Chapter 19 Part 7: Adaptation.

As the game of tag began, everyone started running diligently.

Some students sprinted with all their might from the start, while others were warming up.

There were also students like me, who walked slowly, observing the situation.

I wanted to observe the students for a moment and see their strategies.

Honestly, there wasn’t much of a strategy to tag.

It ended when you caught someone who was running away.

But since the teacher said we could use our abilities, there would obviously be various strategies.

I thought we might even need to develop an aerial strategy.

Because there would surely be students who could fly.

So, I watched how other students were behaving for a while, then shifted my gaze to one side.

“Kang Siwoo, you jerk!!!”

“Ah, I’m not wrong!!!”

“You, you bastard! Stop right there!!!!”

“Catch me if you can, you scrawny log!”

“You’re really dead!!!”

Sia and Siwoo were having a very noisy chase.

Come to think of it, Sia was number 1 and Siwoo was number 2.

So it wasn’t strange that Sia was chasing Siwoo.

…I wondered why he would dig his own grave, but, well.

They were both laughing, so it didn’t seem too serious.

So I watched them for a moment and then turned my head.

Gong Jinhu was calling me.

“Yeji, what are you doing there?”

“Just watching the other students.”

“Oh? Trying to see how they’re running away?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Haha, I knew you would.”

“By the way, Jinhu.”

“Hm?”

I smiled slyly and glared at Gong Jinhu.

“You’re number 5, aren’t you?”

“Haha, you got me.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

“It’s the first day, so I thought you wouldn’t know the other students’ numbers.”

I just laughed.

I had a knack for memorizing things.

I couldn’t memorize every student’s number, but I could memorize the numbers of the friends I knew.

Gong Jinhu looked at me for a moment and grumbled.

“I don’t really want to use my ability right now…”

“Is that so?”

“So I guess I’ll have to run.”

Saying that, Gong Jinhu rushed towards me at a very fast speed.

That was quite unexpected.

Gong Jinhu was… I thought he wouldn’t use his body much.

I thought he was the brainy type who would think first if he could use his head.

But it wasn’t entirely unexpected, so I slowly manifested my eyes.

And I stared at Gong Jinhu with eyes that had turned snake-like.

Gong Jinhu instinctively slowed down, and soon his feet were stuck to the ground, unable to move.

He probably didn’t expect this either, as he seemed quite flustered.

“…Wh-What!”

“Because I’m a snake shapeshifter.”

When I said that, Gong Jinhu looked at me with an awkward smile.

I could understand. It must be his first time experiencing something like this.

The feeling of standing in front of a predator as prey… it’s not easy to experience.

Of course, his body wouldn’t move. Unless he had crossed the line between life and death countless times.

No. Even if he had crossed the line between life and death countless times, his feet would be tied for a few seconds.

I knew because I had experienced it myself.

So it was no wonder that Gong Jinhu couldn’t move like that.

I looked at Gong Jinhu for a moment, then smiled slyly and turned my gaze elsewhere.

I didn’t think Gong Jinhu would be moving for a while, so I was going to watch the other students.

The first thing that caught my eye was the chase between Kim Aram and Jang Yuna.

Kim Aram was number 7, and Jang Yuna was number 18.

So Kim Aram was constantly chasing Jang Yuna.

Jang Yuna really didn’t want to be caught, and she was barking.

Every time she barked, Kim Aram froze in place as if time had stopped.

But Kim Aram was steadily chasing Jang Yuna without giving up.

I watched them a little longer, then turned my head again.

The other students were also running away using various abilities.

There was a student who swam through the ground of the playground as if it were water.

There was a student who was slowly flying in the air.

There were students who became transparent, and students who created illusions.

…There was even a student who summoned a monster, like a yokai, and rode it.

Everyone seemed so capable.

And it was really nice to see them giving it their all.

After all, this was something they didn’t have to go all out for.

This result wasn’t reflected in their academic evaluation.

The rewards weren’t great either.

Just drinks and ice cream.

But everyone was training sincerely, so I wanted to smile.

I wanted to be sincere too… but unfortunately.

I didn’t bring any opioid painkillers today, so I couldn’t.

So I spent my time occasionally glaring at the students who rushed towards me.

And time flew by, and before I knew it, more than 10 minutes had passed.

Most of the even-numbered teams had already been caught.

No matter how good they were, they were eliminated if they were caught even once.

So I tried to memorize the remaining students.

As my aunt said, there was no harm in remembering.

I saw the female student who summoned and rode a yokai.

Various ghosts and yokai were escorting the female student, laughing and cackling.

A terrifyingly hideous goblin laughed.

A virgin ghost, tearing her face with her fingernails while shedding tears of blood, burst into laughter.

Heads with shaggy hair and beards rolled around and laughed.

Even though everyone was laughing, the female student wasn’t.

She was just calmly entrusting her body to the yokai, as if she was used to it.

“Waaaaah, I hate you all!!!”

Jang Yuna said that and ran desperately.

It was so cute and funny that she was walking on all fours to escape from Kim Aram and the other students.

She sometimes barked loudly to stop the other students, but it didn’t seem to be very effective.

It was natural since she couldn’t go all out.

Kang Siwoo… really seemed to be courting death.

He was exchanging harsh words with Sia and kept running.

There were several close calls in the middle, but it was really like Siwoo to just avoid them with his physical abilities.

I turned my head again and looked at the other students.

Then I found a very interesting male student.

He was a male student with narrow eyes like Teacher Park Hyorim, and he wasn’t running away.

He was just standing in place, avoiding the other students with minimal movement.

But his movements were getting slower, so it looked like he would be caught soon.

And as I thought, he was caught shortly after.

And finally, there was a female student dancing leisurely in place.

I don’t know how that female student was holding out, but she was just dancing in place.

So I watched that female student for a moment, and then I realized that the odd-numbered team was coming to me.

“Really, I like the feeling of being the final boss.”

I said that and laughed.

The other students also chuckled, so it seemed like my joke worked.

Gong Jinhu was at the forefront, and several other students surrounded me.

I was dazed for a moment, then looked at the other students.

Because a certain student had boldly rushed in, the female student who summoned the yokai seemed to have been caught.

Kang Siwoo was still having a chase with Kang Sia.

Jang Yuna was eventually caught by Kim Aram and was sobbing.

The female student who was dancing leisurely alone seemed to have been caught by another student.

So now it was just me and Siwoo left.

Siwoo could be considered an exception, so I was really the final boss.

I chuckled at the thought.

And I looked at the students, slowly preparing to escape.

Then, suddenly feeling playful, I declared jokingly.

“I’m invincible. I’m an invincible villain, so you’d better come at me properly.”

The students laughed a lot.

They seemed to be thinking about what happened during the entrance exam.

Of course, I wasn’t joking.

I might not be as good as Invisible Man, but I could imitate him to some extent.

Or I thought I could just run away.

“I knew you’d say that, so I’ve been preparing diligently!”

“…What?”

“Even if you can’t move your feet, if you give me almost 10 minutes, you’re asking to be caught!”

Gong Jinhu said that and took out a talisman from inside his gym uniform sleeve.

And Gong Jinhu flicked his finger and lit the talisman on fire.

I finally realized that he had used some kind of trick.

I didn’t know what it was, but I thought it would be best to get out of here.

So I manifested to enhance my physical abilities, and then I jumped up, intending to escape backwards.

“…Ah!?”

But the moment I jumped into the air, chains rose from the ground.

The chains made of earth wrapped around my arms and legs.

The chains immediately pulled my body down.

Of course, there was nothing I could do.

I’m not a bird, so there was no way to suddenly change direction in the air.

But it wasn’t like there was no way at all.

The moment I landed on the ground, I could put strength into my whole body and break the chains.

Fortunately, the chains weren’t very strong, so when I landed and put strength into them, they snapped.

But Gong Jinhu’s expression was strange.

If his trump card was blocked, his expression should have been distorted.

But Gong Jinhu was smiling victoriously, as if this was exactly what he had been aiming for.

“That was a trick! Now, this is the real deal!”

“Wh-What…!”

“Haha, if you sleep for a while, you’ll feel better.”

Suddenly, the wind swirled, and something like smoke billowed.

I tried to smile and assess the situation, but I couldn’t.

A glass wall, I saw it.

A broken glass wall appeared.

I reflexively reached out and touched the wall.

…And I laughed, seeing my hand bleeding from being stabbed by the broken glass.

Ah, Aunt Ailey.

You should have given me something to prepare for this kind of situation.