The Hand Reaching Out from the Devil (2)

Second day of winter break camp.

Today is the long-awaited amusement park exploration time for the children.

As they entered the park, the children lined up in groups of six, each fastening the free pass their teacher had given them onto their wrists.

The free pass, worn like a bracelet, made the kids fidget with excitement.

“Hey, what do you want to ride first?”

“Of course, the roller coaster! To be honest, that’s the whole reason I signed up for camp.”

“If it wasn’t for that, what else would make you come to an amusement park?”

“But aren’t we too short to ride it?”

Amusement park = roller coaster.

It wasn’t unreasonable for the kids to have this formula ingrained in their minds.

Even adults first think of roller coasters when they think of amusement parks.

Of course, the kids still couldn’t ride it yet.

“What are you talking about, you have to ride the Viking as the opening act—that’s the best way to do it.”

“We’re going on the carousel.”

“That childish carousel? Girls, I swear!”

At that moment, something tickled my nose.

A tiny white grain quickly melted, leaving a droplet on my nose.

White snow began to fall from the sky.

“It’s snowing!”

“Is it going to get cold all of a sudden?”

“It’s already cold!”

The snow falling wasn’t simply beautiful.

The cold wind blew in as well, so the kids carefully checked that their winter gear was on securely.

“Ma Seongjin, what happened to your scarf?”

“I lost it.”

“Are you crazy? Why did you lose that!”

The six kids in my group looked at me.

Though I was wearing a thick jacket, I didn’t have a scarf or gloves.

It made sense for them to worry, given how cold it was, but I wasn’t bothered.

“Don’t worry about it. I can handle it.”

“Are you sure?”

“If you freeze to death, we won’t care.”

The kids in my group were from my class.

Each class sent 12 kids to camp, and my group consisted of six boys from mine.

They all knew about me, so they didn’t care what I did.

Which meant I could say things like this.

“And can I just skip out?”

“What?”

“You guys go have fun. I’ll wander around on my own.”

“You can’t just decide that on your own! What if you get lost!”

“It’s fine. I brought a map, too.”

“What are we supposed to tell the teacher if you disappear!”

The group leader snapped at me.

He was also the class president, so he was used to leading.

But he and the rest of the class knew what kind of person I was.

“Hey, class prez. Just let him go and let’s start having fun.”

“Yeah! Did you forget who that is? That’s Ma Seongjin. Ma Seongjin.”

“Does he even look like the type to get lost?”

The boys in my group shouted for the leader to just let me go.

“Hmm…”

The class president, hearing that, groaned and thought it over before finally making a decision.

“You’re really sure you can handle wandering around alone?”

“So, what have you been thinking of me as all this time?”

“…”

Ma Seongjin had never gotten lost while wandering alone during any field trips.

If anything, he seemed more mature than the class president—enough to make you wonder if he should be the leader instead.

Worrying about a kid like that almost seemed foolish.

Plus, I had a map.

“Then you have to meet us in front of the carousel by 6:30 pm. If you change your mind, call my phone.”

“Got it.”

“If something happens to you, I’ll be the one held responsible.”

“I got it, now get lost.”

Assured, the class president allowed me to go off on my own and left my sight.

The teacher was also gone, and the rest had all gone off to the rides.

It seemed I was completely alone, but there was someone next to me.

“They won’t notice now, right?”

Next to me, a girl with wings suddenly appeared.

But it wasn’t surprising. My ‘Stealth’ skill wasn’t only applicable to myself.

Of course, keeping her hidden from the moment we entered the park had drained a fair bit of magic power.

“Amusement park?”

“You got it.”

“Why are we here?”

Ha Eunseol looked around, bewildered.

Honestly, I had gotten her out beyond the gate, but I’d been struggling to figure out what to do next.

I could wait here until camp was over and then bring her back to school, but that would seem strange to the teachers.

Would they accept that a missing student just turned up at an amusement park?

Not to mention, her hair and eye color were so different that they probably wouldn’t recognize her.

‘And she has no parents, either.’

And besides, school couldn’t be considered safe for this kid.

Last night, Ha Eunseol had a breakdown simply upon seeing kids from Class 10 near the bathroom.

If she was that terrified just by seeing her classmates, something must have happened.

Even having lost her memory, she still reacted like that—it was a sign of severe trauma, imprinted so deeply it showed in her body.

‘Those damn bastards.’

But in the end, she has no choice but to return to school.

After all, the kid needs somewhere to stay, and an orphanage would be more convenient.

I can’t just keep her because of my own pointless feelings.

Besides, if she keeps attending DaeSang Elementary, I could protect her myself.

If I do, I could catch the ones bullying her personally.

‘But…’

What if there’s a better place to protect her?

Naturally, that would be preferable to informing the school.

A place perfectly suited to sheltering an awakened child.

Large guilds operate such facilities with ease.

And I happen to know one kind, big-name guild very well.

I could even call their people here directly.

“What’s that?”

“A phone. Only 1% battery left, though.”

It’s not mine. It belonged to Yun Jaeho, an executive in the Angel Guild.

I’d started worrying about Ha Eunseol’s safety since the fight with him.

When I kicked him in the back from above, I snatched the phone beforehand.

‘If I hadn’t swiped it back then, it would have been turned to ashes by the flames.’

Luckily, there was no password.

Now I just needed to send the location of Yong-in’s D-rank gate to the Angel Guild’s leadership.

Apparently, he hadn’t been lying about being a former executive—he even had the guildmaster’s contact.

If you compare it to a big company, it meant Yun Jaeho was far from being just an ordinary employee.

‘Didn’t the leader of that guild set up an orphanage after losing his daughter?’

Then there’s nothing left to hesitate about.

[Send]

All I had to do was select the location and send—a message sent from a wanted hunter’s phone would have them on edge.

As soon as they confirmed the message, someone would rush over to detain me.

Once I pressed [Send], my part would be done.

[Low battery.]

“What?”

Suddenly the phone powered off.

I’d been worried about that 1% battery, and now it happened for real.

“What a perfect damn timing.”

When the phone turns back on, I’ll have to start from scratch.

Just before sending, the screen went black and the phone company’s logo appeared—I was deeply disappointed.

“Um, hey…”

“Yeah?”

Ha Eunseol nervously tugged at me.

I thought she might be on alert again, but that wasn’t it.

She was shivering all over, sniffled, and spoke.

“I’m cold…!”

I realized I had completely forgotten.

Ha Eunseol was still dressed in ragged clothes, just like in the gate, so I’d been using a temperature control skill on her.

Now that the effect had faded, she was left shivering.

She was wearing the scarf I’d given her yesterday, but it wasn’t enough.

“I-I feel like I’m going to freeze.”

“Hold on a second.”

I cast the temperature control skill again.

I would have liked to keep it up constantly, but it was too cold for the skill to last long.

Letting her walk around in such clothes was not efficient.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To get you something to wear.”

I put Yun Jaeho’s phone in a unmanned charging locker and led Ha Eunseol away.

Since it was an amusement park, it was easy to find a clothing store.

But, unfortunately, we also ran into the one thing Ha Eunseol should avoid.

“Eeek!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Th-there…!”

Suddenly, Ha Eunseol shuddered and hid behind me.

At the entrance of the store stood six students, all from Class 10, 1st grade.

“I’m getting… a bad feeling from over there.”

Choi Seonju and Lee Boyoung, who we’d seen last night at the bathroom, were part of the group.

No wonder she was scared of seeing those two.

However…

“I don’t want to go near them. All six of them…”

“Six?”

All six.

I’d thought Choi Seonju and Lee Boyoung were the problem, but it turned out everyone else was included too.

In other words, there wasn’t just one or two bullies tormenting Ha Eunseol.

‘A whole group of screwed-up bastards.’

Ha Eunseol sensed those six like ghosts before I did.

She seemed much quicker to notice people with a direct impact on her.

That included both good and bad influences, so she saw those six as black, shadowy presences.

I didn’t need to look to know what that meant.

Meanwhile, the six laughed and took pictures with their phones.

“The scenery is so pretty. Will we get to come next year too?”

“We’ll see when the time comes.”

They snapped pictures of the colorful, snow-dusted amusement park.

Maybe it was like their habit of always photographing food and posting it. I wouldn’t know.

Then one of them put her phone away and spoke.

“Do you want to go on the Viking next?”

“We can’t. There’s a height restriction, see? It says so on the map.”

“Then we can’t ride the roller coaster either!”

They’re only first graders. Did they really think they could ride that?

Dream on.

“But I heard Awakened kids don’t have a height restriction.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It says so right here if you read carefully.”

“None of us are Awakened.”

“What a shame. I wish I was born with magic power, too.”

Then, the big girl, Choi Seonju, smiled slyly and said,

“Speaking of Awakened kids, remember that girl with wings.”

“Oh, you mean Ha Eunseol?”

“How long has it been since she disappeared? Three or four months?”

“And her parents are dead too, right?”

Lee Boyoung chimed in,

“Serves her right. I couldn’t stand even looking at her.”

“Hmm… yeah. It was so uncomfortable having her in our group.”

“But where is she now?”

“Maybe she followed her parents? Hahahaha!”

First-grade girls laughing and chatting away, only entertaining themselves.

I thought once more how fortunate it was that Ha Eunseol had lost her memory.

Even as a bystander, just hearing it was enough to make me sick.

“Stay here for a minute.”

“Where are you going?”

Ha Eunseol asked anxiously, and I smiled.

“To get you clothes.”

I reassured her, then approached the six kids.

“Hey guys.”

“Huh? If it isn’t Ma Seongjin from Class 4!”

As I acted friendly, Choi Seonju stepped forward.

She was acting like the leader and grinned when she saw me.

“Why did you call us?”

“I need to ask you a favor.”

“What kind of favor? Don’t tell me you want to hang out with us?”

Lee Boyoung giggled and teased me.

“Dream on! We’re not interested in boys like you. Hahaha!”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what?”

I almost laughed at how they misread me for some run-of-the-mill flirt.

Who would ever try flirting with someone as rotten inside and out as them?

They were just congratulating themselves, thinking a boy was finally interested.

‘Wonder what they’d grow up into.’

And they weren’t the ones I wanted anything from.

“Hand over your free passes.”

“What?”

“And your jackets.”

I instantly put on a tough guy expression and gave my demand.

The smiles disappeared from their faces and they began to back away.

“Are you crazy? Why should I take off my jacket in this weather?!”

“Shut up and hand them over.”

Without further ado, I activated my ‘Mental Pressure’ skill.

The six of them, meeting my eyes, began to shudder as if possessed.

Then they obediently took off the free passes and all their winter gear.

There were people around, but no one noticed.

I’d already cast ‘Stealth’ so no one else could perceive us.

“Alright. Just stay like that and wait at the carousel until the end of camp.”

Wearing nothing but long-sleeved t-shirts in freezing weather, they went toward the carousel.

Left standing outside in subzero temperatures, it was obvious what would happen.

Plus, my mental pressure skill ruled over the target’s fear.

They wouldn’t be able to tell anyone they met me here, no matter what.

In the end, they’d just have to stand shivering in fear in front of the carousel.

“What did you just do?”

“Just dealt with it.”

I put all the winter gear I’d taken from them on Ha Eunseol.

Wrapped in a white parka and winter hat, she finally stopped trembling.

“How do I look?”

“Much better than before.”

“Really?”

She couldn’t check her outfit because of her sight.

But Ha Eunseol blushed at my words.

Embarrassed, she buried her face in the scarf around her neck.

Then, staring at the scarf, she asked me,

“What about this?”

“Just keep wearing it.”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“No.”

Just a jacket is enough for me to endure the cold.

But not for Ha Eunseol—she had to wear as many warm things as possible.

It’s really cold today.

Whoosh—

I burned the free passes I took from them with black flames.

All but one.

“Put it on your wrist.”

“…?”

“You should enjoy things while you can.”

When I gave her the last free pass, Ha Eunseol blushed even more.

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

I don’t condone bullying, but some kids are rotten to the core that they need a lesson…

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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