Meiling’s eyes moved down the message her father had sent.

The message wasn’t long, but by the time she finished reading it, her face had gone deathly pale.

She pulled up her contacts list and found the entry labeled Father.

“……”

Her finger hovered stiffly over the holographic call button.

She was afraid.

Afraid that hearing his voice again would drag her back into the person she used to be.

But after reading that message, she had no choice but to respond.

With trembling hands, Meiling pressed the call button.

Even as the dial tone rang, her whole body grew colder, like ice water was running through her veins.

[Did you read the message?]

Meiling flinched.

The voice. The tone. Exactly the same as before.

Even after months without contact, there was no greeting, no preamble.

“…How did you find out?” she forced out in a strained voice.

[So this is what you’ve been doing after running from me—murder? How laughable.]

“I asked you how you knew!”

Her panic flared, her voice rising to a shout.

[Watch your tongue.]

Kai’s voice dropped lower, colder.

[Unless, of course, you want your little squadmates expelled from the Academy and thrown straight into an Awakener prison.]

“Ugh…!”

The fury boiling in her chest escaped as a strangled groan.

[Come home. Now. We’ll talk afterward.]

“Wait—!”

The line went dead.

Staring blankly at her smartwatch, Meiling’s knees buckled. She collapsed to the floor, powerless.

An hour later.

Meiling stood before the gate of the mansion.

The place she had sworn never to return to loomed before her, and her body felt as though every ounce of strength was draining away.

Then, without her touching the bell, the gate creaked open.

“Welcome back, Miss Meiling.”

“……”

She looked up at the man standing before her.

Miller.

Kai’s subordinate, once her personal attendant.

The same man who had come to drag her back when she fled Guangcheon, disobeying Kai’s orders to spy on Yein and Lumina.

“Lord Kai is waiting. Please, come inside.”

Meiling’s feet refused to move.

But if she turned back now, Yein, Lumina, and Yui would be cast out of the Academy.

Taking a deep breath, she followed Miller through the gate.

Clang.

Meiling flinched.

The sound of the gate closing behind her weighed heavy in her chest.

Miller led her to the second floor study.

“You’re here.”

Her eyes lifted.

Chen Kai sat at the desk, gaze fixed on her.

“Let’s not waste words. From today onward, you’ll leave the dorms and live here at home.”

“!”

Meiling’s eyes widened.

“And you’ll follow my orders, just like before. Refuse, and I’ll report your little crimes to the Security Bureau immediately.”

“If you push me that far, I won’t stay silent! I’ll expose everything you’ve done to the world!”

“Do as you please.”

“…What?”

“I said do as you please.”

She froze.

She had never seen a man cling harder to reputation and appearances than her father.

Yet now he spoke as if those things meant nothing.

“Better to go down together than leave my daughter at the side of a murderer.”

Shock piled upon shock.

Kai’s muttered words echoed in her ears.

“Meiling. Tell Nam Yein yourself—you can’t stay in the squad. That you’ll be leaving, of your own will.”

Her heart jolted.

“What nonsense is that…”

“I’ve already arranged your transfer to Magica Academy for this break. With your grades, they’ll accept you even from Gwangcheon. It’s the best institution for magic in the world—better than here.”

“Don’t you dare make that decision for me!”

“Meiling.”

Kai stepped close, locking eyes with her.

“Think carefully. Your choice decides their future.”

“Kh….”

She bit down hard on her lip.

“Prodigies chosen as HAUT candidates, condemned as murderers overnight. Do you know what kind of life they’d be left with? Forget graduation, forget a Hunter license—they’ll never escape the stigma.”

His words were calm, but heavy.

“But if you obey me, they’ll graduate without issue. They’ll live as Hunters. So choose. Will you follow my orders—or will you brand your friends with a mark that will never fade?”

Meiling’s pupils quivered.

[The person you’re calling cannot be reached. Please leave a message after the beep—]

“…Hmph.”

I ended the call and slipped out my wireless earpiece.

“She’s not answering again?” Seo Yui asked.

“Yes.” I nodded.

It had been about forty minutes since Meiling had gone back to her room.

Now, Seo Yui and I were standing at the fork between the men’s and women’s dorms.

I’d sent a message suggesting we meet for lunch, but only Seo Yui had shown up.

Even after several calls, Meiling never picked up.

“Is she mad because you said we won’t go into dungeons until Lumina gets back?” Seo Yu-i asked.

“Unlikely.”

That wasn’t it.

‘Her reaction was too strange to be sulking over a dungeon ban.’

As rotten as her personality was, Meiling wasn’t stupid. She’d understand the risk of running dungeons without Lumina.

“Senior, could you check her room for me?”

“Alright.”

Seo Yui went inside the girls’ dorm. A few minutes later, my watch rang.

[She’s not here.]

“What?”

[Her door panel says she’s out.]

A bad feeling tightened in my gut.

“Got it. I’ll check the guard post.”

[I’ll meet you there.]

I hurried to the gatehouse and asked the guard to check the log of students leaving campus.

“Who are you looking for?”

“Chen Meiling.”

“Ah, Miss Meiling. She left earlier.”

“How long ago?”

“About thirty minutes, I’d say.”

“…Thank you.”

Soon after, I met Seo Yui outside the gatehouse.

“They said she already left campus.”

“Just to eat by herself, maybe?”

Possible. But unlikely.

If it was just food, Meiling would have dragged me along. For all her sharp tongue and sour temper, she couldn’t stand being alone. She always insisted on bringing me or Lumina along whenever she wanted to go anywhere.

And besides—

“Yein. Her face earlier… it’s been bothering me,” Seo Yui said softly.

“Yes. Me too.”

The image of Meiling’s expression when she’d checked her smartwatch flashed through my mind.

Her face had gone stiff, drained of emotion.

‘My bad feeling’s proving right.’

And if there was someone who could make Meiling look like that, there was only one man.

‘The question is—will she even come back?’

If Chen Kai had summoned Meiling, then his purpose could only be one—

To turn her back into a tool for his own rise in status.

‘But how?’

Meiling had already told him: if he ever tried to use her again, she would expose everything—his corruption, his violence, even the murders he had orchestrated.

‘To Kai, Meiling is like an unexploded shell sitting in the fire. Touching her should only risk detonation. Why would he dare provoke her?’

No… looked at from another angle, this could be his attempt to defuse that shell safely.

‘The real question is—what card does Kai hold?’

A card strong enough to gag Meiling and fasten his leash around her again.

If I could figure that out, I could plan my move.

But first—I needed to share what I knew with Seo Yui.

“Senior, have you ever heard who Meiling’s father is?”

“Chen Kai, right? President of Forward Magic Engineer. I heard some classmates mention it.”

I nodded.

“Meiling is estranged from Chen Kai.”

Seo Yui’s eyes widened.

“I won’t go into every detail, but to summarize—Kai tried to use Meiling as a tool for his own gain, and she refused him.”

“That explains it. No wonder she stayed in the dorms even during break. So that’s what she was running from.”

“Yes. And I believe her strange behavior earlier is very likely connected to him.”

“You mean Kai is trying to make her his tool again?”

“That’s my guess.”

“……”

The lazy, half-drowsy look in Seo Yui’s eyes faded, replaced by seriousness.

Raised as a warrior in Valhalla, she knew better than anyone the agony and rage of being forced into someone else’s hands, used like an object.

“Yein. You can handle this, right?” she asked.

“If you need my strength, use it anytime. I’ll fight with everything I have. No one in this world should ever be turned into another’s tool.”

I was struck by her words—and by the earnest light in her eyes.

That someone who had grown up in a hell where you killed or were killed could still be this upright, this kind, was nothing short of astonishing.

If I had met her in the real world, she would have been someone I could trust with my back for life.

But her last words stabbed uncomfortably at my chest.

“…Thank you, Senior. I’ll take you up on that.”

“Good.”

“Still, before we cause trouble, we should fill our stomachs. What should we eat for lunch?”

“You’re right. Let’s get meat.”

“I’m in.”

Together, Seo Yui and I went to a restaurant and ordered rice bowls heaped with marinated pork. After eating our fill, we returned to Gwangcheon to check if Meiling had come back.

“Nope, not yet. By the way, why do you keep asking me instead of just calling her yourself?” the guard at the gate asked.

‘Because she’s not picking up.’

And then—

Buzz.

My smartwatch vibrated.

“!”

I stiffened when I saw the caller.

It was Meiling.

I pulled Seo Yui aside, far enough that the guard wouldn’t overhear, and answered on speaker.

“Meiling?”

[…]

Silence on the other end.

“Meiling. Where are you?” Seo Yui leaned closer to the watch and asked.

A faint gulp of breath came through.

Then, after a pause—

[I’m sorry.]

Her voice trembled.

[From today… I’m leaving the squad.]

Seo Yui’s eyes flew wide, darting to me.

“Kai told you to say that, didn’t he?” I demanded.

[No. This is my decision.]

“Don’t make me laugh.”

That was impossible.

“You told Lumina you were glad she’d be back soon. Now you suddenly don’t want to stay with us? That doesn’t make sense.”

[No! It was my choice! I don’t want to be in your squad anymore! I don’t even want to see your faces! So stop interfering with me!]

Her voice thundered from the speaker.

So it was on speakerphone on her end too.

Which meant—

“Even if you don’t want to see our faces, you’ll still have to once school starts again.”

I kept my tone deliberately calm.

Seo Yui shot me a look of disbelief. Now is not the time for jokes, her eyes said.

[Th-that’s…]

The malice in her voice had vanished, replaced by fluster. She hadn’t expected that.

“You can stay at home during break, sure. But unless you’re planning to transfer schools, you’ll be back here eventually.”

[…]

[That’s right. I’ll stay home. And I’ll leave Gwangcheon altogether. So stop caring about me.]

Her reply told me two things.

First, she really was at Kai’s house.

Second, he was preparing a transfer to cut her away from us completely.

“I see.”

I answered brightly.

The path forward was clear.

“Wait, Yein—!” Seo Yui called in alarm.

But I wasn’t finished.

“Mr. Chen Kai. You’re listening, aren’t you?”

[…]

Silence. Of course.

“You’ve already meddled in our Academy life once. I overlooked it then, since I had my own share of fault. But this time, I won’t.”

My meaning was obvious: if he broke our agreement, I’d release the recording.

The recording of Chen Kai threatening me to make Meiling first in class.

The same recording where he all but admitted using his daughter as a ladder, and even hinted at involvement in Jin Cheongwang’s crew’s deaths.

[Nam Yein.]

Then Meiling’s voice came again.

[Please. Don’t get involved.]

“!”

The difference was clear in an instant.

Not the lie she’d shouted before. Not the fake venom.

This was her true voice.

[This is what I want. My choice. To walk away from you. So please—don’t do anything. As your friend… I’m begging you.]

“……”

[Answer me.]

“……Haa.”

I let out a long breath.

“Fine. If that’s what you want… for now, I’ll leave it at that.”

[…Thank you.]

The line disconnected.

I turned off my screen and looked at Seo Yui.

“Senior. There’s somewhere we need to go. Please come with me.”

“Where?”

“Where else? To where our friend is.”

Seo Yui blinked, then gave a sharp nod.

(End of Chapter)

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.