NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37 - The Shadow (3)
As I was getting ready for school as usual, a KakaoTalk notification sounded.
Please take care today too, Sunbae!
It was a message with that content.
During this period, people start acting like they’ve been shot in the head.
Jieun sent a slightly more stern message than usual, saying she needed to be cautious just in case.
Perhaps she simply wants to walk together with you.
While that could be true, she was probably genuinely being cautious, right?
Just walking together with Jieun in lighter summer clothing draws incredibly sharp gazes from people.
Even if I pretend not to notice, those unpleasant gazes that seem to want to devour her must be so tiring – only Jieun would know.
Still, having recently experienced those unpleasant stares myself, I couldn’t refuse Jieun’s request.
That high school kid’s incident?
Right, Insoo’s incident.
The way people looked at me for about a week after that seems almost traumatic.
It was the first time I felt scared of people’s gazes.
It’s because you’ve only ever received friendly gazes before.
Is that not the case?
No, now I’ve experienced more than you, so if I say the crow is white, it’s white.
What nonsense is this, you lunatic?
As I was mentally bickering with Greed, Jieun spotted me and waved.
Wearing a miniskirt and a distinctive ribbon-accented sheer blouse, she looked peculiarly mature today.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
While her overall outfit seemed refreshing, such clothing undoubtedly drew more male attention.
And yet Jieun wore these kinds of outfits in summer.
That… sweat inevitably accumulates in creased areas due to biology.
Just as sweat gathers in the armpits or groin, Jieun’s… um, area sweats profusely too, she said.
So she dresses lightly, but that only draws more male gazes, a vicious cycle.
“They’ll probably start emerging slowly now.”
“I suppose so.”
“I really don’t understand why they do such things.”
Jieun’s face was tinged with disgust.
Understandable.
During seasons with lighter clothing, the number of lunatics using abilities for sexual assault increases.
“But they get caught immediately, don’t they? It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
In the hellish mid-May weather continuing summery conditions, the school bus was truly hellish.
Swaying like a bean sprout steamer, we had secured spots near the rear door.
Since Jieun disliked contact with others, I acted as a buffer, but um…
It was incredibly detrimental to mental health.
Despite trying not to be aware, Jieun’s shampoo-mixed perfume aroma wafted up.
Something like citrus or lemongrass, the dizzying scent made my head spin.
“Driver~ I’ll get off here!”
Although this was the bus serving our school, some passengers had different destinations.
As the rear door opened, an elderly woman began pushing through the human tide to exit.
Then the strange stillness among that human tide collapsed, surging over me, the buffer.
“Ugh.”
Body contact with Jieun made me feel faint.
Ah, ahh…
I immediately decided to use my abilities.
The power to prevent object degradation.
I had to prevent this awkward situation at the very least.
You can’t even handle this much, huh?
I won’t if you’re indwelling me.
Does that sound like I’ll vacate your body so you can do it? Coward.
Well, it’s worth considering then…
They say you constantly think of the other person, want to call them before bed, and so on, but I’ve never had someone like that.
The female I frequently think of, if any, is Jieun, but if asked whether this is love… well…
Still, they also say mutual affection can develop through dating, so if you weren’t here, I could positively consider it.
Now I can leave your body.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Sunbae?”
“Ah, no. Nothing.”
Greed’s words had inadvertently slipped out of my mouth.
You’re such a foolish, idiotic fellow.
If I had wanted, I could have escaped the moment that core manifested.
I didn’t harm you because if you died, I would too.
But now it’s different.
I’m a monster and you’re human – if I wanted, I could have killed you anytime.
Yet you treated me like a friend by even giving me this ‘Greed’ name… you’re truly a dimwitted human.
Hearing the monster Greed’s words made cold sweat break out across my body.
Right, that’s how it was.
Greed ‘learns’.
Constantly devouring peanuts and popcorn while just watching Netflix, I had partly viewed this monster as a friend.
But that wasn’t the case.
Bipedal animals cannot survive in nature.
With two heads but one body, the stronger side dominates unilaterally.
Even then, imperfect coexistence makes hunting difficult, preventing longevity.
I was definitely aware of that situation, maintaining vigilance that I could be harmed by the monster at any time…
But after the core manifested, I could be killed at any moment.
Greed’s learning doesn’t just include knowledge or common sense about human society.
By absorbing others’ abilities, analyzing how they function, Greed can skillfully use any ability with just the core.
With just the core… Greed could use my anti-degradation ability too.
If desired, Greed could reconstruct a body from the core, kill me, then use the anti-degradation ability to escape.
Or destroy my brain to dominate my consciousness, taking over my body and replacing the brain with the core.
Since Greed can already use bodily transformations, just suppressing the core’s emanations with anti-degradation would suffice.
As a D-rank monster core, there would be no issues either.
…Am I an idiot?
Considering I’ve been so casual with an entity that could kill me anytime…
“Sunbae? Sunbae? Are you okay? Sunbae!”
“Uh, uhh…”
“Is it too hot?”
With a worried expression, Jieun used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from my face.
Well, it’s unlikely to happen though.
“Huh?”
“Why?”
“No, nothing…”
If I had intended to, I would have done so already.
The monster let out his characteristic creepy snickering laughter.
I’m different from instinctual monsters. I’m an evolved being.
…Why?
Staying with you is quite enjoyable. You’re a decent host, I’d say.
Is that so?
Yes, the conclusion is that I can vacate your body anytime. Just think that even as a D-rank core, I can survive undetected by monster sensors for about 2-3 days.
2-3 days…
That should be enough time to liberate your overflowing libido too!
It seemed Greed was just amused by my reaction and wanted to tease me.
So Greed’s implication was that… if I wanted to with Jieun, he’d vacate the premises for a bit like a considerate roommate.
The monster had progressed from chilling insinuations to this level of accommodation.
A sigh of relief escaped me.
“Eek!”
Wondering what was wrong, I surveyed my situation and…
“……”
“…..””
Focused on conversing with Greed, I had ended up in an embracing posture with Jieun.
Jieun’s face was too close.
If I leaned forward slightly, it seemed our soft lips could touch – that kind of atmosphere.
As we neared the school, more people forcibly boarded the bus to avoid being late for lectures.
So no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t resolve this stuck situation with Jieun.
With summer-like weather, our lightly dressed skins were in contact.
My enhanced senses conveyed Jieun’s thunderous pulse.
Becoming aware of it made my own heart start pounding heavily too.
You were going to apprehend villains committing sexual assault, but you’re the one committing it now. Kuhuhuh.
Snapping to my senses from Greed’s words, I used my abilities to separate from Jieun’s body.
Jieun had her head deeply bowed, her expression unseen.
However, the ear peeking through her cascading hair was beet-red, as if about to burst.
Ah… aaaaahhhh!
Jieun and I didn’t exchange a single word until disembarking the bus.
That awkward atmosphere persisted even after leaving too.
Glancing sidelong, my gaze met Jieun’s downcast eyes.
“….”
“….”
Should I… apologize?
But apologizing despite doing nothing wrong might make the situation even more awkward.
And how would I even apologize?
“Sorry for embracing you”?
…Am I insane?
This really doesn’t seem right.
“Shall… we go?”
“Huh?! Y, yes!”
It was the first time I’d seen someone advance with their right hand and foot together.
Unable to just abandon the robotically stiff Jieun here out of embarrassment, I headed to campus together with her.
Jieun glanced at the sky, then the ground, then beside her… then at my lips.
Her face reddened again as she repeated those actions.
I’m going mad.
She must have been that startled, that’s all~
Shut up.
Originally, we would have headed to the club room to pass time with idle chatter, but today seemed to require a different destination.
I should probably meet up with those guys who had been grumbling about me being too busy to see them lately.
“Uh, I have an appointment, so I’ll go ahead.”
“Huh, an appointment?”
“Uh, uhh. My mates said I haven’t shown my face lately, so…”
“Ah, I see. Have a good one…”
Parting ways with Jieun near the club room, I hurriedly dashed off.
With her sharp intuition, Jieun probably realized I was making excuses to flee, right?
I’m going mad.
Having met Jieun in my second year of university and living separately, we rarely took the same bus.
Yet we had never encountered such an awkward atmosphere before.
How flustered must Jieun have felt?
Just yesterday, she had expressed concern over the increasing number of lunatics committing sexual assault.
Yet the person who had vehemently told her to trust him had committed an act borderline more directly inappropriate than those villains.
In this case, it seems even if Jieun reported it, it couldn’t be dismissed as a false charge.
Shut up already.
If only you hadn’t needlessly…
I was merely warning you since my host seemed to have developed security blindness. The manifested monster’s main body hasn’t even been discovered yet.
No, you’re right about that… haah.
Enough. I need to stop talking about this.
With Jieun’s subtly cool demeanor, she likely won’t report this to the police.
It’s even unclear whether such an incident would be recognized as sexual assault in the first place.
It’ll be fine… right?