Choi Hana's Proposal? (1)
Meanwhile, before the entrance ceremony had even begun—
I stood face-to-face with a second-year female cadet, wearing a look of pure bewilderment.
That's Scarlet, isn't it?
Reddish-brown long hair and a short skirt. A tight-fitting cadet uniform. A foreign upperclassman staring down at me with an expression of absolute self-assurance.
Her outfit was so refined that anyone could tell at a glance she was a rich young lady.
"I personally told you that your looks are a complete pass. Why are you reacting like that?"
She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks. Somehow she came off as wildly over-the-top — like a noble young lady archetype straight out of a subculture character roster. Which, in fact, she was.
Scarlet had been released as a pickup character with exactly that concept. Even in the actual lore, she was the daughter of a famous military enterprise president.
That aside — a complete pass? What is she talking about? And why is Choi Hana involved?
It seemed like she was complimenting my appearance, but it was far too out of the blue.
My current look was no longer that of the blonde-tanned punk, at least.
My hair color had always been blond, but my skin had never been naturally dark.
It really was a tan, in a sense.
There was a reason for that.
My first authority, Peacefully Glittering Mirror. I'd spent entire days activating that defective power, trying somehow to develop it.
Growth? Forget it. Instead, the side effects of that lighting turned me into a blond-tanned guy. On top of that, people at the high academy had even mistaken me for a delinquent.
I never asked to become the blonde-tanned punk!
Fortunately, that forced tan was now fading back to my original skin tone — thanks to the dark attribute of my second authority, the Throne of the Shadow Mirror.
Still, I don't think my face is anything special.
A girl that pretty calling me a pass — was that supposed to mean I looked decent? No, more than that: Scarlet suddenly evaluating my looks out of nowhere was just absurd.
"Reacting…? Anyway, what are you talking about?"
When I asked, Scarlet planted both hands on her hips and declared:
"I heard that you're interested in Hana."
"What? Where did you hear that—"
At those words, Choi Hana, standing beside Scarlet, cried out in a flustered panic.
"J-Junwoo never said anything like that, Lady Scarlet!"
"Hana, be quiet. You're a beautiful person. So there's no way this Lee Junwoo would have given up that expensive Wyvern Fang Powder to you without any ulterior motives, is there? Right?"
"That's not true! My lady… Lee Junwoo isn't the kind of person who would have impure thoughts like that."
Choi Hana looked thoroughly mortified.
Ah. Now I get it.
She had misunderstood the Wyvern Fang Powder — the first-place reward from the retest that I'd given to Choi Hana — as a gift loaded with personal interest.
Well, it wasn't that strange of a conclusion.
It was a valuable item, after all.
Scarlet was the type of young lady character who jumped to wild assumptions. And Choi Hana's looks were more than enough to make male cadets harbor ulterior motives. I could feel the stares directed at her even now from the people around us.
Scarlet and Choi Hana, huh.
I briefly recalled the original game's lore.
If things follow the original, Choi Hana should be living under Scarlet's roof right now.
As the rich young lady's childhood friend and maid — that was the identity Choi Hana currently held.
A false identity, of course.
Scarlet's father, the chairman of that massive military enterprise, had once been involved in the underworld. He had also been a loyal subordinate of Choi Hana's late father. So the real power dynamic between these two was the complete opposite of what it appeared.
If anything, Scarlet is closer to being Choi Hana's attendant.
To the two bosses currently splitting the underworld between them, Choi Hana's existence was extremely dangerous. Naturally, they had tried to kill the legendary boss's daughter since she was a child. To survive, Choi Hana had completely laundered her name and identity.
Scarlet's brown eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
"Ahem. Still, it's only your face that passes! To become a man worthy of Hana, ability matters too. Keep working hard from now on! As the vice president of Theia's student council, I will be watching!"
Having said everything she wanted to say, she simply walked off.
The two of us left behind locked eyes. Choi Hana bowed her head with a polite expression.
"I'm sorry, Junwoo. Our young lady is just… like that. Please allow me to apologize on her behalf."
I already knew, so it was fine.
In reality, Scarlet was a warm-hearted character who doted on Choi Hana with genuine care. Given her status as a military enterprise heiress, rare items could also be obtained through her. And above all, the title of student council vice president carried absolute weight at Theia.
In many ways, she's someone hard for me to get involved with right now. Lucky break.
Even establishing a connection like this wouldn't hurt when student-council-related quests came up. With Scarlet gone, only Choi Hana and I remained.
The moment our eyes met, she flinched in surprise.
Huh? What's with her?
Choi Hana was normally so composed — it was strange for her to deliberately avoid my gaze. As someone already leading an underworld organization, her personality was that of a leader: commanding and strong-willed, if a bit clumsy at times.
She's probably just a little embarrassed because of Scarlet.
It wasn't that she was the type to get flustered simply from standing in front of a man. And that was exactly why I needed Choi Hana.
Scarlet and Choi Hana are completely different cases.
No matter how little reason Choi Hana had to get involved with me, she was the protagonist of the underworld side content — I had to find some way to connect with her, no matter what.
If only to snatch An Yumin's early quests from the original for myself.
Some quests could be completed solo, but others absolutely required party play. Following the original, Choi Hana had a high chance of landing in the Middle Class.
Technically, the two human rights characters of the main story deck are those two…
Song Sia and Ha Yeeun. With those two, a mage and a healer were covered all the way to the end of the story. But there was no chance I'd ever party with Aegis members again.
I needed to find new party members at the academy too. And obviously, Choi Hana would be perfect for that role.
But as an original extra — and Theia High Academy's infamous blonde-tanned punk — there was virtually no reason for Choi Hana and me to get involved right now.
The one possibility: Choi Hana was desperate to recruit talent in order to rebuild her father's organization. Hunter guilds run by the underworld were reasonably popular, but Theia's top ranks all wanted major hunter guilds like Valhalla's Apostles. Choi Hana's organization, to put it bluntly, was a no-name guild.
So if I showed a certain degree of growth potential, the odds of Choi Hana taking an interest were more than enough.
Which means I absolutely have to place into the Middle Class on the class assignment evaluation.
Before the underworld content kicked in, Choi Hana had a rival gimmick with An Yumin — the two of them had clashed in subtle ways ever since their high academy days. Looking back, even the fact that her character design was so meticulously crafted for an NPC probably had a reason behind it.
I turned my head again. Scarlet's interruption had led to this chance encounter with Choi Hana, but naturally connecting through the Middle Class would do more to reduce my negative image.
No need to force myself on her and tank my reputation even further.
I had no intention of overreaching just to get closer. My reputation at Theia High Academy was already poor enough. I was carefully keeping my distance to avoid any more misunderstandings when—
"……"
Something felt off.
Choi Hana hadn't left. She was still standing right next to me.
Then she turned to me with a gentle smile.
"Um, if you don't mind… may I sit next to you?"
And without warning, she bowed at the waist and held out a thick document envelope toward me.
The entrance ceremony began.
"This cadet, through her hero activities at the high academy, has become an example to others…"
An Yumin stood on the stage, receiving an award from someone.
A handsome man with long golden hair and pointed ears. Anyone could tell he wasn't human — he looked like an elf.
No, he is an elf.
A High Elf named Oripiel. CEO of a specialty manufacturing company that used magic stones. Naturally a well-known major corporation.
Aside from his unusual appearance, he was just a businessman — but surprisingly, he was an important figure in the original. Non-human demi-humans had appeared in the original game: elves, vampires, fox spirits, and other non-human races.
Oripiel was a demi-human celebrity who had seamlessly integrated into human society, but in truth he was a dangerous character with demi-human supremacist leanings. A shady figure with a foot in both the hunter world and the underworld. A classic villain archetype.
In fact, Song Sia — a key figure in the main story — was also a demi-human hybrid.
The hunter guild Valhalla's Apostles. Its guildmaster, Song Yuhwan — Song Sia's father and head of that famous mega-corporation guild — had even made his own children into hybrids to strengthen the guild's fighting power.
He had multiple lovers too, according to the lore.
Meaning he had many illegitimate children. Song Sia, among them, carried the blood of a vampire mother.
There's a reason Song Sia has silver hair and red eyes.
Raised from childhood as a weapon for the family by her father, Song Sia had every emotion deemed useless for combat stripped away in the process.
I had once felt pity for that Song Sia — in my previous life, and in this reality as well. Of course, that was only until recently.
My Aegis activities were for An Yumin's sake, but…
Even so, I had given my all to Song Sia as a fellow party member. Later in the main story, the vampire blood would cause her to go berserk, and I had felt sorry for her. So I never treated her as a tool — I sincerely tried to teach her what emotions were.
I thought sincerity would reach her.
But even Song Sia had agreed to my exile. My efforts had probably failed. Even when we crossed paths recently at the scene of Dark Snake's arrest, her face had been as expressionless as always.
To someone without emotions — to someone educated to judge people solely by their utility — an incompetent person like me would have meant nothing. Not even a friend.
She might have already forgotten my name. Well, not my problem anymore.
Song Sia's berserk episode was something An Yumin would handle on her own. Of course, if the story warped in a way that threatened my ultimate goal, I'd have to intervene. But the thought of doing something for Song Sia personally, the way I had during my Aegis days, didn't cross my mind in the slightest.
The composure of the title Cold Fire Avenger was absolute, after all.
Raising my reputation in her side content — the Hunter Association — was another matter entirely.
Clap clap clap clap clap clap—
Applause rang out. In the meantime, An Yumin's freshman declaration and brief acceptance speech had ended. True to form, she seemed to have spoken about what it means to be a hero — but it was all lines I already knew, so I paid no attention.
The entrance ceremony was nearly over.
Hmm? What was that?
At that moment, my smartphone buzzed with a notification. Checking it, I found the guide for this Friday's class assignment evaluation.
Evaluators and evaluation groups have been assigned.
That was important.
The class assignment evaluation used a unique format mixing interviews with multiple instructors and abbreviated sparring matches. So I needed to check which interviewer I drew and which opponent I was paired with.
I was determined to place into the Middle Class. Normally, retest candidates had a high chance of landing in the Low Class.
The interviewer is… pretty tough.
But I already knew the interviewers' styles from the original, so that wasn't a concern.
The real problem was—
Ugh. Of all people, it had to be her.
My evaluation partner was Song Sia.
No matter how broken my authorities were, there was no way I could beat her in a spar right now. Song Sia's main stats would already be over 70, and her awakening level well past 55. Meanwhile, my highest stat — Strength — was a mere 20, and my awakening level was 37. The awakening level gap didn't look that large, but the extreme difference in leveling efficiency between a natural 2-star and a natural 4-star made our specs fundamentally different.
Song Sia's authorities are 4-star too.
But I wasn't worried. Given the abbreviated sparring format, and considering my goal was only the Middle Class, my odds were solid enough — as long as I prepared my skills properly.
There's time until Friday. I'll recheck the advance intel and…
In the meantime, the entrance ceremony fully ended.
Just as I was about to stand, Choi Hana hurriedly spoke to me. Without thinking, she pressed herself close.
"Um, then… would you be able to spare me some time? I'd like to talk with you, Junwoo!!"
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
I'd had my suspicions when I peeked inside the document envelope, but Choi Hana clearly had business with me right now.
"Ah, you might be busy, so I won't take much of your time! If it's all right, there's a café nearby…"
"Junwoo! There you are!"
At that moment, someone came running toward the two of us, out of breath. It was Jiyu.
"Huh? What were you talking about?"
Jiyu hurriedly looked at Choi Hana. Still smiling gently, Choi Hana waited as I spoke.
"Ah, this is my friend, Baek Jiyu."
"Baek Jiyu, is it? A pleasure to meet you!"
Choi Hana bowed politely once more. Jiyu received the greeting in a fluster.
"I-I… I'm Baek Jiyu."
An awkward silence settled among the three of us for a moment. Then I turned to Jiyu.
"Jiyu, go ahead and get lunch first. I've got something I need to take care of real quick."
"Huh? O-okay… Got it…"
Jiyu suddenly hid the bag she was holding behind her back. Then, just as suddenly, she vanished from the spot. Jiyu did that all the time, so it wasn't particularly strange.
Anyway, I couldn't let a good opportunity slip away.
I walked into one of the academy's cafés with Choi Hana. After listening to her brief explanation, I was inwardly stunned.
"A party proposal?"