The next day.
Morning sunlight streamed through the classroom windows, casting mottled shadows across the desks. Students filed in, greeting one another as the room gradually grew lively.
Luna walked into the classroom with a heavy gait, her bag hanging off her shoulders.
Her complexion was paler than usual, with faint dark circles under her eyes—remnants of a night spent tossing and turning in sleeplessness.
Her long pink hair was still tied in its usual high ponytail, but it lacked its customary bounce, the ends drooping listlessly against her shoulders.
“Morning, Luna!”
A girl waved at her enthusiastically.
“Morning… Good morning.”
Luna looked up and managed a strained smile.
The smile vanished as quickly as it appeared; her pale golden eyes lacked their usual brightness, replaced by a deep exhaustion and a sense of distraction.
“Luna, what’s wrong? You look terrible.”
Another student leaned in, asking with concern.
“Are you not feeling well?”
“It’s nothing, just… I had insomnia last night and didn’t sleep well.”
Luna shook her head, her voice rasping slightly.
As she spoke, she instinctively rubbed her temples, as if a dull ache were pulsing there.
Seeing her clearly haggard state and the dark shadows under her eyes, the students nodded and tactfully backed away.
Although Luna was usually full of energy and eager to help, it was obvious to everyone that she wasn’t in the mood to talk.
“Take it easy then, don’t overwork yourself.”
The classmate patted her shoulder before turning back to her own seat.
Luna nodded without a word.
She dragged her tired feet to her seat, placed her bag on the desk, and sat down slowly.
The classroom remained noisy, with the sounds of laughter and shuffling pages weaving together to form a familiar background. But to her, it felt as if she were separated from it all by an invisible barrier.
She sat there, her gaze drifting involuntarily to the left.
On the other side of the aisle, the seat by the window.
It was empty.
Hell’s desk was bare, save for a few old books left from yesterday, stacked neatly at the corner. Sunlight spilled over the vacant space, yet it held no warmth.
Luna stared at the empty seat, a flicker of complex emotions passing through her pale golden eyes.
He hadn’t arrived yet.
Or rather…
Would he even come today?
Luna’s fingers tightened, gripping the fabric of her school skirt.
The words of the Adjudicator V from last night echoed in her mind like a festering wound—
“I need a human to help me do some things. He seems like a fine choice.”
“Since you won’t cooperate, it looks like I’ll have to take him myself.”
Take him himself.
Take Hell away.
That “scumbag” with the terrible reputation whom everyone avoided, that gloomy classmate sitting in the next aisle, a boy she greeted every day but never truly understood.
V said he needed someone for an experiment.
V said he chose Hell because his reputation was so bad that his death would be considered a “service to the public.”
Luna’s brows knitted tightly, her fingernails digging into her palms.
She could not accept it.
Even if Hell were really the person the rumors claimed, even if he had done those terrible things, he did not deserve this.
No one should be treated as a “test subject” to be sacrificed.
No one should be casually stripped of their life simply for having a “bad reputation.”
Whether as a Goddess Angel or as a common person, V’s behavior of conducting experiments on living people and justifying it through their reputation was nothing short of murderous.
The education Luna had received since childhood and the convictions held deep in her heart did not allow her to turn a blind eye to such things.
Last night, after seeing V’s threat to “take him away personally,” she had fired off several messages in rapid succession.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Don’t you dare touch him!”
“Take it out on me, but leave the innocent alone!”
However.
Every message she sent returned only one cold feedback—Read.
Read, but no reply.
Luna stared at the glaring “Read” notification, her fingers trembling. She had even considered calling him—after all, since that guy had given her his contact information, surely the phone number would work, right?
But her finger hovered over the dial button, never pressing down.
What if… what if he actually answered? What would she say? Beg him? Curse him? Threaten him? None of it would be any use.
And if she really called, would she expose more information? Would it make that guy think she “cared” and lead him to push his luck further?
She hesitated.
And in those few seconds of hesitation, V’s profile picture turned gray—he had gone offline.
Luna held her smartphone, staring at the gray icon, unable to sleep all night.
She replayed V’s words over and over, thinking of Hell, the classmate she saw every day, wondering what she would do if V really laid hands on him.
If, as a Goddess Angel, she couldn’t even protect the classmate right beside her…
Then what was the meaning of her existence?
Hadn’t she become a Goddess Angel to protect others? To keep the innocent from suffering harm?
But now, the threat was at hand, the target was near, and yet she was…
At this thought, Luna’s gaze fell once more upon the seat by the window.
Luna frowned deeply.
Could it be…
Had that guy already made his move against Hell?
The moment this thought surfaced, Luna’s heart tightened.
What should she do?
She had to find a way to protect Hell.
But how? She couldn’t just follow him around twenty-four hours a day. And given Hell’s reclusive personality, if she suddenly approached him to offer “protection,” he would surely grow suspicious.
Besides… if V really acted, could she even fight him? She still didn’t understand his bizarre abilities.
Luna’s mind was in chaos.
What could she do?
When Hell pushed open the back door of the classroom, it was already later than usual.
He did it on purpose.
After his conversation with Luna ended last night, he had calculated the time carefully—he couldn’t arrive too early, or Luna wouldn’t be there yet and his “grand entrance” would lack an audience.
He couldn’t be too late either; if the naive girl truly thought he had been “taken away,” she might do something impulsive.
So, he made sure to appear only after Luna had reached the classroom.
Hell stood at the door, his gaze sweeping over the room with indifference.
The reaction from his classmates was the same as always—some lowered their heads, pretending not to see him; others shot him looks of disdain; some exchanged tacit, disgusted glances with one another before going back to their own conversations.
Hell was long since accustomed to this.
With an expressionless face, he walked down the aisle, ignoring the open and hidden barbs, and headed straight for his seat.
As he passed Luna, he caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.
Just as he expected.
The pink-haired girl was staring at his seat with a worried expression, her brows knitted together.
Her golden eyes were brimming with anxiety and unease, and her fingers were clutching her skirt, as if she were burdened by some heavy secret.
Hell smiled inwardly.
It seemed his “threat” from last night had been remarkably effective.
He walked to his desk, tossed his bag onto it, and was just about to sit down—
“Hell…!”
A slightly agitated voice came from the side.
Hell tilted his head slightly toward the sound.
Luna was looking at him, her pale golden eyes filled with complex emotions—the relief of seeing him still alive, the urgency of wanting to say something, and the conflict of not knowing how to start.
She opened her mouth as if to speak, but the words caught in her throat.
Watching Luna’s hesitation, Hell found it somewhat amusing, but his face displayed the perfect, measured amount of confusion.
“Is something wrong, Luna?”
His voice was flat, devoid of emotion, like an ordinary boy being stopped by a classmate.
Luna’s lips moved, but in the end, she simply shook her head.
“…Nothing.”
The girl’s voice was soft, carrying a hint of imperceptible disappointment.
“Good morning, Hell.”
Hell looked into her eyes and nodded.
“Good morning.”
Then, he withdrew his gaze and sat down. As usual, he turned his head to look out the window.
But this time, his goal wasn’t just to “zone out.” He was hiding a smile that he could barely suppress.
Luna’s reaction just now had explained everything—
The Goddess Angel was worried.
She was worried about “Hell,” the classmate targeted by the Adjudicator V.
The irrepressible excitement and joy upon seeing him alive, the unspoken concern, the helplessness that turned into a simple “good morning”…
It all proved that his words from yesterday had worked.
Hell looked at the bright, sun-drenched sky outside and the corners of his mouth tilted upward.
Next…
Came the acting.
Step by step, he would lead this Goddess Angel into the trap he had meticulously designed.
He would make her watch “Hell” fall into crisis with her own eyes.
He would make her save him with her own hands.
And without her even realizing it, she would become the most vital part of his plan.
Outside the window, the sun was shining, and birds hopped and chirped on the branches.
Hell leaned against the window, a faint, lingering smile on his pale face.
The real show was only just beginning.