Chapter 63

‘How many people have you killed?’

A very bewildering statement.

Yet, on the other hand, from those words, I could understand what kind of misunderstanding she had been under until now.

‘The vengeful spirits separated from Kongsami.’

One of her Traits, the Discernment Eye, is an ability that allows her to grasp the essence of a target she directly faces to some extent.

Shin Sora had clearly sensed the presence of the hundreds of thousands of vengeful spirits attached to me through her Discernment Eye Trait.

“Wait a minute, that’s a misunderstanding.”

“What’s the misunderstanding? Souls filled with resentment are clinging to you so thickly?”

“It’s true I have vengeful spirits with me, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

I desperately protested, but she didn’t seem convinced at all.

So, I hastily continued my explanation, citing various reasons.

“Then, how many vengeful spirits do you see with your eyes?”

“…I’m not certain, but it might be almost over a hundred thousand.”

“Think about it logically from there. How could I possibly take the lives of over a hundred thousand people in the first place? If that were true, I’d already be internationally wanted.”

Hectail is actually such a case.

After plunging a U.S. state into terror with a Forbidden Art performed by collecting ten thousand hearts, he has remained on the wanted list ever since.

Hearing that, Shin Sora nodded slightly, as if she thought it made sense.

“That’s certainly true. Then, what is the identity of those vengeful spirits?”

As her hostility diminished somewhat, I slowly explained the events at the Guard Unit and conveyed the origin of the vengeful spirits.

In the end, I even called out Kongsami as proof to confirm it.

“Huh, so this is that Fire Goblin… It’s smaller than I thought?”

“…Burn it.”

There was a crisis where the training ground almost turned into a sea of fire due to Kongsami, annoyed by Shin Sora constantly stroking its head, but fortunately, in the end, all misunderstandings were cleared up.

Only then did Shin Sora lower her guard and begin to have a proper conversation with me.

“You and Haram seem pretty close? Honestly, I was surprised.”

“We’re not particularly close. If there’s no business, we don’t even hang out.”

“That’s close enough. Haram has a pretty bad personality, you know. In fact, she doesn’t have many friends besides me.”

She spits out quite a scathing impression while calling her a friend. Somehow, I think I understand why Cheong Haram seems weak against Shin Sora.

In the midst of that, suddenly feeling curious, I asked Shin Sora a question.

“So, what did I look like when you used that ability?”

It definitely wouldn’t have been a normal state.

As I urged her with my gaze, Shin Sora glanced around cautiously and spilled the answer.

“Well, sometimes you were so completely covered in something dark that your original form was hard to see.”

“……”

At those words, I turned my gaze away for no particular reason. If it’s to that extent, it’s probably not just the vengeful spirits but also the influence of the Forbidden Technique Value that has reached its limit.

“Since it was a form I’d never seen before, honestly, I found it suspicious. Sorry for misunderstanding.”

“Don’t worry about it. I would have done the same.”

Thanks to Shin Sora, I learned for the first time. That when a Trait like the Discernment Eye is used, my current form appears that way.

‘…I need to be a bit careful about this.’

Until now, I had been using it well so it wouldn’t show, but in fact, depending on its content, a Forbidden Art is bound to be perceived in various ways.

Especially, the use of Cursed Techniques deemed dangerous by the Exorcism Headquarters is strictly prohibited. You can see that just by looking at the family of Yoo Hyeyeon, the mastermind behind this recent attack.

‘Of course, I’m confident I can handle any Forbidden Art properly…’

But from the Exorcism Headquarters’ perspective, there’s no reason to consider such circumstances one by one.

Therefore, it would be troublesome for me too if unnecessary elements that could be used against me arose.

Regarding Traits with effects similar to the Discernment Eye, it seems I’ll need to pay sufficient attention from now on.

“As an apology, I’ll buy you a meal sometime. Well, see you later.”

Having finished our conversation like that, we left the training ground and parted ways.

A new worry had arisen, but thinking that we cleared up the misunderstanding in advance, it’s not bad.

‘And, the Discernment Eye.’

I hadn’t thought of it before, but depending on the situation, Shin Sora’s Trait seems to have various ways it could be utilized.

Perhaps, even in the festival event starting soon.

‘……’

Thinking of various possibilities, I carefully watched Shin Sora’s receding back, trying hard to conceal my unsettled mind.

Time passed quickly, and during that period, the cadets of the Academy, regardless of grade, busily finished preparing for the festival.

“Then, today’s class ends here. On the day of the scheduled field observation event, I hope everyone gathers without being late.”

And so, the festival finally began.

Since the main event was on the last day of the three-day schedule, it was possible to spend the first two days freely.

‘…Well, even if I can act freely.’

Considering that an incident will occur in just two days, I can’t exactly rest easy.

Also, thinking of past cases, there’s no guarantee the attack will definitely happen on the last day.

Therefore, I had no choice but to wander around the festival grounds aimlessly, as if on patrol.

“Shall we go over there?”

“I heard something is being prepared in the central plaza area.”

“Over here, how about a special drink!”

Cadets, Academy staff, and various outsiders.

Wandering through the crowds of all sorts of people, my steps began to feel heavier faster than I thought.

‘It feels unnecessarily tiring…’

It’s definitely not efficient action.

If I maintain this tense state and then run out of energy when I actually need to move, that would be troublesome in its own way.

Eventually, as I sat on a bench near the walking path to recover my stamina for a moment, someone approached me. It was Seo Jian.

“Why are you rushing around so busily? Are you looking for something?”

“…It’s not like that.”

“Then, hang out with me for a bit.”

After pondering briefly, I accepted Seo Jian’s offer. Since I didn’t sense anything strange while wandering around, there probably won’t be a problem today.

“Here.”

Plop.

After deciding to act together, the first thing Seo Jian handed me was the special drink being sold on the street earlier.

“It’s an energy drink developed by a third-year cadet. You looked tired the whole time.”

“…I’ll enjoy it.”

Was it that obvious?

I massaged my entire face with both hands once and accepted the drink.

After taking a few sips like that, I definitely felt better than before.

“I made you worry. Sorry.”

“Is it because of the field observation escort duty in two days? Getting worked up already will only make you tired.”

Seo Jian doesn’t actually know what will happen then, but strictly speaking, she isn’t wrong. I decided to accept the advice and let go a little.

“By the way, what’s up? I thought you were going to a lecture hosted by a graduate.”

“That’s already over. And, I obtained some interesting information there.”

The place Seo Jian took me to was a quiz booth in Zone B, where all sorts of entertainment was gathered.

“A mind-reading game?”

“…It seems a limited-edition economics book personally written by that graduate is the prize.”

For some reason, Seo Jian continued with a somewhat embarrassed expression. Well, for her, practically a rich family’s young lady, recommending such a game to others must have been quite unfamiliar.

I inquired separately, but it seemed there was only one copy of the book itself, and separate purchase was not possible.

‘So that’s why she brought me.’

Since individual participation was not possible for this type of game, a partner was absolutely necessary. Regarding that, I checked the game’s content and nodded.

“Alright. I can’t guarantee we’ll win, but…”

“…That’s enough. Thank you.”

The game’s content was to choose one of two words presented each round, and if they matched, you passed.

And the condition for obtaining the prize was successfully doing that a whopping ten times in a row.

At a glance, the current highest score was 6 points. If no one gets a perfect score by tonight, the prize goes to the team with the highest score.

‘I do have a general idea of Seo Jian’s preferences…’

Although her presence in the main story was small, as mentioned, due to her popularity, things like being included as a bonus in setting collections happened often.

And, of course, I had also known all of that for a long time.

“Alright, Han Kangyoon and Seo Jian of Class A, second year, let’s begin!”

The cadet acting as the host began flipping the signboard, and I quickly read it.

The first choice asked for a color close to her preference. Fortunately, for such simple items, I clearly knew the answer.

“Blue.”

“Ah, pass! A good start. Then, we’ll move right to the next question.”

This time, it was an item asking which she liked better between dogs and cats.

Knowing this too, I continued answering without hesitation.

“Cats.”

“Pass again! From now on, the difficulty gradually increases!”

Certainly, as we got questions right, the topics became more obscure. If Adrian were behind me now instead of Seo Jian, I’m sure our opinions would have differed.

However, with Seo Jian as the target, no matter what question came up, the answer was easily visible.

In the end, we passed all ten questions, received applause from the watching audience, and finally got our hands on the limited-edition prize.

After the game ended, Seo Jian left Zone B, hugging the book with a satisfied expression.

And simultaneously, she revealed a strange look.

“…Did I go around talking about my preferences that much normally?”

“I was only sure about a few questions. The rest were all intuition.”

“You have good sense. Honestly, from the middle, I thought we’d definitely get some wrong.”

Seo Jian looked unusually quite pleased. Well, I heard the author who wrote the book is a rising star in that field now, so from the perspective of Seo Jian, the heir to Daejin Industries, it must be a sufficiently precious treasure.

“…Since we’ve met, want to wander around a bit more?”

“Sure. I wanted to clear my head a bit too.”

And so, for a while, I escaped the pressure and enjoyed the festival with a light heart.

And I realized. The festival, which I thought was just a passing event, turned out to be surprisingly quite enjoyable when directly faced and experienced.

‘……’

That made me all the more determined.

I knew better than anyone else in this world how this festival would turn into a hellscape in two days.

I already intended to get involved, but now, as a cadet of the Academy, not a player, I’ve come to like this festival.

‘It’s not just a place to use as a stage for simple revenge.’

No matter what variables come, it doesn’t matter. I’m a veteran who has overcome even greater crises in the future several times.

‘The next two days.’

To get through those two days safely.

That was exactly what I had to do now.