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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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When they returned to the training grounds after the run, Han Min-ha collapsed onto the dirt on all fours.
She vomited violently, spitting out bitter bile.
Yoo Hee-won stood next to her, with her arms crossed and frowned.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never completed the full distance before?”
“That’s… not it… Urgh…! But not this fast…”
“Sigh… Hey. If you can’t even run 10km at this pace, how are you going to graduate? Even if you do graduate, with that kind of stamina, you’ll be killed instantly the moment you face a villain. You might as well drop out.”
Yoo Hee-won unleashed a barrage of harsh words without batting an eye.
“Listen up, Mold. Running at a comfortable pace you can handle won’t change anything. You have to run until you puke to improve your stamina. Breaking through the ceiling above your head comes with that kind of pain. Got it?”
“Mmmph…”
“And stand up straight. Don’t hunch over and pant like that. Stand up and take deep breaths!”
“O… Okay…”
While Yoo Hee-won berated Han Min-ha, Song Do-yoon simply looked down at her with cold eyes.
Han Min-ha struggled to her feet, stretched her arms out to the sides, and took a deep breath.
With each breath, her monstrously large chest heaved dramatically.
The male students returning from the run stole glances at her chest with dumbfounded expressions as they passed by.
“Avert your eyes before I gouge them out! What are you looking at?!”
Yoo Hee-won yelled ferociously, and the male students quickly looked away and scurried onto the training grounds.
“If you’re done with your deep breaths, follow me. We still have to do the circuit training.”
“Oh…”
Han Min-ha looked apprehensive, but Yoo Hee-won, without a flicker of hesitation, turned and walked away.
“Hurry up.”
Song Do-yoon said coldly, and Han Min-ha nodded and weakly followed behind them.
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After about an hour of training, Han Min-ha finally managed to return to her dorm.
Keeping up with Yoo Hee-won and her group was far too much for her.
A sparrow trying to follow a stork would tear its legs, but that didn’t apply to Yoo Hee-won.
However, Yoo Hee-won didn’t intend to push Han Min-ha this hard every day.
That kind of training would be counterproductive.
But unless she yelled at her and dragged her along like today, that slowpoke with the huge lumps of fat wouldn’t change.
In that sense, the relentless Yoo Hee-won was the perfect coach for Han Min-ha.
“Don’t skip your shower just because you’re tired. Wash up with warm water to loosen your muscles. Don’t come smelling like sweat tomorrow.”
“Okay… Thank you…”
Watching Han Min-ha struggle up the stairs, clinging to the railing, Yoo Hee-won clicked her tongue in disapproval.
Still… she managed to finish the run after I dragged her along by the collar.
For someone who got extra points for being a hero’s child, she had at least some basic stamina.
If she were truly hopeless, she would have fainted halfway through.
She might be quite useful if I train her properly.
“Hee-won. Wait a minute.”
As she was pondering this, Song Do-yoon called out to her.
“What?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Song Do-yoon jerked her chin towards the outside.
It was a gesture that others wouldn’t dare to make, but Song Do-yoon did, and Yoo Hee-won followed her outside without a word.
“What is it? Why the serious atmosphere?”
“That Han Min-ha. What’s her relationship with her advisor?”
Yoo Hee-won’s eyebrows twitched.
“What do you mean by relationship? Are you talking about Professor Kyo?”
“I bumped into Han Min-ha in the hallway when I went to the restroom during the last class.”
“So?”
“I asked her where she was going, and she said she was going back to the dorm to change into her training clothes.”
“And?”
“I watched from the window, and she pretended to go towards the dorm, but then she circled around the lecture hall and went to the research building.”
Yoo Hee-won stared at Song Do-yoon without saying a word.
“What reason would Han Min-ha have to go to the research building other than to see her advisor?”
“Why were you watching her?”
“I just happened to see her. I saw her through the window on my way back to the classroom.”
Song Do-yoon lied without flinching, despite having hidden and spied on Han Min-ha using her compact mirror.
“So, what’s your point?”
“I don’t know if Professor Kyo called her or if she went there on her own.”
Song Do-yoon subtly provoked Yoo Hee-won, and Yoo Hee-won smiled coldly.
“So you’re saying you didn’t know, which means there was something she wanted to hide from you. For example…”
“For example, they’re having an affair?”
“I wasn’t going to say anything that extreme. But it’s definitely suspicious.”
That was precisely Song Do-yoon’s intention.
To make Yoo Hee-won suspicious of Han Min-ha.
Song Do-yoon intensely disliked Han Min-ha.
She resented how Han Min-ha had suddenly appeared and monopolized Yoo Hee-won’s attention.
She had swallowed her pride to become Yoo Hee-won’s right hand, and then this shady girl with unknown origins had appeared and tried to steal Yoo Hee-won away.
Song Do-yoon believed that the only reason Yoo Hee-won was looking after that slow, chubby girl, who wasn’t superior to her in any way, was because they shared the same advisor, Professor Hyun Kyo.
That’s why she wanted to sever that connection.
“Just in case, why don’t you check it out? You can’t keep going to mentoring sessions feeling uneasy, can you? If it’s nothing, then it’s nothing.”
“Should I?”
Yoo Hee-won smiled wickedly.
Yoo Hee-won was smart.
She already knew that Song Do-yoon was doing this out of jealousy, trying to bring Han Min-ha down.
She also knew that neither Professor Hyun Kyo nor Han Min-ha were bold enough to do something like that.
However, it was certainly suspicious that Han Min-ha had gone to the research building secretly, avoiding other people’s eyes.
Not in the crazy sense that they were making out in the lab, but that something else might be going on.
Han Min-ha was a slowpoke who had even attempted to drop out, so there was no telling what other strange, impulsive things she might do.
“Thanks. Good information.”
Yoo Hee-won smiled and pinched Song Do-yoon’s cheek.
At that gesture, Song Do-yoon’s icy expression momentarily melted, leaving her unguarded.
“Ah…”
But she quickly regained her composure and frowned.
“I don’t like it. Don’t touch me like that.”
“Why so serious between friends? Anyway… go back and rest. I’ll go see Han Min-ha like you said.”
Yoo Hee-won turned and went back inside the dorm.
Left alone, Song Do-yoon stood there for a moment, touching the cheek Yoo Hee-won had pinched. [T/N: Sus ]
Then, she looked up at the floor where Han Min-ha’s room was with cold eyes.
I won’t tolerate anyone coming between Hee-won and me.
No matter what it is, I won’t let it slide…
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Yoo Hee-won went to Han Min-ha’s room and turned the doorknob.
The door didn’t open because it was locked, so she banged on it with her fist.
“Open the door!”
“W… Who is it…?”
“It’s me. Open the door.”
After a clattering noise, the door opened slightly.
Yoo Hee-won yanked the doorknob, and Han Min-ha, wrapped in a large towel, stumbled out.
Having just showered, Han Min-ha’s glasses were fogged up, and her hair was plastered to her head like wet seaweed.
“Why…? What’s wrong…? Did you come to check if I showered…”
“Cut the crap and get inside. I need to talk to you.”
Yoo Hee-won pushed Han Min-ha aside and entered the room.
Yoo Hee-won sat on the bed, and Han Min-ha closed the door and hurried inside.
“What do you want to talk about…? I’ll just get dressed…”
“No, just sit down.”
“Oh…”
Han Min-ha nervously sat on the chair opposite Yoo Hee-won.
Seeing Han Min-ha hunching over, covering her chest with her arms, Yoo Hee-won clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“Why did you go to Professor Kyo’s lab today?”
“Huh…?”
Han Min-ha’s mind went blank at Yoo Hee-won’s blunt question.
How did Hee-won know…?
Did Song Do-yoon tell her…?
Already flushed from her shower, Han Min-ha started sweating from the shock.
“Why did you go?”
“Ah, that’s… The professor called me…”
“Why did he call you?”
“For a consultation about academy life…”
“Then why did you pretend to go to the dorm and then go to the research building?”
“Gasp…?!”
Han Min-ha’s nervous reaction was obvious, and Yoo Hee-won smiled wickedly and crossed her legs.
“Tell me. Why did you go?”
Han Min-ha realized she was cornered and had to tell the truth.
But she wasn’t foolish enough to reveal everything.
She knew at least that she shouldn’t talk carelessly about the secret organization called Secreto.
So, Han Min-ha told Yoo Hee-won a carefully censored version of the story.
“Actually…”
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“So… you’re saying… Professor Hyun Kyo worked on the same team as your parents? What kind of nonsense is that? It’s annoying.”
Yoo Hee-won’s annoyance was understandable.
No hero shared credit by working in a team.
So, three heroes working together?
It would be more believable if Dr. Thief was a real person and was about to attack the academy.
But Han Min-ha didn’t seem to be lying.
So Yoo Hee-won decided to believe her for now.
“So Professor Kyo called you in and told you this story because he thinks that’s why you can’t use your Aura. Is that it?”
“Mhmm… Yes…”
“Did you know Professor Kyo was friends with your parents? And what about Professor Kyo?”
“I didn’t know… I’d never met the professor before, and he didn’t know my face either. He heard my parents’ names and thought there might be a connection, so he checked and found out…”
“So, what about you?”
“Huh?”
Yoo Hee-won crossed her arms and asked,
“What about you? Do you feel like trying to use this ‘Aura’ thing now that Professor Kyo told you that?”
“That’s… It’s not that I don’t want to use Aura… Honestly, I don’t know how…”
Yoo Hee-won, about to get angry at the frustrating answer, changed her mind.
She had been in a very awkward situation after her previous outburst about Han Min-ha’s parents, so she was hesitant to speak carelessly about anything related to them.
From what she had heard, Han Min-ha couldn’t use her Aura because of the trauma from her parents’ disappearance, and Professor Kyo was trying to change her mind by talking to her…
It didn’t seem like a bad approach.
The usual melodramatic spiel like, “What would your deceased parents think if they saw you like this! Even for your parents in heaven…”
Not bad.
But Han Min-ha’s parents were missing, and Professor Kyo was on the same team as them in the past?
Something… felt like a missing link…
“Go wash up and sleep.”
Yoo Hee-won said curtly and stood up.
She had confirmed that it wasn’t what she was worried about, so that was enough.
Song Do-yoon was a snake who couldn’t be trusted, but this boob girl wasn’t like that. She could believe her.
“Goodnight, Hee-won… Tomorrow…”
Before Han Min-ha could finish, Yoo Hee-won slammed the door shut and walked out into the hallway.
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Walking back to her room, Yoo Hee-won stopped as if she had remembered something, took out her phone, and dialed a number.
While the phone rang, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
The other person answered.
“Dad… Are you available to talk?”
[What is it?]
“You know my advisor, Professor Hyun Kyo…? Could you look into what kind of work he did when he was active?”
[Why are you curious about that?]
“I have a classmate who’s also his student…”
Her father waited silently for her to continue.
Yoo Hee-won swallowed and continued,
“Her parents went missing when they were active… and Professor Kyo said he worked on the same team with them…”
After hearing that, Yoo Hee-won’s father remained silent for a while.
Instead of urging him to speak faster like she usually did with others, Yoo Hee-won waited patiently.
She was afraid of her father.
Even now, she wasn’t showing it outwardly, but she was anxious, wondering if she had said something she shouldn’t have and would get scolded.
As the silence stretched on, Yoo Hee-won’s back started to dampen with sweat.
After a while, her father spoke in a heavy voice,
[Hyun Kyo… said that?]
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[T/N: I think I know exactly where this is going.]
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Lol