Chapter 76 : The Friend Who Returned Is Not Normal (2)
The Friend Who Returned Is Not Normal (2)
There probably aren't many friends who haven't changed at all since we last met.
The guy who was such a thug in elementary school could end up as a nobody who can't utter a word in society, blending into the background.
Or the timid friend with no backbone could become an executive at a large company as an adult.
The reason these things are so surprising is because of the gap compared to their past selves.
From elementary days to adulthood, at least several decades must have passed.
The longer that time stretches, the more the sense of disparity builds up.
'But with Ah-rin...'
It's only been six years for Ah-rin.
In that short time, she'd completely transformed and showed up again.
She was a girl who seemed so bewildered she couldn't even kill a mosquito.
Who would have imagined that girl would turn into a psycho who cut off people's hands and forced her subordinates to commit suicide?
And in only six years, not several decades.
"I'm Kang Ah-rin. Please take care of me!"
In the café I frequent, a pink-haired girl introduced herself spiritedly.
People had various reactions to her.
Sang-ah forced herself to smile so it wouldn't seem awkward, Go Donghyuk frowned in clear displeasure,
Jo Yun smiled broadly, thinking what a commendable kid had come, and I had a sour look on my face.
"Can I sit next to you?"
"Uh..."
Overwhelmed by Ah-rin's bright energy, Sang-ah slid over and made space for her.
Ah-rin sat by my side and nuzzled her face against my shoulder.
"Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear. Couples must disappear."
At the sight, Go Donghyuk started chanting a strange spell as if singing.
It felt as though he was casting a curse so people would die.
If his father, a church pastor, saw this, he'd be saddened.
"It's already Christmas today? Normally, we'd be out having fun."
At Ah-rin's words, I found myself agreeing inwardly.
It's a holiday from school and even outside, everyone's in no-work mode.
But with an important event just around the corner, we couldn't afford to just play around.
"Sorry, but there's something important coming up. We won't be able to just hang out for a while."
"Really?"
As Sang-ah spoke, Ah-rin turned her head to look at her.
"Mmmm..."
"Uh..."
"Mmmuh...?"
"Why are you suddenly staring..."
Ah-rin suddenly stared intently, greatly flustering Sang-ah.
Ah-rin kept leaning in closer and closer.
Did Sang-ah have something on her face?
Or did she see that face somewhere before?
It was such a ghostly vibe that Sang-ah became increasingly uncomfortable.
"Ah! Now I remember who you are!"
"Huh?"
Had she really seen her somewhere before?
But Sang-ah wasn't someone whose face was frequently seen by others.
Just where exactly had Ah-rin seen her?
"You know! I saw you in that school competition video. You're that maniac girl who beats on her own teammates."
"Eek!!"
At that moment, Sang-ah's knees buckled and her hands and feet shook.
The team-kill incident at the school competition—
That was one of the greatest embarrassments she wanted buried forever.
She could not react well whenever anyone mentioned it.
"That was super famous. Became a trending search on the video sites."
"Don't say another word!"
"There are probably over a thousand edited versions. There was one hilarious one where your team attacks got set to a dance montage."
"Shut up!"
"Want me to show you?"
"I told you to shut up!!"
Since this was a public place, I had to hurriedly cover Sang-ah's mouth.
There was nothing good about her exploding here.
But really, there are over a thousand variants?
At this point, even I wanted to pick one and watch it.
"Your name's Kwon Sang-ah, right? Nice to meet you."
"Yeah. Nice to meet you too."
They greeted each other and shook hands like friends.
It seemed like things might finally quiet down.
But then, Ah-rin took a notebook and pen out of her bag...
"Also, could you sign for me? It'd be a shame to miss out when I'm face to face with a star."
"Hey!"
"You might be the next big video meme after Shim Young! This could be how it starts!"
"You, get outside right now...!"
I had to stop Sang-ah, who stood up threateningly.
If I left her alone, she'd probably drag Ah-rin to the rooftop after school.
But the bigger problem was Ah-rin herself.
How could she tease people so nonchalantly?
It was unthinkable from how she used to be.
"Ah-rin. Don't ever bring up those videos or anything in front of her again. Got it?"
"Okay, if Seongjin says so, then I have no choice."
"...."
After a couple of words from me, Ah-rin quieted down right away.
It was as if I could control her with a remote or something.
"And last time, I saw Seongjin in that school competition, too."
"Ah, that time?"
Supposedly, the match where I appeared didn't show up on the broadcast due to Emily's hacking.
People only saw the screen come back right when Emily got arrested.
"Seongjin came out super cool in that."
"It was a match with a screen error; how could I look good?"
"Of course you did! That Emily girl got caught."
Ah-rin seemed genuinely thrilled, saying she felt so pleased at the time.
She practically went crazy at Emily's cheating, trying to kill me.
"And when she went down, I felt like popping a soda and dancing."
"Is that so..."
"She had it coming. I hope she never gets up again."
Looking at Ah-rin now, a lot of thoughts ran through my mind.
I could see her sticking up for me and liking me as somewhat adorable.
But there was a shadow under all her bright energy.
Just remembering how she had her own guildmate kill themselves in the forest the night before proved that.
At least, she'd handled disposing of the corpses cleanly.
'Ah-rin is not normal either.'
From the moment she joined the Sura Guild, she could not be considered ordinary.
Even more so, given her position in the guild.
"Since Seongjin won the school competition, you're going to enter the Gate now, right?"
"Yeah. On the last day of December."
A golden opportunity to enter the Golden Gate.
That event was scheduled for December 31st. Just six days away.
"Then we'll probably get to see the 'Sura' of the Sura Guild at that time, too."
When Jo Yun said this, Ah-rin fidgeted with her hands under the table.
They didn't need to look far: Sura herself was right there.
"But why the Sura?"
This time Go Donghyuk answered Ah-rin's question.
"That person is basically an agent of the Sura Guild. The Sura Guild is an adversary threatening our family."
At that, Ah-rin tilted her head.
She'd never heard of her guild attacking this student before.
Jo Yun explained further.
"There was a time when the Sura Guild attacked a church in Korea."
"A ch-church...?"
"And that's the church run by this friend's family."
"Oh..."
Ah-rin gave a little gasp as she finally understood.
As Sura, she knew well about the attack on a Korean church.
Sura Guild executives had sent some subordinates to Korea to hunt down groups worshipping demons.
"If it hadn't been for Seongjin, the people at our church would have been massacred."
"Seongjin did?"
"Yeah, Seongjin saved us."
So the hunters whose calls went silent during the church attack were all taken care of by Seongjin.
Some of them were even A-rank hunters, so a student like Seongjin?
It was complicated, but one thing was clear.
The voice she heard over the comms back then was unmistakably Seongjin.
"Why?"
"...."
Why did Seongjin save them?
Instead of answering, Go Donghyuk, sensing something off, shot the question back.
"By the way, who are you to be involved in this conversation?"
"Me?"
"You don't seem to have anything to do with our business."
Someone who just inserted herself in, with no warning.
That was how Go Donghyuk saw Ah-rin.
And not just him: everyone except me looked at her with puzzled expressions.
"I do... have a connection."
"How?"
"My grandfather's friend... is an executive of the Sura Guild."
"A-an executive...?!"
Jo Yun's mouth fell open at those words.
As someone who knew about the Sura Guild, such a reaction made sense.
"You mean one of those top executives, China's best S-ranks?"
"Yes... I learned a lot under my grandfather's friend, who's one of them."
"This is..."
Would Sura Guild executives really be so quick to make friends?
As a non-member, Jo Yun couldn't know for sure, but if it were true, it was a big deal.
That would mean this Kang Ah-rin girl was the disciple of a giant.
"So is it okay if I stay here now?"
"Uh...? Of course!"
Ah-rin had now gained official speaking rights.
With that, she started telling us about recent happenings inside the Sura Guild.
Her excessively open sharing left the group a bit bewildered.
'Well, she is Sura herself.'
Fortunately, there were no signs of anyone watching us.
So we could listen without worrying.
Why were they getting involved with the Golden Gate?
What would happen at the event?
Who came crawling to Sura before, only to be rejected and chased away?
****
After finishing our conversation, we left the cafe.
While we made our way back to the school dormitory, Ah-rin kept following us.
"Why do you keep trailing along?"
"I want to see what Seongjin's dorm is like."
"It's just a place that smells like guys. There's nothing worth your while."
"It's not co-ed? Whew... good."
What would she have done if it were?
The more Sang-ah watched Ah-rin, the more uneasy she felt.
She seemed to instinctively realize that beneath Ah-rin's bright smile lurked a deep darkness.
"Wait, what was your name again? Sang-ah... Shanghai?"
"Sang-ah! Kwon Sang-ah! I told you earlier!"
"Oh, right! Kwon Shanghai!"
"Hey... you're doing that on purpose, right?"
Just like when she'd teased about the videos before, she must be doing this on purpose.
Pretending she didn't know a thing for no reason.
Isn't that right?
"Maybe when there's a chance, would you like to hang out with me? Just the two of us."
"What?"
At the sudden proposal, Sang-ah gave an awkward look.
Now, imagine if the genders were switched.
Some slimy guy sidles up to me and says, 'You're cute. Want to hang out?'
How would that feel?
"Ugh! Creepy!"
Sang-ah flinched as if she'd found a spider on her.
Seeing Sang-ah shudder in fear, Ah-rin pouted sadly.
"What's so creepy? Where else can you find a girl as adorably creepy as me..."
"Right here!"
Strangely, Sang-ah and Ah-rin seemed well-matched.
Well, it was really that Ah-rin had taken a liking to Sang-ah.
In any case, thanks to Ah-rin, we learned a lot about the Sura Guild.
"So the Sura Guild was formed to defeat a certain demon, right?"
"...."
At that, Ah-rin immediately stopped joking.
She said,
"For that purpose, they'll use any means necessary."
Outwardly, they present themselves as a powerful Chinese guild, but in reality, the organization is ruled by those who crossed over from Mewzealand.
For them, this world where ordinary humans and Mutamit coexist must look like a cursed place.
'The reason's obvious.'
And lurking in this accursed land is a demon.
To fight the demon that even devoured a god, they create a new guardian.
That's Sura—Ah-rin herself.
"Beating that demon and purifying the world—that's the mission of the Sura Guild."
There was no need to guess what they meant by "purify".
It basically meant eradicating those who were Mutamit.
"I don't know exactly what world purification is, but if such a dangerous demon exists, I guess Sura can't just sit back, either."
Any dangerous element is to be dealt with.
Those were Sura's actual words.
But from the fact that she didn't understand "purification", there was clearly much she still didn't know.
"Ah-rin, do you know this?"
So I told her a fact.
"That demon... is me."