Festival (1)

Baek Hwayeon continued to fume for a while even after ending the call with Lee Dojin. And it was the same for Choi Bit-na beside her.

“That’s more of a problem. That it doesn’t seem like a lie.”

Choi Bit-na was still looking at the earrings hanging on her ears through the mirror.

The diamond sparkled brilliantly.

Even after knowing that it was split from a set, the earrings given by Lee Dojin were still pretty.

Baek Hwayeon nodded at Choi Bit-na’s words.

“Yeah, he probably doesn’t realize how outrageous what he did was.”

It must have been a purely sincere expression of gratitude. It’s probably true that he split it up because he thought giving a full set might be burdensome.

Sometimes things are scarier because they’re sincere.

Choi Bit-na burst out laughing.

“Ahahah! We met to study together, but I didn’t expect to discover such a disaster.”

After meeting at the Black Market, Choi Bit-na and Baek Hwayeon had met a few more times and become closer.

Since the content of the written exams was the same even though they were in different classes, they had planned to meet and study together, but they discovered that Baek Hwayeon’s necklace and Choi Bit-na’s earrings had identical designs.

Baek Hwayeon fiddled with the necklace at the center of her collarbone.

“How do we make him normal?”

Choi Bit-na let out a laugh at Baek Hwayeon’s sincere words.

“Is it possible? Making Dojin normal? Huh? It’s not like he’s a bad guy deliberately playing with us.”

Baek Hwayeon nodded.

“He’s not a bad guy, he’s a crazy guy.”

The problem is that she had fallen for that crazy guy. Baek Hwayeon clicked her tongue.

“Well, he probably won’t make the same mistake again.”

Choi Bit-na sincerely hoped so too.

“Let’s hang in there, us…”

The two, who had feelings for the same person, should normally be wary of each other, but strangely, they didn’t feel like it. Because the object of their affection was such an unimaginably crazy guy.

The two warriors facing an innovative madman sprouted a sense of camaraderie.

---

So Daecheol, the Sword Emperor and master of the <Changheon> Guild, and So Yueun’s father, was watching a video in his office.

“…”

With a quite hardened face.

In that video, a man wearing a battle suit was facing an unidentified magic beast while holding a wooden sword.

The movements of the man tightening the noose around the magic beast’s neck while emanating colorless sword energy were no different from those of a veteran hunter with decades of experience in the hunter world.

The final relentless barrage of attacks was so fast that even the high-performance CCTV couldn’t properly capture the process. Streams of light distorted everything around.

“Lee Dojin.”

So Daecheol couldn’t help but mutter that name.

He had thought he was just a cocky youngster believing in his insignificant power. But that wasn’t the case.

This youngster using a wooden sword possessed power worthy of being sufficiently arrogant.

“I’ll have to completely crush him.”

Nevertheless, he was still superior for now.

After checking the video of him facing Professor Woon Hyeongcheol, So Daecheol was confident that he was still stronger than Lee Dojin.

“In 1 year, 2 years…”

By then, he couldn’t definitively say the outcome of a match would be his unconditional victory.

It was truly terrifying talent. To the point of being somewhat frightening.

And to the point of arousing jealousy.

“I’ll have to shatter his dantian.”

In Sword Emperor So Daecheol’s eyes, a base desire was present.

Jealousy towards the enormous gem that he wasn’t born with.

A filthy desire stemming from wanting to deprive the other of what they possessed.

---

Sword Emperor So Daecheol wasn’t the only one watching Lee Dojin’s video.

“This student is Lee Dojin, one of the people who received permission from Vice Principal Cecilia to spread information about the Tower.”

A long white snake pattern was drawn on the black wall. And on the ceiling, a huge snake was embroidered.

Although we say public, the number of people who clearly knew about Jormungand’s existence was extremely small in each country.

Basically, only those invited can enter the Tower.

However, once the Tower opens, a password is provided, and saying that password gives one the qualification to take the Tower’s test.

<Jormungand>’s top priority was to control the leakage of information about the ‘Tower’.

From information flowing into the internet, the sea of information, to information about the existence of the ‘Tower’ spreading by word of mouth in reality. They collected all flows related to the Tower.

And when information flowed unnecessarily, they quickly carried out the role of eliminating it. Whether on the network or in reality.

40 years.

Jormungand was the oldest among hunter-related groups, and also the most veiled.

Jormungand was everywhere. Anywhere information about the ‘Tower’ might flow.

“According to an agent working as an instructor at the academy, he seems to have the talent and character worthy of receiving an invitation.”

“Murders?”

“He has many records of killing villains. He doesn’t seem to be the type to murder for personal greed.”

“The Extermination Squad guys will latch onto him. Tell them to keep including him as a person of interest.”

The white snake was hiding all over the world, paying attention to everyone’s mouths and ears.

---

Two weeks passed quickly. All first-year students of Iroaz Academy, including Lee Dojin, had to spend a hectic two weeks due to the postponed written exams.

And all the exam results came out.

“…This is crazy.”

A blonde man twisted his mouth as he looked at the ranking chart hung on the back wall.

Combat Class 1 <Dungeon Exploration Theory> Written Exam Results Ranking

-1st: Baek Hwayeon

-2nd: Kang Changhyung

-3rd: Ryu Jia

-4th: Jo Wooshin

-5th: Lee Sejung

-6th: Kim Hanmin

-7th: Lee Dojin

-8th: Park Seonggu

-9th: Hashimoto Kazuha

“Why is Baek Hwayeon first?”

Why was Baek Hwayeon, who had learned from him until the day before the exam, in first place? A light pink head appeared next to Kang Changhyung.

“Hey, Teacher Kang! Thanks to you, I got first place! This is that ‘student surpassing the teacher’ thing, right?”

Baek Hwayeon grinned and patted Kang Changhyung’s shoulder. Kang Changhyung burst into a hollow laugh as if Baek Hwayeon’s words were nonsense.

“I’ll treat you to a meal once! Teacher Kang!”

“…Go away.”

Kang Changhyung felt his blood pressure rising sharply at Baek Hwayeon’s words.

So he closed his eyes tightly and ignored Baek Hwayeon’s sarcasm.

Baek Hwayeon hummed as she returned to her seat. The diamond necklace given by Lee Dojin was hanging around her neck.

“You did well on the exam.”

Lee Dojin said to Baek Hwayeon.

At those words, Baek Hwayeon couldn’t hide her joy.

“Actually, I was lucky with two questions! But luck is also a skill! Hehehe!”

Baek Hwayeon shouted loudly, as if for someone to hear. And Kang Changhyung, who heard it, grabbed the back of his neck. He was genuinely angry.

“Dojin, you’re 7th. I beat you in studying!”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Lee Dojin had no thoughts about the written exam results as long as he avoided the failing grade that would lose his scholarship.

“Tch, no fun.”

Baek Hwayeon puffed up her cheeks when she didn’t get the reaction she expected.

The thick voice of the man to Lee Dojin’s left was heard.

It was Park Seonggu.

“Now only the final exam is left.”

The final exam was in two weeks. It was almost back-to-back with the midterm-like written exam. This was because the <Red Cult> incident had thrown almost three weeks of schedule into disarray.

“The final exam will be practical, right? That one that’s famous for always being grand.”

Park Seonggu raised the corners of his mouth as if in anticipation. Lee Dojin no longer paid much attention to his friends’ fighting spirit. There should only be one or two people crazy about fighting. Lee Dojin still didn’t realize that he was seen as an even greater battle maniac by others.

Rattle-

Park Cheol-ung, the homeroom teacher of Combat Class 1, who entered the classroom, displayed something on the screen of the blackboard.

Park Cheol-ung pressed the remote control.

“The final exam is a tournament-style martial arts competition. One-on-one combat between students. This time it’s not a mock battle. There’s no system to make death non-existent. Instead, it will be conducted under the strict supervision of instructors.”

The final exam period was set for the entire third week of July. Because there would be quite a number of matches given the tournament format.

“The bracket is random. And I believe.”

Park Cheol-ung, who paused his words for a moment, grinned. His bright white teeth showed.

“That you, Combat Class 1, won’t be eliminated in the early stages.”

Park Cheol-ung’s fierce face looked as if he would kill them if they were eliminated early.

“And next week is the three-day festival period, as you all know. Singers and idols will come in droves.”

Ooooh!!

An uncommon exclamation flowed from the mouths of the Combat Class 1 students.

Although famous hunters appear in visual media as often as actors or idols, there was still demand for singers and idols.

Because singing or dancing skills are never manifested as awakening abilities.

“Next week, just think of it as a festival and enjoy. There’s nothing that will change with a week’s effort anyway.”

Lee Dojin had no interest at all in the talk about the festival.

‘I should go meet Sword Demon elder once.’

He was thinking of learning a lesson from Sword Demon Jung Yong-ha.

“Oh, what did the reading club say they were doing for the festival?”

Baek Hwayeon, who was in the reading club despite not reading at all, scrolled through her phone.

Lee Dojin also checked his phone, which was vibrating.

It was a message from Yeon Simun.

-Can you help with the club event during the festival? I’ll pay you for part-time work.

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, he had said he would join the martial arts club where his senior was, but he hadn’t gone even once.

Lee Dojin replied that he would do so.