episode_0037

For me, today was one of those days.

Ding!

It all started with the vibration of my smartphone ringing early in the morning.

You know how it is sometimes?

Your body is tired, and it’s not time to get up yet, but somehow, the smartphone notification sound hits at an irritatingly precise moment.

That’s exactly how it was now, but to be more precise, it was a chill.

So-called instinct, and intuition. A feeling that if I didn’t check this message immediately, as quickly as possible, something terrible would happen…

In truth, there was no real basis for it, probably just a mere coincidence, but it was a premonition nonetheless.

[Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon]

“Ah.”

As I said again, there are indeed days when things coincidentally align.

I roughly threw off the thin blanket covering me, pressed my hand to my forehead, and sighed.

The time was 6:30 AM. Normally, I’d still be sound asleep, but there was no way I couldn’t get up.

A disciple, no matter when or where they are, must always answer their heavenly Teacher-nim’s call as quickly as a five-minute standby team.

…Or so my Teacher-nim brainwashed me. It’s like an intensive etiquette education that’s been ongoing since I was a young fifteen-year-old.

Even with a lingering sense of fatigue, my body reflexively opened the smartphone screen.

Of course, I intended to ignore it without reading it, as usual. It was probably just another attempt at pointless chatter anyway. I opened the messenger app.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: It is with deepest regret that I inform you of the passing of Seol Hayeon, the one and only soulmate and Teacher of Lee Hyunjin. The cause of death was an outburst of anger caused by this goddamn disciple, and the resurrection ritual must begin by calling immediately…

I immediately closed the screen.

Then I pressed my fingers against my eyelids and let out a deep sigh.

“…Haaah.”

Rage illness, my ass. Looks like her chronic condition has flared up again instead. Suppressing my seething emotions, I operated the phone keypad.

Ring, ring… The slow ringing tone echoed. I waited indifferently.

Click!

“Seriously, though.”

My Teacher-nim intentionally didn’t answer my call, so I clutched the back of my neck. She told me to call her, and yet? Why is she acting so unlike herself?

I hesitated for a moment, but there was no other way. I had no choice but to touch the chat window where ‘300+’ messages had accumulated.

Ignoring the endless attempts at pointless chatter, ‘how are you’ texts, and threatening messages telling me to read them immediately…

– Lee Hyunjin: I told you not to play these kinds of pranks, didn’t I, that one time?

I typed immediately, suppressing my emotions, hoping that this immature Teacher-nim would somehow understand my worried, deep meaning.

After a brief hesitation, I reluctantly added one more sentence to the chat with a sigh.

– Lee Hyunjin: Nothing’s really wrong, is it?

And the ‘1’ next to the chat, indicating it hadn’t been read, disappeared.

Just in case, I waited with a slight tension.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: (An arctic fox emoji covering its mouth, saying ‘Fooled again?’)

“Damn it.”

I genuinely trembled with anger, clenching my fist. If she were in front of me, I would’ve really delivered a punch right to her short little head.

Though afterward I’d probably be turned into an ice statue as punishment for insubordination, well, whatever.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Dehehe

Setting everything else aside, it was quite unusual for my Teacher-nim to use such a forceful (?) method to initiate a conversation.

It meant she sent that message even though she knew I’d be displeased.

– Lee Hyunjin: Please stop doing this.

I weakly tapped the keypad, and a reply came back instantly.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Then you should’ve sent a message earlier. – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: You shouldn’t neglect your Teacher-nim. – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: You’re a very wicked disciple, aren’t you? Why didn’t you read it? Why didn’t you reply? Is this your rebellious phase or something? You’ve been consistently ignoring me ever since we last talked during summer vacation, and I’m truly disappointed.

“Ugh, god.”

The last message was almost bordering on madness. I shivered with a needless chill and continued with an awkward reply.

– Lee Hyunjin: I apologize for that. – Lee Hyunjin: It’s just that… – Lee Hyunjin: Academy life is just so busy.

Then the ‘…’ symbol appeared.

It meant the other person was typing a reply.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: …Is that so? – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Is school life very difficult? Are there a lot of group assignments and things like that?

“Whew.”

I wiped my forehead and sighed in relief. It was really convenient that this Teacher-nim’s highest educational attainment was high school graduation. So easy to fool her.

– Lee Hyunjin: Of course. – Lee Hyunjin: I’m really dead tired. – Lee Hyunjin: If I’d known this, I would’ve just gone monster hunting like Teacher-nim instead of wasting time on things like enrollment.

When Miss Seol Hayeon (25), who was my magic Teacher, was fifteen, the world was still festering in the aftermath of Jormungandr’s death.

Monsters ran wild as if in their final throes, and the gate generation frequency was almost seven times higher than it is now, or so I heard?

Naturally, talented Awakeners had no leisure to attend school comfortably.

Thus, my Teacher-nim was deployed directly to the battlefield after barely graduating middle school.

Afterward, she reportedly half-massacred monsters using her outstanding magical abilities.

By the way, she obtained her high school graduation qualification through a high school equivalency exam. Tearfully, too.

‘That’s why she has no friends other than me, and doesn’t really know how to socialize…’

In any case, she was a pitiful person in many ways.

As I was wiping my eyes over my Teacher-nim’s pitiable life story, a reply came back again.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Hmm-hmm, exactly, you should have followed in my footsteps, disciple-nim. – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: If you had, you would’ve earned the title of Archmage even earlier than me. – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: I told you every time, didn’t I, that you’re talented, disciple-nim! That you’re a genius!

…

And in the midst of it all, Miss Hayeon, who couldn’t understand my sophisticated joke, was getting all puffed up.

To her, practical experience with monsters truly seemed more effective than the systematic education of the academy…

Even I, if not for my parents’ opposition, might have been playing around in the Arctic Ocean with my Teacher-nim at this age.

‘The mere thought sends shivers down my spine.’

Even so, I didn’t want to abandon school life with my peers to go around dealing with Jormungandr’s remnants, so I think entering Cheongsong Academy was a reasonable decision.

I feel sorry for my Teacher-nim, whose plans to help me grow were frustrated, and who became dispirited because of it.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Anyway,

So, just as I was about to ask her why she had sent such a strange message since morning, she brought it up herself, at just the right moment.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: It’s nothing else, but the Cheongsong Festival season is coming up soon, isn’t it? – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: I contacted you about that.

“Hmm.”

So it was that, after all. Since I had somewhat expected it, I nodded and waited for my Teacher-nim’s next message.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Mom, Dad, and I are planning to visit together, a total of three people! – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Since you rarely read my messages, I decided to be a bit forceful today to make sure we connected, just in case. – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: (An arctic fox emoji flattened low, saying ‘I’m sorry’)

The meaning of that phrase ‘just in case’ was simple. Interpreted, it meant, ‘just in case you ghosted me.’

I shook my head in disbelief.

No matter what, I wouldn’t do that. Ignoring and ‘chewing’ on messages without reading them every time one or two came in was just me being cheeky.

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Anyway, so you need to keep your schedule open, okay?

Anyway, there was only one choice of answer to give to that.

I let out a small laugh and tapped the keypad.

– Lee Hyunjin: Of course, just come as you are. – Lee Hyunjin: I’ll treat you to the full academy course.

I wasn’t actually sure what a ‘full academy course’ was, but I remembered seniors and classmates occasionally using similar phrases.

Well, I guess I can just show them around, right?

– Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: I’m looking forward to touring the school with my disciple-nim. – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: Oh, I always love you? – Milky-Skinned Seol Hayeon: (An arctic fox emoji blushing shyly)

With that, the chat ended. The last line was just a formal greeting she always used, so it wasn’t something to attach much meaning to…

There was a time when I often felt confused every time I heard those words, whether by message or voice, and wondered if she was serious or not.

‘Now I know it’s not like that.’

After being close for five years and hearing it so often, I no longer had any room for misunderstanding. It was a kind of lip service, you could say.

It would be ridiculous to be newly stirred by daily, habitual declarations of love.

I turned off my smartphone and tossed it casually onto the bed. It wasn’t even 7 AM yet.

I considered going back to sleep, but I doubted my eyes would close if I lay down now.

‘Should I go to school?’

Having no other choice, I decided to get ready for school. It was a bit early, but there was no harm in it.

I crumpled and threw off my short-sleeved top, then headed straight for the bathroom.

*****

To rewind a bit, sometimes in life, there are days when it feels like you’ve connected with an unusually wide variety of people… blah blah blah…

Anyway, that day, for me, was today. As I mentioned once.

Having quickly finished preparing for school, I slipped on a jacket over my uniform and left the dormitory.

It was a bit early, so there were no other students noticeable besides me.

The weather felt moderately cool, or perhaps a little chilly. March, being a transitional season, was naturally prone to fluctuating temperatures.

Of course, if it’s ‘cold’ rather than ‘heat,’ no matter how bitter it might be, it doesn’t really affect me. One of the many advantages of being an Ice Mage.

The boundary between dawn and morning… Feeling the campus air somewhere around that time, I strolled through the school grounds. Lights were on in a few buildings.

Today was Tuesday. The day when the ranking matches, held once every two weeks, would take place.

As I was still holding the top rank, I was very curious about which opponent I would face.

My personal favorite opponent to face, needless to say, was Cheon Soyul.

For a match between her and me to happen, the rotation rate was still a bit low. I’d probably have to fight one or two more students.

I fought Kim Yijun last time, so in terms of possibilities, Baek Ayun or Kanzaki Rie?

Honestly, both were equally troublesome. The former because of ‘that’ incident last weekend, and the latter because of the peculiar nature of the magic Kanzaki wielded.

Feeling a needless bitterness inside, I offered a brief prayer for good match-making luck.

‘If possible, please, not Kanzaki.’

Japanese exchange student Kanzaki Rie. The epithet ‘ladylike’ perfectly suited her, yet ironically, she was the opponent all male students of the 9th generation feared facing in ranking matches.

The reason lay in the magic she had learned, but I’d save that story for later.

…Well, I might also encounter a student ranked below 5th, so there’s no need to worry about an uncomfortable match already.

“Lee Hyunjin?”

If I had to put a probability on it, maybe Baek Ayun is 70% and Kanzaki Rie is 30%?

By the way, some woman’s voice has been tickling my ears for a while now…

“Won’t you answer me soon, Hyunjin-ah…? I’m sad…”

…

Whew.

I sighed internally, but outwardly, to avoid showing my uncomfortable feelings, I turned around with a wide smile.

There stood a third-year senior, Seo Harin, pretending to whimper ‘Hing-hing’.

Granddaughter of Ilseong Group.

A reasonably talented magic user.

Former student council secretary.

Current student council vice president.

And last year, she proposed a contract marriage to me… A truly ‘unfathomable’ senior-nim.

‘I’m already tired.’

I pressed my eyes slightly, yet I didn’t bother to stop walking. I continued moving towards my destination. Don’t look back!

“Ah!”

Senior Seo Harin, who had been frozen in place for a moment, looking slightly flustered, quickly chased after me.

Hurriedly matching my stride, she giggled and nudged her head towards me.

“Hyunjin, you’re out early? You weren’t usually this diligent, were you?”

I replied perfunctorily while moving at a quick pace.

“I just happened to wake up early today.”

“Hmm, those days happen sometimes. I usually come out at this time, so I hope we can see each other often in the future!”

“Ah, but I plan to arrive at school on time starting tomorrow…”

As I naturally trailed off, Senior Seo Harin paused and glared at me disapprovingly.

And then she muttered in an annoyed voice.

“…You’re such a wall, our Hyunjin.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

Senior Seo Harin sighed. Then she fiddled with her clothing for a moment before saying ‘Whatever’ and walking past me.

I thought our conversation for today was over, but it wasn’t. She quickly stopped in front of me, blocking my way, and pointed a finger at me. Thwack!

“You!”

Yes, ma’am.

“Are you free during the Cheongsong Festival?”

Huh?

…

…

…

‘Hmm.’

I watched Senior Seo Harin intently for a moment, lips pressed together, eyes narrowed.

Judging by the nuance, her intention seemed clear.

And a moment of deliberation. I wondered what to answer, but for this problem too, the answer was set. I put on a reluctant expression.

“I’m sorry. I have a prior engagement.”

“…Huh?”

At my answer, Senior Seo Harin flinched slightly and looked up at me with an anxious gaze.

A brief silence descended…

Honestly, I thought she would just give a wry smile. Or shrug, saying ‘Ah, well,’ as if there was nothing she could do.

Predictions, as always, were wrong.

“Oh, I see…?”

Senior Seo Harin suddenly clasped her own wrist slightly, drawing her arms inward.

Her lost gaze, shrinking, began to wander left and right.

I was flustered. It wasn’t the initial reaction I’d expected. But at the same time, I thought I understood the reason for her reaction.

‘Oops.’

My rejection of the Cheongsong Festival wasn’t important. Before that, it seemed the very reaction I displayed while rejecting it was the problem.

…Regret surged belatedly. Did I answer too bluntly? That is, did I speak while showing too much obvious discomfort?

Without even listening to the end of what she had to say.

Even for someone who consistently pushes forward, wasn’t that response just now a bit hurtful…?

…

It seemed I had been a little thoughtless. I hadn’t intended to overtly push her away.

What needed to be understood was that I didn’t dislike ‘Seo Harin’ as a person herself.

…Haaah.

Unable to bear the discomfort within, I let out a deep sigh. As if pricked by it, Senior Seo Harin hunched her shoulders once more…

“I’m sorry, Senior-nim.”

I immediately offered an apology.

Senior Seo Harin wore a blank expression for a moment.

She soon blinked her eyes foolishly.

“…Huh?”

I bowed my head briefly.

“My answer was too thoughtless. I really didn’t mean to hurt you…”

…

“…So…”

The Senior-nim remained silent with a bewildered expression, and I, having no other choice, decided to offer a compromise.

“Let’s do it, the Cheongsong Festival date. I’ll definitely set aside one day just for you, Senior-nim.”

After all, I had to fix my mistake.

I was the one who proposed the outing first.

“…Eh?”

Senior Seo Harin let out a silly sound. As if she had heard something unbelievable.

‘No, now I feel even more sorry.’

It still wasn’t entirely to my liking, but…

Even so, it wasn’t something to vehemently refuse with a struggle.

Anyway, a date where one party has an ulterior motive, I’ve already had prior learning (?) about that through Ryu Seeun, haven’t I?

If I considered this an extension of that, it didn’t feel too objectionable.

‘Hmm.’

Good. Mind control complete.

I nodded.

*****

To rewind the story again, sometimes in life, you connect with an unusually wide variety of people, blah blah blah… and so on and so forth…

I hastily left, abandoning Senior Seo Harin, the student council vice president, who seemed to have lost her mind as if her soul had left her body.

“It’s been a while, Lee Hyunjin.”

…

This time, I ran into the wild student council president right on the road.

What kind of coincidence is this?

Why is today’s luck so bad?

That male student, who looked utterly stern, began to gaze at me chillingly.

Along with Yoo Seonghyeon, the fourth-year disciplinary committee head, that young man, known as the strongest at Cheongsong Academy, was named Cheon Woohyuk.

As one could roughly deduce from his light yellowish-brown hair and golden eyes.

He was Cheon Soyul’s older brother.

…I don’t know why, but I was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that I should start by kneeling.