Chapter 143: Demons Are Everywhere (5)
Yumir was confused.
“Gong Tae-nam. Who is the leader?”
“I heard they’re coming, but there might be a delay due to an accident on the way.”
“An accident?”
“Yes. They’re handling the situation through emergency contact. They should be here in about 10 minutes.”
Both Gong Tae-beom and Nam Doo-chang seemed to have changed suddenly.
In a good way, they were acting like people who only do the right things, but in a bad way, they seemed like machines programmed to only perform good actions.
Yumir had expected them to casually throw their bags in a corner and smoke behind the building, but both were outside the pension in neat attire, without a hint of cigarette smell.
“… What’s this?”
Yumir wasn’t the only one feeling the confusion.
Eunhae-Young, who followed her out, was also startled by their appearance.
“Why did you change into academy uniforms after coming all the way to Ulleungdo? You were in casual clothes just a moment ago…?”
Indeed, they were in academy uniforms.
They looked like businessmen in suits, except the outerwear was a magoja, similar to a suit jacket.
“Is there a problem with academy students wearing their uniforms?”
“Ah, no. It’s not a problem.”
Eunhae-Young bowed her head as if to say, ‘They’re adults, after all.’
“Ha, haha.”
Yumir scratched her cheek.
Unlike Eunhae-Young, who was in ordinary casual clothes with a hoodie and baggy jeans, Yumir and the other three were all in academy uniforms.
“Hmph. There’s no need to wear uniforms for practice. Even high school students are calling for dress code freedom, let alone college students.”
“But according to the practice guidelines, it’s recommended to wear academy uniforms.”
“Hey, Gong Tae-beom. Have you changed suddenly? You weren’t like this before.”
“It’s nothing new. Just fulfilling my role as a person destined to be a hero.”
Gong Tae-beom’s words were exemplary yet seemed soulless.
“I wore the uniform because I wanted to. Is there a problem with that, senior Eunhae-Young?”
“……Tch.”
Eunhae-Young was unable to argue further.
How could she object when they were simply following the academy’s practice rules?
“So, who’s the leader?”
“Didn’t you check? It’s Yoon Iseon.”
“What? When could I have checked…!”
“Academic schedule, announcements, 2025 regional practice adult division operation plan, third attachment in the file.”
“When could I possibly check all that…!”
“It was uploaded when we arrived at Ulleungdo. We need to keep up with announcements at all times.”
“Wow, Nam Doo-chang, you’ve really changed. What, are you aiming to be a class valedictorian or something? If that’s the case, why not be the leader yourself?”
“I’d like to, but if someone more capable than me takes the lead, I’ll willingly follow. That’s how an organization works.”
“…… What’s with them? Did they all take some kind of pill?”
Yumir remained silent.
She just wanted to feel at ease from this strange situation quickly.
“Excuse me, ability users?”
A man in a suit approached from afar.
He wore a badge indicating he was an academy staff member.
“Student Yoon Iseon will be here soon, so please board the vehicle. Your group is… ‘Ulleung1 Group’.”
“Why is our group named like that?”
Eunhae-Young immediately objected, and the staff member flinched and stepped back.
“Well, this time, we’ve standardized group names according to areas….”
“Last year, group members were allowed to decide.”
“Eunhae-Young. That was last year, and this is this year.”
“What? Damn, what does a ‘D’ grade like, you know…?”
“Senior Eunhae-Young?”
When Nam Doo-chang and Gong Tae-beom pressed her together, Eunhae-Young bit her lip and stepped back.
“…….”
She wanted to go back to the pension.
In this hostile atmosphere, Yumir decided to just be a group member who only thinks about her boyfriend.
“Are you visiting again? This time… you’re with a lady.”
The pension’s employee, Silvia, covered her mouth in awe upon seeing me.
“You came alone last time, just dipped in the hot spring and left… I’m glad you’re back. I’ll prepare red bean rice for dinner.”
“That’s a Japanese custom.”
“Gasp…!”
Celestia’s remark made Silvia immediately cover her mouth.
“Oh, that…! I’m sorry! My knowledge is limited…!”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Instead, please prepare food that’s good for vitality. I’ll come to pick up the food, so don’t bother coming up.”
Celestia gave these instructions to Silvia upon arriving at the pension.
“Is it okay?”
“Why worry about that? Let’s go up. We need to unpack quickly. And you’ve got a call coming in.”
As Celestia pointed out, my Taeguk Watch was ringing loudly with a call.
It was Yumir.
“Uh, taking a break?”
[Teacher, is it normal for people to suddenly change?]
Yumir’s voice was subdued.
[They’re ability users.]
“Are they close to death?”
[What if their behavior isn’t reversed, but suddenly they’re acting very diligent and nice?]
“Isn’t that exactly the kind of behavior one exhibits when close to death?”
Yumir’s voice, how should I put it, was like that of a younger sister who saw her older brother tidying the bed and getting up early for a workout after returning from military service.
It was like she saw something impossible, but it was too proper of an act to even begin to describe.
[It’s strange. Suddenly, these two men became exemplary students. They were trash when we got in the car.]
“If you call them trash, they must be really bad… or not?”
[It’s different when I say it to you, Teacher, and to others. They seemed like the type of guys who’d sneak up and do something weird to me at night.]
“Maybe they’re trying to reassure you?”
[If that was the case, they should’ve been proper from the start. They changed suddenly, you know?]
“Hmm…”
There were two possibilities.
“Is there a chance they’re trying to look good now?”
[No. They were ogling my chest in the car, but now there’s none of that.]
“That’s really strange.”
Men in their early 20s not glancing at Yumir’s chest?
There must be something.
This was leaning toward the second of the two possibilities I thought of.
“It’s not certain yet, but, um, this isn’t something to discuss over the phone.”
[… I’ll listen to what you have to say.]
As the Goblin and Solar Platina, there were things we shouldn’t discuss carelessly.
“When people suddenly change their behavior, it’s usually right before they’re about to die. And there are various reasons why someone might feel that way.”
How to explain this over the phone…
“… Isn’t it like they’ve been brainwashed? To live rightly, to act correctly. They’ve been reformed.”
[It’s not like they were taken to a facility and forced to reform.]
“Rather than a facility, um, maybe something changed in their hearts.”
[…..Ah! Hm, I see. I get what you’re trying to say.]
Good.
Even if I spoke nonsense, she understood perfectly.
[Teacher, always be careful of villains… and devils, okay?]
“Of course. You too, Yumir. Be it a villain or a devil.”
The conversation connected.
All I could hope for now was that Yumir remained cautious.
[Ah, the leader just arrived. I’ll call you back later.]
“The leader? Didn’t they say they’d make you the leader?”
[A really leader-like person came. Student Council President Yoon Iseon. Oh, sorry. I have to hang up!]
Click.
The call ended.
“Yoon Iseon?”
Why her, all of a sudden?
No, it was possible.
Everything had been tangled up since Yumir entered the academy as a girl.
“…Brewer, how many teams are there in Ulleungdo?”
“Four teams. If it’s student council president Yoon Iseon’s team, then it’s the southern area.”
“Right where our pension is.”
Quite close.
Close enough that Yumir could sneak into the pension during her personal maintenance time.
However, she was going to keep a close eye on her team members from now on.
To see whether they became devils or not.
So….
“I guess I should stay close to Yumir and keep an eye on her.”
“Hmm, is that so? Trouble already started from the beginning.”
“Already?”
The Taeguk Watch was not ringing.
That means the trouble was not in Ulleungdo, but somewhere else.
“What happened? Did some high school kids cause trouble?”
“No. College students, the adult division.”
Brewer, still in the midst of preparing, connected her equipment to the living room TV and displayed breaking news on the screen.
“Devils have appeared simultaneously in three places right now.”
“…Ganghwa Island, Jindo, Jeju Island?”
“Yes. It’s not just Sambyeolcho, but these three places…ah.”
Brewer showed a hollow smile and opened another popup window.
“Another one just appeared. Here… Marado.”
“No way.”
It was not just the islands where devils were appearing.
“…Wait a minute.”
Could it be?
“Damn it.”
My head was throbbing.
The annoyance was growing because I think I understood why this was happening.
“They’re unleashing devils all over the country, trying to find Solar Platina. It’s chaos.”
“Probably a counteraction against the authorities?”
“Most likely.”
Only Wi Jeong-cheoksa or Pandemonium could release devils on such a large scale.
“I guess I need to start a tour around the country.”
I reached out and pulled a belt out of thin air.
“…Ah.”
Wait a minute.
A good idea just came to mind.
“If I transform here… maybe that could be possible too.”
“What are you planning?”
“A miracle that can offset my penalty.”
I grabbed my shoes from the entrance.
“I need to mix and use the transformation techniques of Yumir and Baek Seol-hee.”
I finished putting on my shoes and opened the door to the bathroom.
Splash.
“What are you going to do? Demons are starting to swarm all over the country, and to leave Ulleungdo, don’t you need a bike or something?”
“I don’t need a bike.”
Before taking off the Taeguk Watch, I made a call first.
“I can’t teleport, but I have a way to fly through the sky.”
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)