“9 PM.” It was time to meet Yoo Yeo-reum.
Standing under a streetlight in the park near my house, palm-sized moth Tinkerbells kept attacking me, which was quite a nuisance. “You crazy moth bastards!” It was truly a war between moths and humans-.
While the battle for the survival of the species was in full swing, from somewhere the air felt like it was heating up, and an intense heat ray grazed my face. Ziiiing- Sizzle-
The moths flying near me instantly turned to ash and scattered, and a strangely burnt smell, stronger than I expected, wafted into my nose, making me slightly dizzy. “Hey, what are you doing shooting lasers without warning? What if I got hit?” Turning my head, I saw a girl approaching from the darkness, her eyes gleaming. She was wearing an all-white outfit: white dress, white socks, and white sneakers. “How is it? Does it suit me?” “It suits you well. It gives me the feeling of an athletic girl realizing her feelings for a childhood friend she’s known for a long time, but then gets caught by a shady gym teacher and becomes an adult first.” “What kind of review is that? But Jin-ah, you came in sweatpants. And your school gym uniform at that. Wasn't this a date?” Yoo Yeo-reum gave me a slight scolding as she looked at my outfit.
It seemed like the problem was that she had dressed up nicely, but my clothes were too shabby. “It’s okay, I’m wearing cool underwear. I’d like a chance to show them off today if possible.” “Pfft, you're always good at jokes.” “It's not a joke, it’s the truth.” “That kind of thing... should happen when we can take responsibility for each other.” Yoo Yeo-reum, you’re tougher than I thought.
I don't have to worry about a shady gym teacher.
No, no, I definitely should be worried.
Because this girl shoots lasers from her eyes. “Is it okay to shoot lasers at mere moths?” “It’s fine. I absorbed a lot of sunlight today. I have a lot of charge.” “Really? What percentage is it in terms of a phone?” “75 percent. For your information, it goes down by 5 percent every time I shoot a laser.” So, that meant Yoo Yeo-reum could shoot 15 more lasers from now.
Keeping that fact in mind, I started walking with Yoo Yeo-reum. # # # There were many empty houses in our neighborhood. Imagine a male and female high school student, who would be twenty years old next year, wandering around such places. As a young man and woman, full of vigor and physically at their most attractive, walk along a secluded and dark road together, there is something that inevitably happens-. “Jin-ah, shall we play can-smashing?” Can-smashing!
Yoo Yeo-reum set up empty cans and shot lasers from her eyes, knocking them all down.
3 shots.
That meant Yoo Yeo-reum had 12 laser shots remaining. “We used to throw stones at cans to knock them down. I wonder why we don't do that anymore?” Unlike her cool exterior, Yoo Yeo-reum was full of childlike innocence and loved to play.
She’d rummage through abandoned houses and yell “Wah!” to surprise me, or walk hopscotch along the white paint on the road. We were close, like childhood friends who had known each other for a long time. I sometimes felt like I had been running around this neighborhood with Yoo Yeo-reum since a long time ago.
If there wasn't the unwavering rose named Seo Ga-eul in my heart, it wouldn’t have been strange if I had fallen for Yoo Yeo-reum.
Things like her large breasts visible under her dress or her smooth armpits were as harmful to my eyes as poison.
Yoo Yeo-reum seemed completely unaware of how her actions and gestures affected boys. Or was she doing it on purpose?
While I was thinking about such things, we arrived at our original destination, the 「Sprout Orphanage」. “This place is...” Yoo Yeo-reum's demeanor, which had been cheerful until just now, settled down like oiled seaweed. I spoke honestly to her. “This is the place where the remnants of the 「Villainerz」 were seen. It seems that a considerable number of unregistered Awakened from this orphanage are involved. I thought I should tell you.” Creak-. Yoo Yeo-reum touched the ominously old swing in the orphanage's playground.
For a moment, things like the seesaw and the spinning equipment were faintly reflected in her eyes─. “No way. There’s no way they would get involved in something so bad.” “Go and talk to them yourself.” I contacted the short-haired girl, Kim Ma-ri, and made a deal to meet today.
The 「Villainerz」 would have seen Yoo Yeo-reum as a thorn in their side, so they would definitely have planted an ambush here.
Then a costly local battle would surely break out, right? Yoo Yeo-reum's laser charge would run low.
And I would grab Yoo Yeo-reum when her power is depleted-!
It's the perfect plan.
With this plan, there would be no need to sacrifice the lives of the 「No Leftovers Day」. “Kim Mar-i!” I shouted as loud as I could so that my voice would resonate throughout the orphanage to quickly put the plan into action.
However, the person who emerged from inside the orphanage was not the short-haired girl, nor the girl in the school uniform, not even the fat guy. It was a man with curly hair.
What was his name again? “Aren’t you the Level 3 wanted criminal 「Piccolo」?” “It’s 「Pinocchio」.” Right, that was him.
As expected, the Villainerz laid an ambush at the meeting place of Yoo Yeo-reum and her old friends.
While I was thinking that, Pinocchio said, “You came to meet Ma-ri and your friends, right? But you won’t be able to see them. They tried to leave the organization because someone’s heart wavered, I don’t know who. But that's not allowed, is it?” “What did you do to my friends?” Weeing-. Yoo Yeo-reum’s eyes shone dazzlingly bright.
Pinocchio, seemingly bothered by the flash like car headlights, flinched and retreated, hiding behind a building pillar.
Then, peeking out only his head, he shouted. “They’re in a safe place. For now. But I don't know what will happen next. Miss Yeo-reum should know better than anyone how a hungry monster can suddenly change.” “What? Monster?” “I wonder what will happen when that cute animal reveals its true nature. By the way, only I know the location. The time limit until the lock on our caged monster is released is exactly one hour.” That Pinocchio guy. He’s causing trouble by using his stupid brain.
Non-combat Awakened are always cunning, which is quite troublesome.
Fortunately, this level of variable was within my expectations. “Miss Yeo-reum, we actually want to get along with you. We don’t want to turn someone with enormous power like you into an enemy. So if you just grant us one simple favor, I'll tell you your friends' location.” “A favor?” “Our reputation is in tatters right now. We can’t be a source of fear for citizens if we are defeated by a mere high school student, right? So, we need payback. That is, take down the male student next to you. You don’t have to kill him. Crippling his legs would be enough. One person's life for one leg is a good deal, too. How about it?” Make Yoo Yeo-reum cripple my legs?
My lovely legs?
Is he telling me to go back to my limping days? Living in a shack? Setting that aside, there was a contradiction in his words. “Hey, Piccolo, you imprisoned three people, didn’t you? I only have two legs. Even if both my legs are crippled, one person will still die.” “Why are you like this, friend? Men have three legs, don’t they?” “Ah, that’s true.” He’s more reasonable than I thought.
While I was thinking that, Pinocchio, who had disappeared into the darkness, said. “Three lives. One person’s legs. Which is more valuable? Don’t they have a lot of these dilemma debates at Hero-mili School? What to do when you can save the lives of many by sacrificing one person─.” “......” Yoo Yeo-reum's expression became serious.
I could almost feel her calculating things in her head. “Negotiations with terrorists are impossible. Even if I break your legs, there's no telling what other unreasonable demands and conditions they'll add later. Jin-ah, what do you want to do?” She’s right.
There's no need to naively believe Pinocchio's words.
As if he was getting impatient, the guy added from the darkness, “Then how about I tell you a little bit of the address each time you break a leg? I'm Pinocchio, but I don’t lie. I only tell the truth, even if you don’t want to believe it.” I had the gift of 「Appraisal」.
It didn’t seem like Piccolo was lying right now.
So, I put strength into my left leg and slammed it hard against the hard asphalt floor. “Tell me the address.” Crack-! Snap-!
I heard the sound of my shinbone breaking in half.
It hurt terribly, but I gritted my teeth and endured screaming pathetically. “Jin-ah!” “Ow, shit, I didn’t expect you to break your own leg. But well, a promise is a promise. Miss Yeo-reum, your friends are somewhere between 1 and 50 Stream Village.” How many houses are there between 1 and 50 Stream Village? The pain in my left leg made it hard to calculate, but fortunately, I had friends who had recently taken an interest in ‘search missions’. ━Ha Nam-jjin! We’ll look! Everyone! It's between 1 and 50!
━It'll be easier if we narrow down the places where a person could be trapped with a monster! Reassuring voices came from my smartwatch.
I didn't just have three legs now.
If we combine everyone’s, we have more than ten. “Pinocchio, let me tell you a truth you don't want to believe. If I catch you, you won’t die easily.” All Bangdeng-i and the others had to do was find the place where they were trapped within the one-hour time limit.
During that time, Yeo-reum and I can catch and deal with that Pinocchio. As for my broken leg, I can ask Tae-seong-i to reverse my condition with Pinocchio's.
As I leaned against a nearby wall, Yoo Yeo-reum said. “You rest here. I’ll catch him.” “No, don’t go. Actually, this whole place is a trap. That Piccolo guy knew you were coming, so there’s definitely something prepared inside that orphanage to counter you. Using your weaknesses-.” “My weaknesses? I don’t have any.” Just as Yoo Yeo-reum shook her head,
Click- Clank-. A sound like a mechanical device activating was heard.
And then, for a moment-. Grrrr-.
Beasts with glowing red eyes emerged from the orphanage building.
They were raccoons, cats, dogs, and other commonly seen animals, but their eyes were crazed.
Looking closely, their appearance was also quite different from ordinary animals. “Huff, ha, huff-.” Yoo Yeo-reum’s breathing became unusually rough.
Her eyes, which had been glowing brightly, now blazed like a red sunset. “M-Monsters...” Yoo Yeo-reum’s condition was especially strange after seeing the monsters.
Even a fool would understand by now.
Yoo Yeo-reum's weakness was ‘monsters.’ That's why she was deployed in actual combat against illegal Awakened instead of the 「Grand Labyrinth」.
Because the Grand Labyrinth is full of monsters. In other words, Yoo Yeo-reum suffered from a quirk that made her go crazy when she encountered ‘monsters’ in a ‘dark place’. I could even call it 「Fear of Monsters Encountered in the Dark」, right?
The exact symptoms are probably─. 「Name: Yoo Yeo-reum
Possession: Click to Expand ☜
Status: 《Berserk》 - Lost reason due to past trauma. Unable to distinguish friend from foe. Also hungry.」 Berserk and unable to distinguish friend from foe.
I remembered the moment I first met Inging-i in the basement waterway.
Of course, the current situation was worse than then. “I have to kill the monsters!” Fists like iron pipes lunged at me.
To Yoo Yeo-reum, whose eyes had turned red, I must have looked like a monster.
Clang-!
I quickly raised my arms to guard, but it was a solid punch that made my bones tingle.
One of my legs was already messed up.
In this situation, there's only one way. I took out my phone and played a saved video. “Mo...” Did turning the smartphone volume to maximum have an effect?
Yoo Yeo-reum’s eyes, which had been glowing red, now emitted a rainbow prism of light. ━Aaang! Iyaa! Soon, the video of skin rubbing against skin and passion exchanging was reflected in Yoo Yeo-reum's rainbow-colored eyes.
To put it bluntly, it was porn.
Overcoming the trauma of monsters with the ‘discomfort’ of porn! It wasn't originally saved for this purpose, but! “Yoo Yeo-reum, darkness and monsters can no longer be your objects of fear! What you’re really afraid of isn’t something like a monster! What you’re truly afraid of is porn!” “Po...”

The Greatest Showman (1)