NOVEL NEXT 93. Meow Meow (1)
‘What’s this? Why is the masked magician frozen like that?’
Fides, stiff as a board after hearing the “Path of Light” reference.
Observing this, Habin suddenly had an idea.
“Oh? Come to think of it, if we wait here, we can catch that masked magician guy, can’t we?”
Fides was currently in class.
When the class ends, he’ll inevitably have to come out through this entrance.
Then there’ll be no chance for escape – caught red-handed!
[Are you going to wait?]
“Hmm…”
After a moment of contemplation, Habin shook her head.
“Nah. On second thought, waiting is too much of a hassle.”
The class had just barely started.
Waiting several dozen minutes just for that reason seemed like a waste of time, so she decided to let it go this time.
“Next time when I’m skipping class and bored, I’ll come catch him.”
“W-what are you coming to catch?”
“The masked magician.”
“Why are you going around trying to catch Fides-nim?”
As if he’d heard an unexpected statement, Chae Jiseok asked in a bewildered voice. Habin answered.
“He’s been avoiding me since earlier.”
“Fides-nim has?”
“Yeah.”
Habin muttered with a sullen expression.
“Encountering Fides is troublesome, but I can’t just sit back and watch him avoid me!”
“…?”
‘There’s that contrarian streak again.’
Habin added with a displeased look.
“Why has he been avoiding me since earlier?”
“Isn’t it just your imagination?”
“I’m going to confirm whether it’s my imagination or not! Ah, Chae-ssi, does that guy use mind-reading?”
“He shouldn’t have that kind of ability…”
“Did he overhear me saying I’d strip off his mask?”
“…?”
I think I can guess why he avoided her.
“Wouldn’t anyone be scared if someone approached them with that kind of intensity?”
‘But wait, is there anything that Fides is afraid of? Does that make sense?’
Tilting his head, Chae Jiseok mulled over what Habin had just said. Come to think of it, Hyun Habin…
Said she’d strip off his mask completely.
“A-are you really going to take off his mask?”
In fact, there had been numerous attempts to remove Fides’ mask before. Not only national intelligence agencies but even major guilds were always curious about Fides’ true identity.
Even obsessive stalker fans who were more than just fond of Fides had tried desperately to remove his mask just once.
Even now, if you search on YouTube, you’ll find scenes of strangers suddenly rushing in during Fides’ speeches, trying to remove his mask.
And that’s not all.
Eggs, skills, explosives thrown at his mask.
All attempts to remove the mask.
‘But no one has ever succeeded.’
All those attempts not only failed to remove Fides’ mask but couldn’t even scratch him. Every time, Fides dealt with these attacks without so much as flinching, maintaining a composed posture.
There’s a reason he’s ranked World #1.
In the end, no one has been able to remove Fides’ mask.
‘It’s gotten to the point where memes are circulating that the mask itself is his face, or that the mask is his true form. That says it all.’
And now Hyun Habin says she’s going to remove that mask?
If anyone else had said it, he’d try to dissuade them by citing the examples above, but of all people, it was Hyun Habin who said it.
‘Hyun Habin might actually be able to… maybe?’
After all, she’s always defied common sense.
[The constellation ‘Nearest Light’ is twinkling its eyes, wondering if it can finally learn Fides’ true identity!]
A top-secret information that even Chae Jiseok’s constellation couldn’t uncover.
‘I’m curious too, but.’
Chae Jiseok slowly shook his head.
“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“It’s too much for Fides-nim. It’s his privacy.”
“Hmm… Now that you mention it, I guess you’re right.”
Hyun Habin, who usually valued personal information. She, who had lived only checking the ‘required’ boxes when agreeing to terms, nodded with an intrigued expression. Riding this momentum, Chae Jiseok added.
“Right, everyone has things they don’t want to show.”
There were various rumors about Fides’ identity, but these days, hypotheses like these were gaining traction:
Title: The Reason Fides Hides His Face
Don’t be too curious about Fides’ face.
From what I’ve heard, he has terrible scars on his face.
└ LOL Are there still suckers who believe this kind of gossip?
└ Such a common cliché from dramas and comics; any fresh theories?
└ Please refrain from spreading rumors. The truth is Fides has trauma. Trauma about revealing his face.
└ Honestly, everyone expects him to be super handsome, so he’s probably too burdened to show his face lol
└ This must be it
└ Sigh, he should just show his face once so everyone can be disappointed and calm down. These days, Fides fans are going too far
└ Yeah, Fides is already in another class regardless of his face, no one can compare
└ Haha, I was wondering when you’d show up
└ The prevailing theory is that Fides’ mask is just his true form
└ I came in hoping for something, but as expected, everyone’s just spouting nonsense
If you have time, watch the hunter analysis specialist YouTuber Nudge’s channel. You know their credibility, right? (link)
The most plausible theory is that he must cover his face as a penalty for gaining powerful abilities.
└ Oh, that’s convincing
└ Some skills or constellations do have incomprehensible penalties.
‘The theory about penalties for skills or constellations.’
Chae Jiseok was also aware of this hypothesis.
Occasionally, extremely powerful skills or constellations come with penalties. For example, it’s said that one ranker suffered a penalty of not being able to speak a single word for an entire year in exchange for using an ultimate skill once.
In Chae Jiseok’s case, ‘Brilliant Emulation’ has a penalty of only being usable three times in a lifetime.
So the hypothesis that ‘Fides’ penalty is hiding his face’ seems plausible.
If by chance this hypothesis is true.
We might lose humanity’s greatest trump card, ‘Fides,’ just for the sake of seeing his face once.
So Chae Jiseok decided to try dissuading Hyun Habin further.
“Right. Personal information is precious, so let’s protect it more.”
“Hmm…”
“Well then, shall we go over there to watch my sister’s class?”
“Huh…?”
“Come on, let’s go!”
Chae Jiseok hastily changed the subject, grabbed Hyun Habin’s shoulder, and quickly left the area.
Thanks to this, they were able to head back to Chae Jise’s classroom, leaving Fides’ classroom behind. Habin, being dragged along, added as if making an excuse.
“No… Chae-ssi, there’s no need to be this urgent. I told you before, right? I’ll postpone taking off the masked magician’s mask for a while.”
“You said you’d postpone it, not that you wouldn’t do it at all!”
“Ah, Chae-ssi! You’re quite sharp!”
“Well, anyway, this is my sister’s classroom.”
They had arrived.
The classroom where Chae Jise was teaching.
The class was in full swing. Chae Jise’s voice could be heard from the corridor outside the classroom.
“…Those of you here are magic school students, so you don’t just have healing skills, right? I heard you’re all dual-class.”
“That’s right!”
The students attending the lecture were magic class students who also had healing-type skills as a secondary ability. Chae Jise was giving a special lecture for them.
‘Wow, as expected of unni. Even her lecturing is great!’
Professional gestures, flawless pronunciation, and a warm smile towards the students.
There couldn’t be a more perfect teacher.
Habin glanced into the classroom, letting out an admiring sigh.
‘Maybe I should have attended one of these special lectures after all?’
Just then, Chae Jise nodded at the students’ responses and opened her mouth.
“Good. Then I’ll share my strategy as a healer with you this time.”
“Gasp, Chae Jise-nim’s… I mean, Teacher Chae Jise’s strategy!”
“What is it?”
The students leaned in, their eyes sparkling. Chae Jise seemed to enjoy their reaction, her eyes crinkling with a smile before she spoke decisively.
“Repeat after me. The best healer…”
“The best healer!”
“Is one who eliminates the enemy before allies can be attacked!”
“Before allies can be attacked… Huh?”
“If you kill all the opponents before they can hit you, there’s no chance of getting hurt, right?”
“……”
“That’s the ultimate healing!”
“…?”
An unexpected statement was met with silence. Watching this, Chae Jiseok covered his eyes with a sigh.
“Why is she saying that there too…”
Surveying the bewildered students, Chae Jise smiled.
“Of course, I’m joking, everyone.”
‘It’s not a joke at all!’
Chae Jiseok knew better than anyone. His sister tended to wipe out all enemies with that motto. Although her lightning-fast care for the wounded in between showed that no one died when she was around.
Just then, Chae Jise was adding an explanation.
“But if you can do it, it’s not a bad method. You’re all dual-class, after all. Unless healing skills are your main focus, it’s more efficient to prioritize dealing proper damage while minimizing your own injuries rather than relying on healing. It’s also quite important to calculate manageable damage during attacks and use healing efficiently at crucial moments. So today, let’s talk about the calculation method for using auxiliary healing skills at the right time.”
‘Thankfully, the latter part is sensible.’
‘You should listen to people all the way through, Chae-ssi. Our unni must have had her reasons!’
‘The fact that this was a thoughtful statement is even more surprising to me?’
As they were chatting in the corridor.
At that moment,
Tip, tap.
They turned their heads at the sound of something quietly approaching.
“…!”
“What’s that?”
-Me, meo…
What caught their eye was.
-Meow, meow.
A pitch-black animal making a strange cry.
“…A cat?”
Habin tilted her head. The animal looked like a small, plump cat. Habin’s eyes sparkled.
“Here, kitty kitty! Coochy coo!”
-Me, meooow!
However, the black cat, upon spotting Habin, widened its eyes and trembled as if terrified.
“Huh?”
“Hey, looks like it’s scared of you.”
“What? That can’t be! I’m so popular with animals!”
Despite appearances, Habin had even played well with Kriksha’s pet when she went to the Demon Realm.
‘That three-headed dog. It was cute.’
The dog that would lower its head and wag its tail whenever it saw Habin.
‘I even gave it the nickname Cerby!’
She had promised to bring dog treats next time she visited the Demon Realm. Anyway, Habin crouched down and examined the cat carefully.
“Hmm, strange. It feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”
-Meo…ow!
The cat turned its head, startled by those words. However, Habin seemed more suspicious and stepped closer to the cat.
“Besides, doesn’t that guy’s cry sound weird?”
“Oh? You’re right.”
Chae Jiseok raised his eyebrows in agreement.
A strange cry, and a trembling cat.
“Is it sick somewhere?”
“Why does it cry ‘meow’ like that?”
As they tilted their heads, the black cat cautiously opened its mouth again, watching their reactions.
-Meo…ooow!
“Huh?”
-Meooow! Meoweooow!
The cat lifted its head proudly and meowed loudly. Habin nodded with a relieved expression.
“Oh? Now it’s crying more like a cat! I guess it was just scared of us earlier.”
“Seems so.”
-Meoweow! Meow!
The cat, seemingly pleased with their conclusion, meowed freely with a smile. Just as Habin was about to reach out her hand towards the cat’s head.
“…So you were here.”
Another voice cut in. Habin and Jiseok turned towards it.
Kang Taeseo was standing at the end of the corridor.
“Oh? Taeseo?”
“…!”
After freezing for a moment upon seeing Habin, he strode towards the cat. The black cat ran towards Kang Taeseo as if it had been waiting for him.
-Meow! Meo…ow! (Why are you so late, human! I thought I was going to die of fear!)
“Was it a cat you know, Taeseo?”
“…Yeah.”