"I'd like you to draw a picture for me."
"A picture?"
"Yes. The one you drew for me last time was so wonderful."
I'd been wondering what kind of huge request it would be, but what Han Cheong-ah was asking from me was a commission.
A commission was a term from the subculture industry where an artist draws whatever the client wants in exchange for money.
Web novel covers, favorite subculture characters, self-inserts, and so on—the demand for commissions was higher than people might think.
Before possessing this body, I'd made a living as an illustrator doing commissions, to the point where it was the main income source for amateur artists like me.
"Hmm, what kind of picture do you want?"
"The most beautiful girl in the world, of course—me."
Drawing Han Cheong-ah wasn't difficult at all.
After all, I'd been the one to design and draw her.
That she liked my drawing enough to commission me was unexpected, but...
"Drawing you isn't hard, but just with words?"
Professions exist because there's demand.
Illustrators are no different.
In the Middle Ages before the Renaissance, full-time painters existed because the church and God bought their works.
After the Renaissance, merchants and nobles who grew rich through trade bought them.
It's the same today.
Because otaku buy illustrations of their favorite idols, illustrators can make a living.
If someone asks why I'm saying all this, it's simple: my drawings aren't free.
"!"
Han Cheong-ah jumped in surprise.
"Why so shocked? Isn't it obvious...?"
"I thought guys would just cave if a pretty girl like me asked... Miyuki said so... Hmm."
Looking at Han Cheong-ah's face, it made sense.
Even though I'd drawn her myself, I thought I'd done a damn good job making her pretty.
She was on the boundary between adult and student.
Even the protagonist Kim Si-hu, who had no interest in romance, was described as having his gaze "stolen by her beautiful figure."
Han Cheong-ah was one of the top beauties in the story—a student who retained untainted purity from Red Ark despite her mature, cool appearance.
A girl who exuded a mysterious aura that made it impossible to dismiss her as ordinary.
But I wasn't some naive kid who would bend just because a pretty girl asked nicely.
"Everything has a price."
"Isn't spending time with a pretty girl like me payment enough?"
So that's what they mean by coasting on your looks.
Well, honestly, she wasn't asking to borrow money, and drawing a picture wasn't that hard.
Still, there was a reason I was being stingy with Han Cheong-ah and demanding compensation.
I was currently possessing a body in Red Ark.
A third-rate extra vampire, no less.
In the academy city ahead, shocking events would unfold.
My life would be in constant danger.
To survive, I needed countermeasures in place.
The easiest way was to build up power to protect myself.
But I'd never even hit a person before.
Sure, I had superhuman strength to crush concrete and fire-based powers, but fighting real enemies was another matter.
Even if I learned aura techniques, honed my powers, or strengthened my traits, could I really fight properly if an enemy appeared?
In a life-or-death situation, I'd bite back with my teeth if I had to, but winning against enemies was different.
Han Cheong-ah standing before me was like a double-edged sword.
A mysterious girl protected by a Special-Class Hunter—the world's top tier.
If her safety were ever threatened, Lee Gyeo-ul would mercilessly slaughter the attackers.
Of course, I'd end up on her suspect list for dragging Han Cheong-ah into it, but having a trump card for emergencies wouldn't hurt.
A single drawing wouldn't make her charge into danger like "Take me where the enemies are!", but knowing the story, I could easily maneuver her with something innocuous like "Meet me in front of the cafe at 8 PM."
It felt a bit guilty tricking an innocent girl, but with a guardian like Lee Gyeo-ul, Han Cheong-ah was practically invincible.
Right now, it was time to worry about myself, not her.
"I don't have money..."
When I acted firm like a brick wall, Han Cheong-ah looked dejected.
I smirked and said,
"I said 'payment,' but I'm not asking for anything grand."
"Then...?"
"Buy me coffee sometime later."
Han Cheong-ah pondered my words.
Did it sound too much like a pickup line...?
"Well, it's not a tough request anyway..."
"Deal. But can I pick the menu?"
It wasn't going exactly as I'd hoped.
Still, building rapport would make it easier to call her out later.
I nodded casually.
"No takebacks. We're agreed—I'll draw the picture."
Han Cheong-ah excitedly patted my shoulder.
"Just tell me when you're free."
"I'm always free... Ah, weekends might be tough."
"Then after school on a weekday. Next week sometime. I need a bit of time to prepare too."
She'd commissioned me; I wasn't planning to scribble it with a pen in my notebook like some half-assed doodle.
Baek Do-hyun (for now) lived by the creed: "Always give your best when drawing."
"Sounds good."
Han Cheong-ah held out her phone to me.
A pink jelly monster-like case caught my eye.
"Give me your number."
Who would've thought I'd get a pretty high school girl's number before dying.
Life's full of miracles.
"Here."
We exchanged numbers.
After getting our phones back, we checked the time—it was getting risky.
I couldn't be late on my first day of school(?).
Han Cheong-ah and I exchanged glances and bolted toward the school.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Despite its grandiose name, Cuvette Psi High School for the Gifted in Psi Abilities felt awfully familiar to me.
Excluding special subjects like "Psi Power Control," "Psyker Ethics," or "Supernatural Phenomena," it was no different from a regular Korean liberal arts high school.
With 40 students per class and classes 1 through 8, there were probably around 1,000 students total...
For reference, Baek Do-hyun was in Class 2-2.
I deliberately slipped into the classroom at the last possible second to confirm my seat.
Luckily, every seat was taken except one, so I knew it was mine.
I hung my bag on the hook and sat down.
"Hao."
My desk mate spoke up.
I turned to look at him.
He was a chubby guy.
The kind whose drum-like belly you wanted to thump.
"Hey. Hi."
"Lunchtime, rooftop. See you."
He spoke in clumsy Korean.
His name tag read Wang Xiaomei.
Chinese guy, apparently.
And "meet on the rooftop," huh...
From the vibe, it wasn't a challenge to fight.
What could he possibly want with me?
It wasn't like we were going to bond over rooftop lunches.
I nodded awkwardly with a vague expression.
"Hao..."
I soon found out what Wang Xiaomei wanted from me.
After classes ended, I went up to the rooftop with him.
The door was locked, but he seemed to frequent the place—he unlocked it skillfully.
The school rooftop, with fresh wind blowing.
You could see the entire expansive Cuvette campus at a glance.
Wang carefully closed the door behind us, then suddenly grabbed my pant leg and dropped to his knees.
"Spare me...!!!"
He started begging, trembling all over.
His fear bordering on desperation left me baffled.
What the hell was this guy doing...?
"Do-hyun-gong, I've made a huge mistake... Please, show this lowly one mercy just once!!"
"Mistake...?"
His ominous words snapped me out of my confusion.
There was only one "mistake" that came to mind.
Baek Do-hyun was a villain who exited in the prologue.
A minor extra knifed to death by Yubyeol-ha after getting caught kidnapping Han Cheong-ah.
But...
Was that the only crime Baek Do-hyun committed?
Ominous premonitions always hit the mark.
Wang Xiaomei began confessing his blunder.
"The doping agents you told me to sell to the Arcana students... Three days ago, I got caught by a girl named Yubyeol-ha... But really! I swear! It wasn't on purpose! Just bad luck!"
My head throbbed as all the puzzle pieces fell into place.
Now I understood why Yubyeol-ha had shown up at the docks right on time in the prologue, where Baek Do-hyun and the protagonist were.
And why she'd come straight to Cuvette High School this morning.
The "doping agent" he mentioned was probably drugs.
I recalled the white powder I'd found in the basement yesterday.
I'd figured it wasn't just sugar, but I hadn't expected things to blow up this fast.
"You spilled everything?"
Apparently, I was a drug distributor, and Wang Xiaomei was the transporter and direct dealer selling to people.
And the dealer had ratted out all my info.
To the worst possible person, no less.