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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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What… was that I just saw…?
Was I… part of a Secreto team with Han Min-ha’s parents…?
That was absurd…
Perhaps it was a setting not mentioned in the original story?
Maybe seeing Han Tae-woo’s picture, someone I was close to in the past, triggered a memory, a setting, from that time.
That was a possibility…
And if that was the case, it explained a few things.
Why there were no records of my past activities on the internet, and why a C-Rank hero, not even a B-Rank, could become a professor.
It was because I was part of Secreto.
Was this foreshadowing in the novel…?
If so, the recurring dream I had, and the scene at the end of the vision I just saw, must also be foreshadowing.
Perhaps I needed to trigger another memory to find the answer to that scene.
Maybe… this was a side quest…
Something like, “Piece together the fragments of the possessed character’s past.”
I wasn’t interested.
I only needed to complete the main quest.
I checked my watch; a considerable amount of time had passed since I entered the archives.
I quickly searched through Han Tae-woo and Seo Ji-ah’s records for any clues.
But there was nothing special.
Average grades, an ordinary academy life.
The only unusual thing was that they were both from the same orphanage and had no family.
So, Han Min-ha was left alone after they both disappeared.
That was all.
Since they had married and had Han Min-ha after graduation, there would be no record of it here.
So, all I had learned from coming here was that I was a member of Secreto and was on the same team as Han Min-ha’s parents.
Hmm…
Just in case, I searched the archives a bit more and found my own, Professor Hyun Kyo’s, academic record.
It was also ordinary.
Just like my appearance, my academy life was also drab and colorless.
I was also from an orphanage.
The same one as Han Tae-woo and Seo Ji-ah.
What was this… Wasn’t this too convenient?
How could all the main characters be orphans?
“Professor Kyo…! Are you almost done?”
I heard Chae Ga-yoon calling me from outside.
“I’ll be right out.”
I took pictures of all the records with my phone, put them back in their place, and quickly left the archives.
I promised Chae Ga-yoon, who was pressing me about when I would buy her dinner, that I would take her out sometime this week, and finally managed to escape.
As I headed to the lecture hall to prepare for my next class, I thought about what had happened in the archives and my future plans.
I had learned that Han Min-ha’s parents were part of Secreto and were on the same team as me.
I had originally planned to gradually uncover information based on the basic information in their records, but I had somehow learned everything at once.
This was crucial information.
At least, I could tell Han Min-ha who her parents were, what they did, and why they were declared missing.
But before that, I needed to have a deep conversation with her.
I suspected she was traumatized by her parents’ disappearance or death and was resisting becoming a hero.
But even so, a young child with no family probably had no other options and entered the academy at the Administration’s suggestion.
I should go see Han Min-ha.
I would talk to her and, depending on the situation, tell her about her parents.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
It was two timetables, one for Yoo Hee-won and one for Han Min-ha.
I always carried them with me to find times when they both had free periods for mentoring sessions.
Han Min-ha currently had a free period, so I called her, intending to have a brief conversation.
But she didn’t answer.
Judging from the lack of a voicemail message, she seemed to have deliberately hung up.
What was she doing?
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“Why didn’t you answer? Who was it?”
Sitting at an outdoor table in front of the snack bar while eating bread, Yoo Hee-won pointed her chin at Han Min-ha’s phone.
“Uh…? Oh… s… s… spam…”
Han Min-ha stammered and quickly put her phone in her pocket.
She couldn’t tell her it was Professor Kyo.
Han Min-ha already understood the situation and the dynamics at play, and she knew there was nothing to be gained by appearing to communicate separately with Professor Kyo behind Yoo Hee-won’s back.
She was afraid of being misunderstood by Yoo Hee-won.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of being bullied.
She didn’t want to ruin her relationship with Yoo Hee-won, the classmate she had talked to the most since entering the academy and the first person she had come to the snack bar with.
She knew that Yoo Hee-won had dragged her here and was forcing her to eat the most expensive bread and drinks because of Professor Kyo’s request.
Even so, even this feigned concern was appreciated by Han Min-ha.
“Hey!”
Yoo Hee-won suddenly yelled.
“Huh…? Why…?”
“Brush the crumbs off your chest. It’s disgusting.”
“Oh… this…”
Han Min-ha hurriedly brushed the bread crumbs off her chest.
Her breasts were so large that the crumbs didn’t fall on the table but landed on her chest.
“Ugh… seriously…”
Yoo Hee-won muttered something, then smiled wickedly.
“So, how’s academy life treating you these days, Han Min-ha?”
“Me…? Same as always… Classes… training… sleeping… mentoring sessions…”
“Those are things any academy student does! Besides that, have you, for example, made any friends?”
Han Min-ha stared at Yoo Hee-won with a hint of expectation in her eyes.
Yoo Hee-won glared back and said threateningly,
“Am I your friend?”
“No… I don’t have any friends yet…”
“Why do you think that is?”
Han Min-ha chewed on her bread and thought about the answer.
But she didn’t have to think for long.
Because Yoo Hee-won spoke again before she could answer.
“That’s because you suck at studying, have zero social skills, and you’re gloomy on top of that. Got it?”
“Yeah… I think so…”
“Who would want to talk to someone like you? That’s why you’re being ostracized.”
“Right…”
Han Min-ha lowered her head, holding her half-eaten bread.
Yoo Hee-won clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“Make a choice!”
“What?”
“Either follow me and survive, or stay gloomy and alone and get left behind!”
“What… do you mean…?”
“Ugh… you’re so dumb… Did all the blood that should have gone to your brain go to your chest instead?”
Yoo Hee-won massaged her temples and sighed.
“If you can’t improve your grades because you’re stupid, you should at least adapt to academy life. Do you understand this much?”
“I understand.”
“Do you need friends to adapt to the academy, or not?”
“I… need them…?”
“But can you make friends on your own?”
“Um… I don’t think so…”
“Will you make friends if you follow me around?”
“Will… I…?”
Han Min-ha’s hesitant reply made Yoo Hee-won slam her fist on the table.
“Yes! I think so…!”
“Right? Then follow me around.”
“But… we’re in different classes and have different timetables.”
“Just follow me around during my free periods and after classes. You have nothing to do then anyway.”
“Yeah… that’s true…”
‘So…Hee-won is asking me to become her follower…’
Han Min-ha wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do.
It was better than being alone, but Yoo Hee-won’s clique was the complete opposite of her.
They were all arrogant and had similar personalities to Yoo Hee-won.
Being among them would be like a black person diving into a whites-only swimming pool in the 19th century.
No matter how much Yoo Hee-won protected her, oil and water wouldn’t mix.
But Han Min-ha couldn’t bring herself to say that.
Seeing Han Min-ha’s silence, Yoo Hee-won grinned and tapped the table.
“No objections?”
“Uh? Uh…”
“Good.”
Yoo Hee-won looked around.
Her followers, who had been rejected earlier when they invited her to the snack bar, were gathered nearby.
“Come here.”
Her followers, who had been worried about her being angry at them for their rudeness towards Professor Kyo in Basic Defense Studies class, rushed over, relieved that she was talking to them.
“You know her, right?”
Yoo Hee-won pointed her thumb at Han Min-ha, and one of her followers said,
“The idiot who fainted during the basic evaluation… Ack…!”
Another follower, quick-witted, stomped on her foot.
“Of course. That’s Han Min-ha from the lower class. You’re both being mentored by Professor Kyo, right?”
Yoo Hee-won nodded at the other follower’s words.
“She’s our friend now.”
“Huh…? What do you mean…?”
“Do I have to say it twice?”
Yoo Hee-won frowned, and her followers cowered as if she was shooting lasers from her eyes.
A couple of quick-witted followers reached out to Han Min-ha first.
“Let’s be friends, Min-ha.”
“Han Min-ha…”
“Yeah, Min-ha.”
Yoo Hee-won’s followers, eager to please her, rushed to act friendly towards Han Min-ha.
In the upper class, Yoo Hee-won’s word was law, and so Han Min-ha inadvertently became friends with the upper-class students.
Responding timidly to their insincere greetings, Han Min-ha thought to herself,
‘Is this… really okay…?’
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