Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 47

The grasshopper is my responsibility.

Since neither Ki Hyeonmin nor Gyeon Junhwi know about the grasshopper.

Therefore, I have to investigate the grasshopper myself.

I deeply sighed as I spread out my materials.

⎡Desert locusts are compared to ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’

In the ‘Dr. Jekyll’ stage, their bodies are greenish and mostly harmless. They show independent tendencies, hiding during the day and only active at night.

However, locusts entering the ‘Hyde’ stage change from their very appearance. They display black and yellow patterns, and their reproductive capacity increases about 20-fold. Their social behavior also skyrockets, with swarms forming of hundreds of millions of locusts. Once a locust swarm breaks out, they devour everything in sight, causing disaster-level damage.

Research teams from XX University studying desert locusts published findings that serotonin is involved in this transformation. When desert locusts are injected with serotonin, it triggers signals that induce the Hyde stage…⎦

So they’re perfectly fine normally, but when you feed them serotonin, they suddenly swarm and become catastrophic?

This thing called serotonin—I felt like I’d heard it somewhere before, so I searched it up and found it’s called the ‘happiness hormone.’ They say people with depression have low serotonin levels.

So when locusts become happy, disasters occur?

Ughhh, I don’t get it!!!

I paused the locust research for now and scanned through information about chimeras.

⎡Chimeras are extremely territorial monsters. Except for mating, they don’t interact with other individuals, and many cases of them attacking their own kind have also been reported. They’re omnivorous but their most preferred food is pine trees, and they’ve been observed moving toward pine trees even when other prey is nearby…⎦

They say chimeras rarely attack in groups, yet in the original story they attacked in organized packs like hyenas.

The investigation team announced it was due to stress from being confined in cages for extended periods…

Is it because I just read about locusts?

I see similarities.

Solitary locusts suddenly swarm when they transform into ‘Hyde.’

Chimeras, who prefer solitude, swarmed to attack only during the monster escape incident.

This—isn’t it similar?

I read through various other things after that, but couldn’t find any clear answers.

* * *

The next day.

Honestly, I don’t even know how the day passed.

Since I pulled an all-nighter, I was out of it all day, busy catching up on lost sleep during classes.

And during homeroom.

“This week, we only conducted theory classes and light practical classes for adjustment since it’s freshman week. But starting next week, field classes and individual training will be added.”

Professor Joo distributed printouts to us.

“This is the individual training program. I hope you complete all the training listed here by next Friday. If you do it all in one day it’ll burden your body, so make time during Free Period…”

This is seriously brutal.

Training, classes, and we have to fill mandatory club hours too. In theory class we have to become meteorologists, and we have to make mana potions through alchemy too…

Then when do I prevent destruction?

There’s absolutely zero consideration for possessors in this schedule.

“Then, I hope you all have a good weekend.”

Professor Joo exited, and Gyeon Junhwi pulled out several purple bottles from his inventory.

“If you have a moment, could you help taste-test my mana potion?”

He distributed one bottle each to me, Yeom Juwan, and Han Boram.

Gyeon Junhwi’s potion still has that pleasant subtle cocoa scent.

However,

“It dropped even more than last time?”

“Really? By how much?”

“About 80%…”

“Mine decreased 65%.”

“M-mine also d-dropped about 70%.”

That’s strange.

It’s not like my baby to fail at potion-making twice in a row.

Did your condition worsen from overworking yourself?

Your face looks fatigued.

“I’ll need to refine it a bit more. Then, I’ll see you tomorrow at the shopping mall.”

Gyeon Junhwi left right away, and I didn’t particularly stop him.

Tomorrow is the day we meet the chimera.

It’s an important day, so he needs to rest and prepare.

And starting now, for the next 24 hours.

I need to surveil the suspects.

* * *

The six-person glued-together crew finished dinner, then went three rounds of Tower Climber.

After getting deeply immersed in the board game that encourages betrayal, stabbing each other in the back several times.

Feeling like going any further would damage our friendship to an irreparable degree, we stopped the game and watched a movie in the dormitory’s mini theater.

“Let’s watch Seraville Guild footage!”

“Which floor?”

“Obviously the 52nd floor—is that even a question?”

In <On the Brink of Destruction>, movies mean hunters’ raid footage.

Because there’s no entertainment industry in this world.

Thirty years ago after experiencing the apocalypse, people were too busy making ends meet for the entertainment industry to survive.

Not just movies—there are no idols, no actors either.

I’m thinking maybe after preventing destruction, I should start a management company and monopolize the industry.

With so many beautiful people in this world, how bizarre that the entertainment industry is dead!

“Ooooh! Did you see Park Hyerim’s movement just now!!!”

“What even is that item?”

“Unicorn summons are just OP!”

Since I’m not particularly interested in raid strategies, the movie was just so-so.

Thinking about how the monsters being slaughtered on screen are real creatures, not CG, even made my stomach queasy.

‘Let’s just focus on suspect surveillance.’

I concentrated on my main job of finding subordinates, carefully observing No Jitae and Park Rahee, but both were doing nothing else, not looking elsewhere, diligently watching the movie.

No grasshoppers popped out either.

Movie watching continued until 11 PM, then the boys and girls split up and moved to our respective rooms.

* * *

My room.

I’d never done anything like a sleepover party, so I didn’t know what to do, but Han Boram had brought supplies.

“I-I brought cosmetics! C-can we do makeovers?”

A tremendous amount of cosmetics poured out from her inventory.

“R-Rahee has a mature feeling, so I-I think an a-adult vibe would suit you. Sora should go for a g-goddess feel!”

Han Boram demonstrated an artistic world approaching divinity.

Park Rahee transformed into a saint.

She originally had a plain appearance, but now she’s radiating a holy aura.

Yeon Sora, who’d been on the borderline between human and elf, became a pureblooded elf.

“H-how is it?”

“Totally pro-level!”

“Boram, you’re really amazing! Did you learn makeup separately?”

“N-no, just as a h-hobby on my own…”

“You taught yourself to this level? You’re a genius, a genius!”

This isn’t empty flattery—when I open a management company later, I definitely need to recruit this child as a stylist.

I loaded up storm-level praise in my mouth and was about to fire when Han Boram’s face turned bright red and tears streamed down from both eyes.

“S-sorry! I’m j-just so h-happy… Making f-friends is a first for me… I’m the h-happiest I’ve ever been!”

We just did makeup together in a corner of the room, yet this is the happiest moment of her life.

What kind of life has this child lived?

I know the answer, so why am I asking?

She’s lived an isolated life, pointed at and called cursed.

“You’re my first friend too. Let’s do lots of fun things from now on. Everything!”

“S-Sora! Hwaaaaaah!”

“What do you want to do?”

“I-I want to go e-eat hamburgers, just us girls!”

“Great, what else?”

“I w-want to wear pajamas and t-talk while hugging pillows.”

What this child wants for happiness is so small-scale it makes things more bittersweet.

It’s okay, say it all!

This unnie will make it all happen from now on!

Since we mentioned it, we changed into pajamas and sat on the bed hugging pillows, when Park Rahee asked a question.

“But Sora, what’s going on between you and Juwan?”

“Childhood friends. We live together, so we’re like family.”

“Aw~ That’s it? Anyone can tell there’s a ‘do not trespass’ vibe there!”

“He’s played a guardian role since childhood, so that’s why.”

“Hmm, I wonder if Juwan feels the same way?”

Is it because she’s a suspect?

Rahee, your eyes look sinister.

“You know Juwan’s popular, right? Class A students talk about Juwan constantly.”

“Urk! Y-Yeom Juwan? Why?”

“You don’t see pretty boys like that often.”

“B-b-but his p-personality is bad!”

“Juwan’s even more popular because of his personality though? After seeing how sweet he is to you, people say he’s so caring, where can you find someone like that these days, they thought you two were dating so they gave up on Yeom Juwan, feeling sorry… no, I mean…”

Hearing about other classes is a bit interesting.

Right, our Juwan has some popularity, huh?

He has this pitiful angel image caught by villainess Yeon Sora.

“The real popular one is Gyeon Junhwi though. More than half the girls in Class A probably have their eye on him?”

“J-Junhwi’s popular?”

“Makes sense, doesn’t it? He’s handsome, tall, smart, kind, gentle… ?”

Only after a single tear rolled down Han Boram’s eyes did Park Rahee stop talking.

“Boram, don’t tell me… you like Gyeon Junhwi?”

“N-no! I… S-Sora is m-more important…”

What’s that supposed to mean?

Han Boram hugged her pillow with a tomato-red face and mumbled.

“S-Sora… a-and J-Junhwi… like each other…”

“We don’t though?”

“B-but Sora k-keeps glancing at Junhwi too… a-and Junhwi often looks at Sora… you two s-seem to share secrets… You’re both p-perfect for each other…”

Seems like she noticed the secret exchanges between us.

But sweetie.

That’s not romance, it’s prophecy sessions.

“I-I value friendship m-more. I w-won’t like anyone S-Sora likes! Your h-happiness is more… important.”

Tears rolled down Han Boram’s cheeks.

She has the tragic sub-heroine vibe of someone conflicted between friendship and love who decided to choose friendship.

This child is seriously mistaking the genre.

This isn’t romance, it’s survival.

Junhwi and I are filming survival content right now.

At this level I don’t need to worry about her turning yandere… but if Han Boram distances herself from Gyeon Junhwi trying to preserve her friendship with me, it’ll disrupt the storyline.

I should nail this down.

“I don’t like Gyeon Junhwi.”

“L-liar!”

“It’s true. I have zero romantic feelings.”

Really, with all sincerity and no exaggeration.

Just looking at him makes me happy, I’m grateful for his mere existence, the fact that this child is breathing somewhere gives me strength to get through each day, and I’m ready to give him everything I have.

But it’s definitely not romantic feelings.

Because I don’t want to possess or monopolize him.

I want to enthusiastically support my baby to do everything he wants, watch from the sidelines, cheer with all my might, and share that process with earthlings.

Right, he’s like oxygen or gravity.

You can live without romance, but without my bias I’d die.

“B-but you k-keep l-looking at him…”

“His face is just that pretty. But he’s not my type.”

“Really? Gyeon Junhwi isn’t?”

Neither Han Boram nor Park Rahee seem to believe me at all.

But there’s no single answer for preferences.

I decided to set up my type to be the complete opposite of Gyeon Junhwi.

Gyeon Junhwi is a delicate beauty with sociable tendencies and narrow eyes.

The opposite would be…

“I like the brawny, bursting-with-masculinity, handsome type who’s blunt and indifferent.”

“Really? Your taste is unique.”

“T-that’s, isn’t that Professor Joo?”

“You’re right? That’s exactly Professor Joo!”

Kids, that man may be handsome, but he’s in his 40s.

That would be a crime… but I was too lazy to explain, so I just nodded.

“Right. If only the professor were 30 years younger. More importantly, should we sleep soon? We have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Time was already racing toward 1 AM.

We’re going to see monsters tomorrow, right?

Sleep is essential for that.

* * *

Is it because I talked about my babies before bed?

I dreamed about my babies.

I’m at what looks like some banquet hall, and far away I saw Yeom Juwan and Gyeon Junhwi dressed in tailcoats.

In <On the Brink of Destruction>, there are occasional exchange meetings with foreign schools, and tailcoats are provided for those occasions.

The tailcoat look I most wanted to see…

‘I can’t see it!’

I tried to get closer, but my babies were walking away with their backs turned.

Are they power walking? Their walking speed is considerable.

Yeon Sora’s body is like a marionette, so I couldn’t keep up with that speed at all.

‘Wait just a moment!’

I wanted to shout but no voice came out.

I chased after them with everything I had, and when I left the corridor, the outside world was… ruins.

Ruins?

Somehow familiar ruins.

I don’t like this place…

I went back inside the building, when something fell from the ceiling.

I felt an unpleasant dampness on the back of my neck.

Slime.

Disgusted, I scraped off the slime with my hand, when I felt something being crushed.

That crushing sensation was so revolting my eyes opened on their own.

‘Dammit, what kind of shitty dream is this?’

Annoyed, I unconsciously looked at my right hand… and there was something on my palm.

Fluorescent yellow.

A familiar color.

In my right hand was a dead grasshopper.