Episode 462. School Starts (4) [Revised and Re-uploaded]

Im Sol bit her lip tightly, suddenly overcome by an unpleasant feeling.

No matter what, she was a teacher.

She had tolerated him teasing her by bringing out mint chocolate, claiming he bought it as chocolate, but she absolutely couldn’t stand him bringing up that kind of joke every single time he visited.

“Even if I get along casually with my student… this is too much. Lee Hoyeon.”

Im Sol looked down at her student in a cold voice.

“Uh, uh…”

Lee Hoyeon couldn’t hide his embarrassment at the strong reaction that immediately followed.

Is it really this bad?

Im Sol seemed angrier than he had expected.

The atmosphere was similar to when she ruthlessly killed an orc at the magic expo.

Lee Hoyeon immediately moved his mana.

He got rid of the amplified discomfort and rudeness, and immediately bowed his head to Im Sol.

“S-sorry. I just said it because I didn’t know what else to say… I’ll never spout nonsense again.”

“… Haaa, you really are… Eung?”

Im Sol frowned, placing her hands on her hips as she looked down at her student.

Never spout nonsense again…

Im Sol looked down at her own hands, then blinked.

Why was she getting angry?

The unpleasantness and rudeness filling her mind disappeared, and she couldn’t understand her own actions.

Grasping the situation, Im Sol was startled and stood up from her seat.

“W-wait a moment. I’m sorry. Hoyeon-ah. Why did I do that? Come here. You’re my student. I’m sorry.”

Im Sol approached Lee Hoyeon and hugged him.

Her student’s nonsense was a usual occurrence, so why had she overreacted like that?

She felt strange about her behavior just moments ago.

Could it be stress from her magic research?

Im Sol stroked Lee Hoyeon’s head, burying his face in her chest.

‘… It’s really effective?’

Lee Hoyeon smiled, his face buried in Im Sol’s chest.

Looking at Im Sol’s state, it seemed she hadn’t noticed his trick at all.

Of course, whether it was truly an unpleasant joke was a bit questionable… but anyway, it worked.

“I’m sorry. Hoyeon-ah. I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay if you don’t apologize.”

“No, come here.”

Lee Hoyeon felt the warmth as he was held in Im Sol’s embrace.

Of course, since Im Sol’s mistake had happened because of Lee Hoyeon in the first place, he didn’t want her to feel guilty for long.

“I’m really okay. Instead, could you grant me a favor?”

“Yes, yes. Anything.”

*

Folktales.

Stories passed down from long ago, filled with hope.

She had heard them often since childhood, so they were familiar, but they were good stories that taught morals and helped shape a child’s values.

Of course, commonplace tales of good triumphing over evil, or unrealistic stories involving ghosts and goblins, didn’t inspire adults.

Im Sol preferred magic, sweet chocolate, and her cute student over folktales.

Therefore, she stared blankly at her student, who was spouting passionately.

“I still don’t get what my student is trying to say. Are you going to keep going until I laugh?”

“… It’s not like that. Don’t you feel sad listening to my story?”

“The story of Heungbu’s family is tragic, but I doubt many people feel sad about it? It has a happy ending, after all.”

“I’m telling you, Heungbu got slapped. And with a rice paddle covered in food residue at that.”

“… You’re not saying you want to be slapped, are you?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop.”

Lee Hoyeon released the mana that had been amplifying sadness, muttering to himself.

Still, thanks to Im Sol’s help, he had gathered quite a bit of information.

[Emotion Amplification] was, quite literally, a skill that amplified emotions.

Since it could only amplify negative emotions, it couldn’t amplify joy or hopeful feelings.

Because it manipulated the mana in the air, the mana consumption wasn’t extremely high, but it seemed like it could be quite draining if sustained.

Its advantages were its stealth, which Im Sol couldn’t detect, and its short duration.

Since she had gotten serious with the man she liked, it was understandable that the guilt would linger, but Im Sol’s apologetic expression quickly faded.

Im Sol during the emotion amplification was practically a different person.

‘The amplified emotions disappear quickly, leaving no lingering resentment or discomfort.’

However, it had its drawbacks too; where exactly could this be used?

If the guilt lingered, he could have used it for something, but that wasn’t the case.

The fact that sadness wasn’t amplified during the Heungbu and Nolbu story meant it truly only amplified definite emotions.

It required an intense emotional shift, noticeable by anyone, not just a slight change, to be amplifiable.

Furthermore, it was mentally taxing.

Even after using it just a few times, he suffered from a terrible headache.

The more he experimented, the more he felt it was a mediocre ability.

‘But if it didn’t react to Heungbu and Nolbu but did react to my joke… does that mean she was that angry?’

Im Sol generally doesn’t express her emotions much.

If she hated it that much, she must have held back a lot usually.

‘… That’s a bit hurtful.’

It was a shame because these were his hidden trump card jokes.

“Anyway. If you have the energy for strange talk, how about a sparring match?”

“A sparring match?”

“Yeah. You haven’t sparred for weeks because you said you were researching a new magic spell.”

“That’s true, but…”

Im Sol wanted to spar with Lee Hoyeon.

This was because Lee Hoyeon had paused their sparring sessions for weeks to research using Hellish Mana in real combat.

As a fellow mage, Im Sol understood the situation, but she had urged him throughout the break, asking when the research would end.

“Actually, the research is finished. I’m just not feeling great today.”

“Eung? Now that you mention it, your complexion does look a bit off.”

“Yeah. A little…”

Im Sol placed her hand on Lee Hoyeon’s forehead, her eyes filled with concern.

Lee Hoyeon’s poor complexion was due to using [Emotion Amplification], but Im Sol considered other possibilities.

“It’s not because I didn’t do it for you with my mouth, is it? I mean, I said I would.”

“I told you it’s not like that.”

Earlier, when Im Sol apologized, she had offered to do it “with her mouth,” but his conscience wouldn’t let him accept it.

Lee Hoyeon changed the subject.

Come to think of it, he needed to ask about the practical sparring session.

“Right. Why are we having this practical sparring session? Professor Sol is participating too, isn’t she?”

“Why does combat preparation training need a reason? We just do it.”

“… You have a point when you put it that way. But Professor Sol is participating?”

“Yeah. Of course. I submitted the proposal.”

“Eng?”

Lee Hoyeon was quite surprised to hear that Im Sol had submitted a proposal.

She works at the academy?

Wasn’t her role just to secure research funding every day?

“Professor Sol does things like that too? Doesn’t she just do research all the time?”

“It’s because of you.”

“Me?”

“Because you apparently take a whole bunch of girls on dates, I’m making an effort I can make too.”

Lee Hoyeon felt a shiver run down his spine.

“… Who did you hear that from?”

“Ahyoung told me? She came to my lab and cried her eyes out; you have no idea what a scene it was.”

“Ah…”

Lee Hoyeon sighed deeply.

It must have happened at the cafeteria.

When he captured Moon Sungmin alive and asked Baek Ahyoung for emergency treatment, their dating scene was also exposed.

He had tried hard to soothe her disappointment when they met afterward, but it seems it reached Im Sol too.

Hearing she cried her eyes out made him feel even more sorry.

“If it’s too late, I feel like it’ll be over before I can even join the competition… So I’m going to push myself. I have no intention of letting him go either.”

“Yep. Understood.”

“That’s why you need to get stronger. This won’t do. If you’re not going to spar, at least take my private tutoring.”

“… You know I’m not lacking in theory.”

Im Sol looked at Lee Hoyeon with a smile, and Lee Hoyeon unconsciously avoided her gaze.

He didn’t know how to react when she made that provocative expression.

‘Still, it’s a relief that our Sol noona doesn’t attack aggressively.’

Lee Hoyeon thought he needed to see Baek Ahyoung soon too, sipping his coffee.

*

Lee Hoyeon left Im Sol’s lab and returned straight home.

After the academy day ended, his routine was usually playing with the Lucy and Lumi twins in the club room, but today, the two of them had gone shopping with Nam Daeun.

It was a good thing for him if the three of them became closer, so he decided to give them space today.

‘It would be nice if the other heroines got along well with each other too.’

If everyone got along, wouldn’t it become a happy harem without needing any complicated plans?

… Of course, that was just his personal desire.

The living room of the house was quiet.

Liliana was probably streaming in her room, and Scarlet wasn’t off work yet.

Rebecca had also said she wasn’t unemployed, so she must be working.

Lee Hoyeon went into his room, lay down on the bed, and stared at the ceiling.

His room, which he was now accustomed to.

A spacious house with a luxurious bed and pretty girls.

Everything was truly happy, but the burden remained.

“Why are there so many things to do?”

There were too many problems to handle.

Of course, thinking positively, there had never been a time without problems, so it could be considered business as usual.

“Surin noona’s father is getting better soon… I need to visit Alice too. The emergency room and the club room… practical sparring and preparing a fake dungeon….”

Lee Hoyeon felt stifled by his piled-up schedule and sat up.

“First, I need to beat our Sol….”

The first thing that came to mind was the sparring match with Im Sol.

He knew Im Sol was strong, of course, but how could he win?

He had almost finished practicing mixing Hellish Mana into his magic.

It was a natural result after practicing for several weeks since capturing Albedo.

‘I wonder what Albedo is up to?’

He’d have to ask Alice about that tomorrow.

Chiron is doing well, so hopefully Albedo is too.

Even though that guy was a bad guy, he still felt a little sorry.

‘If I can mix Hellish Mana well, sparring with Sol might be manageable.’

His skills had improved rapidly even during the break.

The only thing lacking was combat experience.

He hadn’t truly fought using magic mixed with Hellish Mana very often.

“I wish a stupid orc would just fall nearby.”

He wanted to try using Hellish Mana, but there was nowhere to use it.

Of course, he could use it during sparring with Scarlet or Nam Daeun, but since they weren’t mages, it felt different from sparring with Im Sol.

“I need to use it in real combat to know its true power… Maybe I should ask Rebecca-ssi?”

Actually, Rebecca wasn’t a mage exactly like Im Sol.

She could only use Rune Barriers.

Still, it would be much better than nothing.

Tok tok.

Kkiiii.

“Baby’s daddy, you’re back?”

“Rebecca-ssi?”

Lee Hoyeon greeted Rebecca as she naturally opened the door and walked in.

It was already common for women to enter his room without permission.

Rebecca peeked her head in, checking the room.

After scanning the room, Rebecca looked at Lee Hoyeon and chuckled.

“It’s okay to come in, right? You weren’t doing anything weird, were you?”

“Yes, yes. I wasn’t, so come in.”

Rebecca, having entered after opening the door, held a round tray.

On the tray was a green drink he’d never seen before, bubbling furiously for some reason.

The color alone looked unsettling.

‘… Is she trying to make me drink that? It’s not an assassination attempt, is it?’

Lee Hoyeon felt a slight sense of unease and asked about the unidentified drink.

“Rebecca-ssi, what is that?”

“Ah… I brought it because it’s good for you, baby’s daddy.”

“Is your side job being a witch, Rebecca-ssi? It looks like it’s boiling furiously, no matter how I look at it.”

“Nothing weird is in it. It’s just healthy stuff like raspberry, schisandra berry, eel, abalone, asparagus, goji berry, acanthopanax root, carrot…”

“Stop, stop. I’ll drink it, so give it here.”

Seeing the ingredients inside and Rebecca’s face full of anticipation, he finally understood.

Come to think of it, Rebecca was the one he was sleeping with tonight.

She must have packed it full of things good for pregnancy or stamina.

She was more naive than she looked and easily believed such things.

Since she brought it for him, he should drink it gratefully. It would surely be good for his health.

Lee Hoyeon accepted the drink, considering Rebecca’s feelings, but the moment he smelled it, his gratitude vanished.

This was not a drink meant for humans.