Chapter 10: The First Mission and Peaceful Family (1)

 

After revealing my powers.

 

I thought everyone would freak out, but surprisingly, there wasn’t much of a reaction.

 

Alice even kept begging me to hypnotize her.

 

So, after the entrance ceremony ended.

 

I had to put on a talent show surrounded by my peers.

 

[The target is ‘perfectly’ hypnotized.]

 

“Alice, raise your left hand.”

 

“Oh! My body is moving on its own! It’s amazing!”

 

My partner was Alice.

 

When she raised her hand, the people around us exclaimed in awe.

 

“This really works… Hey, Yu-jin. How far can you control someone?”

 

“It depends on how strong the hypnosis is, but right now, probably anything.”

 

“Wow, that’s incredible, Yu-jin!”

 

“……”

 

This isn’t something to be taken lightly.

 

Didn’t they see earlier? I made a succubus and a doppelgänger self-destruct.

 

The same thing could happen to them.

 

But they were so carefree.

 

It went beyond innocence; it was a complete lack of awareness of danger.

 

I sighed involuntarily.

 

“Sigh. Alice, you don’t understand….”

 

“———Cadet Alice Littlewood and Cadet Seo Yu-jin. What are you doing right now?”

 

“Huh?”

 

I was about to scold her when the headmaster interrupted.

 

And she looked very displeased, her brows deeply furrowed.

 

“First of all, Alice Littlewood. What made you allow someone you just met to use their power on you?”

 

“Uh? Well, I was curious….”

 

“You just handed over your life and death to this person. That’s something not even a normal person, let alone an awakened, would do.”

 

“……?”

 

She said exactly what I was about to say.

 

As expected of one of only seven S-class awakeners in the world.

 

“And Cadet Seo Yu-jin. No matter how much you were asked, using your powers on a peer? Are you out of your mind?”

 

“……?”

 

“This won’t do. Come to the headmaster’s office.”

 

‘What’s with this woman?’

 

I didn’t expect the trouble to reach me too.

 

* * *

 

After Yu-jin was called to the headmaster.

 

Alice let out a deep sigh.

 

It was a sigh filled with guilt.

 

“Because of me, Yu-jin….”

 

“Yeah. Because of you.”

 

“……Yu Shia.”

 

Next to her, Yu Shia curled her lips as if to say, “Look at this mess.”

 

“Thanks to you, he seems to have gotten on the headmaster’s bad side. Did causing such trouble make you feel better?”

 

Her disgusted feelings exploded.

 

If it weren’t for Alice, she would have had Yu-jin all to herself today.

 

Though she was too embarrassed to even talk properly when they were alone. Anyway.

 

It was already infuriating, and Alice had openly picked fights with her up until now.

 

It was only natural for her to lash out when she got the chance.

 

‘Above all, the thought of him getting scolded makes me incredibly annoyed. I don’t know why, though.’

 

Even considering that, her words were a bit harsh.

 

But she didn’t know why yet.

 

Under her severe criticism, Alice hung her head low.

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

‘This cunning girl. Really making me soften.’

 

Thanks to this, Shia’s anger slightly subsided.

 

She genuinely felt Alice’s remorse for causing trouble for Yu-jin.

 

After her anger calmed down, pure curiosity came over her.

 

“So. Why did you ask to be hypnotized? You don’t seem stupid enough to not know how crazy that is.”

 

Who doesn’t know how dangerous hypnosis can be?

 

She even saw him make a succubus self-harm right before her eyes.

 

And yet, she insisted on being hypnotized?

 

There should be a limit to how much you can wag your tail.

 

What were you thinking?

 

“I just wanted to get closer to Yu-jin.”

 

‘…Is her mind a field of flowers?’

 

An extremely naive peer.

 

Shia’s eyes filled with disdain.

 

Unable to hold back, she spat out another biting remark.

 

“Are you fearless? If he told you to die, you’d have to die, but….”

 

“No. Yu-jin would never do that.”

 

This time, however, Alice didn’t stay silent.

 

Her confident gaze met Shia’s.

 

“Yu-jin would never make me do such things.”

 

“…Sure, he might not tell you to die, but he is a guy, you know. Other things…”

 

“He wouldn’t do those either. That’s the kind of person Yu-jin is.”

 

In Alice’s mind, today’s memories replayed.

 

Yu-jin had been flustered when she got close to him.

 

He had freaked out at her slightly suggestive jokes.

 

He was an incredibly innocent young man.

 

There was no way someone that pure would do bad things to her.

 

That was the conclusion she reached after spending the day with him.

 

‘More than anything, I felt it from the first moment we met. This person would protect me no matter what happens.’

 

Any other reasons were just added later.

 

She had been convinced of this from their first meeting, though. Anyway.

 

‘True. I can’t imagine him doing anything bad.’

 

Shia agreed with her.

 

Yu-jin, hypnotizing her to do this or that?

 

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t fit.

 

Her subconscious seemed to argue that it was impossible.

 

‘Rather, even if he were asked to do it, he would refuse and feel sorry about it.’

 

Instead, she had this thought.

 

The girl who would date him in the future might ask him to hypnotize her for some things.

 

But he would apologize profusely and refuse.

 

He was so upright it was frustrating.

 

“Indeed. He probably wouldn’t even do it to his girlfriend. Frustratingly so.”

 

“…Do you think so too, Shia?”

 

“Wow, you too?”

 

“Yes!! When I said he could play pranks on me with hypnosis, he genuinely hated the idea….”

 

It wasn’t a coincidence that an inexplicable rage filled their conversation.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Yu-jin, who had no idea he was being considered a frustratingly innocent young man, followed the headmaster, thinking of dozens of excuses.

 

Excuses for hypnosis.

 

‘I swear never to use it on cadets again… No, I’ll have to use it, but how do I convince her I won’t use it in weird ways?’

 

He thought the headmaster wouldn’t make an issue out of it considering her educational policy, but she had surprisingly gotten furious.

 

He was very worried about how to explain his use of hypnosis.

 

But fortunately.

 

His worries were completely unnecessary.

 

“…Cadet Seo Yu-jin. Take this.”

 

“This is…?”

 

“It’s a card certifying you as an A-class awakener.”

 

‘All of a sudden? Why are they giving it to me already?’

 

The card was handed to him as soon as they arrived at the headmaster’s office.

 

Yu-jin’s mind filled with questions as he realized its significance.

 

This card was proof of a state-certified awakener.

 

In his first life, he had received it only after graduation.

 

And giving it to him now meant…

 

“In that sense, I have an urgent request for Seo Yu-jin, not as a cadet, but as an awakener.”

 

The person to instruct him was not as a cadet.

 

It was to treat him as an equal awakener.

 

“So you weren’t going to scold me about the hypnosis…?”

 

“Do you think I’d demoralize rookies over something like that? As long as you don’t cause trouble, it’s fine.”

 

‘As expected, just like the first life.’

 

Yu-jin straightened his posture.

 

‘This woman is all about efficiency, so she must have thought of something useful for my abilities.’

 

“Affiliated with the Korean Awakeners Association. A-class, Seo Yu-jin. I look forward to working with you, Chairwoman Seol Ha-yeon.”

 

“…You act like someone with ten years of experience. Very efficient.”

 

“I’ve seen it a lot in dramas.”

 

“Huh.”

 

Seol Ha-yeon, the headmaster and chairwoman of the Awakeners Association, admired his act of an 11-year veteran.

 

But Yu-jin didn’t care at all.

 

For him, this wasn’t showing off; it was just a task he had to do.

 

He didn’t know how it looked to act like a ten-year veteran as a newly admitted student.

 

“Is it something that requires hypnosis?”

 

‘He’s sharp… This kid is worth nurturing!!’

 

The headmaster’s eyes gleamed.

 

She had earned a mountain of money, and her joints were starting to ache.

 

She wanted to quit everything and live a peaceful life farming in the countryside.

 

But because of the title of Korea’s only S-class awakener, she was still struggling even in her old age.

 

And now, before her eyes, was the next S-class, the ace himself?

 

Not only was he powerful, but he also had a knack for work?

 

A newcomer with such audacity. A graduate student… No, I should make him my successor.

 

This thought made her salivate.

 

‘I’ll use my own wealth to nurture him. This insolent newcomer.’

 

“Well. Actually….”

 

“Hmm, hmm.”

 

‘Good. I might be able to extract some support funds.’

 

But Yu-jin, unaware of anything, focused intently.

 

He hoped to gain her favor by handling this quest well.

 

It was an unknown tragedy.

 

* * *

 

After a brief quest briefing.

 

I headed to the building’s basement with the headmaster, who also doubled as the chairwoman of the association.

 

It was for my first mission.

 

『Emergency Quest – Convince the Unregistered Awakener!』

 

‘If this were a game, wouldn’t a window like this pop up?’

 

The mission she assigned was simple.

 

Recently, a villain group had attacked the academy.

 

The task was to persuade an unregistered awakener involved in that attack.

 

Though it seemed like a trivial mission, it held a glimpse of why Korea could only be the strongest nation of awakeners.

 

-Are you sure they’re not a villain?

 

-Yes. They even have a clean record. During the attack, they were only caught breaking some property.

 

-Then why aren’t they cooperating?

 

-We don’t know, which is why I’m asking you. They’re too valuable to throw into the abyss.

 

‘It’s ambiguous, but as long as they’re not a villain, fine.’

 

Villains.

 

They were mutants that appeared among awakeners at rare rates.

 

Beings who enjoyed slaughter and committed terrorism.

 

They were beyond rehabilitation even with my hypnosis.

 

I tried various methods in my first life, but there was no solution.

 

They would rather die than live a good life. How ridiculous.

 

Anyway, almost every country had headaches due to the villain problem.

 

They would act like normal awakeners, but then cause havoc and flee at the most critical moments.

 

It was natural for awakeners to be wary of hidden villains among them.

 

But in Korea?

 

『Sixth Sense (S Rank) – Transcends human senses.』

 

‘That woman’s intuition is 100% accurate.’

 

Seol Ha-yeon, an initial awakener during the gate incident, currently ranked 4th among S-classes.

 

She could identify villains at a glance.

 

This was the reason Korea became the strongest nation of awakeners and the very reason the Pentagon Academy was established.

 

To work as an awakener, one had to pass her scrutiny, reducing the worry about villains significantly.

 

Of course, from the villain’s perspective, they just wouldn’t go to the academy.

 

There was also the possibility of a normal awakener committing crimes, so it wasn’t foolproof.

 

‘The problem is, if they were mixed with a villain group, they wouldn’t be a decent person….’

 

This was also why the mission I received was peculiar.

 

A normal awakener would find it hard to endure in a group of psychopaths.

 

They kill each other at every opportunity.

 

Yet this person attacked the academy with them?

 

And didn’t kill anyone, only destroyed some property?

 

It was a unique case.

 

So unique that I wondered why I hadn’t known about it in my first life.

 

‘Well, considering they were caught, they’re probably at most B-class.’

 

Of course, that was that and this was this.

 

Even though it was my first mission, I wasn’t nervous.

 

Capturing an awakener above high A-class was almost impossible.

 

But being captured alive, they had to be at most B-class.

 

Someone of that level, I could handle with my meager stats.

 

‘I should finish this quickly and head to the training room. Maybe get some pocket money from this woman.’

 

“We’ve arrived.”

 

‘Great timing.’

 

Just as I was ending my idle thoughts, we stopped.

 

A heavy door slowly opened.

 

“The person you need to persuade is….”

 

-Creeeak.

 

“This one.”

 

‘Wow, their eyes are completely crazy. This should be easier than expected….’

 

“They’re among the top of the A-class, so handle them carefully.”

 

“……!!!?”

 

Why is an A-class here, lady?

 

And top-tier at that?

 

This is practically like picking someone who’s been through the ringer in a high-ranking clan, isn’t it?

 

Oh, this is a bit much.

 

“Why are you looking at me like that? Is it impossible? I had a feeling it was doable.”

 

“……Sigh.”

 

‘This woman has always been rough with people. Maybe because she was an awakener from the early days when one wrong move meant death.’

 

I wanted to refuse.

 

With my current stats, it was impossible to make a ‘click.’

 

But…

 

‘Looking into their eyes, it seems like there might be a way.’

 

“Well, I’ll give it a shot.”

 

Maybe it could work out somehow?