A message flew in on Yoon-seul’s phone.
[I’m coming. Gangnam District, Seolleung-ro 221, 21x building, 13xx unit.]
Since it was from an unknown number, she felt even more suspicious.
It wasn’t like it was a voice phishing scam, nor was it a prank from a friend.
Doubt quickly turned into fear.
[(photo).jpg]
[Hello.]
It was a photo of the entrance door right in front of Yoon-seul’s house.
Her heart dropped as she immediately jumped out of the capsule and dashed into the living room.
Bang-!
A man was pounding on the metal door with all his might, filled with anger.
“These guys… that guy…”
Bang-!
“Kyahhhhhhh!”
Yoon-seul, who was inside, trembled at the memories of previous nightmares.
Bang-!
It wasn’t a door that could easily be broken by a human’s strength.
But the gap was slowly widening, and the cold air from outside brushed against Yoon-seul’s thigh, her terror came close to realizing its form.
“Do you know why I’m doing this?”
A sharp voice, like nails on a chalkboard, pierced Yoon-seul’s ears, filled with aura. Perhaps even with emotion.
She managed to answer through her sobs, close to a scream.
“Hic… I… I don’t know! Why… wh-why are you doing this! Huuuh…”
That answer wasn’t what the man wanted at all. The door creaked even louder, reflecting his intensified anger.
“How can you not know! Especially you!”
Bang!
“Kyaah! Ca… call the police…!”
Thud!
The sound was different.
The door had been completely smashed apart.
When Yoon-seul locked eyes with the man, she dropped her phone and quickly fled to her room.
Locking the door multiple times, she slumped against it.
“Huu… huuu… Who are you… please stop… please…”
“Open this door! You little xxx!”
“T… this is a barrier door…! So go! Just please leave! Haaaahhh…”
Once, in a time of extreme paranoia, Yoon-seul had never imagined that treating her walls and doors with magic would help in this way.
In a moment of regained relief, she burst into tears again.
The malice she had briefly encountered on the internet was different in scale.
Someone had come all the way to her house, having found out her address, to harm her directly.
The malice radiating from him felt like a pain that burned her whole body.
“Rika.”
Yoon-seul’s eyes widened at the man’s muttering.
“Hayan, Rani, Yuju, and Che-na.”
He recited the names of the boy group NV members.
And the very first name didn’t even belong to the group.
“You’re Rika, aren’t you? Kariri.”
“No…”
“How could you!”
The man yelled loudly.
Reacting instinctively to the shouting from outside, Yoon-seul lowered her head.
There was a faint tremor in the hands wrapped around her head.
“How could… Che-na be dead… and you’re not even bothered? Is life fun?”
He was rambling nonsense.
Yoon-seul felt the atmosphere around her heat up.
“Rika, it’s your fault Che-na died. And meanwhile, you went off to play in Desire Land? Like it was a joke? Is it funny…? Is it?”
“Kyaaaah! Get out! Please just go away! I… what does that have to do with me now!”
“Che-na’s next schedule was to be in Desire Land, right? You knew that. How could you do that as a fan…?”
“I… I really don’t know! I swear I didn’t… Huuuhhh…”
Yoon-seul couldn’t comprehend half of what the man was saying.
How on earth could she know about schedules and such?
Although it was true that Yoon-seul admired Che-na, she hadn’t heard from her in over four years.
“Ah, hot!”
Startled by the pain searing her back, Yoon-seul jumped up.
The door was gradually turning red hot. Hot air was radiating.
It wasn’t just her imagination; the air was actually heating up.
“How… how is this…?”
“It would be better to open the door while I’m still being nice. Did you think I couldn’t break it?”
“What… what are you going to do if I open it! Are you going to kill me or something?”
“Kill? Yeah, let’s just all die today!”
[3rd Circle: Thermal Expansion Coefficient Regulation]
With the spell the man cast, the door hinges squeaked and fell apart.
The space between the door and the wall began to narrow, and cracks started to form in the wall.
Whether the door or the wall broke first was irrelevant; it was clear that the unidentified man would come inside.
If I’d known it’d come to this, I should have called for help first, or at least not lost my phone, or minimally, should have asked my team for help before the barrier magic activated.
‘Idiot… I’m really such an idiot…’
Yoon-seul hated how powerless she had become.
“Please… save me… I’m really sorry…”
“Open the door! You murderer!”
Mana seeped through the unbarriered seam.
Ultimately, losing her rationality, Yoon-seul screamed.
“Stop! Stop it right now! If you don’t, I’ll… I’ll jump out of here! Huh? I’ll jump!”
“Go ahead and jump, you coward!”
“Huh, I… I can do it! I swear…!”
Yoon-seul’s gaze shifted to the balcony.
She shut her eyes tightly and flung open the window.
The cold wind rushed into the room, as if trying to stop her.
“Huh… why… why… I don’t want to die… someone please save me… please…”
*
“This is Gangnam District Seolleung-ro 221, 21x building, 13xx unit. Yes, it’s an emergency, please hurry!”
After hanging up with the police, just in case, she contacted Professor Cheon.
The more safety measures, the less chance of loss.
It was only a 5 to 10 minute drive to Kariri’s house.
Immediately grabbing a taxi, Yoon-seul headed toward the apartment where she lived.
It was a relief she remembered the address Kariri had jokingly mentioned before.
But it was too early to feel safe.
As soon as she got out of the car, she surrounded herself with aura and collected all the surrounding sounds.
First, she headed straight for the apartment right in front of the main gate.
‘Where’s the entrance?’
Just as she was looking around.
“%$^%$ ^&%^&$^&!”
Screams echoed from the direction of the children’s playground.
Hurrying her steps, she headed that way.
A few young children stood together, all looking up.
Following their gaze, a girl dangled perilously from the railing, swaying in the wind.
“Seol Yoon-seul…!”
She didn’t even have time to wonder how she ended up there.
Yoon-seul’s frail body shook violently with each gust of wind.
[Spell: Reinforcement Interference]
“Seol Yoon-seul! Can you hold on?!”
There was no answer.
More importantly, it felt like there was someone else in the house.
Besides her screams, the noise of a man mixed in.
Could it be that a real stalker had entered her home?
That would make the situation much more serious.
Rather than expecting Seol Yoon-seul to hold on, she had to figure out a way to rescue her right now.
“Kyahhh!”
Did she slip? Now she was only supported by her arms.
Think.
Since it was asphalt, the elastic coefficient magic wouldn’t make any difference.
Plus, falling from a height of over 30 meters would reach a speed of 90 km/h.
No ordinary magic could guarantee safety, and it wouldn’t be easy to cast defense magic around Yoon-seul without proper coordinates set.
A net… it would be great to have something like a net.
“Kyaaah!”
Hearing Seol Yoon-seul’s scream, I had no choice but to cast whatever magic I could.
The fact that descent speed could hit 90 km/h meant that she wouldn’t take even three seconds to fall.
I stretched both hands forward and concentrated on the calculations.
[Summoning: Laydemister Transformation]
With my left hand, I drafted the formation for the shape of the net.
Simultaneously, calling three different runes, I quickly completed a magic circle with my other hand.
[Sutra (4), Psyché (7), Bestial (14)]
The Arabesque Knot used to bind criminals or demon beasts.
Among those, the ‘gold’ magic was mainly for fast-flying targets.
Golden threads covered the sky, weaving a dense net.
Rather than making it wide, I made it narrow and dense, and thick. The size could be forcibly increased through a wide area spell.
With a slight turn of my left wrist outward, I increased the number of intersections in the net more than before.
Simultaneously, I moved my right arm to keep the net right under Yoon-seul’s drop point.
[Wide Area Spell: Arabesque Knot – Gold (金)]
“Seol Yoon-seul! It’s okay, jump down!”
No sooner had I said that than flames shot up right above where she stood.
An explosion? No, judging by the flow of mana, that was definitely a fire-type spell.
Her hand, which was grabbing the railing, slipped away, and her body began to fall to the ground at a terrifying speed.
“Kyaaaahhh!”
The scene of a person falling doesn’t play out like a slow-motion in a movie.
Before her scream could even finish, my magic net wrapped around her body.
In the blink of an eye, Yoon-seul reached the ground, and I released the Arabesque Knot.
“Yoon-seul! Seol Yoon-seul, are you okay? Stay with me!”
Yoon-seul was limp, her energy seemingly drained.
No matter how many times I gently slapped her cheeks, there was no sign of her waking up. Even when I infused her with aura, no response.
There were burn marks on my palm, and parts of her hair had scorched and turned black.
[Quick Casting: Diagnosis]
Since time was of the essence, I used a simplified diagnosis spell, but there were no major visible external wounds.
Yoon-seul’s eyes slowly opened, revealing her dark pupils.
“Are you awake? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”
If there was any pain, I needed to treat that area first.
“Wha… who… NoName…?”
“Hurry. There’s no time, Yoon-seul.”
There was likely still a criminal inside the apartment.
Entering someone’s home in broad daylight and using a fire-type spell could practically be considered attempted murder.
He might just run away at any moment too.
“Huh… hnnn… aaahhh…”
“Yoon-seul, hurry… if you’re hurt-”
“Wha… what is this… why are your hands so small?! Are you Hic… Na-me? Is that really you…?”
“For now, just focus on being okay. Who’s in the house right now? Is it a stalker? Or someone you know?”
Through the tears blurring her vision, Yoon-seul shook her head violently.
Right, it was definitely a stalker.
She called over the children who were just standing there watching.
“Hey kids. Yeah, all of you. Come here quickly.”
They hesitated at first, but as one came over, all the other kids followed suit. Most were elementary school boys.
“Take good care of this noona until the police arrive, okay?”
Are the police on their way yet?
After leaving Yoon-seul in the care of the kids, I headed into the apartment.
I needed to see the face of the lunatic who had committed such an insane act.
