“Kill them, Nisha!”

  Along with that voice, cold yet faintly trembling, Thalia, without even having time to react or choose an action, felt as if the air in front of her had suddenly exploded.

  Yes, it was exactly that terrifying sensation, as if dynamite had detonated. A violent shockwave, accompanied by a freezing wind, swept through the narrow alley.

  The smell of blood, like a bucket of paint spilled over, spread in all directions.

  It became clear that, faced with such a terrifying and unknown attack, the three unlucky delinquents didn’t even have a chance to react.

  All they managed to do was glance backward, and then, an invisible and ferocious force blew their heads apart in an instant.

  Blood splattered against the alley walls.

  Since the three of them were of similar height, they were killed almost simultaneously, like smashed watermelons, a horrifying sight.

  As for Thalia, curled up on the ground… she was completely stunned.

  “That girl… she came to save me? Is she one of those ‘superpowered’ people from legends? Was my prayer actually heard by a miracle? But… why is this rescue scene so different from how they describe it in books…?”

  Staring in horror at the three decapitated bodies on the ground, Thalia opened and closed her mouth twice, unable to react.

  After all, the shock of such a bloody scene was beyond anything imaginable. Even if the dead were criminals, seeing human heads explode in front of you was terrifying, especially for a third-year middle school girl.

  Of course, being in shock doesn’t mean being completely unresponsive. In fact, when she lifted her eyes and saw the pale-faced girl, beautiful like an elf under the moonlight, walking toward her, poor Thalia blurted out a phrase almost instinctively, along with an equally reflexive physical reaction...

  “Su… su-su-su… superpowered?”

  “Urgh!”

  That’s right, shock and vomit.

  The shock, from witnessing a power that should only exist in legends. The vomiting, because the smell of blood in that alley was simply unbearable.

  “...”

  “Superpowers? Oh, right. Normal people can’t see Nisha… so they probably think it’s some kind of telekinesis or something, huh?”

  After seeing the three delinquents wiped out in a single attack by the “little ghost” Nisha, whose powers had become more controlled, the “troubled child” who had been rescued didn’t collapse to her knees in gratitude, nor did she faint.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Leaning against a clean spot on the wall to rest for a bit, Alice couldn’t help but look down at the ground, which now resembled a slaughterhouse, with a vacant expression.

  Honestly, it was hard to believe this scene could be called a “discreet massacre.”

  The alley was so narrow that the spilled blood stood out even more than scattered body parts on a battlefield.

  Even though Nisha had avoided “exploding” the enemies like she did with their leader earlier, just the fact that their heads had burst was enough to spray an unbelievable amount of blood.

  And admittedly, seeing that girl, probably only two or three years younger than herself, vomiting in disgust, Alice also felt the urge to do the same, if only to ease the rising discomfort. After all, this time, Nisha hadn’t put up a shield to block the air, so even Alice could smell the thick stench of blood.

  But… her stomach was completely empty.

  There was nothing to throw up. And with the pain from her wound pulsing stronger and stronger, all she wanted in that moment was to find a quiet place to sleep.

  Faced with the exhaustion from blood loss, even a bed made of bodies and blood didn’t seem so terrible anymore.

  Of course, sleeping was just a desire.

  Now that she had “hunted” three “villains,” Alice still needed to collect their loot to get money and treat her injuries.

  So, after catching her breath a little, the light-footed girl ignored the kneeling Thalia, who had just thrown up, and walked over to the three corpses.

  Looting corpses was certainly grotesque, but Alice didn’t have the luxury of caring about her image.

  She needed resources. That was, after all, the main reason behind her heroic entrance into the alley.

  However...

  “What? What do you mean? How can these guys have so little money? Their pockets are completely empty!”

  Surprised, she searched through every pocket of the three delinquents, but still too na?ve to accept the harsh reality, she didn’t find the fortune she desperately needed, only a crushing disappointment.

  Nothing. Nothing. Still nothing! These delinquents were actually broke! All Alice could find was a vial of illegal anesthetic, a few crumpled low-value bills, and to her discomfort, several scattered condoms.

  Clearly, that upperclassman had lied.

  He had never dealt with real delinquents.

  The story that they carried large sums of money and miracle medicines to heal wounds was a total fabrication.

  In reality, most of them were as poor as washed-up addicts.

  At least, the three that Alice had killed today didn’t have a single coin to their names.

  The few bills in their pockets didn’t even amount to Alice’s daily allowance at school.

  Crash!

  Shattering the anesthetic vial on the ground and holding the few bills in silence, Alice felt her exhaustion deepen.

  She recognized the label on the anesthetic thanks to her father’s books.

  She knew she had to destroy it.

  She also knew, thanks to her once-peaceful life, that the value of those three bills wasn’t enough to buy even a basic bandage.

  So, since this “successful hunt” had failed miserably, what was Alice, now hungry and cold, supposed to do?

  “Looks like we have no choice… we’ll have to rob that convenience store. I really don’t want to hurt innocent people, but…”

  Supporting her frail body to stand upright, Alice murmured to the little ghost, revealing her frustration, before turning decisively for the third time that night to look at the glowing sign of the convenience store.

  The lights of the sign blinked between red and blue.

  In the darkness and silence of the night, they drew more attention than the streetlamps.

  If nothing went wrong, it would soon flicker out in a violent attack, and then, along with the shiny glass window, it would shatter like broken crystal, chiming with a clear, sharp sound.

  But...

  “Wait… please, wait!”

  Just as Alice was about to take her first step toward “robbery,” a soft voice, tinged with firmness, suddenly rang out, calling to her.

  It was undoubtedly Thalia’s voice.