I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 112: Accusations

He turned, eyes scanning the endless rows of books in the Magic section— and almost immediately, his expression started to fall apart.

[Basic Spell — ✧✧]

[How to Be Cool Using Mana — ✧]

[Water Balls — ✧]

Si Hon’s face went flat.

"ಠ_ಠ..."

He kept walking, gaze moving faster now, more critical, more annoyed with every passing title.

Trash.

Too basic.

Too inefficient.

Too slow.

And then—

[Randomest Spell You Can Get — ✧✧✧✧]

"What?" The word came out louder than he intended. "What?!"

Both Seong and Suha flinched slightly at the sudden outburst, instinctively stepping back as Si Hon stared at the book like it was looking at him like his a piece of trash.

"The hell..." Seong muttered under her breath, pulling Suha a little closer to her side. "is wrong with this guy..."

But Si Hon had already moved on, muttering to himself as he continued searching, his pace picking up, eyes narrowing with focus.

Minutes passed.

More shelves.

More books.

All of them—

Not good enough.

Until—

He stopped.

Finally...

There it was.

A single book rested quietly on the shelf, just slightly out of reach— easy to miss at a glance, if not for the faint, steady glow pulsing from its spine. It wasn’t loud about it. Didn’t need to be. The rating alone spoke for it.

Five stars.

For a brief second, Si Hon just stared at it, unmoving... and then—

Both of his hands shot up, covering his face as his shoulders tensed.

"Oh my god..."

His voice came out half-laugh, half-breath, like someone who had just narrowly escaped an awkward joke.

"I’m actually lucky for once..."

He dragged his hands down slowly, revealing a wide, almost disbelieving grin, his eyes still locked onto the book like it might disappear if he blinked.

"And it’s not hundreds of feet above me too?"

A quiet pause followed— then a soft, incredulous chuckle slipped out of him, shaking his head slightly.

"Wow... My fate finally decided not to screw me over."

But even as he said it, his body had already started moving forward, steps slow, deliberate... like he didn’t quite trust the moment yet, like the world might suddenly change its mind if he got too confident.

And yes... once again, Five stars.

At last.

Oh no. But— There was a problem.

Someone was standing in front of it.

"!?"

Si Hon’s steps slowed as he approached, his gaze lifting— and then freezing the moment he recognized the figure blocking his path.

Blue hair.

Long, smooth, almost liquid under the faint light, cascading down her back with a natural elegance that felt out of place in a prison uniform. Even dressed in something so plain, so restrictive, she carried herself with an effortless grace— as if the clothes didn’t define her, as if nothing here could.

Her posture was relaxed, yet untouchable.

Calm.

Composed.

A quiet kind of distance wrapped around her presence, like she existed half a step outside of everyone else.

And her face—

Refined. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Sharp, but not harsh.

Beautiful in a way that didn’t try.

Didn’t need to.

The kind of beauty that made the surrounding noise feel dimmer, like the world instinctively lowered its volume around her.

She didn’t even look at the books with urgency.

Just... casually reading.

As if none of this mattered.

As if she already knew the outcome.

Si Hon’s eye twitched slightly.

"The Blue Team leader," he muttered under his breath, his earlier confidence pausing— just for a moment— as he stared at her back. "Yea, fuck my fate."

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Si Hon and the blue haired woman simply stood there, facing each other in silence, the space between them oddly still despite everything happening around them. Even though there’s nothing happening around them.

The distant noise of the arena felt muted here, like it didn’t quite belong in this section. No words were exchanged, no obvious hostility shown— but the air carried something subtle, something watchful. It wasn’t a stare down meant to intimidate.

It was... observation.

Measured. Quiet. Patient.

Si Hon’s gaze didn’t linger on her for long.

Instead, it shifted— sliding past her shoulder, locking onto something behind her.

The book.

That single, glowing, five-star book.

The moment his focus changed, she noticed.

Her eyes flicked, following his line of sight almost immediately, her attention drifting toward the same spot.

There was no hesitation in it, no confusion— just a smooth, natural reaction, like she had already been paying attention to everything around her from the start.

And just like that—

She began searching.

Not openly. Not obviously.

But it was there.

A subtle shift in her gaze. A slight adjustment in posture. The faintest narrowing of her eyes as she tried to pinpoint exactly what had caught his attention.

That was all it took.

Something in Si Hon clicked.

(Wait...)

His expression didn’t change much, but his thoughts sharpened instantly, pieces falling into place faster than before.

(She doesn’t know.)

His eyes flickered once more toward the book— then back to her.

(She doesn’t know what I’m after...)

A small pause followed, his brows knitting ever so slightly as a new thought crept in, slower this time, more cautious.

But then...

His gaze lingered on her again, more carefully now, studying instead of reacting.

(What is she even doing...?)

The question settled deeper than expected.

Because now that he was actually thinking about it— Her presence didn’t quite make sense.

Not the way she stood. Not the way she moved. Not even the way she looked at things.

There was something off.

Not wrong.

Just... off.

(Why is she here... and why does she feel so... suspicious? Ayo!!! Among us!)

"I mean," Si Hon immediately cleared his throat. "That’s suspicious." He whispered under his breath.

For the first time since spotting the five-star book— Si Hon hesitated.

Si Hon hesitated, not because he was unsure about the book anymore— but because of her.

His eyes narrowed slightly, his expression flattening into a quiet, unimpressed stare. "ಠ_ಠ..."

The blue-haired woman, on the other hand, seemed completely absorbed in her own world.

She moved along the shelves with an odd kind of intensity— pulling books out, flipping them open, putting them back, then immediately grabbing another. It wasn’t the calm, composed browsing she had shown earlier. This was different.

Messier.

Faster.

Almost... desperate.

Like someone digging through a cluttered cabinet, convinced the thing they needed was right there but just out of reach.

Si Hon watched her for a few seconds longer, his gaze growing more and more skeptical with each movement.

(ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ... And why is she shaking her butt like that...? She’s like a rat...)