No matter how sociable one may be, there are bound to be people with whom things just don’t click.
Though you may get along smoothly on the surface, inside you’re anxious and on edge.
Time spent together—especially time alone together—feels awkward and uncomfortable.
To Go Eunbi, Nam Yuri was such a person.
“The watch says they’re nearby, but where on earth are they? Ahaha….”
“Right? Ahaha.”
The other friends seemed to have vaguely noticed as well, but there was something spine-chilling about Nam Yuri.
One shouldn’t dismiss her as impulsive, eccentric, quirky, or strange merely because the conversation often missed the point and the flow kept breaking.
Rather, if you looked at it differently, you could tell she was self-willed and self-centered.
There was something fundamentally skewed in her personality, and her ability to empathize was lacking as well.
An attitude that was excessively forward and without scruples was no different from having no consideration or respect for others.
She didn’t take other people’s circumstances into account.
She seemed indifferent to her surroundings because everything was a hassle, yet wasn’t exactly indifferent either. She appeared similar to Cha Eunsol, who accepted people as they were, but was fundamentally different.
For that reason.
‘Guys… where are you all? I miss you so much….’
Go Eunbi, taking the exam alongside Nam Yuri, couldn’t help but be anxious.
She terribly missed her friends who weren’t there.
It was hard to endure the silence, too.
She skimmed over surface-level topics and searched the forest for signposts.
Meanwhile, Nam Yuri giggled as she watched Go Eunbi, who was checking her reaction, and said, “Eunbi-kkabi is an interesting person, isn’t she?”
Thus the awkward companionship continued.
And finally.
“Ah! Found it! Yuri, it’s over there!”
“Oh! Is it? Let’s go, let’s go!”
The two of them discovered a metal stake embedded in the ground.
Go Eunbi ran over joyfully and tried to save the information to her necklace.
Rustle.
That was when she heard signs of people.
She started and looked around in surprise.
Before she knew it, students holding swords had surrounded them, snickering.
They had been hiding their presence all along.
“Tch, we were lying in wait thinking it was Yeon Haneul, but it’s not.”
“What should we do? Looking at the weapon she’s carrying, she doesn’t seem to be from a swordsmanship track. Should we just let them go?”
“What, isn’t that Go Eunbi? Talk about bad luck, running into her here of all places….”
“You know her? Then just let her go.”
“Why would we let her go? Don’t you know her? Go Eunbi is that girl who hangs around with Do Gyeonu and Yeon Haneul.”
“That’s what I’m saying? The kid next to her is probably close to them, too?”
“Wait, if it’s gray hair….”
“….”
The gazes of the students muttering among themselves while mentioning Do Gyeonu and Yeon Haneul were anything but friendly.
Go Eunbi couldn’t let down her guard and swallowed dryly.
Sweat beaded on her hand gripping the bow.
‘What should I do….’
A bow was vulnerable in a situation where the advantage of distance couldn’t be utilized.
If combat broke out like this, she had no means of handling them.
She had learned Krav Maga for self-defense, but it wasn’t perfect.
There were limits to Go Eunbi’s skill.
Even if she kicked the male students in the groin, it would work on at best two or three of them.
Since there were female students mixed in among them as well, she couldn’t expect a dramatic effect.
Then the remaining alternative was….
“Nam Yuri of the Yeonseong Nam Clan?”
“If it’s the Yeonseong Nam Clan, they’re one of the Ten Great Clans. Damn, aren’t we going to get in trouble later?”
“It’s fine. Seungu said he’d take responsibility. And this is an exam.”
“….”
She had no choice but to rely on Nam Yuri.
If it was her, she would surely be able to resolve the crisis.
The opponents had just realized her identity and were showing hesitation.
Go Eunbi seized the opportunity and spoke to the girl beside her.
“Yuri, I’ll provide cover, so you take care of those guys….”
“Are you ordering me right now?”
“….”
Nam Yuri abruptly cut her off.
Go Eunbi felt a sinister chill from her, who asked with a beaming face.
Instinctively, she sensed that she had offended Nam Yuri.
Meanwhile, Nam Yuri persistently questioned her, as if determined to get an answer.
“I asked you, Eunbi. Are you ordering me right now?”
“….”
“I said, are you ordering me?”
“….”
“Why aren’t you answering? Can’t you hear me? Are you deaf? Or are you ignoring me?”
It felt like standing atop a blade.
If she answered incorrectly, she would be harmed not by the students, but by Nam Yuri.
So she couldn’t make the wrong choice.
Go Eunbi’s mind spun frantically, trying to break through the situation.
Soon, just as Nam Yuri’s patience snapped and her purple eyes flashed—
“O-ordering? It’s a request! F-friends are allowed to ask each other favors!”
“….”
“T-that’s how we get closer. Ahaha….”
Go Eunbi babbled whatever came to mind.
Nam Yuri stared intently at her, who let out an awkward laugh.
Then she replied in a cheerful tone, as if nothing had happened.
“Is that so? I see! Friends can ask favors of each other.”
“R-right! Yuri, if you have anything to ask, tell me anytime. We’re… best friends, right?”
Fortunately, she seemed to have averted the danger.
Go Eunbi, who had inwardly aged ten years, sighed in relief.
Meanwhile, Nam Yuri—who had never made a friend before meeting Do Gyeonu’s group—was thrilled.
* * *
To obtain something, one must pay an equivalent price.
Alchemy is precisely the study that pursues truth by combining and transforming the structure of matter based on that equivalent exchange, synthesizing matter from entirely different dimensions, creating entities helpful to daily life, and crafting substances.
In mana studies, it is also classified as practical magic situated between pure magic, which values human potential, and white magic and black magic, which borrow the power of otherworldly beings.
Thus, the general perception that alchemy belonged to the production category rather than the combat category was prevalent.
Since the proportion of alchemists was indeed more concentrated in the production category, it couldn’t be said to be entirely wrong.
But concluding from that that alchemists were at a disadvantage in combat was clearly an error in judgment.
The students who arbitrarily misunderstood and believed in numerical superiority, who underestimated Nam Yuri for being short—their ending was obvious.
“Ah, that feels refreshing! I was getting tired of searching for signposts all this time, so moving my body makes me feel a bit alive.”
“Kuugh….”
There wasn’t even a need for Go Eunbi to assist.
Nam Yuri, who had taken down the students almost by herself, shook out her hands and cheered.
‘…Amazing. As expected, people belonging to the Ten Great Clans are different.’
Go Eunbi, who had witnessed Nam Yuri’s skill directly, couldn’t close her mouth.
But now was not the time to be in admiration.
Just moments ago, the students had chattered while mentioning Do Gyeonu and Yeon Haneul’s names.
Though she didn’t know what had happened, it was clear that some mishap had befallen the two.
She intended to interrogate them in detail.
Nam Yuri seemed to have been thinking about it too.
“Hey, what were you talking about earlier? Why did you mention Gyeonu-gyeonu and Haneul-haneul?”
“I-it’s nothing. Anyway, it has nothing to do with y—!”
“Are you joking? Why do you get to decide whether it concerns us or not? I asked. If someone asks, you answer. And do you know your pulse is quickening? Lying isn’t fun.”
She had already figured out who was leading the group.
Nam Yuri stepped on the back of a male student who appeared to be from a swordsmanship clan and pulled both arms back behind him.
She seemed ready to dislocate them without hesitation if he didn’t confess.
However, the male student refused to yield to the threat, as if trying to preserve his pride.
He spat out while enduring the pain.
“As if I’d tell you….”
“Is that so? Got it.”
Crack!
“…!”
Nam Yuri didn’t give him a chance to reconsider.
As a member of a prestigious clan herself, she knew the pride unique to them.
Not wanting to waste time needlessly, she broke the male student.
The male student, whose two arms hung limply, could no longer maintain his reason.
He wailed as if he had become a beast and shed tears.
Those present were terrified by the situation that occurred in an instant.
“If I can’t find out from you, it’s a shame, but I’ll just ask the others.”
“….”
Of course, Nam Yuri expected that she wouldn’t obtain meaningful information from the other students.
Even so, she didn’t mind.
What breaks a person of integrity is not oneself, but the sacrifice of others.
The male student with both arms dislocated would no longer be able to turn away from the sights that would occur before his eyes.
Sooner or later, he would surrender.
Confident of that inwardly, she approached the students whose faces were overshadowed with fear.
That was when Go Eunbi called out.
“W-wait! Yuri!”
“…Why?”
“No, it’s just… I thought this might be a bit too harsh for them. How about finding out another way?”
Go Eunbi was equally surprised by Nam Yuri’s merciless actions.
Unable to pretend she hadn’t seen, she cautiously expressed her opinion.
Nam Yuri couldn’t help but find it strange.
“I don’t really understand how this is harsh. They attacked first, so isn’t this justified? Eunbi-kkabi, if our positions were reversed, who knows what they would have done to us. And is there a more suitable method than this?”
“That may be true, but….”
“If there isn’t, I’ll do it my way. This is the most effective.”
If it was a valid argument, it was certainly a valid one.
Go Eunbi couldn’t respond.
Even so, she didn’t emotionally agree with Nam Yuri’s methods.
She fretted and racked her brain, then recalled a certain memory.
“H-how about stripping their clothes!?”
“Huh?”
“I tried it with Gyeonu before, and it was surprisingly effective….”
“With Gyeonu-gyeonu? Hmm… I see. Good, it looks interesting, so shall we try it that way?”
Fortunately, Nam Yuri showed curiosity.
While Go Eunbi was relieved, Nam Yuri tried to tear the clothes of a fallen student.
That was when the bushes rustled.
“….”
Were there more enemies remaining?
Nam Yuri and Go Eunbi tensed in wariness and checked the figure walking out from the bushes.
Then they showed signs of delight.
“We got a bit lost, but we somehow arrived safely….”
“Go Eunbi! Nam Yuri! Were you here!? Have you collected a lot of signposts!?”
Bak Sagun and Yong Haerang joined them.
* * *
Do Gyeonu might find it laughable, but the triplets weren’t particularly stupid.
They were sly, quick-witted, and above all, knew how to read the flow.
U Geumdong, U Eundong, U Dongdong.
The fact that the three of them dropped their pride the moment they were cast aside by Do Seungu and quickly switched sides to him was proof enough.
There was no way such people would fail to notice the chaotic atmosphere.
“She can’t have run far! Hurry up and find Yeon Haneul!”
“By now she might be paralyzed from poison and collapsed! Let’s search for places to hide!”
“Whoever finds the Bunny will get a reward from Seungu! So don’t slack off!”
The forest was noisy.
Students appearing to be from swordsmanship tracks ran about the forest in groups, shouting.
The triplets, who had been registering signposts but sensed people and hid themselves, observed them.
“We kept seeing kids like that on the way, right?”
“They’re the ones latched onto Do Seungu.”
“What? Why are they doing that?”
Their behavior, showing no interest in signposts and seemingly searching for someone, was extremely suspicious.
The triplets intuitively realized that they were scheming something sinister.
“….”
Sensing foreboding, the triplets silenced their footsteps and approached as close as possible.
They felt they needed to figure out Do Seungu’s group’s intentions.
Just then, Gim Ilsik, Gim Isik, and Gim Samsik appeared on the scene.
They, who harbored ill will toward those guys, pricked up their ears at the conversation.
“That Yeon Haneul kid, she’s going to die, right?”
“They say the antidote is only with Seungu, so she’ll definitely die. Too bad.”
“It’s her fault for getting involved with that Do Gyeonu guy. More importantly, she needs to be alive until we find her, but where on earth is she hiding?”
“Monsters are swarming in. She must be nearby, but….”
“We’ll find her eventually as time passes. The mana being released from her body will keep increasing.”
“….”
The Gim triplets snickered.
The faces of U Geumdong, U Eundong, and U Dongdong—who had roughly inferred how the situation was unfolding from the given information—couldn’t help but contort.
To briefly summarize the point….
‘Haneul is in critical condition from poison?’
‘Those bastards are chasing Haneul right now.’
‘So Do Seungwoo has the antidote?’
That was one way to put it.
The triplets gritted their teeth, feeling as if fire were burning inside them.
A fighting spirit flickered in their eyes.
‘They dare lay a hand on Haneul?’
The triplets’ ties with Yeon Haneul went back a long way.
A full five years.
Do Gyeonwoo refused to admit it, but they, too, were her childhood friends.
Ever since they were little, whenever he put them through the wringer, she had been the one to comfort them. They could not simply stand by while their close friend was in danger.
Gripping their swords and exchanging glances, they nodded to one another.
“Let’s go. We’re beating those bastards down.”
“I didn’t like them anyway. Let’s teach them a lesson while we’re at it.”
“We’re going to protect Haneul.”
Immediately after, the triplets launched a surprise attack, heedless of the fact that they were outnumbered.
The first strike wins.
* * *
The day was fading.
As the sun sank beyond the western horizon, the sky was growing dark.
Almost half the grade practical exam had already passed.
By now, students who had collected all thirty markers would be appearing one by one and leaving through the gate.
However, most of those aiming for the highest possible score would be shouldering the risk of having their necklaces stolen as they continued moving somewhere within the Forest of Delusion.
‘The monsters’ savagery should start increasing soon.’
Do Seungwoo was no different.
Having been the first to gather all the markers and learn the gate’s location, he had chosen to remain here and continue taking the exam.
And he waited.
For the moment when he would finally put an end to the long, ill-fated relationship that had continued since he first began holding a sword.
The moment he longed for was not far off.
‘Did he find out my location too?’
By paying the points of a student belonging to his faction to track Do Gyeonwoo’s location in real time, Do Seungwoo could not shake off his surprise.
Because Do Gyeonwoo was moving precisely in the direction he himself was heading.
In other words, it meant he had also found out his location and was coming for him.
As resentful as it was, and as much as he hated to admit it, that contradicted the attitude of someone who no longer regarded him as an opponent.
Two possibilities came to mind at once.
‘Either he noticed my rebellion and is coming to stop me, or else…’
He was coming to steal the antidote in order to treat Yeon Haneul, who had been poisoned.
Either way, it made no difference to Do Seungwoo.
He would know once they met.
What mattered was that he would be able to settle things with Do Gyeonwoo.
Confirming the distance between them as it gradually narrowed, he turned his gaze forward.
Far off, beneath the darkening sky, a figure could be seen.
It was Do Gyeonwoo. Their eyes met.
“This is a fight between me and him. Don’t interfere until I give you a signal.”
After warning the students following behind him, Do Seungwoo changed direction toward an open area.
Do Gyeonwoo realized his intention as well and slowed his pace as he headed there.
Before long, the two faced each other.
“What brings you here? You must have had some very important business with me.”
“Should I call it important business? I wasn’t originally planning to meet you, but somehow, I ended up having a reason.”
Do Seungwoo snorted and sneered.
As if refusing to be outdone, Do Gyeonwoo calmly shrugged.
Even so, neither of them relaxed their guard, each searching for an opening.
“Judging by the look of things, it must be because of that.”
“Because of what?”
The battle had, for all intents and purposes, already begun.
Holding his sword in a middle guard stance, Do Seungwoo provoked Do Gyeonwoo in order to stir up his emotions.
He spoke with a mocking grin.
“The poison of the Dark Night Wasp is special, so there’s no proper way to neutralize it. By now, your childhood friend must be hovering between life and death from the poison. That’s why you came, thinking I’d have the antidote, didn’t you? Yes, just as you expected, I have the antidote.”
“…What?”
“Seeing as you found out my location and came all this way, you must have been quite desperate. She must be that precious to you, huh? That demi-human of unknown origins?”
“…”
“Get a grip, Do Gyeonwoo. We are people of the Divine Sword Do Family. Do you really think that demi-human is suited to us, standing in a position set apart from everyone else? Or do you see her as some sort of pet? Right. Ever since long ago, you always liked weak little rabbits and the like. Even so, the sight of you coming to meet me just to save that demi-human is truly laugh—”
“What did you just say?”
“…”
Do Gyeonwoo abruptly cut him off.
Only then did Do Seungwoo flinch as he sensed the aura emanating from him.
An aura that could only be called ghostly was coiling around him.
The light in his eyes was sharp.
“I asked what you just said.”
“…”
Anger settled over Do Gyeonwoo’s face.
It was certainly what he had wanted so badly.
And yet, with Do Gyeonwoo before him, Do Seungwoo could not simply lose himself in delight.
An emotion he could not tell was excitement or fear swept over him.
“What did you say about Haneul? Say it again, if you don’t want to die. No, you’re really dead.”
There.
Do Gyeonwoo of the Divine Sword Do Family, who pursued righteousness and honor, was nowhere to be found.
There was only a single beast growling and threatening him.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss