Wooden Sword

The winner of the martial arts match was decided. It was Lee Dojin.

Lee Dojin sheathed his wooden sword in the black scabbard on his back.

And he approached Baek Hwayeon.

“You did well.”

And he held Baek Hwayeon’s right hand.

A slightly torn wound was noticeable on her palm. Blood was still flowing.

“We should treat this.”

“Yeah.”

Baek Hwayeon was closely observing Lee Dojin’s face as he closely examined her palm.

Lee Dojin came down from the martial arts arena while holding Baek Hwayeon’s hand.

Baek Hwayeon immediately disappeared, as if seized by the medical staff. Lee Dojin entered the waiting room, leaving behind the gazes of over a thousand people pouring on him. It was to return to the dormitory without being disturbed.

---

The first-year students who saw Lee Dojin and Baek Hwayeon’s martial arts match suddenly started training in the year’s training ground as if their blood was boiling. Although Lee Dojin and Baek Hwayeon themselves were resting in their respective dormitories, exhausted.

Lee Dojin, who woke up from a nap, checked his ringing phone. The caller was Rachel Walker.

“…What’s the matter, senior?”

-Oh, the voice of the strongest first-year just woken up. This is precious.

“Yes, I was a bit tired so I took a nap. And I’m not the strongest first-year yet.”

Two days later, he has to face the strongest first-year from the magic department. That’s the end of the schedule included in the final exam.

-That guy is weak.

“What?”

-I’m saying the current first-year magic department top is weak. Ungracefully so.

In Rachel’s view, there was no way that magician could beat Lee Dojin, so she called him the strongest first-year in advance.

-Whoosh, poof, scratch. Just finish him off.

That’s quite a simple method.

Lee Dojin let those words go in one ear and out the other.

“Don’t you have any more practical advice?”

-Just do as you’ve been doing.

“I see, understood.”

-I should make one request.

“Yes, what is it?”

-Overwhelm him. Magicians are a type that only develop potential when they realize how powerless they are and feel ashamed. They’re dull and stupid.

You’re being too self-deprecating.

“Understood.”

-See you later.

The call ended.

Lee Dojin felt the need to inject some vitality into his body, which had become sluggish from taking a nap. So he started doing push-ups.

---

Baek Hwayeon was lying on her dormitory bed.

“…”

Baek Hwayeon stared at her palm, which had completely healed in less than half a day.

“I knew I would lose, but.”

She couldn’t help feeling unsettled once she actually lost. She roughly brushed her messy hair with her right hand.

“Hmm.”

Baek Hwayeon felt her inner worries deepening.

“Oh geez.”

She felt her face flushing again. Liking him and whatnot. Why did she say that on the martial arts arena? And while fighting, no less? A strong sense of self-loathing welled up.

Baek Hwayeon took out her phone. And called someone.

“Hey, come out to the front of the school in an hour. You’ll get hit if you don’t come.”

And she unilaterally ended the call.

The name of the recipient on the screen was Lee Dojin.

Baek Hwayeon slowly crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom. She had to prepare to go out.

Lee Dojin chuckled. He was a bit dumbfounded. Suddenly telling him to come out to the front of the school on the night of the day they fought hard. Still, he had to go. After all, he had inflicted wounds on her in various ways.

Lee Dojin went outside. And walked to the school’s main gate. Baek Hwayeon was already standing at the school’s main gate.

“You came?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Dojin stared at Baek Hwayeon.

“Your body…”

“It’s fine. When I fought Jia, that was when it really hurt.”

“That’s good.”

“It’s not the body that hurts. Hmm? It’s the wounded heart.”

Baek Hwayeon caressed Lee Dojin’s shoulder.

And she continued speaking.

“Let’s, let’s go drink.”

“…Drink?”

Baek Hwayeon blushed slightly, perhaps thinking that what she said didn’t suit her after saying it herself.

Among Lee Dojin’s acquaintances, only Yeon Simun would suit that line. The rest were basically martial artists who disliked disturbing their nature.

Of course, Yeon Simun was also such a martial artist, but he had quite a strong alcohol tolerance.

“Let’s go, then.”

If the martial arts match with the strongest first-year from the magic department was tomorrow, he would have been reluctant to drink today. Although he could drive out the intoxication with inner power, it was a rational judgment to not even have to do that.

But the first-year martial arts competition finals were two days away.

Lee Dojin accepted Baek Hwayeon’s sudden drinking invitation.

The two entered a meat restaurant across from the academy.

Entering a place with relatively few people, Baek Hwayeon could feel at ease.

“Let’s drink moderately and eat a lot of meat.”

“O-okay.”

Lee Dojin started grilling meat on the grill. The pork belly was browning nicely. Lee Dojin placed the fully cooked meat on Baek Hwayeon’s plate.

“Is it delicious?”

“Mmhmm.”

Baek Hwayeon felt her mood improving as she ate the meat. To the extent that she even forgot the fundamental reason why she wanted to make Lee Dojin drink.

Lee Dojin also had a feast after a long time. They finished three servings of pork belly between the two of them. And ordered an additional three servings of beef.

Baek Hwayeon dipped the meat in various sauces as she ate.

Lee Dojin watched Baek Hwayeon inhaling meat with her cheeks puffed out.

“You eat well.”

Baek Hwayeon, who was eating well, felt her mind suddenly clear at Lee Dojin’s words. This.

‘I ate too well!’

She ate well, too well.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

So she hurriedly got up and headed to the bathroom. And she slightly lifted her top to check her belly fat.

There was only a faint outline of abs, with no sense of belly fat protruding at all.

“Phew.”

None. Yes, if her belly fat had bulged out this much, she wouldn’t have been able to forgive herself. Martial artists naturally have high metabolic rates.

Thinking that she should stop eating now, she came back out of the bathroom. And sat down in front of Lee Dojin.

“Here, have a drink.”

Lee Dojin poured soju for Baek Hwayeon, which he had ordered but hadn’t drunk.

“Okay.”

Clang-

The two lightly clinked glasses and then downed the soju in one shot.

“Ugh… honestly, I can’t say I drink this for the taste. But I like that feeling of getting slightly drunk.”

Lee Dojin chuckled at Baek Hwayeon’s honest impression.

“Me too.”

Baek Hwayeon, as if she had made some decision, bowed her head deeply and then raised it again.

“This morning. Don’t mind what I said during the martial arts match. I was, should I say, caught up in the atmosphere? That’s what happened.”

It would be more accurate to say she was intoxicated by fighting spirit rather than alcohol.

Lee Dojin opened his eyes wide.

“You saying you liked me?”

“Kek! Kek!”

Baek Hwayeon hurriedly wrapped a tissue around her mouth as the meat she was eating came out.

“You were keeping that in mind. It’s okay.”

Jjoreuruk-

Lee Dojin said as he poured water into Baek Hwayeon’s empty water glass.

“I like you too.”

“Huh…?”

A dazed sound flowed from Baek Hwayeon’s mouth. Lee Dojin added words with an indifferent expression.

“Because I like you, we eat together like this. Drink together. Share our worries. And I like your sword too. The plum blossom.”

Ah.

That kind of liking?

Baek Hwayeon felt, for the first time, a murderous intent blooming beside her affection for Lee Dojin, even greater than that affection. But in the end, affection suppressed the murderous intent.

A silly smile formed on Baek Hwayeon’s lips.

It seemed it would take quite a long time to unfold the emotion of true liking in front of Lee Dojin.

“Oh, right. That sword technique that shattered my final form. I’ve never seen it before.”

She was asking about the technique that shattered Plum Blossom Full Bloom.

“Ah, Thorn Tree.”

“Thorn Tree?”

“Yeah, it’s a technique I invented. This was the first time I used it publicly since inventing it.”

Baek Hwayeon opened her mouth blankly.

“Wow, that was an invented martial art?”

“Yeah.”

Baek Hwayeon felt anew that the wall between Lee Dojin and herself had grown larger. Not in terms of distance, but the wall of difference in martial arts.

Probably because she hadn’t even attempted or thought about inventing a technique even once yet.

“You should try it too. Inventing is quite fun.”

“…Yeah, I’m sure it’s fun.”

Studying. Games too. Aren’t they fun if you’re good at them?

Baek Hwayeon downed her drink in one shot.

The alcohol tasted even more bitter than before.

Clang!

They each finished a bottle of soju. Even so, neither of them was in a state of severe intoxication.

“Anyway, you’ll take first place in the first year like this.”

Baek Hwayeon caressed Lee Dojin’s left palm placed on the table.

“What are you going to do during summer vacation?”

“Well, first I’ll finish some personal business.”

Sword Emperor So Daecheol.

He had to tie up that loose end.

“After that, I’m planning to think about it a bit.”

“I see.”

“What about you?”

At Lee Dojin’s question, Baek Hwayeon slowly rotated her wrist holding the soju glass. The clear soju slowly sloshed around.

“I don’t know either. Exactly. I have a vague picture of what I should do, but.”

Lee Dojin stared at Baek Hwayeon. For someone who said she didn’t know exactly what to do, something was glimpsed in that expression.

That there was something she absolutely had to do.

Lee Dojin slowly opened his mouth.

“Tell me if you need help. With anything.”

Baek Hwayeon grinned.

“Yeah, I should call my strong friend if anything happens.”

Clang!

The glasses clinked. It was the last drink.

Lee Dojin and Baek Hwayeon slowly walked through the park in front of the academy.

Lee Dojin opened his mouth again.

“Do you remember when we first met?”

Baek Hwayeon’s face turned bright red. Baek Hwayeon suddenly put her hand on Lee Dojin’s shoulder. The alcohol had risen moderately. It was an action to gloss over her embarrassment.

“Hey! Why are you digging up such an embarrassing memory after drinking!”

Fight me!

The image of herself shouting that and rushing at him was still fresh in her memory.

She wasn’t some wild crazy woman.

Lee Dojin chuckled. Because the same memory as Baek Hwayeon’s floated in his mind.

“I’ve been curious since then?”

“Huh?”

“Why this bastard only uses a wooden sword, I thought.”

“Yeah, I did. Now it doesn’t matter at all though.”

“I can only use a wooden sword.”

Lee Dojin said while staring into Baek Hwayeon’s eyes.

“It could be because I have a disease called mana inability, or maybe I’m just a normal person with no connection to mana by nature.”

Lee Dojin decided to confess.

If he didn’t say anything more here, and a situation arose where he absolutely had to say something. He might end up hurting the people he had built relationships with until now.

They might feel insulted.

“This story will be a bit long.”

Lee Dojin and Baek Hwayeon slowed their pace and started walking very slowly.