Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 123

‘What’s going on?’

The intimacy dropped.

Ki Hyeonmin I can understand. Being absolutely good-aligned, he instinctively rejects criminal acts. Even if the intentions were good, he accepted a holy sword stolen from someone else, so he’d feel uncomfortable.

But why Gyeon Junhwi…

“Aaaah!”

Suddenly something caught my foot. My body tilted forward, about to topple over, when Ki Hyeonmin caught my waist and pulled me upright.

“Thanks!”

While I thanked him, Ki Hyeonmin had already withdrawn his hand and was nodding.

That just now felt like a heart-flutter moment common in fiction… but the situation resolved in barely 2 seconds, giving my heart no time to react.

‘But I have the Drone Eye!’

Once we get outside I’ll screenshot the hell out of it!… While humming such thoughts, Ki Hyeonmin illuminated the area ahead with a luminous stone flashlight.

“Watch where you’re going. You almost went blind.”

“!”

Where I’d nearly fallen, glass shards lay scattered. Vicious glass shards like upside-down icicles.

Goosebumps instantly rose on my arms.

[Ding! Ding! Body temperature has dropped! Please use heating products to raise your temperature! Ding! Ding! Body temperature has…]

Suddenly the temperature management system rang out noisily, but stopped abruptly when I attached a heat pack. Next to me, Seong Hayul grumbled.

“Why are you so high-maintenance?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Hey! It’s your body though?”

“It’s not Yeon Sora’s fault. Sora, you have almost zero agility, so walk more carefully.”

“Okay! I’ll walk with my head on straight!”

‘Right, now’s not the time for other thoughts!’

We’re inside a building that experienced the apocalypse. Obviously there’s no lighting, debris fills every direction, and given the lack of windows, we seem to be underground.

Relying on flashlights while advancing slowly, we soon encountered an escalator. Gyeon Junhwi looked around at nearby debris.

“There should be a building directory around here. Let’s all look for it.”

“Directory?”

“We need to know the building name.”

Following Junhwi’s instructions while searching through debris, I found the directory. The moment I saw the name written there, I cheered.

“It’s Gangnam Finance Center! If we’re lucky, we might get ‘that thing’ in the next trial?”

Here, ‘that thing’ means the fairy. All members except Seong Hayul know.

Actually, telling Seong Hayul wouldn’t matter, but she’s the type who cares too much about common sense—if we said ‘Let’s go find the fairy!’ she’d nag for sure. So we agreed to soften the expression to ‘that thing Yeon Sora saw in her dream.’

Anyway.

One of the fairy spawn locations we’ve narrowed down is near Gangnam Station. Our current position is Yeoksam Station. We’ve landed relatively close.

“As expected! I told you I’m lucky!”

“R-right! S-Sora’s the best!”

“I was worried we’d have to walk all the way to Apgujeong, but this is fortunate.”

“Luck…”

The team members all seemed satisfied, but Gyeon Junhwi wore something like a bitter smile. But he soon erased that expression and shared a hologram window.

“This is a photo of Gangnam Finance Center from 30 years ago. According to records, it was hit by flying-type monsters early on, leaving only 4 floors above ground and 2 basement levels. An announcement will come in 40 seconds, so let’s listen and plan our route.”

When a new trial starts, the instructional Drone Eye shares the situation after 10 minutes. While drinking water and waiting briefly, the announcement began.

[Second trial status. Eliminated: 37. Survivors: 66. No teams are attacking the same zone]

Meaning we’re the only ones in this building. Also meaning we don’t need to compete to steal other cadets’ flags yet.

Actually, this is also the academy’s consideration. The 2nd floor boss area’s maximum capacity is 1,000 people, but they deliberately only sent in 100 to artificially lower the early difficulty.

“Then we just need to handle the Boogeymen?”

“Should we start right away? The faster we finish, the faster we get out.”

“Good!”

* * *

The second trial’s monsters are Boogeymen.

Boogeymen are products of urban legends or superstitions—monsters supposedly born from parents worldwide threatening disobedient children with ‘Keep that up and the Boogeyman will come take you away!’

The very monster kids point at when indicating under beds, inside closets, or building crevices saying ‘There’s a monster there!’

Given this origin, Boogeymen have no fixed form. They’re monsters that transform into whatever the target fears most.

We could find the first Boogeyman relatively quickly.

“Th-there! That bl-black thing! It’s weird!”

A suspicious shadow draped next to the information desk.

At a glance it looks like an ordinary shadow, but seeing it continuously ripple like water in a glass bottle, it’s a Boogeyman.

Approaching a Boogeyman gives you a flag, but not to just anyone. Following the legend that ‘good children won’t be taken,’ it only gives gifts to those who haven’t committed crimes.

“Better to check one by one. Who wants to go first?”

“Yeom Juwan should go first.”

“Agreed.”

“He has the highest probability among us.”

I spoke with certainty, and agreement poured in from all directions. Juwan scratched the back of his head sheepishly and stepped forward.

“Me?”

“We need to check everyone one by one anyway. If you’re uncomfortable, we can postpone your turn.”

“No, well… I don’t particularly mind.”

Yeom Juwan seemed to hesitate briefly, but soon walked toward the darkness.

“If you approach too quickly it’ll run away, so walk slowly!”

“Haha, got it.”

Juwan walked without rushing, moving forward step by step carefully as he approached the darkness.

The moment he closed the distance to about 2 meters—

Shiiiiiii—

The darkness rippled wildly then transformed into a human-shaped shadow. After waiting a bit more, color filled the shadow, becoming a perfect human form.

Not one person but two.

An ugly couple with vicious eyes and nasty personalities. Presumably the stepfather and stepmother who abused Yeom Juwan.

— That parasite bastard didn’t die and came back again

— Why do filthy things always live longest? Cockroaches too, parasites too

My blood pressure rose involuntarily at the vile words the shadows spewed. Those garbage people said such things to a five-year-old child?

But more than anger, worry came first.

‘Juwan… you’re okay, right?’

His back is turned so I can’t see Yeom Juwan’s face, but I have the Drone Eye.

Secretly checking his expression through the hologram, Juwan’s eyes are staring straight ahead. His gaze is confident, but seeing him bite his lip, it can’t be easy.

“Give me the flag.”

He extended his hand forward, but the garbage people only sneered.

— What’s that parasite saying? All it does is leech off others, right?

— We fed and housed you when we don’t share a drop of blood, and now you’re demanding what?

Yeom Juwan walked forward steadily even while hearing those vile words. The moment he stood directly before the Boogeyman—

— Still, you lived cleanly

The stepfather suddenly wore a warm smile and pressed the flag into Juwan’s hand. And the next moment—

Crumble—

It scattered like dust and disappeared.

The Boogeyman had vanished.

Juwan looked down at the flag with a bitter expression, but soon showed a bright smile. And only after completing the smile did he turn around.

“First one, successfully obtained!”

“As expected, I knew Yeom Juwan would pass!”

“Reliable!”

Seeing Juwan waving the loot with a bright expression made my heart ache yet feel proud.

Still… it’s probably better to pretend not to know about this.

“As expected, Juwan’s the best!”

“Haha, no, I just went and asked for it.”

“No need to be modest. Cadets who pass the Boogeyman mission are less than 5% total.”

“Th-that f-few?”

“It’s not just few, they’re practically endangered species. That’s why normally people wait until the next team enters then steal cadets’ flags, right?”

“R-really? Th-then we have to steal again?”

“Why would we? With Yeom Juwan here, we can get Boogeyman flags and exit quickly, no?”

Seong Hayul seemed quite excited. But this means only our Juwan has to keep experiencing that situation…

I was reluctant when Gyeon Junhwi spoke up.

“Still, let’s have the remaining members take turns checking too.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The more people who can secure flags, the better. We can escape that much faster. Then we can move without interference when finding ‘that thing.'”

“I agree with Gyeon Junhwi!”

“M-me too, I agree with Sora!”

‘As expected, our Junhwi knows what’s up!’

I nodded contentedly alone, but honestly it’s a bit unexpected.

It wasn’t like this in the original…

* * *

We set out to find Boogeymen again.

While searching for suspicious shadows by examining building debris, Boram came over with a bright smile and linked arms with me.

“Hehe, S-Sora can get a flag, right?”

“Say something that makes sense! If Yeon Sora gets a flag, the entire student body could get one, you know?”

“N-no! Sora is righteous!”

“You’re being fooled right now!”

“N-no I’m not!”

Whenever Boram and Seong Hayul converse, the topic always flows to Yeon Sora’s inherent evil. Our Boram was getting worked up defending me, but I can’t leave this alone.

My baby will get hurt later.

“Boram, I can’t pass.”

“Wh-why not Sora?”

“Because I stole a lot. I stole the orb, today’s materials, and the holy sword, right?”

“B-but… Ah!”

After sweeping my hair back once then brushing up my eyelashes, Boram immediately understood.

Right, sweetie. We’re DNA thieves.

No way the Boogeyman would forgive that.

“Is… that a crime?”

“Yeah, it’s criminal.”

“B-but it’s for a good cause…”

Han Boram spent quite a long time secluded alone in her room, so her conscience is clean. Seems I haven’t properly explained the criminality of DNA theft to such a child. Because of that… I feel some responsibility.

“I’ll explain it properly later.”

“Okay!”

While having such conversations and continuing the search diligently, we discovered the second Boogeyman.

“Mm, who wants to go this time?”

“I’ll go.”

The first to step forward was Ki Hyeonmin.

This is also unexpected. My Hyeonmin should know the outcome…

As Ki Hyeonmin walked toward the suspicious shadow with an indifferent face—

Shiiiiiii—

The Boogeyman transformed into a beautiful woman. A person with overwhelming genetics. Anyone could see it’s Ki Hyeonmin’s mother.

But… that beautiful woman was dying.

A massive stab wound in her abdomen left her covered in blood, her skin turned bluish-purple, and strange moss-like growth was creeping up from her neck, slowly conquering her face.

— You must… save the world… only you can…

— I’m sorry… we didn’t know it would be like this… that you’d have to bear this burden…

Clearly her appearance right before death. It wasn’t described in the story, but she apparently said she was sorry.

This time too I checked with the Drone Eye out of worry, but Ki Hyeonmin’s face showed absolutely no change in expression. Well, he’s experiencing this situation for the 7th time.

“I need the flag.”

Ki Hyeonmin extended his hand, but a completely different result came than before.

Grrrrrr—

The beautiful woman savagely twisted her face. Her posture revealing long fangs while taking a wary stance was like an angry wolf.

GRAAAAAAH!

Looking ready to bite and kill at any moment.

Ki Hyeonmin silently withdrew his right hand and swung the sword at his waist. And with his own hand, he cut down the woman who looked like his mother.

Fwoooosh—

The Boogeyman vanished, but there was no flag.

Though done for the greater good, the regressor Ki Hyeonmin had taken countless lives. And that sin wasn’t forgiven.

“I don’t qualify to receive the flag.”

Ki Hyeonmin turned to face us and declared.

Not even the slightest tremor showed on his face.

“It’s okay, the probability was slim to begin with anyway.”

“Yeom Juwan was the exception.”

“I-I think it’ll be hard for me too… s-so it’s okay!”

After that, we continued getting on the trial stand whenever we met Boogeymen.

Seong Hayul’s Boogeyman was her own corpse. A cruel corpse torn apart by monsters. Due to her strong fear of the monster magnet ability.

The Boogeyman wearing Seong Hayul’s appearance revealed vicious fangs. Seong Hayul, witnessing her own death before her eyes, ultimately fled with a pale face.

Bang!

The moment the target flees, the Boogeyman transforms back into darkness and relocates elsewhere.

Seong Hayul didn’t obtain the flag.

“S-sorry. I… can’t do it either.”

“It’s okay.”

I already knew Seong Hayul wouldn’t make it anyway.

Though recently she’s been living more honestly, true to her nature, Seong Hayul is originally a character who uses those around her. She even gathered followers to use as meat shields.

Though it didn’t lead to actual crimes, from the Boogeyman’s perspective, having such thoughts itself is sinful.

“N-next… I-I’ll do it!”

Boram’s Boogeyman was also her own corpse, similar to Seong Hayul’s.

But… the setting was a bit strange. Because it looked like some demonic ritual.

Dozens of animal corpses were placed around the edges of a giant magic circle, with Han Boram’s corpse placed in the center. Moreover, right next to Boram, a newborn baby was crying.

“S-sorry! I-I can’t!”

Bang!

Boram also fled crying, and the Boogeyman disappeared.

I comforted the trembling, sobbing Boram.

“It’s okay, it was a scary scene.”

“Y… yeah! S-so scary! Waaaaah!”

She ended up wailing, so I had to pat her devotedly until she calmed down.

‘I’ll have to ask what that was once some time passes.’

Boogeymen take the form of what the target fears most. But Boram’s fear had aspects even I, a possessor, couldn’t quite understand.

But that’s for later…

‘…!’

Suddenly I realized a new fact and raised my gaze. My vision captured Gyeon Junhwi comforting Boram.

“Seems like we’ve cleared this entire floor. We need to move to the next floor… Boram, are you okay? Need more time?”

“N-no! I-I’m okay!”

Gyeon Junhwi looked my way and smiled brightly.

As expected… his eyes blinked twice quickly. The eyelash movement my baby shows when he has intent.

“Only Yeon Sora and I are left. Who wants to go first?”

Gyeon Junhwi’s intimacy dropped.

Boogeymen show people’s fears and sins.

I don’t know why, but…

Gyeon Junhwi is suspicious of me and trying to use the Boogeyman to verify something.