Chapter 42 Part 12: Connivance.

It was the same now.
Not long after I started walking down the street, strange people caught my eye.
At first glance, they seemed like ordinary people enjoying their daily lives, but I could tell.

There’s something unique about people from the underworld.
There’s something unique that comes from being aware that you’re doing something illegal.

“Ah.”

Perhaps he noticed my gaze.
The person who seemed to be the leader of the group abruptly turned his head.
I didn’t avert my gaze, so I made eye contact with him.

I wondered how he would react.
If he wanted to avoid friction with ordinary people, he would just smile and let it go, well.

“Aha.”

The way he looked at me, as if telling me to lower my eyes, showed his true character.
Well, since he’s living a life of crime in the underworld, he wouldn’t have a good personality.

He was obviously a nobody.
If he were competent and meticulous, he wouldn’t have given off such a vibe.
No, in the first place, I wouldn’t have noticed anything strange and followed him.

My aunt didn’t say anything in particular, but I thought it might be necessary to clean things up.

Just as I decided that, the idiot immediately turned his head.
Then, he started walking slowly with his group.
I could tell where they were heading without even looking.

A secluded place where they wouldn’t have to worry about other people’s gazes.
Maybe a place without CCTV.
Either way, it was clear that it was better for me.

A secluded place.
A place where people don’t usually go.
In other words, it means that no one cares what happens here.
It also meant that no one would know even if a couple of idiots were lying on the ground with bloody noses.

“Ah, I’m lucky.”

So, muttering that, I entered the alleyway as they wanted.

“Ah.”

My body naturally reacted to the hostility.
Because I was relaxed, my instincts moved my body perfectly.

Behind? No, front? No, side.
In less than a second, my body deduced the direction and reflexively raised my hand.

I felt a blade digging into my palm with a sharp sound.
Normally, I would have broken the sword or something, but I couldn’t do that now.

“…An energy body? No, it doesn’t seem like energy.”

I said that and acted nonchalantly.
A guy holding an intangible blade was sweating profusely.
It meant that he didn’t expect me to block his surprise attack, and even less so to react so calmly.

I turned my gaze back to the front, and the three idiots from before were completely hiding their presence.
The suspiciousness that had been dripping until a moment ago had evaporated.
I felt something was wrong at that point, but it was okay.

There was nothing that would be a problem.
They didn’t seem to have brought any firearms. So, these four were the type to fight with pure ability.
And since I was more confident than anyone in close combat, I looked at the situation while pretending to be bluffing.

“I don’t know who you work for, but I hope you have the intelligence to analyze the situation objectively.”
– Ah, Yeji. Fortunately, I have that intelligence.

My instincts moved before my reason could judge.
My body immediately thrust out with my hand towards the direction of the voice, while my ears significantly lowered my hearing.

Unfortunately, it seemed I couldn’t destroy the communication device.
I watched as the intangible blade barely blocked my hand, and then slowly lowered it.

And I started to think.
Shouldn’t I just get rid of them instead of just dealing with them lightly…?
I didn’t want to hear that voice in this city again, so I felt even more so.

– Yeji? You seem to have a lot on your mind. Shall we have a heart-to-heart talk?

Trickster’s voice echoed from the communication device.
I completely ignored the voice and raised my hand again.
The four men almost simultaneously guarded against my hand and stepped back slightly.

I didn’t have any 고민s.

“You guys there, if you try anything funny, I’ll pull all your legs off.”
– Wow, did you hear that? She said she’ll pull all their legs off.

As soon as Trickster finished speaking, the others started laughing.
But their expressions were stiff, so it seemed the threat worked.
I believed that they would behave themselves, knowing that it might not end with just their legs being pulled off.

– Yeji, you’ll be talking to me soon.
“…Stop talking nonsense and get out of this city. Be thankful that I’m acting like a high school girl.”
– Yes, yes. Of course. I will. Have a nice weekend.
“It won’t be a nice weekend because of you.”

There was no answer.
The black smoke billowed and covered the building, swallowing the four men and disappearing.
The only evidence that people had been there was a few cigarette butts that still had embers.

“…Tsk.”

I stepped on the cigarette butts to put them out and left the alley.
I wanted to go home and sleep, but I couldn’t.

My aunt, as if she had been waiting, sent me the location of the next trash.
So, I had to spend the whole weekend cleaning up that trash.

And it was Monday morning again.
I left the strange lingering discomfort behind and headed to the school dormitory with the luggage I had packed over the weekend, as usual.
I wanted to do nothing and just sleep, but that was impossible.

I had a lot to do.
I had a lot to study, and it was common to be called here and there for special training in the evenings.
Moreover, starting this week, they said that regular sparring matches would begin, not only within the same grade but also between different grades.

So, an unexpected heated debate began.
As soon as I entered the classroom, everyone was eagerly expressing their opinions on who was the strongest in each grade.

“They’re having fun.”

I just said that and sat down.
Usually, strength can’t be judged simply by specific numbers.

Does being able to run at Mach speed make you strong?
Does being able to destroy a building in one blow make you strong?
You can only know after you’ve faced them.
It’s as meaningless as arguing about something long or short just by looking at it.

Well, unless the difference is so obvious that you can tell at a glance.
So, I let them debate and waited quietly for the class to start.
I was sure that everyone would end the conversation once the class started.

Just as I thought that, Gong Jinhoo sat down next to me.

“Can I sit here?”
“…You already sat down?”
“So, can I not sit here?”
“There’s no reason… you can’t.”

After all, Gong Jinhoo was still my partner.
So, he didn’t need my permission in the first place.
So, I was wondering if he was acting like this because of what happened over the weekend, when Gong Jinhoo took out a notebook.

It looked like he had organized something.
It was quite thick, so it seemed like a lot of effort went into it.

“Isn’t it still a while until the midterm exams?”
“It’s only a few months away.”
“You seem like the type who meticulously prepares for exams months in advance. I thought so.”
“Ah, but I didn’t take this out to study for the exam.”
“Then?”

Gong Jinhoo opened the notebook instead of answering.
I naturally started reading the first line.

“…Analysis of strong students by grade for the upcoming regular sparring? No.”
“Why?”
“Analyzing this… is one thing. But why are you showing this to me?”

This was really embarrassing.
I could understand why Gong Jinhoo organized this?

He’s that kind of person.
So, I expected that he had already prepared something similar.
But I couldn’t understand why he was showing this to me.

“I don’t need this, Jinhoo, you know that.”
“Right, you wouldn’t need this. But I need it.”
“Then why are you showing this to me, ah.”

More than half of the notebook was filled with analysis of me.
From the movements I often use to the structure of how I use my manifestation.
Moreover, he had already analyzed the strategies and such that I had shown in recent special training.

At this point, I got goosebumps.
I was seriously considering whether I should report Gong Jinhoo.

But my excitement quickly subsided.
The fact that he was showing me this even after that incident a few days ago meant that Gong Jinhoo wasn’t ordinary either.

So, I got straight to the point.

“What do you want?”
“Verify if my analysis is correct. In return, I’ll let you read this notebook.”
“…Okay.”
“And I’ll let you know that a competition will be held soon.”

I nodded instead of answering.
I thought it would probably be held after the regular sparring matches between grades, but I didn’t know the details.
If Gong Jinhoo trusted me enough to tell me, there was no reason to refuse.

So, the two of us completed a satisfactory deal.
Gong Jinhoo naturally pointed out five or six students from other grades.
He said I should pay attention to these students.

As per the deal, I just kept them in mind and verified what Gong Jinhoo had analyzed.
Most of it was true, but sometimes he seemed to have recorded meaningless habits as if they were significant.

And before long, the regular sparring matches between grades began.