Chapter 12: The test passed

Two weeks had passed since I had been treated with an overwhelmingly warm welcome in Japan.

I was finally returning to Korea today.

Honestly, I had no idea I would stay here for so long, but time had flown by as I visited various tourist spots.

Of course, the Japanese Angel continuously held onto me, not wanting me to leave, which further extended my return time.

I had become quite close with the Japanese Angel.

Well… there was a feeling that I had inadvertently grown close to her because the girl liked me to an unusual degree, but anyway, I didn’t mind thinking I had gained a cute younger cousin.

‘It would be great if she would just lessen her obsession with me a little….’

Just one thing.

Except for the fact that the Japanese Angel’s jealousy was incredibly intense, more than I expected.

‘That was scary….’

I recalled the horrific sight of the room shaking, and all the limbs of the dolls in the room being torn off.

“Whew….”

Just imagining it made me break out in a cold sweat and sigh.

What was even scarier was that the reason for it was so trivial.

The culprit behind that incident was simply because I had too happily accepted a chocolate bar that Lee Hyejin had given me.

In other words, the girl didn’t like how close I seemed to be with Lee Hyejin.

I had been told to be careful because she was very jealous, but still….

No matter what, it was a bit too much to be that intense….

Whoosh-

I stared blankly at Japan, which was gradually growing distant from the airplane.

For reference, I could now handle telekinesis a little, thanks to the Japanese Angel’s help.

A day had passed since I returned from Japan.

As expected, I immediately underwent the telekinesis test that I had failed last time.

So, this was inside the test room.

I let out a small breath, looking at the familiar stone.

“Hoo-ha….”

Of course, I was confident in succeeding.

Nevertheless, having failed so spectacularly last time, I couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.

Anyway, I slowly extended my small, pure white hand towards the stone in front of me.

Twitch, twitch.

At that, the stone began to twitch as if it were a living creature.

Compared to before, when it hadn’t even budged, this was a very good sign.

Thanks to that, filled with confidence in my success, I unconsciously broke into a bright smile.

Then, eagerly, I put a little more power into it, and,

Fizzle….

The stone instantly turned into powder.

This was a completely unexpected result.

“… Huh?”

Uh, wait…? This isn’t right….

Was I too nervous and put too much force into it…?

Startled, I awkwardly scratched my cheek in embarrassment.

I had no idea I possessed such strong power.

Because in Japan, all I could do was barely lift a steel ball about 3cm.

‘Did I get more used to it in such a short time…?’

I figured I probably needed a new stone, so I looked towards the test team beyond the window.

Then they spoke, looking utterly bewildered.

“Uhm… Angel, could you please sit down and wait a little…?”

“Oh, yes.”

As I nodded, they suddenly started moving very busily for some reason.

It seemed they were trying to pick up a stone now.

‘Hmm… Well, why would they pick up stones in a research lab?’

I accepted it, sat in a chair, and rested my chin on the table.

As I waited obediently, the stone I had turned into powder suddenly caught my eye.

‘……?’

Now that I looked closely, the powder was strangely sparkling quite a bit for a stone.

‘This… is this really a stone…?’

I unconsciously stared at it for a long time.

Then I subtly asked Lee Hyejin, who was quietly watching me from beyond the window.

“What… is this, by any chance?”

“Huh? That? Hmm… Just a moment?”

Lee Hyejin tilted her head for a moment, then immediately grabbed one of the very busy-looking test team members.

Then I saw her asking something and nodding as if she had heard the answer.

She quickly returned to the front of the window and said.

“Angel! That’s a raw diamond!”

“… Diamond? Aha… Dia… G-gah…!”

I nodded without much thought, then gasped in surprise, covering my wide-open mouth with both hands.

No matter what, the memory that diamonds were expensive items still remained.

S-surely I don’t have to pay for it, do I…?

After all, that was placed there for testing, wasn’t it…?

My heart pounded, and I felt a sense of anxiety.

I was also quite annoyed as to why the diamond could be crushed so easily.

I hung my head low, only subtly rolling my eyes to gauge the test team’s reaction, and surprisingly, I was moved to a new test location without much fuss.

I scanned the seven types of raw gems laid out one by one in front of me.

Of course, I didn’t have information that these were raw gems.

I merely guessed so because the diamond raw gem I had just turned into powder was placed there again.

Crackle-

Then, the sound of the test team’s microphone was heard.

“Alright~ Angel, could you please try to lift number 1 in front of you?”

“Yes.”

At that, I slowly extended my hand towards the stone marked number 1, and,

Fizzle.

Stone number 1 turned into powder without even a hint of twitching.

“Ah….”

Ahem, ahem… well… it’s my first time….

Feeling awkward, I looked across the window and smiled broadly.

I saw everyone smiling just as broadly, showing their cheekbones.

Oh, good. It seems no one is angry yet.

Thanks to that, I sighed in relief inwardly, and then the microphone sound was heard again.

“Angel, this time, could you try to lift numbers 2 through 7 continuously?”

“Oh, yes.”

I nodded slightly and moved my hand to number 2.

Fizzle.

As expected, stone number 2 also instantly turned into powder this time.

‘Hmm… N-next time, I’ll do better…!’

I clenched my small fist tightly, resolute, and shifted my gaze to number 3.

Fizzle.

“Ah.”

Fizz.

“Ugh….”

“Gah….”

But despite that, the result was a total wipeout.

All the stones in front of me turned into powder.

Oh dear…?

I awkwardly fidgeted with the hem of my clothes, then subtly looked at the test team and said.

“Th-they… they all ended up like this….”

After the seven stones, I moved to another test room.

This test was to lift steel balls that gradually increased in size from smallest to largest.

There were steel balls from number 1 to number 10, with number 1 being the size of my fist and number 10 being much larger than me.

‘Wow, Japan didn’t have anything like this….’

I looked around at the enormous number 10 steel ball, which perfectly reflected my image.

Then, I suddenly snapped out of it and extended my hand towards steel ball number 1, and,

Crack. Snap.

The steel ball crumpled violently and instantly became as small as an ant.

This situation would have surely resulted in failure, turning into powder, if it had been the stones from earlier.

Float-

Nevertheless, this steel ball was clearly floating in the air.

‘Finally…!’

That’s right.

I had finally recorded my first success in a test in Korea.

“A-ahem….”

Unable to contain my joy, I smiled brightly and looked at the test team.

Then, unconsciously, I put my hands on both hips and wore a proud expression, and,

“Wow~ Angel, you’re amazing!”

“Wow~ You did great~!”

The excessively continuous praise and applause quickly made me regret my actions.

Uh, wait… is this bullying…?

My face flushed red, and to escape this situation, I quickly started lifting the remaining steel balls.

Each steel ball, without fail, became ant-sized one after another.

I had just finished compressing the 10th steel ball.

Thinking it was finally over, I habitually dropped it onto the floor.

Boom!

Then, a considerably different roar echoed through the test room.

The floor couldn’t withstand the weight of the steel ball, cracking and caving in.

“Oh, dear….”

Completely unprepared for such a situation, I stared at it, utterly bewildered.

Then, I subtly looked at the test team again and smiled.

“… Ehehe.”

As they say, you can’t spit on a smiling face, can you?

I-I’m sorry….

I was currently begging for forgiveness.

Research Director Choi Eunju.

She was reviewing the analysis report of this test along with the recorded video with the test team members.

Beep-

“If you look at this scene, you can see that the shape of the lifted water continues to change irregularly. I suspect she might not be able to distribute a consistent force evenly.

Given that all the glass cups that contained water were also broken, it seems she cannot yet precisely define the range either.”

“In short, her control over her power is unskilled.”

“Yes. The results from the gem, steel ball, and other tests seem to have come out the same for the same reason.”

“Yes, that’s right. Good work.”

Choi Eunju nodded, re-examining the analysis report.

Well, honestly, there was nothing but obvious information, but it was a recently conducted experiment, and it was still only day 1, so it couldn’t be helped.

She noted something on the analysis report, then moved the still screen to the next scene.

Then, suddenly, the bright smiling face of a cute girl… no, an Angel appeared.

“Ah! So cute!”

“Ugh… Cu-cute….”

“Oh~ What do I do. She’s truly like an Angel….”

“She really is an Angel….”

Suddenly appearing, murderous cuteness.

The meeting room instantly grew lively and heated.

At that, Choi Eunju, barely managing to hold back the corners of her lips from rising, said.

“C-cough… Alright, everyone, please be quiet. I’ll ask for the explanation.”

“Ah, ah, yes! In this test….”

Thus, the next presentation quickly ended.

The screen once again moved to the next scene, and this time, the smiling face of the Angel appeared.

Slam!

Simultaneously with the appearance of the video, an unidentified dull sound echoed through the meeting room.

It was the sound of Choi Eunju slamming her head onto the desk.

“… Oh? A-are you okay?”

“Ah, ah…. I suddenly felt dizzy. I’m fine.”

“That must have hurt quite a bit….”

“I’m perfectly fine. It’s okay. Now, let’s continue with our Angel’s… no, the test explanation.”

A full array of worried and puzzled gazes from the team members gathered, but ultimately, she maintained her composure even at the sight of the Angel.

She was a professional.