POSSESSED 55

I blinked several times, unable to grasp Ho Seowon’s words. It would have been easier to understand if I could at least see my own mana. Realizing I wasn’t following him, Ho Seowon used his own mana as an example.

“Just look at my mana; it flows outward, right? It rotates clockwise and escapes away from me toward the outside.”

Ah, looking closely, it really was so. Just as he said, his mana was flowing outward.

So I’m the opposite? Since I can’t see it in the first place, how was I supposed to know?

“If you live as a daycare Teacher, you probably won’t have much use for your abilities. But if you were to use them in that state, you’ll get hurt somewhere. Usually, the pain starts in the head or the eyes.”

“Th-that’s right!”

I agreed vehemently. I even leaned my upper body toward Ho Seowon, who was sitting across from me. This felt like meeting a miraculous fortune teller who finally scratched that one unreachable itch.

My head or eyes had ached every time I used my ability. I had thought it was just a side effect of using the ability unskillfully, but it was because of the mana directed toward myself. The mana I hadn’t even considered was the source of the trouble.

It seems you’ve already been in pain. Sensing my reaction, the corners of Ho Seowon’s mouth rose slightly. He leaned forward along with me and asked.

“Teacher, would you like to join White Night? If it’s you, I could become your mentor.”

“Pardon? White Night?”

While I was processing this sudden recruitment offer with bewilderment, my body was suddenly yanked backward. It was Baek Joomyeong. Not stopping at just pulling me back, he locked me within his arms.

What on earth are you doing in front of Hunter Ho Seowon?

I flailed, flustered by a posture even more baffling than the guild offer, but he wouldn’t budge, so I could only roll my eyes around. The face of Baek Joomyeong I saw then was clearly full of discontent.

“I told you beforehand. Don’t forget.”

Don’t forget what? Ah, did he tell him not to try to recruit me?

Ho Seowon waved his hand nonchalantly as if he understood and stood up. I waited for the strength in Baek Joomyeong’s arms to fade before standing up in sync with him and speaking to Ho Seowon.

“If it’s alright, let’s head out together. I have to go home as well.”

“I will escort the Teacher personally.”

“I won’t be joining you. I don’t want to be killed by Hunter Baek.”

Wondering what that was supposed to mean, I looked at Baek Joomyeong. Baek Joomyeong, who had arched an eyebrow as if Ho Seowon were unsatisfactory, looked away and feigned ignorance when our eyes met. He was the spitting image of Yeonji when she was sulking.

“He sent the Teacher into the room with Yeonji and then gave me a death threat for touching the Teacher earlier, you know? He told me if I cross the line, he’ll bury me along with the monsters. He said he’d make a Gate into my grave.”

“Ho Seowon! When did I ever—”

“The supposed role model Baek Joomyeong said that, Teacher. Please scold him for me.”

Bleh. Ho Seowon stuck his tongue out obnoxiously, used me as a shield, and then bolted toward the shoe rack. Baek Joomyeong chased after him. I’ve seen children play tag, but it’s my first time seeing full-grown adults do it. Especially when it’s Hunters as big as mountains doing something so childish.

By the way, did Baek Joomyeong send me inside just to make threats like that? He’s a child, a total child.

I hear the sound of the front door closing. Baek Joomyeong, who appeared afterward, looked embarrassed. Part of me wanted to ask why he spoke like that, but I decided to just let it slide. I’ve become tired. I didn’t want to pour energy into every single thing.

Baek Joomyeong, standing at an awkward distance from me, asked quietly.

“Teacher, do you have any intention of joining the Wolhwa Guild?”

“…….”

“I can be your mentor too. Ho Seowon just happens to be a fellow Mental-type; he isn’t the type of fellow you can look up to and learn from.”

“And you are someone I can look up to and learn from, Hunter-nim?”

“At least more so than Ho Seowon. Though our types are different, my rank is higher and I am superior in terms of combat. There are many places I can take you with my authority.”

“And such a person makes threats like that….”

Baek Joomyeong, shooting me a reproachful look while denying he’d done such a thing, slunk closer until our eyes met.

At first, his dark blue pupils wavered as if he were bashful, but they gradually settled in the quiet atmosphere and achieved a subtle equilibrium. At the same time, Baek Joomyeong began to gently tickle my fingertips with his own.

His thumb brushed the skin from my wrist to my thumb, and his index finger touched mine before pulling away just before they intertwined. Once, he even straightened his fingers to poke between mine, only to graze his way across my palm.

As this strange behavior continued while we held a steady gaze, my focus blurred and I began to feel odd. Being stuck together in a large space as if we were sealed in made me dizzy, as if I were short of breath.

“Don’t go to White Night. Don’t choose Ho Seowon.”

As even his low-pitched voice flowed softly, I began to get confused as to whether the ticklish spot was my fingertips or my ears. And when he spoke like that, I fell into the illusion that I was someone receiving a confession of love.

It’s just a guild recruitment offer. That’s all it is.

Once I finished that thought, my mind cleared up instantly. I took a step back and answered.

“I’m going to choose Yeonji. I don’t want to go anywhere.”

Not Wolhwa, not White Night, and certainly not Jeoksang—I chose Eden. I didn’t choose to be a Mental-type Hunter of some guild; I chose to be the Rainbow Class Teacher at Eden Daycare, where Baek Yeonji goes. However, the certainty of my choice has diminished compared to before.

Do I dare stay at Eden? Can I really remain as a Teacher for the children?

Doubts about myself wouldn’t go away. It might be because I got hung up on the phrase “reporting unregistered individuals” among the things I heard from Ho Seowon.

Baek Joomyeong won’t report me. Since Ho Seowon is his friend, he won’t report me either. While those two are people I can trust to be like that, Jeoksang is different. They are the type who would report me at any time just to screw me over.

Just because they aren’t looking for me doesn’t mean I should just sit back comfortably.

Should I dominate their minds again and manipulate their memories? The mere thought is scary and makes me anxious, but if the alternative is being reported and forced to become a Hunter, isn’t it worth trying one more time?

My fighting spirit blazes up, only to be snuffed out like a flickering candle in the wind. I’d surely get hit a few times by Lee Sunghwan or Cho Cheolsoo. And if I used my ability, my head or eyes would just end up hurting. Just recalling the pain makes my body shiver and my eyes squeeze shut.

Thoughts of Jeoksang flowed into worries about my mana. This was the first time I had become properly conscious of my mana.

To think my mana is visible to Hunters of the same type.

On one hand, it’s a terrifying thing. I’ve gained the realization that I cannot be complacent just because Baek Joomyeong has tolerated me. If there had been a Mental-type among the parents, I might have been caught instantly.

Did the original Jang Taeyeon know about these risks? Was he planning to endure it? What was he thinking? He was probably much better prepared than I am.

One more thing, Ho Seowon said this:

‘Teacher’s mana is flowing toward yourself. You’ll get hurt that way.’

Yesterday, I looked into mana, the foundation of supernatural power.

Just as Ho Seowon said, it was correct that the mana possessed by ability-users should flow toward the outside, not the inside. If it doesn’t, and instead circulates and accumulates in the body, problems arise across both the mind and the flesh. Even a brief search revealed terrifying things. It was mental derangement, blindness, and death.