NOVEL NEXT Episode 36 – The Line That Must Be Protected (6)
The demon residing in Kim Soo-jung’s body was the initial demon personally manipulated by Mamute. The command programmed into that demon was, fittingly, just one:
“Maximize the subject’s dark side and execute the desires that emerge from it.”
Having already been completely taken over by that demon, Kim Soo-jung occasionally revealed her nature based on addiction and obsession, showing a strong fixation on Lee Jin-ah.
The reason it hadn’t been obvious to others was simply that the object of her obsession was an extraordinary being, so she was quickly suppressed each time, receiving powerful hits in return.
Even the demon controlling her body had to settle for being a witness to the relentless and tough suppression, while Kim Soo-jung, filled with pent-up anger, unleashed it on Jeon So-hyun.
“Am I… easy?! Soo-jung!!”
However, contrary to Kim Soo-jung’s memories, Jeon So-hyun was not just an ordinary girl.
With bulging arm muscles, Jeon So-hyun kicked her body fiercely.
As the chair toppled with a loud crash, panting for breath, Jeon So-hyun gazed at her arms, taking a sharp intake of breath.
Electric sparks glimmered blue from her hands.
‘With this power…’
She instinctively felt that she could use this psychic ability to drive the demon occupying her sister’s body away.
“Y-You!!!”
“Ugh!”
So she lunged forward, hands outstretched. It worked. The moment she grabbed her, Kim Soo-jung, whose eyes were stained black and growling, began to scream and foam at the mouth.
“What’s going on?! Open the door! Guys!”
This fierce battle was finally calmed down when the teacher who was alerted by the commotion knocked on the door and shouted, eventually bringing others to break it down.
*
My ears perked up. While I was quietly sitting in my chair, the area beyond the magic mirror was noisy.
[Hey. Go listen.]
“I’m not your errand boy… Ugh.”
I kicked Ren, who was dozing on the floor, and spoke. Complaining but rubbing his rear, Ren scampered out.
“…Are you uncomfortable?”
“No, not really. If I had to pick, I’d say I’m fine, but the examinations take too long.”
At that, the middle-aged lady, a psychologist or counselor (not sure which) sitting in front of me, hesitantly opened her mouth.
I sighed and shook my head.
It was unavoidable for my peaceful life and my “ordinary person” cosplay, but the numerous tests and psychological evaluations made me feel almost like a plague victim, which was honestly irritating. I definitely hadn’t even participated in actual experiments.
“Just hang in there. The other kids are really struggling. You might have some issues too.”
“Is that so? I don’t think so.”
I couldn’t help but click my tongue. Is being too normal a problem? I should be moving to catch Mamute, but getting held up like this was beyond my calculations.
“Hey! Looks like something’s happened!”
At that moment, Ren, who I had sent to scout outside, passed through the locked door like a ghost and came running over, his little legs flapping.
[What’s going on?]
“Kim Soo-jung. Your friend possessed by a demon. It seems like others have finally caught on!”
[…What?]
“And you know Jeon So-hyun, right? That girl got caught too. Something about psychic abilities.”
[What nonsense is that?]
Ignoring the look of disbelief from the doctor, I stiffened at Ren’s words.
“Are you really going to help them?”
“No, saying help is a bit much; I’m just checking it out.”
“…Fine, I guess.”
That night, I managed to escape the research facility. They stripped me down, took photos, scanned me, drew blood, treated me like a bomb, and kept me locked in a room with no privacy—thanks to the magic mirror—for half a day, but I’d rather not argue about it.
“Um, Jin-ah. I don’t know how to say this, but…”
In the car heading to a nearby facility, my teacher, Lee Sun-young, struggled to speak, her face weary.
“I don’t think it makes sense to hide this. Your friend Soo-jung… actually…”
“She’s possessed by a demon?”
“H-how did you…!”
I let out a snicker and jumped in, causing her eyes to widen in shock.
“Did Soo-jung do something?!”
“No, not really.”
I could tell her about how I almost knocked her out with a wrench and how the demon got timid after a few punches, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. It was an opportunity to confirm that even demons could be scared into submission.
“Cough, well, anyway, Soo-jung is getting treatment elsewhere. Do you want to stay with the other kids for a while? Rules say you can’t stay alone at night.”
“Sure, why not.”
“…You truly have a soul of steel.”
She forced a smile. It wasn’t that my mind was made of steel; it’s just that my threshold for mental shocks was quite high, but that’s how others saw me.
Pretending to act like a kid was exhausting, anyway, so I had given it up.
“Go on… just take a break for now. If you want to skip school tomorrow, you can.”
Before I knew it, the vehicle had arrived at the facility. Lee Sun-young guided me not to my room, but to another place.
It was one of the rooms where kids my age stayed, and I was supposed to spread a blanket on the floor and sleep there.
“Hey, you better tie your hands while you sleep.”
“Yeah. And don’t come near me. You’re gross.”
However, as soon as these two girls I barely greeted saw Lee Sun-young leave, their cute true colors came out.
“Oh, I don’t quite get it… Is that really the right thing to say on a first meeting?”
“W-Why are we strangers?! We go to the same school! I’m Park Eun-young. This is Lee Ji-sun!”
I let out a hollow laugh, and one of them got flustered and pointed at herself and her friend.
Only then did I nod. Now that I think about it, there were kids like this too. With no interest in my surroundings, unless someone like Hong Soo-young or Kang Jin-soo approached me first, I wouldn’t remember their names or faces.
“Sure. I get that, but I still don’t understand everything else.”
“You, you were experimented on while alive!”
“They said it was a horrific experiment turning living girls into monsters on YouTube!”
The girls took turns squealing in a way that was grating enough to wrinkle my brow. However, what irked me even more than their clueless, high-pitched voices was the fact that they were genuinely terrified.
“What if you suddenly turn on us while we’re sleeping? So, tie your hands when you go to bed.”
“And also, we can’t get infected, so stay away!”
These kids were far too afraid, and that fear was clouding their judgment. What on earth had instilled such ridiculous misconceptions in them? It wasn’t just one or two, but it was all too clear in this day and age.
“I just came from all those tests. The doctor even said I’m fine. I wasn’t even experimented on. Of course, there are real victims out there. But do you think it’s okay to treat them as monsters? The ones who were wronged?”
“But what about the YouTuber Puma…”
“If you’re in the facility, you should know. How are the people in this facility perceived by others? It shouldn’t be this factionalized even internally.”
I released my magical energy, weighing down on them. Unable to bear the powerful aura, these kids’ eyes glazed over and they quickly staggered and collapsed.
I didn’t even plan to sleep today. I laid the kids down on the bed.
“…Are you going to catch Mamute?”
“Yeah. But first, I want to take care of one little problem. It would be nice if I could find out where that YouTuber Puma lives.”
Is he a villain? It didn’t even matter.
A garbage cyber merchant who uses other people’s deaths and scars as a means of profit, arguing whether he’s good or evil is of no concern.
With my mood souring tremendously, I immediately escaped the facility and soared into the sky.
“Takilas…”
“Takilas! Stop right there!”
Behind me, a few fearless magical girls followed me through the dim night, crossing over the apartment complex.
“Stop, but you’re still keeping your distance from me. Were you ordered to follow me around? Who was it? Aria?”
“Shut up! That’s not it!”
One magical girl shouted in outrage as she realized I hit the nail on the head, but I didn’t believe her. Her intentions were too transparent, so I simply ignored them.
They seemed to misunderstand that I was chasing Mamute right now.
“Wait! This isn’t where Mamute is—AAAH!”
“When did I say I was going to kill that egghead?”
I unleashed my magic, obliterating an entire apartment balcony as I grinned widely.
A young man sitting in front of his computer, clad only in his underwear and with a wild mop of hair, screamed and tumbled to the floor.
“Takilas, you… stop!!”
“As a cyber merchant who profits from death, you should have prepared for this level of commitment.”
I ignored the magical girls’ screams and shot shadows toward him.
In an instant, with a moment of realization, the idiot whose mouth was agape found his head flying away from his body. This must have been what Aria was trying to stop.
But I wouldn’t stop. I wouldn’t hesitate. I am the king of the demon realm. No one can halt me.