Reader Mage 96-The Perfect Place To Sell Drugs

rlin felt like a bandit. Moving through the Academy’s grounds while avoiding the caras, ducking at the slightest glimpse of a figure, and evading even the most miniscule of lights, it was all so surprisingly exhilarating.

Maybe he should do this more often. He’d always liked vigilantes after all.

“Rember,” he started as he and the other two that made up his little crew of misfits neared the gate, ducking beneath neatly trimd grasses, or behind statue plinths after every few steps taken, “we’re not to waste even a second. We get what we want quickly and leave before Mr. Sam’s done with his patrol.”

“Oh, rlin, we’re so dead,” Hakyun groaned, biting at his fingernails. “Professor Jung’s gonna kill us. No. The dorm master will have our heads first and deliver it to Professor Jung.”

“That’s enough whining, four-eyes,” Chima growled. “If you were going to be this way, you should have just stayed back.”

“As if I can just sit in the dorm while you guys head out,” Hakyun snorted. “I’m the sense of reason between us three. If I’m not present, who knows what nasty things you both could get up to. No way I’m letting you miscreants loose.”

“Then suck it up and stop complaining.”

“I’ll try my best. But, just so you know, if we three lose points, Spearhead will most likely drop in the rankings. The rest of our mates will hate us.”

rlin’s steps slowed at those words; it was one thing for only Nikolai to despise him if his accusation turned out to be a reach, and it was another for all the students of his Cohort to despise him for ridiculing their hard work. Even worse was that there was a possibility of those two scenarios occurring at the sa ti.

However, he didn’t let it bother him for long. He had taken the first step already, there was no point in stopping now.

And, besides, they had gotten to the guardhouse already, a square structure of ceramic surrounded by a railing designed to keep stubborn students like rlin and his roommates out.

Although, it seed it would fail tonight.

“He’s not in,” rlin noted, narrowing his eyes as he peeped in through the windows of the guardhouse. “Let’s go in.”

“You say that like the door will just be left—” Hakyun’s words were caught in his throat as rlin turned the handle of the door and pulled it open. “No way.”

rlin was unsure why Hakyun was surprised. Ninety percent of the ti, when one wasn’t expecting another to co snooping around, they were always uninspired to lock their doors or similar. It was honestly quite the hassle having to lock and unlock things after all. And there was also the possibility of misplacing the key or forgetting the password if it was an automated door. All in all, Mr. Sam was obviously not expecting anyone to co towards his ho, so he had not thought it was necessary to lock it.

The interior of the guardhouse was just as rlin rembered it to be the last ti he was there. A couch rested against the wall, and in front of it was a simple wooden table. To the edge was a fridge, and beside the fridge was a bed and a cupboard. And since everything was the sa, that ant the security pad would be in the sa place as it was last ti.

rlin flashed his phone’s torchlight across the room, towards an almost obscure edge, and there was another table, this one a lot bigger and wider. On the table were books arranged neatly, and at its center was the security pad he had co seeking.

“Keep your lights low,” rlin said as he approached the table. “And one of us has to stand guard.”

Chima glanced at Hakyun.

“What?” Hakyun blinked.

“Stand guard,” said Chima.

Hakyun frowned. “Why should I be the one to do that?”

rlin’s nose twitched. “Guys. No bickering now, please.”

Hakyun clicked his tongue. “Fine.” He walked towards the door and opened a small gap, and peeped out of it. “Hurry up.”

rlin put down his phone and picked up the pad. He put it on and was greeted by the Academy’s insignia and a booting icon. A few seconds later, a lockscreen appeared, bearing with it a request to unlock the pad with either a biotric scan of his finger or the password.

rlin clicked his tongue.

“What is it?” Chima asked as he joined rlin at the table.

“It’s locked,” said rlin.

Chima’s brows twitched. “Hold on. You thought it wouldn’t be locked?”

rlin shrugged. “It’s used to keep records of students leaving and returning, I didn’t think it needed to be locked.”

“You sound dumb, l.” Chima shook his head. rlin nodded in exasperation. “Anyway, what do we do now?”

“We leave,” Hakyun chid in. “We don’t know the password, and waiting here will just turn us into sitting ducks. I don’t want to be punished, okay? I need a clean record.”

“You’re acting like we’ll be sent to prison. Chill out.” Chima sighed, then turned back to rlin. “We should at least search the room; we might get a hint.”

rlin’s brows dropped. “What do you an?”

“Well, we can’t sign in using the biotrics, so our only bet is the password. From my experience, people are always cautious about forgetting passwords so they write it down sowhere they can easily get to it, in the case they forget. Mr. Sam must have hidden the password in here.”

Oh… That was reassuring.

“That’s just wishful thinking,” said Hakyun. “The better option we have is getting out of here.”

“You’re being the killjoy now, Hakyun,” rlin said. Hakyun clicked his tongue. “So? Where do we start?”

Chima rubbed his chin as he glanced around the room. “We don’t have all the ti in the world, so we’ll have to narrow our search area. The most likely places to keep passwords would be…” His eyes caught the stack of books on the table. “Search those, l. There might be a piece of paper in them, or maybe it’s written on their edges. If there are bookmarks too, search them.”

rlin nodded. “And you?”

Chima’s eyes fell on the cupboard. “I’ll search in there. I hope Mr. Sam forgives for going through his things.”

“It’s for a good cause,” rlin tried to sound reassuring.

Chima nodded, and they both got to work.

rlin found out a lot about Mr. Sam by rummaging through the books he had stacked on his table. First of all, the ones placed in the middle of the stack were completely different from that which began it. After all, the first book was an encyclopedia focused on the ins and outs of camping; but after it ca books that made rlin wince, and, well, take second glances at their pictures, since they toyed with his teenage hormones. The more he checked them, the more he wanted to trade places with Chima.

Thankfully, his sowhat pleasant dilemma was put to an abrupt end when he ca across a bookmark that had words and letters arranged in a way passwords usually were in the center of one of the books. He pulled it out as the burning on his cheeks relaxed.

“Found it,” he said.

Chima stopped his search imdiately and crossed the room to once again stand beside rlin. He took the bookmark and studied it intently and nodded. “Yeah. This should be it.”

rlin typed in the password into the pad, and watched with bated breath as the pad registered his input. Then it unlocked.

“Phew…” He breathed out.

“Hurry,” Hakyun reminded them.

rlin quickly got to work.

Things were made easy for them. Since the pad belonged to the Academy, it had only a few apps installed, at most six or seven, but rlin didn’t count. He found the sheets app where he recalled the records to have been kept and scrolled through it, starting from the day of the Grimoire sparring class, and it didn’t take long for him to find what they had co looking for.

“He did leave the Academy,” rlin said, drawing the attention of Chima and Hakyun. “The next day.”

Chima’s shoulders slumped slightly as he craned his neck to take a look at the information too. “Says he wanted to purchase sothing.”

rlin turned to Hakyun, who was still diligently keeping watch despite the conversation going on. He could feel that his roommate was sowhat sad that his deduction had proven true at the end of the day. Hakyun was definitely well aware of the direness of the situation now.

“Do you know where Itaewon is, Hakyun?” asked rlin after a low sigh.

Hakyun was silent for a few seconds. “Why do you ask?”

rlin pursed his lips. “That’s where Nikolai went.”

Hakyun took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

“Yes, I know where that is,” he replied. “It’s a district known mostly for its nightlife scene. In other words, the perfect place to sell drugs.”

Chima rubbed his forehead. “You know this doesn’t an that Nikolai actually purchased steroids, right? There’s no need for you to feel down.”

“Yes, I know that, but the possibility has doubled now.” He paused. “Anyway, what do we do now? Report it?”

rlin had realized a while back that the reason Hakyun was so hesitant and scared to embark on their mission was because he was fighting the possibility that Nikolai was actually on steroids, and, most likely, didn’t want to have to find out that it was actually true. As such, rlin decided not to jump the gun. If there was a possibility that Nikolai had headed to Itaewon for sothing else, then he would have to find out what that was in hopes that he was wrong about this whole thing.

He made up his mind…

“No,” he replied to Hakyun’s question. “We head to Itaewon.”

rlin felt like a bandit. Moving through the Academy’s grounds while avoiding the caras, ducking at the slightest glimpse of a figure, and evading even the most miniscule of lights, it was all so surprisingly exhilarating.

Maybe he should do this more often. He’d always liked vigilantes after all.

“Rember,” he started as he and the other two that made up his little crew of misfits neared the gate, ducking beneath neatly trimd grasses, or behind statue plinths after every few steps taken, “we’re not to waste even a second. We get what we want quickly and leave before Mr. Sam’s done with his patrol.”

“Oh, rlin, we’re so dead,” Hakyun groaned, biting at his fingernails. “Professor Jung’s gonna kill us. No. The dorm master will have our heads first and deliver it to Professor Jung.”

“That’s enough whining, four-eyes,” Chima growled. “If you were going to be this way, you should have just stayed back.”

“As if I can just sit in the dorm while you guys head out,” Hakyun snorted. “I’m the sense of reason between us three. If I’m not present, who knows what nasty things you both could get up to. No way I’m letting you miscreants loose.”

“Then suck it up and stop complaining.”

“I’ll try my best. But, just so you know, if we three lose points, Spearhead will most likely drop in the rankings. The rest of our mates will hate us.”

rlin’s steps slowed at those words; it was one thing for only Nikolai to despise him if his accusation turned out to be a reach, and it was another for all the students of his Cohort to despise him for ridiculing their hard work. Even worse was that there was a possibility of those two scenarios occurring at the sa ti.

However, he didn’t let it bother him for long. He had taken the first step already, there was no point in stopping now.

And, besides, they had gotten to the guardhouse already, a square structure of ceramic surrounded by a railing designed to keep stubborn students like rlin and his roommates out.

Although, it seed it would fail tonight.

“He’s not in,” rlin noted, narrowing his eyes as he peeped in through the windows of the guardhouse. “Let’s go in.”

“You say that like the door will just be left—” Hakyun’s words were caught in his throat as rlin turned the handle of the door and pulled it open. “No way.”

rlin was unsure why Hakyun was surprised. Ninety percent of the ti, when one wasn’t expecting another to co snooping around, they were always uninspired to lock their doors or similar. It was honestly quite the hassle having to lock and unlock things after all. And there was also the possibility of misplacing the key or forgetting the password if it was an automated door. All in all, Mr. Sam was obviously not expecting anyone to co towards his ho, so he had not thought it was necessary to lock it.

The interior of the guardhouse was just as rlin rembered it to be the last ti he was there. A couch rested against the wall, and in front of it was a simple wooden table. To the edge was a fridge, and beside the fridge was a bed and a cupboard. And since everything was the sa, that ant the security pad would be in the sa place as it was last ti.

rlin flashed his phone’s torchlight across the room, towards an almost obscure edge, and there was another table, this one a lot bigger and wider. On the table were books arranged neatly, and at its center was the security pad he had co seeking.

“Keep your lights low,” rlin said as he approached the table. “And one of us has to stand guard.”

Chima glanced at Hakyun.

“What?” Hakyun blinked.

“Stand guard,” said Chima.

Hakyun frowned. “Why should I be the one to do that?”

rlin’s nose twitched. “Guys. No bickering now, please.”

Hakyun clicked his tongue. “Fine.” He walked towards the door and opened a small gap, and peeped out of it. “Hurry up.”

rlin put down his phone and picked up the pad. He put it on and was greeted by the Academy’s insignia and a booting icon. A few seconds later, a lockscreen appeared, bearing with it a request to unlock the pad with either a biotric scan of his finger or the password.

rlin clicked his tongue.

“What is it?” Chima asked as he joined rlin at the table.

“It’s locked,” said rlin.

Chima’s brows twitched. “Hold on. You thought it wouldn’t be locked?”

rlin shrugged. “It’s used to keep records of students leaving and returning, I didn’t think it needed to be locked.”

“You sound dumb, l.” Chima shook his head. rlin nodded in exasperation. “Anyway, what do we do now?”

“We leave,” Hakyun chid in. “We don’t know the password, and waiting here will just turn us into sitting ducks. I don’t want to be punished, okay? I need a clean record.”

“You’re acting like we’ll be sent to prison. Chill out.” Chima sighed, then turned back to rlin. “We should at least search the room; we might get a hint.”

rlin’s brows dropped. “What do you an?”

“Well, we can’t sign in using the biotrics, so our only bet is the password. From my experience, people are always cautious about forgetting passwords so they write it down sowhere they can easily get to it, in the case they forget. Mr. Sam must have hidden the password in here.”

Oh… That was reassuring.

“That’s just wishful thinking,” said Hakyun. “The better option we have is getting out of here.”

“You’re being the killjoy now, Hakyun,” rlin said. Hakyun clicked his tongue. “So? Where do we start?”

Chima rubbed his chin as he glanced around the room. “We don’t have all the ti in the world, so we’ll have to narrow our search area. The most likely places to keep passwords would be…” His eyes caught the stack of books on the table. “Search those, l. There might be a piece of paper in them, or maybe it’s written on their edges. If there are bookmarks too, search them.”

rlin nodded. “And you?”

Chima’s eyes fell on the cupboard. “I’ll search in there. I hope Mr. Sam forgives for going through his things.”

“It’s for a good cause,” rlin tried to sound reassuring.

Chima nodded, and they both got to work.

rlin found out a lot about Mr. Sam by rummaging through the books he had stacked on his table. First of all, the ones placed in the middle of the stack were completely different from that which began it. After all, the first book was an encyclopedia focused on the ins and outs of camping; but after it ca books that made rlin wince, and, well, take second glances at their pictures, since they toyed with his teenage hormones. The more he checked them, the more he wanted to trade places with Chima.

Thankfully, his sowhat pleasant dilemma was put to an abrupt end when he ca across a bookmark that had words and letters arranged in a way passwords usually were in the center of one of the books. He pulled it out as the burning on his cheeks relaxed.

“Found it,” he said.

Chima stopped his search imdiately and crossed the room to once again stand beside rlin. He took the bookmark and studied it intently and nodded. “Yeah. This should be it.”

rlin typed in the password into the pad, and watched with bated breath as the pad registered his input. Then it unlocked.

“Phew…” He breathed out.

“Hurry,” Hakyun reminded them.

rlin quickly got to work.

Things were made easy for them. Since the pad belonged to the Academy, it had only a few apps installed, at most six or seven, but rlin didn’t count. He found the sheets app where he recalled the records to have been kept and scrolled through it, starting from the day of the Grimoire sparring class, and it didn’t take long for him to find what they had co looking for.

“He did leave the Academy,” rlin said, drawing the attention of Chima and Hakyun. “The next day.”

Chima’s shoulders slumped slightly as he craned his neck to take a look at the information too. “Says he wanted to purchase sothing.”

rlin turned to Hakyun, who was still diligently keeping watch despite the conversation going on. He could feel that his roommate was sowhat sad that his deduction had proven true at the end of the day. Hakyun was definitely well aware of the direness of the situation now.

“Do you know where Itaewon is, Hakyun?” asked rlin after a low sigh.

Hakyun was silent for a few seconds. “Why do you ask?”

rlin pursed his lips. “That’s where Nikolai went.”

Hakyun took a deep breath and exhaled heavily.

“Yes, I know where that is,” he replied. “It’s a district known mostly for its nightlife scene. In other words, the perfect place to sell drugs.”

Chima rubbed his forehead. “You know this doesn’t an that Nikolai actually purchased steroids, right? There’s no need for you to feel down.”

“Yes, I know that, but the possibility has doubled now.” He paused. “Anyway, what do we do now? Report it?”

rlin had realized a while back that the reason Hakyun was so hesitant and scared to embark on their mission was because he was fighting the possibility that Nikolai was actually on steroids, and, most likely, didn’t want to have to find out that it was actually true. As such, rlin decided not to jump the gun. If there was a possibility that Nikolai had headed to Itaewon for sothing else, then he would have to find out what that was in hopes that he was wrong about this whole thing.

He made up his mind…

“No,” he replied to Hakyun’s question. “We head to Itaewon.”