Preparing to Go to School

On the way back to the defense city from Mount Seorak.

In the aircraft carrier that was designed to hold 300 passengers but was now eerily empty with only 4 people on board, I was currently sneaking into a room without Arashi, Seo-hyun, and Esi knowing.

To be more precise, it was the personal sleeping quarters provided on the aircraft carrier.

…Click.

After secretly entering the sleeping quarters and quietly locking the door, I let out the breath I’d been holding and took out the book I had tucked in the back of my pants.

“Phew… it’s really hard to read a book in secret.”

『Fortunately, all three of them were distracted by other things.』

The book I had originally intended to read right away but couldn’t because of Esi’s call.

I took out the book I had found in the hidden room of the warehouse and vented my complaints about the struggle it took to get here while being cautious.

If the three hadn’t been distracted by other things, I probably wouldn’t have been able to read this book until after returning to the tower.

As someone who had been full of expectations for this book since finding it in the warehouse, that would have been a truly dreadful future.

“Well, anyway, I’ve managed to bring it here.”

But whatever the hypothetical future might have been, the immediate reality was that I could now read this book right away.

“First, let’s make sure…”

Crack–!

So after checking for any presence around one last time, I broke the CCTV in the sleeping quarters and only then opened the first page of the ancient book that I hadn’t been able to fully open earlier.

With a flutter, the first page I hadn’t been able to read earlier opens to my careful touch.

The ancient book that seems like it could tear at any moment but somehow maintains its original form as it opens.

And what was written on that first page that opened was just a single word.

“…Shingwi (神鬼)?”

The character for ‘god’ (神) that I had glimpsed earlier, and the character for ‘ghost’ (鬼) attached to it.

Only these two characters were written to form a word on the faded blank paper.

“Not gwishin (ghost) but shingwi? What is this?”

And naturally, I tilted my head and voiced my confusion at this word that couldn’t be considered a word just because the characters were attached.

While gwishin (ghost) would be understandable, what on earth did shingwi mean?

“Well, if this is an ancient book about goblins, let’s assume ‘ghost’ (鬼) means goblin… Then what, does it mean god-goblin or something?”

It seems the author of the book was probably an old-timer who enjoyed giving cryptic riddles, considering they only wrote these two characters like this.

Just this one word written on the first page was enough to catch a whiff of that old-timer scent I used to get from elderly goblins over 800 years old.

“This content that seems to say you can’t understand the meaning unless you grasp their intention is exactly like those old ghosts who’ve just grown old.”

『It does feel that way, but well… let’s look at the next page for now.』

“Right, shall we look at the next page first?”

At Hwa-gon’s words, I nodded and put aside my complaints for now.

It might be that this incomprehensible word on the first page would become understandable if I read the content that follows.

Anticipating such a possibility, I soon moved my hand to turn to the next page of the ancient book.

Flutter—

The paper turns with a quiet sound.

And the next page that turned was not much different from the first page.

The blank space of the faded paper and two characters written in ink in the middle.

“Beom (凡), and Bul (不).”

However, unlike the first page where the characters were attached as a word, this time the two characters were separated as if each had its own meaning.

“Impossible for ordinary people?”

『That’s probably the meaning.』

This is roughly how the two characters could be interpreted.

And after reading the characters on the second page, I began to quickly read through the rest of the pages as well.

Flutter, flutter, flutter—

“Jeon (電), Bing (氷), Mu (霧), Geum (金), Gwang (光), Am (暗)… What do these mean?”

The third page, fourth page, fifth page, up to the eighth page, all contained only a single character.

But unlike the second page, I could only tilt my head at these individual characters whose implied meanings I couldn’t understand.

Even when I asked Hwa-gon, the answer that came back was that she didn’t know either.

In the end, after flipping through these puzzling characters whose meanings I couldn’t understand, I turned to the last ninth page.

Flutter—

“Let’s see… Qualification (資格)?”

The last page, unlike all the previous pages, showed me a single word with an intuitive meaning.

Qualification. A condition necessary for something.

I couldn’t tell what this qualification was for, nor did I understand the meaning of the characters that had appeared before, but that was the end of the book’s content for now.

“…This is too insignificant.”

With just nine pages of paper thin thickness, and at most two characters written on each page.

Moreover, each one was full of incomprehensible words, so my expectations for the book that had swollen up withered like autumn leaves in winter.

Knock knock—

As I lay my unmotivated body on the bed, a sudden knocking sound was heard.

“Shin-yeon? Are you in here?”

And I raised my body again at Arashi’s voice that followed the knocking sound.

“Ah, yes… I’m here. What’s up?”

“If it’s alright with you, would you like to have a meal together?”

“Well, I am hungry… Should we?”

Arashi’s invitation to have a meal together.

Hearing those words made me feel hungry too, so I accepted Arashi’s request and got up, tucking the book I was holding back into the back of my pants, and opened the locked door.

‘Today… let’s just say I was sightseeing outside.’

Although my disappointment with the book was great, I couldn’t just mope around all day.

After hearing Arashi’s voice, I decided to completely forget about my disappointment with the book and soon pulled open the door and left the room.

“Alright, let’s go eat.”

“Yes, Shin-yeon.”

Arashi smiled as she saw me come out of the room.

Since what I needed to do now was to put food in my stomach that was screaming with hunger, I moved towards the aircraft carrier’s dining hall along with the smiling Arashi.

Of course.

It was only a few minutes later that I lost my appetite at the sight of Arashi eating raw meat with blood dripping from it.

---

Personal room in the General Management Team tower.

“Hmm… so this is how it feels.”

Although Neon usually went back and forth between Shin-yeon’s residential floor and Yeon-ah’s office and didn’t often come to her own room, today she was back in her personal room for the first time in a while.

The reason was none other than a package that had just arrived.

The contents of the package were the school uniform she had ordered for custom tailoring when she went out with Shin-yeon and Lee Seol a few days ago.

Originally, she had planned to buy a ready-made uniform in her pre-measured size, but due to Seol’s strong insistence, she ended up ordering a custom-made uniform.

Because of this, Neon was now trying on the uniform that had arrived just a day before school started, in front of a full-length mirror.

“It looks okay…?”

A pure white blouse with a red ribbon, a brown skirt with gold embroidery, and a black jacket also with gold embroidery.

As said, the uniform was custom-made for Neon herself, so it was extremely comfortable.

“The skirt is a bit uncomfortable though…”

It might be an unladylike statement, but for Neon who had lived in the slums wearing only loose tops and shorts, a skirt was not a very familiar garment.

Thus, the paradoxically coexisting comfort and discomfort of the uniform skirt.

“What if I accidentally show what’s underneath when I jump?”

The skirt wasn’t tight-fitting so there was no worry about it tearing if she moved too much, but conversely, it was a bit concerning that it might flutter too much and show her underwear.

Of course, how often would she need to move that recklessly during school life…

Neon soon realized her worry was unnecessary and looked in the mirror, turning her head at various angles.

“…Other than that, I do like it though.”

Neon’s own figure reflected in the mirror.

Her white hair, which had been stained by sewage and wouldn’t lose its color in her past days living in the slums, actually added a mystical charm and harmonized with the uniform.

Rustle—

Honestly, even to her own eyes, she looked beautiful, and Neon let out a small snort.

“Hmph…”

This should be enough to surprise even that Shin-yeon guy.

It was an embarrassing thought that the usual Neon wouldn’t have, but that’s how intoxicated Neon was with her current appearance.

Neon’s demeanor was so similar that if Yeon-ah or Seol were beside her, they might have said Shin-yeon’s personality had rubbed off on her.

But unfortunately, with no one around to say such things, Neon was simply satisfied with her own appearance.

“I hope that guy comes back soon.”

Thinking of Shin-yeon who would probably return in a few hours, Neon muttered softly like that.

It was all thanks to Shin-yeon that she could be here like this now, having finished her revenge.

Neon took one last look at herself and then left the room.

It was a leisurely Sunday afternoon, having finished all preparations for going to school.