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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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Han Yuri returned.
Choi Ah-hyun welcomed her back with open arms, and Han Yuri immediately challenged the test again.
“Yuri-ah! Fighting! Finish it in one go!”
Han Yuri, who had struggled against the Ancient Golem before, now…
“Groooooan!”
…was beating the crap out of it.
The meteor shower, ignoring the golem’s defenses, bombarded its massive body like bullets, forcing it to retreat.
“That’s it! Yuri-ah, kill it!”
Choi Ah-hyun jumped up and down excitedly, cheering Han Yuri on.
Han Yuri prepared the final blow.
Meteors and shooting stars filled the sky.
With a wave of her hand, a carpet bombing commenced.
KABOOM!
“Groan…”
The Ancient Golem shattered into pieces.
I broke out in a cold sweat at that sight.
‘Shit… did I go too far?’
The Cheongah Fireworks Festival.
I remembered that festival for one reason.
‘It was the day the aurora and meteors appeared at the same time.’
So I’d taken a gamble, hoping to motivate her by showing her the meteors.
And it worked… too well.
‘I didn’t think she’d actually awaken a skill just from seeing the meteor shower and aurora…’
A monster was a monster, after all.
Confident in her victory, Han Yuri turned around.
Her usual haughty expression was back.
Choi Ah-hyun ran over and hugged her.
“Yuri-ah! I love you! You were so cool!”
“It’s hot. Get off.”
She pushed Choi Ah-hyun away, but she couldn’t hide the smile playing on her lips.
She looked up and our eyes met.
A small, gentle smile.
That was all.
I sighed and looked away.
‘This is bad.’
We’d gotten too close.
This level of intimacy was dangerous.
‘I need to keep my distance.’
As I led the two of them outside, Professor Irena was waiting for us.
“Fastest D-rank promotion in history. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. Is everything taken care of?”
“Yes. It was mostly wrapped up yesterday.”
She was referring to Yeon Hyo-joo’s funeral and the investigation.
Irena looked at Han Yuri and smiled faintly.
“You’ve grown stronger.”
“Well, it just… happened.”
She tried to act nonchalant, but she couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from curling upwards.
An uncharacteristically soft smile for Han Yuri.
For now, congratulations on her growth were enough to make her smile.
After two years of stagnation, she’d finally broken through.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes.”
We followed Irena to the sports field.
The Academy was bustling with activity.
Starting today, the academy enters the festival period.
Despite the recent attack by the demonic cult, the Academy was showing the world that it was still standing strong.
It was a way to reassure the public and give the students a break.
‘But in reality, it was just a glorified recruitment fair for the guilds.’
The sports field was filled with students and guild representatives.
We joined the crowd.
Irena walked onto the stage and took the microphone.
“Thank you for waiting. We will now begin the opening ceremony.”
The usual formalities followed.
I yawned as I waited, overhearing snippets of conversation around me.
“Hey, I heard Han Yuri’s team passed the D-rank test.”
“What? No way. They’ve only been here for three months. That’s a new record, isn’t it?”
It seemed the rankings had already been updated on the website.
“It’s true. She’s the first to do it since that female senior who did it in five months a few years ago.”
“Didn’t that senior end up getting raped and killed?”
“Shut up, you idiot! If the professors hear you talking about that, you’re screwed.”
They looked around nervously and fell silent.
After that little incident, the opening ceremony finally came to an end.
“This festival is for you, so please enjoy yourselves.”
The festival had officially begun.
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The three of us wandered around the Academy.
“There are a lot of civilians here.”
“The Academy is only open to the public during the festival.”
As Ah-hyun said, the place was packed with a mix of students and civilians, like a marketplace.
As we were looking around, Han Yuri nudged me.
“Hey, Lee Seong-hyun, want to go to our booth?”
Our booth.
She was talking about the Portan Guild’s booth.
‘No way in hell am I going there.’
Besides, I had somewhere else to be.
“I have a prior engagement, so I don’t think I can.”
“…I see.”
Her expression didn’t change, but her voice was slightly lower.
Choi Ah-hyun, sensing the shift in mood, intervened.
“Ooh! Look, a snowman!”
“A snowman?”
A snowman in early summer?
I looked over and saw…
‘They made a whole ice kingdom.’
An ice skating rink, an ice slide, and snowflakes gently falling from the sky.
People were flocking to the spectacle.
[Korean Hunter Association]
As expected, they’d taken over a large section of the sports field.
“That looks fun! Let’s go!”
“I’ll pass.”
“Me too.”
“Tsk. At least take some pictures for my Instagram.”
“Okay.”
I took her phone and was about to take a picture of Choi Ah-hyun posing on the ice slide when her phone vibrated.
Once, twice.
I couldn’t see the content, but they were all text messages.
‘As expected of Miss Popular.’
A completely different world from mine and Han Yuri’s.
Holding the vibrating phone, I took the picture for her, and we walked around the booth.
Around 10 o’clock.
Time was starting to run out.
“I’ll get going then.”
“That prior engagement?”
“Yeah.”
“Seong-hyun-ah, want to have lunch together?”
“I don’t know if I’ll have time.”
Annoyed by my constant rejections, Han Yuri sighed.
“You’re always telling us not to go solo, and here you are, doing it yourself.”
“Shut up, crybaby.”
“…You little…!”
“See you later!”
I hurried towards the rooftop of the main building, leaving Han Yuri waving her fist at me.
And there…
…Lee Seol was waiting.
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The rooftop garden of the main building.
I sat on a bench, enduring an uncomfortable silence.
“Defendant Lee Seong-hyun, you have a chance to explain yourself.”
“I… I’m sorry.”
“So you admit your guilt?”
“…”
Damn it.
She was playing the serious judge, but the corners of her lips kept twitching.
She was enjoying this.
Normally, I would have played along, but this was about her no-show at the fireworks festival.
I’d planned to join them after dealing with Han Yuri, but things had taken longer than expected.
I’d tried to contact her after the festival ended.
[Crazy Bitch A: ^^]
[Me: Sorry, something came up. Did you enjoy the fireworks?]
[Crazy Bitch A: ^^]
[Me: Seol-ah?]
[Crazy Bitch A: ^^]
[Me: …]
And that’s how I ended up here.
Honestly, I felt a little wronged.
‘She’s the one who got drunk, made a fool of herself, and invited me as an apology. Whether I go or not is my choice, isn’t it?’
But I was also at fault for making her wait.
A classic double bind.
“Do you really have to call me ‘defendant’…?”
“Breaking a promise is a serious offense. It’s about trust.”
Lee Seol looked at me intently and leaned closer.
Her signature scent tickled my nose.
“Hyeon is a good person, right? Hardworking, kind, and pure.”
As if it was a fact that couldn’t be disputed.
She took my hand, her soft fingers tightening around mine.
“Hyeon-ee… Hyeon-ee is different from other people.”
“…”
Promises.
Right.
One of her trigger points.
I’d forgotten about it after experiencing it only once in the previous timeline.
When I didn’t respond, Lee Seol seemed to realize she’d gone too far.
She quickly pulled her hand away.
“I-I’m sorry! Did I surprise you? I’m a bit sensitive about promises…”
“No, it’s okay.”
Lee Seol’s face flushed crimson as she stood up.
“S-so, should we take a walk?”
“Sure.”
I followed her as she started walking around the Academy.
“Oh! Seol-ah, you look even prettier today!”
“Hello, mister!”
“Hi, Seol-ah~”
“Unnie, it’s been a while! How are you?”
She was even more popular than Choi Ah-hyun.
People recognized and greeted her at every guild booth we passed.
It took a while, but at least we got free food.
“Here, have some with your boyfriend! Special service just for today!”
“Oh, mister… Th-thank you! We’ll enjoy it.”
Free food.
Most smaller guilds had limited booth space, so they set up food stalls like this.
And they were surprisingly good.
“Hyeon-ah, I’m sorry. Those guys are being a bit much…”
“It’s fine.”
They were all going to die anyway when ‘that day’ came.
I didn’t care.
But…
‘What is this?’
A tingling sensation on my skin.
It wasn’t killing intent, but it was… unsettling.
‘Is it those thugs?’
A group of guys were sitting in a corner, drinking and leering at Lee Seol.
But it wasn’t them.
‘They’d be dead if Lee Seol even lifted a finger.’
I looked around, but I couldn’t pinpoint the source.
I even started to wonder if my senses were malfunctioning.
I frowned, and Lee Seol asked cautiously,
“…Should I tell them to apologize?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Ah…
I knew what this unsettling feeling was.
Goosebumps erupted all over my body.
My heart remained calm, but this was my body, my human instincts, reacting automatically.
I looked around.
And as expected, two figures were approaching us through the crowd.
Others didn’t seem to notice anything unusual, but I… I could feel it.
Dragon Fear.
The faint but distinct aura of a predator.
“Oppa!”
The Gold Dragon mother and daughter.
Yoo-cheong and Yoo-cheol.[1]
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[1] Minor changes to character names:
Yoo Chung → Yoo-cheong
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