Chapter 92 : Who Stole It? (4)
Who Stole It? (4)
She couldn't tell exactly when it had started.
This was unmistakably a man's underwear.
It looked big enough for a fully grown adult to wear.
Why had such a thing been found inside her own pillowcase?
"..."
She thought, and then thought some more.
Sang-ah racked her brain, trying to figure out this mystery.
Why would this have happened?
She had never touched anything like this.
She was so embarrassed and scared that she couldn't even bring herself to get close to such things.
That's why it should have been impossible for it to end up inside her pillow.
'What the, what the, what the, what is this!'
Sang-ah grabbed her head and screamed inwardly.
Was it possible someone had put it there on purpose to frame her?
Then from when could that have been?
She clearly remembered that her pillow was first bulging this morning.
And this morning, when she woke up, Seongjin had been causing a commotion among the boys, yelling that his underwear had gone missing.
'But wait, something's strange.'
If that was the case, it'd mean she had secretly gotten up last night, snuck into the boys' dormitory, and stolen it.
But at that time, she had definitely been dreaming in dreamland.
Even if she'd woken up with a nosebleed afterward.
Still, there's no way she could have moved in her sleep...
'Wait! Hold on!'
Moving while asleep?
At that point, she realized a possible explanation.
If, because of her recent sleepwalking, she had moved unknowingly and stolen the underwear, it made sense.
Especially if she remembered waking up with a nosebleed.
'Ah...'
The culprit was herself.
Understanding this, Sang-ah was devastated on the spot.
I'm crazy.
I've completely lost it.
I even stole it and had a nosebleed?
How am I any different from those guys who roll around in their rooms with tissue scraps after watching weird videos?
'Kwon Sang-ah, you bastard!'
Sang-ah pulled at her own hair, self-flagellating as she screamed inwardly.
It was because she now understood just how serious the theft she had committed was.
'I have to get rid of it. I have to get rid of it right now!!'
Thankfully, the other girls in her room were still fast asleep.
She had learned on Hand that girls loved to gossip about anyone and joke around.
If even one person were awake right now, she'd become the permanent subject of their jokes.
It'd only take a moment before she was branded not only as a rage-fueled girl, but now as a pervert.
And then...
–Kwon Sang-ah. Death penalty.
Seongjin's voice echoed in her head.
If she kept it any longer, she might actually get sentenced to death.
'Get out!'
She decided she'd sneak out and burn the underwear. That was the only way to break this curse.
If she started a fire in her dorm, she might cause an accident.
So she needed to find somewhere as secluded as possible...
'Wait, what if I end up on a surveillance camera?'
If she went out recklessly, she could get caught on camera and arouse the suspicion of any security guards watching.
But it wasn't like she had no options.
Creak—
Sang-ah hid a plastic bag containing something under her shirt and headed to the bathroom.
She'd hidden the underwear inside the bag, so there was no way it could be seen.
She locked the stall door and sat at the far end of the toilet.
Fwoooosh—
She summoned fire in her hand and set the bag ablaze with the underwear inside.
Thanks to the intense flames, the underwear turned to ash in an instant, but the burst of light was dazzling.
If she had done this in her room, everyone would have woken thinking it was sunrise.
"Alright!"
With a blast of intense heat, the underwear disappeared into a speck of dust.
All the evidence had been perfectly destroyed.
Feeling finally freed from the curse, Sang-ah danced in joyous relief.
.
.
The next day at lunch.
Sang-ah, sitting in the school cafeteria and eating, asked Seongjin who was sitting across from her.
"Seongjin. Did you find the culprit?"
"For the underwear?"
"You were so worked up about it yesterday."
Seongjin had been walking around loudly proclaiming he'd kill whoever stole it.
He took a bite of stir-fried sausage and answered.
"I'm just going to give up."
"Huh?"
When Seongjin said something so unexpected, Sang-ah dropped the sausage she had been holding in her chopsticks.
She had thought Seongjin would start acting like a devil the moment the topic came up, but today he seemed unusually calm.
"Honestly, maybe I just lost it myself. And no matter how much I look, I can't find a single clue."
Apparently, he had even thought about checking the CCTV footage.
But that night, because he had cut all the CCTV to sneak into the training ground, there was no way to know who the culprit was.
'No wonder...'
Even though the school had so many cameras, now she realized why she wasn't caught.
If the cameras hadn't gone down that night, by now...
"I see! Then there's no choice but to give up."
Because there was no evidence.
It was only natural for him to come to that conclusion.
"Yeah, I have no choice but to give up,"
Seongjin said, having polished off his lunch tray.
"The culprit is right in front of me, though."
"Right! The culprit is... huh?"
Sang-ah wondered if she had misheard and doubted her ears.
Suddenly, the mood between them chilled instantly.
The food she had been chewing felt stuck in her throat and wouldn't go down.
Sang-ah slowly raised her head to look straight ahead.
There stood Seongjin, exuding a menacing aura.
"S-Seongjin, why are you... all of a sudden..."
"You know, I thought about it again last night. What kind of reckless bastard would break into the boys' dorm and touch my underwear?"
At Middle School 2, Seongjin's infamy was well known.
Some students would freeze at the mere mention of his name; everybody knew that touching his stuff was a suicide mission.
"No one but someone out of their mind would dare lay a finger on my underwear."
"..."
"But if you were sleepwalking, you wouldn't be in your right mind. Isn't that true?"
He had been very frustrated because the CCTV had conveniently gone dead that night.
There wasn't any other way to monitor the dorms in the dead of night.
Still, it was possible to seek out likely suspects and test them out.
If you act like you were sure they were the culprit right in front of them, there's a good chance—the truth will come out.
Sang-ah was the perfect target for that approach.
From Seongjin's perspective, she was so naïve it was easy to read her heart.
Because of that, Sang-ah started trembling so badly that she could barely swallow her food.
She was about to get indigestion.
And then...
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I've committed a grave sin!"
Sang-ah suddenly shot up from her seat, bowing her head at a 90-degree angle.
After bowing about ten times in a row, her eyes were spinning.
"I'm not a pervert! Please don't misunderstand!"
"I already know, so just sit down already."
Because of the eyes of people around them, Sang-ah sat back down.
Now he knew who the culprit was, and since it had happened due to sleepwalking, there was no need to make it a big deal.
"Here."
"Huh?"
Seongjin suddenly held out his hand.
From the way he presented his palm, it wasn't for a handshake.
"Give it."
"Give what?"
"Return it."
She immediately understood what he wanted her to give back.
Seongjin didn't say much, since it wasn't intentional—just the result of her sleepwalking.
Besides, she had just apologized, so this was as good as forgiven.
If only she returned the underwear, the incident would be settled peacefully.
"Of course, I'll give it b—"
Suddenly, Sang-ah's previously relieved expression froze.
That's right. Returning it would end everything.
It would be a happy ending, just as it should be.
But—
"S-Seongjin..."
"Yeah?"
"That..."
Sang-ah, full of fear, explained.
Hearing where his underwear ended up, Seongjin blinked for a moment.
Upon learning that his underwear had been burned to ashes, he paused in thought.
"Hmm... I see."
"Yeah."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Ah... hahahahaha."
"Wahahahahahaha...."
"Hahahahaha...."
"Wahahahahaha~!"
Their laughter exploded into raucous laughter all at once.
After laughing and making a fuss, Sang-ah and Seongjin suddenly grew quiet.
Then Seongjin spoke.
"Sang-ah, you're coming to our house again this vacation, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then you'd better brace yourself."
"..."
Sang-ah looked straight ahead again.
"Training is going to be hellishly brutal."
There, before her, sat a true demon the likes of which no training camp instructor would dare compare.
****
Shanghai, China. The most luxurious building—the headquarters of the Sura Guild.
Returning there as a Sura, Ah-rin entered the guildmaster's office directly.
Inside, a man in his forties awaited, wearing ornate priestly robes, even more elaborate than those of other Sura guild members.
This was Jay Hoon, leader of the Sura Guild. He stared at Ah-rin, who wore a white veil, with clear displeasure.
"You don't look too happy for someone who's returned safely."
"..."
The Sura was the vessel of the god they served.
If that vessel was destroyed before being possessed, all the plans they had built would come to nothing.
So it was a good thing for them that nothing had happened to Ah-rin.
"Why didn't you enter the Golden Gate?"
"..."
"Because of that, we got only a little of the Gate's loot. With just this, we can't keep the other guilds in check!"
Jay Hoon sternly shouted, unleashing his magic power in a wave.
As leader of the most powerful guild on the Chinese continent, his magic power was second to none.
Even a mere touch would have other hunters feeling agonizing pain, as if their bones were being shaved away.
Although that enormous power reached down to the cellular level, Ah-rin acted as if nothing had happened.
"...!"
Clearly, Ah-rin felt the pressure of his power.
A person crushed by that pressure would shudder and immediately drop to their knees—to save their own life.
But Ah-rin showed no signs of trembling at all.
She should have been struggling for life on instinct before such pressure, but as that didn't happen, jay Hoon frowned deeply.
"Tsk. What happened in there?"
"It's simple. I crushed the ones collaborating with the Holy Church, and blocked their plans."
"All by yourself?"
"..."
The Holy Church's plan within this Golden Gate had been ruined.
Moreover, it had been revealed that Korea's Poison Guild had actually been the Holy Church's hidden partners.
So even if they hadn't secured the loot, they hadn't come away empty-handed.
Still, pulling off such a result inside a rampaging Gate was like plucking stars from the sky.
"Who helped you?"
"..."
"Answer me!"
Suddenly, countless blades floated around Ah-rin.
Every one of them blazed with powerful magic power—they could erase even elite mobs with a mere touch.
Though such threatening power was aimed at her, Ah-rin didn't so much as flinch.
Seeing this, jay Hoon, thoroughly defeated, retracted all his blades.
"What is wrong with you?"
"..."
"I asked, why have you lost the will to live?"
At this resolute question, Ah-rin softly moved her lips.
"Did you forget? After what happened to Grandpa and Grandma that day... how I was back then."
"..."
Jay Hoon couldn't say anything to that.
At the time, he never would have imagined.
Who could have guessed that such a chilling girl would be chosen as Sura?
"Since we're on the subject, I have one favor to ask."
"What is it?"
Ah-rin abruptly brightened and made a request of him.
He felt uneasy at the sudden shift in her mood, and before long, that unease came true.
"Are you out of your mind?! That place is one with The World! For a Sura like you to go there is a death sentence!"
"Don't worry. The only ones who know my Sura identity are you all."
"Still..."
"So what? Consider it a kind of undercover investigation. We were going to go up against The World anyway, right?"
"..."
From the Sura Guild's perspective, everything Ah-rin said was right.
Jay Hoon didn't argue further, but asked one question.
"Why are you so desperate to get away from us?"
Ah-rin, suddenly bubbly, replied.
"When I was in elementary school... there were bullies who picked on me."
They'd say things like,
Your tail is disgusting.
Your ears are filthy.
It was classic Mutamit discrimination.
The homeroom teacher was the worst of them all.
"Sorry to say this, but..."
"..."
"You guys smell just like they did."
Jay Hoon hung his head in defeat.
He turned away, speaking in resignation.
"It seems the activities of the Poison Guild and the Angel Guild are suspicious lately. We've decided to target the Poison Guild this time. For that, we'll need to confront the Hwasan Guild as well."
The latest incident had triggered massive upheaval among the Korean guilds.
Taking advantage of this, their plan was to topple Poison, the proxy of the Holy Church, and Hwasan, its collaborator, at the same time.
"Don't get me wrong. No matter how you feel, we still have to protect you."
"..."
"So just stay out of this operation. Otherwise, your life will be forfeit."