It might come as a surprise, but the student who ranked near the top in the martial arts track was none other than Yong Haerang.
So it was only natural that the homeroom instructor selected him as the representative.
“Then the class representative will be Haerang. Haerang, I’ll be counting on you from now on.”
“Yes, understood! Since you’ve placed your trust in me, Instructor, I’ll do my very best as class representative!”
“Uh… r-right…. Do your best.”
The Chivalrous Yong Clan could not abide injustice and acted according to faith and honor.
They were even more emotional than the Divine Sword Do Clan, who followed justice and benevolence, and the Iron Bulwark Kwon Clan, who upheld loyalty and gratitude.
That was why they were the Chivalrous Yong Clan.
Although he had not wanted it himself, Yong Haerang burned with responsibility as class representative in order to live up to his homeroom instructor’s trust.
Blazing fiercely.
‘…Am I doomed?’
Just looking at him felt hot enough to make one sweat.
The homeroom instructor somehow had the illusion that flames were blazing around him.
Only belatedly was he swept up in regret, wondering if he might have made the wrong choice.
But he could not take back his decision.
“If no one volunteers to be class representative, I’ll choose someone myself. Let’s see…. Nam Yuri? Sorry, but could you go through a bit of trouble for the semester….”
Meanwhile, Nam Yuri, who had entered with high marks in the alchemy track for the same reason, also received an offer to become class representative.
However, she was not the sort of person who meekly obeyed an instructor’s words.
“Why me?”
“What?”
“Are you ordering me right now?”
“…”
“By what authority, Instructor?”
“Yuri, I’m your instructor….”
“Do you have the authority to force me?”
“…”
At the back of the lecture room.
Nam Yuri, who had been idly twisting her gray hair while listening to the dull orientation, raised an objection.
With her violet eyes curving into round crescents as she smiled, her question, asked as if she were purely curious, stirred up an indescribable sense of unease.
The homeroom instructor instinctively flinched before the girl who had only just entered the academy.
“Y-Yuri, you don’t want to?”
“No. I can’t stand troublesome things.”
“I-I seeee….”
“…”
At Geumgang Academy, an instructor’s authority was quite powerful.
There was nothing to gain from antagonizing those who could affect a student’s grades.
However, those with enough influence to oppose that authority were people from renowned families—especially members of the Ten Great Clans.
If the instructors and they maintained amicable relations, they could get along comfortably, but if things happened to go wrong between them, it would become troublesome.
Trying to use an instructor’s authority to treat them carelessly would only create headaches.
The homeroom instructor knew this well through many years of experience.
Having become tense under Nam Yuri’s momentum, she muttered in a reluctant tone.
The students quietly watched the conflict between the two of them.
‘I’d better not touch her for no reason.’
If Nam Yuri of the Alchemy Nam Clan became the representative, the students would follow without complaint, and she could spend the first semester comfortably.
But it seemed that she was not someone the instructor could handle.
The homeroom instructor made her assessment of Nam Yuri in that brief span of time.
She might be short and adorably cute, and her long, fluffy gray hair might make her look like a docile lamb, but she was no lamb.
She was a wolf in sheep’s clothing—no, a snake.
A fierce and dangerous snake.
It was best not to get involved with such a being.
The homeroom instructor, who somehow brought a hamster to mind, decided to yield to her.
“If Yuri doesn’t want to do it, then it can’t be helped. Is there anyone who would help me by taking on the role of class representative?”
“…”
With this conflict as the starting point,
Nam Yuri also came to be known among the students as someone difficult to deal with.
Of course, she did not care.
Meanwhile, there was another student who made the instructor give up on them in a different way from Nam Yuri.
The lazy genius of the Circulation Cha Clan.
It was Cha Eunsol.
“Is there really no one willing to volunteer? Good grief…. Then I’ll pick someone myself, so don’t resent me. Hm…. Right, there was someone from the Circulation Cha Clan in this class too, wasn’t there?”
“…”
“Cha Eunsol. Where is Eunsol?”
When there were no volunteers for class representative, the standards an instructor prioritized were entrance grades and the student’s background.
In that sense, even Cha Eunsol, whose entrance grades were low, was bound to catch the homeroom instructor’s eye.
The homeroom instructor searched for Cha Eunsol, who had to be somewhere in the lecture room.
“Cha Eunsol! Is Eunsol not here? She was here during self-introductions earlier….”
But there was no word from Cha Eunsol.
No matter how much the homeroom instructor looked for her and called her name, she did not appear.
Just then, a female student pointed to the seat beside her.
“Instructor, Eunsol is right here.”
“Oh, she was there….”
The homeroom instructor could not finish speaking.
Because in the seat the female student pointed to, some kind of baggage was piled up.
Looking closely, it was not baggage, but a blanket.
That blanket was moving faintly up and down, so subtly it was hard to notice.
It seemed as if breathing could be heard from within.
Saaek, saaek….
“…”
Cha Eunsol was sleeping face-down on the desk with the blanket pulled over her head.
Not only had she hidden her presence as much as possible, she had cleverly disguised herself as luggage, so it was no wonder no one had recognized her.
The homeroom instructor was so dumbfounded that she clicked her tongue.
“Wake Eunsol up.”
“Yes, Instructor. Um, Eunsol…?”
“Mmm…?”
“The instructor says to get up.”
The blanket squirmed.
Cha Eunsol peeked out from within.
Wearing a sleeping mask and earplugs.
She even had a cushion for resting her arms.
“…”
Everyone in the lecture room was rendered speechless by the sight.
Yet Cha Eunsol calmly removed the earplugs and sleeping mask a little.
She did not take them off completely.
“What is it?”
Cha Eunsol rubbed the one eye she had exposed, which was narrowed from the sudden light.
She even covered her mouth and yawned.
The instructor in charge could not even let out a hollow laugh at how brazenly she acted without the slightest sign of apology.
“We were in the middle of choosing the class representative, and you, Eunsol, as the class representative….”
“I don’t want to. I won’t do it.”
“…”
“I’m not doing it.”
Before the homeroom instructor could even finish speaking,
Cha Eunsol, having grasped the flow of the conversation, rejected the offer in one stroke.
She shook her head from side to side.
“Then I’ll go back to sleep.”
“…Yes, all right. Sleep well….”
The homeroom instructor did not try to persuade her again.
The moment Cha Eunsol had gone to sleep with every possible preparation in place, she had given up any expectations she had for her.
“Zzz….”
* * *
In truth, if I had set my mind to it, I could have refused the position of vice representative back then.
All I had to do was put forward the name of the Divine Sword Do Clan, which stood among the Ten Great Clans, and refusing would have been possible.
No matter how powerful the instructors’ authority was, they could not look down on me.
As a member of the Divine Sword Do Clan, I had the support of those known as swordsmanship families behind me.
In short, to antagonize me meant being prepared to antagonize the swordsmanship families as well.
That was what the authority of the Ten Great Clans meant.
All renowned families belonging to the same field were obligated to follow the Ten Great Clans according to the pact made after the Great Cataclysm.
If they did not want to be ostracized in the world of Hunters.
The same went for the other Ten Great Clans, such as the Arcane Min Clan, the Chivalrous Yong Clan, the Circulation Cha Clan, and the Alchemy Nam Clan.
Because of that, the academy instructors respected the students of the Ten Great Clans.
To begin with, if one lived in the world of Hunters, there would inevitably come a time when one would receive the support of the Ten Great Clans or borrow their strength.
They could not defy the Ten Great Clans.
The instructors were no exception.
‘Me, a vice representative….’
Even so, the reason I had not brought up the name of the Divine Sword Do Clan to Hong Yena was because I did not want to be at odds with her.
She must have designated me as the vice representative knowing that I would not refuse.
Honestly, what an outrageous person.
‘Still, it’s not like I can turn it back now. I’ll think of it positively.’
I decided to change my perspective.
Being a class representative was not all bad.
Even if there was little practical benefit, the advantages that came with being a class representative were clear.
First of all, as the liaison between the students of the class and the instructor, the class representative naturally held the authority to control information and direct the students.
Of course, whether the students would obediently comply was a separate matter.
Since supremacism based on strength was widespread in the world of Hunters, if one lacked ability, it would not be easy to move them.
But I had sufficient ability, as well as the background of the Divine Sword Do Clan.
The students would have no choice but to obey.
‘Besides, I’m not the class representative, I’m the vice representative, right?’
The role of class representative? The duties? The hardship?
All of that was something Min Arin, not I, would have to bear entirely.
As vice representative, I only needed to assist her and take the authority for myself.
So it was not bad.
It would also make it easier to grasp the incidents that would occur at the academy from now on, and it would serve as a suitable pretext to get involved.
It was also an opportunity to get closer to Hong Yena and the assistant homeroom instructor, Yu Noeul.
And Min Arin was there too.
If I thought positively, there were advantages.
Even so.
“Why did it have to be me?”
This one thing needed to be addressed.
After orientation had completely ended,
I followed Hong Yena, who had said she had something to say to the class representatives and wanted to see us separately, and threw the question at her outright.
As she headed toward the faculty building ahead of me, she answered in a tone that said it was no big deal.
“I told you. Because you entered with the second-highest score. And because you’re from the Divine Sword Do Clan.”
“Not those excuses. Considering our relationship, you could have chosen not to pick me.”
“Our relationship…. Could you not say things that might make other people misunderstand? It sounds like I took money from you or something. You and I are now student and instructor. Let’s keep some distance.”
“So what’s the real reason?”
“Because you’re annoying.”
“…”
“I’m going to end up suffering because of you, so I can’t let only you live comfortably. Wouldn’t you do the same?”
“You just told me to keep some distance, didn’t you? Is it okay to mix in personal feelings?”
“Since when were human affairs ever rational?”
“...Is that really something the Witch who said a mage must be rational should be saying?”
“What are you talking about? When did I ever say that? I said that while reason and rationality are important to a mage, you also have to know that mana, the origin of magic, is based on imagination and emotion. Humans—and mages—are beings who possess both emotion and reason, both rationality and irrationality. That’s why we’re incomplete, and why our potential for growth is limitless.”
“I wasn’t planning to attend a lecture.”
“…You really are annoying, aren’t you?”
“And you’re outrageous, Lady Witch.”
“Outrageous? Do you even know how big the age difference is between you and me?”
“Of course I do. This year, you’re thir—”
“Don’t say it.”
“…”
“Would you shut your mouth?”
“You’re a Hunter, so you’re on the young side.”
“Could you not comfort me so half-heartedly?”
“If I say this, you complain. If I say that, you complain….”
“Ugh, you irritating brat.”
Hong Yena abruptly stopped walking and looked back at me behind her.
Receiving her stinging gaze, I deliberately pulled up the corners of my mouth.
That alone seemed to make her blood boil, and she clicked her tongue sharply.
“In any case, don’t cause unnecessary trouble while I’m your homeroom instructor.”
“I’ll try if I can.”
“…No, what on earth is that supposed to mean? You’re not even saying you’ll try as much as you can….”
“It means I’ll try that much.”
“Why does it sound to my ears like you have absolutely no intention of trying?”
With a sigh,
Hong Yena started walking again.
We chatted like that as we headed toward the faculty building.
In the middle of it, Min Arin, who had been walking in step beside me, tapped my shoulder.
She spoke into my ear.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Are you close with the Seven-Colored Witch?”
“If you say we’re close, I guess you could say that. I once learned magic from her through private lessons. But why do you ask?”
“Because I was curious how you got close with someone famous for being so picky. But you received private lessons from the Seven-Colored Witch?”
“Yeah.”
Her yellow eyes looked at me.
Min Arin openly looked me up and down, revealing a faint interest.
I did not think much of it.
“From what I’ve heard, the Seven-Colored Witch doesn’t easily take on private lessons…. Not unless someone has a fair amount of talent…. I suppose, even though you’re from the Divine Sword Do Clan, you had talent in magic too?”
“She said I was ordinary.”
“What? Then how on earth did you receive lessons from her? Don’t tell me you used your family’s power….”
“My childhood friend is the Witch’s disciple.”
“Ah.”
“So I hitched a ride with my childhood friend.”
“Right… Your childhood friend was her, wasn’t it? That girl named Yeon Haneul.”
At first, she’d been suspicious of me.
But the moment Yeon Haneul’s name came up, Min Arin immediately accepted it and fell silent.
After that, she didn’t say another word and followed along with her mouth shut.
For some reason, she seemed to have grown dispirited.
‘What’s with her?’
Her face looked dark, and she seemed lost in thought.
I glanced sideways at Min Arin as she walked with her eyes on the floor.
I wondered if I should say something, anything, but she didn’t seem like she’d show any interest.
By then, we had arrived at the faculty office.
“This is where Instructor Noeul and I sit. You’ll be coming here often from now on, so make sure you remember our desks.”
The faculty building, the first-year faculty office.
Hong Yena spoke from her seat.
Then she took holder files from a file rack and handed them to Min Arin and me.
“The class representative and vice representative should keep these. They contain the contact information and locations of the students in your class. I’m telling you now, this is personal information belonging to your classmates, so you know you mustn’t misuse it, right? And make sure you take good care of them so you don’t lose them. Instructor Noeul’s and Instructor Yena’s business cards are inside as well. Don’t forget to save their numbers. Got it?”
“Yes, I saved them earlier in the lecture hall.”
“Me too. Then since we’re done here, we can go now, right?”
“Yes. In any case, let’s all get along well this semester.”
I skimmed through the documents inside the holder file.
Once I got back to the dormitory, I’d have to save the students’ numbers listed in the documents.
Having finished our business, Min Arin and I were about to leave.
At that moment, Yu Noeul, who had been sitting beside Hong Yena, called out to us.
“Before you go, Gyeonu, Arin. Take a piece of candy each. It’s tasty.”
“Yes. Thank you, Instructor.”
“…Thank you.”
Yu Noeul turned her chair toward us and placed candies directly into our hands.
Sure enough, they were scorched-rice flavored.
‘Even in the game, whenever you went to see Yu Noeul, she’d give you scorched-rice candy.’
Memories came flooding back.
No, should I say it made everything feel real?
I decided to resolve the lingering regret of my previous life, when I had wondered what the candies the game characters ate would taste like.
After saying goodbye to Yu Noeul and turning away, I unwrapped the candy and put it in my mouth.
‘…It’s a familiar taste.’
It was a flavor I’d tried in my previous life too.
It was savory and cleanly sweet, like eating scorched rice.
It carried a distinctly Korean sentiment.
I rolled the candy around in my mouth, savoring the taste.
Min Arin, on the other hand, looked as if she couldn’t understand it at all.
“That tastes good?”
“It’s pretty decent.”
“Scorched rice and candy should be eaten separately. Why eat them together?”
“I don’t know… Maybe because you can have rice and a snack at the same time?”
“So if you eat that, you’re eating candy, and while you’re at it, eating rice too?”
“Something like that.”
“That’s as ridiculous as saying you’re going to diet with candy.”
Min Arin didn’t seem very interested in the scorched-rice candy.
She was about to put the candy into the pocket of her pink skirt.
I held out my hand to her.
“If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me.”
“…You have strange tastes. Here, take it.”
As if the timing was perfect.
Min Arin handed over the scorched-rice candy.
I put the candy she gave me into my pocket.
‘I can give this to Haneul later.’
Would Yeon Haneul like it?
I decided to contact her as soon as I parted ways with Min Arin.
Her orientation should be over by now too.
That was when—
“Ah.”
“Hm? What? What’s wrong?”
Just as we were about to leave the faculty office.
I spotted a boy and a girl standing in front of one instructor’s desk.
The female student was Lisa, and the male student was also a character who appeared in the game.
The infodump guardian, Park Sagun.
He was a male student who looked exactly like his illustration from the game.
‘Come to think of it, if things are following the game’s flow, Lisa and Park Sagun would have become the representatives.’
Park Sagun, who had volunteered, would have become the class representative, and Lisa would have become the vice representative because her grades were good and because she was an imperial princess.
I decided to go over and greet them.
“Aren’t you leaving? Why are you going over there?”
“I’m just going to meet some people I know.”
Min Arin called out to me from behind.
I gave her a vague answer and headed toward Lisa.
Soon, she seemed to notice me as well, and her face brightened.
“Ah, Gyeonu. Were you chosen as a class representative too?”
“Not the class representative, the vice representative. Looks like you became a representative too?”
“Ah, the vice representative. I’m the vice representative as well. This person is the class representative. Sagun, this is my friend Do Gyeonu…”
Lisa subtly gestured toward the male student standing beside her, Park Sagun.
Perhaps sensing the need for introductions, she tried to mediate between him and me.
At that moment, he looked at me with delight and opened his mouth.
“Hello, I’m Park Sagun. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard plenty about you before.”
Adjusting his glasses,
Park Sagun offered me a handshake.
Naturally, I took his hand.
“Then there’s no need for a formal introduction. Nice to meet you too. Let’s get along.”
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss
(96) [Illustration]
Go Eunbi and Park Sagun were characters who helped players when they first progressed through the game.
Go Eunbi brought trendy information, rumors, ghost stories, and all kinds of gossip, naturally drawing the protagonist Gang Hanbyeol into the story and helping players get invested in the early game.
And Park Sagun supported Gang Hanbyeol, who had lived in the mountains for a long time and was ignorant of worldly affairs, helping players understand the settings needed to progress through the game.
‘Even if I was a veteran player in my previous life, what I know is limited.’
I only knew the information necessary to progress through the game.
Details such as when certain events occurred, exactly when specific incidents happened, what the history or culture of a certain region was like, or information on students who were never mentioned in the game—I didn’t know those things.
The people who would take on that role were Go Eunbi and Park Sagun.
For me, being in a situation where I could exchange greetings with Park Sagun could only be a good thing.
‘Besides, Park Sagun is harmless, like Eunbi. No, should I say he’s even more harmless?’
While Go Eunbi was lively and proactive, Park Sagun had a calm and passive personality.
Because of that, unlike her, there were no events he caused directly.
He didn’t influence the story either.
In other words, unlike Lisa, Min Arin, Nam Yuri, or Cha Eunsol, he didn’t have an independently connected storyline.
You could say he was someone completely unrelated to bad endings.
‘It’s not as if he has no ending at all, though.’
The game didn’t only have bad endings.
Bad endings made up a large proportion, but normal endings did exist.
Among them, there was one normal ending related to Park Sagun.
It was an ending that occurred when the player interfered with the story as little as possible and reached the graduation ceremony.
「Gang Hanbyeol」
—Sagun.
At the graduation ceremony.
Gang Hanbyeol leaves behind his regrets about school life and dreams of the future he will live as a hunter.
Then he asks his best friend Park Sagun, who has been in the same class for three years and will be active as a hunter alongside him.
「Gang Hanbyeol」
—We’ll still be friends from now on, right?
With that, the dialogue ends.
An illustration of Park Sagun smiling refreshingly beyond his glasses appears.
Against the background of his illustration, the ending log slowly rises.
[After graduation, Gang Hanbyeol and Park Sagun fulfilled their dream of becoming hunters and traveled the world.]
[Sometimes they fought back-to-back, sometimes they disagreed and came to blows, and afterward they made up by slinging arms around each other’s shoulders and drinking together…]
[After spending such a long time together, they came to regard each other as life companions.]
[They feel happy because the other seems to understand them well, because they get along, and because they are comfortable together.]
[They are happy. They are satisfied with this life.]
[However, emptiness visits them from time to time, and whenever it does, they think.]
[What would have become of them if they had lived a different life during their school days?]
[… ]
[There is no point thinking about it.]
[Time cannot be turned back.]
[They will continue to lean on each other and rely on each other as they live.]
[Until death parts the two of them.]
[Then one day, the world ended.]
[─ Normal Ending ─]
The so-called friendship ending with Park Sagun.
Since it ends with the world suddenly being destroyed, one might wonder if it isn’t a bad ending, but it is indeed a normal ending.
The game labels it as normal, and compared to the bad endings, it doesn’t mention how the world was destroyed or how Gang Hanbyeol died.
From the players’ perspective, this much was on the better side, so it was acceptable to treat it as a normal ending.
In any case.
‘There’s one more benefit to becoming vice representative. From now on, I’ll be able to create points of contact with Park Sagun.’
The more points of contact, the better.
Feeling satisfied inwardly, I released the hand I had been shaking with Park Sagun.
At that moment, Lisa cautiously brought something up.
“By the way, Gyeonu, the person beside you is…”
“Ah, right.”
Aside from me, Lisa, and Park Sagun, there was one more person here.
Min Arin, who had ended up in the same class as me.
For the two of them, who wouldn’t know about her, I needed to introduce her separately.
‘No, Lisa probably knows roughly who she is.’
Lisa and Min Arin already had a point of contact.
During the entrance exam, they had once cooperated by chance against Lee Gahyeon’s clone.
However, the situation had been urgent at the time, so they hadn’t had a chance to greet each other.
Realizing that fact, I decided to have them formally exchange greetings now.
Lisa, too, seemed to be hoping for an introduction.
“This is Min Arin, who ended up in the same class as me this time. She’s our class representative. Arin, these two are…”
“Could you not suddenly act close and call me by my given name? I’m Min Arin of the Mado Min family. I look forward to working with you.”
Perhaps because she was displeased at being left out after somehow following me here, Min Arin had a sullen expression on her face.
Then, when I tried to introduce her, she introduced herself curtly, as if doing so reluctantly.
Min Arin’s personality really was…
Even so, Lisa didn’t mind.
“I’m Lisa Grace. We met once during the exam, didn’t we? Thank you very much for what you did back then.”
“…Grace… did you say? By any chance…”
Lisa Grace introduced herself with an elegance that contrasted with Min Arin.
Min Arin, who had been standing with her arms crossed and acting self-important, heard the surname Grace and turned her head toward Lisa in surprise.
Min Arin tried to ask cautiously, but Lisa did not confirm it and merely smiled.
Then she said,
“We’re the same age, and here, we’re both students, so please speak comfortably.”
“Ah…”
Though she hadn’t said it directly, those words were as good as confirmation.
Only then did Min Arin reveal her bewilderment, not knowing what to do.
“Lisa is royalty.”
When I told her directly on top of that, Min Arin’s face twisted.
However, Min Arin was still Min Arin.
“So, so you were an imperial princess. Yes, all right. No, all right. This isn’t the empire, and we’re students of the same age, so I’ll just speak comfortably. Th-that’s okay, right?”
“Yes, I’m more comfortable with that too. I look forward to getting along with you.”
“I, I look forward to getting along with you too…”
Min Arin did not admit her mistakes.
Even though she knew she had been rude, she tried to gloss over it as calmly as possible.
Her voice was trembling, though.
Meanwhile, she whispered into my ear and blamed me for no reason.
“Why didn’t you tell me beforehand? If you’d told me in advance, I wouldn’t have committed such a discourtesy. If she says something to our family, are you going to take responsibility?”
“Could you not suddenly act close and whisper into my ear?”
“…Kuh…”
“And why would I be the one to take responsibility? Who told you to judge people however you liked?”
“…You…”
Contrary to her sharp-looking face,
Min Arin was surprisingly bad at verbal fights, and especially when her own faults were pointed out, she found herself at a loss for words.
Considering she must have lived a life being held up by everyone in the Mado Min family, that made sense.
She probably had never even had a proper argument, nor had she ever been criticized.
“Still, don’t worry while pointlessly hitting your pillow or anything. Lisa is absolutely not that kind of person. Treat her comfortably. Though don’t try to look down on her either.”
“Pi-pillow? How do you know about that…”
How did I know?
Obviously, I knew because it had appeared in the game.
Whenever Min Arin said something contrary to her feelings, unintentionally hurting the other party, or when she felt anxious or worried, she would beat her pillow with dull thuds.
「Min Arin」
—Why did I do that....
Afterward, she would bury her face in her blanket and sigh.
I recalled the sight of her writhing in self-loathing and snickered.
Of course, I didn't tell her that.
Soon, I decided to introduce Bak Sagun as well.
“You heard her name earlier too, right? It's a bit awkward for me, who just met her today, to introduce her, but….”
“I know, it's Bak Sagun, right? I'm Min Arin of the Mado Myeongga. Hello.”
“I'm Bak Sagun. Nice to meet you.”
Min Arin greeted them in a prickly manner, as if asking when she had ever acted any differently.
It was an attitude anyone could have taken offense to.
Yet Bak Sagun accepted it calmly.
For him, who had likely familiarized himself with her information beforehand, it was probably a reaction within predictable bounds.
“By the way, what were you doing?”
“I was waiting for the instructors. I came to receive instructions as the class representative, but something came up midway and I had to step away for a bit.”
“Even the assistant homeroom instructor? Both of them?”
“Yes.”
I shifted my gaze to the desk in front of Lisa.
The desks of the homeroom instructor and the assistant homeroom instructor.
Among them, the nameplate on the homeroom instructor's desk, inscribed with a familiar name, caught my eye.
The Punishment Blade Suhoguk.
Fortunately, it seemed he had become the homeroom instructor of Ganghanbyeol according to the game's flow.
‘That's a load off my mind.’
It's a shame I couldn't see Suhoguk, but if I live at the academy, there will come a day when I meet him eventually.
He was an instructor of the swordsmanship department to begin with.
I could meet him plenty during classes.
“I hope the instructors return soon. We'll get going now.”
“Yes, see you tonight.”
We couldn't keep chattering in the faculty office.
I could feel the instructors' gazes.
I exchanged a few more words and then left the faculty office with Min Arin.
* * *
On the way out of the faculty office.
Min Arin walked down the hallway with Do Gyeonu.
“Arin.”
“I told you to stop calling me so familiarly?”
“We're going to be working together a lot from now on, so what's wrong with calling you comfortably?”
“Sigh…. So what do you want?”
“I was asking which dormitory you live in.”
“Chwiok Dormitory.”
“Really? I live there too. Then we can go back together.”
“….”
*I shouldn't have said that.*
Before she knew it, she was going back to the dormitory with Do Gyeonu.
Min Arin, who had no desire to converse and had only answered his questions briefly, felt a sense of helplessness.
‘Ugh, I hate this….’
It wasn't that she hated Do Gyeonu.
It was simply that the walk back to the dormitory with him was extremely awkward, uncomfortable, and burdensome.
Since they had only exchanged names today for the first time, it couldn't be helped.
If she had her way, she wanted to part ways right here and return to the dormitory alone, lost in thought.
More than anything.
‘He's her friend, after all.’
Yeon Haneul, disciple of the Seven-Colored Witch.
Do Gyeonu was her childhood friend.
For Min Arin, who had a record of losing to her once before, he was nothing but awkward to be around because of his closeness to Yeon Haneul.
The mere fact that he was her friend had caused Min Arin's fondness for him to plummet.
But when she tried to make an excuse to return to the dormitory separately from him.
‘Wait, why do I have to avoid him? I'm Min Arin.’
She didn't know what exactly she was losing to.
But she felt as if she were definitely losing, so she couldn't help but feel rebellious.
Her pride would not allow it.
In the end, she decided to go back together, even if it meant enduring the discomfort.
Meanwhile, perhaps not knowing her feelings, he frequently struck up conversations.
“Hey, Arin.”
“I told you not to call me so familiarly.”
“Arin.”
“I told you to add my surname.”
“Min Arin, Arin.”
“Ah, why!”
By this point, she wondered if he was doing it on purpose.
That thought crossed Min Arin's mind.
Do Gyeonu, who called her by her given name without her surname while chuckling, was simply detestable.
“I just called you because I was bored.”
“….”
*Yeah, he was definitely teasing her.*
Min Arin felt a surge of tears for a moment.
Her pride wounded, she tried to pour magic on him in a fit of anger.
But he wasn't an ordinary student; he was a person of the Singeom Doga.
She couldn't attack him arbitrarily without just cause.
If she attacked him over the pretext that he had called her name familiarly, people would obviously look down on her.
Because it was clearly an extremely childish justification.
As someone who had already been mocked by her family for having poor entrance exam scores, she had to tread carefully.
‘Fine, do whatever you want.’
She barely reined in her emotions.
She let out a *hmph* and decided not to entertain his teasing any longer.
All she had to do was remain consistent in ignoring him.
It didn't matter whether he called her by her name or not.
Come to think of it, what was so significant about being called by her name?
Before she knew it, she had ended up allowing him to call her comfortably by her name.
“Arin.”
“Yeah, what?”
But the unconscious is a frightening thing.
Min Arin, having her name called by Do Gyeonu, gradually lowered her psychological guard.
It was thanks to him persistently trying while brushing it off calmly, as if he knew her personality completely.
In her heart, he had become someone she was at least a little comfortable with.
It was then.
“Ah! Gyeonu!”
“Gyeonu!”
Calling Do Gyeonu's name.
Two women were walking down the hallway up ahead.
She didn't know the brown-haired one, but the other was a familiar face.
‘She's….’
Hair that was pale yet blue.
Rabbit ears protruding above it.
The disciple of the Seven-Colored Witch.
Yeon Haneul, who had given her the first sense of defeat in her life during the entrance exam.
Min Arin, taking her in with her eyes, couldn't help but stop dead in her tracks.
Meanwhile, Do Gyeonu, spotting the two of them, approached with great delight.
Yeon Haneul was the same.
She bypassed the female student she was with and rushed to him.
“Gyeonu!”
“Huh? What's wrong? Did something happen?”
“Noo, I just….”
Yeon Haneul dashed into his arms as if to embrace him.
Do Gyeonu placed his hand on her shoulder, bewildered by her reaction.
She didn't answer his question but shook her head while buried in his chest.
Around then, the brown-haired female student caught up to her.
“I guess Haneul missed you so much. Right, Haneul?”
“Mhm….”
“Is that it?”
The female student smiled brightly.
Yeon Haneul, startled, pulled away from Do Gyeonu and nodded with an awkward expression.
He merely tilted his head.
“But what are you guys doing here? Don't tell me you guys are too….”
“Haneul and I became class representatives. So we're on our way to the faculty office to get the briefing. But seeing as you said ‘you guys’... Gyeonu, you too?”
“I became the vice class representative too. What a coincidence.”
“Really? You too, Gyeonu? Seriously?”
“Yeah, really, me too, seriously. Are you that happy I became vice class representative?”
Yeon Haneul's face brightened at once.
The three chattered away about something amusing.
“Hmph….”
Min Arin, standing a few steps away from them, quietly observed.
She was somewhat bewildered.
She could hardly believe it.
‘That's *her*?’
Even now.
The face of Yeon Haneul, raising her hammer and bringing it down hard on her, was still vividly burned into Min Arin's memory.
The fear, terror, and sense of defeat she had felt then still hadn't faded.
Yet seeing her act spoiled toward Do Gyeonu, the sense of disconnect was enormous.
What happened immediately after was even more so.
“Gyeonu.”
“What?”
“I'm sorry…. I, now….”
“Huh? What are you sorry for?”
“My tail… will you touch it?”
“Huh? Right here?”
“No. Touch it, please.”
“Huh??”
“Make me forget. Everything.”
“….”
Yeon Haneul gently tugged on the collar of Do Gyeonu, who had been talking to the female student.
She whispered something to him, and he flinched for a moment before moving his hand discreetly.
His hand moved toward her hips, avoiding the female student's gaze.
Then.
“Mmm….”
Do Gyeonu's hand.
Grabbed Yeon Haneul's tail!
Min Arin's yellow eyes widened greatly.
“Yes, this is it….”
“As expected… it's completely different….”
“Haht…. I've gotten so used to this hand… any other hand just….”
Yeon Haneul's expression drowned in ecstasy.
Her body, legs curling, gradually leaned into Do Gyeonu.
“What… are they doing.”
Min Arin, observing the scene blankly, was dumbfounded.
She didn't know what she was seeing.
She clicked her tongue, speechless with disbelief.
Then, Do Gyeonu took out a candy.
“Ah, right. Haneul.”
“Mhm…. Whyy?”
“Want a candy? It's scorched rice flavored.”
“Candy? Where did you get it?”
“I tried it and it was surprisingly tasty. So I brought some thinking of you. The assistant homeroom instructor gave it to me.”
“Really? Thanks, I'll enjoy it. Yum.”
“Ah! Not fair! Gyeonu, what about mine!?”
“Sorry, I'll buy you some next time.”
“Really, you only care about Haneul….”
Do Gyeonu fed Yeon Haneul the candy that she had given him just moments ago.
Once again, Yeon Haneul's expression changed.
Min Arin furrowed her brows.
‘That's the one I gave him….’
Her mood strangely soured.
It was clearly candy she had passed to Do Gyeonu because she thought it wouldn't taste good, and of course the ownership now belonged to him.
But watching the candy enter Yeon Haneul's mouth, it felt as if a candy meant for her had been snatched away.
She was displeased.
At the same time, her eyes sparkled as if she had come up with an ingenious idea.
“Hmmm… I see.”
It was obvious at a glance.
The relationship between the two was no ordinary one.
Min Arin took in the sight of Yeon Haneul gazing at Do Gyeonu with a lingering, unwavering gaze.
It was a completely different face from the one that had shone with crimson eyes in the dead of night on Hornim Island, slamming her into the ground.
“Right, so that's how it is.”
If I play my cards right, I can mess with her.
Having finished her calculations, Min Arin tugged the corners of her lips up into a smirk.
She strode over to Do Gyeonu, who had been chatting away.
“Hey, Do… Gyeonu!”
“Huh? Right, you were here too. Let me introduce you. You guys already know, but this is Min Arin… Huh? What?”
“You said we'd go back together. Let's hurry. We have a lot to do too, don't we?”
“Wait, let me introduce you to them….”
“Them? We can see them again later, so we can greet them later, can't we?”
With a swift motion.
Min Arin snatched Do Gyeonu's arm and forcibly dragged him away.
He seemed greatly flustered to suddenly have his arm grabbed by her.
Truthfully, she was flustered too.
But she suppressed her emotions and did her best to appear nonchalant.
Then, turning to Yeon Haneul and the female student, who were bewildered by the sudden situation, she said:
“Sorry about this, but what can I do? Since we're both representatives, we have things to discuss, so I think we need to get going first. I'll take Gyeonu with me, then. Bye!”
“….”
Min Arin demonstratively pulled Do Gyeonu's arm tightly against her chest.
She gave Yeon Haneul a smile and then proceeded down the hallway with Do Gyeonu.
Yeon Haneul.
“….”
Stood nailed to the spot.
She silently watched the two disappear beyond the end of the hallway.
A shadow fell across her face.
“H-Haneul…?”
“….”
“…Are you okay?”
“….”
Go Eunbi, standing beside Yeon Haneul, couldn't help but gauge the situation carefully.
She cautiously called out to Yeon Haneul.
But no matter how many times she called, Yeon Haneul didn't answer.
“….”
Go Eunbi found the silence terrifying.
It was not an atmosphere for jokes.
How much time had passed since then?
A voice flowed from Yeon Haneul's lips.
“Who is that woman?”
“W-well… I don't know… Hahaha….”
“Device….”
“H-Haneul, calm down!”
The voice that flowed out was ruthless and chilling beyond compare.
Crimson light gleamed in Yeon Haneul's eyes.
Go Eunbi had to exhaust every effort to calm her down.
I had become the childhood friend of a mid-boss.