Chapter 224: Attack (3)

"Phew."

After parting ways with Lee Ho-yeon, Moon Su-rin dropped by the training ground.

It was because she couldn't calm the excitement from their meeting.

'He said he might send a photo if it's someone he knows.'

He also asked me to contact him to let him know I got home safely.

Doesn't this mean I should contact him so he can give me the photo?

"H-Heheh...."

Moon Su-rin entered her house, giggling to herself.

"Huh? The air conditioner is on. Well, whatever."

I thought I turned it off when I left... but it happens.

I probably just forgot.

Humming a tune as she hung her coat on the hanger, Moon Su-rin suddenly had a thought.

"Isn't this that? A budding romance? Are we in a budding romance right now?"

Meeting up for a meal and sending each other photos. Asking how the other is doing. Even the secret tension flowing between us.

This is definitely a budding romance.

Moon Su-rin stomped her feet, fluttering with excitement all by herself.

Thinking about it now, it was like this from the beginning.

Her favorability towards Lee Ho-yeon had been there since their first meeting.

Honestly, his face was her preference, but... the more she looked, the more she liked what was on the inside too.

He was capable and their preferences matched.

A budding romance with a man like that.

"Hehe. Heheh."

Moon Su-rin raised the corners of her mouth and adjusted her hair.

Then, using her smartwatch's camera mode, she checked her appearance from various angles.

'This isn't bad.'

It wasn't something to say with her own mouth, but... looking like this, she wouldn't lose to anyone anywhere.

It meant she wouldn't fall behind other pretty girls.

Click, click!

Having taken a quite satisfactory photograph, Moon Su-rin couldn't hold back her smile as she entered her room.

Lee Ho-yeon's words that he could send a photograph if it was someone he knew.

Moon Su-rin didn't miss that.

She had to do everything naturally.

Asking how he is naturally... while giving him an update on myself first.

She planned to send a photograph of herself under the guise of confirming she got home safely, and receive a photograph of Lee Ho-yeon in return.

'Wait, is that too contrived?'

Come to think of it, I've never sent a photograph before, so it's a bit weird to send one now.

"No. We're in a budding romance. It's totally fine."

She pondered for a moment, but soon finished her self-rationalization.

Because she heard that a man and a woman in a budding romance could do anything.

Hehehe.

Moon Su-rin picked up the photographs of Lee Ho-yeon scattered on her desk.

She had been planning to throw away her collection today... but thankfully Ho-yeon-i said it was fine, so she intended to decorate her room with the photographs again.

If anyone saw this room, they might be shocked.

Because there would be photographs plastered everywhere.

She only planned to collect the ones of Ho-yeon-i that came out well, but since all the photographs looked good, there were too many of them.

Besides that, she had also recorded Lee Ho-yeon's voice with her cellphone, which was currently stored on her smartwatch.

"Hehe... Heheheh... Ah, I should wash up first."

She had been so lost in thought about Lee Ho-yeon that she hadn't even washed her hands.

For someone who usually cared about cleanliness and washed as soon as she got home, it was a mistake she would never normally make.

Moon Su-rin was about to take off her clothes to wash up.

Right then.

Ddiring-

Her smartwatch rang as a message arrived.

"Who is it?"

The message, which arrived with a restricted caller ID, contained a photograph.

It was a view of her back as she entered her house.

"...What is this."

Moon Su-rin instantly felt a surge of disgust.

Paparazzi, no, it would be more accurate to call this an obsessive fan.

None of her obsessive fans had ever gone this far.

Setting aside the photograph, how on earth did they find out her phone number?

Ddiring-

As Moon Su-rin narrowed her brow while looking at her smartwatch, more messages arrived.

This time, it was a video.

"...."

When she played the video, something unbelievable happened.

Because the living room inside Moon Su-rin's house was being filmed.

A man was wandering around Moon Su-rin's house.

He sat on the sofa, turned the TV on, and then turned it off.

He turned on the air conditioner that had been off, touched the clothes in her closet, and sniffed them.

"...."

Gulp.

Moon Su-rin got goosebumps on her arms.

What is this.

This wasn't a normal obsessive fan.

This, this... I need to report this right away.

After looking around the house several times, the man went into the bathroom and closed the door, and with that, the video ended.

"3:40?"

That was the time shown on the clock in the living room when the assailant entered the bathroom.

Moon Su-rin checked the current time on her smartwatch.

- 3:43.

"...Huh?"

Three minutes ago.

This video was sent to me the moment it was filmed.

Realizing that fact, Moon Su-rin locked her room door immediately.

If she hadn't been lost in thought about Lee Ho-yeon.

What would have happened if she had headed straight to the bathroom to wash her hands as soon as she got home?

Gulp.

Moon Su-rin swallowed her saliva.

"A report, I need to make a report...."

This wasn't the time for this. Nothing else mattered, I need to report it first....

Knock, knock, knock.

Moon Su-rin stopped her hand that was tapping on her smartwatch.

It was a polite knocking sound on her door.

Of course, no matter how polite it was, it was a sound she shouldn't be hearing inside her house.

Moon Su-rin quickly contacted the Academy Security Team.

They would probably arrive within five minutes.

Knock, knock, knock.

The problem was whether she could hold out for those few minutes....

"Aren't you going to open it?"

"...Who are you."

Moon Su-rin attempted to make conversation.

Just for a little while.

She just needed to stall for a short time.

Then the Academy's security team could come and resolve the situation safely.

Crunch-

But the assailant didn't wait for her.

A large hole was punctured through the top of the solid wood door.

The assailant had pierced the door with his fingers and ripped a large chunk out.

"Why aren't you opening it?"

"Hngh...."

Along with the creepy voice, the assailant's face became visible.

Moon Su-rin felt goosebumps rising all over her body.

Her fear reached its peak, so not even a small sound came out.

What she saw through the smashed door was a grotesque Skull Mask.

A Skull Mask...

"A Skull Mask?"

It was a familiar mask.

There was no way she couldn't remember that.

"Ho-yeon-i...."

Because it was identical to the mask worn by the culprit who attacked Lee Ho-yeon.

"Ho-yeon-i? Ah, you mean Lee Ho-yeon. I sent someone over to him too. It's probably already over by now."

"...."

The moment she heard the demon's words, Moon Su-rin's head turned cold.

This emotion was anger.

Just as extreme fear makes one unable to scream, extreme anger actually makes one calm.

Moon Su-rin had experienced both of those today.

'I have to go.'

I have to go to Lee Ho-yeon.

I need to save him as fast as possible.

The fear, bewilderment, and panic that had filled Moon Su-rin's body vanished.

The thing she had to do right now was go to meet Lee Ho-yeon.

"Keukeuk, shouldn't you be worrying about your own safety right now, not Lee Ho-yeon's?"

"...."

Crack-

A crack formed on the demon's Skull Mask as he spoke, before it split in half.

"...Since when?"

He, an S-Rank Demon, hadn't even noticed that series of actions.

Something was wrong....

Crunch- Crackle-

"K-Keugh...?!"

Pressure was applied from all directions as every object in the house charged at the Skull Mask.

His durability wasn't weak enough to get hurt by merely being hit with home appliances, but the magic power enveloping them was the problem.

Physical force was added to the magic power flying at him at incredible speed.

Furthermore, his bones felt like they were going to shatter from the steadily increasing pressure.

The problem was that it was hard to escape this.

"What on earth is this...."

This was too different from the investigation results.

If she were this strong, I would have ambushed her.

She was an opponent he should have fought with full power, prioritizing her over the client's request.

"Die."

Moon Su-rin herself hadn't realized it, but her awakening had already begun.

She didn't gain some dramatic experience or enlightenment.

But Moon Su-rin was originally a genius.

Her state was already sufficient, but she just lacked a major trigger.

The pressure of being the Student Council President and the attention of the people that always weighed her down.

By finding something more important than those things, she was able to let everything go.

"You people touched something you shouldn't have."

We just started our budding romance, too.

By whose permission do you touch Lee Ho-yeon?

*

I arrived quickly at the dormitory with Rebecca's help.

Thanks to the absurd application of accelerating the space inside the Rune Barrier, we were able to shorten the time tremendously.

"...It looks fine on the outside."

The dormitory looked fine on the outside.

But I could notice it if I got a little closer.

I could feel Liriana's magic power.

"A barrier has been set up. That's a magic power I don't recognize either."

Rebecca seemed to have felt the barrier too, slightly frowning her eyes.

"Yes. It's the magic power of someone I know. I need to go in quickly."

I headed for the dormitory as fast as possible.

Ddiring-

"Liriana! Nam Da-eun!"

I opened the door like I was breaking it and entered the dormitory without even taking off my shoes.

And then I could see it.

It was a gruesome scene that couldn't be seen from the outside because of the barrier.

Miserably smashed windows and walls.

Torn apart beds, TVs, and appliances like the refrigerator.

Even the refrigerator and the closet were split in two.

The most important thing was....

The demon tied up in Liriana's magic power in the middle of the living room with his four limbs cut off.

A familiar Skull Mask had fallen next to the demon.

"...What is this."

Unable to hide my bewilderment, I looked at the two standing next to him.

Liriana, who was relatively clean but had blood splattered on her body, and Nam Da-eun, who was completely covered in blood.

"Oh, you're here? We subdued him. Did we do good?"

"...Don't look too much. It's not a good look because of the blood."

"...."

Did I worry for nothing?

No, it was still right to come running.

"Thank god."

I let out a sigh of relief and approached Liriana and Nam Da-eun.

"Haa, thank god. I was really worried."

"Hehe. There's no way I'd be defeated."

"There's blood on me. Don't hug me...."

I ignored Nam Da-eun's words and hugged Liriana and Nam Da-eun.

Because something really bad almost happened this time.

I was so relieved and grateful that they were alive.

"What about Da-hee?"

"...It was too much of a bad look, so Ms. Liriana put her to sleep with magic."

"Mm, it would definitely be bad for her education. Anyway, thank god. Thank you for doing so well. Both you, Da-eun-i, and Liriana."

"If you're thankful, tonight... you know, right?"

Liriana poked my chest and sent me an erotic gaze.

"Yeah. Do whatever you want. Whatever you want."

Seeing her say things like that, she must not be hurt at all.

"...Me too."

"Yeah. Of course. Da-eun-i too."

I didn't leave out Nam Da-eun, who was subtly slipping in.

Just as I was holding the two of them and feeling relieved.

"If it's tonight, I can join too, right?"

Rebecca spoke from behind.

"Ack! Who is that?!"

"...Ho-yeon-ah. Come here."

Seeing Rebecca suddenly appear, the two seemed quite shocked.

Liriana hid behind me, and Nam Da-eun pulled me towards her.

True, seeing that Red-haired Witch for the first time would be surprising.

Especially since she suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"It's okay, guys. She's an acquaintance of mine."

"An acquaintance? What does she do?"

Liriana continued speaking from behind Nam Da-eun, still seeming bewildered.

Rebecca.

How should I introduce Rebecca? Honestly, I only just met her today myself.

"Uh... she's my magic teacher."

"I need your boyfriend's semen."

"...Please don't say it like that. Seriously."

Here I was, trying my best to figure out how to introduce her, and she goes and pulls this. Seriously.

It's not like she's a semen thief.

"Why? It's true."

Haa.

I began explaining about Rebecca to Liriana and Nam Da-eun, who were both staring with wide eyes.