An Angel Lives in the Academy
Chapter 199: The Angel Who Dreams (4)

Leffrey didn’t know.

He had no idea what Yu Si-hyun could possibly be thinking.

Yu Si-hyun, the student council president of the Central Superhuman Academy.

Yumari’s older sister.

And the heir to the Seocheon Yu Family.

‘I've only met her a few times to begin with…’

From the Blessing of the Spirits to their fierce battle during the final exams, Leffrey never understood what Yu Si-hyun was thinking.

Does she hate Yumari?

Judging by her actions alone, he couldn't help but think so.

Whether it was leaving Yumari isolated during the Blessing of the Spirits, or harassing her by wielding the student council’s authority.

Pranks that, while seemingly trivial, were undeniably malicious.

However, Leffrey’s thoughts took a slightly different turn.

‘But she doesn’t really seem to hate Mari.’

In fact, as Leffrey saw it…

‘Even I find it strange that I’m thinking this, but it feels like Yu Si-hyun loves Mari in a twisted sort of way.’

He could not help but think that.

Whenever Yu Si-hyun looked at Mari, it was not with a dark karma. It was, though gray, tinged with a faint trace of white karma writhing within.

Though Leffrey didn’t understand that emotion, he could understand the flow of karma.

Was it because she wore the same school uniform? Other than having no horns and being slightly taller, she was so incredibly similar to Yumari. The girl, wearing a mask-like smile, was looking at Leffrey.

This too was identical to Mari.

A smile as though preserved in plaster.

Leffrey had no words for that smile, aside from calling it a ‘taxidermied grin.’

“President, I didn't expect to see you in a place like this.”

“Really? You really didn't expect to see me here at an event introducing my little sister?”

It would be a lie to say he didn't.

But Leffrey had no other options.

“I’d like to see Mari. You’ll let me meet her, right?”

“That won’t be possible. At the moment, Mari isn’t in a condition to meet anyone besides her family.”

“I’m Mari’s closest friend.”

“I know. But you’re not family.”

The sound of the event progressing could be heard.

Surely, Mari would soon appear.

She would come forward, display her powers as a Hero, and then…

‘I don't know what comes next, but I have this ominous feeling that something irreversible will happen.’

The MC had finished introducing the executives of the Seocheon Yu family and was now dramatically explaining the hero's origins.

They would probably show images of the fallen empire and the destroyed cities of Earth, explaining the demon king’s terror, and then…

‘Mari will make her entrance.’

As the one destined to kill that dreadful Demon King.

As the shepherd to save the flock of lambs gathered there.

But exactly what power would she need to display in order to prove she was the Hero? And how much dark karma would she have to handle in order to use that karma technique?

‘Before that, I have to speak with Mari. Before all this happens’

Hence, Leffrey was running out of time.

At most, maybe 20 minutes? Around that much.

‘There’s no time…!’

But things don’t get solved just because you’re impatient. Leffrey calmly collected himself. Then, with cold eyes, he looked at Yu Si-hyun.

“President, if Mari fully awakens as a Hero, don’t you think she might take revenge on you?”

“Revenge?”

“Yes, a-and she might even take your position as the heir to the Seocheon Yu, and an enraged Mari might even drive you out of the family altogether!”

“Kick *me* out of the Seocheon Yu family? Mari doing that?”

“Yes! So let’s help each other! I’ll stop Mari from awakening as a hero, and in return, you’ll keep your position as the heir to the Seocheon Yu!”

Truly, this was Leffrey, the Logic Angel. With reasoning like that, Yu Si-hyun would have no choice but to yield.

“Hmm. How intriguing.”

Yu Si-hyun muttered, her smile unbroken.

“A very interesting proposal indeed.”

Success. It worked. If he could get Yu Si-hyun on his side, then meeting with Mari would be a breeze. He could use the heir’s authority to get past the other Seocheon Yu guards. As expected, he was the Lucky Angel Leff…

“All the more reason that Mari should awaken as a hero.”

“Yes! Wait, what?”

Suddenly, what was this supposed to mean. He had just said that, should Mari awaken, the one in the greatest danger would be Yu Si-hyun herself.

Yet after hearing that, she said, ‘All the more reason Mari must awaken.’? Leffrey couldn't understand her at all.

“Did you even hear what I said?”

“I heard it with my ears.”

“Did you really hear it with your ears?!”

Yu Si-hyun spoke in a clear, heightened tone, as though she were looking forward to something.

“You were saying that if Mari awakens as a hero, she might take away my position as the heir to the Seocheon Yu, and perhaps even kick me out?”

“She might do even worse than that. Aren’t you afraid for your life?”

“If my end comes by Mari’s hand, that wouldn’t be so bad.”

That was impossible to understand.

Leffrey mumbled, then seeing Yu Si-hyun’s face completely devoid of any smile, he shut his mouth.

“Angel-nim, you’re an angel, so you must know the concept of karma.”

Karma? Why is she suddenly bringing up karma?

Leffrey, though confused, nodded anyway.

“Those who wield karma to its extreme and determine fate, they’re called heroes. Just like our ancestor Yoo Jin-cheol did long ago.”

Then Yu Si-hyun began her story.

“There are two ways to obtain karma. One is to create light karma, and the other is to create dark karma. The method of creating light karma disappeared along with Heaven’s fall, but there are many who are adept at creating dark karma.”

Those who create dark karma.

Leffrey could name over a hundred such individuals.

“The Seocheon Yu is one such family. They knew exactly what kind of deeds and how to perform them to create dark karma. The moment they realized their evil acts wouldn’t make angels choose them, they began to perform such acts even more earnestly.”

Why did it have to be like that?

Leffrey suddenly felt like covering his ears.

“Did you know this? That I had over fifty siblings besides Mari?”

“Over fifty? But the only children of the Seocheon Yu head are Mari and you…”

Meaning the only two who survived.

Leffrey kept his mouth shut, waiting for Yu Si-hyun to continue.

“We trained in dark karma.”

How does one train in dark karma?

Leffrey didn’t want to think about it.

Nevertheless, he could not stop the words spilling from Yu Si-hyun’s lips.

Men and women, young and old, pierced through with hooks, bleeding and dying. Children treating those people like pigs.

Children listening to the screams of a burning village, mothers shrieking as they shield their child with their own body, men crying after losing their family, and girls moaning soundlessly—some children believed all that noise was akin to a lullaby.

The strange thing was that one child laughed madly and jumped into the flames. That's how one sister was lost.

Whenever a brother or sister was lost, a lavish feast would appear for some reason.

Strange.

Truly strange.

Any child who failed to carry out the family’s orders was gifted with brutal torture, over and over, until they could shed no more tears.

Theysayonechildcrushedherownheadanddied.

Tonight'sdinnerisafeast.

NothisisimpossibleAngel-nimpleasesavemedon’tdothisplease.

And then.

And then.

“Stop!”

Leffrey wiped away his tears and muttered.

“Stop it, please. Enough.”

There were so many unforgivable acts, no, acts that shouldn’t be forgiven, that Leffrey could not hold back his tears.

“If Mari awakens as a hero and then passes judgment on all of this, yes, kills even me, who bears all this dark karma, and brings this world to its end…”

Yu Si-hyun smiled genuinely.

Leffrey couldn’t help but think how similar her expression looked to Mari at that moment.

“In that case, I would have nothing more to wish for.”

“That’s all? That’s really all you want.”

‘And thus, the Hero always defeats the Demon King, bringing peace to this world!’ The MC shouted. As expected of a popular TV MC, his voice was incredibly resonant.

But this place was quiet.

“Yes, that’s all.”

“Then why did you torment Mari? If that’s really all that you want!”

Yu Si-hyun gave a gentle smile.

“Mari was, a really strange child.”

“Strange from the moment I first met her. At night, she would whisper to me in secret, saying she would become a hero and defeat the Seocheon Yu Family. Smiling mischievously at me, even in the darkest moments.”

“She cried for me after I was whipped so badly my bones showed, then tried to soothe my wounds with her clumsy hands. It was so absurd it was almost funny. My own birth mother wouldn’t even do that.”

“But the adults seemed to despise that about her, or perhaps they saw it as a sign of potential.”

From Yu Si-hyun’s cheek, at some point…

A single tear had begun its slow journey downward.

“Mari went through so much. In the end, she could neither laugh nor cry. For me, that was more painful than any torture.”

“Mari, one day, Mari secretly told me this.”

“She said she felt as though the darkness in her heart would burst forth. That was why, before that darkness erupted, she would leave this world through Mariana.”

“Before she got swallowed up by that darkness and became a being that killed even more people.”

“And yet, even so, she said she wanted to be a hero.”

Yu Si-hyun raised her head.

“She said she wanted to become a hero who saves others, who saves even me.”

“After all that time, after all those things she had been through, she still…”

That single teardrop became two, and those two droplets soon formed a small stream. Yes, Yu Si-hyun was crying.

“Mari didn’t give up.”

Yet her voice remained extraordinarily calm, and her expression did not change. In this, at least, she differed from Mari.

“I wanted to make her give up. I wanted her to despair of this world and escape to another.”

“That way, she would escape this world that was doomed to ruin, abandon our family, and live freely on her own.”

Gently—but firmly—Yu Si-hyun grabbed him by the collar.

Her hands were trembling.

“You ruined it all.”

“You’ve ruined everything.”

“If it weren’t for you, if you hadn’t given Mari hope, if you hadn’t become her last remaining attachment to this world, she would have already left by now.”

The girl cried and resented.

Leffrey took a step back from that reproach and then took off running.

“So it’s all because of you.”

Truly all because of you.

“Mari became a monster because of you. *I* should have been the monster.”

Monsters and heroes stand but a paper’s width apart.

“Because of you, Mari became the Hero. But I wish it had been me.”

And yet, the fact that the Hero is also the monster, isn’t that the bitter truth.

“It’s all because of you…”

So.

It’s all because of you.

Had you guided the Sky Dragon Lumari’s life to Heaven, none of this tragedy would have come to pass. Yet you were deceived by a mother’s selfishness, leaving the child alive.

If only you hadn’t been told to hide under the sofa.

If only everything had ended then.

If only Leffrey, the angel, had known there were grim legends in this world that turn the notion of ‘salvation’ into a cruel joke.

Don’t you agree?

“No!”

Yes, I admit, I don’t understand.

Because Leffrey didn't know anything.

He could only go to meet Yumari.

Leffrey ran.