episode_0074

Baek Seo-yeon’s bizarre behavior lasted only for a split second. As she closed and opened her eyes once, she was holding her hands tightly together with a tearful expression on her face as if she was worried about Jin Ye-seo.

Seeing that, Yeon Myeong-ha reflexively furrowed her eyebrows. From the first time I saw Baek Seo-yeon, she was a woman whose true feelings were difficult to understand. The occasional appearance like that amplified my dislike of her even more.

Meanwhile, some familiar faces of second-year students were seen around Baek Seo-yeon. They are members of the student council, and it seemed like they appeared in a ranking competition to determine which new students could be recruited.

“Choi Ire… ”

Among them, Yeon Myeong-ha recognized a female student with neatly braided hair and glasses and gave her a murderous look.

Choi Ire. Heir to the Seongsan Choi family. Woojin Choi’s older sister who joined as a freshman.

She was a female student who stuck with Kwon Yuri and Baek Seo-yeon like a stick of gum. Unlike Kwon Yuri, whose head is closer to a flower garden, Choi Ire committed actions that could pose a real threat to Yeon Yeon-ha and Jeok-hwa.

The person who immediately strongly recommended Jin Ye-seo as a member of the student council was Choi I-re. In addition, she was the one who contributed greatly to the establishment of the joint venture between Paecheon and Seongsan.

The ultimate goal of the company was to seize the exclusive Stellite mining rights currently held by Jeokhwa.

This was a permanent right given to his family, which contributed to the establishment of the current system, but the amount of mining was still unstable due to a series of mine terror attacks by eco-fascists in recent years and the resulting mismanagement.

Stellite is the only metal known to be capable of holding particles. Thanks to this, there is nothing that is not used, from weapons to armor, but due to the instability of supply and demand, the price has recently been skyrocketing day by day.

They are demanding the transfer of mining rights to end the confusion, and as the days go by, voices in favor of this are growing stronger. There was also a rumor going around publicly that the agenda was scheduled to be submitted to the regular session of the National Assembly next month.

Although he has recently regained his mental stability and is voicing some response, the situation is still not going well.

However, mining rights cannot be easily given away. The enormous profits earned from stellite mining are nothing short of a lifeline for the enemy.

Moreover, although no physical evidence remains, Paecheonbeo is the force that is strongly suspected of being behind the terrorist attack in the first place.

Baek Seo-yeon is the undisputed successor to Paecheon. And Choi I-re, who sympathizes with her like one body.

Rather than being able to look at it positively, I was filled with the desire to tear it to death.

“What should I do… !”

“Phew… I avoided it… ”

I looked down at the sound of screeching. As the masked male student narrowly avoided the black flame thrown by Jin Ye-seo, the trio of first-year female students from last time looked at him and made a fuss.

“… Tsk.”

Even though we were obviously rooting for the same person, for some reason, I felt extremely uncomfortable.

The world was full of ugly bitches.

***

-Wow! puck!

“Ugh… !”

A loud scream is heard along with the sound of the joints breaking. In an instant, a spear of black flame flew out, and I turned my head to avoid it.

“Stop surrendering, right?”

“Ha… ! ha… ! Whoever wants… !”

Jin Ye-seo spins around the stone floor again two or three times and then rolls into the distance. Her blonde hair, which had been neatly tied back, had become a tangled mess. When I urge him to surrender, Jin Ye-seo, looking disheveled, screams in anger.

The expression behind the mask was slightly frowning due to the pain in my head. What should I do with this? I thought that if I inflicted severe pain on it, it would give up, but surprisingly, it held on very well.

The situation is not conducive to ignoring the rules and directly striking a critical point. Unlike when I felt pity, there are hundreds of eyes around me.

If I stick the blade to my neck, I can automatically score victory, but unfortunately, my blade has already become a piece of junk and has been lying around on the floor of the sparring hall for a long time.

“Ha… ! ha… !”

I checked Jin Ye-seo’s condition again. His legs are shaking and his green eyes are becoming less and less focused, and it looks like he is slowly reaching his limit.

“Phew… ”

There is no choice. If I get hit harder, I’ll give up. I, too, am not in a state where I can continue the fight for a long time.

I made a decision and rushed towards Jin Ye-seo again. Then he lifted his foot and kicked her knee hard.

-Wow!

“Ah… !”

Jin Ye-seo, who has lost her balance, tilts her body to the side.

-Pow!

“Wow!”

I delivered another powerful blow to her side before she fell to the floor. His concentration may have been shaken by the successive shocks, and the magic formula was repeatedly scattered before it was engraved on his hand.

-Quad! Pow!

“Surrender.”

“Kek… I don’t like it… Ugh… !”

-Pow! puck!

“Surrender.”

“I don’t like it… Hehe… uh… !”

-Wow!

“Huh… !”

“Surrender.”

“Ugh… I don’t like it… no… !”

-Wow! Quad deuk! Pow!

“Phew… surrender… ”

“Stop, stop!!”

As I was engrossed in my work, a man’s deep voice blaring loudly from the amplifier suddenly awakened my concentration.

A second-year professor who was conducting a ranking match as an examiner was running toward the sparring hall in a huff.

“Student Yoo Jin-hyeon, stop. It’s your victory.”

“Yes? but… ”

“Miss Ye-seo has already lost her mind. I can no longer continue the ranking battle.”

I checked the tooth extraction after hearing his words. It was only then that the blonde female student, lying limp and not moving, came into view. The face was a mottled mess, smeared with blood and tears.

The judge urgently called the medical team and announced the results of the ranking match through the amplifier.

“Winner, Yoo Jin-hyeon!”

He then looked at Jin Ye-seo being carried away covered in blood after receiving first aid, and muttered with a confused expression.

“This may cause protests from Baekgwang… ”

“… I haven’t broken any rules. The blade was broken, and the opponent didn’t even declare surrender… ”

“I know, I know. It means that from their perspective, it could be so. The name and power of the family have become like that.”

He waved his hand and cut me off.

“Well, I don’t know why we continued to compete until it got like that. There is a limit to savagery. Anyway, you don’t have to worry. Even if there is a complaint, the cradle will take care of it. Today’s schedule is over, so please stop by the infirmary and get some treatment.”

He tapped me on the shoulder and left. Actually, I have some doubts too. Although he was almost sobbing, he resolutely refused to declare surrender. He seemed like a person who absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.

Actually, whatever the circumstances, it’s none of my business.

Rather, I am quite satisfied with the fact that I achieved my original goal of victory.

Even considering that his physical condition was not normal, he was not an easy opponent. Jin Ye-seo showed quite skillful movements with just a few actual battle experiences.

Come to think of it, the leader clearly said that. The reason I couldn’t beat myself wasn’t because of the difference in talent, but because of the difference in accumulated experience.

Perhaps this applies to others as well.

Moreover, talent is talent, and lineage is lineage.

None of my competitors are inferior to me in anything.

“Hmm, hm.”

With a clearing of the throat, someone’s presence approaches. Yeon Myeong-ha approached, walking briskly among the scattered students.

“Are you here?”

“… ”

Instead of responding to my sympathetic greeting, he turns his gaze diagonally downward. Then he frowns silently. It looks like he is displeased with something.

There, the burns from Jin Ye-seo’s black flames were revealed.

“Senior? Any problem?”

“… Do you want to follow me?”

Yeonmyeonha does not answer but turns her head.

“Where?”

“You’ll find out when you come.”

“Okay… ”

It was the moment when I canceled the prediction and was about to follow Yeon Myeong-ha, who seemed somewhat urgent.

Suddenly, my vision becomes dizzy and my legs feel weak.

I felt like I overexerted myself a bit in a situation where I hadn’t fully recovered yet.

I could barely support my body and stand up straight. However, it appears that Yeon Myeong-ha, who was ahead, is back again. The way he stretches his arms out awkwardly seems like he’s trying to support them.

“Senior. Were you trying to accept it?”

“What kind of nonsense… !”

Yeon Myeong-ha raises her voice as if she is upset. Saying that makes me even more suspicious.

Maybe it was because I won an important sparring match, but I was somehow able to talk to Yeon Yeon-ha with a comfortable mind.

Now, I don’t think much of that tickling tone of voice.

“You two seem to get along very well, right?”

However, when I hear a familiar voice speaking to me as if I were a friend, my heart suddenly turns cold.

***

Yeon Myeong-ha, who was looking at the masked male student, changes her expression in an instant.

A female student with black hair as beautiful as the night sky and sparkling eyes filled with golden particles was approaching behind them.

“Baek Seo-yeon. What’s going on here?”

Yang Yeon-ha, who turned her head, snorted and said.

“Just. I came here to congratulate you. Junior Yoo Jin-hyeon’s skills are truly amazing… ”

“So what? Why don’t you just stop worrying and go to your junior? It looked very funny.”

Baek Seo-yeon still did not lose her bright smile. However, with the sensitive senses unique to a spiritist, I was able to immediately notice the slightly widened crack that I felt pity for.

Baek Seo-yeon is not in a good mood right now.

“… I already tried to do that. But isn’t that too harsh? Anyway, the same motivation… ”

“Of course this can happen during a duel, right? I lost because of skill, so there’s so much to say. And do you think he was the only one hurt? This one was seriously injured too.”

“… ”

Compassionately, he still maintained his arrogant attitude and spat out harsh words. She wasn’t in a very good mood either.

This was because Baek Seo-yeon could not think of any reason why she would come down to the sparring hall and talk to her. The fact that the examining gaze was always focused on the masked male student rather than on himself was also a reason for his discomfort.

“… Well, I didn’t know you were the kind of person who cares for your juniors this much.”

A female student with flowing black hair smiled bitterly. Instead of responding with pity, he only returned an arrogant sneer once again. Then he turned back and led the masked male student.

“Let’s go.”

“… Yes.”

His voice sounds somewhat droopy. It was only then that I realized that he, who felt pity for me, had been quietly turning back the whole time without even exchanging a formal greeting with Baek Seo-yeon.

“… ?”

I felt that his condition was not good as he was shaking his hands, so I dragged him out of the sparring room with an urgent and compassionate heart.

There was no longer any reason to waste time and emotions on useless things.

“… ”

The pair of golden eyes left behind remained there until their departing backs disappeared.

***

The place where Yeon Myeong-ha arrived with the male student was unexpectedly the infirmary.

Leaving the confused man to his seat, she took out cotton and disinfectant herself.

“Really, what on earth is this… ”

The scar from the black flame was still visible on his left thigh.

“It’s not that bad. No need to worry too much… ”

“No, someone was worried… If you’re like that, my prestige will be damaged too… ”

It seems as if her true feelings have been discovered, Yeon Myeong-ha angrily talks back with a blank expression on her face.

“Anyway… I didn’t believe the man’s bravado… ”

“It’s really okay. If I just rest for a few days… ”

“So, let’s postpone it for a few days and I… ”

“Senior.”

“Uh, yes… ?”

Yeon Myeong-ha asked back in confusion at the words of the male student poking into the gap.

“Don’t worry… I’d like to hear something else.”

“Uh, uh… ?”

At his sudden request, Compassionate’s eyes wander as he has nowhere to go.

However, to that deep earnest desire, her lips respond to it by combining words without realizing it.

“That… great job… ?”

As if that were the correct answer, the male student nodded slowly and held the mask with both hands.

“… Thank you.”

His fingers also no longer trembled.