The Midterm Exam Approaches
A faint whoosh.
The wind.
A cool breeze was blowing.
Beyond the large window on the third floor of the academy chapel corridor, where no one else was around, a chilly gust swept through Roxanne’s long pink hair.
Her neatly styled academy uniform had become slightly disheveled in the strong wind.
Her clear eyes, as if gathering the bright sky, were clouded by thick dark clouds. They held an expression filled with torment, anxiety, and deep pain.
Roxanne quietly looked up at the sky, her face in shadow.
Dark, billowing clouds were approaching, and the corridor of the chapel was gradually being swallowed by the encroaching darkness.
She slowly closed her eyes and tried to pray to the gods as she always did.
It was then.
“Hello?”
Right behind her.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Roxanne.”
A girl’s voice echoed down the corridor.
It was soft and delicate, yet it carried a sharp edge.
Roxanne slowly turned her head to locate the source.
In her purple-tinted eyes, a familiar figure appeared.
Seong Yura.
“I’ve been really busy lately and haven’t been able to come to the academy much.”
Seong Yura approached Roxanne with a slightly displeased expression, one step at a time.
The sound of her footsteps echoed loudly in Roxanne’s ears.
“Someone might fail the year before we know it.”
She brushed her short hair back, walked right up to Roxanne, and suddenly broke into a bright smile.
“Doesn’t that sound right, Roxanne?”
“Seong Yura.”
The dark corridor was strangely quiet.
Even though it was the chapel corridor, some students and worshippers should have been moving around.
Yet the only people in this corridor were Roxanne and Seong Yura, as if someone had deliberately blocked the path.
“….”
“….”
They stared at each other in silence, lips pursed.
An inexplicable silence weighed heavily on Roxanne and Seong Yura.
They were like oil and water.
If Roxanne was a saint, Seong Yura was an evil person.
Their personalities, tendencies, and values were completely different, so they could never understand each other.
Yet here they were, facing each other right now.
Their faces were reflected clearly on each other’s retinas.
‘Seong Yura… why are you doing this to me?’
Roxanne had always been tormented by others behind her back, but she never expected Seong Yura to come directly.
Even though Seong Yura wasn’t showing up at the academy much.
Was it because of that incident last time?
“…You got me good, Roxanne.”
Seong Yura was the one who spoke first.
She let out a long sigh, shook her head, and continued with a tone full of admiration at how she had been defeated.
“I sent my subordinates, and they all fell perfectly, didn’t they?”
“You were the ones I sent?”
At that time, Roxanne and Kim Deok-o’s lives had been hanging by a thread because of the sudden ambush by the villains.
But…
“My people searched the entire mountainside thoroughly and finally found them. They were barely hanging on by a thread?”
“So that’s how it was.”
In that life-or-death moment, a mysterious man had saved Roxanne and her companions.
His face had been covered by a hat and a multi-scarf, so she couldn’t tell who he was, but he was clearly an enormous powerhouse.
That was only natural. He was at a level far beyond Roxanne’s reach, slicing through magic and using sword qi projection.
Of course, Roxanne wasn’t a swordsman, so she couldn’t be sure.
“Impressive. You must have expected me to attack and set a trap?”
“You know better than anyone that I wouldn’t have done that.”
“You never know… right?”
In truth, Seong Yura was very upset.
Mateo Evans, whom she had favored, was still bedridden and unconscious after being left half-paralyzed.
His strength had been valuable to her.
It couldn’t be wasted like this.
“Could it be that some secret organization or faction you don’t know is secretly helping you?”
“If you’re saying it was just someone who happened to pass by…”
“Hahaha. As if. An accidental passerby? In a mountain with monsters?”
“…Actually.”
Would someone truly enter a mountain where monsters live, with no paths or signs?
And there was nothing like a relic hidden there.
Roxanne was really annoying.
If she was going to make excuses, she should have done it properly.
If she spoke like that, even if Seong Yura wanted to believe it, she couldn’t.
“Honestly, my position has gotten a bit tricky too.”
“That’s good for you.”
“You’re too harsh.”
Roxanne’s slightly cold gaze met Seong Yura’s, who had let her shoulders slump weakly.
Roxanne was the only one giving her such a cold look.
Well, that was only natural considering what she had done.
“By the way, rumors are spreading among my subordinates. They say a fairly powerful faction or group might be helping you.”
“….”
“The traces of fleeing from the fight made it even more troublesome. Everyone’s terrified now that someone like Mateo ran away. Seriously.”
“…Did that person really turn out to be that strong?”
Kim Deok-o, who was protecting Roxanne, hadn’t even resisted properly and was caught defenselessly. He seemed strong, but…
‘Then how strong was that mysterious man?’
Numerically, they had the advantage, yet Mateo and his group chose to flee. Why was he alone in the mountains? The only people there should have been the monsters and Roxanne’s group.
‘…Maybe no one really placed me under someone’s care.’
If that had been the case, it would have been great.
Having that person around would have made stopping Seong Yura much easier.
“In this world, when a side gets popular, it’s no big deal. So, tell me—do you know who that person was?”
“I don’t.”
“Ah. If you’re going to say you don’t know, I won’t dig deeper. I’ll figure it out myself…”
“Seong Yura.”
Roxanne suddenly cut her off and spoke in a quiet voice.
“I feel sorry for you.”
“What? Suddenly?”
Seong Yura blinked in surprise at the out-of-the-blue remark.
“I know how hard it’s been for you to live from the bottom. It must have been really tough.”
Both of them had been orphans without parents, but their paths had been different.
“Other people must have hated you. When you were suffering, they didn’t help at all—they only made it worse. They were disgusting and hateful.”
Unlike Roxanne, who became a saint by receiving others’ help, Seong Yura had fallen to being an evil person without anyone’s support.
“It’s fine for you to torment me. It’s just accepting your grudges, resentment, and anger.”
Your pent-up emotions in your heart—I can take them all.
“I know you sent people to me. You had no intention of killing me. You just wanted to push me into danger and see how I would react, to study my responses.”
I know you wanted to drag me down into the mud because you couldn’t be me, Seong Yura.
“But you mustn’t cross the line.”
“Line? How interesting. I thought I already had.”
“No. Seong Yura. You are definitely an evil person. But you can still turn back in time.”
Roxanne stepped closer and whispered with a sharp gaze.
“Please don’t make an irreversible choice. Of course, it will be hard to forgive everything you’ve done so far, but you must not commit any more evil acts.”
“…How absurd. You don’t even know what I’ve been doing all this time.”
“Seong Yura.”
“And listen. I don’t need empty warnings. If you don’t like me, show me through action.”
“I will stop you.”
“You? Stop me?”
Seong Yura laughed lightly.
She had unmatched talent, strength, power, and wealth, so how could Roxanne possibly stop her?
“Ah, Roxanne… you’ve always been like this. You never feared me. You always looked at me with those righteous eyes. That’s why I want to break you even more. Just like me.”
Finally, Seong Yura turned around with a flick of her hair.
“That was a fun conversation. The midterm is coming up soon, right? Study hard. I’ll see you later, Roxanne.”
“….”
Roxanne watched Seong Yura’s retreating back until she disappeared completely.
Endlessly.
***
In the spacious study room of a grand mansion.
A small girl sat in front of Seong Yura.
“Whoa~. Is it almost tomorrow? Union Academy’s midterm exam.”
She was sprawled on a fluffy sofa, her pure white hair disheveled, and let out a sleepy yawn.
Then she casually stretched out her hand, scooped up a handful of snacks, and crunched them loudly.
Her throat felt blocked, so she gulped down the tea in one go, stuck out her tongue like a cat, and fanned herself with her hand, exclaiming, “Ouch! It’s hot!”
It was the typical weakling look, but the girl was Yu Dahui, the leader of the group called Rebellion. Seong Yura had already joined as well.
Although the members were few, like a neighborhood gang, the villains were incredibly powerful with their abilities.
Seong Yura still remembered how shocked she had been by their strength at first.
Most of all, this girl named Yu Dahui.
She looked like an ordinary high school or middle school girl, but her power was beyond imagination.
The next-generation heroes called Lee Siwoo and Kang Daehan?
Hah. How ridiculous.
Compared to Yu Dahui, they were nothing more than ants.
No one in her age group could match her.
Even Baek Yurin hadn’t been able to do anything with both hands and feet.
Yu Dahui was no longer a student’s level.
She was stronger than most mid-tier heroes.
Moreover, she was still growing.
She was a real monster, wasn’t she?
Seong Yura looked at her with a slightly disgusted expression.
Seong Yura herself had surpassed the student level, but she could never stand on the same level as Yu Dahui.
With her around, the midterm would be a piece of cake.
That was how strong she was.
“As this is the first evaluation for the golden generation, the media attention will be high.”
Rebellion was more of a loose organization than an actual group. As long as the members didn’t fight among themselves or harm the organization, they didn’t interfere much.
They were basically a gathering to achieve their mutual goals.
That was why Seong Yura had joined.
They would help each other or share information when needed.
“SL Group’s Lee Siwoo, the Black Shadow Clan’s Kang Daehan, Gaonnuri Clan’s Yu Seolhyeon, the mage’s disciple Yuliya Troyanova, Ohseong Group’s Ju Jiyeon, Baek Family’s Baek Yeonghyeon…”
Yu Dahui moved her hand again and grabbed a huge handful of snacks.
“The bloodlines of the next-generation heroes who will take responsibility… that would taste delicious. Right?”
She crunched them noisily.
Yu Dahui smiled smugly.
“By the way, I was planning to prepare for the final exam or the training camp, but since you suddenly took action like this, I was surprised. So I had to prepare in a hurry. There’s no perfect timing here.”
“Why? Isn’t the story already over? Why are you trying to back down now?”
“Ah. It’s not like I’m saying anything specific.”
Yu Dahui shrugged and added a comment.
“I didn’t know you were so into bullying. Poor thing. Roxanne? How did a nun like that end up being targeted by someone like you?”
I had planned to stay silent during this midterm, but since Seong Yura had already moved, I had no choice.
As an indifferent organization, Yu Dahui didn’t particularly dislike Seong Yura’s actions. Now that things had come to this, she had decided to act along with her.
“I’ve never seen someone who bullies with such sincerity before. Who could say they’re not a villain, right?”
Ignoring Yu Dahui’s sarcasm, Seong Yura simply wore an unknown smile.
“This time, it’s not just simple bullying. I want to cross the line.”
Roxanne said she felt sorry for me?
Can you really pity someone you’ve already crossed the line with?
“The line? What line?”
Well, I don’t know which line, but I think I’ll set one based on what Roxanne did this time. I wonder how she’ll react.”
“Ah, that damned Roxanne. I got it. Who would think they’re dating?”
“Die?”
Yu Dahui nodded lazily, then suddenly stood up with a “Whoa!”
“Then let’s work hard for our common goals. Even though our thoughts may differ, we do share a common ground, don’t we?”
“Hmph.”
“Everyone’s waiting for the Union Academy midterm… let’s make it a loud commotion.”
The Union Academy, called the hope of the Republic of Korea.
A large number of fresh, lively hero students had enrolled because of the buzz about the golden generation.
Given the heightened media and clan interest, what kind of reaction would people show if the hero students were cruelly attacked by the villains?
If the cradle of peace and hope is trampled under filthy feet?
Ah. Really.
I won’t be able to sleep well because of how excited I am already.
Truly.
---