Chapter 220
At the sudden presence, everyone simultaneously turned their bodies.
A female student neatly dressed in a school uniform was slowly approaching them.
Even in this urgent situation, her composed demeanor felt rather unnatural. Lee Hyun, upon seeing her, immediately speculated as to her true identity.
The one speaking now wasn't the student herself but someone beyond her. In other words, the mastermind behind this situation.
And perhaps...
"What do you mean?"
"It means struggling will be in vain."
Lee Hyun handed Professor Shin Jae-yu, whom he was holding, over to Jin Yeseo and stepped forward. The unfamiliar female student smirked faintly as she stared at him.
"Anyway, there's nothing you can do now. Instead of wasting time, wouldn't it be better to exchange last confessions with each other?"
"Did you come here just to mock us?"
"Well, that too... and I also have some business to take care of."
She covered her mouth with her hand and let out a bashful laugh.
"Business?"
"Yes. To be precise, with you."
Then, she tilted her head and pointed at Lee Hyun.
"Come to the main building rooftop. I'll be waiting there."
The girl, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly added as if she had just remembered something.
"Oh, but you have to come alone. Uninvited guests on a date are a bit... you know?"
"What nonsense are you talking about...?!"
At that, Jin Yeseo snapped in anger and shouted at her.
"Who do you think you're fooling? You're telling him to come alone, thinking we don't know what you're plotting? Do you think I'll just stand by and watch?"
"Well, it's better if you do nothing but watch."
The student continued speaking nonchalantly.
"If you refuse my proposal, I'll immediately detonate the core underground."
"What...!"
Seeing Jin Yeseo at a loss for words, she let out a faint mocking laugh.
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to just let Hyun go? Hmm? At least live a little longer."
"You wretched woman, how dare you speak his name so freely..."
Jin Yeseo glared at her, grinding her teeth furiously. Guk Jaeryong, sweating profusely and watching nervously, carefully opened his mouth.
"Hey, hey. Just say you'll let him go. A noble sacrifice to be remembered in history..."
"Hey, you bastard!! How can you even say that...!"
"I'll go."
Jin Yeseo, just as she was about to grab Guk Jaeryong by the collar with ferocity, suddenly turned at the calm voice coming from behind.
"Hey!"
"You made the right decision. Of course, that's what you should do."
The unfamiliar female student nodded slowly as if satisfied.
Standing still for a moment, she added another sentence as if urging an old friend.
"Then I'll be waiting... hurry up, okay?"
-Shaa...
Soon, a pale mist seemed to ripple from the girl's body, and then she disappeared. Lee Hyun ran and caught her just as she lost her balance and collapsed.
"Take her."
"Huh, huh...? Me...?"
And as Lee Hyun handed the recovered female student to Guk Jaeryong, he turned around.
Jin Yeseo, her face filled with anger, blocked his path.
"Absolutely not."
Jin Yeseo shook her head vehemently. Lee Hyun shrugged his shoulders and replied calmly.
"There's no other way anyway. If I don't go alone, she said she'll detonate the core."
"But...!!"
"Do you have a plan?"
Soon, Professor Shin Jae-yu, who had gathered her thoughts, joined in. She looked a bit unsteady, but she seemed somewhat recovered compared to before.
"...To some extent."
Lee Hyun slowly nodded at her question and gave a brief explanation.
"Then Professor No Jongha didn't betray us..."
At Lee Hyun's words that the entity occupying the girl's body until moments ago must be the mastermind behind this incident, Professor Shin Jae-yu sighed deeply.
"We should assume she was brainwashed by some means. Like that guy over there."
Lee Hyun gestured with his chin toward Guk Jaeryong, who was struggling to carry the female student, and spoke.
"I've fought something similar in the First City before. They're not the type of enemy that can't be beaten. They're manageable."
"Hmm..."
"Professor, please inform others of the current situation. While I confront her, I'll try to figure out a way to resolve this."
Lee Hyun continued persuading Professor Shin Jae-yu, who looked hesitant.
"If that truly is the mastermind behind this incident, she might know how to suppress the core's overload and prevent the explosion. If not, I'll at least try to buy us some time."
"No... absolutely not..."
Tears welling up in her eyes, Jin Yeseo desperately shook her head.
"In the end, you're just saying you'll die alone..."
Easier said than done. Even in the First City, they had narrowly escaped a terrifying death. Knowing how powerful the enemy was, she couldn't let him walk into that peril.
"Haah..."
However, Professor Shin Jae-yu, who had been holding her forehead in anguish, ultimately had no choice but to nod.
"...Alright."
"Professor?!"
Jin Yeseo turned to Professor Shin Jae-yu in shock, but she seemed to have already made up her mind. After all, Lee Hyun's proposal was the most plausible way to resolve the situation.
"We have no choice but to do as you say. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"No..."
Just as Lee Hyun was about to shake his head, his gaze fell on her waist.
"...Professor, may I borrow your blade?"
"Mine?"
"Yes. I don't have a proper weapon at the moment..."
"Alright. I wasn't using it much anyway, so it's only right for someone who needs it to use it."
Without much hesitation, Professor Shin Jae-yu nodded willingly.
"Oh, if only I hadn't been ambushed earlier, I could've wiped them all out with this..."
She grumbled lightly as she unfastened the blade from her waistline.
And just as she was about to hand it over to Lee Hyun.
Professor Shin Jae-yu, who seemed to be contemplating something, suddenly stopped and hugged Lee Hyun tightly.
"Huh?"
Jin Yeseo unknowingly glared fiercely at Professor Shin Jae-yu. The mask was buried deep between the valleys, making it impossible to see properly.
"I'm sorry. As a professor, I should be helping my student, but now it feels like I'm sending you into the jaws of death..."
Professor Shin Jae-yu, cradling Lee Hyun in her arms, gently stroked his hair.
"...It's fine. I'm just doing what I can."
Lee Hyun nodded quietly. An unpleasant sensation, like being electrocuted by an electric eel, coursed through his body, but somehow he thought he could endure it.
"How admirable."
Professor Shin Jae-yu smiled softly, a rare departure from her usual demeanor.
"...Please come back safely. If you die... I won't be able to face him or your elder sisters..."
"Don't worry. I promise I'll return alive."
Finally, the female professor released Lee Hyun and handed him a sleekly designed blade.
"Take it. It's called the XR-5 Plasmite. It's not quite as good as your Marvellous Blade, but it should be fairly useful."
"Thank you. I'll use it well and return it safely."
"Hehe, of course you will. If it breaks, I'll charge you 100 times the cost."
With a final joke, Professor Shin Jae-yu turned around. Behind her was Jin Yeseo, glaring at Lee Hyun with her cheeks puffed out.
"...Did you enjoy it? Being hugged by the professor..."
"Enjoy it? No..."
"Hmph..."
Acting as if pouting, Jin Yeseo soon revealed a hint of sadness in her expression.
"Even if I tell you not to go... you're still going, aren't you?"
"That's just how it is. Well, it's better for one to die than for everyone to die together..."
At his clumsy attempt to lighten the mood with a joke, Jin Yeseo instead showed an angry expression. She stepped closer, grabbed Lee Hyun's collar, and murmured menacingly.
"Don't say such things, even as a joke. It's horrifying just to imagine. Got it?"
"...Got it. I'm sorry."
After a moment of silence, Lee Hyun nodded. Only then did Jin Yeseo, hesitating, release his collar, though she seemed to be contemplating something.
Then, after shooting a sharp glare at Professor Shin Jae-yu, she suddenly threw herself into Lee Hyun's arms.
"Oh my..."
"What am I seeing right now...? That Jin Yeseo, hugging a man...?"
Ignoring the astonished remarks of Professor Shin Jae-yu and Guk Jaeryong, Jin Yeseo clung even closer to Lee Hyun, as if trying to envelop him with her body scent.
"...You absolutely must come back."
"I told you I will."
Jin Yeseo, her eyes slightly red, whispered softly.
"If you do... I'll do anything you ask... Even the most perverted things... I'll do it all..."
"What...?"
"Just say you understand."
"...I understand."
"..."
After hearing his response, Jin Yeseo rubbed her face against him one last time before finally stepping away. In the distance, the blaring sound of emergency sirens and the screams of panicked people echoed loudly.
After exchanging a final glance with them, Lee Hyun turned and ran toward the Main Building Rooftop.
***
As Lee Hyun ran to the rooftop, Guk Jaeryong's words somehow resurfaced in his mind.
He wondered if Guk Jaeryong had misunderstood someone, but at the same time, the unfamiliar appearance of Yena he had seen last lingered in his thoughts.
Lost in thought, he now stood before a single door. Without hesitation, Lee Hyun grabbed it and yanked it open, stepping onto the rooftop.
There, someone's presence was already evident.
With her back turned to him, leaning against the railing, was the figure of a female student.
"Isn't it beautiful? Truly stunning, right?"
A clear and transparent voice spoke to him. She was gazing at the crimson field that seemed to cover the horizon like a sunset, as if savoring it. Using the screams of the people as seasoning.
"I'm glad you came. This view would have been too wasteful to witness alone."
Seeing the all-too-familiar brown hair fluttering in the wind, Lee Hyun was left in stunned disbelief as he asked.
"It was really... you...?"
"Sorry. It turned out this way."
Her words carried no trace of regret. Soon, Yena slowly turned her body toward him.
"Still... It was quite fun."
Then, with a bright smile, she spoke.
"Playing friends."