The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Stop Crying Already

The size of Hand as a city might be average, but the size of Hand as a school far exceeded imagination.

For starters, there were as many as five middle schools, and even the high school division—which was the highest educational stage at Hand—was basically a university in terms of scale despite being called a high school.

While the students in the high school division became relatively mature, issues were pouring in from the middle school division.

It was because there were still hordes of kids who couldn't control themselves, swayed by their special traits.

So, whenever an incident happened, it was usually in the middle school division.

They were too young to be criminally prosecuted, and side effects from their traits were accepted as a reason.

To make matters worse, a junior high student dismemberment case last summer raised a huge problem at Hand.

The management of Hand, unable to just stand by, started favoring strict discipline.

Because such a serious catastrophe resulting in innocent casualties had occurred, the environment had no choice but to change.

– Alcohol, smoking, spitting, graffiti, errand-boying, pornography.

It went without saying that being caught even once resulted in suspension or worse.

Punishments had intensified since that dismemberment case.

You might think it's too much for a Korean school, but there was nothing anyone could do to control it.

Hand only happened to be located in Korea; the facility itself was not part of Korea.

It was practically on the level of an independent city-state.

Robots could freely move around the streets.

– Sleeping on the streets is prohibited. There is a risk of catching a cold.

– Adult magazine detected. Violation of school rules. Please state your name and grade.

– Jaywalking. Jaywalking. You have been fined.

Hand hadn't simply made the rules stricter.

The number of security robots patrolling the city itself had increased noticeably compared to last year.

The security force, which the chairman had promoted himself to ensure Hand's public order.

Since the guards were robots, spirit stones were consumed instead of labor costs.

Each individual robot easily outclassed a B-rank hunter in strength.

They were also equipped with processing abilities to assess situations and cameras that monitored even the rear.

Boasting unremarkable performance in every aspect, the security robots were currently being put to good use in Hand.

– It's been calculated that the crime rate at Hand has dropped by 35% compared to last year.

Although the crime rate had dropped, the laws of Korea were still enforced as usual.

Even with a 35% drop, if any incident did occur, punishment would be light.

But just the crime rate falling this much was a huge achievement.

Despite being unable to stop crime through laws, they had managed to prevent crimes beforehand.

Hand's teachers and staff followed those principles and punished the children strictly.

Because of this...

– Did you hear the rumor? You know Baek Eunseol from class 6, second year.

– Who's that?

– You don't know? The girl who lost her wings.

– Ah! The one as pretty as an angel?

– She only looked like an angel on the outside. On the inside, she's really lewd.

– What happened, anyway?

– She joined the art club today; do you know what she drew there?

– What...?

– That thing.

– What thing?

– You know, that...

– Gasp...?!

– Everyone keeps saying she's pretty, but don't be fooled by appearances. And...

The fate of any student who violated sexual school rules was obvious without even seeing it.

Once you got caught up in an impure scandal, you'd be branded for life until graduation.

So, it was safe to say a normal school life was impossible.

"...."

Just like Baek Eunseol, quietly sitting on a bench under the school tree at that moment.

.

.

Eunseol had prepared everything to pass Hand's entrance exam.

Basic research on the environment at Hand was essential to get bonus points in the interview.

So she'd also thoroughly understood just how strict Hand's school rules had become.

Any indecent violation resulted in immediate suspension.

Other kids were pretty subdued nowadays out of fear of that.

Ever since last year, everyone was even grateful to Ma Seongjin for acclimating them to such strict rules.

That's right. It was an extremely dangerous time.

And yet, Eunseol went and drew something she absolutely shouldn't have.

Right in front of teachers and students, no less.

'It's all over now.'

Eunseol sat on a bench in the deserted school backyard.

With the forest nearby, Eunseol, wrapped in the shadow of tree branches, clung to her deep despair.

Even though a cold wind was blowing as the sun set, Eunseol did not shiver.

She didn't even have the willpower to tremble.

'Suspension... No, maybe I'll even get expelled.'

Teacher Regina, who saw the drawing, had screamed as if she'd met Cthulhu.

Eunseol's painting skills had been honed for years; the quality was top-notch.

With those incredible hands, she had drawn... something never to be spoken of.

It was only natural that everyone lost their minds upon seeing the drawing.

Getting thrown out of the art club wasn't strange, given what happened.

'What am I supposed to do now?'

The water had already been spilled.

She'd crossed the Rubicon—there was no turning back.

Surely, rumors had already spread throughout the school.

Maybe they were even spreading beyond the second campus to the rest of Hand by now.

From the moment everyone saw 'that outrageous painting,' her school life had essentially crashed to rock bottom.

'What do I do... what do I do... what am I going to do...!!'

It really wasn't on purpose.

It might sound crazy, but things were genuinely weird at the time.

Maybe she was suffering symptoms like those defective awakened ones who'd lost their screws.

The moment she started painting, she automatically drifted into a hypnotic state.

'Why did I...!'

Suddenly, memories from the past came flooding back.

Things experienced since entering Hand, lessons heard in class.

But the biggest problem was, of course, witnessing a forbidden scene in the chairman's office.

Second only to that, her homeroom teacher's elephant trunk reminded her of that forbidden scene.

Eunseol had held it in for a whole week while seeing her homeroom teacher.

All those suppressed memories exploded at the very moment she started painting.

But, at this point, it was all useless speculation.

'Grandpa... I'm really sorry.'

She felt immeasurable guilt toward Baek Suhyuk, who had taken her in despite his old age.

Even if she wasn't expelled, she'd be the object of ridicule until graduation.

With a thorny road ahead, her social life was basically ruined.

The sanctions this time might even prevent her from advancing to high school.

On top of that, she was the granddaughter of the Angel guildmaster.

If this became a problem and negatively affected the Angel guild...

"U... uhuuuh..."

Even after escaping to the empty bench, nothing was solved.

Going back wouldn't change anything—she would only be met with everyone's stares.

"Uhuuhuhu..."

Tears clouded her vision.

The whole world looked blurry.

The school building ahead, the trees swaying in the wind, and even the person approaching her...

"Huh?"

Someone stopped in front of the sniffling Eunseol.

She wanted to ignore them, too exhausted to hold any conversation, but the presence felt very familiar.

She could sense someone's aura even through her tears, so Eunseol knew who it was.

Wiping away her tears, she looked up to see 'him' standing there.

"...."

He looked down at Eunseol with a somewhat lonely expression.

To be precise, he looked extremely embarrassed as if he had made a blunder.

"You..."

Her memory was vague, but she was sure it was the boy who had saved her.

He appeared in her dreams, like a prince from a fairy tale.

She had looked everywhere, desperate to thank him.

And finally... she'd found him in the chairman's office at Hand.

She found him, but...

That was nice, but...

Why...

Why on earth...

How come...

It had to be at that moment...

"Uuuuuuuh..."

Eunseol groaned, thoughts spinning through her head.

Seongjin looked at the embarrassed Eunseol and spoke.

"Ha Eunseol... right?"

"...."

"Do you remember me by any chance?"

Ha Eunseol?

Ah... that's right. She remembered now.

That was her name, before her surname changed to 'Baek' after she was taken in as her grandfather's adopted daughter.

Not many people knew her old name.

In that sense, this boy was definitely that guy.

The man who had saved her when she'd been kidnapped into the gate.

"I was worried, so I came to see you... I heard the rumor too."

"...."

"You... drew something, didn't you?"

"...."

"What did you draw that for?"

There wasn't a hint of mockery in his tone.

Seongjin genuinely wanted to know.

Well, it was natural—after all, the painting had apparently been based on him.

If that truth came out, there'd be absolutely no way for Eunseol to avoid getting expelled.

But Seongjin trusted Eunseol.

He came to meet her to find out whether she had really done it on purpose.

"Uuu..."

"What?"

Eunseol started making strange, incomprehensible sounds.

Hearing something like an animal cry, Seongjin furrowed his brow.

Then, all of a sudden, Eunseol jumped up and grabbed his collar.

"Uuuuu... UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What the heck?"

"UAAAAAH! UWAAAAAAAH! UAAAAAAAH!"

Suddenly, Eunseol started howling like crazy.

Holding onto his collar, bursting into tears, Seongjin was left slack-jawed.

"Waaaheeeeeeeenng!!"

"Uh..."

"Waaaawaaaaawaaaaawaaaaahaaaaaang!!"

"...."

She shook his collar so hard that his face shook too.

In that wild, lost-to-reason state, there were all kinds of complicated feelings.

– I shouldn't have seen it that time.

– If only I hadn't seen that, none of this would've happened.

– I finally met you again, and look at how it turned out.

– Now, every time I see you, all I can think of is that long thing.

– At this rate, I'll never be able to get married.

Even though Seongjin couldn't understand all those feelings, he sighed and was disheartened.

He stroked Eunseol's head and said,

"I'm sorry."

With that single bitter word, Eunseol's howling came to a stop.

Even after she calmed down, Seongjin could only sigh.

'Why'd you have to show up right at that moment....'

It was awkward, since there was no one else to blame for the situation.

****

When Eunseol suddenly started wailing in a mix of sobbing and shrieking, I was at a loss for what to do.

The feeling of embarrassment was so strong that I couldn't even get angry at her, and just patted her head.

It was fortunate that her crying stopped immediately, but I couldn't shake my doubts.

'At the very least, she didn't draw that picture on purpose.'

She was so mortified by the painting that she probably wished she could just die.

That wild wailing from earlier hadn't looked like an act for sympathy.

However, that didn't mean she was justifying what she did, either.

It was just pure embarrassment.

'Besides, I'm not entirely without fault, either.'

That time, it was all because of that drinking party between me and Vern.

Of course, I hadn't meant to show her that, but fundamentally, I had to step up to solve the problem now.

Because that incident could very well ruin her school life.

That's why I brought Eunseol to the chairman's office.

On our way, Eunseol had been trembling.

She must have been scared she'd be interrogated over what happened.

But neither Vern nor I intended any such thing.

On the contrary, I was worried about Eunseol.

We needed to call in Hand's psychiatric medical team to examine her right away.

"It's done."

In the underground medical office of Hand's central tower.

At long last, Vern came out of the medical room after finishing Eunseol's psychiatric exam.

As the king of vampires, Vern could peer into the minds of others.

He said that combining his ability with the technology of Earth resulted in even better synergy.

"What's the result?"

"She doesn't have an absolutely abnormal mind. She's certainly not a kid who's driven by lust or anything like that, but..."

"But?"

"There's a serious scar inside the student's mind."

"Meaning...?"

"In earthly terms, I suppose you'd call it PTSD?"

Vern often used tactics that prodded emotional wounds to corrupt his opponents.

So, the diagnosis Vern gave was bound to be accurate.

"It looks pretty heavy for a mere fifteen-year-old to bear. And while I was at it, I also analyzed her magic power."

Suddenly, Vern's expression turned grim.

Was there any reason for Eunseol to have PTSD?

I thought about it for a moment but quickly understood—at the time, I had been at the Yong-in gate.

"I detected traces of multiple people's magic power inside the student's magic power."

"Other people's?"

"I'm not sure if it's due to her trait, but she has the ability to steal the magic power of those she kills."

Which meant Eunseol had killed someone.

You might scoff at the idea of a kid killing, but I saw it firsthand back then.

That was when the girl, like a descending angel, started pointing and firing light bombs hysterically.

"Also, there are traces that her memory has been erased. Was that your doing, Demon King?"

"Yeah, I did it."

Considering that the kid had killed someone, I had erased her memory at the time.

It could have been a truly traumatic memory otherwise.

"You did the right thing."

Vern said with a deep sigh of relief.

If I hadn't, who knew what could have happened.

"The reason this student drew that obscene picture was likely due to self-hypnosis."

"Hypnosis, you say?"

"Humans constantly hypnotize themselves to forget horrifying memories. They abandon reason to recall only the pleasant memories, not the nightmares."

I'd done the same myself.

I'd desperately fought to forget the horrors inflicted on me by the people of Mewzealand.

"It looks like she habitually drew to hypnotize herself and forget her nightmares. But her case appears to be particularly severe."

Vern added that hypnosis could happen regardless of one's will.

After a shocking event, one could have seizures upon seeing anything related.

That could be the same side effect that affects Eunseol, like those defective awakened ones.

And it just had to happen after witnessing that drinking party...

"This isn't the only problem. The magic power she took from those she killed and absorbed isn't being converted into her own."

"You mean there's still foreign magic power lingering in her body?"

"Magic power incompatible with oneself only causes side effects."

It was like forcing mismatched gears together.

However, if her trait was to absorb, it would be normal for her to convert it into her own magic power.

Eunseol had the particular trait of absorbing after killing.

If things had gone the standard way, Eunseol's body would have been fine.

"Maybe she didn't follow the normal procedure."

"If she didn't..."

That would mean she absorbed it from a living person, not someone she killed.

Which would explain why so much foreign magic power remained in her body.

If that's the case...

"She might have even more severe symptoms than Sang-ah."