104) Chapter 16. I’m Glad (6)
At first, I thought it was some kind of halo.
You know, like the round glow you see around people’s heads in religious paintings.
Of course, since I’ve never really gone to church or a temple in my past life or this one, I wondered if it was some kind of ability. It wouldn’t be strange if it were. After all, she’s a character built with the most iconic “superhero” traits.
And yes, it was an ability.
The ability to shoot beams from her eyes.
But it wasn’t like the long welding‑torch‑like laser I knew.
There was no sound of anything firing, but a mass of intense light shot forward—bright enough to cast shadows behind us—and exploded.
Boom. An explosion erupted where Seo Arin had been standing.
“L‑let’s go.”
While I was staring blankly at the scene, Jinwoo grabbed my arm and pulled.
“Ugh…!”
“S‑sorry. But you’ll have to endure it a bit…”
Jinwoo spoke like she truly felt sorry, then pulled me along.
My body lifted slightly—she was using my ability as it was.
Jinwoo wasn’t that different from me in size. Carrying me princess‑style would’ve been difficult.
Up ahead, something began moving violently.
The Seo Arin I had seen until now… apparently that wasn’t her real strength.
Those countless hands and flying objects—she hadn’t even been using them with full force. I realized I still couldn’t handle the existence called Seo Arin.
And then—
What was Seo Arin, really?
What exactly was the witch, that she could be this strong?
If she was this powerful, why wasn’t she even mentioned in the original story?
Did the author have some kind of sequel planned? Was she one of those suddenly‑introduced prequel characters—never mentioned in the previous work, but unnecessarily deep and heavily tied to the protagonists? Someone who was supposed to die in the original but didn’t?
I saw Soi and Chae‑yi. They ran toward me with stiff expressions and silently helped Jinwoo.
A moment ago, they looked like they had a lot they wanted to say to me—no, even now they probably did—but when they saw my leg, they must have decided this wasn’t the time.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Just as we tried to get away, a shout rang out.
I turned my head. Something like heat haze shimmered.
Seo Arin’s hand—visible only to me.
But it never reached me.
A red flash shot in and exploded mid‑air. Seo Arin screamed.
The more hands you have, the more places you can get hurt.
That must be why she hated dealing with “fire.” Having countless hands burn at once would be unbearable.
And right after that, I saw an afterimage of someone. So fast I couldn’t even properly track it.
It didn’t feel like she “flew.” More like she “charged forward at incredible speed.”
When I saw the principal in her office, she had her hair tied back neatly, gentle eyes, a soft smile, and a calm voice. Nothing sharp about her at all.
But now—
Smack.
The sight of her fist slamming into Seo Arin’s face was nothing like the person I’d met in the office.
And I could feel the difference in the level of the fight.
When I sparred, I only needed to use a little strength. If kids got rowdy, I could just grab them. My hands were invisible, and for kids who had never seen such an ability, they had no idea how to respond.
Even what Seo Arin had done earlier—grabbing limbs and applying a bit of force—would’ve been enough to make kids who had never experienced real pain surrender immediately.
…But.
If there were many enemies, she could just increase the number of hands. If the opponent was strong, she could increase them even more.
Throwing something normally requires complex motions.
But if you have countless hands, there’s no need to think. You just use all of them.
The energy shimmering around Seo Arin no longer even looked like “hands.” It was just a mass of movement. All those hands were moving at once.
If the opponent was extremely strong, and she needed to block them, she could create an absurd number of hands, pack them tightly, and stack countless shields.
Cars, trees, huge stones ripped from the ground—wrapped in heat haze, blocking the principal’s path.
And—
If you want to break through all of that and hit your opponent—
It’s simple.
If you want to hit someone behind a tree, hit hard enough to break the tree.
If you want to hit someone behind a car, hit hard enough to break the car.
If you want to hit someone behind a giant boulder, hit hard enough to break the boulder.
If you want to hit someone behind dozens of layers of arms—
Hit hard enough to break all of them.
One punch is enough.
“……!”
Seo Arin couldn’t even scream.
Blood streamed from both nostrils as she stared wide‑eyed, watching the academy principal’s fist tear through everything like it was nothing.
The fist didn’t even go deep into the barrier.
It just struck the front with a single, powerful thunk. And then, whether it was compressed air or the principal’s ability, some kind of force shredded all the objects and abilities instantly.
It was different from Chae‑yi’s ability. Chae‑yi’s power “cancels” abilities—like cutting them off.
But the principal’s punch was literally just “physically tearing apart everything in front of her.”
If Chae‑yi’s ability kills abilities themselves, leaving no room for resistance, then the principal’s ability is… simply overwhelming force crushing everything.
“…Holy crap.”
Even Soi muttered in disbelief.
Soi liked heroes. Even though her admiration had faded a bit during middle school, she still sometimes looked at heroes with longing.
So she must have seen many heroes. Not just Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun, but their colleagues, and countless news clips.
But the principal’s fighting was unlike any of that.
No, seriously—why?
Why didn’t I know? Why didn’t the original story show this?
Sure, it mentioned she was strong, but…
If she worked in Korea, shouldn’t she have been way more famous than Auntie Yujin?
Rumble.
“Huh?”
The ground shook.
Like an earthquake.
Soi, Chae‑yi, Hyeonji, and I exchanged looks.
“Let’s go.”
Soi said, and the kids nodded.
“Rua, you can’t.”
“I—”
“……”
I tried to say something, but I couldn’t meet Soi’s eyes. I lowered my head.
Right. I messed up again.
I fell for that nonsense and came here alone.
And once I got here, I was just a burden.
“…We’ll talk.”
Maybe it was my expression. Soi spoke.
“Once we get down, let’s talk calmly.”
She must still be angry. She must have so much she wants to yell at me.
But her voice toward me was gentle.
“…Okay.”
In the end, I could only nod.
Soi, Chae‑yi, and Hyeonji moved away.
Chae‑yi ran toward the heat haze. The energies approaching the kids vanished the moment they neared her.
It wasn’t automatic. She was probably firing her ability wildly at anything that felt like it was approaching.
Hyeonji ran around freezing the ground. She didn’t know how long it would hold, but the unstable ground solidified a bit. It wouldn’t last long.
And Soi gathered the kids together. Her warm light countered Hyeonji’s cold air, helping the kids endure. The children gathered on unfrozen ground looked grateful for Soi’s light.
Most importantly, Soi blocked all the objects flying toward the kids. She must have learned from earlier—when a kid was launched into the sky before Chae‑yi could cancel the ability.
And in the middle of that chaos—
“……”
“……”
Jinwoo and I were left alone.
The principal had dragged Seo Arin far from the kids, and although some kids were nearby, it still felt like I was alone.
“L‑let me borrow your strength for a moment.”
Jinwoo said, gripping my hand tightly.
Using that strength, she formed a kind of barrier around the kids. She only had two arms, but it was better than nothing.
For some reason, watching her do that left a bitter taste in my mouth.