episode_0021

022

In a grand hanok exuding the scent of old traditions,

The spacious front yard of the hanok was adorned with sturdy, evergreen pine trees.

In the pond enclosed by a small stone wall, golden carp and dusky lotus flowers were abundant.

Outside the traditional house embodying the philosophy of “facing the mountains and overlooking the water,” numerous guards stood vigil like a fortress.

With dozens of servants and a 24-hour security system, this place was the residence of Yu Gapryeong, known as the Giant Pavilion.

It almost resembled a king’s abode.

“….”

In the living room, Yu Gapryeong’s retainers were quietly seated at the dining table, having their dinner.

Clatter. Clatter.

Only the sound of chopsticks, spoons, and breathing echoed in the room.

An unknown silence filled the air.

Even the air felt heavy.

“…Yu Seolhyun.”

Yu Gapryeong’s deep voice resounded.

The family members tensed momentarily, and only Yu Seolhyun calmly set down her chopsticks and raised her head to look at Yu Gapryeong.

“Yes.”

Yu Gapryeong’s stern gaze revealed nothing of his intentions.

Yu Seolhyun simply faced her grandfather quietly.

“…How is life at the academy?”

A question laden with multiple meanings.

“It’s fine.”

The first exam and match.

The sudden invasion of monsters.

Defeating the monsters and receiving commendations, and so on.

There were many stories she wanted to share, but Yu Seolhyun remained silent and calmly nodded her head.

“Alright then.”

“….”

Yu Gapryeong did not ask any further.

His response seemed to indicate that her answer was sufficient.

“Mother.”

“Yes, father.”

“Go inside first. Finish your meal with the children.”

“Yes.”

Leaving behind the polite reply of the second daughter-in-law, Yu Gapryeong slowly walked away.

After a moment, he raised his voice.

It was the stepmother.

“Seolhyun, you received a commendation this time?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t injured, were you?”

“No.”

In response to the superficial questions of the second stepmother, Yu Seolhyun answered briefly and set down her chopsticks.

The second stepmother glanced at Yu Seolhyun with a slight frown.

But outwardly, she only wore a bright smile.

“I’ll go inside now.”

“Oh? Already?”

Eventually, Yu Seolhyun also moved her steps.

Ignoring the voices of the family members behind her, she made her way inside. Surely, they were words that would tear her down.

“…Sigh.”

Before she knew it, Yu Seolhyun had reached her room.

“…It’s suffocating.”

Although she had come down to her hometown after a long time…

Just seeing the faces of those people made her heart ache.

They were not like a family, and she didn’t want to be involved with them anymore.

“….”

Yu Seolhyun hugged the soft pillow tightly and gazed weakly at the ceiling.

As she stared at the beautiful pattern on the ceiling, Yu Seolhyun closed her eyes quietly.

As she gently lowered her eyelids, the events of the past few days began to surface in her mind.

Performance evaluations, battles with monsters, receiving commendations…

There were many events, some significant and some trivial.

Among them, the most vivid memory was undoubtedly the battle with the monsters.

“…I really almost died, didn’t I? Probably?”

Yu Seolhyun forced a bitter smile.

It was her first encounter with monsters of that level.

It felt like meeting a beast in the mountains in the dead of night.

In the thick, suffocating aura, not only Yu Seolhyun but also the other children couldn’t calm their hearts.

Yi Siwoon, Seonari, Yuriya, Jinsuyeon, and everyone else.

Sinking deeper into an unknown fear.

…except for one person.

“Come to think of it, Lee Jinhyuk seemed quite composed, didn’t he?”

Lee Jinhyuk.

That man seemed quite composed.

Exposed to intense pressure in his first real battle, how could he remain composed? Even the geniuses praised at the academy were struggling.

It was too casual.

As if he had anticipated this situation.

“…Thinking about it, Lee Jinhyuk had a lot of strange things about him.”

The abilities and weaknesses of the opposing team that he had revealed throughout the assessment.

A strategy that fit perfectly like a glove.

A calm demeanor despite it being a life-threatening first real battle.

Eyes always filled with confidence.

“And especially the last… the last arrow he showed.”

Just one arrow.

An arrow that surged like a beam of light, unforgettable.

No matter what attacks the kids made, they couldn’t inflict any significant damage. How could one arrow cause such a big impact on the monster?

“Lee Jinhyuk said it was just a lucky shot to hit the weak spot… but it doesn’t make sense.”

His arrow was a practice arrow.

Blunt and not imbued with much magic.

In other words, it meant it couldn’t cause fatal injuries.

“But how?”

Question.

It’s a question.

He won’t give a proper answer if you ask him.

I wanted to press further, but I couldn’t interrogate Lee Jinhyuk strongly because I owed him my life.

“Could it be a special ability?”

If it’s a special ability, it would make sense.

There are truly diverse types of special abilities in this world. Could he be lucky enough to have an incredible special ability?

But Lee Jinhyuk is a non-special ability person.

Someone who hasn’t awakened any special abilities.

…Unless he deliberately hid it.

“Ah, my head hurts.”

Yoo Seolhyun sighed.

No matter how much I think about it, I don’t know.

There’s nothing I can figure out by thinking about it now.

Lee Jinhyuk is indeed a person with many hidden and suspicious aspects, but that doesn’t prove he’s hiding a special ability.

…Of course, Yoo Seolhyun was half-suspecting that he might be hiding a special ability.

“Well, anyway, Lee Jinhyuk seems like a talented person in his own right.”

Regardless of whether he has a special ability or not, didn’t he show a consistently calm demeanor in his first real battle?

No matter how good your abilities are, there are people whose skills plummet in real situations due to their minds going blank, and there are people who make more rational judgments and improve their skills in real situations.

It seemed like Lee Jinhyuk was the latter.

He was the first to assess the situation and calm the kids down.

As an operator, it could be said that it was an essential talent and aptitude.

Yes, aptitude.

Aptitude is an area that cannot be easily fixed with effort.

It had to be born with it from the beginning.

“The more talented people around, the better.”

Yoo Seolhyun knew.

The limits of her own heroism.

It’s not that she lacks talent. Dare I say, she could boast that she wasn’t far behind Lee Siwoon in terms of talent.

But she didn’t have a special ability.

Yoo Seolhyun’s special ability wasn’t suitable for combat.

It was more like a supporter’s special ability.

Because of that, Yoo Seolhyun wanted a team.

A team that could complement each other’s shortcomings.

A team where each ability and talent could synergize with each other. As of now, Lee Jinhyuk seemed a bit lacking, but it would change depending on what he was hiding.

“I wonder how it will turn out.”

Yoo Seolhyun hoped he was hiding more secrets.

As mentioned earlier, the more talented people, the better.

And if it’s someone like Lee Jinhyuk…

Well, I had the confidence to scout as much as I wanted.

***

“Today, that’s it. Don’t do anything else and go straight home.”

The homeroom teacher’s closing remarks were over.

Not long ago, the person who had fought with the Minotaur risking their life didn’t look too bad, which was quite unexpected.

Originally, according to the story, they should have been lying in the hospital by now.

“Jin Soyeon, Jin Soyeon. Do you want to go to the karaoke today?”

“Oh. Should we?”

After the class ended, Jin Soyeon, who was persuaded to go to the karaoke by a few kids, glanced at me.

And then the kids approached me with a smile.

“Hey, Jinhyuk, do you want to go to the karaoke with us?”

“Oh. I have something to do today.”

Even though the male trainee tried to persuade me to go to the karaoke, unfortunately, I didn’t have time to go to the karaoke.

Because today.

It was the day when the incident happened.

The first incident where Yoo Seolhyun turned into a villain.

“Don’t say that, let’s go together.”

“Sorry.”

“Oh, she’s pretending to be all high and mighty again.”

Jin Soyeon grumbled in dissatisfaction.

I could only force a bitter smile.

“I’m sorry. I really have something urgent today.”

“What, it’s always something urgent. Last time, you were busy with the performance evaluation, and the time before that, you were busy studying. Oh, forget it.”

Was it because I had been rejecting her proposals one after another recently?

She seemed a little upset.

Anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.

“Don’t be too upset. I’ll give you a nice gift later.”

With those words, I quickly changed my steps.

Jin Soyeon grumbled behind me, but I didn’t have time to care about her today.

“There she is.”

As I left the academy building, I saw Yoo Seolhyun and a few girls in the distance.

I approached Yoo Seolhyun.

“Yoo Seolhyun.”

“Oh, it’s you. What’s up?”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Something to tell me?”

She nodded once in response, and Seonari, who was next to her, started to glare at me with sharp eyes.

“No way! You’re not going to confess to Seolhyun, are you?”

“Oh, is that what this is about? Haha.”

Seonari echoed nonsense, and Yoo Seolhyun played along.

I was completely dumbfounded.

Confession? What confession?

“I’m sorry, Jinhyuk. I told you before that your face isn’t my type.”

“No, I’m not trying to confess.”

It’s the second confession.

Wasn’t it like this last time too?

“It’s something important.”

“Important? What is it?”

“The dungeon.”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t say it directly in front of Yoo Seolhyun’s group of girls.

So, I subtly hinted at one keyword to give her a clue.

“It’s related to the Yeongdeung Mountain dungeon.”

“…!”

Yoo Seolhyun’s face stiffened instantly.

Since it was related to Yoo Seolhyun, it was confidential.

Coming to her directly and saying this, she couldn’t help but have various suspicions.

“I have a proposal about that. Can you spare some time?”

“Huh? Why are you suddenly talking about this? Seolhyun?”

“….”

Seonari blinked her eyes in confusion.

The other girls were the same.

Only Yoo Seolhyun remained silent.

“Okay. Sure. Shall we move to a more private place to talk?”

“Where do you know up to? Why are you telling me about the Yeongdeung Mountain dungeon?”

“Before we talk about that, shall we go to a more comfortable place to have a conversation? There are too many eyes here.”

This was inside the academy.

I needed to change seats.

“I know a good café. Let’s go there.”

“Okay. Let’s do that.”

***

“Soyeon, Soyeon.”

“What?”

“Do you have any lingering feelings for Jinhyeok?”

“What? No, no. We don’t have that kind of relationship.”

“Is that so? What am I thinking again?”

In the downtown area.

Jin Soyeon and her friends were heading to the karaoke room.

“You have Siwoon, don’t you?”

“I told you we’re not like that with Siwoon, how many times do I have to say it?”

“Ugh~ Are you jealous? Is it because of his looks?”

“Ugh. Okay, let’s stop talking.”

“Hey~ Just kidding, just kidding. Don’t get mad~.”

The girl giggled.

“By the way, what’s up with you and Jinhyeok these days… huh?”

“Why do you ask?”

Suddenly, the girl stared intently towards a café window and tilted her head. Soyeon turned her head in the direction of the girl’s gaze. And then.

“Huh? Jinhyeok? Why is he at the café…?”

Out of the blue.

Soyeon’s words stopped.

It was because the person with Jinhyeok looked familiar. Could it be.

“Yuseolhyun?”

No.

Why are they meeting separately again?

The exams are over, aren’t they?

Why?