Chapter 145

It was a Saturday afternoon, and one of the bowling alleys was busier than usual. In this place, customers were carefully observing a single spot while they paused from their bowling games.

The point of attention for the guests included a girl lying exhausted on the floor, not bothering to get a drink despite losing a score bet, and alongside her, a suspicious woman wearing sunglasses who had gone to buy a drink after winning the game.

The ball chosen was one of the lighter ones. Despite having moved around actively until dawn, Erica had also slept for a long stretch.

In other words, if Erica had only possessed the average stamina of an ordinary woman, she wouldn’t have tired, yet she ended up lying flat on the floor due to sheer exhaustion.

Ordinarily, Erica’s actions would have captured everyone’s attention immediately.

However, the focus of the crowd’s gaze wasn’t on Erica lying on the floor but on the woman who’d gone to get a drink, despite her partially obscured appearance. She seemed to resemble someone who usually appeared only on TV.

Even if Erica possessed a mysterious beauty, encountering a celebrity during a casual outing would naturally draw more attention than her.

The reason people at the bowling alley didn’t approach Han Ye-seul was simple: it appeared that she had bundled up to hang out with an ordinary friend, and it didn’t seem like making her acquaintance would be appropriate.

The woman, who was more perceptive to others’ murmurs and had noticed the gazes directed her way even before they reached Erica, paused thoughtfully as she retrieved drinks from the vending machine.

‘I’ll probably have to pay the cancellation fee…’

She had to cancel an interview at the last minute because this girl had called her out of the blue, and though it had caused some damage to her reliability, she had indeed confirmed something important today—an important discovery about this girl’s nature.

The environment around this girl continued to be quiet, as it had before. Without hearing the intrusive thoughts of others, she had been able to live a simple life with only her heightened sense of hearing.

‘When I take her hand, I can’t even hear the thoughts of others…’

While pulling two cans of beverages for Erica and pondering deeply upon returning, Han Ye-seul reflected.

If the only thing to note when being near her was that she couldn’t detect the sound of her heart, but when holding her hand, she noticed a considerable weakening of her powers.

It instinctively felt like she might declare certain verbal commands but, from her estimation, Erica’s ability wasn’t about nullifying someone else’s powers completely but rather weakening them.

Even while holding her hand, it wasn’t weak enough that other supernaturally-abled individuals or regular people would pose any threat to her…

…but holding her hand had provided enough relief from the noisy world where others’ thoughts drowned out everything else.

This meant that lately, she had been plagued by a restlessness that kept her awake, but near this girl, she could finally get proper rest.

‘That woman who disliked me also left after being near Erica… but is it appropriate to ask for a change of sleeping arrangements?’

If she could only share a bed with this girl, her recent insomnia-like symptoms might disappear. The concern, however, lay in the burden Erica might shoulder in this situation. The nature of the ability Erica wielded slightly worried Han Ye-seul.

There were various types within the classification of abilities that weakened others.

Erica’s ability didn’t seem to completely strip someone of their powers but appeared to absorb a small portion, possibly categorizing it as an absorptive ability.

If she continued to absorb powers incrementally, her ears and mouth might eventually become far more sensitive than those of regular people.

—It was possible her everyday life might grow as difficult as Han Ye-seul’s, forcing her to constantly wear headphones due to the overwhelming noise.

‘Should I inform her and ask for help?’

There was no guarantee anything would happen; it might be a pointless warning or her assumptions might be completely wrong from the start.

“Oh, you’re here… H-Hello!”

As the woman prepared to greet the girl with a can of cold beverage pressed to her ear, Erica recoiled.

The reaction wasn’t something the woman hadn’t anticipated. The surprise was merely due to the cold can against her ear, nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

“Why… so suddenly?!”

“I lost, so you were supposed to fetch me a drink.”

“Well, there was really some reason for this…”

Erica had mentioned her legs felt stiff and said she’d go later after a rest, but the woman had offered to get the drinks herself.

“My condition doesn’t allow me to stay in one spot for too long, so let’s talk while we’re on the move.”

Though the reason wasn’t fabricated, the woman avoided revealing her real intentions of confirming if her heightened auditory sensitivity compared to others was accurate.

But Erica, noticing the gazes on them and seemingly understanding, lightly nodded.

“Yes, let’s go out.”

Erica wasn’t foolish enough to misinterpret the situation—fans might swarm them if they stayed much longer, especially while Erica concentrated on the game.

Furthermore, the anonymous onlookers who knew Han Ye-seul was nearby made Erica uncomfortable with their jealousy or judgmental stares.

After several minutes of rest, Erica’s arms still trembled, but she and Han Ye-seul left the bowling alley together, sipping their drinks.

*

After leaving the bowling alley, Han Ye-seul and Erica couldn’t stay in one place for long due to the fear of being recognized, and so kept moving around.

Erica had initially thought Han Ye-seul’s soundproofing abilities from their school trip might help avoid recognition, only to realize that shop owners, failing to recognize them, wouldn’t charge them for services, leading Erica to deduce that Han Ye-seul was deliberately weakening her ability slightly.

As such, without making any fuss, they kept changing venues and eventually ended up at a comic book store.

“Can entertainers come to places like this?”

“Even if someone discovers me, it’s fine since we’re the same gender. And thinking entertainers don’t visit places like this is a stereotype.”

A common comic book store, but it had small, effectively soundproof private rooms available for rent. The two fetched some light reading material to set aside but instead of delving into the books, they stared at each other instead.

“So, is there something you wanted to discuss here?”

Under the weight of the woman’s steady gaze, Erica broke the silence first. She couldn’t help but sense the woman’s agenda.

Besides, it was easy to infer that Han Ye-seul, with her sound-related powers, had brought them here for a private conversation.

“…I somewhat hesitated to ask, but could you explain your supernatural abilities to me?”

Realizing that Erica already knew she had some questions, the woman asked about her supernatural powers, despite knowing it might be improper.

Han Ye-seul had a vague idea of Erica’s abilities but needed more clarity before making any request.

“Can I ask why you’re interested?”

Given the number of abilities she possessed, a key advantage was the ability to truthfully share one of her powers without lying when questioned.

As Erica hadn’t yet mastered using the powers she had gained in Busan, there was little harm in revealing some information. However, it was likely that this inquiry stemmed from a situation needing Erica’s abilities, and the only public information about her abilities was linked to “protection.”

“Lately, I haven’t been able to sleep because of all the noise. I’ve noticed that your presence weakens my abilities. That’s why I’m asking—do you have some function that weakens others’ powers? Based on my assumption, it might be absorption.”

“My abilities couldn’t possibly be related to absorption…”

Erica paused mid-sentence. Didn’t the body’s host reveal that protection could hold wisdom last time?

Could it be that this power slowly absorbed the strength of another’s supernatural ability for her own use? The more she understood, the more intricate this ability seemed.

Maybe it wasn’t the full utilization but the inherent ability of her protection could reach a level akin to Inna’s influence.

“Miss Erica didn’t know either, it seems.”

“Well, yeah.”

She felt slightly awkward as Han Ye-seul casually addressed her by her name—a name Inna had never called her directly. She nodded in agreement.

She had heard that most supernatural ability users didn’t even know the name of their powers, let alone fully grasp what they were, because their powers didn’t clearly reveal themselves.

While Erica didn’t have all the details, such moments of discovery happened from time to time. Getting even the basic outline could be considered a privilege.

“Since Miss Inna might no longer be around, I’m asking this for practical reasons—would you consider staying elsewhere for sleep?”

Before Erica could delve deeper into her supernatural ability concerns,

Han Ye-seul made a proposal.

A proposal she wouldn’t have previously extended—nor accepted—during Inna’s time.