Prologue - A Dangerous Meeting
Ever since I was young, I knew I was not like any other ordinary person.
"Noona, you were dumped right?"
"Uh, uh, uh, how did you know? I haven't told anyone!!"
"It's written on your face~~"
That was obviously a lie. To be exact, it wasn't written on her face but 'above her head.'
"Wow, that uniform looks nice. Which school is that?"
"North-one High School."
"Huh? Where is it?"
"I have no idea."
"But you recognized their school uniform."
"I saw it once during a school field trip."
Of course, this was yet another lie. That was the first time I had seen that uniform. On top of that, I had never heard of that school either, and the more so I wouldn't know of its location. However, the moment I laid my eyes on the student, I knew their 'Affiliation.' The story of my first meeting with that student was irrelevant.
"Leaf ranked first on the charts again this time."
"Of course! Ah, Leaf is so pretty. Her singing is superb, and she has such a svelte figure!"
"By the way, I heard that all personal details of Leaf are sworn to secrecy. Is that true?"
It seemed like they were aiming for the mysterious concept. After all, her family had nothing to hide.
"Yeah, no one has any inkling of her origins or her family. Even the manager claimed that he doesn't know Leaf's real name."
"Now I'm curious what Leaf's real name might be."
"Well… Since it's Leaf, I'm sure she must have a pretty name…"
"Choi Bae-dal."
"Huh?"
Looking at those inquisitive eyes filled with confusion, I spoke once again, "Choi Bae-dal."
"Yeah, what about that person?"
"Nothing. I just suddenly recalled a movie I watched before."
Meaningless mumbling.
It was none of my business whether the real name of that girl, was it Leaf or Leaflet, was Choi Bae-dal or Choi Hong-man[1]. The important thing was, whether it was on TV or anywhere else, I was able to see the real names of the opposite parties as soon as I saw their faces…
Yes. I wasn't like every other normal person. I had an ability which others didn't. Of course, it wasn't as if I was a capable man of great ability but one thing I knew for sure was that it was definitely an unique ability. When did I first find out that I had this ability? Was it when I was in second grade in middle school?
"Stop blocking the road and get out of the way!"
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Without giving much response to that sharp voice, I moved out of the way. I didn't retort with statements such as "Why are you picking a fight when the road is wide?"
The girl was on her period. Ah. Of course, I didn't mean it as a metaphor. She was really having her period. The question was, how did I know? It was written above her head.
Yeongwol High School. Grade 2 - Class 3.
On her period, Jo Mi-young.
Really. That was what was written. But of course, it was special text that could only be seen by me and no one else.
"So when exactly did I start seeing such text? I think I recalled seeing it when I was much younger."
Have you ever played RPG games? No, I don't have to use RPG games as an example.
In most online games, characters had their ID (Identification number: An identifier assigned to a user by the computer in a network shared by numerous users.) [2] written above their head. It was a game-specific mechanism that distinguished similar looking avatars to represent an unique user.
Yes, this superpower I had (It's quite ambiguous if it should be called a superpower, but anyway) allowed me to see their names above their heads. No, well, to be precise, it allowed me to see not just their names. Their 'Affiliation' and the 'Condition' they are in were also written above their heads.
The man who just walked past me, the words above his head read 'Stayed up all night playing games, Lee Chun-kyung'. The woman behind him, the words above her head read 'In love, Moon Young-Ju'. And, the words on the head of the man who just ran past them read 'Will still be late no matter how fast he runs, Jeon Dae-il'.
"It's really interesting no matter how many times I have seen it."
Those words which were written before their names, I refer to them as 'Title'. Titles were numerous and would change with every passing moment. It was usually affected by the person's current situation or state of mind. Because of this, many had often told me that I was quick-witted. They also said that I was good at memorizing names. Even though I was just reading what their titles said from time to time.
"What a joke of an ability."
Yeah, wasn't this ability really ridiculous? Calling it a superpower or a spiritual ability would be borderlining it. If the ability allowed me to create fireworks or see spirits just by thinking about it, I would have been able to guess what I could do with it; but otherwise, it was hard to guess what exactly was the purpose of my ability, much less how it worked.
Not that it didn't help me in my daily life, and I don't have any complaints about my ability either, but still…
"Excuse me."
A sudden tiny whisper brought my running thoughts back in. The owner had called out apprehensively, perhaps fearful that I would be startled.
I turned without much thought, "Are you calling me?"
"Yes."