When it was still the “Portrait of a Madwoman,” physical contact with the painting had been impossible.
But after it changed to the “Portrait of a Beautiful Woman,” physical contact became possible.
As we were heading to the Awakened Association building,Yui Seul asked me a few questions.
“Name.”
“My name?”
“Yeah, what’s your name.”
“Oh. It’s Lee Jiah.”
“Race.”
“A devoted follower of Beachy Mutbyeol.”
“Say my name.”
“Miss Seul.”
“You’re insane. It was Seul unnie, not Miss Seul.”
“…”
Got it.
This must be some kind of memory test.
Well, I guess it makes sense.
Even if I looked perfectly fine on the outside,I had been fully exposed to a psychic assault from an Anomalous Phenomenon.
Running a memory check like this wasn’t unreasonable.
“What’s 5 times 9?”
“45.”
“What’s 45 times 788 divided by 6?”
“How am I supposed to calculate that in my head?!”
“Knew it, you’ve lost your mind. The answer is 2715.3.”
Insane.
Yui Seul… the more I get to know her, the scarier she becomes.
She’s good at games.
She’s smart.
And honestly, she’s pretty damn good-looking, too.
Her abilities as an Awakened were top-tier.
If it weren’t for her bad personality, she’d be the perfect person.
Is this what they mean by “alpha female” or whatever?
I was stunned by Yui Seul’s superhuman mental math skills.
Then I opened my calculator app and checked the equation she had just rattled off.
The answer was—“It’s 5910! You were totally wrong!”
“So what? You seem fine. At least on the outside.”
What a relief.
Turns out she wasn’t perfect—just everything except her personality.
Yui Seul, uncharacteristically, let out a sigh and started to speak.
“…Even I was shocked this time. When you said you were hearing voices, I started sweating.”
“You seemed pretty calm for someone who was that worried.”
“Well, I’ve been at this a while.”
Why is she being so nice to me?
I really don’t get it.
Suddenly, Yui Seul slowly looked over my face, then said in disbelief,
“Are you sure you’re actually okay?”
“I am okay. Give me another multiplication problem if you want.”
“You’re not like me—completely immune to psychic attacks. The fact that they can affect you means… your resistance is just absurdly strong.”
“This too must be a blessing from Beachy Mutbyeol.”
“…”
That wasn’t a joke.
This time, I meant it.
The hallucination I saw—It wasn’t just in my head.
That tentacle was definitely reaching toward me.
If I hadn’t blocked it with the ‘Shining Star Shield’.
I don’t know exactly what would’ve happened next,but I’m pretty sure it would’ve been horrifying beyond description.
Suddenly,my eyes drifted to the cube dangling from my waist.
“Oh, come to think of it, maybe I should thank this cube too. I should probably thank Kim Jung-hwan properly.”
“…Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“Hey, let me see that for a sec.”
I handed Yui Seul the cube that was hooked to my skirt like a keychain.
She inspected it briefly, then nodded and said,“It’s not because of the cube.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not active. You saw me using a sword, right? When an item’s effect is active, it always gives off a faint glow.”
Oh.
Now that I think about it.
At some point, the cube stopped glowing.
No way.
Kim Jung-hwan.
That damn bastard.
“Did Kim Jung-hwan try to sabotage me…?”
“As if, dumbass. It just did its job and stopped working. He told you, didn’t he? That the cube had its limits.”
“Oh, really?”
My apologies, Mr. Kim Jung-hwan.
As a fellow Ah-doong-ee , I completely misunderstood you.
I should’ve known better than to suspect and accuse a fellow Ah-doong-ee.
Mm-hmm.
[*Ah-doong-ee = affectionate slang for socially awkward or introverted types, often VTuber fans]
Anyway,about my body—It’s not just tough, it seems like my stamina’s way above average too.
I’ve never exercised a day in my life.
My only hobby was watching VTubers at home, so no way I’d have ever worked out.
And yet—here I am, running nonstop from the top of Namsan Mountain to halfway down,and I’m not even out of breath.
Come to think of it,when I dealt with the Golden Piggy Bank anomaly,
I only needed a few breaths to recover—didn’t pass out or anything.
There’s no denying it.
This is a pretty decent body.
That said,it definitely comes with a serious downside.
“Can we slow down a bit? We still have time, don’t we?”
“What, getting tired?”
“No, it’s not that… it just kinda hurts.”
“You said earlier you weren’t injured.”
“I’m not, but… it’s, um…”
How do I even explain this?
Instead of answering,I cupped one hand under my chest—which had been bouncing around wildly for a while now.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“You rude little brat.”
What part of that was rude?
***
Just like Yui Seul said, the Awakened Association had plenty of opaque fabric lying around.
We tightly wrapped the painting in five or six layers of cloth,then cautiously observed the anomaly with tense anticipation.
Fortunately,even after 30 minutes passed,the anomaly didn’t trigger any of its horrific effects.
Just as the Wiki entry described,covering it in opaque cloth neutralized its activity.
With that, the anomaly case seemed to be wrapped up.
Retrieving the remaining item wasn’t my responsibility.
Whatever the situation,I’d been exposed to a psychic attack from an Anomalous Phenomenon—meaning I needed to head back to the Association HQ for a proper mental health check.
Well.
I can always write the Wiki entry for the item later.
No rush.
It was currently 10 PM.
Even though it was late, I got in a car headed to the Association’s headquarters for a mental evaluation.
Oh…obviously, it wasn’t my car.
I don’t even own one yet.
I stared quietly at the woman in the driver’s seat.
“…”
“What are you staring at?”
“Uh… Aren’t you going home?”
I was surprised.
Last time, Yui Seul had clocked out immediately after resolving the Anomalous Phenomenon.
But now, not only had she not left, she even offered to drive me to the Association HQ herself.
With an indifferent expression, Yui Seul spoke.
“It’s on my way anyway.”
“…”
“Aren’t you gonna thank me?”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“Jeez, making me fish for it…”
This person—Maybe she isn’t actually rude.
Maybe she’s just bad at expressing her emotions.
She carries games.
She handles anomalies.
She even gave me a ride.
She’s basically done everything for me.
…
…
…
“Hey, where are we headed?”
“Room B-62 on the 4th floor, Miss Yui Seul. Everything’s already been prepared…”
“Cool.”
Never mind.
I take it back.
What kind of tone is that to use with the front desk lady?
Turns out she’s only nice to me.
The front desk receptionist at the Awakened Association headquarters looked absolutely drained at the sight of Yui Seul.
Well.
Considering Yui Seul’s personality, that’s kind of understandable.
Wait.
But why is that lady,after making eye contact with me,looking even more horrified than before?
Uh.
Oh.
“…Ah, shit.”
“What? Why are you suddenly swearing?”
“A bad memory just came rushing back to me.”
I remembered.
That front desk lady.
That was the same lady whose hands were shaking when she reported me—when I banged my head on the floor in protest.
“Hey, is there an item that can erase memories?”
“There is. It takes a lot of paperwork to use, though. Why? Want me to steal one for you?”
“…No, it’s fine.”
Why the hell does something like that actually exist?
Once we got to the 4th floor,Yui Seul didn’t get off the elevator—she pressed the button for the 1st floor again.
“Uh… You’re leaving?”
“I’ll call. Get ready for proper training.”
And just like that, the elevator doors closed.
Kind of a dull way to say goodbye, if you ask me.
The mental evaluation was divided into three stages : First, a detailed exam by a psychiatrist using modern medicine.
Second, a detailed exam by a psychic with mental-related abilities.
Third, a final exam conducted by the same type of psychic using a mental-type item.
Because the process was triple-layered,the accuracy of the results was said to be nearly 100%.
The whole exam took about two hours,and the results were available immediately on-site.
The psychic affiliated with the Awakened Association told me: “Miss Lee Jiah, you’re normal.”
“Right.”
Of course I’m normal.
I’ve been perfectly fine from the start.
“However.”
However?
“If there’s anything notable… your first test result came out as abnormal, while the second and third came out as normal.
Now, modern psychiatry doesn’t really divide people into ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’—but for the Association’s purposes, we use that binary system.”
“What does that mean?”
“Simply put, Miss Lee Jiah,from the standpoint of modern medicine, you’re extremely abnormal.
So abnormal that it wouldn’t be strange if you were institutionalized right now.”
“…”
Yeah.
Now that I think about it, this result makes total sense.
During the first exam, when I was asked if I felt like someone was oppressing me, I said “Yes.”
Sure, they’re someone who blessed me today…but it’s also true that they usually keep me under constant pressure.
When I was asked if I often feared something terrible might happen, I answered that I feel like my life is in danger every second of every day.
I mean, if I don’t stream even once a day, I get dragged away and killed.
When asked if my body ever moves against my will, I said “Yes.”
What more is there to say?
I literally suffer divine punishment for blasphemy.
Maybe I was just too honest in my answers.
Even I have to admit — I probably don’t count as mentally stable.
Anyway.
“So, you’re saying my mind wasn’t damaged by the Anomalous Phenomenon, right?”
“The test results suggest that, yes…”
“Then can I go?”
“…Yes.”
“Have a nice day.”
From a modern medical perspective,I’m probably considered someone with a mental illness.
But this particular mental illness?
If you treat it …you die.