HIDDEN CARD: Hidden Card
ESPER: Psychic [14]
When she returned after laboriously finishing her chores, the sun had already set and the moon was rising. Since class had already ended, Yeoju headed straight to her room without saying a word.
Unlike the dormitory interiors of other students, Yeoju's room had a rather chilly atmosphere. It was a white space, complete with a bed and a dresser that held only the bare minimum of clothing.
This wasn't intentionally arranged. Occasionally, when the heroine lost control of her abilities, nearby objects would be absorbed and disappear one by one, resulting in this.
김여주
"……Ugh."
The female protagonist, who had entered the room, immediately closed the door and collapsed to the floor, clutching her right arm. What she had been trying to hide in public burst out like a flood.
Cold sweat drenched my entire body, and a surge of power surged from my right shoulder to my fingertips, pressing down on me. Thump. Thump. Perhaps because my five senses were on full alert, my heartbeat was unusually loud.
Passus–
She gasped for breath and tried to control the waves, but she was a step too late. The heroine's power spread wildly throughout her surroundings, completely emptying the space where her bed had once been.
Fortunately, I was able to recover my powers, even if it was a little late. The wooden shavings from the bed remained on the floor, allowing me to realize that the bed had been there until just a moment ago.
The heroine gritted her teeth and crawled to the chest of drawers. Paying no attention to whether it contained clothes or anything else, she simply rummaged through them, searching for a single knife at the very back.
김여주
"Haa…. Haa…."
Swish–!!
김여주
“…Ugh!”
The heroine, who took out a sword that looked like it belonged in the Joseon Dynasty from its scabbard, grabbed it with her left hand without a moment's hesitation and turned the blade, cutting her right arm.
The length and angle were precisely determined, and the cut didn't leave a deep wound, but blood splattered, staining the floor crimson. With a groan of pain, the heroine dropped the knife and leaned back against the wall, gasping for breath.
With all my nerves focused on my right arm, the power no longer spread. The arm, once so aching from the pressure of the absorption power that it felt like it was about to burst, now felt nothing but a bitter agony.
김여주
"ha……."
I sighed in relief at the fact that I hadn't harmed anyone else. Ironically, the sight of the empty room caught my eye before the scar on my right arm.
김여주
“…I guess I’ll have to sleep on the floor from today.”
Now, all that remained was a dresser for clothes. The room, already too large for a single person, had become even larger. Yeoju stared blankly at the sunset streaming into the room through the window.
The moment when Yeoju's memories began was also a sunset. At the time, Yeoju had just turned six and was celebrating her birthday. Her father insisted that birthdays should be celebrated with friends and family, so she was planning to invite her village friends to her birthday party.
김여주
"Hey guys! It's my birthday today! I heard that birthdays are celebrated at home with friends and family... Do you want to come over and eat something delicious?"
"No! Do you like your birthday? It's the day your mother died!"
"Well, he killed her himself, so he has nothing to say! Let's go, kids! Our mom and dad told us not to play with Kim Yeo-ju!"
At that time, the female protagonist was more saddened by the fact that her friends did not celebrate her birthday than by the fact that her birthday was the same day her mother died.
So, he hated his mother, who was no longer in this world, for no reason. He didn't even know why the villagers called him "the son who ate his mother."
One day, Yeoju was asked by her father to bring her grandfather home. Since Yeoju was born, her grandfather had been drinking at the bar every single day without fail, a fact known to everyone in the village.
Knowing her grandfather wasn't home, Yeo-ju headed to the bar he frequented. There, she found him drunk and talking about Yeo-ju and her mother.
"I still can't forget that day!! Hehe, that devil bitch came out after devouring my daughter... How could I forget!!! Hehe!"
"Oh my, the kid can hear everything!! Stop being drunk and go, go!!"
Knowing that the female lead had arrived, the bar owner tried to stop the old man, but the old man didn't even think about giving in and instead raised his voice even louder.
"That devilish bitch!!! If it weren't for that bitch, my daughter would be alive!!! I saw it clearly!!! That bitch... That bitch absorbed my daughter's body... My daughter...."
김여주
"……."
"My daughter didn't even have a body left!!!!!!!"
"Hey, hey, hey lady!!!"
She couldn't hear the end of her grandfather's words. As she ran out of the bar, she heard a voice calling her name from behind, but she wiped away the tears that were welling up in her eyes and ran straight home.
"Devil bitch. Mother-eating bastard." I didn't know why I was being called that, and I wasn't old enough to fully grasp the meaning of the insults. But even at the age of six, I understood what I was hearing.
It was then that the heroine realized that she had been born by absorbing her mother's body.
I returned home without a plan, but my father was waiting for me at the house I'd escaped from. He must have known.
"Hey, my dear, where's your grandfather? He said he's not coming?"
김여주
"…dad."
"Hey, lady, why are you crying? Did you fall?"
김여주
"Oh, oh, dad... I ate mom...? Ugh..."
“Huh? What does that mean? Who said that?”
김여주
“Ha, Grandpa… He said that because he ate my mother before I was born… There are no corpses in this world….”
“…Don’t cry. It’s not like that. Don’t pay attention to what your grandfather says or what the villagers say. Okay? Don’t cry, heroine.”
김여주
"Lies!!!!!!! That's right!!!!! Oh no... It's true that I... I ate my mom!!!!"
My father lied. The fact that my father lied hit me harder than the fact that my mother died because of the female protagonist.
The female protagonist burst into tears. Her father tried to approach her to comfort her, but the closer he got, the more he felt a strong pull on his body, making it difficult for him to move.
The one who was hurt by him was the female protagonist. Her expression sank. "Oh, now my father hates me too. He no longer thinks of me as his daughter. He must think of me as a devil, just like the villagers."
김여주
“…I don’t need it.”
“…Hey lady!!!!”
김여주
“Everything…everything disappears.”
It was just… a tantrum. Even when I said that, Dad would hug me and comfort me. He would wipe my tears, telling me it wasn't like that. He would stroke my hair and tell me that Mom loved me.
Yeah, it was just a simple complaint… .
Paat–
In the blink of an eye, in the blink of an eye, the center of the town disappeared.
김여주
"Ah... Dad...?"
The father standing before her eyes, the house, the neighbors, and their homes all vanished. The ground caved in, forming a circle around where the heroine had stood.
It was as if the land itself had vanished. Not even a trace remained. I couldn't hear my father's voice. The familiar interior of the house was nowhere to be seen.
In the distance, I saw an old man walking home, drunk. He seemed to have just emerged from a bar, carrying a bottle of liquor in one hand and his wallet in the other.
Even though he was drunk, my grandfather seemed to find this quiet situation strange. He put down the bottle he was holding and rubbed his eyes. My eyes met his again.
“Ah… the devil….”
김여주
“Grandpa… ah, Dad….”
"You devil!!!!!! You devil!!!!! Die now!!! You devil!!!!"
The grandfather ran to the female protagonist, shouting, and the villagers who heard his voice began to flock here one by one.
The center of the village disappeared silently, and the female protagonist who was there. Anyone who saw it would have thought it was the female protagonist's actions.
Some of the villagers stepped into the hollow ground, their faces frozen, while others brought farming tools from their homes and rushed to attack the female protagonist.
"You ate your mom and now you're eating your dad?! You devil!!!!"
With so many people trying to attack her, the heroine, feeling threatened, had no choice but to run. She ran, and ran, and ran again.
Walking aimlessly without a set destination proved more arduous than expected. It was especially so for Yeoju, who had nowhere to return to.
Sadly, before she felt the grief of losing her father, she felt hunger first. It was an instinct to survive. As she wandered around in search of food, Yeoju met that man.
"Hello, kid. You're… Kim Yeo-ju, right?"
김여주
"…who……."
"My name is Cha Hae-jun. I came to pick you up from the center."
김여주
“…Me? Why….”
"You're an absorption esper."
Even if I didn't understand what Cha Hae-jun was saying at that time, I should never have held his hand.
It didn't take long for me to realize that the hand extended to me as I struggled to escape hell was meant to guide me into yet another hell.
The female protagonist is not yet in complete control of her abilities. In the previous episodes, the female protagonist was portrayed as a completely unique character because it included BTS's perspective, but in reality, the female protagonist is still in an "unstable state."
The heroine is best at controlling her powers when she maintains her rationality. Sometimes, if she loses her rationality and indulges only in negative emotions, her powers slip out of her hands.
Today, I only covered the heroine's past. It's such an important part, I couldn't skip it! There's also a lot of plot twists, so I hope you enjoy the next episode even more. 🙏🏻
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