[I don’t like it.]
"Huh? What part?"
[You’re the only one who didn’t see it! I don’t like it!]
I thought I explained it as thoroughly as possible.
I let out a small sigh.
Right, the author wasn’t the type to back down so easily.
"But Author-nim, it’s already in the past. It’s not like you can turn back time…"
[Well, if it’s come to this, I have no choice! I’ll have another one attack!]
"Huh?"
[It’s a last-minute setup anyway! Let’s see… A magical beast, having escaped an illegal breeding facility, mournfully howls upon realizing its pregnant mate has died.]
"Wait, hold on, Author-nim."
[Consumed by vengeance, the father beast charges at the humans who killed her!]
"…"
She’s not even listening.
Fine, it seems our author is deeply disappointed.
I need to convince her as quickly as possible and make this whole thing disappear…
KWAAAANG!
"Another one?!"
"Student, get out of the way! It’s dangerous!"
"Who hasn’t evacuated yet?!"
Damn, that was fast.
Wait, why is it appearing right in front of me?
[Ah, I forgot to set the location.]
Author-nim…! What are you *doing*?!
"Grrrrrr…"
"C-Come on, good boy. Stay still? …Hand?"
"KRAAAAAAAGH!"
Yeah, I figured that wouldn’t work.
Blinded by rage, the magical beast began charging at the nearest human.
And who would that be? Obviously me.
It was even more intimidating than I’d imagined. I reflexively used my ability.
"Kreuk?!"
"Phew, you scared me."
[S-Sorry, Reader-nim.]
"Please don’t do that again. There won’t be a next time."
Right, there won’t be.
Even the author couldn’t turn back time. Once something was over, throwing a tantrum wouldn’t change it.
[Hng… I really wanted to see the protagonist’s first heroic moment…]
In an instant, the remaining half-glove came completely undone, and the stockings unraveled, revealing my pale, bare legs.
The loose threads stuck to various parts of the auditorium, then wrapped around the beast’s four legs, torso, and neck without discrimination, binding it in place.
The beast, which had been charging toward me at breakneck speed, came to a sudden halt.
"Grrr…!"
"Tsk, don’t move."
To stop it from struggling free, I sent out more threads, tightening the restraints even further.
Now it was suspended in midair like a mounted specimen. It kind of looked like dried squid.
Seriously, who told it to attack me?
"This is a problem, though."
[Why? A mysterious freshman effortlessly subdues a magical beast! This is a great development!]
"Uh… Well, how do I put this…"
I glanced down at myself.
At some point, not only my half-gloves but also the black stockings wrapped around my legs had completely unraveled and were now binding that beast.
Binding the demon beast with these threads was a good idea.
But in my panic, I used way too much.
"Hmm, what should I do?"
[Hurry up and kill it! The protagonist and the mysterious beauty each subdue a demon beast that attacked the entrance ceremony! That’s the classic main heroine trope!]
"I’d love to, but…"
No, forget the main heroine nonsense.
It’s the part about killing it quickly that matters.
Who even said anything about being a main heroine?
I’m a guy. Like I’d ever do that.
Right now, I’ve used up all the clothing I can comfortably wear.
Half-Gloves and Stockings.
What’s left?
What else? The Leotard and School Uniform.
Why the Leotard instead of underwear? That’s easy to answer.
First, wearing women’s underwear makes me uncomfortable. A Leotard feels more like a tight swimsuit, which is a little better.
Second, Leotards give me way more thread to extract than underwear.
"I ended up using more than I expected."
[You’re still not used to it, Reader-nim. Once you get the hang of your Ability, you’ll be able to take them down effortlessly!]
Here’s the problem.
If the only fabric I have left is the Leotard and School Uniform, which should I use first?
My Ability is the Thread Extraction Ability, given to me by the author. It lets me pull threads from any clothing I’m wearing that touches my skin.
But without Stockings, the skirt touches my skin too.
If I use the Leotard, I can kill the demon beast with fabric no one can see.
The catch? Once I pull the threads, they don’t come back. If I mess up, I could end up wearing just the School Uniform with nothing underneath—basically, an exhibitionist slut. So that’s… a problem.
I’ve never practiced pulling threads from the Leotard before. If I accidentally undo the shoulder part, it’d be a disaster.
But using the School Uniform isn’t ideal either.
I could shorten the skirt as a makeshift solution, but…
This skirt already feels too short. Making it even shorter?
Do I risk a disaster or public indecency by using the Leotard, or do I use the School Uniform and endure a little embarrassment for stability?
Right now, I was facing the greatest dilemma of my life.
I should’ve just sliced it in half with the threads from the start.
Like how I instinctively catch a ball when it’s thrown at me, I’d bound the approaching demon beast without thinking. And in the process, I’d used way too much thread.
Since I’m still inexperienced, it’s hard to repurpose the restraining threads into lethal ones.
"Student! Keep it bound like that!"
"What are you doing?! Don’t just stand there—watch your surroundings! More could come!"
"Y-Yes, I will!"
[Oh right, they were there.]
"No interest in the teachers, huh?"
[Well, they’re just extras. Unless they’re the protagonist’s mentor, no one really cares.]
The teachers, who’d been staring blankly, finally snapped out of it and finished off the demon beast I’d tied up.
Thank goodness. I didn’t have to shorten my skirt after all.
That would’ve been embarrassing.
Yu Siwoo felt a prickling sensation at the back of his head.
The reason wasn’t hard to find.
The suspicious woman he’d seen that morning was staring right at him.
'An Academy freshman...?'
At first, she had seemed so suspicious that I hadn’t even paid attention to what she was wearing.
So she was an Academy student. A freshman, just like me.
I wondered if she had noticed me judging her just by her appearance.
A pang of guilt made me turn my head toward where I felt her gaze.
With perfect timing, she turned her head to look at the principal.
That was strange. I was sure she had been looking at me...
I had been about to apologize, but the timing just didn’t seem right.
When I turned my head back, worried about the teachers around me, I felt her eyes on me again.
Was she still angry?
Just as I was thinking of noting where she went after the assembly so I could apologize in person—
I heard her muttering softly.
"Just a moment, Author-nim. Let’s have a deep conversation."
...?
Who was Author-nim?
I assumed there must be a friend nearby who wrote, so I tried to brush it off.
Eavesdropping on others wasn’t right.
Even if I had overheard it by accident, her voice was so quiet that not even the students around her seemed to notice.
Pretending I hadn’t heard anything was probably for the best.
...At least, that’s what I thought until I heard the next part.
"Uh, by any chance, when does the Beast appear...?"
Beast?
Siwoo froze in shock.
A Beast was appearing?
This was the Academy. Located right in the heart of a bustling metropolis, in the most secure part of the city.
Beasts only appeared on the outskirts of cities, in conflict zones...
"You think a Beast can appear in the city? Say something that makes sense."
She seemed to be arguing with someone, sharing the same disbelief.
And the moment he heard that, Siwoo felt a chill run down his spine, as if icy water were trickling along his back.
She had asked when the Beast would appear.
And now, in a tone that suggested she couldn’t believe it herself, she had said that.
No way...
Any guilt about eavesdropping vanished. Siwoo focused every ounce of his attention on listening.
His hand instinctively went to the sword hanging at his waist.
"After the principal’s speech ends and the applause dies down, the Beast will attack from the ceiling..."
The moment she finished speaking, Siwoo stood up naturally.
Ignoring the strange looks from the other freshmen, he walked toward the center of the auditorium’s ceiling—where a glass section had been installed for decorative purposes.
That had to be the spot she was talking about.
There was nowhere else on the ceiling a Beast could attack from.
Logically, it didn’t make sense.
An Academy freshman knowing when a Beast would attack?
And yet, inexplicably, Siwoo found himself believing her words without question.
Was it because of the ominous glint in her eyes that he had glimpsed during their first encounter?
"...With that, the principal’s speech concludes. Everyone, applause!"
He ignored the few students staring at him like he was crazy, and took his place in a strategic spot.
If this was just my paranoia making me hear things, that would be for the best.
Then no one would get hurt.
But who would have thought?
Things always happened the exact opposite of what you hoped for.
Contrary to Yu Siwoo’s wishes, a monster truly burst through the ceiling and attacked.
"M-Monster! It’s a Rank 3!"
"Why is a Rank 3 monster at the school…?!"
"Everyone, evacuate! Now!"
As the freshmen were hastily led away by the teachers, she remained unmoving.
What kind of confidence was that?
He was curious about her actions, but to deal with the monster in front of him, Yu Siwoo had no choice but to focus all his attention on it.
After finally managing to slash its mouth following a tense standoff.
The teachers, who had quickly evacuated the students, began to subdue the monster.
"Student, are you alright?!"
"Yes, I’m fine."
"Incredible skill. …Still, step back for now. The teachers will handle this."
After nodding appropriately, he swiftly scanned the auditorium, searching for her—she had vanished from his mind.
Where had she gone?
He realized her location moments later.
Because with a deafening crash, another monster smashed through the wall.
"There’s another one?!"
"Student, get back! It’s dangerous!"
"Who hasn’t finished evacuating yet?!"
Right in front of the monster, she spoke with leisurely ease.
"Now, now, be a good puppy. Stay still… Hmm?"
To face a Rank 3 monster with such composure—
His suspicion toward her only grew. No matter how he looked at it, she seemed suspicious.
The monster lunged for her neck.
…Why wasn’t she moving?
Had I misjudged her? Even if she moved now, it was too late!
Just as he panicked at her complete stillness, as if mocking his concern—
Black threads suddenly appeared around her, binding the monster.
"Phew, you really scared me."
Yet her expression showed no fear at all.
After effortlessly subduing the monster, her casual remark about being scared felt painfully out of place.
"Don’t do that again. There won’t be a next time."
Even though she was clearly smiling, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine.
The monster, writhing as the threads tightened around its body, seemed to sense it too—its movements slowed.
Still, she showed no mercy, adding more threads to constrict it further.
"Tsk, don’t move."
Ah, so that’s what she meant by “no next time.”
Watching her toy with the monster instead of finishing it off, waiting for the teachers to arrive, Yu Siwoo thought:
Something’s off.
There was definitely something about her.
Just as his suspicion deepened, she muttered something that sounded like a conversation with someone else.
"You don’t seem interested in the teachers?"
As if her real target… was the students.