HLSEBT - 87

It was clear she was confused. Her hands trembled uncontrollably.

The principal tried his best to wear the kind, gentle expression he usually reserved for students. His cheekbones rose unnaturally.

“Student. Are you Seong-ha Jeon from Class G, who entered Zone 4?”

Her blue lips quivered as she finally managed to speak.

“...Who are you?”

“I’m the director of the Western Shelter. Principal Pyeong-sik Pyo.”

She repeated, puzzled:

“What are you talking about? I’m an Eastern student.”

“Do you mean the Eastern Shelter?”

“I trained at Dongbaek Hall until yesterday. I was practicing lifting iron bars...”

In the principal’s hand, hidden behind his back, lay a small syringe.

Clearly, this student had forgotten not only where she was but also what she had been doing.

Memory loss was one of the side effects of the amplifier.

“I see. Student, do you not remember where you are right now?”

As the principal approached, she flinched and scooted backward while sitting.

Her voice wavered as she looked around. A pitiful helplessness clung to her pale face, evoking a desire to protect her.

“I don’t remember... This place doesn’t exist in the East.”

His suspicions were confirmed. The principal spoke in an even more relaxed tone.

“You don’t remember what happened just moments ago either?”

“I already said I don’t know!”

She seemed to have raised her voice unintentionally. Pressing her temples as if her head hurt, she muttered:

“But... there was a boy... A boy who ran away after looking at me. He had blood on his face.”

“...”

“Please take me to the dorm supervisor. There’s painkillers there. My head hurts so much...”

The principal scanned the area again.

There was no sign of Kang Jin-ho or Cheon Geonyoung.

Had this girl already inflicted a fatal injury?

Who had fled—Kang Jin-ho or Cheon Geonyoung?

Struggling to piece together the puzzle, the principal slowly approached her.

“I’ll take you there. Stand up first.”

The student staggered to her feet, brushing her arms repeatedly, as if unfamiliar with her own clothes.

“It would be best to go to the infirmary first. You’ll catch a cold if we stay here like this.”

He casually removed his jacket.

Pretending to drape it over her, he planned to jab the syringe into her neck.

Though it seemed no one was around, he prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

The student finally appeared to lower her guard. She didn’t flinch as he approached. Water dripped from her glasses. When he tried to meet her gaze, she bowed her head fearfully.

She’s scared.

As he draped the jacket over her trembling shoulders, he spoke soothingly.

“It’s okay. We’ll soon reach the other students.”

“...”

“The pain will fade too.”

The jacket touched her shoulder. Pretending to remove his hand naturally, he brought the menacing syringe close to her delicate neck.

The needle touched her translucent skin.

Just one push, and it would pierce through.

With bloodshot eyes, he carefully applied pressure with his fingers. His trembling fingers bent slightly.

The needle of the syringe began to bend against her thin skin.

...Wait.

The needle bends?

He had mere seconds to question it.

Before his mind could find an answer, an overwhelming shock struck his head. It felt like claws raking across his face.

“GUH!”

The principal clutched his nose and rolled on the floor, utterly bewildered by what had just happened.

“URGH...”

One of his front teeth wobbled painfully, as if struck by immense force. A metallic smell wafted heavily.

The burly middle-aged man curled up, clutching his nose and mouth.

The syringe he had been holding was now in someone else’s grasp.

Using the principal’s jacket, the figure carefully wrapped the syringe and sent it floating to rest on an exposed pipe near the ceiling.

A light, indifferent voice spoke from above him, as if addressing someone else.

“Evidence secured.”

“ARRGH! Wh-what is this... What kind of power...?”

“Pull yourself together.”

The principal sat up, pinching his nose to stop the bleeding. Something rolled inside his mouth. Spitting it out revealed a broken tooth.

“My tooth...!”

His eyes bulged in horror. Bloodshot and red, they stared up at the opponent.

That girl—a transfer student.

She hadn’t known whether she was in the East or the West. She barely handled telekinesis. Wasn’t she that foolish, greedy piece of trash who bought amplifiers immediately after transferring?

Gasping for breath, his chest heaved.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!”

She answered nonchalantly.

“Just another Esper brat.”

“You didn’t hear me? I’m the principal of the Western Shelter! Do you realize whose body you’ve laid your hands on?!”

The principal screamed, feeling as though his face might split open or his blood pressure would cause him to collapse. Or maybe his jaw would dislocate.

Yoon Taeha narrowed her eyes, clearly unimpressed.

“I can throw you into detention right now! Do you want to rot there forever? I have the authority to prevent your graduation!”

The man shouted his identity with every fiber of his being, hoping to instill some fear in his opponent.

Without a word, Yoon Taeha tore the clean sleeve of the principal’s shirt using telekinesis.

It took only the slightest flick of her finger.

“Telekinesis... Telekinesis. Isn’t she supposed to be B-rank?”

He fumbled with the torn sleeve with his bloodied fingers. Pyeong-sik, worthy of his A-rank status, had extensive combat experience. Such refined telekinesis wasn’t something just anyone could wield.

Yoon Taeha wiped her glasses with the expensive, clean fabric of the torn shirt. With a refreshed look, she put them back on.

“I feel much better now.”

“You attacked a teacher. How dare you attack a teacher as a mere student...”

The principal, muttering frantically, suddenly stopped.

Yoon Taeha, recording everything through Jet, crossed her arms. Whatever he did next would only add to his sentence—it was futile resistance.

Whether he realized it or not—

The principal exhaled raggedly. Fierce emotions poured out of him like a predator whose territory had been invaded. He reeked like a river on the verge of decay.

“A trap, huh...”

Trap. Snare. Trap.

He muttered the word “trap” as if it carried a lifetime of resentment. Occasionally, the word “crow” slipped in.

She stared at him with an intensity that suggested she intended to memorize every word he uttered.

“How arrogant of you to think such a trap would work.”

One of the principal’s hands rapidly turned black. He had finally recognized reality. This was unmistakably the highest level of offensive readiness.

Speaking calmly to Jet, Yoon Taeha said:

“Jet, make sure you record everything properly. If anything disappears later, I’ll be furious.”

• Understood.

• Please bring the target to the designated location. That’s all you need to do, Master.

• It seems leaving him slightly disheveled will help.

“I’ll follow instructions.”

Misinterpreting her calm demeanor as disdain, he growled, revealing his uneven set of teeth.

“Think you’re clever, huh?”

The principal roared like a beast. Malice radiated off him in waves.

Abandoning all pretense, he transformed his mutated hand further.

The blackened hand swelled instantly into a giant fist capable of destroying anything. The massive fist slashed through the air menacingly, just a step away from Yoon Taeha.

Then, the principal teleported. Intending to strike the insolent girl from behind and end her in one blow.

An attack powerful enough to crumble the walls of a fortified kingdom.

But when the wall isn’t there, such power is useless.

“...Where did she go?”

The girl who had been standing in place until the moment of teleportation had vanished.

He glared at the ashen space with bloodshot eyes. Droplets of his own blood fell steadily to the floor.

Seeing this, the principal’s rage grew even fiercer.

“Invisibility?”

His fist trembled slightly, yearning to destroy something—anything.

“Stop hiding and come out!”

“Why? You’ll just get scared if I do.”

A cold voice sounded from his left ear.

He swung his fist wildly toward the source. It was futile. From somewhere unseen, Yoon Taeha materialized like a ghost and struck the opposite side of his face.

“AAAARGH!”

The pain felt like his entire jaw had shattered. Unable to close his mouth properly, he let out a clumsy groan: “Ugh...”

It was only natural. The “units” of strength used by students and those wielded by Yoon Taeha were fundamentally different.

Her body, honed through sparring with Seo Do-jin, who was known for physical enhancement, was more than strong enough without relying on telekinesis—even though internally, she was far from well.

“Crazy... Crazy bitch...”

As Yoon Taeha approached slowly, the principal lashed out with his fist persistently.

She dodged once, then caught it the second time.

“Let go! Let go!”

Grabbing the inflated fist like a balloon, she forcibly straightened one tightly clenched finger. Fear and terror filled the principal’s eyes.

He shouted sharply:

“What are you trying to do?!”

“If I break this, you won’t be able to transform your body anymore, right?”

Before he could respond, she snapped his middle finger. The gigantic finger bent like taffy.

Unable to scream, his pupils dilated as he gasped for air.

The transformation of his hand began to unravel slowly.

Yoon Taeha used telekinesis to safely retrieve the principal’s jacket from the pipe.

Holding the evidence in one hand, she grabbed the witness—the principal—by the scruff of his neck with the other.

Just like the countless students he had dealt with before, the principal was dragged along by Yoon Taeha. Vile curses spilled from his lips, each more foul than the last.

The human rights of Espers were reduced to rags under his tongue. His once-kind smile had long since transformed into the desperate curse of a demon.

Having heard it all before, Yoon Taeha didn’t even blink.

“The weather’s nice today.”

“Grrr...”

“Let’s finish this evaluation properly.”

Emerging from the basement to enjoy the cool breeze, she teleported to the final stage.