Magic Wand

Hong Miri seemed easygoing yet sharp-tongued.
We had to endure nearly 10 minutes of her scolding.

“Hey. Ha Youngwon. With your mother in the hospital, how can you cause trouble like this?”

“I’m sorry.”

When you’re in the wrong, you have to grovel.
Soon, Hong Miri’s eyes turned to Jeong Seok as well.

“Vice president of Class D. I thought you’d be different, but was I wrong? What are you doing here? Two boys luring an innocent girl into this broken-down building!”

Two boys luring a girl into a broken-down building.
It sounded strange and suggestive.
Then Dahee, who had been listening, chimed in.

“I’m the one who said to go. Youngwon and Seok only came because I asked them to. I lost something and had to find it, but I was scared to go alone.”

“You did, Dahee?”

*Squint*

Hong Miri’s eyes narrowed like a snake’s.
The teacher clicked her tongue.

“Fine. It’s late, so everyone go home for today.”

Oh.
Can we finally escape this nagging hell?

“Yoo Dahee, you stay. I think I need to speak to the chairman about you. I heard the chairman is unwell, so your family won’t be happy about you causing problems like this. You know that better, right?”

“……”

Yoo Dahee made a slightly sulky face like someone wrongfully accused.

“Understood.”

I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s escape from here quickly.

“Seok. Let’s go home now.”

In retrospect, it was a terrifying underground exploration.
Scary.
To shake off this fear… flexing my traits and gacha items in the status window would be best.
Better get home soon.

“Youngwon. Take this.”

*Swish*

Dahee held something out to me as I was about to leave.
It was a magic wand that looked about 30cm long.

“Return it to Juhee.”

“…Okay.”

And so ended our untimely courage test on a Saturday evening!
Here’s what I gained:

• Mental fatigue
• A “magic wand” with Yang Juhee’s name on it.
• A favor from Yoo Dahee.

“Is this a gain?”

Whether it’s a gain or loss depends on how I use a favor from Yoo Dahee.
Seok said,

“I never want to go to that underground again.”

“Agreed. But if what Dahee said is all true, doesn’t it seem like Yang Dohee, Yang Juhee’s sister, went underground in the old school building to find something? What was she trying to find?”

Today’s experience could be a “missing puzzle piece.”
When I asked Seok, the puzzle master, he trailed off with, “Well…”

“I don’t know.”

I thought Seok’s brain was still numb from the fear he felt underground.
What could she have been looking for?

“According to Dahee, she was looking for something round like a ball. Seok, the case of the missing high school girl’s head was five years ago, right?”

“…Yeah. It was winter. The whole world was in an uproar then.”

I was living in Seoul at the time, so I didn’t know such a sensational thing was happening in this city. I hardly even knew about the city of “Gaeryong Metropolitan City” in the first place.
But looking at it now… I wondered if there might be a connection.

“And Yang Dohee disappeared… the following spring. Could there be a link between Yang Dohee’s case and the headless girl case?”

“You mean the same culprit?”

Seok’s drugged-looking eyes sharpened again.
His hatred for the “culprit” seemed real.

“No. Not that it’s the same culprit. Think about it. The head that disappeared in winter. And the high school girl who disappeared the following spring while looking for something. Maybe…”

“Ah. Youngwon, you’re saying Yang Dohee may have gone underground in the old school building to look for the head now?”

“Yeah. The headless girl and the missing Yang Dohee could have been friends or something. Seok, you’d come looking for me too if my head went missing. Right?”

“……”

Seok looked dubious.
Is he saying he wouldn’t look for me if my head went missing?
No, more importantly, he probably thinks my guess is too speculative without evidence.

But…
Isn’t the first step of putting together a puzzle, trying to fit in anything that looks plausible and then replacing the pieces if they don’t fit?

“Still, I think I know how Yang Dohee disappeared now. And it doesn’t seem like Dahee was lying. I don’t know where she disappeared to, but…”

*Swish*

I waved the magic wand in my hand.
Better give it back today.

“Hey. Let’s go to Juhee’s house.”

“…I should be heading home soon, though.”

Seok made a troubled expression.
It was already 10 p.m.
He must have wanted to go home since it was late.

“Okay. Got it. Message me if you have anything to say. Always keep notifications on for the chat room.”

On the way to Yang Juhee’s shabby apartment, I opened the status window.

Shop ◀ Click to open

Treatment Center ◀ Click to open

Training Room ◀ Click to open

Strangely, looking at these words calms my mind.
I also had 577 Points, so I wasn’t hungry even though I didn’t eat dinner.

Welcome to the Level 2 Shop.

Our shop sells various items to assist warriors in combat.

Raising the shop’s level unlocks additional products and discounts.
Shop Level 2 (0/500)

1. Trait Draw Ticket - 90P
2. Capsule Draw Ticket - 90P
3. Unlock Locked Items - 90P
4. Unlock Old School Building 2nd Floor - 900P

What I’m doing today… is none other than… the trait draw!
The more traits you have, the more cards you can use.
Even though the [Holding Breath] trait I just acquired seems like nothing special, it felt quite rewarding to use.

“What will I get?”

*Beep beep boop*

Just when I thought something like a roulette wheel commonly seen in games for various draws would appear, it started spinning round and round.

“This moment is always the most nerve-wracking.”

*Whirrrrrr-clack*

It stopped!

*Crackle crackle pop*

Then, firework effects I had never seen before flashed brilliantly!

“What’s this? Did I get a rare trait? Was the gacha successful!?”

Where the roulette machine’s arrow pointed, it was written:

[Strong Heart]

Your heart becomes sturdy. Stamina increases drastically, and you become immune to all heart diseases.

“Oh. Oh sh… Oh, shit!”

I had felt it when I got [Holding Breath], too.

When I acquire these traits, it’s like I looked at an answer sheet and understood that this is what this ability does.
It feels like it becomes a part of my body, just as people easily use their hands and feet.

*Thump. Thump*

When I put my hand on my chest, it felt like my heart was beating more intensely than usual.

Immune to all heart diseases for life.

Nice!
Did stamina increase, too?

Does that mean my virility got stronger?
Let’s focus on my lower body.
Then suddenly, I realized it wasn’t all good news.

“…I won’t be able to avoid wet dreams from now on.”

Somehow, I knew that.
My passive skill [Wet Dream Prevention] works by making me feel extreme fear when a wet dream seems likely, causing my heart to race and wake me from sleep.
But my heart is super sturdy now. It definitely won’t race from mere wet dreams anymore.

“…Dang it. There goes my cheat key to escape nightmares!”

While I was fussing over that, I soon arrived at Yang Juhui’s house.
I called Yang Juhui.

My heart so soft and fluffy~
Like clear brook water~
Babbling babbling brook~

What a bizarre ringtone, no matter how many times I hear it.

*Click*

Yang Juhui answered.

What.

“Come down. I’m in front of your house now. I have something to give you.”

What is it.

“It’s no fun if I tell you. Anyway, come down quickly. I’ll give you a hint, it’s thick and long. And pink. Hard too.”

What the fuck are you saying.

The magic wand has “Yang Juhee” written on it.
How will Yang Juhee react when she sees this?
I waited with some anticipation.

Had about 5 minutes passed?
A girl in red sweatpants over dolphin shorts came down to the bottom of the apartment.

Meeting the prettiest girl in class on a weekend evening after summoning her.
Thinking about it, what I was doing felt a bit surreal.

“What.”

Yang Juhee glanced at me with narrow eyes.
She seemed to still be in a bad mood after shouting at Yoo Dahee and stomping off earlier in the day.

*Swish*

I held out the magic wand to Yang Juhee.

“Hey. This is yours, right?”

“Isn’t that the Princess Magic Wand?”

Yang Juhee’s expression brightened.
There was a video of a hedgehog with its quills all bristled up in a huff, then perking up and gobbling an apple when given one. Yang Juhee’s attitude was just like that now.

“It is the Princess Magic Wand!”

What’s a Princess Magic Wand?
Is it a set item with the Princess Sketchbook?
Yang Juhee snatched the magic wand from me and examined it closely.

“It has my name on it? It’s mine! Where did you get this?”

“Ack!”

Yang Juhee suddenly grabbed my collar and shook me, choking me.
Yang Juhee’s strength was stronger than I thought, enough to violently shake my body back and forth.

“Where did you get this? I’m asking!”

“Yoo… Yoo Dahee….”

“Yoo Dahee?”

“I went to the old school building with Yoo Dahee. Got it from the basement there. Yoo Dahee told me to give it to you. Why? What is this thing?”

“……”

Yang Juhee stared at the magic wand without a word.
*Click* When she pressed the button, the jewel attached to the tip flashed brilliantly.

“This. The last time I saw my sister, she took this from me. My sister liked to take my things. Pencil case. Eraser. Toys…”

Was Yang Juhee’s skill of seizing things learned from her sister?
Yang Juhee also took tons of my cutter knife, eraser, pencil case, and such.

“This is the magic wand I got for my 7th birthday. She tried to take this too so I got so mad I cursed at her badly. That was the last time….”

I see.
So, it was a meaningful item.

I told Yang Juhee the story of exploring the school basement with Yoo Dahee and Jeong Seok.

And I slipped in my brain fart theory that Yang Juhee’s sister Yang Dohee may have explored the school basement to find the “headless girl’s” head.
How will Yang Juhee react to this?

“The headless girl… I know her, too. She came over to our house to play often. Bong Seyeon.”

“Bong Seyeon?”

“That headless girl. She’s the sister of Bong Jiyeon, the bully from Class C. Jeong Seok didn’t tell you?”

He didn’t tell me that.
It was partly because I didn’t ask, but…
Thinking about it, it was easy to guess.

The girl whose head disappeared was the sister living next door to Jeong Seok.
And Bong Jiyeon was actually a childhood friend who often dropped by Jeong Seok’s house and bothered him.
Bong Jiyeon, the bully from Class C, lived next door to Jeong Seok!

“My sister had weird things about her for a long time. She would talk to herself while looking at empty spaces. She would be in pain for no reason.”

“Like someone who sees ghosts?”

“Yeah. Then she disappeared.”

Yang Juhee’s maternal side had been head shamans for generations.
If her sister Yang Dohee really had such a “talent”?

The ability to see ghosts…
Seeing ghosts…
Watcher.

Could it be that’s what a Watcher is?
A cool, refreshing sensation exploded in my head like someone poured carbonated water into it!