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Along with the appearance of monsters, an attack by an Apostle occurred.

Gyeoul was seriously injured and eventually hospitalized.

“It’s all because I’m weak…”

Later, I found out that the Apostle was only A-Class.

Even though I, an S-Class, was right there, I had no choice but to flee with Teacher Choi Ye-na.

In the end, Gyeoul was badly hurt.

If Hwarang Kim Yu-shin and Ha-yul hadn’t arrived in time, it could have been fatal.

I wanted to stay by his side in the hospital room for three days, but… except for Ha-yul, Eun-chae and Kang-woo would worry about me, and that would eventually become a burden to Gyeoul.

So, I rented a room nearby and kept checking on his condition.

I cried a lot.

I felt like I cried more this time than I had in my entire 14 years of life.

It was the first time I felt so pathetic.

While Gyeoul was getting hurt like that, all I could do was run around and look for others.

I don’t deserve to be called S-Class.

I kept blaming myself over and over.

Then, Gyeoul woke up.

“It’s okay, Hayan. I’m not seriously hurt, and we did our best at that time.”

Not seriously hurt?

Even Jeong Gyeoul, who we jokingly call a physical monster, was unconscious for three days after drinking a potion.

It couldn’t have been a minor injury.

Even in such pain, you don’t show it.

Even in this situation, you’re considerate of me.

But I…

“Sniff… Sob!”

Tears poured down again.

“Ha, Hayan? Don’t cry. I’m really fine. Look! I can move my body like this! Ugh…”

Seeing me cry, Gyeoul panicked and moved his arms around, straining his muscles, only to grimace in pain.

‘See, you’re still in pain…’

“Waaah!”

Gyeoul comforted me, and Ye-na comforted me.

Showing such a sight in front of the patient, I felt pathetic and barely held back my tears.

If I stayed by Gyeoul’s side, pretending everything was fine, it wouldn’t help with his treatment.

“Gyeoul, let’s meet when you’re discharged.”

“Huh? Okay. It must be tough, so go rest.”

You’re still only worried about me…

Looking at those concerned eyes, I felt like crying again.

I fled the hospital room and returned home, leaving the room I had rented near the hospital.

***

Hayan decided not to go where her sister, Ha-yun, was.

If memories of Gyeoul in that house came back, she felt like she would burst into tears again.

If she saw her sister, she felt like she would act spoiled.

So, Hayan chose to go to her family home.

Hayan’s family home. The mansion of the Taebaek Group chairman.

Upon hearing from Hayan’s driver that she was returning home, the servants lined up at the door.

“Miss, you’re here. Would you like a meal…”

“No, thanks.”

“But…”

“I said no. Me.”

Cold eyes, icy tone.

The servants froze at Hayan’s unfamiliar demeanor.

– Sister! Have you eaten?

– Let’s clean up together! We should clean up what we ate together!

– Aren’t you tired? I’ll keep it a secret from Dad, so come to my room and rest.

– What did these people do wrong to make you angry? I hate Dad!

The warmest person in this house.

The brightest person in this house.

Seeing Hayan like this was inevitably shocking.

‘Could it be that Miss Gyeoul is in a bad state…’

‘Our poor miss, what should we do…’

Even the servants at the family home knew how close Hayan and Jeong Gyeoul were and how much they cared for each other.

They had also heard that Gyeoul was injured and thought Hayan’s behavior was because of that.

Bang—

Before they could offer words of comfort, Hayan entered her room and closed the door.

The servants could do nothing but hope for Gyeoul’s quick recovery.

“…Shouldn’t we contact Miss Ha-yun?”

“She said she was on a plane, so the chairman will be back tonight. We should just stay put.”

Everyone working in the house was worried about Hayan.

Soon, Hayan came down to the living room, having changed into training clothes.

“I’ll go out alone for a bit.”

“Shall I prepare the car?”

“I want to walk, it’s fine.”

“What about bodyguards…”

Before the sentence was finished, Hayan put on her shoes and went out.

Only the head of the guard team managed to follow in time.

The atmosphere around Hayan was so intense that they couldn’t make calls or use radios, and as they were about to send real-time location information via text to gather other guards.

“Uncle, I don’t like you following me, but I’ll let it slide because others might worry too much. Don’t call anyone. And, don’t show yourself. Never step forward without my permission.”

“…Yes, miss.”

The guard team leader, who had seen Hayan since she was a baby, had never seen her like this before.

It was also his first time being overwhelmed by the charisma of a 14-year-old.

The guard team leader followed at a distance where he could intervene at any moment, allowing Hayan to walk alone.

On any other day, he would never have allowed it for safety reasons, but today, he felt more inclined to listen to Hayan than to the chairman of Taebaek.

‘…Is this the effect of awakening as an S-Class? It’s hard to believe she’s only 14.’

He remembered the little Hayan who used to follow him around calling him uncle, and he felt a bit nostalgic.

But as the guard team leader, he was more pleased to see her showing such charisma now.

‘We were so worried because she was too soft, but it seems we didn’t need to be.’

Still, just in case, he discreetly positioned a few more guards at a distance where Hayan wouldn’t notice.

Walking aimlessly through the streets, not knowing the destination.

“Isn’t that Hayan?”

“Yeah! The S-Class kid.”

“Didn’t she run away leaving her friend behind during the incident at the academy?”

“Pfft, she probably cried and ran like a baby.”

“Perfect timing, I’m sick of being a lackey for the union every day. If we catch Hayan, they’ll make us executives.”

“But can we even catch her?”

“Come on, she’s just a kid. You think we’d lose to a 14-year-old middle school girl?”

A group of petty villains passing by were insulting Hayan.

The guard team leader, who was about to rush in and subdue them, remembered Hayan’s warning.

– Never step forward without my permission.

His face twisted in anger, and his hands trembled, but today, more than ever, he didn’t want to disobey Hayan.

Of course, if she didn’t have the ability to protect herself, it would be different. But he knew Hayan wouldn’t fall to such low-level thugs.

‘If the situation gets worse, I’ll step in then.’

He signaled the other guards not to intervene and decided to watch the situation.

“Hey, kid.”

“…Me?”

Hayan, who had been walking as if lost in thought, snapped out of it and looked to the side.

A dim alley, a flickering streetlight, and four men standing under it.

“Come here. If the big guys come to get you, you’ll get hurt.”

“Ha, really, what a joke…”

Hayan had been thinking about Gyeoul and what she needed to do for him in the future.

She felt immense irritation at being called by these petty thugs.

She walked towards them.

“Oh, she’s really coming.”

“Does she think she’s tough because she’s S-Class?”

“Hehehe, can we have a taste before handing her over to the union?”

Even though Hayan was S-Class, they thought she was still a child and would be intimidated by the fear of real combat.

It hadn’t been long since she became S-Class. Not enough time to stabilize her magic power.

The lackey villains of the villain union thought they could easily subdue Hayan among themselves.

Having never seen an S-Class before, they were overconfident.

“I’m here. What.”

“This bitch is short on words? Well, it’s more fun to make her submit.”

“Hey, let’s finish this quickly before anyone sees.”

“…This might not be so bad.”

“What? Are you out of your mind, what nonsense are you talking about?”

Hayan lacked nothing in magic power, ability, or strength.

In the end, she thought it was a matter of mindset.

‘What I lack is the mindset to kill my opponent. That’s something I can’t build in sparring with Gyeoul or Ha-yul.’

Then, what about gaining real combat experience by wandering back alleys and fighting villains and thugs?

‘It’s illegal since I’m not a hero yet… but whatever.’

A little illegality.

It’s better than seeing Gyeoul hurt and in pain.

The moment she made up her mind, her magic power moved.

“Huh? Hey! Stop her!”

The villains, who hadn’t expected Hayan to attack immediately, were caught off guard.

If they had been prepared for an attack from the start, they wouldn’t have been taken down so easily, but if they had that level of ability and awareness, they wouldn’t have remained lackeys in the union.

“Be my practice partners.”

“Crazy bitch!”

“Die!”

The moment the villains charged.

Whoosh!

Flames erupted from the feet of the villain in front.

“Ugh! Hot! Put out the fire quickly!”

Seeing their companion writhing on the ground, the other villains hesitated.

“Damn, even if she’s S-Class, we can handle her. What’s with that speed!”

“…Let’s run. We can’t win!”

As they turned to flee, they felt a strong wind sweep past them.

But that was all, they thought it was just the wind and kept running…

Splat!

A terrible pain shot through their calves, and they collapsed to the ground.

“Ahhh! Damn! My leg!”

“Argh!”

Hayan, who had cut down the fleeing villains by slashing their calves, created an ice spear.

The guard team leader stepped in front of Hayan.

“…Miss, let’s stop here.”

The tip of the ice spear aimed at the villains now pointed at the guard team leader.

“…Didn’t I say not to step forward without my permission?”

“You must not cross the line. Miss, someday you will kill a villain… but not yet. Most importantly, what would Gyeoul think if he saw you like this?”

“…”

The guard team leader, who knew exactly what was driving Hayan’s dark turn, mentioned Gyeoul’s name instead of her parents or sister.

“Let’s go back now.”

“…”

Unable to bring herself to attack the guard team leader, Hayan had no choice but to follow his lead.

‘Today just isn’t my day.’

 

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