Who Wanted Djinn Genocide?

After knocking out Rachel and helping her to the infirmary, I made my way back to the rooftop where we usually held our secret meetings. Rachel was strong, no doubt about it. She was a certified genius, and even as a freshman, her skills were leagues ahead of most others her age. Watching her fight up close had been like witnessing a finely-tuned machine in motion.

Not that I thought I had surpassed her or anything. Our strengths lay in different areas. Rachel was an excellent swordwoman, and I was a stealth-type Gift user with low magic pool. If we were both allowed to wield weapons, things might've turned out differently. As the princess of England, Rachel had some hefty techniques up her sleeve, passed down through her lineage. It wasn't elaborated on much in the novel, but after experiencing her combat abilities firsthand, I could tell. She was a natural.

In terms of raw combat power, we were on the same level. That was my honest assessment. But that still wasn't enough for her—or any of us, really—to take on a Devil. Rachel had skill, but she lacked the survivability that I had thanks to my Stealth Gift. That gave me a slim chance of surviving an encounter with a Devil, but Rachel? Not so much. Yeonha was also out of the question. The instructors might be able to put up a fight, but not enough to compete with a Devil.

Shin Jonghak, though… he might be useful. But none of us wanted to involve him. He wasn't a team player, and even if Nayun managed to keep him in check, there was no way Jonghak would ever follow a strategy that wasn't his own.

Speaking of strategies, Hajin had come up with a plan to flush out the Devil's Seed. We all gathered around as he laid it out.

"We'll flush them out like pests," Hajin said, standing while the rest of us sat on benches, waiting for him to explain further. "I will use toxic gas if I have to, but hopefully it won't come to that…"

There were frowns at his mention of toxic gas.

Personally, I think it was fair game as long as it was only deadly to Djinns.

He glanced at me before continuing, "According to our intel…" He emphasized the word as if to acknowledge where the intel came from—me. "There's a Devil's Seed here in Cube. I'm sure all of you know what a Devil's Seed is. It's the prerequisite for a Devil to descend into this world. Here's what we know: first, the Devil hasn't descended yet. I've already confirmed that. Second, we don't know where the Devil's Seed is. We don't know who its host is, how long it's been incubating, or which Devil we're dealing with."

Hajin tapped his smartwatch, and a series of hologram frames popped up, displaying various data and profiles. "Our goal is simple: find the Devil's Seed and destroy it. I don't have the resources to pinpoint it completely—it costs too much SP—but I do have a plan. See these faces? Remember them."

I leaned forward, paying close attention as Hajin manipulated his smartwatch, spreading the holograms so we could all see them better. His watch had definitely been upgraded through his Setting Intervention, just like most of the tools at his disposal.

At the center of the data was Yun Hyuk, the president of the Academic Club. Surrounding him were more students, along with a few instructors, all tied to the intel Hajin had gathered with Rachel's and Yeonha's help.

"I was able to get this information thanks to Rachel and Yeonha," Hajin continued. "I hacked into their database and cleaned up any traces. They're safe, for now."

That was Hajin for you. His flexibility as a character in this world was unparalleled, thanks to his Setting Intervention. As long as he had enough SP, he could pull off just about anything—even hacking, which wasn't exactly within his skillset by default. But with a bit of tweaking, it was now.

"The head honcho inside Cube—the most influential Djinn—is Yun Hyuk," Hajin said, pointing to the image of the man. "The plan is simple. We'll kill him. Then we'll kill every Djinn that's leading their own faction who thinks they are above the rules and they can strut around Cube as they liked. After that, we'll deal with their subordinates until we find the Devil's Seed. We'll keep killing them until we find it."

His words hung in the air, heavy and cold. No one spoke, but I could tell everyone was thinking the same thing: Hajin's plan was brutal. Effective, but brutal. A lot of blood—or in this case, ash—would be shed.

"I'll build a device to detect Djinns," Hajin added. "But keep it to yourselves."

This was the reality we were facing—an all-out war against the Djinns. We've always been at war against them, but sometimes, people just forgot the threat they represented. I'd be more hyped up than necessary, but I couldn't shake the feeling that things were only going to get worse from here.

Kim Suho expressed his surprise at Hajin's words. "It's amazing if you can actually build a technology that detects Djinns, even with their disguises, but do we really have to purge all of them?"

Not all Djinns were completely fallen. There were two kinds: those directly subordinated to a Devil and those under another Djinn. The latter were often just victims of malice and could still be rehabilitated.

"We have to be thorough," Hajin argued.

"No," Suho insisted. "If we cause a bloodbath, we might earn so much hatred that it will impede our future endeavors."

I appreciated Suho's perspective. He seemed to be treating us like a complete team now. Plus, he wasn't wrong. I recalled a Djinn from the original The Novel's Extra who had ultimately turned to the good side.

"I have an alternate suggestion," I spoke up, trying to steer the conversation toward a different path. "Let's use Yeonha as bait…" I directed my intentions at Hajin, hoping he would understand what I meant.

"Huh?" Nayun and Suho looked at me, confused. They lacked the context.

In The Novel's Extra, Yun Hyuk incited a second incident that added more flavor to the story. The target of that incident was none other than Yoo Yeonha. If this world was parallel to the novel, the chance that Yeonha would be attacked was highly likely.

Yun Hyuk would cause several kidnappings of female cadets, setting off a chain of events that would be the plot of that second incident.

"Assassination… We may have to resort to that," I added, pressing my point. "Hajin, we can't wait for you to build this technology…" I knew that no matter how much SP Hajin had, it would be a strain on his resources, as well as ours.

The Hajin of the future would possess overpowered skills that would allow him to create all sorts of incredible devices, but he wasn't there yet. Currently, I understood that with Hajin's rise in power came greater ambition. In the original story, he failed other people 'extras' like him, because he lacked the power. I feared he wanted to avoid that.

"I'm sorry, Hajin… but you can't save those other girls. We'll have to let events unfold as my clairvoyance has foretold…" I lied, quickly explaining to Nayun and Suho the context, using my clairvoyance as an excuse. "Several girls will be kidnapped starting now, with Yun Hyuk as the perpetrator. Yeonha will be the seventh. I'm sorry I don't know the names of the other girls. Without justification, we can't attack Yun Hyuk on a whim. And like I said, it will be too difficult for you, Hajin, to build the technology you mentioned. You need to grow in the next four years to reach the level where you can create something like that."

My words seemed to sober Hajin, and I could see understanding dawning on him. Nayun and Suho shared the same troubled expression. Truthfully, Hajin's planning was brilliant, if overly reliant on his SP and our combat prowess.

There was recklessness in his plan, but also wisdom. Time was of the essence. We didn't even know where the Devil's Seed's incubation period stood or who its host was. Hajin had scoured the potential villains within Cube who might be the Devil's Seed's host, but he still had no leads. I could deduce that much from the strategy he was proposing.

If he knew the host, he wouldn't be suggesting we massacre every Djinn we could identify.

Kim Hajin resolved himself, deciding on a course of action.

"No, our plan doesn't change. We need to find the Devil's Seed quickly and eliminate it. We kill Yun Hyuk. We'll start with him. We take baby steps. It's necessary to take him down first because he'll be the cause of this heinous incident. We can't wait for more innocents to be lost. To kill him, we need to get a direct confession from him first."

He continued.

"I'm confident I can make a prototype, but as you said, it'll strain our resources. So in addition to club resources, I'll need you all to pitch in. I should be able to create a prototype to discern Djinns shortly after."

Hajin's voice became softer as he addressed Suho.

"Suho, thanks for the reminder… We really can't commit serial killings as it will hinder our future. I'll work extra hard to narrow down the possible host and guardian of the Devil's Seed."

The burden on Hajin was substantial, but I was impressed by how well he was taking on the role of a leader.

Chae Nayun offered her support. "Then… I and Suho will confront Yun Hyuk immediately. Hyon… I think it's best if you take on bodyguard duty for Yeonha. We should also prepare for any unexpected developments." Her suggestion came from a place of good intentions.

"Yes… that should work…" Hajin nodded in agreement, finally looking the part of a leader.

Just then, a notification pinged on each of our smartwatches. It was a group message.

[This message is for all cadets TT. Has anyone seen Seungyeon from World Class? I haven't been able to contact her since yesterday TT]