Chapter 38
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Dragon's Shadow (7)
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‘What threat could an F-class even pose?’
I let out a bitter smile inwardly. But it seemed Lee Sang-hee couldn’t see it.
She soon turned her head and stepped out into the hallway. Still keeping her head down, walking timidly as always.
When lunchtime arrived, the hallway filled with students. They clustered with friends, heading to the cafeteria, the snack bar, or staying in the classroom to eat their packed lunches.
I pulled a water bottle from my bag, took a sip, and headed into the hallway. A few classmates from my homeroom had invited me along, but today I wanted to be alone. Lee Sang-hee’s gaze from earlier kept nagging at me.
‘Am I being too sensitive?’
I leaned against the window at the end of the hallway and looked down at the campus. The relaxed lunchtime scene. Students sitting on the grass eating lunches, others reading on benches, professors walking toward the dungeon studies building.
It was peaceful.
But that peace didn’t last long.
“Hari!”
I turned at the voice from behind. It was Lee Sang-hee. As always, her head was slightly bowed, her hair half-covering her face. She held a lunchbox bag in her hand.
“Uh… um.”
Not sure what to say, I gave an awkward smile. Lee Sang-hee approached step by cautious step, like a frightened bird.
“Um, hey… w-would you maybe want to eat lunch together…?”
“Huh? Oh, I was planning to eat at the cafeteria…”
“Oh, I-I see… s-sorry…”
Lee Sang-hee bowed her head hurriedly. Her face flushed red. Was she embarrassed at being turned down? Or was she just the type to get flustered so easily?
‘There was no scene like this in the original story.’
In the original, Lee Sang-hee focused solely on Yoo Han-seong and barely interacted with other students. Especially not someone like Jin Hari. So why was she asking me to eat together now?
“No, it’s fine. No need to apologize. Let’s eat together next time.”
I replied with a friendly smile. Lee Sang-hee looked up at me. Her eyes wavered for a moment, as if sizing me up.
“O-okay… next time, then…”
She turned and walked off down the hallway. Still with her head down, taking small steps.
I frowned as I watched her retreating figure. Something felt off. Her actions didn’t seem natural. Like she was testing something out.
‘No way she was probing me, right?’
No, that couldn’t be. I was overthinking it. Lee Sang-hee was just shy and struggled to make friends—that was all.
I shook my head and started down the stairs. Toward the first-floor student cafeteria.
But midway down the stairs, I spotted a group of people ahead. About ten of them? Classmates from my homeroom.
“Hey, Hari!”
Someone spotted me and waved. A girl from our class.
“What’s up? Something going on?”
“Nah, just talking about what to have for lunch. Wanna join?”
“Sure, sounds good.”
I blended into the group naturally. Safety in numbers—no one would notice me.
We walked along the hallway toward the cafeteria, chatting, laughing, and cracking jokes. Just an ordinary day.
Then, as we turned the corner—
“Huh?”
Another group stood ahead. Boys from our class. And right in the middle…
Yoo Han-seong.
More precisely, the boys clustered around Yoo Han-seong. They were asking him something—probably advice on dungeon raids. He was an S-rank dealer, after all.
“Hey, Han-seong, aren’t you S-rank? Doesn’t seem like A-rank to me.”
Yoo Han-seong walked on without responding. The students kept following, undeterred. They already knew his curt personality and didn’t mind the silence.
Our group bumped into theirs in the hallway. The two crowds merged naturally, making the corridor even busier.
“You guys heading to the cafeteria too?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Same. Let’s go together.”
The students surged forward as one. I naturally got pushed toward the back. No reason for an F-rank like me to take the lead, and the rear suited me fine.
But when I glanced back, Yoo Han-seong was at the back too.
He walked along with the group, face blank as ever. Not mingling with friends, but not isolated either.
‘Where are his other friends? Why’s he tagging along alone like that?’
The distance between us was now about two meters.
I deliberately looked away.
Being near Yoo Han-seong might make Lee Sang-hee misunderstand again. Lee Sang-hee!
But as we walked down the hall, someone suddenly appeared ahead.
Lee Sang-hee.
She stood in the middle of the corridor, staring at our group. More precisely… at Yoo Han-seong.
“Oh? Sang-hee?”
Someone in our group recognized her and greeted her. Lee Sang-hee flinched and bowed her head.
“H-hi… um, hello…”
“Grabbing lunch too?”
“Y-yeah…”
She answered with her head still down. But her gaze kept flicking toward Yoo Han-seong, peeking through strands of hair.
Did Yoo Han-seong notice her?
No, he didn’t even glance her way. He just walked past as if she didn’t exist.
Lee Sang-hee’s face paled. Her hands trembled faintly.
‘Ah…’
I could tell from that sight just how obsessed she was with Yoo Han-seong. How desperately she wanted him to acknowledge her.
But Yoo Han-seong had no interest.
Or rather, he had no room for it. He had more important goals. In the original story too, he didn’t open up to anyone early on.
Our group passed by Lee Sang-hee. I sneaked a glance back.
She stood frozen in place. Head bowed, fists clenched tight.
And when she lifted her head, our eyes met.
‘Gasp.’
Lee Sang-hee’s eyes had changed.
No longer timid and anxious. They were cold, sharp—like she’d made a decision.
And that gaze was fixed on me.
More like… measuring the distance between Yoo Han-seong and me.
‘Why is she looking at me?’
My heart sank. I had nothing to do with Yoo Han-seong. It was just coincidence we ended up in the same group.
But it didn’t look that way to Lee Sang-hee.
I quickly turned away. Stuck close to the friends ahead, putting as much distance as possible between me and Yoo Han-seong.
‘Please don’t misunderstand…’
But I instinctively knew it was already too late.
Lee Sang-hee had marked me as a ‘variable.’
A threat between her and Yoo Han-seong.
A chill ran down my spine.
On the way back to class after lunch, the hallway was still crowded. I walked with Hyeon-i and Hee, chatting about the next class.
“What’s afternoon class again?”
“Dungeon practicum theory.”
“Oh, right. Such a drag.”
“But next week’s C-rank dungeon practicum, right?”
“Yeah, Ongdal Spring Dungeon, I heard.”
Ongdal Spring Dungeon.
The moment I heard that name, I stopped in my tracks.
‘Ongdal Spring Dungeon?’
A name I remembered from the original story. A C-rank dungeon with low difficulty, often used for first-year practicums. Based on the gold axe, silver axe legend—clear it by approaching the mountain spirit and safely retrieving the iron axe. Simple structure.
‘Did Lee Sang-hee participate too?’
My memory was fuzzy. The Ongdal Spring Dungeon scene wasn’t heavily featured in the original.
“Hari, you okay?”
Hee looked at me worriedly as I stood still.
“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine. Just lost in thought.”
“Something wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
I forced a smile and kept walking.
But a corner of my mind felt uneasy.
Ongdal Spring Dungeon.
That was the place destined to become the Blue Dragon’s dungeon, after all.
‘But something even bigger is at stake there.’
That premonition turned real as we rounded the corner.
Lee Sang-hee was standing there.
Right in the path of our group, as if she’d been waiting.
She raised her head and looked at me. Well, at all of us—but her gaze locked onto me.