The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Hey, Your Boyfriend Was Insane (2)

"What?"

A deep venom began to seethe on Emily's face.

Her eyes, bloodshot with rage, twisted her expression into something utterly unreadable.

Exuding that menacing aura, Emily opened her mouth.

"Say that one more time."

That indescribable force immediately tensed up the thug students beside her, and even Sang-ah flinched at the look on her face.

It was a pressure too much for kids their age—barely middle schoolers—to handle.

"What, are your ears blocked?"

But Ma Seongjin merely scoffed at that.

Even though it was like having a blood-soaked ghost hovering before him, he didn't so much as blink.

"Your boyfriend..."

"...."

"He was seriously insane."

With a smiling face, he repeated what he'd said before.

His tone made it sound as if nothing in front of him really mattered.

"You... youuuuu!!"

Suddenly, cracks appeared in the hallway window.

An earthquake-like vibration ran through the classroom door, the floor, even up to the ceiling.

The objects around them couldn't withstand the magic power radiating from Emily's body.

"Ugh... urgh!"

"Ghh..."

It wasn't just the objects that were affected.

The thugs touched by that surging magic power started to vomit, or collapsed with foam spilling from their mouths.

With no way to counteract the force, they could only fall helplessly.

"So strong...!"

Kwon Sang-ah, too, who got a taste of that power, felt the impact.

Emily was about to enter high school—she was in a whole different league than other idiots.

Sang-ah didn't collapse like the others, but she felt her body weighed down, heavy as if anchored and sinking to the ocean's depths.

At this point, the only thing she could do was break free from that heavy shackle—she too had results to show from her training.

Swoosh—

At that moment, Seongjin raised his hand in front of Sang-ah, intercepting her.

It was as if he was telling her there was no need for her to bother.

"With that nasty expression, I was curious what you'd show me... and that's all you've got?"

"You...!"

"What a letdown."

"Raaagh!!"

Emily's magic power flared even more intensely.

Unable to control her emotions, she began to radiate indiscriminately, unable to tell friend from foe.

Now not only the windows, but cracks were spreading across the floor and ceiling too.

If only she could get rid of Ma Seongjin, she looked ready to blow up the entire building.

"Cut it out, already."

But Seongjin calmly took a step forward and opened his eyes.

Boom—!

A powerful pressure radiated out from Seongjin at the center, spreading everywhere.

In that instant, her berserk magic power went silent.

The hallway stopped shaking.

"Gasp...!"

Shocked, Emily swallowed a breath and stepped back.

Her legs gave way; her knees hit the floor.

The explosive magic power that had been meant to bring Seongjin to his knees was gone, and instead, she was the one kneeling.

"Are you going to pay for repairs if you wreck the building?"

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Emily simply looked up at Ma Seongjin.

That overwhelming strength felt as insurmountable as staring at an enormous mountain range.

No matter how hard you tried to climb, you'd collapse before you made it anywhere near halfway.

"Ah, but I suppose it won't break that easily. All of the facilities in Hand are made from special materials, after all."

"..."

"Why are you staring at me like that? If someone saw, they'd think I killed your parents or something."

Of course, in a sense, he was the villain.

It was Ma Seongjin's fault that her boyfriend Michael committed suicide.

But—

"I'm the one who was the victim of an attempted murder by that bastard."

The reason Michael orchestrated the kidnapping that day was to kill Ma Seongjin.

If anyone was the villain, it was Michael, not Seongjin.

What's more, the hunters hired to kill Ma Seongjin had all been recruited by Emily.

"Ah, come to think of it, that makes you an accomplice in attempted murder, doesn't it?"

She'd dodged the consequences by sheer luck, but it didn't change the fact she'd been part of an attempt on his life.

So, Seongjin leading Michael to death had been closer to justified self-defense.

No wonder Seongjin found all this so absurd.

"Your side pulled out a knife first, without even being afraid... so why are you looking at me like that?"

"..."

Everything Seongjin said was true. Emily herself had supported Michael's whole plan.

But she didn't want to admit it. Her mind was fixated on the thought, 'That guy is the reason Michael died!'

There was plenty she wanted to say, but she couldn't force the words out. The pressure she'd just felt glued her lips shut as if with adhesive.

"Girls like you, your thoughts are so predictable."

Reading her thoughts, Seongjin took stern action—he grabbed her by the head.

"Be grateful I didn't just kill you."

"Huh...?"

Something seeped into Emily's mind from his hand.

She instantly knew what it was.

"Ah... aaaaah!!"

A nightmare.

The dream once filled with hope was now consumed by despair.

She wanted to see Michael's revenge realized, no matter what it took. But that dream was now unobtainable.

"Please... please spare me! Spare me!"

No matter what tricks she tried—even using cowardly schemes—she could never succeed.

If she tried, she'd only be devoured in return.

Her upper body would be pierced and her body cut in two as the price.

That hideous scene dominated Emily's mind.

"I won't do it ever again! Please... kyaaah!!"

Finally, Emily broke down in a panic and fled, turning her back on him.

She looked every bit the livestock running from a massive snake.

"I suppose that's enough etiquette education for now,"

Seongjin said with a satisfied grin as he watched her run off with her tail between her legs.

She didn't have any abilities to resist mental-type skills.

He'd only injected a tiny amount, but she'd turned out like this—that, he thought, was downright pathetic.

Now, he was sure she'd never dare come at him again.

"Let's get going."

"Mm..."

Sang-ah followed him the rest of the way up the stairs.

It had been a stormy scene, but seeing Emily completely run away made her feel at ease.

****

"You mean you ran into Emily?"

"Didn't like her attitude at all, so I gave her a bit of a lesson."

At the student council room on the 5th floor, I explained what happened earlier to Go Donghyuk.

Donghyuk shot me a look of disbelief.

"That person's not an easy opponent, you know? She's a rising star who might make A-rank in time."

"Is that so?"

From where I stood, she seemed weaker than Sang-ah.

I'd felt how crazily she radiated magic power myself.

I could admit she had enough strength to be called a rising star—but I still judged her below Sang-ah.

"She didn't seem all that tough."

"I don't want to praise that girl, but she's the only one in our Middle School 3 to have awakened a secondary trait. That's nothing to scoff at."

He wasn't speaking lightly.

Though I hadn't seen what her traits were, thinking back on her magic power output, it might not have been that far-fetched.

"A secondary trait?"

"You'll learn about it when you're in your second year."

Sang-ah, sitting next to me, looked curious.

So Go Donghyuk explained, standing in for the teachers.

"You know that hunters have traits, right? That's why we all have personality problems."

"Yes."

Sang-ah nodded, thinking of her own rampages.

The aftereffects of her specific trait, 'Berserker'.

"When certain conditions are fulfilled, a second trait can emerge. Just look at pro hunters—they use a wide variety of abilities."

"..."

One person came to Sang-ah's mind on its own.

'Then that guy must...'

She'd once challenged Kwon Yongha.

He had taunted her—'If you're dissatisfied with your life, try beating me'—and Sang-ah had gone berserk.

Of course, she lost.

She remembered Yongha's fighting style from that match.

"Now that I think of it, my father's body would harden and he'd breathe fire, even wielding his sword masterfully."

"Then your father probably has more than three traits. He's incredibly strong, after all."

Everyone awakens their second trait at different times.

Some people say they get one every time their hunter rank increases.

"Don't be too surprised yet. That Emily girl... she might soon awaken her third trait."

"What?"

A third, already, at her age?

It was as if a game character at level 15 was already undergoing a second job advancement.

"I heard that after her boyfriend died, she's been wrecking her body training. Maybe that's why."

"That's such a pitifully desperate effort."

"If she does awaken, it'll probably be a trait that compensates for her own flaws. Like if she's suffering from poison or a mental disorder, the new trait would counteract that."

Hunter trait awakening isn't determined solely by level.

There was someone I remembered who had their second trait while still only at B-rank.

'That child abuser bastard.'

The magic power teacher I'd met in the playground in 1st grade.

I'd made sure his hands and feet would never recover, in payment for destroying some child's life.

At the same time, I also remembered that victim.

'I wonder what Ah-rin's doing now.'

I'd asked my father about her sometimes, hoping for news.

But as a prosecutor handling youth cases all the time, he was too busy.

Eventually, I kept putting it off and forgetting, only for her to come to mind now, all of a sudden.

Ah-rin's dream was to become a hunter, I think.

Given her potential, she probably hadn't been ignored.

"Ah, by the way, about the Sura Guild..."

Just then, Go Donghyuk changed the subject.

****

That night.

The lights were out, plunging the girls' dorm at Middle School 3rd Academy into darkness.

In its largest room, a girl huddled trembling under her blanket.

"...!"

At a glance, she might seem like just another easily frightened kid, hiding under the covers in fear of ghosts.

But this was too much, even for a scaredy-cat.

Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, her face was utterly pale.

It was more than just a fear of ghosts—it looked like terror of the world itself.

"Emily... go to sleep already."

"Uh... okay..."

At her roommate's urging, Emily closed her eyes.

Go to sleep, please.

Just fall asleep and forget about it.

Pretend nothing happened today.

Stuffing those thoughts into her mind, she forced her eyes closed.

But—

"Uuuugh...!"

Tears leaked from her eyes, no matter how tightly she shut them.

Far from falling asleep, terror was driving her to the brink of madness.

Like a child just back from a haunted house.

She couldn't get Ma Seongjin out of her head.

The more she thought about him, the more it felt like a monster larger than a mountain was looming right before her.

She was experiencing a terror so raw it was about to drive her insane.

[Your will struggles against the unending fear.]

[Your will struggles against the unending fear.]

[Your will struggles against the unending fear.]

As if that wasn't enough, these notification windows kept popping up, driving her even crazier.

No matter how she struggled, it was pointless—what could she even do?

But then—

[You gradually develop resistance to the unending fear.]

[A new trait is awakened.]

As soon as she saw that message, Emily's eyes shot open.

[Third trait awakened.]

['Mental Liberation' (☆5 Tier)]

- Grants the user protection from and recovery against abilities that cause mental pressure. Grants immunity to hypnosis-type attacks.

The moment the alert appeared, a change ran through her head.

The fear of Ma Seongjin, which had been tormenting her to madness, suddenly shrank.

But that wasn't all.

Ma Seongjin, who had seemed like a monster as big as a mountain... now felt as harmless as a tadpole.

- In addition, the more she is cornered mentally, the more she can convert it into violence.

Freed from fear, vitality surged through her body.

"Heehee... uhihihihihihi!"

She couldn't stop herself from bursting into laughter at the uncontrollable happiness.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Welp, equality for all, I guess..

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