“My name is Yeon Haneul. Thank you for playing along with me earlier.”
“I was looking for a partner too. I’m Cha Eunsol.”
The girl who introduced herself as Cha Eunsol exuded a somewhat mystical air.
Gazing into her green eyes brought about the illusion of standing in a densely forested woodland.
It felt as though I was facing vast nature itself.
‘…It feels like my heart is calming down.’
The space around Cha Eunsol was serene and tranquil, as if severed from the rest of the world.
Standing in her world, Yeon Haneul found that atmosphere deeply pleasing.
‘I never knew silence could be this comfortable.’
Yeon Haneul, who was usually shy around strangers, was strangely not shy with Cha Eunsol at all.
Even though Cha Eunsol didn’t speak much, it wasn’t uncomfortable, and somehow, Yeon Haneul could understand what she was thinking.
The same was true for Cha Eunsol.
“Now it’s your turn, Eunsol.”
“Yeah.”
“What did it say?”
She didn’t show it outwardly, but she was feeling a sense of familiarity.
It was because their temperaments, their love of quiet, matched.
As a result, their conversation proceeded quietly and without awkwardness.
“If tomorrow were a holiday, what would you like to do?”
“What do you want to do?”
“…I think I’d sleep in late.”
“Me too. And?”
“While looking at natural scenery….”
“Yeah.”
“I think I’d eat something delicious. Yum.”
“You enjoy gastronomy?”
“Right. The reason I came to Academy City… yeah, it’s actually because of that.”
“To tour the famous restaurants in Academy City?”
“Yum yum.”
“I know a few delicious places; should I tell you?”
“Really?”
“My friend also likes touring restaurants, so I follow them around often.”
“Tell me. I’ll take note.”
“Then… I’ll give you my number here. I’ll contact you after we exit the Gate.”
“Yeah. This is my number.”
“Hey, um….”
“Yum?”
“Want to grab a meal together next time?”
Yeon Haneul said shyly.
To her, she had mustered quite a bit of courage to say it.
Cha Eunsol, who had been chewing food in her mouth, quietly looked at her.
“Yeah, sure.”
Swallowing the food with a gulp, she nodded.
Yeon Haneul’s face brightened.
“Really? Then I’ll look forward to it.”
“Yeah. So what about you?”
“Me? What I’ll do on a holiday?”
“Yum yum.”
“Um… maybe I’ll watch dramas I haven’t seen? If not, I’ll read a book or something.”
“Dramas?”
“I like watching dramas.”
“I watch them sometimes too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They advertise famous restaurants in them, don’t they.”
“Ah, you mean PPL?”
“Right, that. I watch because of that.”
“It’s fascinating that you watch them like that….”
“Shall we draw the next question?”
“Ah, yeah. It’s my turn.”
“Yum yum?”
“What is a snack you eat often?”
“I eat this.”
“Sausage?”
“Yeah, it’s tasty. It’s nutritious too. …Want one?”
“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Don’t you have a snack?”
“I have this.”
“Ah, jelly. It’s delicious.”
“I eat it when I need sugar. This is tasty. Here.”
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Exchanging sausages and jellies,
Yeon Haneul and Cha Eunsol finished their conversation warmly.
“I’ll contact you after we exit the Gate.”
“Yeah, I’ll contact you too.”
Yeon Haneul, having obtained Cha Eunsol’s signature, rose from her seat with a smile.
‘She seems like a good kid. I hope I can see her at the Academy.’
Yeon Haneul wished earnestly.
Fortunately, there would be no need to worry.
Because Cha Eunsol was also wearing a black admission ticket like herself.
She wouldn’t be eliminated.
‘She must also be from a prestigious family?’
Yeon Haneul, who was an outsider when it came to news of prestigious families, did not know Cha Eunsol’s identity.
She merely assumed as much.
Soon, she decided to find a conversation partner to get the remaining signatures.
It was then that she met Go Eunbi.
“Haneul! Are you looking for someone to talk to right now too!?”
“Ah, Eunbi.”
“Then want to do it with me?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Great! Duel! My turn! Draw!”
“…Do we really have to do it like that?”
“Haneul, are you a dog person or a cat person?”
“Um, Eunbi… I don’t think you even looked at the card before asking….”
“For your information, I like both!”
Unlike Cha Eunsol, Go Eunbi was extremely energetic.
But Yeon Haneul was gradually getting used to her atmosphere.
* * *
According to the game’s settings and mana studies,
beings that harbor mana and possess souls each have a Mental Image World.
The Mental Image World is a realm reflecting the spiritual elements of that soul’s unconscious, dreams, emotions, and desires; it could be called the crystallization that forms one’s identity.
Among monsters, there were those that infiltrated that world to attack.
They were commonly monsters classified under the Dream Demon category, like succubi or incubi.
‘The 4th practical exam will probably be fighting those guys in the Mental Image World.’
They were tricky opponents.
To face them, one first had to realize that they had been dragged into the Mental Image World and were under attack by those guys.
By doing so, one could reclaim dominance over the Mental Image World while also drawing them out.
Naturally, the guys didn’t stay still either.
They constantly deluded you so you couldn’t wake from the Mental Image World.
‘In the game, there were system limitations, so the process of realizing the Mental Image World and fighting them wasn’t difficult….’
But in this world freed from the system’s limitations, it was different.
They could infiltrate my Mental Image World and delude me in endlessly clever ways.
From the start, my past self was a player of the game, so my position was completely different.
I had to keep my wits about me.
‘It would be good to prepare a method to realize I’m in the Mental Image World.’
If I knew they were going to infiltrate, I just had to prepare.
I thought of a few countermeasures while looking for Yeon Haneul.
“Great! Duel! My turn! Draw!”
“…Do we really have to do it like that?”
“Haneul, are you a dog person or a cat person?”
“Um, Eunbi… I don’t think you even looked at the card before asking….”
“For your information, I like both!”
Yeon Haneul was drawing cards and talking with Go Eunbi.
It seemed the question game hadn’t been going on for long.
I debated whether to wait and inform the two of them like this.
‘…I’ll tell them later. First, I need to go get signatures too.’
Telling them later wouldn’t be too late.
There was still plenty of time at the banquet.
I decided to wander the banquet hall to look for conversation partners.
[If you’re confident in your strength! All examinees who think so, please come up on stage! This mini-game is steel plywood breaking! The examinee who breaks the most steel plywood will be awarded 3 Adamantine Coins as a prize!]
Meanwhile, a mini-game was being held on stage.
As time passed, the examinees who had been showing wariness now seemed to be enjoying the games comfortably.
‘They’ll end up getting done in their dreams at this rate.’
Not knowing it might be a ploy by the examiners to make them let their guard down,
the examinees were climbing onto the stage to collect coins as if they had already passed, even though they hadn’t.
“You can’t leave me out when it comes to strength!”
Among them was Yong Haerang.
He had a face that looked thoroughly excited enjoying the banquet.
‘As for him… well, he’ll manage on his own.’
There was no need to worry about Yong Haerang.
I decided to stop paying attention to him and played the question game with the examinees.
Time passed since then.
[Congratulations on 1st place! The examinee will be awarded 3 Adamantine Coins as a prize….]
[Hurrah! Thank you!]
By the time Yong Haerang took 1st place, only one signature remained for me.
I went to meet Yeon Haneul.
“Haneul, did you collect all the signatures?”
“Ah, Gyeonu. I was looking for you actually…. I have just one left now.”
“I only need one more too. Want to do it with me?”
“Yeah!”
Yeon Haneul also happened to have just one person’s signature left.
We immediately found an empty seat nearby and sat down.
Meanwhile, she seemed to have a lot to say after being apart from me.
She chattered at me while I was shuffling the cards.
“I made a friend this time? Our tastes and personalities match pretty well. We decided to eat together later if we get into the Academy.”
“Really? What’s this now? You’re usually shy around people you just met. Did you click that well?”
“I found it a bit amazing too. Just… the vibe and feeling were so good.”
“Hmm… Really?”
Yeon Haneul, who was wary like a rabbit, didn’t easily open her heart and took a long time to get close to someone.
‘And she has high standards for people too.’
Even I had spent time quietly to get close to her.
For such a girl to open her heart right from the first meeting, I could only think it was unexpected.
She must have been quite a decent person.
Which made me think,
‘Is she better than me?’
That thought crept in for no reason.
I somehow felt like my share in Yeon Haneul’s heart had decreased.
Of course, I knew that couldn’t be true.
I knew it was childish too.
But I couldn’t help asking.
I drew a card.
“Was that person a boy or a girl?”
“Are you Eunbi? You didn’t even read it, just slapped it on the table.”
“What are you talking about? I read the card.”
“So that’s your question?”
“…The point of this game is to converse with 10 questions, so let’s just be flexible about it.”
“Wait, are you seriously asking right n—”
“So, boy or girl?”
“Why? Are you curious about that?”
“Hey, answering a question with a question is against the rules.”
“It was a boy.”
“…What kind of guy.”
“I’m lying. It was a girl.”
“Must’ve been a good person.”
“Heh, that’s what they say. I’ll introduce you if I get the chance.”
“Sure.”
“Ah, but… she’s really pretty though….”
“So what? You’re pretty too.”
“….”
“You don’t lose to anyone anywhere, so don’t try to compare yourself to her for no reason.”
“That’s not what I meant but… yeah, thanks.”
Indeed, there was no way a man could break down Yeon Haneul’s wariness in one go.
Since she wasn’t even the same gender as me, there probably wasn’t any need to compete over who occupied more of her heart.
The corners of my mouth rose.
Then, Yeon Haneul reached for the deck.
“I’ll draw this time.”
“Sure. …Huh?”
“…I saw you having fun with a grey-haired girl earlier; do you know her?”
“Why are you slamming it down without reading?”
“Let’s be flexible.”
“Is that your question?”
“Yeah.”
“If it’s a grey-haired girl… ah, you mean Nam Yuri.”
“Nam Yuri?”
“She’s from the Yeonseong Nam clan. You know, the examinee who froze the sea yesterday.”
“Ah, so she was from the Ten Great Houses. But what did you talk about?”
“She’s flipping the card again….”
“You’re the one who said to be flexible.”
“Fine, since we won’t get caught, let’s be moderately flexible. As for what I talked about with Nam Yuri… we played the question game, like now.”
“Like this?”
“You’re flipping again…. What do you mean ‘like this’?”
“I’m asking if you were flexible.”
“This is my first time doing it with you.”
“Then forget it. So you only played the question game without any feelings?”
“Why are you flipping the card again….”
“Flex. I. Bil. I. Ty. I’m serious.”
“Ah, okay….”
“Answer the question, hurry.”
“That’s a difficult question. Can you play the question game without any feelings?”
“I can.”
“Just… I think it varied depending on the question each time. I did end up playing rock-paper-scissors with her, though.”
“Rock-paper-scissors?”
“The question was, if we played rock-paper-scissors right now, what would I throw first?”
“Hmm… So you ended up playing it for real even though you could’ve just said it?”
“…Why are you glaring at me?”
“Nothing, I was just thinking you had fun.”
“….”
“The mood must’ve been nice.”
“…Fine, this is the fifth question. What do you think you’d throw?”
“Scissors.”
“Rock.”
“Paper!”
“Paper.”
“I won, right?”
“Hey, can you end it with rock-paper-scissors? You have to do muk-jji-ppa to win….”
“Muk, jji.”
“….”
“Yeah, I won.”
“Let’s go again.”
“No. You’d pester me to keep going until you win.”
“I won’t.”
“We don’t have time, so let’s do it next time.”
“…I guess I have no choice.”
“Then the sixth question. Hmm, what would be a good question this time.”
“Ah, right. Come to think of it, Nam Yuri told me something.”
“Huh? What?”
“She said the food we ate at the hotel has sleeping pills in it.”
“What?”
“So I was thinking….”
This was perfect timing.
While playing the game with Yeon Haneul, I told her my theory.
Soon, her brows furrowed.
“A test in a dream….”
“I’m certain of it.”
“Listening to you, Gyeonu, that’s all I can think of too. And we’re in the highest-grade room as it is, so it must be really difficult.”
“That’s why we have to prepare.”
“By making ourselves realize it’s a dream?”
“Of course.”
“How? Do you have a good method?”
“There are several methods…. You mark your body. A sign that says ‘this is a dream.’”
“You mean so that if we see the sign in the dream, we can realize it.”
“Right, so give me your hand. If I leave it on your hand, it’ll be easy to see.”
“Then you give me your hand too. I’ll write it for you.”
“Here.”
Fortunately, there was a pen too.
We took this chance to reach out to each other and write the marks.
“But with this, even if we realize it, it won’t be a way to wake from the dream. We’ll have to resolve it directly.”
“That’s why I have an idea.”
“Again?”
“Lean your ear close.”
“Okay.”
Yeon Haneul offered her ear.
I whispered into her ear so others couldn’t hear.
“The idea is….”
“Unngh….”
“….”
“S-Sorry. Keep talking. I’ll endure.”
“So the idea is….”
“Ahn….”
“….”
Every time I whispered, Yeon Haneul flinched.
It couldn’t be helped.
I paid no heed to her reaction and continued speaking.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss