I left the small monster in the art room and moved to follow Lee Geonwoo. Fiddling with the white eyepatch wound around my left wrist, ready to use at any moment in case of an unforeseen situation, I tailed after him.
We went down one floor and reached the second floor. Soon, the direction Lee Geonwoo was heading toward was where the auditorium was located. When I unconsciously stopped walking, Lee Geonwoo, keenly noticing the distance that had grown between us, immediately turned around.
“Representative-nim?”
“……”
“Is something wrong?”
Nothing was wrong, of course. But it felt like something would be soon.
I had heard plenty about how Lee Gojun and Lee Geonwoo had been holed up in the main building’s auditorium all day long. I naturally expected they were up to something suspicious there, but I hadn’t dug deeper. Because I had absolutely no desire to do so.
However, when I left the Lee Gojun brothers alone, the proud healer ability users cooperated voluntarily for some reason, the Church of Hayoung’s cloaks became a huge hit within Hanul High, and Ponytail, who should have been showing off considerable leadership, along with her faction, wore the Church of Hayoung cloaks around, worried about being treated as heretics.
From any angle, these were behaviors and reactions that couldn’t be called normal. However, I had thought it was a story that had nothing to do with me. The Church of Hayoung only borrowed my name; my opinions and authority weren’t involved in the slightest, and as days passed, the survivors avoided me like I was some kind of bug.
But like this…
‘He’s giving me the opportunity to face all of that directly…’
It might not be an opportunity but rather terrible misfortune. Since the number of survivors remaining at Hanul High wasn’t that many, the auditorium wouldn’t be teeming with people, but when I heard the ridiculous title “Messiah-nim” from just Lee Geonwoo alone, I shuddered—there was no way I could endure anything beyond that.
“Representative-nim?”
Lee Geonwoo, who called me again, cautiously approached me.
“Are you not feeling well? Should I call the twin hyungs?”
‘…Twin hyungs?’
Unlike when he addressed me, it was an extremely normal and friendly choice of words.
“You seem to have gotten close with the twins.”
“Well, rather than getting close… those hyungs seem to think they communicate better with me than with my hyung.”
So, how about your body? You’re not hurting anywhere, right? Lee Geonwoo’s expression as he checked on my condition, consistently adding honorifics, was quite serious. It was a completely different appearance from him just a while ago when he had pointed his finger at me in anger.
I stared intently at Lee Geonwoo, then stepped past him.
“Let’s go. To the auditorium.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to go back and rest? I can support you back to the art room.”
“There’s nothing hurting, nothing difficult.”
It was a situation I’d have to face someday anyway. It didn’t seem like I’d be leaving Hanul High anytime soon in the near future, and during that time, Lee Gojun would relentlessly try to show me this and that and prove things, so it was better to get it over with as quickly as possible.
Lee Geonwoo, who caught up to me with quick steps, reached the auditorium door first. The door, which had always been tightly shut since the auditorium incident last time, Lee Geonwoo pushed open easily without much effort. As I swept my gaze over the unlocked door, I soon shifted my gaze to the inside of the auditorium.
And then I froze in place.
“…Wow.”
I unconsciously let out a low exclamation. In that breath were surprise, ambivalence, awe toward something unfamiliar, along with distinct shame. That was because…
‘Why are there pictures of me drawn on the auditorium walls?’
Looking again, various paints and art supplies were piled high in one corner of the auditorium. I had wondered where everything from the art room had gone, and it seemed that rather than some survivor relieving stress through a hobby, they’d been painting murals here. And of all things, murals for a pseudo-religious cult.
‘Can this also be considered an act of relieving stress?’
I swept my gaze over the wide walls of the auditorium with a complexly sunken look.
A boy with black-based hair with only the ends bleached white. That boy struck a lofty posture that you’d only see in sacred masterpieces, his hands clasped together in front of his chest.
For someone like me who had never once offered an earnest prayer in my life, it was an utterly absurd pose. Moreover, the fact that I wore an eyepatch to cover my eyes in preparation for any situation had apparently become my trademark, as every single boy depicted as the protagonist in the mural wore an eyepatch without exception.
They were even dressed properly in school uniforms. So while it felt even more alien and created a sense of disconnect, it also added realism thanks to the skill level that made me wonder how there could be such an artistic genius at Hanul High, which wasn’t even a specialized arts school. Not only that…
‘…What’s that again? A puppy?’
Some puppy snuggled deeply in my arms occupied one of the largest areas on the wall. Because its position was also central, it relatively grabbed the eye more, and the descriptive lines and brushstrokes showed particularly devoted care.
Golden fur that seemed gilded, sparkling dazzlingly bright—something you couldn’t see in reality, literally expressed that way. Looking at the puppy in the painting with that fur, a certain creature came to mind.
A monster. The monster corpse with a puppy’s appearance, trapped on the third floor in the art room, silently waiting for me.
“……”
Between my trembling lips, only breath escaped; words couldn’t take form and scattered and disappeared inside my throat.
Unlike the image the survivors must have felt looking at the monster, a small puppy blooming with an endlessly innocent smile. And a boy naturally holding that puppy in his arms with a benevolent expression.
These guys, even more than I thought…
“Hayoung-ah!”
Hearing a familiar voice calling out to me, I quickly turned my head. Lee Gojun, who had been standing on the platform, jumped down to the auditorium floor in one go and ran toward me without hesitation.
Unlike before, a cloak embroidered entirely with black thread fluttered behind Lee Gojun’s back. Wondering if the Church of Hayoung cloak design had changed, I subtly rolled my eyes and saw about a dozen people glancing this way. I avoided their gazes so they wouldn’t meet mine, but they were still wearing purely white cloaks like the one Ponytail had worn.
Then was Lee Gojun the only one wearing a different cloak? To clearly establish the difference between the cult leader and ordinary believers.
Lee Gojun, who approached right up to my nose in the blink of an eye, bloomed with a full smile. Clasping his hands together out of habit, he spoke in an excited tone.
“I missed you, Hayoung-ah. Did you have a good trip?”
“…I’d like to hear some explanations about various things.”
“Right, Hayoung-ah. You must have a lot of questions. Feel free to ask me everything.”
Soon, Lee Gojun, whose eyes sparkled with madness, stepped slightly to the side and pointed with his palm toward the people standing at attention in the auditorium.
“First, since you’re here, shall we say hello? Everyone is so much…”
I let the useless sounds Lee Gojun was chattering go in one ear and out the other. Instead, without taking my gaze off him, I stared fixedly at Lee Gojun.
Though I called it madness, those eyes, that attitude, still sparkled brightly enough. Perhaps they sparkled even more than the Lee Gojun who had rushed out into the hallway, saying we had to go save the survivors coming down from the fourth floor.
“…So that picture means you’re a superior being who captivates even monsters…”
Wait, captivates?
“What are you talking about?”
“Hm? Ah, there’s nothing imperfect among everything about you, Hayoung, but if I had to pick what’s most outstanding, it’d be your divine character! Next would be your brilliant beauty…”
I reached out and grabbed the door handle. Then, without saying anything, I gently pulled the door.
“Ha, Hayoung-ah?”
Lee Gojun’s voice, which had been calling me questioningly, gradually became more desperate.
“Wait, Hayoung… Hayoung-ah…!”
Ignoring that sound, I pulled the auditorium door shut all the way. Feeling an attempt to open the door again from inside, I gripped the handle tightly and held on, and there was no further resistance.
Swallowing a sigh, I let go of that door handle and turned my back.
“Shall I escort you back to the art room?”
“I think escorting your hyung should come first.”
“My hyung has it rough. He’s so dedicated, all for Representative-nim’s sake alone.”
My head seemed to throb. I couldn’t even grasp where and how things had gotten twisted.
Maybe I shouldn’t have attached people who could become comrades to a fanatic in the first place. If I hadn’t decided to stay at Hanul High but had left this place as quickly as possible, there was a possibility that Lee Gojun might have calmed down a bit due to having no one to spread his belief—or non-belief—to.
It wasn’t that I regretted my choice and decision now. It was just a little, quite a lot, hard to endure. Separate from it being bothersome and noisy, it was like that.
I urged my steps, which had slowed momentarily, once again and headed toward the art room where a bed awaited that could wash away this fatigue.
***
I had heard such a story before. That young children, compared to adults, have better intuition, so they’re excellent at sensing a person’s atmosphere and true feelings, and they can also easily witness spiritual beings.
That superstitious information seemed to apply to monsters as well. I had wandered around quite a few places, and even though I kept my eyes closed and didn’t make any sounds, there hadn’t been a monster that rushed at me to show interest. So, as in the earlier content, the most likely inference at present was that a monster corpse in a particularly developed spiritual state had sensed my presence and rushed at me.
Or it could simply be that monster species with puppy appearances were exceptionally clever and sensitive. Whichever was the correct answer, from our position of not knowing much about monsters, there was no way we could pick out a proper answer.
So, to learn a bit more about this small monster, I brought up going outside the school for a walk.
And now, I was watching without emotion the fierce battle of the twins, who had volunteered to become my means of transportation.
