Woo Jin-Cheol took Jin-Woo to the end of the hallway. Once they were far enough from the classroom that conversation would be completely inaudible, Woo Jin-Cheol stopped. Jin-Woo, who had been quietly following, also came to a halt. Jin-Woo glanced back toward the classroom. The distance he felt, standing outside a classroom while students were in the middle of a lesson and peeking in, felt strangely unfamiliar. Woo Jin-Cheol, perhaps concerned about this point as well, was the first to offer an apology to Jin-Woo, who was looking at the classroom.
"I'm sorry for calling you out during class." "It's all right."
Thinking of the teacher who was working hard to conduct the lesson, Jin-Woo held back words about how the time was already tedious enough to make one glad to have missed it anyway. Instead of speaking, Jin-Woo looked up at Woo Jin-Cheol. A young Woo Jin-Cheol. Having changed his own body to resemble a first-year high school student, Jin-Woo noted that this man was still a head taller with much broader shoulders.
'On the outside, he looked like someone who could even make gangsters back down, and he was living his life as a detective.'
Seeing this familiar face again after a long time brought an involuntary smile. It had been years. No—counting the time spent wandering through the cracks between dimensions, it had been decades since he had last seen Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol. Even though he wanted to keep it hidden, a sense of pleasure inevitably seeped through his expression.
'...?'
However, Woo Jin-Cheol, having noticed Jin-Woo's smile, felt bewildered. Few people could maintain their composure when suddenly visited by a detective—and a rough-looking one at that. And if the subject was a student, did that even need to be said? Yet the student standing before him had a smile on his lips.
'This student... is different somehow.'
He had sensed it from the moment he entered the classroom, but the boy was truly different. In his line of work, Woo Jin-Cheol had met plenty of murderers who had killed numerous people and gangsters who had brought entire backstreets to heel. But none of them had ever looked at him with such calm eyes.
'How can a student's eyes be like this?'
Gulp. Unknowingly, Woo Jin-Cheol swallowed dryly from the tension. The heart that had been pounding since he first laid eyes on Jin-Woo continued its rough, inexplicable beating. To clear up the many questions swirling in his head, Woo Jin-Cheol took out a notebook.
"Could the shadow... no, the ant..."
Even after looking at the notebook's contents, Woo Jin-Cheol found himself utterly unable to continue speaking. He pulled a pen from his pocket. Scratch, scratch. In front of Jin-Woo, who was watching him with an amused gaze, Woo Jin-Cheol busily drew something, then presented the result.
"..."
Jin-Woo marveled inwardly.
'This man actually has more talent for drawing than I expected.'
What Woo Jin-Cheol had drawn was the approximate appearance of Beru. While it couldn't be called a meticulous depiction, it captured the ant head, human-like hands and feet, sharp claws, and the long ant wings attached to the back. To anyone who knew Beru, it was a drawing instantly recognizable as him.
Woo Jin-Cheol asked.
"Does anything come to mind when you look at this picture?"
Jin-Woo, who had been examining the drawing, looked up, and he noticed that Woo Jin-Cheol's face had reddened slightly. Woo Jin-Cheol was not unaware of how absurd he must look. Yet it seemed he wanted to recover the memories of what had happened to him—memories that were now gone—even if it meant resorting to this. With that earnestness, he asked.
"...Do you know about it?"
Woo Jin-Cheol asked once more. Just before the awkwardness spilling from the question could grow further, Jin-Woo answered.
"Yes."
Thud. His violently lurching heart struck hard against his chest.
"You— you know about it?"
Woo Jin-Cheol's voice grew louder. But unlike the detective's excitement, Jin-Woo continued in a composed tone.
"I do."
Woo Jin-Cheol's pupils trembled. Finally. At last, he had found it. As his breathing quickened, so did his speech, and a stream of questions poured out.
"What is this ant monster? And who are you, really?"
When Jin-Woo took a step back to avoid the excited Woo Jin-Cheol, the detective caught himself and calmed his emotions.
"No, I got a little carried away. It's a problem I've been chasing for a long time."
Little by little, he would uncover the information this student possessed. Wasn't this a hard-won lead? There was no need to rush. Having composed his mind, Woo Jin-Cheol spoke in a calm voice.
"So, you recognize this drawing?" "Yes."
Jin-Woo nodded and answered, then put on an innocent expression.
"Isn't this just a monster from one of those special effects shows the kids watch? Like Kamen Rider or something." "Ah..."
From Woo Jin-Cheol's mouth came a faint sigh, as if he were watching the sandcastle he had painstakingly built all day get swept away in a single wave. His disappointment was as great as his earlier expectations had been. The hand holding the notebook dropped naturally to his side. His face looked utterly exhausted, as though he no longer had the strength to hold it. For a moment, he felt a flicker of anger at the boy who had given him hope, but what fault could this student have for telling the truth as he knew it? A weary smile rose on Woo Jin-Cheol's face.
"Thank you for your time." "Are we done?" "Yes. I already spoke with your teacher, so there shouldn't be any problem."
As he spoke and moved to put the notebook away, Jin-Woo said to him.
"Would you mind giving me that monster drawing as a memento?"
Seeing Jin-Woo's bright, open face, Woo Jin-Cheol also smiled. He briefly opened the notebook to look down at his own sketch, then promptly tore out the page and handed it to Jin-Woo.
"Here." "Thank you."
As if leaving nothing behind, the moment he heard Jin-Woo's thanks, Woo Jin-Cheol turned and descended the stairs.
'...'
Jin-Woo remained in place, listening to Woo Jin-Cheol's footsteps as they receded down the staircase. Quietly, spreading softly to the side like water seeping outward, the shadow shifted, and Igrit rose up.
[Master.] "Hm?" [Why... did you not tell him the truth?]
Having retained his memories from when he was human, Igrit understood better than anyone how painful and sorrowful it was for a person to fade from another person's memory. That was why, to his eyes, Detective Woo Jin-Cheol's approach had appeared to be the perfect opportunity. Even just one person. If only a single person learned how his Master had saved this world, wouldn't that be a good thing for his Master as well? Igrit's words carried an irrepressible sense of regret. But Jin-Woo shook his head.
"They say forgetting is a blessing God bestowed upon humanity."
Even if that blessing was an artificial result brought about by the "tools of God." Jin-Woo judged that he had no right to choose which memories would disappear and which would remain. That was God's business. And so he had sent Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol away.
[I understand, Master.] "Mhm."
Suddenly, Jin-Woo looked down at his left hand. The Emperor's Strike. The burn on this left hand, which had taken the full force of 'Breath of Destruction' head-on, refused to heal back to its original state no matter what. Unforgettable, unpleasant memories were similar to this scar on his hand. A wound that could not be erased. Even if it was done at the requester's own wish, there was no need to deliberately remind someone of such memories. Now, no one's memory contained any trace of the suffering inflicted by the demonic beasts and Monarchs. That was precisely why he did not wish to leave the remnants of the past in Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol's mind, either.
[Very well, Master.]
Igrit seemed to accept this and quietly sank back into the shadow. Jin-Woo, who had been gazing down the stairs for a while, turned to head back to class.
* * *
Once break time arrived, the children's attention focused on Jin-Woo. When would the kids ever get to see a dramatic situation like a detective bursting into the classroom during a lesson? It was only natural that all eyes were on the main character. Even the girls who were usually interested in Jin-Woo crowded around at once, and his seat was swarmed.
"What was that just now?" "Why did the detective come, Jin-Woo?"
Jin-Woo smiled faintly at the children's scorching interest, then made up a freshly baked excuse on the spot.
"He's an acquaintance who wanted to ask me something in private." "Whoa— that's sick." "You're close with a detective?" "Lucky you."
When the children's interest veered in an entirely unexpected direction, Jin-Woo found it hard to hold back his laughter.
'Young-Gil, why are your eyes shining over there too?'
Still, thanks to the detective's visit, the invisible wall the kids had put up around Jin-Woo seemed to have crumbled a little. Sensing the moment, the girls unleashed the questions they had been wanting to ask.
"The boys say you've gotten really buff?" "Really? Jin-Woo, do you work out or something?" "Oh, I saw Jin-Woo running with the track team seniors the other day." "Wow, look at those broad shoulders."
Squeal, squeal. Surrounded by girls, Jin-Woo agonized over how to get these young ladies to quietly return to their seats. At that moment, the four-member group inserted themselves, displeased by the attention one person was monopolizing.
"Hey, you think you're something special? Even the cops come looking for you."
As the four approached, the boys retreated to their seats and the girls quietly took a step back. The highest-ranking among the four, Nam Jun-Sik, lightly slapped the shoulder the girls had been touching and curled the corner of his lips.
"If I hit you like this, is that school violence too? Are you gonna report me to the detective?"
If he kept hitting, it was only going to hurt his hand. As Jin-Woo stared at him with a look of pity, sure enough, the hand that was striking began to ache, and Jin-Woo's reaction was lukewarm, so Nam Jun-Sik's face gradually flushed red.
"Ah, seriously, why is this guy's look so damn nasty?"
Nam Jun-Sik's hand swept across Jin-Woo's desk. Textbooks, notebooks, a pencil case, and other items tumbled to the floor. The ten million Shadow Army soldiers lurking in the shadows, watching the puppy's bravado, roared in unison. Nam Jun-Sik saw Jin-Woo's face freeze for an instant and seized him by the collar.
"What? Wanna go? Wipe that look off your face while I'm being nice."
Just then, a massive forearm slammed down from above and wrapped around Nam Jun-Sik's neck.
"Gah!"
Gasping as he clutched the arm, Nam Jun-Sik looked up to see a familiar face.
"Got some business with our lovely track team ace?"
It was Choi Tae-Woong, the third-year track team captain, and alongside him was his fellow hot-tempered third-year, track team member Jeong Gu-Sik. The four who had surrounded Jin-Woo were all now squeezed between the seniors' armpits and forearms, their faces turning pale. Jin wordlessly stood and picked up the pencil case that had flown away. If the pencil case Jin-Ah had given him as a high school entrance gift had been stained, none of the four would have gotten off lightly. He dusted off the surface and placed it back on the desk, then asked.
"What brings you seniors here?" "We came to stop our ace from beating these four morons to a pulp before it happens." "Don't joke around." "Hahahahaha—!"
With a hearty laugh from that enormous frame, Choi Tae-Woong continued.
"Forgot to tell you there's a welcome party for the first-years today. You and Young-Gil have time today, right?"
Jin-Woo looked over at Young-Gil, who nodded.
"Yes." "Then let's meet after school."
As the seniors turned to leave with smiles, Jin-Woo called out to stop them.
"Seniors, where were you planning to take those ones caught in your armpits?" "Haha, them?"
Choi Tae-Woong exchanged a glance with Jeong Gu-Sik.
"Well, what should we do?" "How about a nice easy lap around the field?" "Good— idea!"
Before long, the sounds of chanting "national domination, national domination" faded from the classroom.
* * *
Ding-dong-dang-dong, ding-dong-dang-dong. After the dismissal bell rang, several more chimes sounded before Jin-Woo left the school gate along with the track team members. Young-Gil, thanks to the constant support Jin-Woo had been providing along the way, now seemed well accustomed to the track team's training and had discovered the joy of sweating. Walking a few steps behind Young-Gil, who was listening to various pieces of advice from the seniors as they left the school grounds, Jin-Woo trailed along listening to their conversation. It was a peaceful daily life, no different from any other. Jeong Gu-Sik, who was walking ahead, turned to Jin-Woo and asked.
"Oh right, Jin-Woo. What's the deal with those guys today? Want the seniors to give them a serious talk about not causing trouble?"
Jin-Woo answered with a look that said it was no big deal.
"It's fine." "Is it because you're worried about them? We just don't want them causing any trouble that might interfere with you entering the competition."
Jin-Woo grinned.
"I'll make sure no problems come up."
Just then, someone suddenly popped out from beside the school gate and called Jin-Woo's name.
"Hunter Sung Jin-Woo."
As if time had frozen. Jin-Woo, who had stopped in his tracks, slowly turned toward the voice. Detective Woo Jin-Cheol had been waiting for him all this time. Jin-Woo's voice trembled.
"How...?"
Only after hearing Jin-Woo's answer did Detective Woo Jin-Cheol's eyes, finally assured, redden.
"So you were... a Hunter after all."