The Dragon's Text.
[I held a meeting with the executive members regarding the matter you requested.]
Sender: Captain.
The moment the text reflected on my retina, my heart sank.
"Hey, I need to use the bathroom."
"Huh? There's no bathroom here—hey, where are you going!"
Avoiding Chae Nayun and Kim Suho, I went to the most remote corner I could find. Curling up there, I furtively checked my surroundings once more and opened the Captain's text.
[The result is 5 in favor, 5 against.]
A tie between approval and opposition.
I bit my lip. As expected, aiding in the murder of Chae Jinyun was truly something that even the notorious Wisaekdan would balk at.
However, excluding vacancies, the total members of Wisaekdan numbered eleven.
[Yet I have not made my decision.]
As expected, the Captain's vote had not yet been reflected.
[Yes, Captain.]
I sent the text and waited for the Captain's reply, but whether due to slow typing or deliberately making me sweat, no reply came.
To the point where my blood felt as if it were drying up from drought.
At last, the Captain's text arrived.
[Brat.]
[You have already killed many people. Of course, it was for missions, and most were villains who deserved to die.]
[But this matter is different from a mission. You said you want to kill someone with your own hands. Whatever your reason, if you commit murder of your own will, a psychological stigma will be branded upon your heart.]
"······."
The content of the text was excessively serious. Of course, I strongly felt that he was pretending to be kind, but.
More than that.
To be honest, this...... No matter what, perhaps because I used to be a writer, I have a bit of an illness and can't stand this.
You could say my immersion snapped completely.
[Can you endure it]
[Captain, sorry, but it's 'dwae,' not 'doe.']
[If you can endure it]
The Captain's text cut off mid-sentence.
After sending it, I felt I'd somehow made a mistake, but it was still better than making a mistake later in a public setting.
[?]
The Captain sent a lone question mark with a ping.
[Ah, I'm sorry.]
I quickly sent an apology, but the Captain seemed already quite sulky and didn't reply.
Anxious, I called.
Fortunately, the Captain picked up right away.
"Hello?"
─······What.
A listless voice.
I let out a big sigh of relief and started with an apology first.
End.
"I'm in the middle of an exam right now. I'll ask for the details later."
─Understood. And just so you know, it wasn't a spelling mistake, it was a typo. That's what slightly offended me. It was a typo I would have corrected on my own anyway······.
Having calmed the Captain's anger over the call, I set a separate appointment for a serious meeting.
"Kim Hajin, is Cadet Kim Hajin here?"
An instructor wandering the waiting room called my name.
"Ah, yes."
"······What. He's here?"
I hurriedly ended the call and raised my hand high, and the instructor's face turned listless.
I bowed my head first.
"I'm sorry."
"Tch. Cadet Rachel is looking for you. Seems you got separated during the exam; tell her not to make a fuss. This isn't England, yet she keeps asking for this and that······."
The instructor clicked his tongue and reported to the higher-ups.
"No abnormalities with all cadets. Headcount complete."
And then he vanished in a flash.
Afterwards, I tried to locate Rachel, but there was no need.
Rachel was standing behind the vanished instructor.
"······."
Rachel looked at me without a word, and a flicker of worry shone in her eyes.
She seemed to have been quite worried, so I felt a little sorry. I should have gone to her first.
At last, Rachel opened her mouth.
"I was looking for you; you could have at least told me you were safe······."
"Ah, sorry. I had something urgent to take care of."
Rachel let out a deep sigh. And in a small voice barely audible, she muttered.
─Thank goodness.
That voice full of sincerity dealt me very slight damage. It was a good thing it was an indirect attack, or my heart would have plummeted.
Rachel asked in a hurry.
"More importantly, what, what happened? That last stage—"
"Well, I won, of course."
"What? Wow, really? The Gwichon's······."
She suddenly stopped, surveyed her surroundings, then lowered her voice and whispered.
"The Waning Moon of Gwichon?"
"I beat it to a pulp."
"Huh?"
Honestly, I'd just kept getting hit before making a comeback, but Rachel hadn't seen it.
"Wow······."
Rachel's face turned admiring. Half-parted lips and two pupils shining like jewels.
When I shrugged my shoulders, Rachel nodded as if convincing herself.
"From now on, I think I should call you Master."
"······Huh? No, there's no need for that."
A master-disciple relationship that would collapse after just one proper one-on-one? I'll pass on that.
No, wait.
I feel like I could win at least once. It's not easy to find a trickster like me.
"Master."
"Ah, I said stop it."
Scratching the back of my neck from needless embarrassment, I spotted Chae Nayun beyond Rachel's shoulder.
"······Cadet Rachel, Cadet Kim Hajin."
Just then, Kim Suhyeok approached.
"Ah, Instructor."
"What happened?"
As the instructor in charge of Jinri Class, unlike the rude instructor from earlier, he was a trustworthy person.
Rachel and I explained everything that had just happened to Kim Suhyeok.
Kim Suhyeok said he would report it with a serious face, but the reaction from the higher-ups would probably be unsatisfactory.
Since the only witnesses were me and Rachel, Cube had plenty of excuses at its disposal.
They'd make excuses like, it was originally that kind of stage, or you were mistaken, something like that.
"Anyway, good work."
Kim Suhyeok patted me and Rachel on the shoulders once each and turned away.
I glanced at Rachel standing beside me and asked.
"······Miss Rachel. What will you do now?"
"What? Ah, I have plans to go to England this evening, Master."
Rachel added a playful remark with a bashful smile.
I deliberately didn't look at her smile.
The kind of person who changes the more she opens her heart. Rachel was the archetype of such a person, and that change seemed like it would be a bit fatal for the current me.
I simply gave a faint smile and looked at my smartwatch, which had just alarmed.
[Hajin Hajin]
[im good at texting hayang helped me]
[hajin but when are you coming? i miss you]
These days, Evangeline was completely immersed in her smartwatch. She watched YouTube on her own, and it felt like she would be ordering food delivery by herself soon.
I should hurry home and have a meal with Evangeline.
* * *
After the exam, the first week of winter break.
Inside a nameless dungeon located at the foot of Sanggeom Mountain of the Baekdu-daegan range.
"······Ah~ Hajin, good work."
I lay flat on the floor, letting Kim Suho's words wash over me.
"Wow~ My hands are still shaking. Wasn't that really fun?"
Kim Suho was smiling broadly and reviewing the battle we just had, but my heart was pounding so hard I couldn't do anything.
This dungeon's boss was 'Venom Snake Yor (J ?r)'.
An intermediate 1st-grade monstrous beast, a goddamn bastard that spewed pitch-black venom.
The strategy I had devised for dealing with it was simple. While I provided covering fire, Kim Suho would close in and kill it.
According to that plan, Kim Suho advanced while slicing through its venom, and I fired off reinforced bullets from behind, hitting its eyes.
However, Yor went berserk right after losing its eyesight, spraying poison everywhere and raising utter hell. If 'Detox' hadn't been recorded in my body, I probably would have died a pathetic death by poisoning.
"Is this the reward?"
"Yeah, it's probably that jar. The one Yor was wrapped around, right?"
I let out a groan and raised my body.
"Yeah. But what is this?"
"We'll have to appraise it first to know."
When I reached out my hand, Kim Suho handed over the jar without a hint of doubt.
===
[Jar of Desire] [Magic Artifact]
A jar filled with desire.
If an item is placed inside, it seems the desire contained within the jar will attach to it at random.
===
This was an 'enhancement item' I had set.
The usage was simple: put a weapon inside and let it sit for about ten days. What kind of bizarre option would stick to it was random, but I'm lucky.
"You take this one."
Kim Suho suddenly said.
"······Huh? What's with you all of a sudden."
"Isn't it obvious? I got Mistilteinn."
"Come on. Even so."
This could only be used about twice anyway.
"Hey now. Today's combat experience is enough for me······ Ah, right. Then let's go on a trip together."
I didn't respond to Kim Suho's words. I just played dead, lying down and closing my eyes.
Kim Suho laughed as if dumbfounded, and after that, time passed in silence.
Buzz—
After about five minutes, a smartwatch vibrated.
It wasn't mine.
Then it must be Kim Suho's.
I turned my head slightly to look at Kim Suho, and he was hurriedly replying to a text.
I thought I knew who it was from.
"Yun Seunga again?"
"······."
Kim Suho trembled silently without a word.
A smirk escaped me.
It wasn't intentional, but this had connected Yun Seunga and Kim Suho in a straight line. Yun Seunga should have been unable to send texts because she was too busy watching Chae Nayun's mood.
"Are you two going to start dating?"
"No way. What would Seunga-sunbae see in me?"
"······."
There's plenty to see. Heck, with a face like that, you could coast on your looks for thirty years.
"More importantly, Hajin."
"Kim Suho, changing the subject like a pro."
"No, that's not it. I'm saying let's go on a trip together."
"······You really like traveling?"
"That's not it. I'm leaving on the 20th. Then we won't see each other for almost three months."
Kim Suho continued with a serious face.
"And also, so you can try getting along with Nayun."
"You too?"
"Yeah. Chae Nayun has changed a lot. Now······."
"No, that's not what I meant. You too?"
I latched onto his words.
"Huh?"
"The word 'you too' means that Kim Suho is also getting along well with someone······ Is that person Yun Seunga?"
"Ah, I said it's not like that. Argh!"
Kim Suho got up in anger.
"Hehe. But I'm not either. I don't like Chae Nayun. No, who said I liked her and went around telling people?"
"Huh? Really? That's not good then."
"What's not good."
"Ah······ It's nothing."
Kim Suho shut his mouth evasively.
It seemed like he had said something involving Chae Nayun and me. Maybe I should hack his smartwatch later.
"Anyway. You take this jar. On the condition that you come on the trip."
At Kim Suho's generous concession, I smiled and nodded.
This was a dungeon I could never have cleared without Kim Suho in the first place, so I should at least do that much.
* * *
December 17th.
Around the time winter's chill was slowly seeping into my bones, I set off on the trip.
With Kim Suho, Sin Jonghak, Yu Yeonha, Yi Yeonghan, and Chae Nayun.
The destination was an ultra-luxury resort near Gyeongpodae. A five-star hotel operated by an affiliate of the Daehyeon Group.
Chae Nayun suggested they drive themselves from Seoul to Gyeongpodae to fully enjoy the travel mood. But as if a bunch of cadets would have driver's licenses.
So, as if there were no other choice(?), we took the limousine provided by Daehyeon.
"Nom nom."
Inside the limousine heading to the resort.
Everyone was energetic for the first hour, but after another thirty minutes, everyone except me and Yu Yeonha had fallen asleep.
"Nom nom."
I watched Yu Yeonha closely as she ate chocolate balls.
They were one of the many snacks Chae Nayun had bought to get into the travel mood, but though Yu Yeonha had shown no interest when they were purchased, she picked one up the moment the others fell asleep, as if she'd been waiting.
There was something inexplicably funny about the way she savored each chocolate ball.
"······."
Our eyes met.
Yu Yeonha looked at me with a somewhat reluctant gaze, then silently offered me the container of chocolate balls.
"Would you like some?"
"I'm good."
"······Good choice. They don't taste very good."
She popped another one into her mouth while saying something she didn't mean.
Clunk.
Just then, the car shook, and the head of Chae Nayun—who was sitting in the seat next to me—slid gently until it touched my shoulder.
"······Hrm."
Yu Yeonha looked at the situation and let out a strange groan. I gently pushed Chae Nayun's head to the side.
But two minutes later.
Chae Nayun's head slowly slid down once again.
Is she awake?
Deciding to just ignore it, I raised my gaze, and this time my eyes met Yu Yeonha's. Yu Yeonha was looking at me and Chae Nayun with a complicated gaze for some reason.
"What."
"...Huh? Ah, it's nothing. I just feel bad for you. Nayun's head must be heavy."
"Yeah. It is. It's too big."
I threw a diss at her for no reason, wondering if she was awake, but there was no reaction.
She must really be asleep.
Anyway, after driving for about thirty more minutes like that, we arrived at the resort.
"Follow me, follow me!"
The moment we arrived, the awakened Chae Nayun shouted energetically and led us along.
The room we would be staying in for two days and one night was a sort of multi-person room that took up an entire floor. A huge party room with six bedrooms.
We unpacked our bags in our respective rooms first, then gathered in the living room.
"I've packed the schedule tight, so everyone follow along!"
Chae Nayun shouted, smiling energetically. The other members had expressions that said they were looking forward to how fun it would be.
...After that, from midnight to nine in the evening.
Billiards, bowling, jet skiing, swimming, hot springs, and so on. By Chae Nayun's design, we were forced to carry out a total of nine schedules.
It was a forced march where you couldn't tell if this was training or a vacation.
* * *
The end of the day was a barbecue party. The romance of grilling meat with the far-stretching Gyeongpodae as the backdrop.
Sizzle, sizzle—
Quietly looking down at the meat cooking on the grill, I felt my mind growing at ease.
"Hey, Kim Hajin. This is stuck. Get it off."
Chae Nayun, standing at my side, tapped my shoulder. The others were all sitting at the table, but she was the only one making a fuss about helping me grill the meat.
"Ah, right. Hey, I bought a motorcycle too?"
"...What? Really?"
"Yeah. It's parked in the lot. Want to go for a drive together after eating?"
"You have a license?"
"I do, but you have to drive. I'm still inexperienced."
"Oh my, what's this, what's this~"
Just then, Yi Yeonghan's mischievous voice rang out.
"Hey, you two~ what are you doing over there~?"
Chae Nayun grimaced and glared at Yi Yeonghan.
"Shut up, Yi Yeonghan."
"Oh, scary."
"You only need one person for the meat, don't you? Does Chae Nayun really have to grill too?"
Sin Jonghak said in a displeased voice. On Sin Jonghak's plate was a mountain of meat that I had brought him.
"Why. It looks nice."
It was Kim Suho coming to her defense.
Sin Jonghak glared fiercely at Kim Suho.
"L-looks nice my ass. Kim Suho, you shut up too."
As she said that, Chae Nayun snuck a glance up at me.
For a very brief moment our eyes met, but Chae Nayun and I averted our gazes simultaneously.
"H-hem."
Chae Nayun let out a fake cough with a somehow reddened face.
"Hey, don't get any weird ideas. Kimchi soup—"
"Not drinking."
"...Why. Did you already get together with Rachel?"
At that, she pouted and grumbled.
"What are you talking about."
"Never mind~"
"Hey, Kim Suho. Want to play another game of billiards when this is done? Loser jumps in the ocean. How about it."
"I'm down."
Kim Suho and Sin Jonghak butted heads once more.
I watched them and smiled silently.
For some reason, it was exactly the kind of moment that made you want a glass of soju.
Starlight filling the night sky, the familiar sound of crashing waves, and people who had become indispensable.
Standing in the center of them, I felt a rather peculiar surge of emotion.
A fullness I had thought I could never feel in this world.
If I could just drink a bottle, I felt like I too could loosen up a little.
Tap, tap.
Chae Nayun hit my shoulder.
"See? It's fun now that you're here, right?"
Chae Nayun's face as she said that was as radiant as a flower.
I couldn't deny it.
"It's not boring."
"What are you saying. You totally love it."
The moment Chae Nayun grinned.
Her