“I fucked up…”
Her fist approaches me at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. I know it is coming. I have no particular reason to think like this, but my instincts are screaming at me to dodge.
I have to do something, so I did… I tilt my head away as fast as I can and purposefully mess up my own center of gravity so as to make myself descend faster.
“I am... [Always Here]…” I usher my only Gift, [Nobody Knows], and activate one of its effects— to blend with the background and be unnoticeable. I come to understand [Always Here] is something like hiding in plain sight.
And I believe in a combat situation, I can use this Gift to confuse my opponents for a moment to disturb their accuracy. While it is more reasonable to use [Not Here], I rather play it safe and use [Always Here] so as not to accidentally compromise myself with my lack of magic power.
I feel a cold breeze on my cheeks.
“You dodged that.” Chae Nayun smiles at me chillingly, and immediately follows another attack, immediately crouching low and unleashing a sweeping leg kick.
I see the world turn upside down.
Shifting her stance once more, Chae Nayun aims to throw another punch.
I am flipping midair, and a fist ought to come my way eager to take claim of my life. I deactivate [Always Here] and lose a negligible amount of magic power. I then activate it afterward as fast as I deactivate it.
To my surprise, my little trick seems to work as Chae Nayun misses and simply grazes my cheek.
Blood scatters from my left cheek and the stinging sensation only serve to remind me of the danger I am currently in. I dare not go invisible with [Not Here] as Nayun might just go for indiscriminately attacking her surroundings.
That will be bad not just for everyone, but also for me as I will be completely defenseless when Nayun truly does dedicate herself to throwing her big moves.
At least by presenting her with a target, I can at least prolong my life further.
I wobbly stand on my legs, as I remove myself midair with the help of gravity. Unfortunately, gravity will not remain on my side for long as Nayun grabs me by the collar of my uniform. She pulls me and throws me on the ground with magic power enforcing her limbs.
I close my eyes. I dare not see my own death happening right in front of me.
But instead of landing on a bloody mess, I end up landing gently and softly on the ground. It is not really gentle and soft as I feel my arms ache from the impact, but there are no crunch or bam, which I am thankful for. Aside from my situation, there is only a Yelp coming from Nayun.
“Ah~ Suho, what are you doing here?”
At the last microsecond, she decides to hold back. And my savior is none other than Kim Suho.
“S-s-savior-nim! It is me, the guy from the train station! Save me!” I cry to Kim Suho, the titular protagonist of Returnee Hero.
“Ignore him. I will deal with him. He is that crazy kid, you know? He is very dangerous.” Chae Nayun fervently expresses her desire to deal with me.
Kim Suho holds Nayun’s arm, and with an uncompromising expression, he tries to mediate between me and the crazy woman. “Please, no fighting… The two of you could get expelled…”
“Fighting? I am not even capable of fighting back!” I retort.
“Lies,” Nayun ferociously attacks me with her rebuttals. “You should have seen it, Suho… He dodged two of my fists simultaneously in awkward angles.”
“As I said, I cannot fight back! Ok? I am weak!” I grit my teeth, barely resisting lashing out at Nayun with the most hurtful swearing I know. If only she is not holding unto my collar, I love to just go behind Suho’s back and use him as a shield.
“He might be a Djinn disguising himself as a human. If he can dodge my attacks like that, it doesn’t make sense that he is only Rank 1111. Moreover, he can dodge my punches of that level.” The crazy woman has no plans of letting me go.
“Fuck you, if receiving a Gift from enlightenment is a crime, then I am dead! I dodged it because I am Gift-ed, you mad woman!” I am ready to stake it all and just bare my fangs on her.
“QUIET!” Kim Suho shouts at the top of his lungs with serious anger.
“After class, we meet… Nayun, come with me… I will be watching you, so don’t go causing trouble everywhere…”
***
Later on after the class dismissal, the three of them gather in a nearby café.
Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and Hyon Hyung share a circular table with each present having an equally adjacent space between them. The last thing Suho wants is a bloodbath, thus the need to space the two hostiles.
“We are classmates… we should be friendly to each other…” Suho complains.
And like two middle-grade schoolers, Nayun and Hyung start squabbling with each other.
“He is an evil bastard that must be exterminated. Come, Suho, let’s kill him!”
“She tries hitting me first. It is assault! I should be going to the police right now!”
Suho massages his forehead in disbelief. “What happened?”
The two quarreling idiots continue to exchange insults while retelling their own stories. Kim Suho’s headache is only getting more hurtful. And then… someone slips by…
Initially, Nayun and Hyung have a tacit silent agreement to not mention anything about Devils to Suho.
For Chae Nayun, it is to keep her identity secret from Suho. It becomes a tacit agreement because, in her eyes, Hyon Hyung can only agree to this. After all, revealing his Devil identity will only get him in trouble.
But Hyon Hyung instead of complying decides to throw a gambit, one that can get himself closer to Kim Suho, and at the same time dispel Chae Nayun’s suspicion.
“What even is a Devil? What are they? Like Djinns?” Hyon Hyung lets the words out of his mouth causing Suho’s brows to tense up, especially on the emphasis on 'Devil', and just like that, I start stirring shit.
“What? Where did you hear that?” Kim Suho looks at me in shuddering silence.
***
“…”
Everyone’s silence is within my expectations. I play along, waiting for someone to explode. But there is only silence between us. This is getting out of hand. I should do something.
“Do you know what is a Devil, Suho?” I lean forward with a serious tone.
With my words as a start, I break off the ice.
Suho only gazes back at me, while Nyaun warily eyes the both of us. I can tell that Chae Nayun is very nervous right now. I fear she might do something out of hand. I can only keep this conversation going if I want to survive.
Moreover, I may have agendas of my own.
Thus, I begin with my weaving of lies.
“This is serious… Two individuals already know the existence of Devils. This is bad. Has there been a Devil appearance in this world already?” I ask them, making myself sound like an outsider.
I glance at Chae Nayun waiting for an answer from her.
“No,” She shakes her head. “Just know that I know…”
“Such a flimsy excuse. I could also say the same. I still don’t forgive you for accusing me that I am a Devil. What if it is you? Maybe you are the Devil. Huh? I almost died!” I explode at her. I reason that it is only fitting for me to be angry especially if I am not the Devil.
Devils. They are dangerous existences that will lie, kill, and commit grave sins in order to achieve what they want and fulfill their sick obsessions. They invade worlds, destroy them, and repeat. They are complete monsters not knowing of morality and goodness.
Every one of us knows what a Devil is, and what they are capable of. Within Cube, if I add Hajin, we have a total of four individuals who knows the existence of those alien invaders who calls themselves Devils.
“Calm down,” Kim Suho raises his hand to intervene. “We need to talk somewhere else. This is a far more delicate matter than we can handle within the café.”
He stands up, and with a dull gaze, he addresses us with a short goodbye. “We will meet another time. Tomorrow. On the rooftop, afternoon, bring your weapons and tell your closest friend that you are going there… It is a failsafe that if a Devil is among us, and the others got killed, we can at least inform the world of its existence.”
Kim Suho is overly cautious which is understandable. Devils can disguise themselves within a person like a parasite, and as they grow, they become more and more like that person, completely and mercilessly devouring their existence as their own.
This leaves the two of us, Chae Nayun and I, alone.
Nayun stands up silently and leaves me on my own.
I hope this gambit works in my favor.
“I really need a weapon.” I gaze at my empty hand, imagining any weapon to be there, but I just cannot bring myself to pick one. “I desperately need a weapon.”
Then I realize, no one is paying yet for the cups of coffee we are drinking. “Oh fuck…”
“I fucked up…”
Her fist approaches me at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. I know it is coming. I have no particular reason to think like this, but my instincts are screaming at me to dodge.
I have to do something, so I did… I tilt my head away as fast as I can and purposefully mess up my own center of gravity so as to make myself descend faster.
“I am... [Always Here]…” I usher my only Gift, [Nobody Knows], and activate one of its effects— to blend with the background and be unnoticeable. I come to understand [Always Here] is something like hiding in plain sight.
And I believe in a combat situation, I can use this Gift to confuse my opponents for a moment to disturb their accuracy. While it is more reasonable to use [Not Here], I rather play it safe and use [Always Here] so as not to accidentally compromise myself with my lack of magic power.
I feel a cold breeze on my cheeks.
“You dodged that.” Chae Nayun smiles at me chillingly, and immediately follows another attack, immediately crouching low and unleashing a sweeping leg kick.
I see the world turn upside down.
Shifting her stance once more, Chae Nayun aims to throw another punch.
I am flipping midair, and a fist ought to come my way eager to take claim of my life. I deactivate [Always Here] and lose a negligible amount of magic power. I then activate it afterward as fast as I deactivate it.
To my surprise, my little trick seems to work as Chae Nayun misses and simply grazes my cheek.
Blood scatters from my left cheek and the stinging sensation only serve to remind me of the danger I am currently in. I dare not go invisible with [Not Here] as Nayun might just go for indiscriminately attacking her surroundings.
That will be bad not just for everyone, but also for me as I will be completely defenseless when Nayun truly does dedicate herself to throwing her big moves.
At least by presenting her with a target, I can at least prolong my life further.
I wobbly stand on my legs, as I remove myself midair with the help of gravity. Unfortunately, gravity will not remain on my side for long as Nayun grabs me by the collar of my uniform. She pulls me and throws me on the ground with magic power enforcing her limbs.
I close my eyes. I dare not see my own death happening right in front of me.
But instead of landing on a bloody mess, I end up landing gently and softly on the ground. It is not really gentle and soft as I feel my arms ache from the impact, but there are no crunch or bam, which I am thankful for. Aside from my situation, there is only a Yelp coming from Nayun.
“Ah~ Suho, what are you doing here?”
At the last microsecond, she decides to hold back. And my savior is none other than Kim Suho.
“S-s-savior-nim! It is me, the guy from the train station! Save me!” I cry to Kim Suho, the titular protagonist of Returnee Hero.
“Ignore him. I will deal with him. He is that crazy kid, you know? He is very dangerous.” Chae Nayun fervently expresses her desire to deal with me.
Kim Suho holds Nayun’s arm, and with an uncompromising expression, he tries to mediate between me and the crazy woman. “Please, no fighting… The two of you could get expelled…”
“Fighting? I am not even capable of fighting back!” I retort.
“Lies,” Nayun ferociously attacks me with her rebuttals. “You should have seen it, Suho… He dodged two of my fists simultaneously in awkward angles.”
“As I said, I cannot fight back! Ok? I am weak!” I grit my teeth, barely resisting lashing out at Nayun with the most hurtful swearing I know. If only she is not holding unto my collar, I love to just go behind Suho’s back and use him as a shield.
“He might be a Djinn disguising himself as a human. If he can dodge my attacks like that, it doesn’t make sense that he is only Rank 1111. Moreover, he can dodge my punches of that level.” The crazy woman has no plans of letting me go.
“Fuck you, if receiving a Gift from enlightenment is a crime, then I am dead! I dodged it because I am Gift-ed, you mad woman!” I am ready to stake it all and just bare my fangs on her.
“QUIET!” Kim Suho shouts at the top of his lungs with serious anger.
“After class, we meet… Nayun, come with me… I will be watching you, so don’t go causing trouble everywhere…”
***
Later on after the class dismissal, the three of them gather in a nearby café.
Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and Hyon Hyung share a circular table with each present having an equally adjacent space between them. The last thing Suho wants is a bloodbath, thus the need to space the two hostiles.
“We are classmates… we should be friendly to each other…” Suho complains.
And like two middle-grade schoolers, Nayun and Hyung start squabbling with each other.
“He is an evil bastard that must be exterminated. Come, Suho, let’s kill him!”
“She tries hitting me first. It is assault! I should be going to the police right now!”
Suho massages his forehead in disbelief. “What happened?”
The two quarreling idiots continue to exchange insults while retelling their own stories. Kim Suho’s headache is only getting more hurtful. And then… someone slips by…
Initially, Nayun and Hyung have a tacit silent agreement to not mention anything about Devils to Suho.
For Chae Nayun, it is to keep her identity secret from Suho. It becomes a tacit agreement because, in her eyes, Hyon Hyung can only agree to this. After all, revealing his Devil identity will only get him in trouble.
But Hyon Hyung instead of complying decides to throw a gambit, one that can get himself closer to Kim Suho, and at the same time dispel Chae Nayun’s suspicion.
“What even is a Devil? What are they? Like Djinns?” Hyon Hyung lets the words out of his mouth causing Suho’s brows to tense up, especially on the emphasis on 'Devil', and just like that, I start stirring shit.
“What? Where did you hear that?” Kim Suho looks at me in shuddering silence.
***
“…”
Everyone’s silence is within my expectations. I play along, waiting for someone to explode. But there is only silence between us. This is getting out of hand. I should do something.
“Do you know what is a Devil, Suho?” I lean forward with a serious tone.
With my words as a start, I break off the ice.
Suho only gazes back at me, while Nyaun warily eyes the both of us. I can tell that Chae Nayun is very nervous right now. I fear she might do something out of hand. I can only keep this conversation going if I want to survive.
Moreover, I may have agendas of my own.
Thus, I begin with my weaving of lies.
“This is serious… Two individuals already know the existence of Devils. This is bad. Has there been a Devil appearance in this world already?” I ask them, making myself sound like an outsider.
I glance at Chae Nayun waiting for an answer from her.
“No,” She shakes her head. “Just know that I know…”
“Such a flimsy excuse. I could also say the same. I still don’t forgive you for accusing me that I am a Devil. What if it is you? Maybe you are the Devil. Huh? I almost died!” I explode at her. I reason that it is only fitting for me to be angry especially if I am not the Devil.
Devils. They are dangerous existences that will lie, kill, and commit grave sins in order to achieve what they want and fulfill their sick obsessions. They invade worlds, destroy them, and repeat. They are complete monsters not knowing of morality and goodness.
Every one of us knows what a Devil is, and what they are capable of. Within Cube, if I add Hajin, we have a total of four individuals who knows the existence of those alien invaders who calls themselves Devils.
“Calm down,” Kim Suho raises his hand to intervene. “We need to talk somewhere else. This is a far more delicate matter than we can handle within the café.”
He stands up, and with a dull gaze, he addresses us with a short goodbye. “We will meet another time. Tomorrow. On the rooftop, afternoon, bring your weapons and tell your closest friend that you are going there… It is a failsafe that if a Devil is among us, and the others got killed, we can at least inform the world of its existence.”
Kim Suho is overly cautious which is understandable. Devils can disguise themselves within a person like a parasite, and as they grow, they become more and more like that person, completely and mercilessly devouring their existence as their own.
This leaves the two of us, Chae Nayun and I, alone.
Nayun stands up silently and leaves me on my own.
I hope this gambit works in my favor.
“I really need a weapon.” I gaze at my empty hand, imagining any weapon to be there, but I just cannot bring myself to pick one. “I desperately need a weapon.”
Then I realize, no one is paying yet for the cups of coffee we are drinking. “Oh fuck…”
