Chapter 341: Brainwashed [4]
Images flashed through her mind—fragmented, overlapping.
A classroom. Chalk dust.
A stubborn child with red eyes refusing to rest.
A small, quiet figure sitting alone at a corner table.
The child.
Her gaze flicked instinctively to the corner of the restaurant.
The child hadn’t moved.
They were sitting exactly where she had left them, small hands folded in their lap, eyes wide but silent. Watching. Waiting.
----
"Hey, what the hell is that?"
Ryen’s voice echoed sharply through the room.
He had already stepped forward before he realized it, his face twisted in pure anger as his eyes locked onto the thing wrapped around Professor Lena.
"Disgusting," Leo said flatly.
His hand hovered near his weapon, not drawing it yet, but ready. His gaze was sharp, analytical, though the revulsion was obvious.
Something black and grotesque writhed in the air.
It wasn’t smoke. It wasn’t liquid either. It moved like a living mass, thick and sticky, coiling itself around Lena’s body as if it were alive. Every time she struggled, it tightened, crawling higher up her arms, her neck.
"Professor Lena—!" Ryen shouted.
Lena screamed.
It was a raw, broken sound, ripped straight from her throat. Her body convulsed as she fought against it, nails digging into her own skin as if she were trying to tear the corruption off by force.
Black, mud-like liquid spilled from her eyes, dripping down her cheeks and splattering onto the floor.
Her pupils were completely black.
This wasn’t control.
This was resistance.
—The Creator has detected a being deviating from the laws of the world.—
My jaw tightened.
This bitch.
Lena’s breathing was ragged, her shoulders shaking as tears mixed with the black filth staining her face. She was fighting it—harder than anyone should have been able to.
"There’s no way this is normal," Ryen muttered, taking an unconscious step back. "She’s... she’s resisting it."
"She is," Leo replied quietly. "And that thing doesn’t like it."
—The Creator’s power has intervened in the incident. The grade of the relic used has been raised from hero-grade to legendary-grade. Professor Lena’s resistance has been temporarily lowered.—
"So that’s how you play it," I whispered.
The black mass pulsed once.
Lena’s scream cut off abruptly.
Silence fell.
Then she straightened.
The black substance slid back toward her eyes, leaving thick streaks behind as she slowly took a stance.
It was wrong.
Her usual posture was precise and disciplined, every movement clean. This stance, however, was distorted—off-balance, forced, like someone was puppeteering her body without understanding it.
"...Professor?" Ryen called cautiously.
Lena lifted her head.
Her gaze passed over Ryen.
Over Leo.
Then it stopped on me.
"Hey."
Ryen and Leo both turned toward me at the same time, confused, before realizing my eyes weren’t on them.
"I wasn’t calling you," I said calmly.
The air felt heavier.
Colder.
Lena’s lips twitched, stretching into a smile that didn’t belong on her face.
"You crossed the line," I continued, taking a step forward. "You really did."
Leo’s voice dropped. "Rin. That thing isn’t just controlling her. It’s responding to you."
"Yeah," I said. "Because it knows I noticed."
The black veins around Lena’s eyes throbbed violently, as if reacting to my words.
A distorted laugh slipped from her mouth—layered, unnatural, like two voices speaking at once.
—Warning. Hostility toward the Administrator has been detected.—
I smiled.
"You son of a bitch," I muttered. "Did you seriously think you could interfere this directly and get away with it?"
Ryen swallowed hard. "Rin... who are you talking to?"
I didn’t take my eyes off Lena.
"The thing wearing her," I replied. "And the thing hiding behind it."
Lena’s body trembled.
For a split second—just one—I saw it.
Fear.
Real fear in her eyes, buried beneath the black.
She was still in there.
Still fighting.
That was enough to piss me off.
"Hold on, Professor," I said quietly. "I’ll rip it off you."
Then I lifted my head slightly, my voice turning cold.
"And you," I added, staring straight through her, "should’ve stayed behind the screen."
The black mass surged violently.
And in next moment —
The professor leaped forward and threw a punch at Rin.
It was a punch launched from an unstable stance.
Her footing was off, her center of gravity tilted, and the power failed to flow cleanly through her body. Because the strike came from a distorted posture, the trajectory was naturally skewed.
—Even if you lack power, maintaining a proper stance and throwing a proper punch is fundamental.
I had heard those words from her countless times.
That was why this hurt more than the blow itself.
It was a dirty strike—one that couldn’t even be considered part of her martial art, the style I had always admired for being beautiful, precise, and clean.
I hadn’t expected him to cross the line this far.
"You’re dead."
The words slipped out coldly, stripped of emotion.
Even distorted, the punch still carried weight. The impact alone could shatter bones, but i refused to be defeated by an attack like this.
I didn’t know how I did it.
My body simply moved.
Redirection.
I clumsily imitated the principle behind the martial art Zaho Yurenonce used—guiding force instead of opposing it. My palms met the professor’s fist, twisting at the last second.
Agony exploded through every muscle in my body. My arms screamed, my joints threatened to tear apart.
Still, I endured.
The professor lost balance, momentum stolen from her own attack, and crashed to the ground.
For a brief moment, silence fell.
Then the professor laughed, low and feral, pushing herself up with shaking arms.
"You’re really dead after this, you bastard."
I exhaled slowly.
Enhancement.
The supernatural ability known as Omnipotence—an existence that transcended ranks—answered her call and settled deep within her body.
My creaking muscles surged with borrowed vitality. Pain dulled, exhaustion evaporated, and my limits shattered as if they had never existed.
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Author Note:
Thanks for reading the Chapter. I hope you liked it and continue to support the novel as you have.
