Support Ex-Rank

Not long ago, Phantom Thief Neon and Goo Seulbi succeeded in stealing some attendance records from the faculty office.

Their heist was perfect down to their coordinated costumes.

But even after succeeding in the act of theft, they encountered a new problem for a while.

Although they had the list of names and addresses of the Year One Class Zero students who were yet to attend school, it didn’t seem easy to persuade them.

“These two live too far, and this one lives close but…”

Goo Seulbi murmured as she looked at the address.

After Goo Seulbi was accepted to Eungwang High, she followed Merlin’s lessons and traveled around to help her teacher.

She had traveled around Eungwang District before leaving the country.

There was a place that she didn’t want to get close to, and it so happens that one of their classmates live there.

“You don’t have to make it complicated. The whereabouts of a thief should be complex and subtle, but not our thoughts!”

“The heck are you talking about?”

“It’s the way of a thief. Alright, let’s go meet our classmates!”

Phantom Thief Neon’s outfits were always cool, but his thought process was quite difficult to follow.

His “thief philosophy” in particular, which comes out of his mouth like breathing, gets more and more ridiculous every time.

But Goo Seulbi sometimes thinks that Neon was a little cool, something that she’s ashamed of herself for.

As such, Phantom Thief Neon invaded the house of one of the students who refused to go to school, but just as Goo Seulbi expected, he failed.

After the operation, Neon returned with a frowning face contrasting his bright costume.

“…I failed. You have to be desperate to be able to get in there.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Yeah. But I still gained something!”

Phantom Thief Neon fluttered the hem of his coat, showing a lily-shaped boutonnière.

His orange trench coat had points of black everywhere, and while the excessive flower decorations stood out, they were still in harmony with the rest of his clothes.

It was like a true piece of art.

Goo Seulbi couldn’t take her eyes off the gorgeous outfit.

Neon flapping his coat back around the hem looked like a tiger lily blooming.

“Tiger lilies were blooming beautifully in the garden of that house. I was inspired by it and made a new piece. This is the prototype. What do you think?”

Phantom Thief Neon’s outfit was perfect, gorgeous, and sufficiently stood out.

Goo Seulbi seemed speechless from amazement, making Phantom Thief Neon flattered and satisfied even though he hasn’t heard a word of praise yet.

Phantom Thief Neon smiled and took out a velvet case.

Inside it were several tiger lily-shaped ornaments made from cloth.

“I’ve only completed the corsage because I’m in a hurry. I’ll make you your share of the coat as soon as possible.”

Goo Seulbi carefully picked up the velvet case.

To corsage looked rather small in the big hands of Neon, but it was perfect when Goo Seulbi held it.

Maybe because the costume suited Neon so much and the design was very cool, Goo Seulbi’s heart fluttered when she looked at the corsage.

“… thanks. I’ll wear it well.”

“You’re welcome. Mine partner should always be beautiful and eye-catching.”

Phantom Thief Neon felt proud as Goo Seulbi wore the corsage.

Their eyes met, and Goo Seulbi felt embarrassed and changed the topic right away.

“Tiger lilies aren’t in season yet. Was it in a greenhouse?”

“No, it was outdoors. I think the owner of the house uses their abilities.”

Phantom Thief Neon explained the scale of the blooming tiger lilies.

The longer his explanation took, the more astonished Goo Seulbi became.

The self-proclaimed great druidess was well aware of how difficult it was to bloom out-of-season flowers outside a greenhouse.

Their opponent wasn’t one to underestimate.

There’s a high possibility that they wouldn’t even see the student’s face, let alone convince them to go to school.

Of course, Neon and Goo Seulbi, who had no intention of admitting defeat, didn’t give up.

“Our plan has just started. We can do this one step at a time. If we continue on our adventure, we will gain experience and raise our skill levels, and soon we will achieve great feats!”

“That’s right! Let’s go find the other kids first.”

After their caucus, the two decided to visit another student first.

While they were preparing to leave the country to get to that student…

Goo Seulbi, who occasionally monitored Year One Class Zero, figured out their schedule.

“…Those kids are going on a picnic?”

“What! They’re planning such a big event without us?!”

The two were speechless with grief.

They felt angry and upset that their absence wasn’t noticed enough.

The truth is, they were excluded from the picnic simply because they weren’t attending school, but the complex thinking circuit of the two attention-seekers couldn’t grasp that.

Instead, they were determined to take part in the picnic.

“Let’s go too. They’re going to look at picnic spots on the day of the CSAT!”

“Yeah, just in time, my new work has been completed. Let’s wear it together!”

“Alright!”

On the day when the two attention-seekers became the embodiment of tiger lilies and were about to meet Year One Class Zero, the CSAT cold wave hit.

Goo Seulbi opened the window, feeling the biting wind of temperatures below zero.

The weather made her feel gloomy.

‘…It’s hard to wear the tiger lily trench coats in this weather. The wind’s so strong the corsages would get crushed right away.’

They could wrap their clothes with their energy waves.

However, considerable physical strength and concentration were needed to maintain their energy waves for a long time.

If they do that, it would be entirely too difficult to spy on Year One Class Zero.

Not just that, but if they covered their clothes with energy waves, their very identity as attention seekers would be challenged.

‘We’re going to wear something that stands out so well, but it won’t be seen if it’s covered by energy waves!’

Goo Seulbi suffered a dilemma that any attention-seeker could not escape.

She felt demoralized, not knowing what to do with her frustration with the cold wave.

“Don’t worry. There’s no way I would neglect our outfits before the big event. I always thoroughly check the weather!”

Phantom Thief Neon knocked on the wall of their hideout, and as if it were a magic show, something appeared.

The closet’s door handle in the hidden wall was revealed, and Phantom Thief Neon opened it wide.

Click!

The door opened and Goo Seulbi doubted her eyes.

Inside the closet, a curtain of total natural light only visible from the poles was spread out before her eyes.

Padded jackets in the color of aurora lights.

Goo Seulbi’s hands covered her mouth in reflex as she admired Neon’s magic performance.

“Oh my world…”

“It’s an aurora padded jacket made from otherworld fabric. You can be eye-catching in the cold and move freely. Perfect aesthetically and functionally!”

Otherworld fabric is strong and can be colored freely, but it’s difficult to handle and not utilized much because the material is too expensive.

Phantom Thief Neon used it generously to perform this magic show.

He took out one of the aurora padded jackets and put it on Goo Seulbi’s shoulder.

“Let’s shine like an aurora that catches everyone’s eyes in this cold wave.”

Goo Seulbi was washed with emotions.

She won’t get cold in this outfit, and it’ll be great to witness the Year One Class Zero’s impressed faces!

The two immediately wore the jackets and chased after Year One Class Zero.

Soon enough, they caught up to them.

They were too noticeable that they were quickly discovered, but the two attention-seekers didn’t feel bad about it.

***

Seeing the aurora-colored padded jackets immediately reminded me of the two attention seekers.

I’d have recognized them even without Hwang Jiho’s words.

Our classmates also recognized the two attention seekers and greeted them warmly.

“Oh, it’s Luis Perrena and the Druidess! Hello!”

“I was worried because we weren’t seeing you recently, but I guess you guys want to come to the picnic. That’s a relief.”

“What are those clothes? Where do they sell that?”

“I think he made it himself. You’re very skillful.”

“The color is so unique. I think it’s an otherworld fabric. It’s hard to produce that color with most paints… It’s marvelous”

The kids seemed used to the attention-seekers as they talked to them comfortably.

Dokgo Miro, who didn’t often encounter the two, seemed to feel strange about the aliases Luis Perrena and Druidess.

“…That’s an unusual name.”

“Isn’t it like a stage name? Many player-performers use pseudonyms.”

Kwon Lena, who initially showed aversion toward the two attention-seekers, seemed to be getting used to them as well.

Meanwhile, the two attention-seekers had a big reaction to the situation.

“Geuk, we’ve been caught!”

“It was impossible to suppress our presence from this distance. Phew… what a shame.”

“It can’t be helped. It’s the inevitable fate of people like us who stand out.”

What a shame?

Didn’t those guys give up hiding when they decided to wear those aurora-colored jackets?

It seems like the two were sincere about hiding themselves even in those clothes, seeing the disappointment on their faces.

Though they didn’t seem so sorry.

They looked satisfied with the attention.

“Oh, what? They’re leaving? Wait, they’re really going to go?”

“I don’t know about their hiding skills, but they’re sure good at running away.”

The two retreated quickly.

They already got far for us to capture.

Hwang Jiho could do it if he wanted though.

Kim Yuri shouted at the retreating attention-seekers, perhaps quite disappointed.

“Our picnic’s on Saturday! We’ll be at this theme park, so please come and hang out with us!”

The sound resonated loudly throughout the theme park, perhaps because Kim Yuri used her energy waves.

As if they heard her, the two glanced while running away.

After they completely disappeared, the other kids continued to talk about them.

“Will they come?”

“I think they’ll come for attention.”

“Then we have to prepare lunch boxes for them! Maybe some aurora-colored macarons for them would be good…”

After that whole affair, we went around the park as we made plans for the picnic.

The kids were excited to try all the rides, devising the most efficient route to do so.

Several plans came up, and we had to draw lots to decide on one.

‘It’s not planned, but our picnic schedule is delivered to them. We just have to hide what we have to hide.’

Kim Yuri announced the itinerary loudly for the two attention-seekers to hear.

Obviously, the others who were monitoring us heard it as well.

Mok Wooram will be spending a whole day outside the school at a theme park with very few guests.

They can’t miss that opportunity.

The picnic was set for Saturday.

I looked around the empty theme park, thinking about the remaining time and coming up with plans.

Support Ex-Rank