Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Is This a Dream?
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‘Is this a dream?’
The students couldn’t believe the spectacle unfolding in the middle of the cafeteria.
The situation was just that unrealistic.
Two boys, covered head to toe in food, were rampaging around while hurling tableware at each other.
All sorts of delicacies flew in every direction.
If the teacher who had just arrived at the cafeteria hadn’t hurriedly intervened, plenty of students would have been stuck eating cup ramen for lunch that day.
“I’m docking ten demerit points from both of you!”
“Huh?”
“…….”
Jae-hyeok and Do-jin slumped in defeat side by side.
***
“…….”
Jae-hyeok’s soul had half left his body.
He kept stuffing more bread into his mouth without chewing or swallowing what was already there.
‘Twenty demerit points just half a day after starting school…….’
Could this be……
‘A bit… no, pretty damn dangerous?’
For me.
Kang Jae-hyeok, the sole(?) bloodline and rightful heir of the Yaksha, to be in crisis over mere demerit points?
‘Kim Jin-myeong, Park Geoseo…….’
Crunch!
Grinding his teeth, Kang Jae-hyeok pulverized the bread crammed in his mouth as he recalled the faces of the teachers who had given him the points.
‘They don’t look weak or anything…….’
Even so, they were about on par with the nighttime intruders who had attacked the estate a few days ago.
If he struck first with a surprise attack, he was confident of certain victory.
‘If I beat them until they beg for mercy, maybe they’ll erase the demerit record?’
It was hardly likely that respect for his teachers had blossomed on his very first day of school.
From Jae-hyeok’s perspective, who had zero experience attending school, teachers and students were pretty much the same.
‘First, I need to map their routes and kidnap them somewhere deserted…….’
“There’s a way to erase the demerits.”
Jae-hyeok snapped out of his serious plotting.
The kid sitting across from him, grimly munching away on death itself, spoke up with a straight face.
“Kill the teacher who gave them and erase the records.”
“…….”
“I’ll do it myself. But my weapon’s a bit flashy, so you keep watch nearby.”
Baek Do-jin’s voice still trembled with rage. It was like staring at a snarling beast. A chihuahua wearing a lion-mane hat?
“What’d you just think? Want me to kill you first?”
Baek Do-jin’s senses were sharp too.
He caught Jae-hyeok’s half-lidded glare and radiated killing intent.
But Jae-hyeok wasn’t one to shrink back.
He shrugged nonchalantly and scoffed.
“You sure talk big about killing people. Rookie.”
“…It’s not talk. I fully understand the weight of death.”
Jae-hyeok had expected another explosion of temper.
But surprisingly, Baek Do-jin responded calmly. Fleeting anger, anxiety, and worry registered clearly in Jae-hyeok’s senses.
Seemed like there was more to the story.
Jae-hyeok tossed a piece of bread at him.
“Pfft, you little punk. If you get that, then why talk about killing over some stupid demerits?”
“What else am I supposed to do? I’ve already racked up 45 points. At this rate, expulsion’s unavoidable.”
“Whoa, you’re really hopeless, huh? Wasn’t orientation just ten days ago? You piled up 45 points in ten days?”
“How the hell do you even think like that……? What idiot gets 45 demerits ten days into school? I’m a second-year.”
“Second-year? You?”
“Kyaa!”
Thwack thwack!
Fortunately(?), both Jae-hyeok and Do-jin were backed into a corner.
This time, they exchanged bread chunks instead of fists and trays.
It was such a minor scuffle that no teacher came running, allowing Jae-hyeok—who fought to the end and claimed victory—to flash a triumphant grin.
“I took eight more chunks than you, so I win.”
“D-Damn it……. Even this…….”
The two boys instinctively sensed they had something in common.
Their sharp tones gradually softened.
“As the victor, here’s my advice: don’t kill people lightly. Unless it’s clear self-defense, you’ll end up in prison.”
“But bad guys deserve to die.”
“True, true. Still, giving us demerits doesn’t automatically make them bad guys, right? We did break the rules.”
“But docking ten points at once? That’s a first. It’s unreasonable. Malicious, even.”
“…Isn’t the minimum usually ten points?”
“Normally it’s one to three.”
“Should we kill them?”
“……?”
Jae-hyeok’s body trembled.
He could grudgingly accept the ten points from the cafeteria fight. Unlike the kid in front of him, he was a 16-year-old adult.
Hundreds of students had nearly gone hungry because of their brawl, hadn’t they?
But the points from Kim Jin-myeong felt different.
Ten points just for giving a warning to guys who crossed the line first?
“For now… let’s just rough up Park Geoseo a bit. Convince him peacefully to erase the record.”
“What if persuasion fails?”
“Then, well…….”
“Got it. Sounds solid.”
“N-No! What’s solid about it?!”
A interruption came while they were seriously scheming.
It was the girl sitting at their table with Jae-hyeok and Do-jin.
She’d arrived at the cafeteria late and hadn’t gauged the mood.
Talk about bad luck.
She’d only sat at the table with the last open seat, ending up with the two boys.
Her small face had tilted in confusion hundreds of times while overhearing their talk. She’d barely eaten—her spoon kept wandering, never reaching her mouth.
“Y-You can’t just talk about killing teachers or roughing them up! Is that how students should act?!”
“Is she… a bit slow……?”
Baek Do-jin eyed the sauce-smeared girl pityingly.
Surprisingly, Jae-hyeok defended her.
“Don’t talk like that to someone who’s not well.”
“Fair point… my bad. So what about her?”
“The nighttime thug I met a few days ago said witnesses should never be left alive.”
“Eek!”
New student Cha Da-hee wasn’t the type to chase wealth or fame. She’d awakened purely to protect the citizens.
A failed Gate quest clear.
She’d witnessed monsters bursting out, destroying the city and massacring people right before her eyes. To her, Players were heroes.
She’d enrolled in Lion’s Castle to become someone’s hero……
“P-Please don’t kill me!!”
…But for now, she surrendered to the villains out of sheer survival instinct, pleading with teary eyes.
“What… we were just kidding?”
“Y-Yeah, it was a joke.”
As students’ gazes poured in, the flustered Jae-hyeok and Do-jin averted their eyes and whistled innocently.
Anyone could tell it was an act to defuse the situation.
Cha Da-hee wiped her tears with a handkerchief, noticed the sauce smudge, blushed furiously, and exploded.
“And you call yourselves Lion’s Castle students? Aren’t you ashamed before Duke Kang Dae-guk, who devoted himself to protecting this place?! Players exist to protect people—that’s what you should’ve learned from him! Instead of plotting harm, study history or…… Mmph!”
The girl, squealing away, got her mouth covered by Do-jin’s hand.
“Shut up! You’re ruining our plan……!”
“Let her go. You’ll hurt her.”
“……?”
Do-jin blinked in shock.
Jae-hyeok’s voice was too gentle.
He’d thought he’d pegged Jae-hyeok’s personality after just twenty minutes, but this was unexpected.
“What’d you eat to turn soft all of a sudden?”
“Thanks to who?”
Do-jin grumbled but released his hand.
Jae-hyeok’s attitude calmed things a bit, but Cha Da-hee was persistent.
“D-Don’t harm people recklessly…….”
“Don’t worry.”
“Huh? You won’t do bad things…?”
“Yeah, we won’t. We just want to erase the demerits.”
…Seemed exactly the same?
Regardless of his gentler expression and tone, Jae-hyeok still looked like he was scheming mischief.
Amazed inwardly by his shamelessness, Da-hee explained with mixed feelings.
“D-Demerits can be erased with achievement points from exams or training.”
“Oh, really? No need to worry then?”
Jae-hyeok showed interest, but Do-jin’s face soured.
“Tch……. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have 45 points piled up.”
“That’s surprising. With your skills, you’d ace practicals.”
“Hmph, well, I’m strong, but not all-rounded. There’s always someone better in every field.”
“Either laugh or get mad. Pick one.”
“Anyway! Unlike you, the top freshman seat-holder, I’m in a crisis!”
“Don’t sweat it. I’ll put out that fire for you.”
Jae-hyeok grinned.
“I’ll help you handle your body better. In return, join the team I’m forming.”
Per the manual, Lion’s Castle ran constant team classes and tournaments. Even awarding elixirs for tournament wins.
For Jae-hyeok, recruiting useful people was top priority.
“You, teaching me?”
A first-year teaching a second-year?
Do-jin was elite among second-years, so he should’ve been offended.
But he’d just experienced Jae-hyeok’s skills firsthand. No reason to refuse.
“Fine, if you want it that bad, I’ll accept. Heh. Ahem.”
Jae-hyeok shot a half-lidded glare at Do-jin struggling to suppress his grin.
“But thinking about it, it pisses me off. Why assume I’m vice-top? Not even first.”
“Because this year, the heir of House Silla enrolled.”
“House Silla……? Makes sense……. Against a silver-haired monster, yeah, they’d outclass me.”
Jae-hyeok conceded readily.
House Silla had produced National Treasures for generations—a pinnacle among noble houses.
Even House Kang paled in comparison.
And for Jae-hyeok, not even awakened yet, he had no grounds to feel rivalry toward House Silla’s heir.
‘Once I awaken and level up, that could change.’
Even his father had outshone House Silla’s current head.
“But why’d House Silla’s heir come here? They’d grow faster raiding Gates with retainers.”
Of course, Lion’s Castle had advantages.
Its vast, varied ecosystems let you experience and study most Gate environments.
But House Silla’s heir could gain plenty of safe real-combat experience elsewhere.
“Probably to build connections and leadership skills?”
“Do that here……? Hmm…….”
Plausible guess, but Jae-hyeok suspected ulterior motives.
“Um…….”
As the mood turned serious, Cha Da-hee raised her hand.
“I’m vice-top.”
“……?”
“F-For freshmen…….”
“……?”
This?
Reading the boys’ looks, Da-hee puffed out her cheeks furiously.