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What if I could manipulate people at my own will?

It would certainly be convenient.

Song Ah Rin thought so too.

How wonderful it would be to control everyone like that. It was truly the stuff of dreams.

But humans are treacherous beings.

They have a knack for finding poverty in abundance.

She was no different.

Her satisfaction was fleeting, and what subsequently overwhelmed her was an infinite sense of emptiness.

She couldn’t help but always doubt.

Is this person truly fond of me?

Even if that person actually liked her or cared for her, she had no way to prove it.

Rather, she possessed the ability to manipulate even that genuine sentiment.

Because of this, she only craved more.

“Is there no one who loves me sincerely, without me having to control their thoughts?”

And then, a person who met those qualifications finally appeared before her.

Someone who would not move according to her whims, but rather steadfastly pursued what they believed to be right, no matter how she asked. And most of the time, they succeeded.

Such a person was a first for her.

Of course, there had been a few monstrous individuals.

Like Gangseo Branch Chief, who stared at her with a terrifying smile while she was under hypnosis.

And naturally, it was inevitable for her to want to make a good impression on this man.

“…Hah.”

A quiet sigh escaped her lips, and Song Ah Rin opened her eyes.

She was no longer the child who relied solely on luck.

The current her was different.

*

She watched the scene where people were tied up like strings, moving about.

It was not an unfamiliar sight.

Where have I seen this scene before?

The answer popped into her mind without needing much thought.

Like the puppet-like beings that attacked us in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

And the Theater Company Chief.

“What’s that?”

“I want to know too.”

Now free, Yu Da On approached me and whispered, and I too had no choice but to whisper a reply to her.

But I could grasp how the mechanism of control worked.

As Song Ah Rin waved her hand, her mother’s body began to move here and there.

“…Ha.”

After several attempts to move her, a sigh that seemed like a scoff escaped her mother.

“In the end, this is how it becomes.”

As she muttered and waved her hand, her mother pulled out an old key from somewhere.

“Hey!”

“…”

Slowly, Song Ah Rin walked towards her mother, and her mother screamed.

“This is A-Rin’s room key! You can’t touch it!”

“It’s my room key, so I’m taking it back.”

Song Ah Rin slowly gathered the key.

“A-Rin. Your mother…”

“I know. She’s not a person.”

Cutting me off, Song Ah Rin nodded.

“Still. I can’t kill her with my own hands.”

I hurriedly covered Yu Da On’s mouth.

Yu Da On blinked, looking at me.

Her eyes seemed to say, “Did you just say nothing?”

But the way she currently was, I felt like she would say, “Shall I kill her?” unintentionally.

“So, I’m going to let her go.”

“…If that’s what you want.”

“Thank you.”

Song Ah Rin nodded and flicked her index finger.

Her mother’s body straightened up, and

“Let go of this!”

Her mother yelled and walked away.

Song Ah Rin looked at her with an impassive face as she crossed the entrance and disappeared down the corridor.

“…I guess I used up all my lifetime luck back when I was a kid.”

“Excuse me?”

Song Ah Rin muttered.

“When I was young, I survived by intuition and luck.”

“Here?”

“So it’s been used up.”

“…”

“Still, it was quite fascinating from a young age, wasn’t it?”

Song Ah Rin chuckled as she muttered.

“Otherwise, how could I explain that I survived?”

“…”

“No?”

She looked at me.

“That’s right.”

I could only nod.

“So.”

She opened the door.

With a click, the key turned, revealing the room where a child used to live.

It could only be described as a cozy room.

Of course, it was the room where the young her had lived.

“…”

Song Ah Rin squeezed her eyes shut.

“It’s the same.”

“…”

“Organized, huh?”

Just as she said.

It couldn’t be called a room that nobody lived in as it still bore signs of someone having tidied it up.

“…Should we lie down?”

“…You go first.”

Song Ah Rin looked at me.

Is it really okay to leave Song Ah Rin behind like this? What if she’s late or doesn’t come at all?

“Don’t worry.”

She flashed a small smile and shook her finger.

“I’m worried it’ll cut off the connection if I go. Plus, sending you first makes me feel better.”

“Should I go first?”

“You can do as you please.”

Cutting Yu Da On’s words sharply, Song Ah Rin looked at me.

“…Understood. Then—”

“I’ll go first.”

Yu Da On interrupted my words, looking at Song Ah Rin.

She seemed indifferent to whatever words Song Da Rin might say.

“If we wake up and that place is dangerous, it’s right for me to go and wait before Jae Heon.”

“That makes sense.”

Song Ah Rin nodded, agreeing with her words, then looked at me.

“I got it. Then I’ll go first.”

“Okay.”

Without hesitation, Yu Da On lay down on the bed.

“But how can I fall asleep here—”

Before she could finish, Yu Da On disappeared.

“…”

“…You really should come, A-Rin.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t go?”

Song Ah Rin flashed a smile, looking at me.

“I have no choice but to go.”

She poked me with her finger.

Creak, the bed shook.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Idiot.”

She quietly smiled.

After gazing at her slowly, I lay down on the bed.

“You really should come.”

“Of course.”

Song Ah Rin continued to smile, looking at me.

Suddenly, drowsiness hit me like crazy.

Is this what Yu Da On meant by—

“You need to go there to find you.”

Song Ah Rin’s last words didn’t quite reach my ears.

*

“Ah, you’re here!”

As soon as I regained my senses, the first thing I saw was Yu Da On, wide-eyed and staring at me.

“Jae Heon, are you hurt? Does anything hurt? Are you feeling weird or…?”

“I’m fine.”

“A-Rin didn’t do anything to you, right?”

“What could A-Rin possibly do to me?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Yu Da On chuckled softly, and the door swung open, a flurry of white hair following.

“…Hah… Hah…”

“Chae Yeon.”

“…I’m sorry.”

She murmured.

“I came as soon as I got the call. I’m a bit late.”

“…You said you came as soon as you got the call?”

How much time has really passed?

I hastily checked the time.

Exactly 20 minutes had passed.

“…”

Yu Da On and I exchanged glances.

It felt like several hours had passed.

“Time—”

Before I could finish, like magic, Song Ah Rin appeared before us.

“…”

With a troubled expression, she was gazing at her own picture.

“That picture is—Ugh!”

Yu Da On opened her mouth to say something, but as Song Ah Rin waved her finger, she covered her own mouth.

“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”

“…Sorry.”

Ignoring the muffled Yu Da On, Song Ah Rin bowed her head to me.

“I’ll handle this picture.”

“…I trust you.”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh! Ugh!”

Song Ah Rin nodded, and thus the Gunhakil-gye incident came to an end.

Or so I thought.

*

“I now hate Kim Jae Heon.”

“What suddenly brought this on, Branch Chief?”

The Branch Chief stared at me with wide eyes.

“What do you mean suddenly?”

Her red eyes bore into me.

“Do you have any idea what I was just yelled at by my superior?”

“I don’t know, right?”

“I never thought I’d be told I’m a crazy woman who overworks the next ace to death!”

“Well, you do overwork—”

“I keep saying to take a break!”

With a scream, the Branch Chief clutched her head.

“I told you to take a break, but you come back loaded with accidents. Now you’re going out for drinks and causing more trouble? Do you want to set up your office in the Branch Chief’s office?”

“I’d rather not.”

That’s like saying to set up an office in the CEO’s office.

“If you don’t want that, please just live cautiously!”

The Branch Chief shouted, looking aggrieved.

I want that too. Really.

“…Hah.”

She let out a deep sigh.

“First, give me a briefing.”

“Understood.”

Slowly, I began to brief her.

About Song Ah Rin, Yu Da On, and everything that happened.

As she listened quietly, the Branch Chief’s expression began to grow serious when it came to Song Ah Rin’s story.

Her expression became increasingly grave, and by the time I finished,

“…”

She wore a look of utter devastation I had never seen before.

“Branch Chief?”

“…A-Rin said that. She survived because she was lucky.”

The Branch Chief muttered.

“Yes.”

“…Kim Jae Heon.”

She looked at me.

“When do you think a person’s abilities bloom?”

“…When it’s dangerous?”

“That can be the case, but usually, it’s when the time comes to use those abilities.”

She continued in a calm voice.

“For example, immortality is realized when one dies. Telekinesis when one has something to move.”

“…”

“Wait a moment.”

She stepped away.

Soon after, she returned with a dusty device.

It was a device with a small screen attached.

“This is the recording from the first occurrence of an anomaly at Myungil Apartment. Using closed-circuit cameras and the technology of the Management Agency at the time, we were able to record the situation inside the building.”

“…”

Is it really okay to see this?

But before I could say anything, she operated the device.

CCTV footage started streaming.

Young individuals studying, families spending time together, a couple chatting, a man on the phone, students playing at the playground.

And then, in an instant, everything changed.

The elderly couple was lying face down, trembling on the floor; the man put down the phone, gazing outside, and the students at the playground—had suddenly scattered, all lifeless.

The scene transitioned.

A couple ran, carrying a child with purple hair.

The child trembling in the man’s arms, terrified.

The man fell to the ground, looking back.

His face was filled with horror, and he hastily handed the child to the woman with purple hair.

The woman hesitated for a moment, and then at the man’s shout, she hurriedly ran down the hallway again.

She ran.

Crossing the corridor on the second floor, she stumbled at the landing.

Her leg shattered and she screamed in pain.

The child fell to the ground, and as the child looked back, she shouted something.

The child ran.

As the child climbed the stairs towards the third floor, the man in the hallway threw down the phone and raced towards the child.

Of course, he scooped the child up and ascended the stairs.

Was he being chased by something? Continuously looking back, he made his way up the stairs, reaching the fourth floor.

He pounded on the door.

The two elderly people lying on the floor opened the door hastily.

The man handed the child to the elderly couple and hurriedly said something before closing the door.

Clenching his fist tightly, he immediately fell apart.

The elderly couple, clutching the crying child, hurried towards the balcony.

The door shattered, and the grandfather swiftly pushed the child and grandmother onto the balcony and then closed the door.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the grandmother screamed.

A young person who had been studying next door rushed out, reaching out.

The grandmother turned back, hurriedly handing the child to the young person, then she too raised her foot to cross to the balcony, getting caught by something and dragged away.

The young man’s face was filled with horror as he rushed inside, holding the crying child.

He hid the crying child under the bed, locked the door, and grabbed a kitchen knife.

Once again, blood splattered.

After a long time, a brown-haired woman sprinted through the apartment at incredible speed, fists clenched, passing by the corpses.

She searched for the child under the bed.

The child with purple hair, just like young Song Ah Rin, was held in her arms.

“…Sometimes, people erase memories they wish to forget.”

“…”

“Because it’s a way to survive.”

The brown-haired woman on the screen spoke to me.

The child on the screen gazed at the footage with an emotionless look, not feeling a thing.