I Became the Younger Sister of the Game's Villain - Chapter 12.1
“Student! Aren’t you getting off?”
The bus driver, holding the door, shouted in an irritated and impatient voice.
As I showed no response, he muttered something under his breath and forcefully pulled me, who had been glued to my seat.
“Didn’t they teach you at school to get off first when a portal appears?”
“I… um…”
“Or are you a student hunter?”
… Well, technically, yes.
At my dazed expression, the driver seemed to understand and made a sort of ‘figures’ face.
“Songwol 1-gil is closer than you think from here. You need to hurry. Let’s go.”
His rough hand patted my shoulder as he waddled ahead.
Stepping off the bus, I looked around with a vacant mind.
It was as if the world had hit pause, with countless cars stopped in their tracks.
No, it seemed like the entire street emptied of people had frozen over. It was eerily quiet.
Even the blinking traffic lights felt alien.
A green road sign caught my eye.
↑Jongno.
‘Songwol 1-gil? Was there such a place?’
I immediately remembered the ‘Tomorrow’s Newspaper’ I checked yesterday.
Portal outbreaks were a frequent occurrence, and the newspaper listed even the most minor D-grade portals.
Unless it was an article or headline from which I could potentially gain diamonds, I usually skimmed through.
‘Damn, should’ve gone through the newspaper again before leaving.’
I slightly regretted tossing it under the bed carelessly before leaving.
If I had checked it beforehand, I wouldn’t have ventured in this direction.
“Student!”
The bus driver’s voice echoed, already a block or more away.
My reluctant steps began to move slowly.
A scream started from far between the buildings.
Simultaneously, the phone I was clutching buzzed and chimed continuously.
【Songwol 1-2, Songwol 1-gil S-A rank portal escalation to “Severe” risk. A 3 km radius movement restriction for civilians is now in effect. Those in the danger area are urged to evacuate immediately.】
It happens from time to time.
A portal that wasn’t fully open would be upgraded.
Not a dissolution but a sudden event. Jongno, and an A-grade.
‘…Huh?’
A strange sense of déjà vu hit me.
The combination of familiar words felt right, yet something kept eluding my grasp.
Like I was missing something crucial, a feeling of overlooking something significant.
“Ah.”
Suddenly, a clue clicked, and I made a noise as if something had exploded in my head.
“This is that day.”
The so-called <Shields Re-debut Day>.
Guilds typically managed several neighborhoods or even districts for public safety, a fundamental duty for awakened individuals to protect civilians.
For instance, if Hwarang was mainly responsible for Jung-gu, Dongdaemun-gu, Seongdong-gu, then this area was the northern part of Seoul, Jongno-gu.
There was also a neighborhood in Jongno that was under the jurisdiction of Shields.
Any portal incidents in these neighborhoods were first reported to the respective guilds.
Of course, higher-grade portals naturally involved other guilds or were handed over to the central authorities.
‘There was a commotion about the Jongno portal.’
It was legendary, so of course, I remembered. It was the day Park Do Woon was to publicly reveal the obtained Maseok.
‘Then everything should be fine.’
I made a casual judgment.
Seeing the crowd running ahead, I calmly started walking.
It was the leisure of someone who knows what’s coming.
I hadn’t realized such an important day in Shields history was so close but anyway.
Soon the Shields guild would arrive, and the portal would close.
I was supposed to bury myself in the crowd and proceed with my original plan to acquire a weapon.
It should have been that simple…
“…wait a moment.”
The Resonance Stone. That one.
“I brought it with me.”
A feeling washed over me as if all the blood drained from my head to toes in an instant.
Stopping in my tracks again, I looked up at the blue sky.
The white clouds flowed peacefully, unaware of anything.
It’s strange.
“Ah, no way, that’s impossible.”
I laughed off the growing suspicion in my mind, waving my hand in the air as if to dispel the thoughts.
It can’t be.
It can’t be.
‘If I have the Stone, does that mean Shields can’t close the portal?’
What if.
What if, in the unlikeliest of circumstances, my shields are now useless and I can’t close the portal…….
Then,…… should I?
“Should I do it?
“Come on, think rationally. And this is right in the center of Seoul?”
There were plenty of other awakened individuals, even if not me, who could close the portal.
I spoke as if I were making excuses to myself.
Moreover, Shields was Shields.
Originally a B-grade guild, with Park Do Woon there, they closed portals like this one.
Me now?
An S-A grade sudden portal?
It was absurd.
Moreover, honestly, if Shields couldn’t handle it, there would be a throng of hunters rushing in.
So, just because I snatched a bit of Park Do Woon’s stone, it doesn’t mean I need to intervene in this situation…
Woong.
Suddenly, the density of the air changed.
