92) Chapter 15. ……It Was Warm (5)

What I said was, honestly, something that made no sense from a common‑sense perspective.

This wasn’t just any school—this was an academy filled with current and former heroes.

Even if villains formed an alliance and decided to attack, would they really choose the academy and the headquarters of the Korean Superhuman Association?

And it’s not like I’ve been hiding in the dorms because the outside world is too scary. On weekends, I go out with friends just fine.

Wouldn’t it look strange if I suddenly said I was terrified of villains now?

It doesn’t add up.

“So you’re saying you’re worried that Seo Arin might attack?”

Maybe because I deliberately mentioned the name “Seo Arin,” the principal also responded using her name.

“……Yes.”

“Hmm.”

The principal thought for a moment.

“Have you noticed any signs? Like feeling someone secretly following you, or seeing an outsider inside the school.”

Should I lie, just in case?

Say I saw someone suspicious?

But that might actually be dangerous.

I don’t care if they catch me lying. The real problem would be if they wasted their attention searching for a nonexistent “suspicious person.”

“……No, nothing like that…….”

I lowered my head and mumbled.

My face slowly grew warm.

I felt like someone who firmly believes their own imagination is actually going to happen.

No—maybe that’s exactly what I am.

Whether it will really happen or not is something you only know when the moment comes.

I’m just worried because I read the novel and know what could happen.

“…….”

But Instructor Justina and the principal didn’t laugh at me.

The two exchanged glances, then looked back at me.

“So you came because you were too worried to keep it to yourself?”

“Ah, yes…….”

Saying it out loud made me even more embarrassed.

I’ve never said anything like this in front of Auntie Yujin, Uncle Dohyun, or even Soi and Chae‑yi.

Things like being too scared to sleep.

In this world, I wasn’t an adult, but I still had memories of living as one in my previous life.

So saying things like this felt… incredibly embarrassing.

“B‑but.”

Still, I didn’t want to just ignore it.

What if Soi and Chae‑yi got hurt?

Even if not them, there’s Hyeonji, and Nam Jinwoo too.

Right. Maybe it would be better if I kept my mouth shut.

In the original story, I was just one of the heroines who bullied the protagonist and then got defeated, and I was too weak to do anything meaningful.

Even if I didn’t do anything, Jinwoo might awaken her power, save Hyeonji, and become the academy’s hero.

But the kids I met here were just kids.

Ordinary kids who were anxious for all sorts of reasons.

Was there any reason to show them the malice of adults? They’d face it eventually once they entered society anyway.

If adults could solve it for them, shouldn’t they?

“Then we’ll increase the number of instructors supervising the training.”

I lifted my head instantly at the principal’s words.

She smiled gently at me and continued.

“If that person does show up, would it help if we bring someone capable of stopping her?”

“Ah, yes!”

In the original story, the reason such an incident was even possible was ironically because it was near the academy.

The mountain we’re going to is connected to the one the academy sits on. It’s wide, but close enough that heroes can be dispatched immediately.

That’s why they let their guard down.

Even if one or two students fell behind, they could quickly check the numbers and find them. And even if someone got completely lost and went down the mountain, there was a village right there.

Plus, most students are superhumans. And it’s not like the area has no phone signal.

If a villain doesn’t want to die, would they really come all the way here to attack?

……But if they did want to die. If they were willing to be captured for life just to get revenge.

Then it was a place where they could try.

There just hadn’t been a case yet.

“I’ll contact the Association. I’ll gather as many people as I can, so don’t worry too much.”

“Right. And the instructors here aren’t weak, you know? Even if someone strange shows up, we can stop them, so relax.”

Instructor Justina smiled as she added to the principal’s words.

I was still a little uneasy.

You know how some possession‑genre novels go.

Stories where “what is meant to happen will happen.”

Even if the protagonist blocks the accident, the story twists itself and something even worse happens.

What if this world is like that?

What if I meddle and the world changes?

What if the story goes in an even worse direction?

Those thoughts kept creeping in.

But I couldn’t push any further.

What else could I say? That we shouldn’t do the training at all?

Then I’d probably be the only one excused. And that would be meaningless.

If something does happen, maybe I can do something since I at least vaguely remember the event.

“Thank you.”

“No, we can’t ignore a student’s concerns.”

When I stood and bowed, the principal answered with a warm laugh.

*

*

*

After Rua left the principal’s office, Seol Heewon and Instructor Justina paused their conversation and listened.

The door to the office was thick. Partly because it was crafted from high‑quality wood to maintain the dignity of the principal’s office, but also because the academy, run by the Korean Superhuman Association, sometimes handled near‑classified information.

They discussed students’ personal information too.

So under normal circumstances, speaking in their usual voices wouldn’t let anything leak outside—but this was a school full of superhumans. You never knew what strange method someone might use to listen in.

“What do you think?”

Once she was sure no one remained beyond the door, Seol Heewon spoke first.

“It’s understandable she’s anxious.”

Instructor Justina replied.

“She went through something like that twice already, at school.”

“Mm.”

Seol Heewon leaned back on the sofa, frowning slightly.

“I figured.”

She had heard the dorm supervisor’s report.

Rua had gone outside on the weekend. Meaning she had no trouble going out.

Yujin had also said the child was doing much better.

So she thought Rua had overcome things enough to attend the academy properly.

Ideally, home and school should be “safe spaces” for a child.

Of course, that’s only an ideal—not always reality.

And Rua had already experienced things here that would make anyone anxious.

On the first day, another student picked a fight with her.

Her roommate was a child whose father had a complicated history with Rua.

They both seemed to have overcome it now.

But that didn’t mean all her anxiety had disappeared.

“Then what do you think about what she said? Seo Arin still hasn’t been caught, right?”

“Right. Hmm…… Honestly, it’s hard to say anything definitively.”

Instructor Justina tilted her head.

“If she wanted to kidnap the kid, she would’ve targeted her somewhere other than the academy. It takes about an hour to get from here to her house, right? She could attack anywhere along the way. Even if the Association is keeping a close watch, it’s still easier than breaking into the academy.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

“But still, we can’t dismiss the worry entirely.”

Justina sprawled out on the sofa like the principal.

“We know Seo Arin isn’t acting alone.”

That video was famous.

A flock of birds smashing through windows with their heads.

A parrot speaking human words with its scalp torn and skull half‑cracked by broken glass.

Birds writhing on the floor, screaming as soon as the “ability” controlling them was cut off. Birds attacking children.

It wasn’t just remote control—it required awareness of the surrounding situation to use properly.

And no one knew whether her ability applied to “one bird,” or “all animals.”

“Most of all, we still don’t know what kind of person Seo Arin is.”

She had appeared before.

She had a criminal record from several incidents.

But no one knew her motives.

They could analyze her psychologically. They could consider possible mental disorders and predict potential targets.

Since she was Korean, they could investigate her childhood, and look into what she was doing before she committed her first crime and disappeared.

But in the end, no one knew “what kind of person Seo Arin is.”

She had no social skills, rarely expressed her thoughts, and all her family members who knew her were dead.

Except for one person.

“……Maybe Rua’s worry is actually valid.”

Seol Heewon said quietly.

“Maybe. Or maybe it’s just excessive worry. Either way, you care about her because she’s the child of a close friend, right?”

“Well, yes.”

Seol Heewon exhaled softly.

“I’ll contact the Association. And……”

“Yeah, I’ll go too.”

Justina shrugged.

"Perhaps…… hmm, should I call it possession? Anyway, if there are beasts being controlled by an ability, I might be able to identify them."

“Thank you.”

Seol Heewon replied with a small sigh.

*

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Pub: 01 May 2026 09:55 UTC

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