.  “We are called the Four Symbols.”


  A heavy silence prevailed in the air.

  The moment of quietude was as deafening as a scene in a TV drama that revealed the main character’s fiancée actually being his missing sister.

  I then slowly lifted my head as I finally recovered from the shock. The first thing that came into view was Ban Yeo Ryung’s face.

  Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to lose the anxious look on her face at all.

  With the utmost serious look, she muttered, “The Four Symbols? What is that?”


  Ban Yeo Ryung! I burst into a scream of grief, thinking, ‘In the end, you also couldn’t break the limit of the female protagonist?’


  A female lead of a web novel, who was brilliant enough to always score the first place in every nationwide mock test, surprisingly, knew nothing about the four mythical creatures of our neighborhood country. Well, she was the only person who didn’t know that the whole school was calling her friends the Four Heavenly Kings. Thus, her reaction now was so Ban Yeo Ryung herself.

  Next, I turned my head to observe the guys’ faces.

  As I expected, they looked solemn enough to show no sign of a joke. Checking those out, I spoke to myself in a low voice.

  ‘This novel has sacrificed probability in exchange for being G-rated. Not just sacrificing but completely throwing down the probability onto the ground! No way to find the persuasive power as it’s been stepped and covered with dust storm!’


  Although it was a thankful situation to me, would it be sincerely okay to leave this novel continuing this way? That was when I moved to tears by the sacrifice of probability happening in this novel.

  To make matters worse, the guys blurted something one after another.

  “I’m the Azure Dragon of the Four Symbols.”


  “I’m the White Tiger.”


  “The Vermilion Bird.”


  Ahhh! AHHHHH!

  I suddenly began to shake my tied wrists violently. It was such a fierce movement like a chicken trying to jump out of the cutting board where its wings are bound.

  “Donnie, what’s wrong?”


  Ban Yeo Ryung, sitting beside me, shouted in surprise.

  “Oh…”


  “What’s going on? Is there any pain?!”


  I dropped my words with great difficulty.

  “The names…”


  “What?”


  I swallowed the words unspoken.

  ‘Their names are painful to hear…’


  If my hands were free, I could have covered my ears. Scowling at my tied hands with resentment, I raised my head out of the blue.

  As I got to realize, one person didn’t open his mouth yet.

  A guy with black hair as dark as the night sky was standing in the lightless corner as if he was buried in the blackness. He then turned around to look in our direction. One side of his eyes was, unusually, wrapped up in a bandage instead of wearing an eyepatch.

  I opened my eyes narrowly, wondering, ‘Is he a fugitive? Is that why he isn’t able to get the benefits of modern medicine?’


  Ban Yeo Ryung then cast a question just in time.

  “Who is that person then?”


  ‘Of course, he would be the Black Turtle,’ I murmured. It was such a pity that Ban Yeo Ryung, Miss Brainy, wasn’t able to guess even something this simple since she didn’t know about the Four Symbols at all.

  At that moment, the black haired-guy flaunted a grin.

  Oh, no… please, hold on. I felt somewhat ominous.

  He then suddenly uttered something, which made me so speechless.

  “I’m the Black Flame Dragon.”


  “…”


  Come on, why the hell are you the Black Flame Dragon?

  You guys told us that the name of your group was the Four Symbols. Then, why was he suddenly blurting out something irrelevant? At that time, the guy with the black hair directed his eyes on me, not Ban Yeo Ryung, and asked a question.

  “Aren’t you curious why I’m in between the Four Symbols when I’m not one of the guardians?”


  “No…”


  I mumbled in a voice as small as a mosquito; however, it didn’t seem to reach them. Giving some dry coughs, he cleared his throat then continued with a decent baritone voice.

  “There’s a long story.”


  “No, I am not curious.”


  I carefully expressed my point of view, but the Black Flame Dragon still didn’t seem to hear that. That was when the Black Flame Dragon’s life story was about to unfold regardless of my opinion.

  The door burst open and interrupted his remark. While everyone looked in that direction, I felt touched and thought, ‘If I could, I would like to kiss the person, who just stepped in, on the shoes. No, I’m going too far… Kiss that person on the cheek.’


  That thought, however, continued only until I saw the person’s face. As soon as I looked up at the countenance revealed under the warehouse lighting, I turned stiff.

  Having eye contact with me, the girl put a twisted smile on her face. She then turned her head to look at the four guys.

  “Hey Misters, I didn’t hire you guys to hang out in here like that, did I?”


  Her short brown hair, which had the same length as mine, waved on her shoulders. She had mono-lid eyes and soft facial features. Just as I saw at the party, she wore a lightweight dress with white top and purple gradation all over.

  “Choi Yuri…” I murmured at a slow pace.

  Sealing the Four Symbols’ mouths at ease, she didn’t even listen to my call but pulled over a chair that had been sitting empty.

  She then crossed her legs and waved her hand at me.

  “Hi?” she said.

  I was too frozen to answer back. She then smiled as if feeling excited.

  “You look totally blown away to see me. Someone you never expected, huh?”


  I couldn’t answer but just bit my lips.

  When the Four Symbols questioned us earlier about why we were here, I got to narrow down the suspect list to someone in our school and quite wealthy at the same time. Choi Yuri was actually on that list since then. Above all, what lingered in my mind the most was the following question.

  If the suspect didn’t like us, why didn’t that person call us out to the schoolyard or the rooftop to speak individually? It would be way easier than making such a hassle like this.

  Despite all that, I never thought that Choi Yuri was the culprit. As what she just said, I never expected it would be her.

  Still, it was none other than Choi Yuri standing in front of us right now.

  Just like me, she looked relatively less impressive to take a significant role in this novel. Choi Yuri, however, seemed to be the culprit of this abduction! Why, for what reason? How was this novel distributing the roles?

  That was when I gnawed my lips while hiding myself being at my wit’s end. I heard Ban Yeo Ryung yelling from beside me.

  “How can you do such things to the students in the same school? Get this off us right now!”


  Choi Yuri then slightly tilted her chin and laughed ridiculously.

  “Haha, Ban Yeo Ryung, I never thought that you were this stupid. Do you know how difficult it was to break through Hanwool Group’s impenetrable security? How can I easily release you guys upon such an opportunity? Why would I commit a kidnap then?”


  Her ferocious remark continued, which made my jaw drop onto the floor.

  “I’ll have to see Eun Jiho crying tears somehow because of me. I’m gonna confirm that I’m not just a nobody to him, but, at least, a person who can grieve him.”


  That was total bullshit; however, the look in her eyes had a horrifying, evil gleam that it hardly sounded like a joke.

  Did I get her wrong? Was it my big mistake to estimate in advance that she wouldn’t play a crucial role in this world?

  Unlike my expectation, could something serious happen, for real? Shoot! Why didn’t I take Yi Ruda’s advice more seriously and stay alert? That was when I blamed myself inwardly.

  Suddenly putting her hand inside her clothes, Choi Yuri took out something. I shrank back in fear while thinking if it was a weapon or so, but as I found out what it was, I gave a sigh of relief.

  Instead of the small and slim phone these days, she had a blunt walkie-talkie in her hand. She then pressed some numbers on the device. From her carefree attitude, I convinced that the walkie-talkie had something untraceable installed on it.

  Pressing the call button at the last, Choi Yuri took the device close to her ear.

  After a second, she opened her mouth. The name she called after made Ban Yeo Ryung and my face tinge pale and bite our lips firmly.

  “Hello, Eun Jiho?”


  That name was just what I had anticipated.