Correcting the Villainess of the Academy - Chapter 156

Chapter 156

Heaven’s Door (22)

***

“…Didn’t we agree to meet here?”

In the corner of an alley filled with orange fog.

Jin Yeseo looked around with a puzzled expression.

“We didn’t come to the wrong place, did we?”

“A13 Street… Yes, this is the right place.”

Lee Hyun muttered as he glanced at a sign rattling in the wind.

The head of the Security Bureau, who had boasted about mobilizing all forces to root out the insurgents, was nowhere to be seen. Not even a single ant seemed to be around.

“The meeting time was a long while ago…”

“Maybe he got scared and ran away?”

“No way… Even if that were the case, he’s still the head of the Security Bureau branch…”

Lee Hyun murmured in a cold voice, clearly displeased.

Jin Yeseo, hearing him, felt an involuntary chill run down her spine, and a dull ache formed in her lower abdomen.

“…Ugh.”

“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Jin Yeseo forced herself to appear nonchalant as she answered.

“More importantly, what should we do now? Should we call off the infiltration plan?”

“…No. That’s not an option. We’ve finally caught a lead. We can’t let this opportunity slip away.”

After a brief moment of thought, Lee Hyun spoke again.

“The only mage in this branch of the Security Bureau is the head himself. The rest are just regular officers. He probably enlisted their help to weed out the small fry, so there shouldn’t be a major issue.”

The clock in the square struck loudly, indicating 2 a.m.

Lee Hyun, hearing the chime, said, “Let’s go.”

“…Okay.”

The two of them once again traced the map and headed towards the wastewater treatment plant.

The orange fog, thick and impenetrable, scattered the light from the streetlamps. The industrial city’s mechanical noises clanked in the background. Even the wind howled violently, like the roar of a beast.

Wandering through the alley amidst all this, it felt as though they had stumbled into a maze.

“…Still, how is it possible that we haven’t seen a single person? It’s seriously eerie…”

Jin Yeseo muttered in a voice that was louder than necessary, trying to shake off the discomfort.

“We’re almost there. Once we get out of this alley, it’s a straight path from there…”

Lee Hyun said while checking the map.

Jin Yeseo’s questions were finally answered when they were about to exit the alley.

“Wait.”

“Whoa!”

Lee Hyun suddenly stopped and gestured for Jin Yeseo to halt.

Startled, Jin Yeseo scolded him.

“Why, why are you doing that all of a sudden?”

“…Look over there.”

Following Lee Hyun’s pointing finger, Jin Yeseo squinted and peered into the fog.

Her eyes soon widened in shock at what she saw.

“Uh…?”

A bizarre sight unfolded before them.

Through the fog, a line of people shuffled forward in single file. There were so many that the end of the line couldn’t be seen.

Their steps were sluggish, and their eyes were unfocused. They didn’t speak to one another, moving like ants, heading somewhere unknown.

Lee Hyun silently observed the procession. Even for him, it was a surreal and bewildering scene.

Then, he spotted a familiar face in the line.

The old man from the tavern they had visited on the first day.

He, too, with his vacant eyes, was trudging along like the others.

“That man…”

Jin Yeseo seemed to have recognized someone as well. It was one of the women who had cursed at Lee Hyun while pretending to be Jin Yeseo’s protector.

“Hey, what are you… Wait…!”

As Lee Hyun abruptly strode towards the procession, Jin Yeseo hurriedly followed him.

Lee Hyun grabbed one of the people in the line and turned them around by the shoulders.

“Excuse me.”

“…”

But there was no response. The man’s cloudy eyes didn’t even register Lee Hyun’s presence. None of the people in the line seemed to care about the disturbance.

In the end, Lee Hyun had no choice but to let him go. The man staggered back into the fog, disappearing from sight.

“…Tsk.”

Lee Hyun clicked his tongue lightly as he watched the shadow fade away.

“What the hell is going on…”

Jin Yeseo murmured as she followed behind him.

She stared at the eerie procession, lost in thought.

Then, as if something had occurred to her, she quickly turned to Lee Hyun.

“Hey. Come to think of it, the direction those people are heading…!”

“…Yeah.”

Lee Hyun nodded in agreement with Jin Yeseo’s words.

The people were heading in the exact direction of the wastewater treatment plant they had set as their destination.

“…We should blend in with the line and follow them.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Something is definitely happening in this city. We can’t just turn back after seeing this.”

Lee Hyun muttered as he watched the never-ending line of people.

Then, he suddenly turned and looked at Jin Yeseo.

“Before we go…”

“?”

Jin Yeseo tilted her head, wondering what he was thinking, but Lee Hyun silently closed the distance between them.

He stared intently at her face.

“Wh-what?”

“You should cover your face. With a hood or something.”

He suddenly said something out of the blue.

Jin Yeseo glared at him, annoyed that he was making her nervous for no reason.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“You stand out too much.”

“What? My disguise is perfect.”

Jin Yeseo retorted confidently. She had grown quite accustomed to walking around with her face smeared with graphite and her hair all tangled.

“Your nose is too high. Your eyelashes are too long and thick. Overall, you look too refined to pass as a commoner.”

But Lee Hyun shook his head immediately.

“Walking around the streets is one thing, but sneaking into somewhere? You’re not exactly suited for that.”

“What do you mean by that… Hey!”

Lee Hyun, not wanting to argue, grabbed the hood from the back of her neck and pulled it over her head, pressing it down to cover her face.

“Let’s go.”

“Hey, hey… Wait a minute…”

Snapping out of her daze, Jin Yeseo hurriedly followed behind him.

Something about her nose, her eyelashes, her eyes—she had heard those comments more times than she cared to remember. And she hated them.

They were the kind of things lowlifes would say when they tried to hit on her.

Naturally, she had reported all those jerks to the student council, and they had received the punishment they deserved.

But…

‘Why doesn’t it feel bad this time…?’

“…?”

Jin Yeseo tilted her head in confusion.

***

The wastewater treatment plant mentioned by the head of the Security Bureau was located in the rundown factory district on the outskirts of the city.

Through the gap in the rusted open gate, people continued to file in without end. The eerie part was that there wasn’t a single sound of conversation or any sign of life.

The thick fog that smothered the city thoroughly concealed this strange mass movement.

They passed by broken purification tanks, long out of service, where green sludge floated aimlessly. They continued down a worn staircase leading underground.

Soon, a sewer with no lights appeared before them. The stench was overwhelming, and the sound of water dripping from somewhere grated on their nerves.

“Eek…”

Jin Yeseo, who had been on edge the whole time, suddenly froze. Something with antennae and six legs, likely a bug, had brushed past her.

‘I’d rather fight demons than deal with this…’

Jin Yeseo swallowed her tears, trying to suppress the unpleasant sensation she had never experienced before.

Before they knew it, they had descended several flights of stairs.

Suddenly, a large space surrounded by black cloth appeared before them.

In the center was a high platform that resembled an altar, and faint lamps flickered around the room. The stench of rot and blood was even stronger here.

Lee Hyun, noticing something, surveyed the area.

Piles of bones, clearly human, were scattered everywhere, as if a predator had devoured its prey and left the remains behind. The sight stirred unpleasant thoughts.

But the most shocking thing was the sheer number of people gathered.

At least a thousand, perhaps more, sat in neat rows, completely still.

“…This is insane.”

Jin Yeseo muttered as she took in the scene.

“It looks like almost everyone from the First City is here.”

Lee Hyun and Jin Yeseo found seats among the crowd.

The people remained silent, not praying or speaking to one another.

“…There’s no doubt about it. With all these suspicious decorations… This must be the headquarters.”

Jin Yeseo glanced around, taking in the surroundings.

“The entire city has been completely taken over. How could something like this happen…”

“But this… They don’t look like fanatics. They’re too calm…”

– DONG~ DONG~ DONG~

Just as Lee Hyun was about to voice his doubts to Jin Yeseo, the distant sound of the clock tower’s bell reached their ears.

– Thud.

– Click… Click…

A sudden silence fell over the crowd.

Then, footsteps echoed.

From behind the black curtains, a woman appeared.

Lee Hyun immediately recognized her.

The woman who always wore a veil, dressed in drab, colorless clothes, avoiding sunlight.

She was accompanied by several attendants dressed similarly.

The woman ascended to the central platform, which resembled an altar.

Jin Yeseo whispered to Lee Hyun in a low voice.

“Hey. Could that woman be…”

“Yeah. That’s the one I met.”

Lee Hyun said, watching the woman and her attendants standing in a row on the platform.

“She’s not just a middleman. It looks like she’s the leader.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’ll catch her. If we can’t, we’ll kill her.”

“What? Look at the size of this crowd…! This isn’t something we can handle on our own…!”

Jin Yeseo shot a desperate look at Lee Hyun.

“An entire city next to the capital has been taken over. This is a Class 1 emergency. It’s as serious as the Jinryeong Incident…! We need to call in the military’s experts right away…!”

“We can’t leave now. We’d stand out too much.”

As they continued their conversation, the people around them suddenly clasped their hands together, like devout worshippers in prayer.

Lee Hyun and Jin Yeseo mimicked their movements, blending in.

Even as he did so, Lee Hyun scanned the surroundings.

The air was faintly shifting. If he retraced the path they had taken, it was more of a gentle slope upward rather than a descent.

That meant they weren’t too far from the surface.

If a situation arose, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to hold off the enemies while Jin Yeseo escaped to call for reinforcements.

“Hey, hey… That woman…!”

Just as Lee Hyun was organizing his thoughts, Jin Yeseo, who was sitting close to him, urgently whispered.

“I told you, it’s the woman we met yesterday…”

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”

Jin Yeseo’s voice trembled with shock.

“That woman… It’s her…!”

“Who?”

“The orphanage…! The nun from the House of Sisters…! The one we thought was dead…!”

“…What?”

Lee Hyun, hearing Jin Yeseo’s words, turned his gaze.

The young nun from the old photograph, the only one left in the burnt ruins, smiling brightly with the orphans.

Now, standing before them, the woman had removed her veil and was smiling the exact same smile as in the photo.

“…Today is a joyous day of harvest.”

End of Chapter