Above Your Head
A second-year high school student who looks ordinary but is not ordinary.
He had a secret he couldn’t tell anyone…
And it was that he was able to see the ‘Affiliation’ and ‘State’ above the heads of the people.
Is this world where people’s titles are visible real?
It was already tough as it was, but he keeps getting entangled with his ability and extraterrestrial beings!
Today, the boy dreams of peace.
…Although it will be hard.
Prologue – A Dangerous Meeting
Ever since I was young, I knew I was not like any other ordinary person.
“Noona, you were dumped right?”
“Uh, uh, uh, how did you know? I haven’t told anyone!!”
“It’s written on your face~~”
That was obviously a lie. To be exact, it wasn’t written on her face but ‘above her head.’
“Wow, that uniform looks nice. Which school is that?”
“North-one High School.”
“Huh? Where is it?”
“I have no idea.”
“But you recognized their school uniform.”
“I saw it once during a school field trip.”
Of course, this was yet another lie. That was the first time I had seen that uniform. On top of that, I had never heard of that school either, and the more so I wouldn’t know of its location. However, the moment I laid my eyes on the student, I knew their ‘Affiliation.’ The story of my first meeting with that student was irrelevant.
“Leaf ranked first on the charts again this time.”
“Of course! Ah, Leaf is so pretty. Her singing is superb, and she has such a svelte figure!”
“By the way, I heard that all personal details of Leaf are sworn to secrecy. Is that true?”
It seemed like they were aiming for the mysterious concept. After all, her family had nothing to hide.
“Yeah, no one has any inkling of her origins or her family. Even the manager claimed that he doesn’t know Leaf’s real name.”
“Now I’m curious what Leaf’s real name might be.”
“Well… Since it’s Leaf, I’m sure she must have a pretty name…”
“Choi Bae-dal.”
“Huh?”
Looking at those inquisitive eyes filled with confusion, I spoke once again, “Choi Bae-dal.”
“Yeah, what about that person?”
“Nothing. I just suddenly recalled a movie I watched before.”
Meaningless mumbling.
It was none of my business whether the real name of that girl, was it Leaf or Leaflet, was Choi Bae-dal or Choi Hong-man[1]. The important thing was, whether it was on TV or anywhere else, I was able to see the real names of the opposite parties as soon as I saw their faces…
—————
Yes. I wasn’t like every other normal person. I had an ability which others didn’t. Of course, it wasn’t as if I was a capable man of great ability but one thing I knew for sure was that it was definitely an unique ability. When did I first find out that I had this ability? Was it when I was in second grade in middle school?
“Stop blocking the road and get out of the way!”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Without giving much response to that sharp voice, I moved out of the way. I didn’t retort with statements such as “Why are you picking a fight when the road is wide?”
The girl was on her period. Ah. Of course, I didn’t mean it as a metaphor. She was really having her period. The question was, how did I know? It was written above her head.
Yeongwol High School. Grade 2 – Class 3.
On her period, Jo Mi-young.
Really. That was what was written. But of course, it was special text that could only be seen by me and no one else.
“So when exactly did I start seeing such text? I think I recalled seeing it when I was much younger.”
Have you ever played RPG games? No, I don’t have to use RPG games as an example.
In most online games, characters had their ID (Identification number: An identifier assigned to a user by the computer in a network shared by numerous users.) [2] written above their head. It was a game-specific mechanism that distinguished similar looking avatars to represent an unique user.
Yes, this superpower I had (It’s quite ambiguous if it should be called a superpower, but anyway) allowed me to see their names above their heads. No, well, to be precise, it allowed me to see not just their names. Their ‘Affiliation’ and the ‘Condition’ they are in were also written above their heads.
The man who just walked past me, the words above his head read ‘Stayed up all night playing games, Lee Chun-kyung’. The woman behind him, the words above her head read ‘In love, Moon Young-Ju’. And, the words on the head of the man who just ran past them read ‘Will still be late no matter how fast he runs, Jeon Dae-il’.
“It’s really interesting no matter how many times I have seen it.”
Those words which were written before their names, I refer to them as ‘Title’. Titles were numerous and would change with every passing moment. It was usually affected by the person’s current situation or state of mind. Because of this, many had often told me that I was quick-witted. They also said that I was good at memorizing names. Even though I was just reading what their titles said from time to time.
“What a joke of an ability.”
Yeah, wasn’t this ability really ridiculous? Calling it a superpower or a spiritual ability would be borderlining it. If the ability allowed me to create fireworks or see spirits just by thinking about it, I would have been able to guess what I could do with it; but otherwise, it was hard to guess what exactly was the purpose of my ability, much less how it worked.
Not that it didn’t help me in my daily life, and I don’t have any complaints about my ability either, but still…
“Excuse me.”
A sudden tiny whisper brought my running thoughts back in. The owner had called out apprehensively, perhaps fearful that I would be startled.
I turned without much thought, “Are you calling me?”
“Yes.”
To be honest, I was slightly surprised by the appearance of the girl who replied to me modestly. She was a girl in her late teens. Her blue hair looked as though they were made from strands of seawater. Her eyes were the same matching blue color. The pretty girl stood there. She was so pretty that if she were to stand still on the streets of Myeong-dong, she would likely receive more than 100 talent-casting offers in an hour.
“What’s the matter?” I almost stuttered but I managed to grab a hold of myself.
Woah, being pretty was an incredible weapon in itself. She was able to get me so flustered without making any out of the norm facial expressions or doing anything unusual. But it was something else that really got me flustered, no, shocked me.
“…Huh?”
Honestly, this wasn’t the first time I had seen a peculiar title. Yes, it had been ten years since I started seeing Korean characters on people’s heads. I had seen many people and I had seen all sorts of titles.
Human Slayer.
It meant “murderer”. No matter how I looked at it, I could only interpret it that way.
And bewilderingly enough, that title belonged to the most beautiful girl in the class next door, Lee Kyung-eun. She was an extraordinary beauty, her grades were among the top 10% of the entire school and she even had a pleasant personality. On top of that, she was the sole child of a rich household and was hence well loved by many. And that was her title.
Because of that, I tried as hard as I could to not bump into her or even be in her vicinity. Undeniably, she was a beautiful girl, but I don’t exactly enjoy adventures or thrill.
Boss of Prestige.
I had also seen such a title. If I were to interpret it, it would be something like a prestigious boss? Something along that line. The problem was that I had heard of an organization that went by the name, Prestige.
Wasn’t it said that there were dark forces in the country that even our national government wouldn’t dare to casually mess with? But ridiculously, the person with that title was a classmate of mine. I thought he was a model student with a quiet personality but he was the boss of a huge dark force.
I had seen plenty of ‘Titles’ so far. Innumerable titles with no consistency, and each title sounded bizarre. But even so… I had never seen a title that was wrong.
If someone had the title ‘Very unlucky today’, that person would definitely be pitifully unlucky even if one was to look at their situation objectively.
—————-
I’m saying this once again, but I detest adventures or thrills. I really, really love peace.
I was the type of person who felt that living the same mundane life every day was precious and at the same time, was grateful for that. Hence, I didn’t have the least bit of interest in dangerous things or people. And now, I stared at the really startling cute little girl standing before me.
She was pretty but not the type that I would want to get close to. But of course, being a man myself, how could I bring myself to hate beauties? But if you were to ask of my beauty standards, there would be plenty of room for dispute. For someone like me who loves peace, meeting an ambitious woman, who also created trouble everywhere she went, would definitely be a turn off.
However, her beauty was secondary. In fact, there was something about her that was a larger and more serious push factor.
“What’s wrong?”
“No, nothing. But if you don’t mind, may I know why you called me? I’m a little busy.”
Obviously, I was not busy.
In any case, she was indeed a beauty and I wanted to be nice to her. But I came to my senses the moment I saw the title floating above her head. Because her title was more ridiculous and dangerous than anything I had seen so far.
This was what was written above her head.
Detro Galaxy Union, Fourth Corps, First Advance Squad
Extraterrestrial Being, Celestia
———————
I’m saying this again, just in case, but I’ve never seen a wrong title before.
“Oh, I’m sorry for taking up your time. I just wanted to ask you a question.”
“Ask me?”
“Yes. Ah, pardon me.”
As she said that, she approached me and extended her two slim arms and placed them around my neck, pulling me in. It wasn’t for any strange purpose, but to whisper in my ear. But even so, it was enough for me to fall head over heels. Men around us started to send piercing gazes. I could smell a faint sweet mint fragrance.
“I’m very sorry to ask you this during our first meeting…”
She asked softly, “Are you an Earthling?”
“…What?”
An evening that made me come to my senses completely. That was my first meeting with her.
Chapter 1 – I Am Kwan Dae-ha (1)
Do you know the movie The Matrix?
Neo, the protagonist of The Matrix, was on the search for Morpheus, the legendary hacker. Upon meeting a mysterious force, he realized that the world he was living in wasn’t real and was actually a virtual reality created by machines.
A fake world created to control and rule over humans.
In fact, The Matrix is just one of many examples that everyone would have pondered over at least once.
Is this world real?
Do ‘I’ really exist?
Was it possible that the world was the result of someone’s program and our memories part of a scenario?
Is there any guarantee that the world was not created just a day, an hour, or even three seconds ago?
Wasn’t it under such doubts that philosopher R. Descartes arrived at the first principle of philosophy – ‘I think, therefore I am’?
——————
Of course, questions like these have no meaning. There will be no end to it if you start to doubt reality.
If you doubt the world in itself, any evidence or theories derived from within it would therefore be meaningless as well.
On the other hand, if there are no other external factors beyond this world, there is nothing that could prove these suspicions, so this idea is merely a fallacy.
Therefore, it is alright to have such thoughts at least once, but they will swiftly fade away.
Survival in this world was already tough enough without worrying over such unwholesome conspiracy theories.
But regardless…
“Is this world truly real?”
I had always been giving serious thought to this. This concern started when I was in middle school and had always been at the back of my mind up till now when I entered my second year in high school.
Casanova Bae Jae-seok, Grades deteriorated, Kim Wan-rae, Hasn’t slept a wink, Lee Hyung-wook, Struggling with a hangover, Park Jung-shik…
All sorts of titles were written on the heads of the people passing by outside the window.
This is my ability.
I can figure out their Affiliation, characteristics, current state and name just by looking at them.
The important thing is that this is all there is to it.
“This is such a peaceful superpower.”
I don’t have the ability to fly around using psychokinesis, create flames or teleport.
My ability is thoroughly non-combative. In addition, I know nothing about the principle or theory behind this ability at all.
I mean, leaving all of that aside, isn’t this a strange ability?
I’m not joking; it’s to the point where I don’t think it is wrong for me to doubt reality every single day.
I have done a lot of research on anything and everything I could find on this ability that I’ve had since I was young.
If I was able to create a spark, I would have thought I was a pyrokineticist. If I could draw out energy from my dantian to strengthen my body, I would have assumed that I had cultivated internal energy.
But what is this? Seeing words above people’s heads?
From any point of view, this was an ability that was incomprehensible.
In the end, the only explanation left was…
“This world is fake.”
It’s lucky that I didn’t suffer from depression. If I weren’t a naturally optimistic and self-centered person, I would have become quite despondent.
“Huh?”
As I looked out of the window, I suddenly saw a bag of trash leaning against the wall. It wasn’t the standard plastic bag, neither was the contents sorted for recycling; everything was just bundled together and thrown there.
Ah, damn. Who was this inconsiderate person? It was even written on the wall that rubbish shouldn’t be thrown here and they still left it right under the sign!
I stared at the trash bag and the words Casually discarded, Trash were written above it.
“It’s not as if I am going to impose any disciplinary action on the person… but let’s find out who threw it.”
Concentrate.
Yes, not only can I see titles on people’s head, I can also see them above animals, bugs, and even inanimate objects.
This wasn’t the case since the very beginning. Initially, I could only see the titles above people’s heads.
However, it was a pity to let such a strange ability just rot away, so after some training and practice, I could see titles on everything excluding minute things like dust or grains of sand.
I concentrated as I stared at the title Casually discarded, Trash and initiated ‘Classification’.
It was a simple process. It’s similar to opening a folder on a computer. You just have to further specify the simple title, just like how you open the folder Animal, followed by its subfolder Birds and then open the subfolder Goose.
“Disposed from Daehyun Apartments, trash… that’s too vague. A little more…”
Classify.
Further Specification.
There is a wide selection of choices. The title can be further classified by the time, place, subject and more.
If I spent more time, I could know who threw the trash, when it was thrown and the reason behind the action (Of course, you don’t really need a grand reason to throw trash).
Well, I wasn’t curious to that extent right now, anyway.
Thrown by Mrs. Shim Moon-soon of Daehyun Apartments, Trash
“Ah, it’s that auntie again.”
And that was my findings.
The title was much longer than what could usually be seen as I had channeled my mental energy for specification.
Well, the longer you want a title to be, the longer it will be. I tried once as an experiment and the longest title I got was three lines.
“Well, it’s not as if I will do anything about it.”
I just probed further into it because I was bored. However, I was slightly bitter that the findings were as expected.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter because it isn’t our wall. It just bothered me somewhat that I could see it from the window.
“I should head to school.”
I shook my head to clear it of the complicated thoughts and changed my clothes.
I should hurry. Though it’s only 6 A.M., considering that we have Zero Period and the time it would take for me to reach school, I didn’t have time to waste.
Click.
I opened the wardrobe and took out a black uniform.
Hmm… I have a lot to complain about our school but there was just one thing I like – the school uniform design. In fact, the cool school uniform was one of the reasons why I applied to this school.
“Ah, Dae-ha, you are awake?”
“Yes, Dad. Where’s Hyung?”
“He’s coming down.”
My dad replied calmly; he had an apron hung around his neck.
The kitchen was filled with an appetizing aroma that not even a person who had just woken up and had no appetite could resist wanting to eat.
“What did you make?”
“Yuxiang Rou Si(鱼香肉丝). Also known as Yuxiang Shredded Pork.”
“You have been cooking French cuisine for a month and now you are switching to Chinese cuisine?”
“I have nothing else to make besides bizarre dishes. But Chinese cuisine is fine as well. There are many varieties and the difficulty is just right.”
Accompanying his words, the sliced pork in the dish he served was thinner than thread.
I mean, how in the world are you supposed to slice the pork meat to achieve that?
It’s a given that Yuxiang Shredded Pork is a dish where the meat is sliced thin and then stir fried. However, there are not many in the world who can cut the meat that thinly.
Theoretically speaking, the meat had to be cut as thin as a thread, but that was only in theory. It is difficult to achieve that in application.
At best, some places could slice the meat to be the thickness of a finger, so what was this? And it was even done with a knife!
“Did you sleep well?”
My brother yelled energetically and entered the kitchen. With a considerably short height of 171cm and a kind looking countenance, he looked cute (even though he’s my elder brother). He received the bowl of rice from Dad and placed it on the table.
“Why are you in such high spirits despite having just woken up?”
“I can only enjoy myself! Isn’t this world such a fun and happy place? Hahaha!”
“What?”
This is absurd. Why is this human like this?
But I didn’t want to shoot him down when he seemed so happy, so I started eating my food obediently.
“Thanks for the meal.”
“Alright. But these are experimental dishes so give me some feedback.”
“I’m sorry but I have never eaten any food you’ve made that was bad.”
Even the head chef of a 7-star hotel would not be able to match up to my father’s cooking skills.
It wasn’t a sentimental comment like “My dad’s cooking is the best!” or anything of the sort, but I really wonder if there was any dude on Earth who cooks better than this human.
In fact, there was a chef who ate my dad’s food and followed him for about a month, asking him to take him in as a disciple.
“Oh man, I won’t improve if you say such things.”
“How much more do you want to improve?”
“I’m not really saying that I want to improve. I’m just treating this as a hobby.”
“That’s a statement that killed chefs all over the world twice.”
“Haha.”
The man who shrugged his shoulders before me was my father.
In Korean, it’s 아버지 , and in Japanese, おとうさん.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Nothing.”
He is 36 this year. I’m 18 years old so that dude had me when he was exactly my current age.
In fact, just this fast-tracked event was enough of a shock, but what’s more frightening is that my father looks as though he is in his mid-20s or at most late 20s.
Frankly speaking, he looked more like my brother than my father.
What does he look like? There are already three official fan clubs of this human in my school. (I don’t know how many unofficial fan clubs there are.)
Even when they know that my father is a married man! They even know that I’m his son!!!
It’s not just that.
In order to make this human a singer or an actor, the number of talent scouts who had come looking had already surpassed three digits.
He has a neat bob cut (In fact, there are few in this world that can pull off such a hairstyle)[4], manly facial features, calm eyes and a muscular body.
Also, he has that unique Aura that envelopes his entire body.
My father had such charisma that just by standing there without saying anything, he could easily seize the attention of those within a 30 meters radius.
“So what are you looking at?”
“Nothing, really. Just thinking that you are handsome.”
“Haha. Thank you, but it’s useless. It’s not as if there’s anyone to look at me.”
‘There are already many people doing so…!!’
Though it might be hard to believe, this man had learned as many as 17 languages as a ‘hobby’ (and there’s a high chance that it has already surpassed 17). And whenever he had time, NASA would come to him seeking advice on space physics.
He’s even learned all sorts of martial arts and attained such expert mastery in all of them that even normal people with a machine gun wouldn’t stand a chance against him. Also, the book he published under a pseudonym was a bestseller worldwide and had great influence.
If he entered the stock market with a hundred thousand won, he could roll it into a hundred million won within a month (Luckily, he doesn’t do it frequently as he said that it’s gambling with money). On my 15th birthday, he created a game all by himself and gave it to me as my present (but the quality was amazing. He even self-made the graphics and audio. As expected of him.)
—————–
Yeap. This fraudulent character is my father.
Seemingly having rolled a million dice that decided his stats and getting 6’s every time, this man is currently ‘jobless.’ In simple terms, he’s unemployed.
But my father’s situation was totally different from an average unemployed person.
He lived a leisurely and carefree life even though all the conglomerates and national organizations had done everything they could to have him join them.
“Thanks for the meal! Father’s cooking is always the best!”
“Right, thanks. Ah, I prepared your lunch boxes and they are by the front door. Don’t forget to take them.”
“Got it~!”
As per what I mentioned before, this brother of mine is always so energetic. In an instant, he had finished his meal, took his backpack and left his seat. He has a peaceful countenance, and the attitude to match.
However, the title he held was far from ‘peaceful’.
Blue Dragon Team
Ghost Blade, Kwan Yeong-Min
What the hell is this nonsense? Blue Dragon Team? And what Ghost Blade?
I have never seen my brother use a knife. He has never even grabbed a kitchen knife because he doesn’t cook. So what’s with this wuxia-sounding title, Ghost Blade?
Such bizarre titles are rare, considering all the titles I have seen.
“Thanks for the food too.”
“Okay. Have a nice day at school.”
All of a sudden, I saw my father’s face as he replied in a soft voice while taking a book out from the bookshelf.
“What now?”
“… Nothing. I’m heading to school now.”
“We are leaving now!”
As I opened the door with my brother and exited, I thought, “Right, if this dude’s title is considered strange, then that man’s title doesn’t fall short either.”
Father’s title is also unique; it’s unlike anyone else.
And that title is…
“Hmph, yes, so he’s good at everything, huh?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“…?”
I overtook my brother with a perplexed look on his face and headed towards school.
Though it wasn’t considered late, I would have to hurry up since I’m on duty today.
Chapter 2 – I Am Kwan Dae-ha (2)
There are three people in my family – my father, elder brother and me.
We were supposed to have a mother, but I was told that she passed away shortly after giving birth to me when she was still a high school student.
Naturally, both my paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather opposed my birth. It was inevitable. How many parents, knowing that their daughter who was still studying in high school got pregnant, would say, “Oh! So I will get to see my grandchild?”
I was slightly sad that they opposed my birth, but I could understand why.
My mother was already terminally ill before she got pregnant with me.
I can’t remember exactly the name of the disease but I guess her life was already a ticking bomb then.
Hence, she persuaded her parents by saying that she wanted to leave behind proof of her existence before her death.
Naturally, she had to persuade my paternal grandparents as well.
This might sound somewhat harsh but it’s a fact that my mother was irresponsible to say that she wanted to have a baby before she died.
Even if one were to have children at a slightly younger age, it wouldn’t be a huge issue if they could raise the child.
But if she was going to just give birth and then die, what would become of my father who was only a high school student then?
A man being labelled as a “high school student with a child” has a really bleak future.
Surprisingly, my grandparents agreed to it without a hitch.
Some might think that it’s because they are easygoing, but I still think it’s because they already knew about ‘it’.
I’m talking about none other than my father.
Trying to impede my father’s future with a mere label like married man with a kid was close to impossible.
Having raised my father up, my grandparents knew that very well. Those with bright futures are often those who were better than their peers when they were young.
I’m not joking. My grandparents often said this pet phrase of theirs to me, “With you around, he won’t be able to do something like conquering the world.”
Anyway, after my father got permission from both families, he surprisingly held a wedding.
With the blessing from both sides, my father and mother officially got married.
At that time, everyone already knew about my mother’s terminal illness, so it was a gloomy atmosphere at the wedding. However, my father didn’t care about that and went through the wedding, and they even went for their honeymoon trip.
And what was even scarier was that he settled all the incurred expenses by himself!
I heard that my father wasn’t from a rich family and he saved all that money by working part-time during his free time. Is it even possible for a student to earn beyond thousands of won by working as a part-timer?
Well, but anyway, my mother passed away after that.
Soon after, my father dropped out of school, took the GED test to earn his high school graduation certificate and then sat for Suneung.
He scored full marks in all subjects.
Yes. Full marks. The score given for not getting a single question wrong.
Shortly after, my father left for America with me in his arms, ignoring the countless universities that invited him to enroll with them.
Counting the time, was it about four years?
The work my father did during that period wasn’t made public, so even I have no idea what it was. However, I’m sure it must have been amazing.
Why am I so sure?
Others might not believe this but I had once conversed with the president of the United States on the phone.
He spoke in Korean somewhat unnaturally.
–Excuse me, is your father around?
Ahh, my father…
“Hyung, is it because I’m a Chil-sak Child and that’s why I am lacking so much compared to Dad?”
“Huh? Who told you that?
“Everyone around me except for you and Dad.”
Yes, I am a Chil-sak Child. Well, not exactly Chil-sak as I was born after almost half a year.
This could be the reason why my body constitution has been weak since I was young and my father had to always take care of me.
“Erm, there would be no end to getting beaten down if you were to compare yourself with Dad. You are smart and good looking.”
“Argh, I will only feel ashamed of myself if you phrase it like that.”
My brother is a handsome man.
Frankly speaking, there are few women who could surpass my brother’s beauty.
He boasts an unimaginable cuteness with his sharp jawline, milky white skin, and a height that was slightly short for a man.
Occasionally, I could also feel a dangerous vibe from him.
Honestly, I think this man should be on TV and not here, standing right next to me.
‘Now that I think about it, Hyung’s beauty left a deep impression from the very beginning.’
I’m only bringing this up now but my brother isn’t my father’s biological child.
Well, that’s pretty obvious actually given that my mother gave birth to me while she was still in high school and died shortly after.
She was already living the fast-tracked life by giving birth to me so how could I possibly have a biological elder brother?
I was five years old when my father adopted my brother.
One day, my father suddenly returned home with my brother in his arms.
Yes, I remember that day.
Hyung was cute like a doll but his gaze was lifeless, filled with grief and despair.
I heard that he witnessed his biological parents being killed by a serial murderer.
The serial murderer was a hot topic in society at that time but my father saved Hyung from him just as he was about to kill Hyung after killing his parents.
Though the serial murderer had been killed by my father, it was eventually treated as a case of self-defense. After all, he was a serial murderer.
Even if my brother was saved, his parents were killed right before his eyes.
There was no way that it wouldn’t become a childhood trauma.
Was it because of that? My brother was a quiet and taciturn child.
I’m sure he grew up to be this bright and energetic due to the unsparing affection(?) and love(?) from Dad and I.
“What upsetting thoughts are you having?”
“Ah, nothing really.”
My brother and I got on a bus and headed to school.
I could feel gazes from all around us, but I ignored it and entered the school building.
“Ah, freshmen.”
“Wow, how fresh. How fresh.”
“You are only a year older, so what nonsense are you talking about?”
Spring. The start of a new semester.
I am now in my junior year of high school while my brother is in the terrifying senior year.
My brother isn’t bad at studying, but he’s not as perfect as our father, so he will have a hard time at it.
Well, I’m not in a position to comment on others.
“Bye. Pay attention in class.”
“Okay.”
My elder brother, a senior, went up to the second floor while I, a junior, went up to the third floor.
Freshmen had to climb up to the fourth floor.
I find this system where the lower grades occupy the higher floors slightly absurd.
Well, perhaps it’s some kind of privilege for the upper grades where they could climb less stairs.
“Let’s see… Was it Class 7?”
There were numerous students walking in the hallway as the first lesson was about to start. They wore different expressions too.
Well, they wouldn’t be in a good mood since school break was over.
Even I…
“Ahh, I hate this. School breaks are really too short…”
I walked trudgingly, placed my shoes on the shoe rack, changed into slippers and headed towards the classroom.
Though we had taken the class placement test, everyone would have to check their individual results on the school’s homepage. So, we wouldn’t know who our classmates were.
That’s why I prayed.
Ahh, please don’t put that Boss of Prestige in our class…
Of course, that guy hadn’t done anything wrong.
He was a quiet guy and had never given me any trouble.
But even so, I could feel it clearly – his peculiar danger.
There’s absolutely nothing good that can come from being in his vicinity. The safe way is to stay as far away from him as possible.
“This is… ah.”
I stood in front of Class 7.
The door was closed. I could just enter but my body stiffened.
Wol-il High School
Human Slayer, Lee Kyung-eun
I halted when I saw that title through the door.
Though I have no x-ray vision, I can at least see titles and names on the other side of a wall.
“Huh? Huuh?”
Wait, that’s not the important thing right now.
Wh-why am I seeing that title on the other side of the door?
What? How? Huh? Why?
“No way.”
Right. No way. It can’t be.
Kyung-eun and I can’t possibly be in the same class. It shouldn’t happen.
That girl is a well-known beauty in our school, no, in this area. Also, she’s one of the Twin Roses of Won-il High School and a perfect idol with the label of being a daughter from a rich household, and her grades have always been within the top 10% of the entire school.
However, I have no interest in her title at all. All I want is peace.
If she was in my class instead of Dong-min, the Boss of Prestige, it would bring more trouble.
At least, that dude lived a quiet school life, didn’t he?
Swoosh.
“Ah.”
“That scared me. Why are you standing here instead of entering?”
Chapter 3 – I Am Kwan Dae-ha (3)
“That scared me. Why are you standing here instead of entering?”
A slim beauty stood before me. With porcelain white skin and a tall stature of 170cm, despite wearing a school uniform, her coquettishness and sexiness was not something that high schoolers would possess.
“Ah, sorry.”
I walked past her with an indifferent look.
Ahh, please tell me she just stopped by to see her friends. Please, please. Please walk away to another class, or even better, a class further down the hallway.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
I flinched at her words.
What? Why is she calling me?
I had many doubts at that moment, but I couldn’t stay still just like that so I turned around slowly.
Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. Everything will be over if she finds anything strange. You need to calm down.
I answered with the calmest expression possible, “Yes? What’s wrong?”
“No, I just want to say that we are finally in the same class. You are Dae-ha, right? I heard a lot about you.”
“Is that so? I hope it’s nothing bad.”
I answered calmly, but I was screaming inwardly.
Arghhhhhhh! So we really are in the same class! Damn it! Damn it! I should lie low like a dead rat this year!
“Huh? Where are you going?”
“Hmm? I’m going to my seat. Do you have anything else to say?”
“Ah, no. Not really. Got it.”
I left her with a wry look on her face and headed towards my seat. Our school pre-assigned seats for their students like how they would assign classes, so there was no need to fight for seats and one could just head to their designated seat. But the assigned seat could still be changed by informing the teacher.
“It has been a while.”
“Ah. Y-yeah. How have you been?”
I felt baffled at that calm voice.
Ahh, damn it. Kim Dong-min is in the same class too…
“No, not really good.”
“Huh? Did something bad happen?”
“Rather than bad, it’s troublesome… but I’ve already solved it.”
I was convinced that the hassle was certainly not something ordinary students would experience such as having your vacation homework delayed or having an argument with a friend. Perhaps, that hassle was on a larger scale and he would have solved it in an even more dramatic way. But of course, I was not interested in what that hassle was or how he solved it at all.
“Ah, hi.”
“Yes, hello.”
I sat on my seat. My partner was a pretty cute looking female student. Usually, I would have shouted ‘Lucky~!’, but I was feeling a little depressed now.
“Now~ This is the beginning of a new semester, but you all know this right? You have to prepare now if you don’t want to have a hard time when you reach your senior year. It’s different now that you’re juniors.”
A new teacher in his mid-thirties was talking about everything. In summary, he was telling us not to play but study. And he just kept rambling on.
“…So introduce yourselves one by one so we can match your names to your faces. You will be seeing each other for a year anyway. So, let’s start from the first student.”
“Eh, haha. How awkward. Um, nice to meet you. I am…”
Everyone stood up in turns and introduced themselves. I was number 27 so it was still quite a while. I glanced at the titles of my classmates. Fortunately, they all looked ordinary. I might really cry if there was anyone else besides Kyung-eun and Dong-min.
“Nice to meet you! I am Lee Kyung-eun. My hobby is watching TV and I don’t really have any specialities. Studying is important but let’s get along with each other~!”
Lee Kyung-eun, who was seated in front of me, smiled brightly.
Ah, damn it. She’s too close.
But as I sit behind her, I can clearly feel that she really had a nice body. For a woman, she was quite tall. Her slim legs and slender waist formed a beautiful S shape. In addition, her body felt more like a well-trained sword rather than having been born with it. Maybe that was why it looked solid? Or did she exercise diligently?
‘No matter how I look, she’s someone that can’t help being popular.’
With her amiable personality, captivating looks, and thorough self-care, it wouldn’t be surprising if she were to become a celebrity, since she looks like Little-Miss-Perfect. Nevertheless, there was one flaw that covers all her virtues.
Human Slayer.
Right, that title. That title was an enormous flaw. Frankly speaking, I wouldn’t believe she’d killed someone, but unfortunately, I had never seen a case where the titles were wrong, so I could only be careful.
‘Now that I think about it, I have never seen her with another title besides that one.’
I called it the permanent title. It would appear when someone achieved a special condition or had done a special action, their title would not change as often and they would be stuck with it. An example would be my father, and most recently my brother, whom I wasn’t sure what he had done to obtain the title Ghost Blade.
The same went for Dong-min, but it was hard to grasp the condition or state of someone that had a permanent title at a glance. In simple terms, if I see someone with the title ‘Itching to pick up a fight, Yoon Jung-min’ from afar, I would avoid him. But I couldn’t tell at a glance if he wanted to fight anyone because of the permanent title. I would have to go through the Classification process. If I wanted to know the current conditions or thoughts of people with permanent titles, I would have to concentrate for a moment as their titles do not change often.
“Hmm.”
I suddenly became curious about Kyung-eun’s current condition and began classification. It was simple. I was close enough to her, and even though her back was facing me, I could still see her title clearly, so I was able to use my ability easily.
‘Let’s see… I should check her latest status than her current mindset.’
I looked into ‘Status’, and selected ‘Present’. Of course, the whole process was only visible to me, and I felt comfortable doing it as I was quite used to it. And her title was manifested like this.
Won-il High School.
Got rid of someone this morning too, Lee Kyung Eun.
“…”
Oh, My, God.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look good. Are you feeling sick?”
“I’m okay. Thank you.”
I smiled at my cute partner who was kind enough to worry about me and then looked at my textbook calmly. However, my head was still in turmoil.
Got rid? Got rid of someone? Who did she get rid of? What does this morning ‘too’ mean?
“I’m Park Young-woong. Nice to meet…”
“If I have to name a hobby, it’s reading…”
“Hi~ I’m Min~”
The self-introductions continued as my head was in turmoil. The introductions of thirty people were diverse. There were some that introduced themselves in the usual way and some who tried to make others laugh with a gag. And next up was the guy on my left.
“I’m Kim Dong-min. I hope we get along well.”
He had quite a peculiar tone when speaking. Additionally, he always stayed in the corner and did not socialize with anyone. Anyone with a nasty temper would want to provoke him, but so far no one had bothered him.
No. There were a few who provoked him once or twice, but the day passed quietly somehow; the following day, the bullies and students who provoked him would appear with the titles ‘Nearly Dead’ or ‘Scared to Death’.
Drrr.
I stood up as it was my turn next. I felt burdened standing in front of a crowd, but I was quite used to getting attention because of my popular father.
I glanced around and said with the most solemn expression possible, “My surname is Kwan and my name is Dae-ha.”
So together…
“Kwandaeha-da.”
“Pft!”
“Hup!”
“Kek….!”
Laughter was heard everywhere.
Huhuhu. How was my lethal name joke? Of course, I felt like I was cutting my name, but it would be convenient in many ways to create a friendly image at the beginning of the semester. I love peace but I wasn’t the type to stay in a corner without interacting with anyone. Well, this word play was a rare one that only happened once a year, so be thankful for it. Still, the word play on my name only started because of a movie that came out during my first year of middle school, so strictly speaking, the number of times I’d used this joke could be counted with one hand.
“Ah… I’m Lee Seon-ae. Um, Uh, nice to meet you!”
‘Shy, Lee Seon-ae’ appeared above her head, as she sat down with her head bowed and her face flushed. Even her title was cute. I felt my heart getting healed in this depressing situation.
As it was the first day, the classes were not as tough overall. The teachers explained what they were going to do during the classes instead of teaching, and time passed quickly while listening to those unwholesome explanations. All the classes had ended by lunchtime.
To be honest, I didn’t really like our school, but the only thing I liked about it was that all classes end before 5 pm. Well, it might seem like they were urging us to go to an academy after, but my father didn’t like academies much so there was no need to go to one. He said he would rather teach me himself if my grades were not good. In fact, no matter what kind of instructor they were, they wouldn’t do any better than my father.
“I should go home.”
I took out my cell phone as I left the classroom. Of course, I thought of heading back with my brother. I could have gone looking for my brother since his classroom was a floor below, but it was quite awkward to walk amongst the seniors whom I’m not familiar with.
-Hey, Dae-ha. What’s up?
“I’m about to go home. Are you in the classroom?”
-Yes. Ah, but I’m sorry. I’m going somewhere else.
“With your friends?”
-Yes.
A truly sorry voice.
Hm~ Did his friends ask him to hang out with them? Well, it’s possible since he’s really popular.
“Alright. Try not to be late.”
-Alright. Watch out for the cars.
“What am I, a kid?”
I ended the call while grumbling and picked up my backpack.
Well, I can just rest when I get home.
But someone approached me when I was about to take out my shoes from the cabinet.
“Heyy.”
“Ah, is that you, Jae-seok?”
The guy who approached me was in the same class as me back when we were in our freshmen year. His name was Bae Jae-seok. He was a tall guy with a big physique. He didn’t learn martial arts professionally, but he had quite the personality and was a natural-born fighter so not even bullies could approach him easily. But he had a good nature, so it was easy to get along with him.
“Ah, it’s unfortunate they split us up.”
“Well, does it really matter since our classes are just next to each other?”
“It does. If we were in the same class, I could snatch some of the girls flocking around you who are interested in your father.”
“Excuse me.”
I looked at Jae-seok with a wicked heart and sighed inwardly. Well, his words weren’t wrong. When I was a freshman I had a lot of trouble with girls who approached me relentlessly. Of course, it wasn’t that I was popular, but because of my father.
“Are there still many girls pestering you to invite them to your house?”
“They settled down because I kept rejecting them.”
“Why? They are cute. You should carefully select and invite them. Who knows? They may give up on the pheasant and aim for the chicken, which is you.”
Jae-seok let out a burst of laughter that would make one feel bad listening to it. But I shook my head.
“There will be no end to it if I start inviting them over. Well, that’s why my relationship with the girls almost got ruined, but my dad solved it.”
“Huh? How?”
“He visited three official fan clubs and told them, ‘I will hate you if you keep bothering my son~’.”
Jae-seok’s eyes widened at my words.
“Ohoo~ He came down personally? It must have been quite a ruckus…”
“Who cares?”
Well, I was glad that all the girls who approached me are gone. Their interest annoyed me, and I refused to be their stepping stone heading towards my father. Moreover, it was frustrating to have girls with ulterior motives, such as telling me to do homework with them.
To Be Continued.
