The two police officers exchanged glances.
One of them said sternly, “Wait here a moment.
I’ll go consult my superiors.”
He hurried away, leaving the other officer to stay with Freya, trying to comfort her with reassuring words like, “Don’t be afraid,” and “We’ll help you sort this out.”
A short while later, the officer who had left returned to the lobby with three others.
These three were also in police uniforms, but their uniforms were a deep blue instead of the standard black.
Freya immediately noticed that their uniforms were both made of finer materials and more meticulously designed.
Moreover, while most police officers were undoubtedly young adult males, this trio consisted of a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, and two teenagers who appeared only slightly older than Freya.
The middle-aged man immediately approached Freya, leaning in to confirm repeatedly, “Young lady, are you absolutely certain you didn’t mistake anything?
That creature really had red eyes and a tail?”
Freya nodded.
“It’s true…
I really saw it…”
Before she could finish, one of the three police officers—a quiet-looking young woman with shoulder-length golden hair and glasses—suddenly spoke up.
“Captain, she’s not lying.”
Freya stared, bewildered.
Wait, how can they tell if I’m lying?
This confirmed Freya’s suspicions: these three likely possessed some kind of supernatural abilities.
They must be the special personnel this world used to handle paranormal incidents.
Fortunately, the officer’s earlier question had been vague—asking only if she had “really seen it,” rather than specifying “yesterday.” So, technically, she hadn’t lied.
But this realization made Freya wary.
With lie-detection capabilities in play, she’d have to be much more careful with her words.
After a moment’s hesitation, she asked timidly, “Then…
was that thing even human?
Does that mean the urban legends I heard at school are actually true?
Are there really a bunch of hidden monsters in this world?”
Seeing her distress, the middle-aged man called “Captain” rubbed his temples and sighed.
“Alright, kid,” he said, “there are indeed some inexplicable things in this world.
But don’t worry, we’ll protect you.”
Freya pressed further, “Inexplicable things?
What exactly are they?”
The Captain sighed again.
“Right now, the priority is helping you with this situation.
How about this: once we’ve chased off the bad guy, I’ll explain everything to you in detail.
Sound good?”
With no other choice, Freya couldn’t press further.
She led the three officers toward her home.
During the walk, she learned their names through conversation.
The eldest, the Captain, was named Nolan Ashford.
The 19-year-old youth in the group was Miles Carter, and the blonde girl with the lie detector was 20 years old, named Reina Carter.
Judging by their surnames, it was clear that the young man and woman were siblings.
However, as Freya’s gaze flickered between them, she couldn’t help but notice their contrasting hair colors: the sister was blonde, while the brother had jet-black hair.
Despite being the elder sister, Reina stood only about 1.6 meters tall, a full head shorter than her younger brother Miles.
No matter how you looked at them, they seemed more like siblings.
Just as Freya was thinking this, Reina seemed to sense her thoughts.
Puffing out her cheeks and planting one hand on her hip, she retorted, “Freya, aren’t you about the same height as me?”
“Huh?” Freya looked genuinely surprised.
She met Reina’s eyes and realized their gazes were indeed level.
“Am I really only around 1.6 meters tall too?”
She had never paid attention to her height before; this was the first time she’d realized it.
“?” Reina’s face was a question mark as she wondered, This girl is a bit dense, isn’t she?
After a while, the four of them returned to Freya’s home.
It was still only midday, so Freya personally cooked a…
rather meager lunch to treat her guests, as her pantry was nearly empty.
In the afternoon, Nolan took Miles to scout the nearby area, leaving Reina at home to keep Freya company.
Throughout the afternoon, Freya continued to probe about “supernatural powers,” but Reina steadfastly refused to answer any direct questions.
As evening approached, a carriage suddenly stopped near Freya’s house.
A girl in a school uniform, with a round, slightly chubby face, ran to the front door and knocked.
Reina answered the door.
Both girls paused in surprise.
The chubby-cheeked girl looked bewildered and asked, “Eh?
Isn’t this Frey’s house?”
Reina replied, “Frey?
Do you mean Freya?
Yes, this is her house.
Who are you?”
The girl sighed in relief.
“Thank goodness I found the right place!
I’m Amy, her classmate.
She didn’t come to school today, so I got worried and came to check on her.”
Hearing the commotion, Freya, who had been preparing dinner in the kitchen, came over.
When she saw Amy, a flood of memories resurfaced in her mind.
Amy was arguably the original owner’s only true friend at school.
The “classmate who told her about the train opening” and the “classmate chatting about the Black Market” mentioned earlier all referred to Amy.
But Freya never expected Amy to come looking for her.
This hadn’t happened during her previous simulation.
Wait, that’s right.
In the last simulation, I wasn’t even home at this time.
I was on my way to the Black Market.
So we just missed each other?*
In that instant, Freya realized something crucial: Simulating the future isn’t the same as predicting it.
For example, if an assassin had come for her at this moment, but Freya had been occupied with other tasks in her simulation, causing them to miss each other, she might mistakenly believe this time slot was safe.
If she then stayed home in reality, she’d walk right into the trap.
While these thoughts raced through her mind, Freya welcomed Amy into the house and offered a brief explanation: “I wasn’t feeling well today, and something came up at home, so I didn’t go to school.”
Upon hearing this, Amy immediately pressed close, placing her right hand on Freya’s forehead.
“You don’t look well.
Are you sick?
Have you been resting properly?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.
At such close range, Freya could even feel Amy’s breath on her face.
Her cheeks flushed slightly as she took a half-step back, stammering, “I…
I’m fine now.
It’s all cleared up.
I should be able to go back to school normally tomorrow.”
“That’s great!” Amy exclaimed, pulling a notebook from her backpack and handing it to Freya.
“I took detailed notes on everything the teacher covered today.
I thought you might need this, Frey.”
“Aww~ Amy, you’re so sweet!” Although the notebook wasn’t particularly useful to Freya in her current state, she still expressed her sincere gratitude for Amy’s thoughtfulness.
Amy stayed for dinner and chatted with Freya for a while.
As dusk began to settle, she reluctantly said, “I have to go home now, or my dad will scold me again.
Anyway, I’m so glad you’re okay, Frey!
See you at school tomorrow?”
Freya nodded.
“Okay, see you at school tomorrow~”
After Amy left, Captain Nolan couldn’t help but sigh, “Is this what youth is like?
It’s so wonderful…”
Reina added, “But she never once showed any curiosity about who we are, did she?”
“That’s just Amy,” Freya replied.
Simply put, Amy lacked curiosity.
She never pried into others’ affairs or secrets.
Regardless of who Nolan and the others were, as long as Freya was safe, none of that mattered, right?
As the group was talking, a sudden scream pierced the air outside.
From the sound, it was unmistakably Amy who had just left moments ago!
Everyone froze in shock.
Nolan reacted fastest, leaping to his feet and dashing outside like a suddenly unleashed cheetah, his movements so swift they nearly left afterimages.
Miles followed close behind, his speed also far exceeding that of an ordinary person.
By the time Freya rose to chase after them, the two had already vanished into the darkness.
With no other option, she sprinted toward the approximate direction of the scream, hoping to catch up.
Reina initially wanted to stop Freya, but seeing the urgency on her face, she hesitated for a moment.
In that brief moment, Freya had already darted out the door.
Reina immediately gave chase, calling after her, “Wait!
Hold on!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Several more gunshots rang out.
Freya turned right at the exit and at the T-intersection, she saw Amy lying on the ground, along with the black-clad pervert.
She could clearly see the bullet wound piercing Amy’s abdomen.
Amy lay on the ground, her face contorted in pain as blood flowed ceaselessly from the wound.
It was clear Amy had encountered the pervert while trying to escape and been attacked.
Nolan pointed urgently at Amy and shouted, “Quick!
Get her to the nearest hospital!”
Miles immediately scooped Amy up in a princess carry and hurried away, just barely avoiding Freya as she arrived.
Nolan, his brow furrowed, surveyed the battlefield with a headache, and muttered, “Just as I suspected…
it’s Obsidian again, isn’t it?”
On the ground, a clear bullet hole pierced the pervert’s forehead—an unmistakably fatal wound.
Strangely, the pervert’s tail was impaled through his own shoulder, and his hands were twisted into irregular, pretzel-like shapes.
Freya’s initial reaction was confusion, quickly followed by revulsion.
This was the first time in her life she had ever seen a corpse, a blood-soaked corpse.
She instinctively clamped her hand over her mouth, gagging a few times.
Reina, who had been running even slower than Freya, finally caught up, panting heavily.
She glanced at the corpse on the ground and grimaced, but her reaction wasn’t as intense as Freya’s.
She patted Freya’s back, opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find the right words.
After a moment, seeming to grow somewhat accustomed to the scene, Freya asked, her face pale, “Obsidian…
what is it?”
Nolan crouched down and rummaged through the corpse’s upper clothing, eventually retrieving a black envelope from his shirt pocket.
He glanced back at Freya and Reina.
“Can either of you hypnotize anyone?”
Reina hesitated, then gently shook her head.
“This is still too difficult for me right now.”
Freya asked warily, “Hypnosis?”
Nolan sighed, stood up, and rubbed his temples.
“Alright, alright, kiddo.
It seems I really need to explain things to you now.”
“As you can see, this world isn’t as ordinary as it seems.
Beneath the surface of our peaceful daily lives lies another, more dangerous world.”
“The Transcendent Paths—by drinking a special potion, a person can gain supernatural abilities.
Take Reina here, for example.
She follows the Mind Path, which allows her to read people’s thoughts and detect lies by observing their microexpressions, and she also possesses a weak hypnotic ability.”
“Our original plan was for you to stay home while we dealt with this guy, then have Reina hypnotize you to forget that someone had been spying on you.”
“But we got too anxious to save Amy, and Freya ended up running out here with us.”
Reina said dejectedly, “It’s all my fault.
My hypnosis skills are still too weak.
I can only make someone forget very trivial things.”
The implication was clear: because Freya had now seen the corpse and the horrific state of her friend Amy, the impressions were too vivid for her current hypnotic abilities to erase.
Nolan turned to Freya.
“So, kiddo, no matter what you think, you have to join us now—join the Special Operations Division.”
Reina chimed in, “Ugh, Freya, you’re a top student at the Khovd National Academy.
You’d definitely have better job opportunities in the future.
But now you have to join the Special Operations Division and work there from now on.
It’s all my fault…”
No, I should be thanking you!
Compared to a normal graduation and a regular job, I’m definitely more interested in these supernatural powers!
However, Reina’s expression grew increasingly remorseful.
Joining the Special Service Bureau was truly a dangerous endeavor, requiring personnel to handle various hazardous incidents and always be the first ones on the front lines when trouble arose.
The job’s mortality rate remained stubbornly high.
Nolan said, “Let’s go.
We’ll head back to the Bureau first.
Someone will be here shortly to process the scene.”
Then he turned to Freya.
“You’re coming too.
We need you to sign the confidentiality agreement first.”