Chapter 7

“Phew.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I stepped out of the alley. My heart was still pounding wildly.

I knew that Bae Sung-hyun wasn't the best person, but I didn't expect him to be this reckless.

I thought there might be a fight, so I used the power of Conservatism in advance.

However, due to the poor state of Conservatism, the power didn't activate except when we shook hands.

If we had ended up fighting, it would have been a real disaster.

Actually, thinking about it, it's kind of funny that I'm even worrying about this. It was hard to understand why Bae Sung-hyun, a complete troublemaker, was chosen as the representative of the freshmen.

There was a theory, almost like a conspiracy, that "Florence values ability and wealth over faith and character."

At the time, I dismissed it as a rumor, but seeing Bae Sung-hyun, it seemed to be true.

“Wow, that was cool. ‘Immature and pitiful. Just that.’ Oh, I got goosebumps at that part.”

“Hey, stop imitating me.”

“This is cool too. ‘Stop imitating me.’ Kya.”

Koo Jun-hyuk mocked me as soon as we stepped out of the alley, ignoring my requests to stop.

I eventually gave up. As we walked and joked, Jung In-a seemed to be deep in thought, her head bowed.

“Jung In-a.”

“Ah! What? Why?”

She looked up, startled, when I called her.

“Why are you like this?”

“Ah, just... Earlier, there was that kid who was lying down. I'm a bit worried about him.”

She seemed to be thinking about the boy who was being bullied by Bae Sung-hyun's gang. She felt a slight sense of guilt for not helping him.

“If we help him, we'll just get beaten up later. It's better to just stay out of it.”

Koo Jun-hyuk, who had been imitating my tone, said this nonchalantly. It was a reasonable point.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Her tone was tinged with bitterness.

After walking for a while, we arrived at Jung In-a's house. It was a two-story house with a yard and an attic.

She seemed unsatisfied with her house, but it was much better than the shabby apartment where I lived.

“See you tomorrow!”

She said this and went inside.

Koo Jun-hyuk and I continued walking, chatting about trivial things. After about five minutes, we reached the apartment where I lived.

Just as I was about to enter, a thought crossed my mind.

“Koo Jun-hyuk.”

“Yeah?”

“Where do you live?”

Koo Jun-hyuk scratched his head, looking uncomfortable.

“Just around here.”

He then gave an awkward smile.

Well, he probably has his reasons. Everyone has secrets, just like me.

I shrugged it off and entered my room.

* * *

Two days passed uneventfully, and the weekend arrived. The morning of the weekend was sweet. The sunlight filtering through the window was just warm enough, and the breeze was refreshing.

It was a perfect day for a date with a girlfriend. Not that I had a girlfriend, but you know.

Anyway, I got up around 9:00, gathered my mask and clothes, and went outside. Uncle Lee Jin-sung's car was parked in front of the apartment.

Beep!

As I approached the car, Uncle Lee Jin-sung honked cheerfully. I got in the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt. Uncle Lee set the destination on the navigation system and spoke.

“What’s that? Did you bring it?”

Uncle Lee had recently taken to using “that” as a pronoun for everything. Maybe it was because of his age.

“What’s what?”

“That. That, ah! The mask. Did you bring the mask?”

“Yeah, I brought it. It’s in the bag.”

I tapped the bag with my fingertips. A dry rattle came from inside.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Uncle Lee was a skilled driver. He was good at everything.

I looked out the window at the world passing by. I felt uneasy.

“Ah, yeah.”

Rekba said confidently, but my unease didn’t go away.

We were heading to the dBP Corporation附属医院, where we would try to wake the president’s wife from her coma.

With the altar gone, Roa’s power was greatly weakened. I wasn’t sure if I could pull this off.

“Your phone keeps ringing. Is it a friend?”

Uncle Lee asked casually while driving. I checked my phone for missed messages.

There were a few from Jung In-a, a few from Koo Jun-hyuk, and dozens of spam messages.

“Yeah, friends.”

I explained it as friends because there were messages from Jung In-a and Koo Jun-hyuk.

“You seem to be adapting well. You’ve even made friends. How are the kids?”

“They’re all nice. It’s a seminary school, after all.”

“Is that so? Then you should be fine at school. In the old days, there were a lot of kids who bullied others. But, well, it’s Florence, so there probably aren’t any like that.”

Bae Sung-hyun came to mind, but I didn’t mention him.

“Right, Uncle.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Didn’t you say you bought dBP Corporation stock?”

Uncle Lee pondered for a moment while holding the steering wheel.

“Yeah, I bought a bit a while back. It’s a good stock.”

“Sell it a week from now.”

“Huh? Why?”

“I think it’s going to drop soon.”

Uncle Lee tilted his head at my words.

“Why? Do you have a reason?”

“I do, but for now, it’s just a feeling.”

“What, you’re going to trade stocks based on a feeling? Forget it.”

Uncle Lee dismissed my advice. I couldn’t force him to sell if he didn’t want to. He would have to deal with the consequences.

I turned my gaze back to the world passing by outside the window.

Before I knew it, I had dozed off and opened my eyes to find the car had arrived at our destination.

A massive building stood prominently in the middle of the city. The dBP Corporation附属医院, or dBP Hospital for short.

We got out of the car and immediately boarded the VIP elevator. I took the mask out of my bag and put it on.

Ding!

After a pleasant sound, the elevator reached the top floor. The doors opened, and two large men blocked our path.

“What is your name?”

“I’m Kim Sung-jin. The president will know me.”

“Please wait here.”

The two men quickly disappeared and returned a few seconds later.

“Apologies. Please come this way.”

The men led us. We followed them down a corridor lined with high-end aquariums and flower pots, eventually reaching a room.

The room smelled strongly of disinfectant, and the lighting was dim and gloomy.

In the center of the room, someone who appeared to be the president of dBP Corporation was seated.

“Wait outside.”

The president spoke, and the two large men bowed and left the room.

The president weakly stood up and shuffled over to us, extending a bony hand for a handshake.

“You’re the one I assigned, right? Kim Sung-jin?”

“Yes, I’m Kim Sung-jin.”

Uncle Lee stood straight and shook hands.

“Kim Sung-jin” was the pseudonym Uncle Lee used when taking on assignments.

“And who is this?”

Bae Jung-hwan turned to me after shaking hands. He seemed puzzled by me standing silently with a skull mask on.

“This is the High Priest. All the rituals will be conducted through him.”

“Aha, the High Priest. I see, I understand.”

Bae Jung-hwan slowly nodded. I didn’t need to say anything.

Uncle Lee had decided in advance to speak for me.

“Shall we get straight to the point, Mr. President? Or would you like to have some tea and chat a bit?”

“Let’s get to the point.”

“Can we turn on the lights? It’s too dark to properly check the patient’s condition.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Uncle Lee flipped the switch, and the lights turned on with a click.

The wrinkles on Bae Jung-hwan’s face became more pronounced in the light. At the same time, black-clad security guards who had been hiding in the room revealed themselves.

“Whoa, what’s this, Mr. President? This is different from what we discussed.”

Uncle Lee looked frightened as he saw the guards.

“Don’t worry. I just had them wait in case. There are too many scammers trying to take my money.”

“Aha. What happened to those scammers?”

“Didn’t you see the aquarium on the way here? The big one.”

Bae Jung-hwan smiled cruelly.

“I fed them to the fish. Chopped up.”

“Ah. Cough, oh. Ha ha. Well, we’re not scammers, so don’t worry. We will definitely save your wife.”

“Of course, we must. For both our sakes. Right?”

“Yeah, ha ha.”

Uncle Lee took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

I felt even more nervous. The easygoing attitude that it would be okay even if we failed had disappeared.

If we fail, we die. We must succeed.

I approached the patient lying on the bed. The patient’s face was pale, and their breathing was weak. Their arms were thin like dry twigs. The patient monitor beeped regularly.

After seeing the patient’s condition with my own eyes, my trembling heart finally calmed down.

As Rekba said, the condition wasn’t that bad. It didn’t seem like we would end up as fish food.

I placed my hand on the patient’s forehead to perform the ritual. Bae Jung-hwan, who had been watching me, flinched and stood up.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s part of the ritual. Don’t worry.”

“Hmm.”

Bae Jung-hwan bit his lip, looking uneasy. He clearly didn’t trust us.

I ignored him and focused all my attention on the ritual.

I released necromantic power and drew five magical arrays in the air. Rekba’s voice echoed in my head.

I couldn’t understand the exact meaning, but it seemed to include words like death, life, and resurrection. Rekba’s voice gradually sped up.

As the ritual reached its peak.

Swish!

Purple bandages poured out from the magical arrays I had drawn. More accurately, “something in the shape of bandages” wrapped the patient’s body tightly.

Beep— Beep—

At the same time, the heart monitor’s beeps started to slow down. The patient’s breathing became increasingly shallow, a precarious sound that suggested they might stop breathing at any moment.

Bae Jung-hwan was gnawing his nails until they bled, unable to stop biting his lip.

Finally, when Rekba’s voice stopped.

Beep—

The heart monitor also stopped, indicating that the patient had gone into cardiac arrest.

Silence followed.

“Ha, ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. Ha— hu.”

Bae Jung-hwan broke the silence with a mad laugh.

“Seize them.”

He gave the order to the hidden guards in a cold, harsh tone.

“Wait, just 30 seconds. No, 1 minute—!”

“Shut up. It’s my fault for trusting scammers like you. My fault. My big fault...”

The guards firmly held Uncle Lee, who was trying to escape, and roughly bound his wrists and ankles with cable ties. They then approached me.

I quickly looked around for an escape route, but there was none.

“So, I told you I was worried!”

Rekba remained calm even in this situation.

I cursed Rekba and released necromantic power from my fingertips. I couldn’t die like this. I intended to resist.

Just as I had drawn half of the highest-level illusionary array in the air.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

A clear voice from the bed interrupted the chaos.

Bae Jung-hwan’s wife had woken up from her coma.

“My head. How long have I been sleeping? Where am I?”

“Dear, dear.”

Bae Jung-hwan, who had been immersed in anger and despair, suddenly regained his composure. His face was filled with a mix of emotions: joy, sorrow, amazement, and relief.

All the emotions he had suppressed for so long overflowed and streamed down his cheeks as tears.

“What are all these people doing here? What time is it? I feel like I’ve been sleeping for a long time.”

“It hasn’t been long. Just a short nap... Think of it that way.”

“Why is he suddenly crying and making a fuss? Why do you look so old? You.”

Everyone in the room watched the emotional reunion in silence. It was a scene that couldn’t be watched without tears.

I don’t usually cry, but I felt a sense of relief at the thought that she was alive.

Despite the twists and turns, the ritual was a success.

“Hey, High Priest. Can you untie this? Quickly.”

Uncle Lee, who had been bound like a worm with cable ties, was wriggling. I used the guard’s saw to cut him free.

Why did the guard have a saw? Was he planning to cut us up?

It was a chilling thought.

“I thought I was going to die. Phew.”

After I freed him, Uncle Lee quickly stood up, straightened his clothes, and glared at the guards around him before walking over to Bae Jung-hwan.

“Mr. President, I understand you’re happy, but we still have things to discuss.”

“Oh, right! I’m sorry. I acted foolishly in front of the guests.”

Bae Jung-hwan wiped his tears with a handkerchief. Unlike his earlier condescending attitude, he was now extremely polite.

Bae Jung-hwan quickly wrapped up the emotional reunion with his wife and led us to the VIP room. He kept bowing and thanking us as he guided us.

Seeing Bae Jung-hwan like this, my feelings were somewhat complex.

We weren’t exactly friends, but still.

Bae Jung-hwan was the president of dBP Corporation. At the same time, he was a loving husband who cherished his wife.

And he was Bae Sung-hyun’s father.

(To be continued)