episode_0005

– Lee Hyunjin: Going to your family home? – Pikachuu: Y. – Lee Hyunjin: A bit too curt. – Pikachuu: Screw you.

“……Hmph.”

I frowned down at my smartphone. Cheon Soyul’s charm usually lay in her snappiness, but today, it was a bit too much.

Normally, we could at least have a regular everyday conversation…

Of course, it wasn’t as if I couldn’t guess why. The reason she was so prickly at this particular moment? It was too simple.

I let out a mocking chuckle, my annoyance bubbling up as I typed on the keypad.

– Lee Hyunjin: I’m hurt. – Lee Hyunjin: After all, we shared such a passionate night of love. – Lee Hyunjin: If you treat me this coldly, my mouth might just loosen up a bit…

I chuckled to myself and cleanly pressed the send button, and the response came back instantly.

– Pikachuu: Hey. – Pikachuu: You son of a bitch I’ll really kill you don’t say that.

Cheon Soyul, who couldn’t even bother with spacing, instantly hurled insults.

After about five seconds of calming down, she sent another chat message.

– Pikachuu: What do you want?

I replied immediately.

– Lee Hyunjin: A friend’s kind attitude. – Pikachuu: …….

Even without knowing, I could almost see Cheon Soyul’s flustered expression, sputtering out a series of hollow laughs on the other side, as if replayed in 3D.

So what can you do? What are you going to do if I act like a tyrant?

‘Of course, if rumors spread, I’d be in the same trouble…’

Even so, I wasn’t the type to care about my public image as much as Cheon Soyul. As long as I endured some unnecessary whispering, it wouldn’t be a big problem.

After all, what kind of scandal could a student have besides dating rumors? We stuck together so much anyway.

Anyway, the conclusion: this fight was designed so that Cheon Soyul had no choice but to lose.

– Pikachuu: Hyunjin. – Pikachuu: I’ll buy you a gift. – Pikachuu: Let’s meet with a smile when school starts again ⸜(*◉ ᴗ ◉)⸝

“Pfft.”

Seeing her even send an emoticon she rarely used, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Anyway, the gift would probably be nothing more than a formality, so I wouldn’t expect too much. I decided to find meaning solely in having thoroughly annoyed Cheon Soyul, then put away my smartphone and got out of bed.

So.

It’s almost the real break now.

What do I do now?

*****

Cheon Soyul went down to her family home. It was a journey from Daejeon to Gyeongju, and since she went down once, she’d likely spend the entire break there.

‘She said she wouldn’t go down and would stay at the academy originally.’

I didn’t know why she suddenly changed her mind. Even when I asked for a reason, her deliberate evasion of the answer seemed quite suspicious… But it wasn’t something to persistently press her about, so I decided to let it be.

The problem, however, lay elsewhere. So, if Cheon Soyul went down to her family home, what was I supposed to do during the break?

“Hmm.”

If I say this, it might seem like I don’t have any decent friends besides Cheon Soyul, but that’s not exactly true. I have many people I get along with.

It just so happened, by a truly uncanny coincidence, that every single one of them was either returning to their hometown, going on a trip, or busy with various other things. They were all so busy with their own affairs that I couldn’t possibly ask them to keep a leisurely person like me company.

“…….”

Really. No lie, truly.

‘……Should I visit home just once?’

I’m debating it. I had already thought I should go meet my Teacher-nim once since they called, but that was half a year ago already.

Right, what’s the point of hiding it? Even during the summer break, I was a ‘fire attribute’ filial son & disciple, having played around at the academy instead of visiting my parents and Teacher-nim. Because of that, my Teacher-nim’s messages, their content and tone, had become increasingly harsh. I hadn’t even read them for the past three months. If I went up like this, it was obvious I’d get an earful, so I’d prefer to avoid it for now if possible.

‘Ugh.’

I clasped my forehead and let out a groan. Even while doing so, I diligently dried my hair.

Anyway, they’re someone who’ll come find me directly in April, aren’t they? Is there really a need for me to go visit them first? I seriously pondered.

To be a little more honest, I was simply too afraid to meet my Teacher-nim. The first shock was on the day I first met them at fifteen through my father’s connections; they saw my talent at a glance, their eyes lit up, and they abducted me to their home. Since then, whenever it was vacation, I’d be called to that house, rolling forwards and backwards, suffering arduously for nearly four years. Naturally, I couldn’t help but develop trauma. Honestly, even now, if my Teacher-nim is ever mentioned in the news, my body instinctively flinches.

It’s undeniable that they care for me, but to the extent of expending my precious vacation time to go visit them? Well, I don’t know.

“……Right, I’ve decided.”

As I changed into my going-out clothes, I finally made the difficult decision.

This break, too, I would be of the ‘fire attribute’…

Once I made the decision, I somehow felt lighter. I left the dormitory, feeling unnecessarily excited.

Even if I dropped one assignment, not all my tasks disappeared. To truly enjoy their break, students of Cheongsong Academy, Korea’s top prestigious institution, had quite a few things to take care of in advance. One of them was cleanly completing the quota for ‘National Contribution Missions.’

Cheongsong Academy, founded by the hero Yang Chan-ho, essentially had no tuition fees or other academic expenses. Once you were admitted, that is. Even the Red Tiger Academy, established in Busan as Cheongsong Academy’s rival, casually slapped around the tuition fees of some private universities. That’s why Cheongsong Academy was the nation’s foremost Awakened training institution. First and foremost, the Hero himself was the dean, wasn’t he?

So, what was the ‘National Contribution Mission,’ the only responsibility borne by Cheongsong Academy students? In summary, it was like this. It meant that since they were comfortably building the foundations for their growth under the name of the Hero and the nation, they would be utilized as the nation’s Awakened forces in advance. In short, it was about treating students merely as Awakened individuals and using them as combat personnel, yet surprisingly, there wasn’t much resistance. Not only was the justification not entirely wrong, but there had also never been a case where students were deployed for missions beyond their capabilities.

At most, it involved being deployed unpaid for gate sealing operations near their residences. Or perhaps just tidying up the entrance of a mountain range that had already become a monster habitat? Furthermore, since experienced Awakened individuals moved together with the students for protection, truly major incidents since the academy’s establishment nine years ago could be counted on one hand. In short, it felt not much different from simply gaining practical experience.

Even during the summer break, this system made it easy to deal with various monsters, which was good. The sense of security that came from rarely encountering danger was immense.

This time, it wouldn’t be any different. No, rather, as my skills had improved compared to six months ago, I would only be a help. I wouldn’t be a hindrance.

As it was the season, I put on a jacket and headed straight for the Academy’s administrative office. An ice mage wouldn’t really feel cold even without outerwear, but… There’s still such a thing as outward appearance, isn’t there? Everyone else was wearing coats and padded jackets, so for me to be in short sleeves alone would be a bit… I’m someone who cares about blending in with others. Unlike a certain Pikachuu who just wears a shirt or a sweater, claiming they can circulate heat within their body using lightning.

In that sense, Cheon Soyul and I were similar in at least one regard: neither of us felt the cold. What else was there besides that?

‘Similarities, similarities, huh.’

Our food preferences overlapped reasonably well, but our movie choices were quite different, weren’t they? Our personalities, aside from both being extremely self-paced, didn’t seem very similar…

Hmm.

For a while, I went through the similarities between Cheon Soyul and myself one by one, then, just as I was about to recall something I might have heard about her ideal type, I snapped out of it and paused. I wasn’t even sure why I suddenly thought of this. How embarrassing. The adage that flashed through my mind, ‘When you like someone, you unconsciously start looking for commonalities with them’… I decided to ignore it, pretending not to know.

Because there was no way I’d be interested in Cheon Soyul.

‘……I’m here.’

As I pointlessly shook my head from side to side, I realized I had arrived at the administrative office building a long time ago. I suppressed my awkwardness and stepped inside.

Inside the building, several students were gathered, likely for the same purpose as me. I saw some familiar faces here and there, but whether they were classmates or seniors, everyone seemed busy. In that case, I wouldn’t bother exchanging greetings.

It was when I moved to take a waiting number for smooth mission assignment.

“Hyunjin?”

Suddenly, I turned my head at a voice calling me, and there was a female student looking at me with an uncertain expression. Looking at the color of her nametag, she was a 2nd-year. No, now she would be a 3rd-year, a Cheongsong 8th generation student…

“It is you! Lee Hyunjin. You said you were going home for the break, so why are you still at the academy?”

“……Senior-nim.”

Regardless of whether she was a 2nd-year or 3rd-year, she was someone I already knew. I scowled disapprovingly at her, who clapped her hands together and greeted me cheerfully. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what my look implied, yet she grinned good-naturedly and pulled me over the partition. And very naturally, she pulled out mission-related documents without a waiting number and handed them to me.

Even though I hadn’t even stated my purpose…

“I told you to just call me Noona. You deliberately lied to me saying you were going home, didn’t you? Afraid I’d bother you all break.”

“……Well, you certainly know me well.”

“Unnecessarily honest, aren’t you? Then again, that side of you is charming too.”

Her name was Seo Harin, and she pushed a lock of her ebony black hair behind her ear and smiled with her eyes. I knew her as last year’s student council secretary, and this year she was to become the student council vice-president.

…Well, putting that aside, she wasn’t someone I had a very harmonious relationship with. No, to be more precise, it felt like I was unilaterally pushing her away, and she was unilaterally appealing to me. Her objective was me. Not my wealth or my background, but solely targeting my physical self. Saying it like this sounds a bit strange, but that’s the truth. What would she gain by targeting the meager assets of an academy student, which were less than a speck of dust, anyway?

More importantly, she was the granddaughter of the Ilseong Group chairman. The Ilseong Group, which was considered one of the leading corporations within this country. To reiterate, the only reason she would target me was this body of mine. But did that mean she harbored romantic feelings for me? Of course not. That wasn’t the answer either. What she was after wasn’t my heart, but—

“More importantly, do you still have no intention of becoming the Ilseong Group’s son-in-law?”

…As I had already mentioned once, it was my body itself, as a rising new mage.

I quickly dodged Seo Harin’s cunning move as she subtly tried to link arms with me. Seo Harin clicked her tongue, a look of disappointment on her face. I felt goosebumps rise for no reason. This level of skinship attempt was just playful teasing. What happened last time? Since I kept refusing like a parrot, did she try to spike my drink with alcohol?

‘And she tried to make it a fait accompli.’

It wasn’t really my place to say, considering I’d just recently gotten into trouble after drinking with Cheon Soyul, but this Senior-nim was truly something else. She was extreme. She didn’t even try to hide her dark intentions; once, she offered to buy me dinner and then pushed a set of three dishes — eel, oysters, and abalone — in front of me…

Right. She wasn’t a senior I disliked as a person, but her attempts to bind me were so blatant that I often felt a bit uncomfortable.

‘That time she even presented a contract and passionately argued 100 reasons why marrying her would be good… I was truly, genuinely terrified.’

Someone might say, ‘But she’s the granddaughter of a large corporation, why would she do that?’ The problem is that the current era revolves around Awakened individuals, and the Ilseong Group’s lineage, unfortunately, has no connection to Awakened factors. I heard that her two older sisters had long since entered untimely political marriages with famous Awakened individuals. It felt like just yesterday I found that article and was horrified, but nearly 10 months have passed since I first met Seo Harin…

“If you had given in to my wishes that day, we’d probably have a child by now. Right?”

“…….”

I quickly snapped out of my momentary reverie, forced back to reality. What was that? Mind-reading? My heart skipped a beat, and I turned back to Seo Harin with trembling eyes. Receiving my wavering gaze, she replied brightly with a fresh smile.

“Just kidding.”

“…….”

“I don’t plan on getting pregnant at such a young age either. For now, let’s think about having children slowly after marriage—. Oh, Hyunjin? Where are you going, leaving already? Come have a drink with Noona to celebrate becoming an adult!”

A combat mage’s judgment must always be swift. Only then can they survive. I grabbed only the documents she handed me and quickly exited the administrative office, lest I be caught.

Anyway, within the Ilseong family, she’s still the only Awakened one, so there shouldn’t be any pressure for a political marriage for her… I don’t know why she’s particularly obsessed with me.

My body shivered. Trembling. The winter wind, which I had never felt cold since mastering ice magic, felt chilling for the first time. I neatly folded the document stating my destination for tomorrow and put it in my pocket, then headed to the Academy’s central bus stop.

The destination was Songnisan National Park, located northeast of the academy in Boeun County, Chungcheongbuk-do.