Ch.19Chapter 1. I Was Just Trying to Do a Favor (2)

After giving directions to Ymir, an unidentified blonde foreigner who might just be an extra:

“Um, have you eaten yet?!”

“…Huh?”

“If you haven’t eaten yet, would you like to have lunch together? My treat!”

I received a lunch invitation from Ymir.

What’s this about?

Is this woman approaching me because she’s figured out my identity?

Is she using this meal as an excuse to subtly threaten me with “I know you’re a Goblin, so buy me lunch every day from now on”?

Or could she be from the Syndicate?

Though I can’t easily figure out what’s happening, there’s only one choice for me after receiving this invitation.

“Sure.”

Eating together like this is a new experience compared to materializing and eating pizza alone, and it all becomes nourishment anyway.

“Do you like pasta? There’s a really famous pasta place that I’ve never been to. Would you like to go there together?”

I should let her know how dangerous it is for her wallet to buy meals on Sejong Island.

“You’ve never…?”

“Yes. I’ve only been here for a week.”

“Ah. You must be a new faculty member.”

“That’s right. I was newly hired as a librarian.”

“Hehe, so you’re new too, Teacher?”

“…Teacher?”

“Yes. Librarian teacher. Aren’t you?”

“It’s a bit different, but not significantly so, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Call me whatever you like, student Ymir.”

Conscientiously speaking, it would feel a bit off to have a blonde, blue-eyed foreigner call me “oppa.”

Maybe someday if we build a friendship, I might hear such things, but I wonder what meaning there would be in becoming close with a student like Ymir.

‘She looks like the type many boys would pursue.’

Like the protagonist, many other extras are crazy about foreign women.

This trend comes from the many foreign tycoons and power players who think, “A Korean A-class man in his early twenties?! He must become my son-in-law immediately!” The male students at the academy particularly target foreigners.

It’s sad, but the positions of male and female ability users are quite different.

When female ability users leave the country, people often view it as “she fell in love with a foreigner and ran away,” but when male ability users go abroad, there’s a strong perception that “a capable man is being treated well in his daughter-in-law’s country.”

It seems unfair, but at the same time, it might be a measure to protect domestic female ability users—an ambiguous situation.

“Miss Ymir must be popular among the academy students.”

“Huh? Oh, thank you. I think you’d be popular too, Librarian. Oh.”

Ymir covered her mouth in surprise.

“Won’t your girlfriend be angry that you’re having a meal with me?”

“Fortunately, I don’t have a girlfriend, student.”

“Oh… really? I see. Hmm.”

What’s this?

Ymir’s eyes seemed to sharpen momentarily, like a hunting dog eyeing its prey.

Is she planning to devour me because I said I don’t have a girlfriend?

“Then since there’s no one to complain, let’s go to the place you mentioned.”

“This way, please. We’ll need to walk a bit, is that okay?”

“Yes. I like walking. Oh, could I drop off my luggage at the dormitory first?”

“Of course.”

Ymir trotted off toward the dormitory with her carrier.

There might be some whispering because a man is standing in front of the women’s dormitory, which is almost like forbidden territory, but people don’t seem to be suspicious of me.

That’s because there are other men here besides me.

“Oppa, did you wait long?”

“Not long. Where should we go, honey?”

“Hmm, where would you like to go, oppa? I’m fine with anything.”

“……”

This is a place where men gather to wait for their girlfriends in front of the dormitory.

I’m not exactly waiting for a girlfriend, but the road is bustling with people coming to pick up women before mealtime.

“Oh, over there!”

Someone pointed in one direction.

Just as I was about to lose interest, thinking it might be someone’s awaited girlfriend:

“Snow White!”

At someone’s words, the men’s gazes—even those who had just met their girlfriends—turned toward the sound.

“Wow….”

In the distance, a limousine that looked like it belonged in an American movie began approaching.

As soon as the limousine stopped, women in suits wearing sunglasses emerged, put their hands to their ears to communicate, and opened the door from outside, revealing a white-haired woman in a suit.

“Snow White.”

Despite it being the weekend, she came out in a suit with nothing but her smartphone—no other luggage.

Correction.

She didn’t need to carry her own luggage.

The suited women following her—probably bodyguards from the government, or perhaps it’s better to call them supporters—took care of removing everything from the trunk and moving it to the dormitory.

“So even Snow White has to stay in the dormitory without exception.”

“I heard all the faculty residences are full this time. But isn’t that dormitory wing where the graduate students stay?”

“Do you really think that’s the reason? It’s probably a dirty scheme to have Snow White stay close to her female followers and try to lure some women to Korea.”

Everyone started developing conspiracy theories about why Snow White was staying in a student dormitory instead of faculty housing.

‘She’s going to have a hard time.’

Being an S-class ability user, and one who receives support and admiration from female ability users not only abroad but also domestically, she probably won’t be able to live comfortably at the academy.

“Huh?”

In the distance, my eyes momentarily met with Baek Seol-hee’s as she was about to enter the dormitory.

Is it my imagination?

Thinking it probably wasn’t, I took out my smartphone and pretended to answer a call so others wouldn’t notice.

“Oh, it’s been a while. A week? Have you been well?”

Baek Seol-hee smiled faintly as she watched me pretending to take a call.

“Look at that! Snow White smiled at us!”

“She really is the celebrity of ability users. Wow, she’s truly beautiful.”

“I want to marry her.”

I understand why the men are drooling.

A white-haired cool beauty who also has an abundant mana pouch, and is even S-class and a hero’s cradle—any man would harbor secret desires.

“She really has it tough.”

How much must she have suffered, receiving such attention from people since childhood?

Although she’s a character in a novel, I feel like I’ve indirectly experienced the discomfort of being a top-tier celebrity in this world.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Oh, you’re here?”

Hearing Ymir’s voice behind me, I put away my smartphone.

“A friend.”

“A friend…”

“What’s with that suspicious look?”

“Nothing. Anyway, shall we go? I’m a bit hungry now.”

“Yes. Would you come this way?”

I guided Ymir out of the dormitory.

Somehow, I felt a chill from behind that made my skin crawl, but that’s probably just the ugly jealousy of men seeing me going to eat with a beauty like Ymir.

‘But I don’t want to eat alone.’

Eating with a beauty who’s treating me vs. Eating alone at home

“By the way, won’t your boyfriend say something about you eating with me?”

“I’ve never had a boyfriend, so I wouldn’t know?”

“……”

Eating with a (forever single) beauty who’s treating me vs. Eating alone at home

For me, it’s a no-brainer.

* * *

Thud.

Baek Seol-hee threw herself onto the bed, still in her suit.

Though much smaller than her home in Busan, the room and bed were quite spacious since three dormitory rooms had been converted into one living space.

She would have to mingle with countless people over the next year.

Although she entered the academy under the pretext of rest, it might be more mentally taxing than living as a hero in Busan, never knowing when deployment orders might come.

But what’s complicating her thoughts now isn’t worry about life at the academy.

“…Who was that?”

Baek Seol-hee examined the photo she had taken earlier through her smartphone, which she had pointed downward.

In the distance.

Beyond the crowd, a man walking away with his back turned.

And beside him, a blonde girl walking together.

“…What, do they know each other?”

The girl was smiling brightly, her body slightly twisted toward the man.

They weren’t just walking side by side with shoulders aligned; she was slightly turned toward him, looking at him.

The man was looking ahead, while the woman was looking at his face.

“…What is this?”

Something began to bubble up in Baek Seol-hee’s heart.

That strange emotion.

“…Hmph.”

Baek Seol-hee tried to forget it by reviewing the script for tomorrow’s entrance ceremony.

“What is this? Arrhythmia?”

Baek Seol-hee placed her hand on her chest and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Then she picked up her smartphone and reached for a number she had contacted frequently recently, but…

“……”

For some reason, her hand froze, unable to make a call or send a text.

* * *

A little later.

“Wow, that’s fortunate. There’s exactly one good seat left.”

“Yes. Hehe, maybe it’s thanks to me?”

Ymir placed her index fingers on both cheeks and smiled brightly.

“My luck is really much better than others’.”

“Luck?”

“Yes. Luck. Meeting you like this is also my luck.”

“I’m just an ordinary librarian though.”

“Is that so?”

Right now.

“From what I can see, you don’t seem like an ordinary librarian.”

What is she trying to say with this build-up?

“You are…”

Ymir stared at me intently and quietly opened her mouth.

“A handsome librarian teacher.”

“……”

My favorability toward Ymir increased by 10.