Gamlo gazed at the floor. Shattered pieces of glass and deep burgundy wine were scattered abstractly across the surface.

 

It was unbelievable.

 

Not that she had dropped the glass, but rather,

 

the actions of the man known as Yoo Hajin were beyond belief.

 

"Gamlo-nim. That man..."

 

The instructor Gooju also appeared shocked.

 

However, Gamlo was speechless.

 

Initially, she had thought this:

 

The man named Yoo Hajin was also exceptionally intelligent.

 

'He doesn’t attack others unless attacked first. But if he is attacked, he returns the favor. A tit-for-tat strategy indeed.'

 

Yoo Hajin was acting out a classic tit-for-tat strategy.

 

In a chaotic situation like this, such a strategy could be highly effective.

 

The students, who had accumulated enemies from the outside world, would not intentionally attack Yoo Hajin, increasing their number of enemies. Yoo Hajin's strategy was to simply wait for them to exhaust themselves fighting each other.

 

Of course, Yoo Hajin was just floundering to live without much thought,

 

but Gamlo, Gooju, and the students had no way of knowing this.

 

Admiring Yoo Hajin’s strategy, Gamlo smashed another bottle of wine.

 

After all, watching a fight without alcohol was unthinkable.

 

Thus, the battle began.

 

There were groups trying to assassinate the pink hair girl, Fengchu, and youngsters enmeshed in age-old vendettas fighting life-and-death battles. All of it made for an intriguing fight. The battle was intense enough to reveal who were the mere straws and who were the true grains.

 

And so, the battle's intensity began to escalate.

 

'In the end, the Fengchu will lose. In terms of psychic power, she's comparable to that tiger. But if she dies here, then perhaps she wasn't such a talent after all.'

 

Watching the betrayed and trampled girl, Gamlo felt a certain way, but suppressed those emotions, knowing they were of no help in living as a psychic.

 

The Ghost Lords, the worst and strongest evil spirits, and the most dreadful ghosts that could only be referred to as gods. Thinking of them, ripples formed in the wine in the glass.

 

To defeat these Ghost Lords, one had to become a monster themselves.

 

And sympathy was unnecessary for a monster.

 

The stronger the spiritual power one was born with, the more one was swayed by the essence of their soul, becoming cruel, emotional, obsessive, and harboring grudges for a long time.

 

'That's the nature of the soul.'

 

Therefore, powerful psychic ability users were destined to become monsters. So when Yoo Hajin, who appeared to be a strong psychic ability user, walked into the death zone where everyone’s special moves were ready, Gamlo couldn't help but be shocked.

 

'Has he abandoned the tit-for-tat strategy? No, why has he suddenly walked into danger?'

 

Gamlo's mind was filled with questions.

 

Why would he do that?

 

If those special moves were activated, Yoo Hajin would have to take care of dozens of competitors on his own. Why would he step into that fray, potentially stopping the activation of these moves, risking being hit himself?

 

Of course, Yoo Hajin didn’t know about this. Seeing the students gather strength for their special moves, he thought, 'Has the fight finally stopped?' He couldn’t see ghosts, so he couldn’t see the special moves of psychic ability users either.

 

But Gamlo and Gooju didn't know this fact.

 

Why would someone walk into the danger zone, where powers were clearly amassing, even when some were using life-shortening, extremely risky attacks?

 

They could only think this way.

 

"Could it be he’s trying to prevent more casualties?"

 

Gooju beside Gamlo offered this wrong answer, but Gamlo had no choice but to consider it the right one. At that moment, a surge of emotion welled up inside her.

 

"No, but to throw oneself into the fray like that? He must be a monster like us."

 

Confused by Gooju’s voice, Gamlo's heart also wavered. As psychic ability users grow stronger, they become monsters, alienated from humanity. And Yoo Hajin was considered a monster of a high level. Yet, he made such a sacrifice.

 

A sacrifice even ordinary humans wouldn’t make.

 

"Is he, trying, to save that child?"

 

Even when Yoo Hajin saved that girl, who had insulted him, a single tear, for reasons unknown even to herself, fell from Gamlo’s eyes. Along with it, her glass also fell.

 

"What are these tears...?"

 

Gamlo couldn't pick up the glass.

 

She had to wipe away her tears with her remaining hand.

 

And the students standing at the Pyeon Station felt emotions similar to what Gamlo experienced.

 

Some were moved by the events, others felt the same but forcibly suppressed their emotions. Some laughed at Yoo Hajin, calling him a foolish easy target, while others found him to be an enigma, sparking their curiosity. Some liked Yoo Hajin, while others felt shame upon realizing what they had done.

 

And there was the pink girl. Overwhelmed with various emotions, the girl looked up at the man who had saved her, and, unable to understand the feelings welling up inside, she let out a few more tears.

 

"Peep..."

 

At that moment, Yoo Hajin spoke.

 

"Everyone line up and draw your tickets in turn. I'll draw mine last."

 

He showed another act of self-sacrifice.

 

Gamlo bit her lip, watching him.

 

 

Honestly, it was a rather absurd situation. Fighting over who gets to pick subway tickets first? Do these guys even know what a subway is?

 

The subway has fixed arrival and departure times. So getting a ticket first doesn’t mean you get to board first.

 

I looked at the timetable next to the ticket office. Trains to Saengmun Station, trains heading towards Miryang. The departure times for these two trains were still a while off.

 

This meant it didn’t matter if these kids got their tickets first and headed to the B2 or B3 platforms. It was even better that way. The ones who went down first would deal with the evil spirits on the B2 and B3 platforms.

 

I’m too smart.

 

A real genius.

 

From now on, I should call myself Genius Hajin.

 

Leaning against the wall, I watched the students buy their tickets. For some reason, they nodded at me before purchasing them.

 

Why are they doing that?

 

I had no idea.

 

But their acknowledging expressions didn’t feel bad.

 

"Haa."

 

Anyway, what now?

 

It seemed like the first phase of the exam was wrapping up.

 

But I hadn't made any friends.

 

So much for my project to befriend a superpowerful girl to protect me from Cheonsu. Becoming a freeloader in a rich girl's life was my lifelong dream.

 

"Where could a strong, superpowerful girl be?"

 

Lost in such thoughts, the ticket office cleared out. I approached the booth and banged on the window until the message to pay cash appeared. Machines always work better after a little beating.

 

After paying and getting my subway ticket, that was it.

 

The train to Miryang was arriving first, so I headed down to the B3 platform.

 

Blood stained the steps intermittently. Judging from my ability to see it, it must be real human blood.

 

Honestly, this exam was insane.

 

How many people were going to die here?

 

Pyeon Station was a place where even talented spiritual ability users could get hurt. Should I at least pretend to be scared here? But as soon as I considered feigning fear, an inexplicable anger surged within me. How dare this thing make me?

 

"...?"

 

Because of this strange anger, it was impossible.

 

I guessed I had to give up on pretending to be scared. Shaking my head, I continued downwards. On the second underground floor, everyone seemed exhausted, waiting for the train. It seemed they had finally realized that getting a ticket didn't mean they could board the train right away.

 

Idiots. Haha.

 

I laughed at them and went down one more floor.

 

There were only a few people on B3 platform. To be precise, only the examiner who introduced himself as Gooju, and a woman who seemed to be his superior, apparently an alcoholic.

 

The examiners were gossiping about me.

“That man, did he sense that the underground B3 platform train would arrive first?”

 

"No way. No matter how good his senses are, it’s unlikely he felt the train from another dimension. Maybe he saw the timetable?"

 

"That’s even less likely. That ticket booth is tainted with evil, the remnants of malice. No one can recognize something contaminated by evil."

 

"Then what exactly is that man..."

 

What are they talking about?

 

I couldn't hear them well. Something about evil, it seemed.

 

Psychic ability users often spout nonsense in Korean.

 

Truly a bizarre talent.

 

I wanted to stay quiet, so I sat a bit away from them.

 

The train should be here in 10 minutes.

 

Maybe I'll just zone out.

 

"Why did you come down to B3?"

 

My zoning out was interrupted by a pink-haired shaman girl. Her lips were split, her hair disheveled, and her outfit was tattered, but she still looked pretty, thanks to her natural beauty.

 

"Didn't you read the manual? You can catch a train from B3 too."

 

"But the trains from B3 are much less frequent than from B2. If we do this, we’ll fail the exam!"

 

The timetable did show that. But right now, at this time, the train to Miryang from B3 was coming sooner.

 

"It doesn't matter what others say or do."

 

"Peep?"

 

Flapping her hands, she really resembled a chick. Was her name Fengchu? Meaning Phoenix’s chick? If she got such a nickname, it meant this girl was definitely a monster-like supernatural being too.

 

I should probably just brush her off.

 

"Do you have something you want to say to me?"

 

"I heard you earlier."

 

"Heard what?"

 

The pink-haired shaman chick pointed at herself and said,

 

"I know you were looking for a strong, rich, superpowerful girl. Well, here I am."

 

Hearing her words, I thought to myself.

 

Is this girl crazy?