The Liberal Arts Department Has Many Unusual Cadets (2)

Monday morning.

Jeong Siu arrived at Theia Academy.

The class he'd been assigned to was Middle Class. His grades at Theia High School hadn't exactly been impressive — but he'd ranked near the top in the practical evaluations, so landing in Middle Class hadn't been much of a problem.

Just be diligent from now on, alright?

That was what the instructors who'd placed him in Middle Class had told him. The truth was, Jeong Siu was a child of the underworld — a born delinquent who had never been anywhere near the concept of diligence.

Well, it's still the start of the term. Better to read the room and keep my head down for a while.

This wasn't high school anymore. And the second-years, just one grade above him, were the so-called Golden Generation of Theia. Unlike high school, Theia's student council wielded serious authority. Getting on the disciplinary committee's bad side could mean all kinds of headaches.

Besides, the delinquent life got old a while ago.

These days he barely even hung around the entertainment districts with his crew. Drinking had lost its fun too, so he mostly just killed time playing Northern Warworld. Middle Class had a lot of joint training with High Class anyway — things were about to get annoying, so he might as well enjoy himself while he could.

As if on cue, he ran into his crew at the outdoor café on Theia's campus. A handful of delinquents were lounging around an outdoor table.

"Yo. Jeong Siu's here. What the hell happened yesterday? You were playing Warworld like an actual human being."

A familiar female cadet called out to him. Ash-gray long hair, eyebrow piercing — the girl delinquent Hwang Nari. She was a hardcore gaming addict, and since plenty of ordinary women played Northern Warworld, that wasn't particularly strange. She was also way better at it than Jeong Siu.

"I've actually been practicing Northern Warworld, so cut it out already."

"Haha. Still trash, though. Below Plat you're a total no-lifer."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up~"

Normally that kind of talk would have pissed him off, but right now it didn't bother him. He'd managed a decent kill count against Hwang Nari herself.

Those intermediate lectures on EumjjinTV really helped.

It wasn't a channel with a huge subscriber count yet, but the Northern Warworld lectures going up on it had been hot lately. The weird weeb anime profile picture had taken some getting used to, but the lecture content itself was excellent — and the editor's sense of style was sharp enough that the otaku flavor wasn't overwhelming.

Jeong Siu sat down next to Hwang Nari. She was still glued to YouTube on her tablet PC.

"Pffhahaha! Ha Yeeun is disgustingly bad at Warworld!! She's gonna get first-rounded out of the Mungseokkyu Tournament for sure. Hell, if her boobs were half the size she'd still play better than this. Hahaha."

He snuck a glance at the screen — it looked like the Saintess TV channel. He hadn't said anything because he knew Hwang Nari would give him hell for it, but Jeong Siu was something of a regular viewer of Saintess TV. No guy alive was going to dislike a girl who looked as cute as Ha Yeeun.

And those tits are huge.

She'd put on a bit of weight lately, but some fans actually found that even cuter. Still, Jeong Siu had absolutely zero intention of trying to hit on Ha Yeeun.

The boss's... no, Unknown's... no — Lee Junwoo's ex-girlfriend is not someone I can just casually mess with.

Even if Junwoo had gotten tired of the wildly popular Ha Yeeun and dumped her, she was still the former woman of the Unknown he so deeply respected. In the underworld, touching the boss's woman was the kind of offense that got your head handed to you. He had no intention of going there — none at all.

He took a light sip of his drink.

"Ugh. Mint tea again? Why are you paying money to drink toothpaste water?"

Hwang Nari took another jab, which he ignored. Then, still frantically scrolling through YouTube, she pulled up a replay from the last exam.

"Whoa, Song Sia is so freaking pretty! No matter how much makeup I put on I can never pull off that natural decadent beauty... Maybe I should get bitten by a vampire. I'm so jealous... We're both girls and yet — ptooey!"

Hwang Nari spat on the ground. Jeong Siu shifted slightly so he could see the video better.

That's Lee Junwoo.

The replays from the class placement evaluations had been released, but he hadn't bothered looking up his own. He was a half-assed delinquent, after all. Naturally, he hadn't sought out Lee Junwoo's either. He'd always been curious about Unknown's true skill — but the man had wanted a quiet life, and hadn't shown even a fraction of that power in high school. He'd have hidden it here too.

It'd be boring anyway. Wait. Come to think of it—

Belatedly, he remembered that Junwoo had taken first place in the retest. Maybe something in him had shifted.

"Hwang Nari, let me watch that with you."

"Huh? You always say this stuff is annoying and never watch. You just wanna see because Song Sia's in it? Oh, wait — his opponent was Lee Junwoo? Damn, when did he get this good-looking? Should I try hitting on him?"

She was so loud it hurt his ears, but she was always like that, so he tuned her out. What actually made Jeong Siu tense was the fact that the opponent was Song Sia.

Song Sia is... the daughter of Song Yuhwan — of Valhalla's Apostles!

Song Yuhwan was one of the ten strongest hunters in the world, competing for the absolute top of that ranking. Valhalla's Apostles itself was considered the greatest of all hunter guilds — a man who stood as close to an absolute ruler as any hunter on the planet. Which meant Song Sia's status was so high that ordinary cadets could barely even meet her eyes.

But after watching the entire replay, Jeong Siu could only murmur in a daze:

"Holy shit... Lee Junwoo is completely insane."

He was a delinquent, sure — but he liked to think he knew a thing or two about real combat. And that was how he could tell just how monstrous the spells Song Sia had been casting were. Yet Lee Junwoo had landed clean, effective hits through sheer combat sense.

You can fight like that?

In Northern Warworld terms, it was the kind of game sense pro players showed off. Of course, there was a known gap in their base specs, so Song Sia had been the one to win — but one look at her wrecked face made it clear this was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no simple loss for Lee Junwoo.

No. I shouldn't be surprised.

Lee Junwoo was known as a talentless nobody — but in reality, he was Unknown. Even this combat sense was him holding back his true power. If Lee Junwoo had faced Song Sia for real...

Song Sia would definitely be dead.

Then again, Song Sia had also been one of Junwoo's exes. He'd probably just been warming up and going easy on her. But the moment Jeong Siu saw Song Sia's split lip, a chill ran down his spine.

Wait. Song Sia is Song Yuhwan's daughter. What if... this was a declaration of war against Valhalla's Apostles?

Any ordinary cadet would have been too terrified of Song Sia's background to even think about landing a real hit. And she was a girl, on top of that. Smashing her face like that wasn't something you did with a normal mindset.

Just like I thought... the ultimate delinquent!! Unknown is completely out of his mind!!!

Of course the word "insane" was the only one that fit. No one knew Lee Junwoo's true identity yet — but he'd just demonstrated the colossal confidence of a man who could turn even Valhalla's Apostles into an enemy if he felt like it. He might be about to start his real villain activities right here at the academy.

"Is this guy actually crazy, Lee Junwoo?"

The thought slipped out of his mouth again. And in that instant, a startled voice came from beside him.

"H-hiiik!!"

A female cadet with short sky-blue hair. The moment her eyes met the crew's, she bolted.

"Aww, how cute. Haha. Guess she's scared of delinquents."

Hwang Nari said. And in that moment, Jeong Siu recognized the face of the girl who'd just fled.

Wait. She was with Lee Junwoo at Rain Weapons not long ago...

He'd seemed to be dating Choi Hana, but this was clearly a new girlfriend Junwoo had picked up. And the implication of that sent another shiver through him.

The fact that she came near us on purpose... was that a warning?

Maybe Unknown was about to start moving in earnest — and this was a silent warning to the one person who knew his identity. Don't go running your mouth.

As expected of Unknown. Thorough as hell.

Morning tea time wrapped up and the crew dispersed. Jeong Siu's major was the Liberal Arts Department. He hadn't deliberately chosen the Thief Department — that place was packed with cadets from underworld bloodlines, and repeating the same delinquent routine with the same delinquents just wasn't fun. That whole scene was stagnant water anyway.

And when he stepped into the Liberal Arts Department freshman lecture hall, Jeong Siu's entire body started trembling all over again.

Unknown — Lee Junwoo — was sitting right there.

Holy shit. I hit the jackpot.

And from day one of the lecture, Lee Junwoo had two new girlfriends flanking him on either side. The famous Choi Hana, and the sky-blue-haired girl from just earlier. There was no denying it — the guy was completely unhinged.

He's a real villain. How much of a womanizer is he? Completely... insane. I want to be just like him.

Jeong Siu wanted, more than ever, to become his subordinate.

If nothing else works out, maybe I'll just casually ask him for a match of Warworld.

They weren't personally close — but as classmates in the same department, a game or two shouldn't be a problem.

For some reason, the other cadets' eyes kept drifting toward me. Not that I could blame them. The female cadets sitting on either side of me were impossible to miss.

Jiyu is one thing, but...

Outside of training hours, you didn't strictly have to wear the cadet uniform. Jiyu was dressed in ordinary civilian clothes — lively, the way a freshman should look. Choi Hana, on the other hand, had shown up to school in a full maid outfit.

"I was so busy today I just came to school in the maid uniform as-is!"

And she didn't look the least bit embarrassed about it. Honestly, it suited her perfectly. Choi Hana's maid skin was a limited gacha item — the kind that had once single-handedly boosted Grey City's sales rankings.

The lore behind it was a little depressing, though.

In reality, Choi Hana was Scarlet's disguised maid. She didn't actually need to wear the uniform — but the setting was that she pulled it out and put it on from time to time. When Choi Hana's father, a former underworld boss, had his family ambushed by his own subordinates' betrayal, a maid at the estate had protected Choi Hana and died in her place. So Choi Hana's maid outfit was as good as mourning clothes worn in that maid's honor.

Well... whatever the reason, she sure stands out.

And before long, a major incident was going to break out in the underworld. Meaning Choi Hana was about to get very busy. That same Choi Hana took one look at me and casually sat down in the seat next to mine.

"I'm so glad I ended up in Middle Class with you, Mr. Junwoo! I'm looking forward to next week's physical ability test!"

The two of us had already agreed to form a training party together, so it made sense she'd naturally sought out the seat beside me. And Jiyu, a born loner shut-in, obviously had nowhere else to go but my other side.

I wasn't exactly looking to draw this much attention... Hm?

That was when it happened. A heavily muscled, tattooed delinquent stepped up in front of me.

Jeong Siu?

He glared at me and said, out of nowhere:

"Lee Junwoo-nii... a-ah, I mean ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lee Junwoo. Let's go a round sometime soon."

Then he tossed a business card onto my desk and walked off. Something was written in the blank space.

What's this? An ID?

The moment he'd approached, Jiyu — who'd been trembling from head to toe — urgently whispered:

"W-what do we do?! I was right! Jeong Siu's crew is going to drag you off and beat you up—"

"Doubt it. Sounds like he just wants a match of Warworld."

"Come on... no way a delinquent would just ask for a game match..."

Other cadets were whispering and glancing our way too. Like Jiyu's misunderstanding, the whole atmosphere had looked pretty serious. But as far as I was concerned, someone picking a fight with me wasn't a bad thing at all.

In the original, Jeong Siu's crew picking a fight was a quest, after all.

Compared to his notoriety in the original, though, Jeong Siu had lived a lot more quietly in high school. I had a feeling I was the reason for that.

Oh, nice!

Apparently it counted as a provocation after all — a main story quest had been generated. And the fight he'd picked wasn't a brawl, but a Warworld match. Naturally, if the current me fought Jeong Siu for real, I'd lose. But Warworld was a different story.

EumjjinTV's upward trajectory had been unreal lately. The lecture videos I'd planned and made with Jiyu were easily clearing fifty thousand views in a row, and the first one had broken a hundred thousand.

Resources multiplying while I sit still. Love it.

And since it had formed as a quest, I'd pick up side quest points on top of everything else. Honestly, short of Jiyu herself, I was confident I wouldn't lose to anyone at Warworld. I'd been Grandmaster rank last season.

That wasn't all. This weekend was the Mungseokkyu Crew's Warworld tournament — the one Ha Yeeun was in, and Jiyu too. So tonight we were doing an all-nighter Warworld training session at Jiyu's place.

Jiyu's parents said they won't be home tonight.

I was in a group chat with Jiyu's family. She got scared alone at night, so the two of them had actually been the ones ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actively inviting me over. I was a guy, though. Weren't her mom and dad being a little too unguarded? Well — it meant they trusted me that much. And Jiyu and I were the kind of friends who could pull an all-nighter in the same room and absolutely nothing would happen.

Right then—

"Nice weather today. Did everyone eat breakfast?"

The instructor walked into the lecture hall. Ponytail, office attire, a young woman with a refreshingly sharp presence — Lee Suyeon. The cadets started murmuring.

"Instructor Lee Suyeon from the very first lecture?"

"She's the only named instructor in our department. First class is gonna be brutal."

Choi Hana leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Instructor Lee Suyeon was incredibly famous back in her hero ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠days, so there might be a lot we can learn starting today."

Without thinking, she pressed herself right up against me again.

Thank god my Mental Strength is at 90.

I was a guy, after all. Fresh off getting thoroughly dumped by An Yumin — if that stat had been any lower, I would have completely misread Choi Hana as having feelings for me.

Well. She's not that kind of character.

Sure enough, she quickly pulled away from me.

"H-hiiik..."

And hurriedly averted her eyes.

That was when it happened.

"Explaining all this stuff is a pain. Time's too precious — how about we skip this and head straight to the VR training ground?"

Instructor Lee Suyeon shook her head like it was a hassle, her voice booming through the room. At her words, every cadet stood up. Roughly thirty of us moved to the training ground together.

There, we synced the VR equipment with our mana hearts and entered another field — one Instructor Lee Suyeon had already prepared for the first lecture.

Wait. This is a Warworld map.

The backdrop was extremely familiar. Sitting on a tree stump in the middle of the map, legs crossed in heels, Lee Suyeon spoke.

"We're hunters. No need to start the first lecture with boring theory, right? I want to see what you can do."

She grinned.

"Fight properly until only one of you is left standing. But you can't use your main class or your elemental attributes. Top three get bonus points and rewards."

That was the moment. In the original, Lee Suyeon had no connection to An Yumin — but now:

I see. A quest related to the 2nd Awakening, then.

I dismissed the quest notification window. Right now, I needed to focus on this survival training. A plain survival free-for-all would have been impossible — but under these rules?

With the current rules, I can take first place.