Makgeolli and Pajeon (2)

The first night of the festival was deepening. The food stall was bustling with academy students.

“It’s like magic.”

“Yeah, this is magic.”

The cooking club members couldn’t help but marvel at how the once-quiet food stall was now filled without a single empty seat, when they had been selling tteokbokki and fried food before.

On the tables where students were gathered closely, there were large containers of makgeolli and pajeon on all of them. Steam rose from the freshly grilled pajeon.

“Senior, you didn’t bring in a lady from the cafeteria, did you?”

A student eating pajeon asked a cooking club member.

“Hahaha! No, how could that be? What would people say later?”

The member stared at the kitchen with a slightly stiff face.

‘The problem is that someone even better than a cafeteria lady is in there.’

Yeon Simun continued to skillfully make pajeon.

She had agreed to leave at 11 PM, and it was 9 PM now.

Beside her were successors to make pajeon when she wasn’t there.

One male student from the club and Choi Bit-na. Choi Bit-na stared intently at Yeon Simun.

“Senior, how did you become friends with Dojin?”

Yeon Simun briefly stopped her dazzlingly moving arms and looked at Choi Bit-na behind her.

“Well.”

How did we meet?

It was just a relationship of a few months, but strangely, it felt as close as if they had known each other for years.

Their first meeting was while dealing with the subordinates that Sword Emperor So Daecheol had sent to Iroaz Academy.

They first met while subduing those who dared to enter the academy’s territory, and after that, they started meeting often while eating.

“We became close while eating together.”

The ends of Choi Bit-na’s eyebrows trembled slightly.

“You… ate together.”

Choi Bit-na’s eyes were staring intently at the back of Yeon Simun’s head.

“How many times?”

Yeon Simun focused on the pajeon again. She muttered quietly, not paying attention to Choi Bit-na.

“Well, I think it’s been more than 10 times.”

“More than 10 times…?”

Choi Bit-na didn’t know.

The fact that she was unknowingly emitting fighting spirit from her back.

Yeon Simun had long noticed it with her innate senses, and just left her alone because she seemed like a harmless existence unlikely to cause harm to herself, and also because she was cute.

“Why, has junior Bit-na not eaten with Dojin many times?”

Yeon Simun had just continued speaking without any intention. From her perspective, Choi Bit-na looked like a cute kid who still had a bit of youthful naivety from her teenage years.

‘Wow, this sister… is she subtly scratching?’

Just that Choi Bit-na’s perspective in receiving it was a bit different.

Because in Choi Bit-na’s mind, which was originally of an open personality and now quite intoxicated, the women surrounding Lee Dojin were starting to look like enemies that needed to be defeated one by one.

‘I’ll slaughter them all…! I’ll throw them away…!’

Of course, it wasn’t literally slaughter in the sense of killing them.

‘I’ll become stronger than Lee Dojin, no, even stronger than Dojin, and push them all away…!’

Not now, but someday, definitely.

In Choi Bit-na’s mind, which had turned bright red, a list of people to be eliminated began to be written in dark red. It was scarlet lettering.

Baek Hwayeon.

Ryu Jia.

Yeon Simun.

Choi Bit-na didn’t know that there were a few more people she needed to keep in check.

‘I’ll sweep them all away!’

Chak!

A disposable plate appeared in front of Choi Bit-na, who was making a bloody resolution in her mind.

“Here, eat one. I’ll explain the process now.”

On the plate Yeon Simun held out was a freshly made warm pajeon.

Choi Bit-na picked up the pajeon with chopsticks and devoured it in an instant.

“Nom nom, it’s delicious!”

Whoosh-

The fighting spirit that had been surging from Choi Bit-na’s back instantly subsided.

Lee Dojin was helping serve makgeolli and pajeon.

He had been helping like that for about an hour, not just once.

“Enjoy your meal.”

This time too, after putting down the food, he was about to move immediately to serve food at another table, when someone grabbed Lee Dojin’s sleeve.

“C-could you take a picture with me, by any chance?”

Lee Dojin checked who had grabbed his sleeve.

“You’re the freshman representative, right?”

Even objectively, it wouldn’t be a waste to call her pretty. She was a person with clear features and round eyes.

And she was also someone he had never met before.

“I’m from the research department, so you probably haven’t seen me before. I’m a fan. So if I could just take a picture with you, it would be an infinite honor!”

It was such a strange thing for Lee Dojin that words like that flowed out without hesitation.

Lee Dojin couldn’t help but ask an out-of-the-blue question. Because he was genuinely curious.

“Could I know how my fandom was formed, by any chance?”

The theory department student, who seemed to have had about one glass of makgeolli, grinned and held out her phone to Lee Dojin.

“It’s this. Because of this post that was uploaded three days ago, the name of the Wooden Sword Lord was widely spread.”

“…Wooden Sword Lord?”

Lee Dojin slightly furrowed his brow and then stared at the phone.

<Hunter Gallery>

Title: The holy knight’s weapon was actually a wooden sword.

I’m finally uploading this now that things have calmed down. If I get an academic warning for this, I’ll grit my teeth and endure it.

First-year freshman representative Lee Dojin.

Alone with just a wooden sword, he beat down a presumed S-rank magic beast.

Ah─ Is this what a holy knight (聖騎士) is?

It was a post that seemed ominous in many ways.

And below that paragraph, a photo was attached.

Hazy dust flying and debris from a collapsed building.

A huge black magic beast lying miserably on the first floor.

And a man in a black suit standing on top of that black magic beast.

It was clearly just a scene of when he was slowly raising his body while fixing the magic beast’s back with just a wooden sword.

Because of the sunlight flowing in through the broken outer wall and windows, Lee Dojin’s body was covered in radiance.

The shadow cast in front, and the halo rising behind his body like wings of light.

Thanks to these points, he looked like a devout holy knight praying to God after slaying the magic beast.

And below that photo, there was one more paragraph.

“Oh Lord. I had to wield a wooden sword to match the level of the inferior students who make up the majority of the academy. Please, release your anger.”

Everyone praise, worship, and revere the Wooden Sword Lord.

‘…Crazy.’

A curse came out automatically.

Of course, he didn’t say it out loud. Lee Dojin slightly scrolled down with his finger to check the comments.

He was certain there would be no one supporting such an insane post.

But that wasn’t the case.

-I worship you. King God Dojin

-Is it okay to ride the Dojin coin??

-A future Ten Sovereign is right here.

-This is ㅇㅈ (acknowledgement)

-??? Is that a first-year???

-How noble.

They were all similar to the sentiment of the main text.

Lee Dojin returned the phone he had received from the female student with a still hardened face.

“W-will you take a picture with me?”

“…Yes, let’s do that.”

Lee Dojin eventually couldn’t ignore the fan’s request.

Lee Dojin and the female student’s bodies pressed together. Lee Dojin grinned. So that the female student who approached as a fan wouldn’t feel embarrassed.

Click-

“Waaah! Thank you so much!”

The female student bowed her head several times. Lee Dojin, who smiled bitterly this time, stood up from his seat.

He thought it was over now.

That’s when it happened. The four men and women at the table where the woman was sitting shouted simultaneously.

“”We’re fans! Fighting!””

Suddenly, he felt an intense desire to die.

---

“You worked hard.”

“It was nothing.”

Lee Dojin poured makgeolli for Yeon Simun.

It was past 12 o’clock in the end. The two sat on chairs and drank makgeolli while looking at the pitch-black sky.

Yeon Simun’s direct grilling of pajeon ended at 11 o’clock, but it took over an hour to supervise and manage the making of decent pajeon.

Chatter chatter-

Even though they had announced that the food stall would close at 1 AM, the tables were still full. Word had spread about how delicious it was.

“Junior, you’re quite the celebrity, huh?”

Yeon Simun noticed that there were one or two people who kept glancing in their direction. And it didn’t take long to realize that they were looking at Lee Dojin beside her, not herself.

“You’ve experienced this too, senior.”

Summer vacation of the second year.

Yeon Simun had become famous once for a video of her single-handedly destroying an A-rank monster that popped out of a gate.

Not only did the video circulate in the communities of hunters and academy students, but photos of Yeon Simun dusting off her hands after killing the monster were plastered on the front pages of major media outlets.

Lee Dojin, who checked posts from a while ago wondering if anyone else had gone through such an ordeal besides himself, was able to find Yeon Simun’s case in less than 3 minutes.

“It wasn’t this bad for me, junior. A holy knight with a wooden sword… kukukuk!”

Yeon Simun laughed out loud. Lee Dojin let out a deep sigh.

“I can’t laugh.”

“Is there any makgeolli left?”

Lee Dojin turned his head at the vaguely familiar voice. A blonde woman with blue eyes was walking over. It was Rachel Walker.

Yeon Simun waved her hand at the welcome appearance.

“Yo, Rachel.”

“Hello, Simun.”

Rachel approached Yeon Simun and gave her a light hug.

The silver hair and blonde hair patted each other’s backs affectionately. It was a very brief hug.

After finishing the formal greeting, Rachel stared at Lee Dojin.

“Should I hug junior Dojin too?”

“I’ll decline.”

“Why is your answer so quick? That’s not noble.”

Rachel Walker, who raised the corners of her mouth, sat down next to Lee Dojin.

“I’ll nobly pour you a drink then.”

Lee Dojin poured a glass of makgeolli for Rachel Walker. Rachel drank the makgeolli without hesitation.

“It’s delicious when you drink it occasionally, makgeolli.”

“It’s surprising that an American drinks it even occasionally.”

‘…W-who is that now? A blonde this time? Blue eyes?’

Choi Bit-na, who had been serving the next table, furrowed her brow at the appearance of another woman.

‘Why are there so many!’

Another name was about to be added to the <Slaughter List> occupying a corner of Choi Bit-na’s mind.