Chapter 38: Lady Justice
The evening glow washed over everything as students walked out of school, yet Dan Woo stood there dumbfounded. He was still confused as to why Cha Ha Rin was treating him so well even though he no longer wore the mask of Cha Hwa Rim, still referring to him as her unnie even in his original male form and treating him just the same. Im Nari had the more understandable reaction, and after all the horrors she had faced, it was understandable. He just hoped that her relationship with Cha Ha Rin wouldn’t take a huge hit because of this.
Dan Woo just kept watching as faces passed by. It felt weird looking for a face among the sea of students, yet he felt it was kind of nice. He really seemed to see Cha Ha Rin as his younger sister. Was this because of the effects of Cha Hwa Rim? He wasn’t sure, but as he waited for Cha Ha Rin to show up, he had this sinking feeling that something wasn’t right. Maybe...
He remembered yesterday’s brawl and all that had happened. Would the Blood Ink Society really come for her?
Dan Woo could feel a memory that wasn’t his crop up as he recalled that face. That beautiful, scary face.
"Kang Min Ah is a woman of principle, right?" he muttered to himself.
Yeah... she wouldn’t stoop as low as to go for his sister, would she?
As these thoughts churned through Dan Woo’s mind and his heart raced, they slowly began to settle when he finally saw her face.
Good... she was okay.
Yet when his eyes landed on her, he could see that same vacant look he had seen on the roof. Had something happened to her? He slowly began walking toward her. Maybe this was some of the fallout from his devouring of Cha Hwa Rim. He was already thinking of ways he could cheer up the teenage girl, but as her eyes landed on him, he saw that vacant look suddenly come alive. Those lifeless eyes were now burning with a small, smoldering fire. She even began smiling and waving at him.
Dan Woo could feel a kind of warmth bloom in his heart as he watched her go through the motions.
He also felt happy just to see her, ready to go and embrace his little sister.
But before that could happen, just as she was a few meters away from him, a group of men suddenly appeared with a van, scooping her up and ready to whisk her away.
The moment Dan Woo saw it happen, a rush of energy filled him as he tried to reach the men, only to be met with punches and kicks. He barely dodged them, trying to channel the Second Lead Syndrome trait to its fullest. At first it worked. He could keep up with the three gangsters who were working together, but soon enough his movements became less polished. The better fighter among them dealt with him easily, while the others also began pushing him back. His body felt disconnected from his mind, the body simply wasn’t familiar with fighting, and that left countless openings that the group used to overwhelm him.
The group quickly ran back to the van and sped off, leaving him writhing on the pavement.
He felt disappointed, scared, and in pain.
He quickly summoned the mask of Cha Hwa Rim, ready to channel all her abilities to stop the kidnapping of her sister. Dan Woo wasn’t sure if he could make use of his domain before the rise of the Red Moon, but he had to try.
The mask of Lee Woo Je quickly dissolved as the mask of Cha Hwa Rim took its place.
Dan Woo’s body, clothes, and even his personality shifted to fit the new mask.
Dan Woo could feel Cha Hwa Rim’s tattoos slither across her skin as they suddenly changed from lotuses and butterflies to, once again, the flaming sword with multiple skulls surrounding it.
At this time, an athletic Cha Hwa Rim was running behind the speeding van. Yet how could a human keep up with a van? Then again, Cha Hwa Rim wasn’t a normal human. She seemed to be running faster and faster as everything around her danced in wave-like ripples of mist and mirage. But the moment she stepped out of Hanseoung’s premises, it all disappeared completely.
Yet Cha Hwa Rim didn’t stop in the least. Breaking past human limits, things seemed to be looking up before, suddenly, the van disappeared from the road as though it had never existed.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" she suddenly spat out.
Cha Hwa Rim was confused by the situation as she came to a stop, now standing at the very place where the van had disappeared.
She quickly channeled her Meaning and spirituality into her eyes, activating her Spirit Vision. As she looked around the area, she could see a kind of spiritual signature emanating from it when, all of a sudden, a blank piece of paper appeared over her head.
She was confused by what she was seeing. She even raised a hand toward the sky to see if there was something hidden above her, but there was nothing.
She felt a bit confused and very annoyed when, suddenly, she could feel the paper draining a bit of her spirituality and Meaning as words slowly began writing themselves across it.
"As requested, here is another story point."
Cha Hwa Rim frowned at the words as she ran through every memory from yesterday.
From the van, she couldn’t truly feel the tattoos, but then again, those faces seemed familiar. What was going on?
Then her mind went to the other group that had come with the Blood Ink Society yesterday. The ones with the butterfly.
Were they the ones who had kidnapped Cha Ha Rin?
It seemed likely. For anyone to make an entire van vanish out of thin air, they had to be either a powerful anomaly or an Ascendant. Especially now, with the Red Moon just about to rise, only very powerful Ascendants could pull something like that off.
She wasn’t sure what her next action should be when, suddenly, she began feeling a tether tugging at her soul.
Was this one of Cha Hwa Rim’s tattoos?
She followed the link, hoping to find a member of the Blood Ink Society at the other end of it.
She began running, feeling the tether grow stronger and stronger as she moved through streets, winding paths, and narrow alleys until, suddenly, she saw her.
That familiar face.
It was one of the two teenagers he had ordained to be his oracles as the Forgotten God, the Sanctifier and Redeemer.
Dan Woo was confused as to why he could feel her presence, and why she looked like that when he saw her being chased by a group of men.
He contemplated what was happening, debating whether to help her as he slowly followed the girl and the group pursuing her.
Then, suddenly, Cha Hwa Rim could feel the Mark of the Guilty reacting to something.
A single strand of chain ejected from her chest, shooting toward the very direction the teenage girl and the group were heading.
It was leading to the subways.
Cha Hwa Rim continued to follow them when, suddenly, the chain connected to something.
It was the same mark from yesterday. The same face.
It wasn’t the whole group, but at least one of them.
She had been wondering how she would track them down, only for him to appear. That mark was blazing hot now.
Her feet became fiercer as she made her way toward the subway, but as she did, several chains seemed to launch out from her. As the number of chains grew, so did the secrets that came out of them. It was becoming a lot to deal with, the bombardment of everything from everywhere. She could barely feel herself, but she had to push on.
She got onto the train, barely able to trace back the original connection she wanted to follow.
She felt this couldn’t go on. The various different Meanings and spirituality from everyone were becoming too much to handle.
She decided to try and connect all the different connections into a single passage that she could handle, one she could easily filter out and block if needed.
The moment she did, the Meaning began to crystallize within her.
Then, suddenly, it spilled forth from her, washing everyone in whiteness.
Wave after wave of notifications suddenly began to sound as a familiar situation, just like the one from the Hanseoung Academy Instance, began to play out.
As this happened, Cha Hwa Rim could feel two types of Meaning—one from the Mark of the Guilty and another from the Stars—wrapping together into some kind of concoction as a scenario already began forming around her.
"Welcome to the game."
The PA system throughout the subway train stated it with a soft, welcoming tone.
"Fuck..."
Cha Hwa Rim could only mutter as the Meaning settled around her.
She wanted to make a huge splash tonight for the Bureau of Anomaly Affairs.
Just... not this way.