to scrolling through the manual.

Kim Ha-yang was fine.

Her blindness was well-known.

Best to act natural now.

“…….”

“…….”

Under an inexplicable stare,

Yang So-ah drowsily slumped over the table, typing away.

…….

“Your Ladyship. Your coffee.”

“Hmm. Thank you.”

Soon after,

Kim Sa-rang approached her mother with a steaming milk coffee mug clutched bare-handed.

The fragrant aroma of coffee.

Then, accepting the mug, Kim Ha-yang gestured to her daughter.

“Sa-rang.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Did you sense it?”

Sense… what?

Yang So-ah perked up subtly.

“……What do you mean, Your Majesty?”

“Miss Eunha.”

A hushed whisper.

Sa-rang glanced back at the counter.

Eunha stood there, greeting orders with the same languid smile.

The same voice as always.

“…….”

The same Eunha.

But…

Clink.

Sa-rang frowned, touching the sword at her waist.

The sword Eunha always left leaning against her suitcase—today, she wore it at her hip.

“…Are you saying Eunha’s dao companion… seems like a different person?”

“……!”

A different person?

Then who was the Eunha standing there now?

Yet against Yang So-ah’s confusion, Kim Ha-yang nodded approvingly at Sa-rang’s answer.

“Sa-rang. I think you really did come from my womb.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Mother?”

“There’s trouble. I’ll head out first.”

Clack-clack.

With those parting words—urging Sa-rang to keep watch over Eunha—

Guild Leader Kim Ha-yang rose, mug in hand, and left the café.

…….

“Mother…”

Ding-dong♪

With Kim Ha-yang gone,

the café settled back into its bustling yet peaceful rhythm.

Whoosh…

Kim Sa-rang absently ran a hand over the empty table,

muttering under her breath.

“She… took the whole mug…”

Ugh. Bunch of crazies.

Yang So-ah flopped back onto the table.

…….

…….

—What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“No one’s normal here…”

Time flowed on.

5:30 PM.

Evening commute.

The Eunha she observed all day… Something was off.

Hard to articulate, but there was an eerie stain, clinging like pitch-black residue.

—Anyway, any weaknesses spotted?

“……Not yet.”

—Tch… Orders from the ‘New Division Head.’ One way or another, secure that ‘Rare Hunter.’ Even if it means war with [Cheoncheon Sword Clan].

“Yeah…….”

—Reinforcements incoming. Word is she’s known the café owner awhile—try leveraging that. The owner’s a civilian, shouldn’t be hard to abduct.

Grit.

Her head ached.

Clutching her obsidian-glinting horns, Yang So-ah curled in on herself.

—Hurry. Before Go Yeong-in returns. Before the captured Research Chief talks.

“……Yeah…”

Beep.

The call ended.

Tucking her phone away, Yang So-ah leaned against a lamppost and gazed at the evening sky.

Boing…

The setting sun dyed her cotton-candy-pink hair bloody.

“……Haa…”

Frustration welled up, spilling out in a ragged sigh.

Chilly gulps of air rushed in to fill the exhaled void,

wiping away drowsiness.

Boing…

Leaning against the lamppost, Yang So-ah fiddled with her fluffy hair.

“It’s fine… I’ll, protect her…”

A murmur.

Words spoken to someone no longer here.

(Alright. I’ll die for you.)

The senior she once addressed as such.

The one who’d said she joined the [Rare Hunter Protection-Execution Division] to protect someone precious.

Boing…

If she could walk the path she had been severed from,

shield Eunha from [Cheoncheon Sword Clan], from the Association,

then perhaps… in this life she clung to out of fear of death… she could reclaim something precious.

She didn’t know.

But trying was all she could do.

Boing…

Steeling herself, Yang So-ah hobbled forward.

Eunha’s retreating silhouette came into view.

A beautiful person.

But eerie—chilling to observe.

What was different about her?

Yang So-ah studied Eunha’s back.

Retracing the morning commute,

crossing the crosswalk,

returning to Morning Star Apartments.

“…….”

Eunha dragged her suitcase forward.

Passed by a convenience store.

Clack-clack…

Was it the sunlight?

In the storefront window, reflecting the outside like a mirror,

Eunha wasn’t visible.

Yang So-ah frowned.

…….

“…….”

And then,

Eunha,

who had been staring directly at her earlier while she followed,

“…….”

Creeeak.

Turned her 180-degree-twisted head back,

brushed aside the hair obscuring her face.

You are not ‘Us,’ yet you harmed Polaris.

What to do with you.

Where to take you to ensure a painful death.

“……That place might do.”

Eunha stepping out from the mirror in Eunha’s place

turned her steps elsewhere.

Boing…

Yang So-ah followed, shadowing Eunha’s trail away from the apartments.

Clack-clack…

Suitcase wheels.

Skitter-skatter…

Scuttling insects.

Boing…

The bouncy sound of cotton-candy-pink hair.

Thus, crossing the crosswalk,

turning corners,

down roads they walked—

“……A church?”

Clack-clack.

Eunha entered a church near the apartments.

A church?

This wasn’t part of the intel.

Scratching her horns against the church wall, Yang So-ah dialed the Team Leader.

—What is it?

“The Rare Hunter… Does she go to church…?”

—No such intel existed… Tail her inside. Sending two your way.

One bizarre thing after another since morning.

Yang So-ah stepped into the church after Eunha.