Episode 11

  A few days passed.

  There had been a small commotion when the media started making noise about a “lucky man who won first prize in the lottery twice in a row,” but Ji-hyun and his family simply ignored it.

  Now that there was more than enough money, he had nothing to worry about for a while, and so he spent a peaceful holiday in good spirits.

  He was just lying on the sofa doing nothing, but that alone was enough.

  Sometimes, the act of spending time like that itself was a joy. When he thought back to how he had once been tormented by scammers and money troubles, this really was a blissful moment.

  Of course, there were still things to do, but for now, he didn’t want to think about anything.

  Hye-yeon’s situation had been neatly resolved.

  She and her father had moved somewhere safe, and there was no one left who could threaten them.

  And the so-called “Chairman” was collapsing before the ruin that had finally begun. His crimes went far beyond redevelopment fraud.

  Ji-hyun knew, though the public did not yet, the darker things — acts so vile that the fallout alone made them hard to report.

  He had scattered all of it to the press and across the internet.

  As a result, the police were now conducting their investigation under intense public outrage, and the media was busy every day with headlines about the case.

  But instead of satisfaction, Ji-hyun felt a strange emptiness.

  Even when you know something in your head, facing true evil in person always stirs a helpless kind of emotion.

  He had no grand idea about “cleansing the world of all evil.” He simply wanted there to be no wicked people within the reach of his own hands.

  But that uncertainty — never knowing when or where such people might appear — was unsettling.

  And he couldn’t even imagine how deep their crimes went.

  How terrifying could a person become, weighted down by so many sins?

  The thought left him feeling small beneath it all.

  He sighed quietly.

  To make things worse, his search for information about the tool that disabled CCTV had once again come up empty.

  The enemy was far more cunning than he’d imagined — the extent to which they’d erased their tracks was almost impressive.

  Still, it was a relief that he wasn’t in an urgent situation where he had to hunt someone down today.

  He wasn’t a vigilante or some extra-legal authority — just an ordinary man who happened to have a certain ability.

  With his father’s hospital bills and both his and his sister’s tuition all taken care of, turning his eyes away from such matters for a while wasn’t really a sin.

  “Come to think of it, it’s time to go back to school.”

  He thought about returning to university. A diploma might not mean much now, but it was still better to have than not.

  He’d seen enough times how differently people were treated because of that one piece of paper. So he had no reason to give it up.

  While he was lost in vague thoughts about preparing for his return, Ji-soo approached quietly and spoke.

  “Hey, oppa. Can I ask you a favor?”

  Then Ji-hyun remembered — Ji-soo had applied for early admission to the same university he attended.

  “What kind of favor?”

  He sat up, already guessing what it might be.

  “Well, I have to go take my entrance interview soon, right?”

  She explained what she wanted.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  It was clear that the scam ordeal still lingered in her mind — traveling somewhere new still made her anxious.

  “Okay, I’ll go with you. I need to take care of my readmission paperwork anyway.”

  At that, Ji-soo’s expression softened with relief.

  But as he looked at her, Ji-hyun couldn’t suppress the anger boiling beneath the surface.

  That bastard…

  The scammer’s face flashed through his mind, and he silently cursed the man rotting in prison.

  Still, he couldn’t show that in front of his sister. His role as an older brother was to encourage her — to tell her she’d do fine, not to burden her with his bitterness.

  “Then make sure you dress properly that day, okay?”

  Ji-soo warned him teasingly, embarrassed at the idea of her brother showing up looking sloppy.

  He just smiled and nodded.

  On the day of the interview.

  Ji-soo looked fired up, her confidence steady. She just wanted to perform well and show what she’d prepared.

  Watching her, Ji-hyun recalled his own entrance exams — those grueling days still made his chest tighten when he thought about them.

  So he shared some of his old stories — his experiences, his mistakes, the little things he’d learned back then.

  Ji-soo listened, intrigued by a side of her brother she hadn’t known.

  Among those stories were bits about past interview questions.

  And just for fun, Ji-hyun lightly used his ability to mention something similar to what would appear this year.

  “You sound like one of those star tutors,” Ji-soo laughed.

  Ji-hyun only grinned. If you had an ability, you might as well use it for something like this.

  Talking and joking like that, the bus soon arrived at the university — his alma mater, and the school she hoped to enter.

  Nothing about the campus had changed much. The familiarity felt oddly comforting as they walked through the gates together.

  But, as always, unpleasantness appeared where least expected.

  “Those coming for interviews, this way please!”

  The people shouting that looked like school staff — but they weren’t.

  They were members of a cult, out to lure unsuspecting students into their snare.

  Normally, campus staff would be around to stop them, but at the moment, none were in sight.

  Anyone writing down their name and number at that table was walking straight into their trap.

  But Ji-hyun couldn’t deal with them directly — he had to stay by his sister.

  “Tch.”

  He clicked his tongue in annoyance but accepted that he couldn’t personally crush them this time.

  So he contacted the administration office — in his own discreet way, of course, invisible to both his sister and the cultists.

  A few minutes later, campus security arrived, tearing up the sheets of contact information and driving the outsiders away.

  The cult members protested, but proselytizing on school grounds was strictly prohibited.

  Watching the commotion, Ji-hyun felt relieved.

  He escorted Ji-soo to the entrance of her interview hall.

  “Call me when you’re done. You’ve got this.”

  He smiled encouragingly.

  Now it was up to her. He’d done his part — all that was left was to wait.

  “Okay. I’ll do my best.”

  She gave a resolute little nod before walking in. Watching her go, Ji-hyun silently wished her luck.

  “Now… what should I do?”

  He suddenly found himself with some free time.

  Catching up with friends crossed his mind, but he wasn’t in the mood.

  Instead, he started wandering around campus.

  He didn’t have a destination — just walked wherever his feet carried him.

  Many places had changed since his last visit.

  Construction workers moved about here and there; it seemed some projects had started while he was on leave. The unfamiliarity didn’t bother him, though — he rather liked it.

  He’d been through so much because of that scammer, but time would dull even that. Now was the time to look ahead.

  Then —

  “I-I said I’m not doing it!”

  A sharp voice cut through the air, interrupting his stroll.

  Turning his head, he saw a female student surrounded by several men. Anyone could tell at a glance who was the aggressor and who the victim.

  Those cultists again?

  He recognized their faces immediately — and fury flared inside him.

  “What’s going on here?”

  As he contacted security again, he stepped forward to confront them.

  At the same time, he discreetly gathered information about them.

  “W-wait, we were just—”

  Had they really thought they could abduct someone here, unnoticed?

  The men were visibly rattled by his sudden interference.

  “She said no. Don’t you think you’re going too far?”

  Ji-hyun moved naturally to stand in front of the girl, and as he did, he reached deeper with his ability — trying to see what he was really dealing with.

  Then his eyes narrowed.

  The tool that disabled CCTV.

  They had it.

  The same inexplicable device that could even neutralize his power.

  At that moment, Ji-hyun understood.

  These people were far more dangerous than he had assumed.

  The fact that such a thing — something that belonged in the hands of criminals — was possessed by religious fanatics was reason enough for alarm.

  And they had tried to kidnap a student.

  That meant he had to stop them.

  He didn’t need to know the details — his instincts screamed it.

  “Hey! What do you think you’re doing!”

  The security guard, arriving from the office, shouted as he saw the men harassing the student.

  “Damn it!”

  The cultists cursed and fled. They clearly knew what would happen if they got caught.

  Ji-hyun, of course, had no intention of forgiving them.

  “...Haa.”

  He exhaled, then called the police.

  Even if the CCTV might not have caught anything, reporting it was the right thing to do.

  “Are you alright?”

  He turned to the girl after making the call.

  She nodded nervously, thanking him with trembling hands.

  Her face was pale with fear — understandable after what she’d just experienced.

  “Let’s move somewhere safer.”

  It would take her a while to calm down, he figured.

  He led her to a bench nearby, close enough to greet Ji-soo when she finished, and bought a couple of canned coffees.

  “Are you okay now?”

  His voice was gentle. She was a first-year — practically a fledgling.

  “Y-yes… thank you.”

  She was still shaking, but grateful.

  Watching her, Ji-hyun smiled faintly — half warmth, half resignation.

  He had the feeling something troublesome had just begun.

  But some things, he thought, you simply couldn’t walk away from — not for yourself, not for your sister, and not for the frightened girl before you.