Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 22

Until now, I’d firmly believed in the principle of ‘1 catastrophic incident = 1 mastermind.’

The ‘Authority of the Devil’ can only be used by one person at a time.

Therefore, the mastermind must always appear one at a time.

But that was my misconception.

Shall I reexamine the first catastrophic incident?

How many masterminds were behind the awakening test?

– 1 mastermind who cast Rage on the outbreak goblins

– 1 mad scientist mastermind who released the yellow-eyed goblins

– 1 Grasshopper Boss.

A total of 3 were active simultaneously.

To resolve this contradiction, I established a new hypothesis.

◉ Hypothesis 2: The mastermind team is collaborating.

Only one uses ‘Authority,’ while the rest assist without using Authority.

If I’m right… this is a huge clue.

It means masterminds were hiding in the blind spots of every incident in the work!

There are masterminds who step forward openly, and masterminds hiding in the shadows.

While Gyeon Junhwi handles the obvious masterminds, I need to find the hidden ones.

Complete the ‘6+3=9’ formula that way and we get a happy ending!

That’s what I need to do.

That’s not all.

Amazingly, I think I know the Grasshopper Boss’s true identity too.

Why?

Because I’m a devoted reader!

Q. What’s the difference between a reader and a devoted reader?

This was a minor question I had on my first day of possession.

We’re both possessors, so why is Gyeon Junhwi’s trait ‘Reader’ while mine is ‘Devoted Reader’?

I think I know the answer now.

Because Gyeon Junhwi and I read novels differently.

Gyeon Junhwi is a typical ‘reader.’

Like a reader, he memorized the original work while reading it, and used information from the novel to march forward triumphantly.

In contrast, I’m a ‘devoted reader’ who read the novel while fangirling.

They seem similar, but this is subtly different.

Because I read information outside the novel too.

For example, while on my 11th complete re-read of <On the Brink of Destruction>, a question suddenly arose.

‘Why are there 9 Authorities of the Devil in this worldview? Doesn’t this number have some hidden meaning?’

If there were 7 devils, I would’ve assumed it was based on the 7 deadly sins, but the number 9 seemed a bit random.

I was so curious that I even searched for it.

Why would I do such a thing?

I don’t know. I just wanted to.

I think it’s because I once had experience fangirling over idols.

I too had such a period once.

A time when I analyzed every single scene in music videos to understand my bias idol’s worldview, analyzed every single word in lyrics.

A time when I had absolute faith and conviction that clues about my babies’ worldview were hidden in every piece of merchandise, every album, every music video, and tried to find them.

I quit 3D fangirling after my dad passed away, but habits ingrained in the body are unavoidable—I did the same thing while reading <On the Brink of Destruction>.

As a result, I learned a surprising fact.

There’s an occult philosophy book written by some guy in the 16th century, and 9 devils appear in it.

The names of 6 out of the 9 devils also appear in <On the Brink of Destruction>.

Which means…

The ‘Authority of the Devil’ wasn’t a setting the author arbitrarily created.

The author used real source material as a motif to create the mastermind setting, and I’d read that material using a translator.

It was such difficult material that I read it while searching, and in the process, I gained a lot of useless trivia.

For example, among the 9 devils in the occult book, there’s a devil named ‘Abaddon,’ and this Abaddon also appears in the Bible.

The name of the king of locusts who sends swarms of locusts at the end times was ‘Abaddon.’

[Grasshopper]

There’s a band abroad called Abaddon, and one of their representative songs was titled ‘Lord of the Flies.’

[Blowfly]

This was the true identity of the déjà vu I felt during the hypnosis session with Ha Seonwoo.

Grasshopper, blowfly, Abaddon.

Could this be a coincidence?

‘No! There’s no way!’

The author must have searched just like me, and definitely adapted the materials they found then to write the novel.

This is the difference between a ‘reader’ and a ‘devoted reader.’

Gyeon Junhwi only knows information inside the novel, but I also know information outside the novel.

Then shall I try establishing hypotheses again?

◉ Hypothesis 3: The Grasshopper Boss is based on ‘Abaddon.’

◉ Hypothesis 4: Among the countless TMI I saw while fangirling over <On the Brink of Destruction>, there might be crucial hints hidden.

‘Is there anything else I remember?’

I definitely saw more information… but when I actually try to recall it, I can’t remember well.

I repeated <On the Brink of Destruction> 33 times, but I only searched once.

In reality, I’d completely forgotten about ‘grasshopper,’ ‘blowfly,’ and ‘Abaddon’ too, then suddenly remembered them going ‘Ah!’

Regarding this, Ha Seonwoo gave me good advice.

— Far more information is hidden in your unconscious than you think.

Perhaps… important information might be buried in my unconscious.

To prevent destruction, I need to extract it… but how?

Can I get Ha Seonwoo’s help?

— Vice Guild Master! Actually, this is inside a novel I read, you know? And this world is scheduled for destruction soon, you know? Content I researched while fangirling when I read this novel from outside is hidden in my unconscious, and if I figure it out, I can prevent destruction! Please help me!

…Stating facts is rejected.

I’ll have to find a more proper method later.

After organizing all my thoughts, I entered the first item in my ‘Destruction Prevention TO DO List.’

☐ Extract the TMI in my unconscious with Ha Seonwoo’s help.

☞ Explore specific methods!

There’s plenty else to do too.

☐ Find the Grasshopper Boss’s subordinate.

☞ Suspects: No Jitae, Lee Hyojun, Park Rahee

☞ Investigate the subordinate’s background to learn the Grasshopper Boss’s identity.

Since I can only investigate backgrounds after enrollment, I’ll put that aside for now…

☐ Meet Gyeon Junhwi and finish the prophet coming-out.

I’d just scattered prophet bait to Gyeon Junhwi and ran away.

Next time we meet, I need to prove my prophet identity more definitively.

It’ll be fine.

Because I’ve obtained the necessary supplies.

And there’s more to do…

“Sora?”

I lifted my head at the suddenly heard voice to find the secretary uncle fully recharged.

“It’s already 6 o’clock. We should get going now, right?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

To prevent the secretary uncle’s overtime, we’d promised to leave the Tower at 6.

I obediently stood up from my seat and left <Hideout>, but I’m somewhat bothered.

Why didn’t Gyeon Junhwi come?

If it followed the original work, he should have…

* * *

Yeon Sora’s house.

While eating dinner, I had to endure a barrage of questions from Yeon Sora’s father, mother, aunt, uncle, maternal grandparents set, grandparents set, and twin siblings.

Because I’d notified them that I needed to go to the Tower for the next 3 days to assist with Phoenix Guild’s investigation.

“Why is Phoenix Guild calling you?”

“Did you meet Ha Seonwoo today too?”

“What kind of outfit was he wearing?”

“Is the indoor temperature properly controlled? I gave them all the precautions…”

“Right, did you get any hives? Roll up your sleeve once! Let me check!”

“Are they feeding you properly?”

“It’s because of the outbreak investigation, right?”

“Everyone! That’s noona’s pride, so you can’t ask!”

“Pride?”

“Privacy protection!”

“That’s privacy though?”

“Same difference.”

“If it’s the same difference, why not just say fried chicken?”

“But Sora, why aren’t you answering?”

The food won’t go down.

I wanted to tour the Tower, so I asked Ha Seonwoo to make me a fake alibi, but questions about the fake alibi are flooding in.

I didn’t expect this.

How should I handle it? I hesitated for a moment, when—

“Stop it. Sora’s uncomfortable.”

Yeom Juwan shielded me.

“It’s probably information she can’t disclose to outsiders. It was like that before too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, we were told to watch what we say because spreading unnecessary rumors would make people more confused. So everyone, don’t try to force it out of her.”

Soon Yeom Juwan’s gaze turned to me.

“Sora, you don’t say anything either.”

Eyes filled with earnest pleading.

Eyes that seem to know something.

Come to think of it, I think I told Yeom Juwan about the bug…

I should probe him later… I was thinking when the surroundings became noisy again.

“But why was only Sora called?”

“Right? Juwan was there too.”

“Weren’t you two in the same place, experiencing the same thing? Did they ask you to come too, Juwan?”

“No, they only called Sora…”

Yeom Juwan ate his meal diligently with his head deeply bowed, but his chopstick speed was accelerating.

That’s not eating—it’s a kind of act of scooping food into the mouth and swallowing.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Having finished eating at lightning speed, Yeom Juwan went straight to the sink, washed his rice bowl, then grabbed his outerwear.

“I’ll step out for a bit.”

“Where are you going at this hour?”

“The playground. I’m going to exercise a bit.”

The apartment playground is visible from Yeon Sora’s living room too.

Looking down after eating, Yeom Juwan was indeed doing push-ups earnestly at the playground.

My baby… you’re trying so hard, huh?

* * *

For the next few days.

I spent the happiest days since my possession.

After finishing breakfast, a vehicle sent by Phoenix Guild would arrive at exactly 9 AM.

I’d ride that vehicle to the Tower where the secretary uncle would greet me, and I could tour the Tower to my heart’s content until 6 PM.

‘Tower!!! Really the best!!!!’

I went to Tower World, the Tower Museum, and all the famous restaurants in the Tower too!

I devoted myself solely to fan pilgrimages.

I bustled around not even knowing time was passing.

And finally, the last day.

“Sora, where shall we go today?”

The secretary uncle, who’d inadvertently become my fan pilgrimage partner, had become half his former size in the meantime.

“I’m going to try the toy shop.”

“Ah, if it’s that, there’s a popular place called <Players>…”

“No, not there. There’s somewhere else I want to visit.”

“Alright, do that.”

Before I knew it, the secretary uncle had stopped questioning or doubting anything I said.

I quite like how the ‘whatever will be will be’ attitude has become ingrained in him.

Uncle has finally learned the aesthetics of giving up!

Today’s fan pilgrimage location is <Chinko’s Toy Shop>.

When I passed by yesterday and the day before, the door was closed, but today too, a [CLOSED] sign hung at the entrance.

This shop has no intention of doing business at all.

Well, that’s what makes it special though.

I really wanted to try that gacha machine here, but I’ll have to postpone that to the next opportunity.

“The door’s closed?”

“Can’t be helped. Let’s go to the next place!”

Plenty of places to visit.

Today’s destinations are the Tower stationery store, monster zoo, and haunted house!

Since it’s the last day, after touring around as fully as possible, I moved my steps to the <Hideout> cafe at exactly 5 PM.

The ending is always <Hideout>.

“Sora, you must really like this place?”

“Because it’s delicious.”

“Well, the tarts here really are exquisite. I don’t know why there are no customers when it’s this delicious… Huh?”

The uncle who’d entered the cafe stopped abruptly in surprise.

I also froze in surprise following his gaze.

Because inside the always-empty cafe, there was a customer besides us.

And it was the customer I’d been waiting for all along.

‘Finally came!’

A lanky figure sitting at the window seat.

Lustrous black hair and ruby-red eyes.

My bias #1, Gyeon Junhwi.