Chapter 78
The Great Auditorium was already bustling with activity. Although there were still ten minutes left until the inauguration ceremony, students had gathered early in the auditorium and were chatting with their friends.
"I heard you took the re-election test. Who do you think will win?"
"Well... It's either going to be Jun-Hyuk or Sun-Woo, right?"
"Yeah, well, honestly, if I had to choose between one of them, I would choose..."
Screeeech–!
A sharp sound echoed from the stage. It came from the sound equipment that the teachers were checking.
The students frowned and covered their ears. One of the teachers who stepped onto the stage grabbed the microphone and spoke.
"Ahem, ahem. Since the inauguration ceremony will start soon, I will ask all students to be seated and to remain quiet."
"Ugh... I don't like that teacher."
"Yeah, there are rumors going around that he's dating a student..."
"Hey, you there! I said be quiet!"
Some students gossiped about the teachers while the teachers shouted at them to be quiet. On the other hand, some students sat there quietly checking their phones, and some teachers were silently inspecting the sound equipment.
Su-Ryeon shuddered as she observed all this. She complained, "Ugh... It's so noisy."
"They're all brats. What do you expect?"
Min-Seo, who was beside her, spoke as if it didn't bother her. Su-Ryeon gave Min-Seo a strange look. It seemed like Min-Seo wasn't aware that she was the same age as those ‘brats.’
"By the way, where are Dae-Man, Ha-Yeon, and Jin-Seo? Where did they all go?" Min-Seo asked as she looked around.
"I heard that Jin-Seo took sick leave today. I don't know about Dae-Man and Ha-Yeon."
Su-Ryeon shrugged. Min-Seo chuckled.
"She's always taking sick leave. She's always finding ways to skip things, really."
"Well, she might actually be sick."
"What a load of crap. She's probably at the training center hitting the sandbag by now."
Min-Seo clicked her tongue. Su-Ryeon pursed her lips and nodded. Her face indicated that whatever Jin-Seo was doing was none of her business.
While they were talking, Dae-Man walked over from a distance. Ha-Yeon was trudging along behind him from a distance of around ten meters.
"Hm, looks like I’m a little late!" Dae-Man said, touching his own arm.
Even though it was April, he was already wearing his summer school uniform. Part of the reason was that he tended to get hot easily, but another big reason was that he wanted to show off his muscles. Min-Seo's face contorted when she saw Dae-Man.
"Couldn't you just not come?"
"No way. My goal is to receive the perfect attendance award!"
It was her mistake to chat too long with Dae-Man. Min-Seo turned her head toward Ha-Yeon, who was following behind Dae-Man. She was slowly walking backward with a face filled with fear.
"...Is there a ghost here or something? What's wrong?"
"Well, um. Could you please put that thing away?"
Ha-Yeon pointed her finger at Dae-Man. It was a rude gesture as if what she was pointing at was not a human but some sort of abomination. Her expression clearly showed fear and disgust. Ha-Yeon was afraid of boys, and she was especially afraid of Dae-Man.
"Just because we want to put that thing away doesn’t mean that it’ll go away," Min-Seo said, shaking her head as if she had resigned herself to her fate.
Su-Ryeon, who was standing beside them, raised her eyebrows as if she were confused.
"But Dae-Man is quite impressive, isn't he? He has a good physique," Su-Ryeon said.
"What, are your eyes on your toes? The only thing he has is a good physique, nothing more," Min-Seo growled as if she couldn't possibly agree with Su-Ryeon's words.
"Well... I don't really know either," Ha-Yeon said, turning her head away as if she was dodging the question.
They headed to their respective seats in the front row of the Great Auditorium, reserved for the Seven Holy Names.
Kindness, Temperance, Chastity, and Diligence were soon filled, while Humility, Charity, and Patience remained vacant.
"Is that Humility guy... even coming to school?" Min-Seo asked in disbelief as she looked at the seat with the word Humility written on it. The Holy Name of Humility, nicknamed 'that guy,' hadn't attended school even once in the past month.
"He said he would come today. He did mention that he might be a little late, though." Dae-Man spoke up.
None of the Holy Names knew that guy's contact information except Dae-Man. Su-Ryeon's face lit up at the news.
"Oh, he’s finally coming? I don't know that guy's face. Is he good-looking?"
"He just looks like a jerk."
"What do you mean, he looks like a jerk...? Hey, Ha-Yeon. Haven't you seen his face before?"
Turning away from Min-Seo, who dismissed him as looking like a jerk, Su-Ryeon turned her head to Ha-Yeon. Ha-Yeon seemed somewhat embarrassed, avoiding eye contact and nodding slightly.
"Yes. I have seen him before. Our parents know each other."
"Oh. How is he? Is he good-looking?"
"He just... looks like a delinquent."
"..."
Su-Ryeon drooped her head as if she was disappointed. With descriptions like “looks like a jerk” or “looks like a delinquent,” it was hard to imagine what he actually looked like. The fact that no one mentioned him being good-looking suggested that he probably wasn't particularly attractive.
Tap.
While the Holy Names were wasting time with meaningless conversations, the lights suddenly went out in the auditorium. Min-Seo checked the time on her phone. It was 12:58 PM. It was almost time for the inauguration ceremony to begin.
In the darkness that enveloped the auditorium, Chang-Won, the Florence Academy chairman, stepped up onto the stage.
"Cough, ahem, well then, let us proceed with the appointment ceremony and announce the results of the re-election test for the Holy Name of Charity."
All the lights in the Great Auditorium were off, and only the spotlight illuminating the stage was on. The students sat in silence, waiting for the results to be announced. Soon, Chang-Won, the chairman and archbishop-level clergyman, began speaking.
"The Holy Name of Charity’s re-election test was conducted through the Ark Checkpoints. By evaluating the students' abilities through two checkpoints, we conducted a fair and impartial assessment..."
The opening was boring and predictable. The test was conducted through checkpoints, and the judging process was fair. Through the checkpoint, they were able to assess each student's capabilities... and so on. It was a bunch of formalities.
"...And thus, I will announce the 35th generation of the Holy Name of Charity, who has been re-elected."
Just as the students were about to start yawning, Chang-Won got to the point. The students dozing off in boredom suddenly widened their eyes. The four Holy Names, excluding the three vacancies, also eagerly awaited the announcement of the re-elected Holy Name of Charity.
"The student who has been elected as the 35th Holy Name of Charity showed an impressive performance at the Ark Checkpoints. He had the cleverness to overcome the checkpoints with a unique method different from others. Above all, he had an altruistic attitude of taking care of one's peers before himself.
"As this student has been appointed as the Holy Name of Charity, I hope that he will fulfill his role as the Spear of Holiness faithfully..."
The students' eyes sparkled with anticipation as they waited for the name of the newly appointed Holy Name of Charity to be announced.
"Student from the Class of Charity, Do Sun-Woo. Please come up onto the stage."
───!
Cheers and applause erupted from below the stage. Although there were some who doubted Sun-Woo's appointment as the Holy Name of Charity, most of them sincerely congratulated him.
"As expected! It's only natural that one who is diligent is rewarded. It can be said that this is not just Sun-Woo's victory but the victory of diligence."
Dae-Man applauded while praising the value of diligence.
"In the end, it ended up being Sun-Woo. Well, then again, Jun-Hyuk was too idiotic."
Min-Seo, who had strongly argued for manipulating the election in favor of Jun-Hyuk, now tried to rationalize her own thoughts since Sun-Woo had won.
"Jun-Hyuk was more good-looking than Sun-Woo... What a waste," Su-Ryeon jokingly expressed her regret.
"Ah..." Ha-Yeon sighed absentmindedly.
Some applauded happily, some applauded indifferently, and others clapped sadly. In any case, whether they liked it or not, Sun-Woo becoming the Holy Name of Charity was already confirmed. They had no choice but to accept it.
Soon, someone leaped onto the stage. They were covered by the darkness, so it was not possible to see their face, but people thought that it was Sun-Woo.
“-Ha, huff, haa, huu. Chair-Chairman. Um, Sun-Woo hasn’t arrived at school yet...”
However, the one who was on top of the stage was not Sun-Woo, but Ye-Jin. She gasped for breath as she explained the situation to Chang-Won.
Sun-Woo hadn't come to school, and he didn't answer the phone either.
"...Is he simply late? Or is he absent?" Chang-Won said with a stern face. He was infamously known for hating tardiness.
Ye-Jin tried calling Sun-Woo one last time, but as expected, he didn't answer her call. She looked at Chang-Won with a flushed but gloomy expression.
"I’m not able to con-contact him at the moment. I can’t reach him—”
“You can’t contact him?”
Chang-Won’s lips twisted in displeasure.
***
Ji-Ah's investigation to uncover the hiding place of the Satanist faction that was targeting the Voodoo Cult Leader, Sun-Woo, was a success. However, it was only a partial success.
Through her own investigative techniques and deductions, Ji-Ah narrowed down the candidates for the Satanist's hiding place. She hacked into construction companies and related administrative offices to further narrow down the candidates, and soon, she succeeded in finding the location of the Satanist's hideout.
However, there was a reason why her investigations were only a partial success. It was because she was captured by the Satanist during the process of reviewing the information.
"It's very rare for 'ingredients' to come to me voluntarily... It seems luck is on my side today," the Satanist said.
He was wearing a red robe, and his voice was greasy, like that of a B-rated movie villain. He had no expression on his face because someone else's facial skin was covering it.
The Satanist caressed Ji-Ah's cheek with his hand. At the chilling sensation, Ji-Ah could only glare at the Satanist. She couldn't resist at all. Her body was tightly bound on top of a hospital chair, rendering her unable to move even a finger.
"I consider this ritual a journey, you see. It's a procedure to make the body and mind anew."
"..."
"Don't look at me like that. Didn't I give you the leisure to greet your family and loved ones? If 'that person' had been here, there would have been no room for such leisurely conversations from the beginning."
The Satanist then sliced open his finger with a scalpel. Blood flowed profusely from his severed finger. He then nodded, seemingly satisfied. Ji-Ah couldn't bear to look at the scene and tightly closed her eyes.
"Don't close your eyes. You should see it. Isn't that why you came here?"
"Just a moment, don't...don’t touch me!"
"Well, it's better to touch you with my hand than to touch you with the blade, don't you think?"
The Satanist forcefully raised Ji-Ah's eyelid with his bloody fingertip. Tears streamed down from the corner of Ji-Ah's bloodied eye. It looked as if tears of blood were flowing.
Perhaps she would die in this place. No, she might experience an even more dreadful fate than death. On her way to the hiding place, she had seen numerous taxidermied humans. The taxidermied humans were produced by extracting the blood and removing the organs from the bodies, and then filling the bodies with cotton.
She suspected that she would meet the same fate. It wouldn't be a peaceful death, but she had no regrets. It was because she had succeeded in revealing the location to the Cult Leader.
The text she had just sent, ‘Basarwish-5,’ meant that the Satanist's hideout was on the 5th floor of the Basar Market’s Wish section. Because she had sent it in a hurry, it looked like some sort of code, but she believed that the Cult Leader would be able to interpret it easily. Even if she died, she would have completed her mission first. If it helped the Cult Leader, that was enough. Thinking that, Ji-Ah smiled.
"As expected, I knew you would also like it. It's nice to see you smile. Now, if it hurts, let me know~"
In an instant, the Satanist cut open a long gash in Ji-Ah's arm with a scalpel.
"Ugh, arghhhh...!"
Ji-Ah let out an indescribable whimper in response to the excruciating pain the likes of which she had never felt before. However, compared to the mental pain of seeing her arm being dissected and having the flesh exposed, the pain was trivial.
The Satanist laughed gleefully at the sight of Ji-Ah writhing in pain. Then, he brought the scalpel to Ji-Ah's other arm.
"Stay still. I'm going to make you look really pretty."
"Ah, wait, ahh...!"
Ji-Ah endlessly spewed out incoherent sounds. In the face of death's terror, she was losing her ability to speak. She remembered herself being overly confident that she could maintain her composure even in the face of death. She had been so wrong.
Anyone would lose their calm in the face of death.
“Alright, let’s do it again. If it hurts, let me—”
Bang!
Just as the Satanist was about to sever Ji-Ah's other arm with the scalpel, inside the Satanist's hideout, the door of the blood-scented hospital room opened.
To be precise, the door wasn't opened but rather smashed apart. The Satanist stared at the broken door, puzzled. Someone was approaching briskly from that direction.
Ji-Ah's eyes widened as she looked at the approaching figure.
"Cult... Leader...?"
Ji-Ah murmured despairingly as she looked at Sun-Woo. Without saying a word, Sun-Woo drew a spell array.
An intermediate restoration spell.
The mist touched the flesh severed by the blade and healed it instantly. It was a remarkable restoration spell. Somehow, Sun-Woo seemed more powerful than before.
Despite this, Ji-Ah felt no joy. Instead, she was filled with despair. This place was too dangerous. The opponents they faced were not ones they could handle without any preparation. Even for the Cult Leader, it would be overwhelming to face them alone.
"I-I told you... to not... not come here today!"
"Quiet."
Ji-Ah shut her mouth at Sun-Woo's order. His eyes flickered with an unprecedentedly menacing gaze. His gaze was dark and gloomy, yet, at the same time, sharper than ever before.
"Who gave you the authority to command the Cult Leader to come and go where you please?"
His gaze, filled with killing intent, was directed toward the Satanist. Sun-Woo immediately unleashed Voodoo magic power. As he radiated power, his pupils shimmered with a purple light.
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