I climbed the tallest red pine on the mountain. From the treetop, I could see everything within the horizon. The thousand-mile eyes saw through all the dense trees and leaves. I could see a nameless cadet chasing after a wild boar, a second-year couple making out instead of hunting, Chae Nayun skillfully shooting her arrows, and Sven throwing pebbles by a creek.

Chae Nayun and Sven separated for their bet on who could hunt more wild animals. She focused on hunting while Sven continued to stare at the creek. 

Something strange happened. A wild leopard cat appeared from the opposite side of the creek. It was one of the most common animals. Sven didn’t even glance at it, but a tentacle shot out from his back and pierced its neck like a spear. He dragged the leopard cat towards him like a skewer.

It was Asmodeus’ power.

He continued hunting in that manner for an hour. Chae Nayun searched for wild animals while Sven killed any that came within a 300 meter range without lifting a finger. Finally, they joined up at the creek at their appointed time.

— A total of 6. Three wild boars, 1 leopard cat, and 2 rabbits.

Chae Nayun proudly declared.

— As you can see, I killed 8.

Sven smiled as he pointed to the wild animals next to him. Immediately, Chae Nayun's jaws dropped.

— Really?

Chae Nayun approached the pile of corpses and confirmed it.

— Wow, you weren’t kidding. How did you find 8?

Chae Nayun sat next to Sven as she ruffled her hair.

— You bought them from somewhere, didn’t you? How much did you pay?

She joked as she poked Sven’s arm. It looked like Chae Nayun was leading him on, but she probably did it thoughtlessly.

— So now you have to grant me a wish, right?

— Tsk, yeah. What do you want?

They had bet on a wish. I began to understand why Sven had lost control.

— Um…

— Yeah?

— …

Sven looked straight at Chae Nayun. Then he shook his head with a grin.

— No, it’s nothing.

— What is it? Tell me.

I took out my gun from stigma’s extradimensional storage. I could snipe from a kilometer away without a problem. Wheesh. Aether adhered to the gun and increased its performance.

— You see…

Why Sven went berserk made sense if he confessed and got rejected. Sven fell in love with Chae Nayun at the beginning of the school year and he contracted with Asmodeus, the Devil of Lust. A djinn with amplified emotions and obsession hardly showed restraint.

— I like you.

— … Huh?

Chae Nayun frowned at the sudden confession.

— What are you saying so suddenly?

— … You don’t like me?

— Of course I don’t. It’s only been 2 days since we first talked? You expect me to fall in love with you in 2 days? Well, maybe you did, but I didn’t.

Chae Nayun coldly stood up. Sven drooped his head. His body already began to transform as black magic power rose from his body.

I aimed at his head.

— Plus, I like men who are stronger than me.

— … Than you?

— You’re much weaker than me, so I don’t even see you as a man.

With that, she triggered the switch. Sven’s eyes turned blood red. He managed to endure it until now, but Sven was only an extra. This was his limit.

— … Really?

Sven stood up. Chae Nayun spoke without turning around to look.

— Yeah. So don’t contact me from now on. I’m sorry, but cutting off our relationship will be better than staying friends and giving you false hope.

Sven leaned towards Chae Nayun. I fired at his head, but hit his shoulder because of the distance and the fact that he moved.

Sven planned to jump on Chae Nayun, but lost his balance and headbutted her because of my shot.

— Uk!

Chae Nayun flew forward after being struck by Sven. However, she avoided injury with an agile forward roll. Then she quickly turned around and saw that Sven had half transformed into a djinn.

— You, you!

— …

Sven glared at Chae Nayun and sent his tentacles after her. I fired consecutively. One, two, three, four… I emptied the magazine. The mysterious support bewildered Chae Nayun, but she acted accordingly.

She jumped back to gain some distance before firing her bow. An arrow penetrated Sven’s shoulder, but he charged at her and grabbed her head.

— But I’m…

Then he slammed her to the ground while shouting.

— stronger than you!

Boom!

Sven mounted on top of Chae Nayun. She struggled and condensed magic power in her hand to form a dagger. However, Sven grabbed her wrist before she could make her move.

“Tsk.”

I couldn’t help her from this distance. Reinforced magic power covered Sven’s body. Ordinary bullets couldn’t penetrate this barrier, but I couldn’t use a light bullet either because Chae Nayun would get caught up in the explosion.

With no other choice, I jumped from tree to tree. I changed the Desert Eagle into its shotgun form. I had to close the distance and blow up his head, which was more vulnerable because of his incomplete transformation.

I quickly covered the 1 kilometer distance and smoothly landed to approach them.

“Uup, uup!”

Sven kept Chae Nayun alive because Asmodeus was the Devil of Lust and it was clear what its contracted djinn would want. I frowned in disgust at Sven licking Chae Nayun’s face and put the barrel next to his head. Sven shuddered at the coldness of the steel. His eyes rolled towards me, but I pulled the trigger immediately. The shotgun shell tore through his head and sent him flying with a scream.

“Kek, kek.”

“Thankfully, you’re alive.”

I looked down at Chae Nayun. Her face was wet with saliva and she was injured, but alive. Djinns of lust would always fool around and die in vain.

“Stand…”

A tentacle suddenly attacked me when I reached out to Chae Nayun. Aether instantly formed a shield and blocked the first strike, but Sven charged at me again with his tentacle. He struck aether’s shield away and grabbed my neck.

“Uuuk!”

It was an indescribable pain. I started losing oxygen and couldn’t breathe or talk. All I could do was struggle as my vision turned cloudy and I lost sense of my limbs. Everything felt numb, but I didn’t experience my life flashing before my eyes. I simply closed my eyes, unfamiliar with the sensation of death.

— Let go, you bastard!

Like a bolt of lightning, someone’s shout woke me from falling asleep. Chae Nayun appeared behind Sven and swung an incredibly long sword. It cleanly severed him in half from his shoulder to his waist.

“… Puhak.”

Sven fell in two as I gasped for air on the ground. This was the first time I felt so thankful for oxygen.

Haa… haa… haa…

After 3 big pants, I leaned against a tree trunk.

“Huu… Wow, what was that, a lightsaber?”

I spoke nonchalantly while pointing at the longsword in Chae Nayun’s hands. She had formed a sword purely out of magic power. The blade surged with magic power while the handle remained stable. I knew how difficult it was to achieve such perfect harmony. Even Kim Suho wouldn’t be able to do that. Only Chae Nayun could, as this was part of her true gift.

“… I don’t know.”

The sword in her hands disappeared. We stared at each other in silence. I realized how badly she was injured the more I looked at her. Her wounds still bled and her clothes were ripped to shreds, revealing her underwear. I handed her my coat, but Chae Nayun only stared.

“Take it.”

“… Are you okay?”

She asked a strange question instead of taking the coat.

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad.”

“What about you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Thud. Chae Nayun collapsed as soon as she replied.

“…”

She had used too much magic power. I turned her over to face the sky and covered her with my coat. Then I stared at where Sven used to be. He had disappeared without a trace. That was how djinns died. They belonged to their devil in death.

Chwaaa—

The trees somberly cried. Tomorrow, Germany would receive tragic news.

***

Sssss—

Chae Nayun opened her eyes at the sound of ruffling leaves and a chilly breeze. The sky had turned completely dark, but an intense pain swept through her head before she could question where she was. She clutched her head until the pain subsided.

“Haa.”

Once the pain died down, Chae Nayun collected her breath while lying on the ground. Only then did she remember what happened.

“Was it a dream?”

Everything she experienced felt so distant. She naturally wondered if it was all a dream, but her wounds and the coat covering her meant it was real.

“Oh, right.”

Chae Nayun raised her upper body. Then she discovered the silhouette of a man and shouted in surprise.

“Ah! Oh god, you scared me!”

“You’re up.”

Kim Hajin stared at his smartwatch while leaning against a tree. Again. He was always there every time something happened. She had escaped death 3 times thanks to him.

“What time is it?”

“10 at night.”

“What? It’s curfew soon.”

Chae Nayun tried to get up, but she couldn’t feel her legs. She wondered what was going on and tried again. However, her legs wouldn’t budge no matter how many times she tried. An indescribable terror swept over her and she began to panic.

“W-What, m-m-my legs, what’s w-wrong with m-my…”

“Magic power exhaustion. Is it your first time?”

“Huh? Magic power exhaustion?”

Magic power exhaustion. Chae Nayun had heard about it. It was a state in which a person had utterly exhausted their magic power. Their magic power recovery rate would decrease drastically and the person would be bedridden for at least 2 days.

“Yep.”

Kim Hajin approached Chae Nayun and kneeled with his back facing towards her. Chae Nayun furrowed her brows at this incomprehensible action.

“What?”

“Get on. You can’t walk.”

“Do I look crazy?”

“Then what, you want to stay here forever?”

His look of pity felt humiliating, but she didn’t have a choice. It would be difficult without his help. Chae Nayun wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up.

“I’m going.”

“… Yeah.”

Kim Hajin slowly descended the mountain.

Chae Nayun fell in thought as she gazed at the scenery. Sven was a djinn. Then was he the culprit behind the disappearances? Djinns were once humans, so since when was Sven a djinn? And where did Kim Hajin pop out from? Don’t tell me, was he constantly following me?

This guy… Does he really like me?

Chae Nayun needed more time to process everything that happened today.