CH 23

{ Chapter 23 – Childhood Friend }

‘What? What should I do?’

Lee Se-ah, who had been trembling in contemplation, began to mutter inwardly.

‘Should I pretend I'm not home? Wouldn't that be better to do that?’

For some reason, she foresaw Lumia betraying and attacking her in the future. 

And this was the most likely future.

‘Alright, Lumia might attack me…’

The reason she was so terrified was that she didn’t know exactly when it was going to happen.

The only future scene she could see was the decisive moment.

How did that happen? She had no way of knowing when that would happen.

‘Yes, For now, I'll pretend I'm not home...’

Because of that, she decided to pretend she wasn’t home and started to step back carefully.

– Tirilililing♩

“……..!”

But just then, her smartphone started ringing.

– I see you’re inside.

Se-ah was startled and hurriedly muted the phone, but it was already too late. The ringing had already spread outside the front door.

– What are you really up to?

Lumia, who called her directly, waved her smartphone at the intercom camera and asked.

‘Let’s calm down, stay composed.’

Lee Se-ah wanted to run away somewhere right now but soon began to calm down quietly.

The front door was locked, and there was no guarantee that Lumia would kill her now.

Even though the cooldown of the ability had not passed, she was forced to use it, so the only thing she could see accurately was Lumia, who was attacking her while wearing a school uniform.

Maybe she misunderstood the situation.

“Lumia? Isn't it time for the academy? What brings you here?”

Taking a deep breath like that, Se-ah Lee asked with a smile.

She had only just realized that she was already standing at the front door. 

If that was the case, she needed to make sure not to raise Lumia's suspicion.

– Well, I stopped by because I wanted to see Se-ah.

“Then I can’t. Go to the academy before you are late…”

While talking to her like that, she was trying to escape the situation by grabbing the pod and hitting Lumia.

– Beep, beep. Beep…!

Just then, her door lock began to make a mechanical sound.

“What, what, what?”

Se-ah, who was frightened by this, urgently pressed the manual lock button.

– Beep, beep, beep…

However, the manual lock button had to be pressed and held for at least 3 seconds.

And Lumia, according to the number of times she heard it, had almost pressed all the buttons.

‘Please, please…’

At such a desperate moment, Se-ah began to pray earnestly while pressing the button so hard that her fingers went numb.

– Beep…!

Whether the prayer reached the havens, fortunately, the door lock blew a sound of input failure and was locked as it was.

“Lu, Lumia. Do you know the password to my house?”

Se-ah, who was sitting on the floor, as her tension was relieved at once, wiped the sweat from her forehead and asked a question in a trembling voice.

– Of course not.

“Yes?”

– I just tried pressing the number 0 eight times.

Then, Lumia’s absurd answer came back.

– Well, there’s no way the password is like that.

“Yeah, that’s right. I know…”

– By the way, there’s no way it’s 12345678, right?

Se-ah, who had been muttering so much with a slightly compassionate expression, stiffened at Lumia’s cold voice.

– It’s a cliché that a prophet is surprisingly absurd.

“…Hahahaha.”

She was laughing hard, but inside, she was thinking about various things.

If Lumia entered like this, would she be able to win?

Although she was a non-combat expert, Lee Se-ah herself was ranked 17th as a hero.

The reason she usually lost all security was to anticipate villains and criminals who looked down on her and approached her.

In other words, she had the confidence and the ability to defeat such villains in reverse.

‘I… can never win against her.’

However, Lumia was a being on a different level from those villains.

A perfect scorer on the academy entrance test that hasn’t appeared since Justia.

A monster that had never been defeated in the middle school course of hero education, and was already interacting and sparring with several top-ranking heroes.

In a one-on-one fight against such an existence, no matter how precognitive she was, she had no chance of winning.

– Miss. Se-ah, I came because I was worried about you.

After a while, Lumia began to speak in a soft voice to her, who started chewing her lips with an uneasy expression.

– You read the message I sent you yesterday, but didn’t reply, did you?

“Uhg…”

– So, I was really worried that something might have happened.

Lee Se-ah, who had a terrified expression on her face at those words, slowly opened her mouth.

“Well, that’s… I…”

But she couldn’t think of any excuses to make, and she soon began to stutter.

– What?

At that very moment, Lumia’s low and soft voice resounded.

– You see.

Se-ah, realizing that she was caught in the induction interrogation, closed her eyes tightly.

– That’s weird. I thought you didn’t read it because it wasn’t marked as read.

Lumia visible on the intercom, looking sideways, was still smiling.

– It’s strange, Se-ah.

It was a smile that usually looked so cute, but to Se-ah now, it was a smile that was too creepy.

– Did you foresee a strange future?

After whispering that, Lumia put the bag down on the floor, and the sound of metal clashing reverberated through the hallway.

“Uh, uhg…”

Normally, she would have thought it was just a dagger she used often, but to Sa-ah now, it had a completely different meaning.

– Miss Se-ah.

“...”

– Shall we talk for a minute?

Se-ah’s fingers, which were pressing the manual lock button, were getting whiter and whiter.

“Lumia.”

In such a state, Se-ah opened her mouth with her eyes tightly closed.

“I’m…”

At the same time, her recollection began.

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By the time Kang Ha-neul graduated from the academy, the weather was exceptionally gloomy.

“Heaven, what are you doing?”

“…Se-ah.”

At the playground where they used to spend their time as children, Se-ah Lee ran into Kang Ha-neul.

“What’s going on?”

“……..”

The expression that Kang Ha-neul was making at that time was still not forgotten.

An empty expression as if he had lost everything in the world.

Empty eyes with no hope.

The mischievous personality that used to bring joy to others was nowhere to be found.

He looked like a withered flower, beaten down by the wind and trampled underfoot.

To put it metaphorically, Kang Ha-neul sat on a bench, lost in thought.

“Himari broke up with me.”

“ah…”

It soon became apparent why Kang Ha-neul was so distraught.

It was because he had received a breakup notice from Himari, which would have been a severe blow to his already fragile mental state.

“I saw her today, while walking down the street. She was at a café, talking to that guy.”

“…That guy?”

It was even worse news if Himari's new love interest was the opponent of Kang Ha-neul.

“You know him, right? The child of prophecy.”

“ah…..”

“Noona likes to take care of that child.”

With that, Kang Ha-neul managed a smile.

“She looked very happy. Himari...”

“……..”

“She had never shown me that kind of smile.”

She didn’t know what to say, so as she was looking down at him, Kang Ha-neul, who had been lowering his head, suddenly asked a question.

“You know, Se-ah.”

“Yes?”

“You won’t leave me, right?”

That moment was the moment when Se-ah put her last hope on him.

“…Of course.”

With a trembling voice, Se-ah answered that way.

“I will always be by your side.”

She hoped these words would change that terrible future.

“…Thank you.”

Hearing that, Kang Ha-neul was smiling brightly after a long time indeed.

“Now I only have you and Justia.”

His trembling hands wrapped around hers.

“So please.”

“…….”

“Don’t leave me.”

How much time had passed since then?

“…Should I walk?”

Se-ah, who took a backward step and escaped from Kang Ha-neul’s hand, quietly turned her back and began to walk.

“Se-ah?”

Even though Kang Ha-neul staggered and got up from the bench, she did not slow down.

‘…I’m sorry, Ha-neul.’

Even though she was with him until the end, even though she tried to give up everything, she quietly stared at the terrible future that hadn’t changed at all.

‘But I’m exhausted, too.’

That day, Lee Se-ah left Kang Ha-neul.

“Ooh, it’s been a while… Do you want to eat together?”

In an unusual atmosphere, she left behind him who had been shouting urgently.

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After quietly reminiscing, Lee Se-ah began to speak in a trembling voice.

“I trust you…”

Then, Lumia began to make a mysterious expression.

“You were the only one who changed that terrifying future, wasn’t it?”

Looking at her through the intercom, Se-ah continued the conversation.

“So I’ll believe you. No matter what.”

– What…

“Even if you’re going to throw me away.”

- ....

“I will follow you till the end.”

A long silence began when those words were finished.

– Hey, what are you talking about?

Breaking that silence, Lumia’s voice came through the intercom.

– I don’t know what’s going on but don’t worry too much.

Lumia was scratching her head and lifting her bag again.

– There’s no way I can abandon Se-ah, right?

Before long, she smiled and whispered into the camera, nodded, and turned around.

– Well, see you later.

With that said, Lumia quietly left the front door.

“…Huh.”

After checking it several times, Se-ah fell to the floor as if collapsing.

“Wait, it was dangerous…”

It was fortunate that they weren’t face to face.

If she had been face to face with her, she wouldn’t have been able to hide her terrified expression.

– Ahhh…

Ignoring the cooldown and using it again, bloody tears were flowing from her eyes.

“Help, I need to ask for help…”

Se-ah, who was shivering in a cold sweat, mumbled as she forced herself to stand up.

She had to ask someone for help right away.

She had to let them know that Lumia was dangerous, and prepare for it.

“…By the way, to whom?”

However, even if Lumia’s closest aides, Absolute Commander, and Minamoto Himari, were left out, there was no one to ask for help.

Thanks to the name she had lent, the whole world was already on Lumia’s side.

If she tried to recover that name now, she would only be advancing the scene in the prophecy.

“Who should I ask for help now…?”

Thanks to this, Lee Se-ah was confused.

In fact, there was a workaround.

For some reason, a scene that didn’t exist in the early morning was created on the previous day.

But on the contrary, it was causing great confusion.

“No matter how hard I try… you’ve always betrayed me with such a terrible future.”

Someone with an appearance that resembles a Kang Ha-neul very much came to her mind-

“So, that’s why I gave up on you…”

-It was because he was desperately protecting her and blocking Lumia’s attack.

“…No way, is it really you? Kang Ha-neul?”

Se-ah's eyes, clutching her head, were trembling.

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“…Ha, you are really going to turn.”

Meanwhile at that time:

“Why would you believe me there…”

Lumia, who was walking down the street, murmured with a dejected expression.

“Betray me quickly and help Kang Ha-neul sunbai, damn it.”

-Grrrr

“By the way, what the hell did this mother f**ker do to them?”

At the intense will of the body owner before possession, her hands began to tremble quietly.

“…with the same misogyny, don’t you have a bit of mutual support?”

Then, muttering like that, it was Lumia, who rushed to the academy.