RASL 02

Chapter 2

“What? Seol Jihyo, what’s with you? Who are you texting? Don’t tell me… a boyfriend?”

What came after the scream wasn’t Jihyo’s voice.

Bzzzt—

The entire screen shook violently.

The unstable focus wavered without settling.

Even the faint sounds of breathing and a heartbeat seemed to linger from the screen.

What Jiwoo was watching wasn’t something filmed with a camera.

It was a fragment of memory copied by Soyoung.

An unstable collection of sensations and impressions scraped from someone’s brain.

Perhaps because of that, parts of the memory were torn apart here and there.

Narrowing her eyes, Jiwoo examined the screen more carefully.

‘…Where is this? It doesn’t look like the school.’

At first glance, it resembled a cave.

The walls were layered like ancient collapsed strata, with black, viscous moisture seeping out from between them.

Dense fog covered the ground, writhing ever so slightly as if it were alive.

A sinister, gloomy landscape she had never seen or experienced firsthand.

And yet, Jiwoo instinctively knew where it was.

‘Inside the Abyss.’

One of South Korea’s three great Abysses, managed by National Gaon Special Academy.

She had heard that students were regularly dispatched inside or near the Abyss for practical training.

A girl on the screen awkwardly reached out her hand.

“R-Return it.”

The girl had the exact same face as Jiwoo.

Black hair.

Blue eyes.

Jiwoo’s twin sister, Seol Jihyo.

“Don’t wanna. Let me look at it. It’s not like it’ll wear out.”

“Look at her acting all high and mighty just because she’s the granddaughter of some pharmaceutical company.”

“What, is her grandpa the only rich guy? My dad’s a billionaire too.”

The giggling voices made Jihyo’s face visibly pale.

“It’s… it’s my phone. Please give it back. Okay?”

From the looks of it, the other students had forcibly taken Jihyo’s phone.

But…

“So what?”

“You’re making such a huge deal over one stupid phone.”

Jiwoo’s expression gradually hardened as she stared at the video.

Unfortunately, the faces of everyone except Jihyo couldn’t be seen on the screen.

Judging from the conversation, they seemed to be classmates participating in the same practical lesson.

The problem was the way they treated Jihyo.

This had gone far beyond teasing or joking.

It was outright bullying.

“Oh, there’s an infected over there.”

“Where?”

The camera naturally turned.

In the middle of the frame, a shadow shuffled forward with the slow, grotesque movements of a zombie.

The screen was filled with static.

Yet the creature stood out with terrifying clarity.

Its skin was faded and twisted like old paper.

Its vacant eyes stared into empty space.

Its fingernails were long and sharp like saw blades.

A monster said to exist inside the Abyss.

An Infected.

“Looks like five or six of them.”

“They don’t seem upper-class. What do we do? They’re worth points, but it’d be rough if our whole team tried taking them on.”

“Let’s just ignore them and move on. We’ve already collected enough magic stones. We don’t need the extra points.”

“But how do we ditch her?”

As everyone tossed around ideas, someone’s voice suddenly brightened.

“Oh, right. Seol Jihyo. You go.”

“M-Me…?”

“You want your phone back, don’t you?”

Jihyo’s flustered face appeared on camera.

There wasn’t even room for her to refuse.

“Can you take a hint the first time?”

Someone shoved Jihyo hard in the back.

For an instant, the face of the student who pushed her appeared on screen—

But the camera swung away even faster, capturing Jihyo stumbling toward the swarm of Infected.

“Aaaah!!”

Jihyo’s scream drew their attention.

The Infected began shambling toward her.

“Run!”

“Oh man, this is hilarious.”

Whoosh!

Throwing her phone aside, the students ran without hesitation.

“G-Guys…!”

Terrified, Jihyo reached out toward them.

But the Infected were faster.

“Grrrrgh!”

Like a tidal wave, they rushed over and buried Jihyo beneath them.

“Aaagh!!”

Bzzzt… bzzzt—

The entire screen blurred as though red ink had been spilled across it.

Jihyo was no longer visible.

All that remained were the unmistakable sounds of flesh tearing, bodies crashing, and something bursting through the speakers.

“H-Hey… she’ll be okay, right? She’s not actually gonna die… is she?”

“Die? No way. Seol Jihyo has Core Regeneration. Let’s just watch how long she lasts before we bother saving her.”

“That’s hilarious. We’re all running away, and you’re talking about saving her? Yeah right.”

Their snickering overlapped with Jihyo’s agonized screams.

Crack…

Then came the sound of something breaking.

It wasn’t from the video.

It came from somewhere around Jiwoo.

“…”

As though responding to her surging emotions, the entire room slowly began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.

Even so, the video continued.

“Hey… but… what if the teacher finds out?”

“Seol Jihyo’s such a coward. She’ll never tell.”

“True. If she was gonna snitch, she would’ve done it back in middle school.”

“Besides, even if she does, so what? The adults don’t care what we do anyway. They’re all too busy looking after their own interests.”

“Unless someone actually gets murdered, what’s the problem?”

A burst of laughter followed.

Then the video abruptly ended.

Silence filled the dark room.

The screen had gone black.

Yet Jihyo’s vivid screams as the Infected tore at her flesh still echoed in Jiwoo’s ears.

There was no denying it anymore.

This…

This was the “accident” Jihyo had suffered at school.

“…Those fucking bastards.”

Crash!

The empty glass on the desk suddenly exploded into pieces.

That was only the beginning.

The faint vibration instantly grew violent.

Rumble…!

Dust began falling from the ceiling as the room shook as though it were about to collapse.

“Young Miss!”

Bang!

The door flew open.

It was Soyoung.

“Young Miss! Young Miss! Please calm down. Take deep breaths.”

“Soyoung unni…”

The moment Soyoung appeared, the razor-sharp atmosphere surrounding the room softened.

The shaking subsided as well.

But Jiwoo’s expression remained frozen.

She pointed toward the card reader containing the memory card.

“Unni, take that.”

“…What?”

“Anywhere. A newspaper. A broadcasting station. Just take it and expose it. Let everyone know… that something like this is happening at Gaon…!”

Jiwoo’s breathing became ragged.

“Young Miss, calm down first. Please take a deep breath.”

Holding Jiwoo by the shoulders, Soyoung spoke as gently as she could.

“You know this already, don’t you? The memory cards created by my ability are single-use.”

Jiwoo’s shoulders flinched.

She had forgotten in her agitation.

Turning toward the card reader, she saw that, just as Soyoung had said, the memory card had already disappeared like smoke.

“I secretly approached Miss Jihyo while she was being transported and copied her memories. The Chairman still doesn’t know. I acted entirely on my own.”

If the Chairman—Jiwoo’s grandfather—found out…

Soyoung would be punished.

Depending on the circumstances…

Her life might even be in danger.

That was the kind of man her grandfather was.

Everything that happened within this family had to remain under his control.

He could never tolerate events unfolding beyond his knowledge.

No matter the reason.

“Young Miss.”

After hesitating for a moment, Soyoung quietly called out to her.

“I know this isn’t the time… but I came because the Chairman asked me to pass along a message.”

“…A message?”

“Miss Jihyo’s treatment is going to take longer than expected. Winter break ended last week.”

“If this continues… she may be expelled.”

Article 1, Clause 1 of South Korea’s Awakened Special Act.

Every Awakened individual must graduate from a state-designated educational institution—

National Gaon Special Academy.

There were no exceptions.

Anyone who failed to complete the official curriculum could not register with the Association.

Instead, they would be regarded as a potential criminal capable of abusing their Core.

That was this country’s damned law.

If Jihyo were expelled…

“So the Chairman has ordered that you attend school in her place.”

…What?

Jiwoo slowly looked up.

“Until Miss Jihyo recovers—and no one knows how long that will take—you are to ensure that her attendance and overall academic record remain unaffected.”

“What are you…”

She couldn’t understand.

Her grandfather, who had never once allowed her outside since she was five years old, was giving such an order?

Was he really that worried about the future of his only granddaughter?

If that were true…

Then why was he covering up what had happened?

None of it made any sense.

“…Never mind. I’ll go speak with the Chairman again.”

Seeing Jiwoo’s expression, Soyoung picked up her bag.

Even she seemed to think this was unreasonable.

Normally, Jiwoo would have scoffed.

She had never intended to obey anything her grandfather said.

But…

In the dark room, the only remaining light came from the monitor filled with static.

Bzzzt—

The blurred screen.

And…

The lingering traces of her twin sister, who was already gone from it.

“Wait, Unni.”

Before she realized it, Jiwoo had grabbed Soyoung’s wrist as she turned to leave.

“I’ll go.”

“…Pardon?”

Surprised eyes.

Reflected in Soyoung’s widened pupils was the face of a girl filled with determination.

“I’ll go to the school in her place.”

Eyes as blue as a tranquil lake.

The face of Seol Jiwoo—

A face astonishingly identical to that of Seol Jihyo.