The Mysteries of the Human Body
It was mid-June.
The spring air that had lingered all over the grounds until not long ago had passed completely, and before anyone knew it, summer had fully arrived.
The heat had grown so thick that now even moving around a little was enough to make you sweat.
Even the morning air was no longer what it used to be, growing hotter by the day, so it seemed I would have to put jogging on hold for a while.
Lisa, Min Arin, Go Eunbi, and the others who had run every morning gasping for breath would surely welcome it with open arms.
It was regrettable that I could no longer run them ragged, but there was nothing to be done.
Managing one’s condition was important too.
‘Instead, I’ll work them indoors. You think you can run away from me?’
The Divine Sword Do Clan had plenty of warm-up exercises prepared for the summer season.
The Chivalrous Yong Clan would probably be similar, so there were any number of training routines that could replace morning jogging.
Although my efforts to drag Cha Eunsol into jogging had ended in failure, I planned to make sure I took care of the rest.
I decided to put my head together with Yong Haerang sometime soon to draw up a new training plan.
In matters like this, he and I saw eye to eye, so he would gladly help.
Just imagining my friends groaning and writhing was already making me look forward to it.
Just then, Yeon Haneul spoke to me.
“What are you thinking about? Looking at your face, I get the feeling it’s something bad….”
“It’s nothing. Since it’s getting hot, I was thinking of stopping jogging for a while and switching to indoor exercise. Intensely.”
“Mm, so my feeling was right. Eunbi and Lisa are going to start celebrating, then stop halfway. Still, it’s morning training meant to warm everyone up, so don’t raise the intensity too much. What are you going to do if the kids really quit?”
“I know. I’m just saying that. I’ll adjust the intensity properly.”
Recently, students wearing summer uniforms had become easy to spot.
Yeon Haneul and I also started wearing summer uniforms as of today.
‘To be honest, even if I didn’t change into the summer uniform, it’s not like I’d suffer from the heat.’
The academy uniform had all sorts of magic built into it, including reducing damage and automatically restoring itself to some extent even if it was damaged.
Naturally, there was also magic that adjusted body temperature by infusing it with mana.
In truth, the uniform we had worn at the start of the semester was enough to get through the summer.
Students who were not financially well-off had no need to go out of their way to purchase an additional summer uniform.
‘It’s not like the academy forces students to wear summer uniforms in the hot season as part of the school rules.’
Even so, the reason students wore summer uniforms was simply because of aesthetics.
Because the winter uniform looked hot in summer.
Because they sometimes wanted a change.
There was no particularly special reason.
‘If it were me in my previous life, I’d probably have said, “Why waste money on a summer uniform?” The winter uniform also has better durability since it exposes less skin.’
Basically, the more exposed skin there was, the lower the defense tended to be.
Of course, there were opposite cases, but they were not common.
Even in games, artifacts whose defense increased in proportion to the amount of skin exposed were relatively rare.
Because of that, as someone who pursued practicality, I had secretly wanted to stick with the winter uniform.
If Yeon Haneul and my mother had not strongly recommended the summer uniform at the time, I probably would not have bought it.
Still, thinking about it now….
‘The summer uniform isn’t bad either.’
For one thing, Yeon Haneul liked it, and taking pictures together with her while she was wearing the summer uniform did not feel awkward either.
In exchange for giving up defense, it was more breathable than before and easier to move in.
Most importantly, Yeon Haneul looked pretty.
“…”
“What’s wrong?”
It was on the way to Brilliant Cafe during a free period between afternoon classes.
I found myself carefully looking over Yeon Haneul in her summer uniform again.
Receiving my gaze, she looked puzzled and shrank back.
“I-Is there something wrong with me? Is there something on me? Say something….”
“No, just….”
A white dress shirt that revealed her arms, a cute red ribbon sitting near her upper chest, a pink skirt, and skin-colored stockings.
Compared to the winter uniform, Yeon Haneul had more skin showing, and the curves of her body were more visible, so my eyes were drawn to her even more than usual.
“It’s something I think every time I see you….”
“No, don’t say it. There are other people around right now. What if they hear?”
“You’re really pretty. The summer uniform looks really good on you.”
“I told you other people can hear…. And you already said that this morning….”
“Who’s listening? Everyone’s just going on their way.”
“Still…. I’m grateful for the compliment, but it’s embarrassing….”
“You get embarrassed over everything. Other people think you’re pre—”
“No, seriously, stop. I feel like I’m going to die of embarrassment. Say things like that only when it’s just the two of us. Okay? Please?”
“Fine, fine.”
Yeon Haneul blushed shyly.
She lightly thumped my arm with a fist that carried no strength.
I let her hit me, then seized the opportunity to take her hand.
Then I touched the arm showing beneath her sleeve.
Her arm was snow-white and soft.
“Why are you suddenly kneading my arm?”
“It caught my eye. It’s squishy.”
“Are you saying I gained weight?”
“Why would this mean that?”
“Stop pulling at my skin. And don’t stretch the underside of my arm.”
“Sorry, but the underside of your arm is the most fun, so I don’t think I can stop.”
“Look at you doing it when I told you not to, seriously….”
Usually, I mostly touched her over her clothes, so I could not properly enjoy the sensation.
I played with Yeon Haneul’s arm and was taken over by a deeply satisfied appreciation.
At the same time, a question occurred to me.
‘How does her arm fit in one hand? Wait, so she’s been swinging an iron hammer with this arm all this time?’
The mysteries of the human body. No, the mysteries of Yeon Haneul.
The more I learned about Yeon Haneul, the newer and more amazing she became.
I stroked her smooth arm and marveled inwardly.
Just then, she looked up at me with a dissatisfied expression and grabbed my arm.
“It’s unfair that you’re the only one touching…. I want to touch too.”
“Sure, touch all you want. But my arm probably won’t be very satisfying to touch.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not smooth like yours. It’s rough.”
“Mm…. I actually like that better. Is it because I don’t have it?”
“…”
Yeon Haneul kneaded my arm.
Unlike me, she could not wrap one hand around it and used both hands, which was extremely cute.
It was also a little ticklish in an embarrassing way.
Unaware of how I felt, she smiled gently.
“I’ve felt it before, but it really is firm. Look at the muscle here. Men really are different.”
“How is it? Do you like it?”
“…Yeah, I do. A lot.”
“What about making it a little bigger than this?”
“Mm…. I don’t think that would be bad, but I like it as it is.”
“What about tanning?”
“…Do you want to get scolded? You were trying to sneak that in, weren’t you? No. Just try it.”
Tch, failure.
* * *
The fact that it was past mid-June meant that less than a month remained until finals.
After the class competition ended and we had relaxed comfortably for a little while, we began studying for exams one by one.
Around that time, substitute assignments were revealed in classes that did not hold exams.
The Mysteries of the Human Body, which Yeon Haneul, Go Eunbi, and I were taking, was among them.
“Today, I’m just going to briefly explain the substitute assignment for finals and end class. You’re happy class is ending early too, right?”
Friday, periods eight and nine, The Mysteries of the Human Body.
The Mysteries of the Human Body, a humanities lecture, had a reputation as a popular course.
That was because the class did not tediously analyze the human body academically, but focused on satisfying curiosity about the human body while also acquiring knowledge.
Mainly on topics like curiosity arising from the physical differences between men and women.
‘The audiovisual materials are pretty worthwhile, and the instructor’s clean but spicy way of talking is superb too.’
Above all, the true worth of The Mysteries of the Human Body lay in its role of promoting relationships between the opposite sexes.
The instructor in charge of the class, Park Ayeong, actively pursued romantic affairs between men and women, and would have men and women pair up as part of the class.
Things like requiring men and women to sit in pairs, or telling them to solve assignments together.
To begin with, the syllabus even boldly stated, “This is a class taken with a one-to-one male-to-female ratio. Even if you succeed in registering, your registration may be canceled in order to balance the gender ratio.”
Since meetings with the opposite sex were embedded at its foundation to that extent, it could not help but be popular with students.
According to what I heard from Do Sieun and Go Eunbi, it was common for students to fall for each other in class and develop into lovers, and sometimes it even led to marriage.
Though it had not been confirmed whether it was true, apparently some even ended up having a shotgun pregnancy during the semester they took the class….
‘That’s why they say it’s also called the class where two people go in and three people complete it.’
Of course, that was not something that would happen to us, who were taking the class to raise our Luck stat by 1 and earn credits easily.
At least, I did not know about Go Eunbi, but it had nothing to do with Yeon Haneul and me.
Because whenever we had to pair up with someone of the opposite sex, we would, as if by prior agreement, find each other.
So there was no chance of us meeting another member of the opposite sex in class.
Today too, we were naturally sitting together as partners.
In that state, we listened to Instructor Park Ayeong’s explanation.
“I’ll pass these around from the front, so girls, take one each.”
Instructor Park Ayeong took out some box from under the lectern.
She had the girls sitting at the very front pass its contents around.
They were handcuffs.
‘What is she planning to use these for?’
The handcuffs caught in Yeon Haneul’s hand drooped downward in the air.
Both she and I tilted our heads.
We could not hide our puzzlement over what the substitute assignment for finals would be.
Looking around, most of the other students seemed to be reacting similarly.
Just then, Instructor Park Ayeong spoke.
“Girls, you all received handcuffs, right? Then I’ll explain the substitute assignment for finals. To put it briefly, the assignment is to write a report about the daily life you spend together for twelve hours while a man and a woman are handcuffed to each other. The submission deadline is Sunday of the week finals end.”
“…”
After briefly stating the main point, Instructor Park Ayeong added further explanation.
The purpose of the assignment was to create an opportunity for men and women to learn more about each other in detail and understand the physical differences according to gender….
Though she packaged it in all sorts of plausible words, the conclusion was that it was an assignment premised on meetings between the opposite sexes.
“Then, from now on, move freely and find a partner to do the assignment with. Pairs who have found partners can report to me and leave. If anyone hasn’t made a pair by the end of class, I’ll assign you randomly, so keep that in mind.”
“Instructor! There aren’t enough male students, so the gender ratio doesn’t match. What should we do? Do we pair up with other girls?”
“Ah, right. Because of the midterm incident, the gender ratio ended up not matching. Girls may pair up with the same sex, or you may also join an already decided male-female pair. The forms of love are diverse, after all. It can’t be helped this semester. No one else has questions, right?”
“…”
“If not, then pair up!”
Instructor Park Ayeong clapped her hands.
From that moment, I could see students begin to search for members of the opposite sex they liked.
There were not many who looked embarrassed about inviting someone of the opposite sex.
It was partly because they had the nominal reason of an assignment, and partly because they had gotten used to it after taking the class for roughly three months.
It was probably also because the majority were asking the people they usually paired with.
There was no reason for it to feel too burdensome.
Meanwhile, even though there were more women, it did not seem as if men were particularly advantaged.
“Hey, if you don’t have anyone else to do it with, should we just do it together?”
“Should we? That would be easier.”
“…”
If people paired up with the same sex, male students would generally have reason to feel displeased.
Surprisingly, however, the female students did not seem to have much resistance toward that sort of thing.
Perhaps the female students I was looking at were the unusual ones.
‘Then again, now that I think about it, girls often go to the bathroom together. They hold hands too….’
In fact, including Yeon Haneul and Go Eunbi, all the girls around me often went to the bathroom together.
Had they hidden something in the bathroom?
As a man, I could not know.
In any case, I also decided to choose a partner.
I needed to claim her before some other guy beat me to it.
I turned my head toward Yeon Haneul, who was sitting quietly beside me.
Then I reached for the handcuffs on the desk.
“Yeon Haneul, I’m arresting you in the act. You do not have the right to remain silent, you cannot appoint an attorney, and you absolutely have to do the assignment with me.”
“What?”
Yeon Haneul did not reject my hand and obediently let me put the handcuffs on her.
I slipped my hand into the opposite cuff and playfully informed her.
At that, she perked up her rabbit ears and let out a giggle.
“Why? You don’t like it?”
“No, it’s not that I don’t like it. Did I commit some kind of crime? This is funny.”
“Crime? You did. You’re a thief. A very, very vicious one.”
“Huh? Did I steal something? Why am I a thief?”
“Well….”
Yeon Haneul blinked her red eyes as if curious.
I decided to answer her.
It was exactly then that Go Eunbi approached us.
“Gyeonu, don’t tell me you were going to say something like ‘The crime of stealing my heart!’ to Haneul? No way…. What era do you think this is that you’d make such a corny joke, right?”
“….”
How did she know.
Stung by Go Eunbi’s mind-reading, I stopped talking.
Yeon Haneul, whose wrist was linked to mine by the handcuffs, was waiting for my answer.
Her eyes seemed to hold some kind of expectation, which felt burdensome.
Feeling awkward for no reason, I changed my words.
“…You stole my carrot.”
“Huh? Carrot?”
“You stole a very, very vicious carrot.”
“Ah, yeah… okay….”
Yeon Haneul made a reluctant expression.
Her gaze seemed to look at me like I was definitely a weird person.
This was all Go Eunbi’s fault.
To gloss over the awkward situation, I asked Go Eunbi what she needed.
“Eunbi, what brings you here? I thought you were going to pair up with the girl sitting next to you…. Weren’t you close with her? …Don’t tell me you’re thinking of pairing up with Haneul? Sorry, but I already claimed her. Give up on Haneul.”
“Yeah…. Sorry, Eunbi. I’m already Gyeonu’s, so….”
“Yeah, I know all about you two. But sorry, can I join too? I was going to do it with the girl sitting next to me, but she ended up pairing up with another guy. So if it’s okay, could I do it together with you?”
“….”
Go Eunbi pressed her hands together and asked.
As someone who had wanted to do the assignment with just Yeon Haneul, I couldn’t help but be conflicted.
So I glanced at her to check her intentions.
As if reading my thoughts, she was wearing a bitter smile.
‘Eunbi’s asking so desperately, so it’s a shame, but isn’t it unavoidable? We’ll have plenty of chances to spend time together.’
With that, the decision was as good as made.
Unable to say no to Yeon Haneul, I let out a sigh.
‘It can’t be helped. Let’s let Eunbi join too.’
‘Sorry, Gyeonu. And thank you.’
‘If you’re thankful, treat me well.’
‘Okay!’
And so.
The three of us ended up doing the assignment together.
* * *
Ever since winning the class tournament, a flood of challenge requests far greater than before had poured in on Gang Hanbyeol.
Wishing to elevate his teacher’s reputation and become the strongest Hunter, he naturally didn’t refuse any challenges.
That day as well, he had just finished another scheduled spar.
“I learned a lot thanks to you! As promised, I’ll be taking these!”
“D-damn it…. Please, anything but that….”
“You looter….”
Recently, having snatched away weapons so frequently, he had reached the point of being called by the nickname “looter” rather than a young battle demon.
Of course, to Gang Hanbyeol, this was praise.
He paid no heed to the reproach of the seniors who had challenged him as a group and suffered a crushing defeat.
Without losing his smile, he diligently collected their weapons.
On the other hand, he held a question.
‘Yesterday and today… lately, isn’t it too frequent to be sparring with people from the black magic line?’
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand.
He had plundered the Heukma Oga clan’s treasured item from O Junsik of the Heukma Oga.
It wouldn’t be strange for those connected to the Heukma Oga to issue challenges, if only to retrieve that treasure.
Or perhaps to elevate their standing as black magicians by defeating him.
Even so, he couldn’t shake the impression that the attention pouring in was greater than expected.
‘Did someone put them up to this?’
There was someone he suspected.
A direct descendant of the Heukma Oga in his second year, whom O Junsik had mentioned some time ago.
The Black Feather of Heukma Oga, O Junsu.
A figure known among the students as a notorious ruffian.
‘So did I really get marked by that senior, just like Junsik said?’
His thoughts having reached that point, Gang Hanbyeol asked the fallen students to check if his guess was correct.
“Did someone put you up to this? Did they say they’d give you a reward if you took me down?”
“…You’re a dead man.”
“There are other families you could’ve picked, but you just had to mess with the Heukma Oga? Did you even know who’s in the second year before you picked this fight?”
“You did this to us? Do you think Junsu will stay still?”
“It’s not too late even now. If you don’t want to regret it deeply later, return the weapons.”
“And return the Heukma Oga’s treasure too.”
“….”
The seniors who had been groveling just moments ago switched attitudes and snickered.
Convinced his guess was correct by their reactions, Gang Hanbyeol curled up the corners of his mouth.
“Ah, really? I’m sure that senior has something good too. What does he have? I want to snatch it away quickly.”
If I keep defeating challengers like this, will they come to me on their own?
Gang Hanbyeol asked himself in an innocent tone.
I Became the Mid-Boss’s Childhood Friend