Chapter 65
Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Cafeteria Standoff
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Oja-ha was an elite who had received genius education even before he was old enough to understand the world.
He couldn't help but be skeptical about school life.
To put it bluntly, there was nothing left for him to learn.
Every minute and second spent attending classes felt like a waste.
Especially the kids who enrolled in Class A—they were largely clueless about the real world.
Watching those fools who believed their one prematurely awakened First Skill made them the pinnacle of talent made him feel so frustrated and exhausted that it was like he was on the verge of getting cancer.
But he had never once resented his young master for it.
The reason Silla-kyeong enrolled in Lion's Castle was to clear a 'quest no one had solved in hundreds of years.'
Supporting and aiding such grand ambitions was the duty and blessing of a retainer.
So every day, he grumbled out loud but diligently helped Silla-kyeong.
Still, stress had built up knowingly and unknowingly.
Especially since Loren had arrived as an exchange student—his stress had been on the verge of exploding.
Not only had a foreign noble brazenly enrolled in Lion's Castle, Korea's national treasure, but he didn't show Silla-kyeong any particular respect either.
“Loren, did you know? From the first time I saw you, I really, really didn't like you.”
Two hours earlier.
After searching for a quest with Silla-kyeong all night, Oja-ha returned to the dorms and witnessed an intriguing scene.
Several male students were hiding behind bushes or fountains, glaring intently at the dorm entrance.
They were all from Class A.
The very ones who had nearly been killed by a named-tier Death Knight.
Guessing the target of the hatred in their eyes was easy.
Loren.
The lowly coward who had fled alone when Class A was in crisis.
Oja-ha didn't want to miss this entertaining spectacle.
He forfeited his short break and tailed the students, watching the whole situation unfold.
Five male students who kept mocking and picking fights with Loren all the way to the cafeteria, and Loren, who didn't hold back and turned them into bloody messes.
The situation had shaped up perfectly.
Oja-ha had secured his 'justification.'
“So I have no intention of letting it slide. Not only did you run away alone when your classmates were on the brink of death, but when they confronted you about it, you beat them mercilessly—that kind of inhuman scum obviously needs a good thrashing, right?”
“It's not a thrashing; it's biting.”
Loren snorted and equipped his body armor.
The five students who had picked a fight with him were the ones who had collapsed, legs giving out, when they faced the Death Knight.
They had survived in the end, but picking a fight with Loren out of resentment was just a tantrum to cover their own shame.
There was no way Oja-ha didn't know this.
The fact that he was using it as justification anyway meant he simply needed an excuse to start something.
Loren wasn't generous enough to overlook the obvious schemes of this arrogant pup.
“Come on. I'll rip out every tooth so that dog never bares them at people again.”
“Because strutting around so arrogantly in the heart of Korea pisses me off.”
Oja-ha, who had tried to provoke but ended up getting thoroughly owned instead, scowled and gripped his sword hilt.
“…….”
“…….”
The students swallowed dryly.
A clash between Silla-kyeong's closest retainer and Austria's National Treasure Candidate.
No matter the outcome, it would unleash massive repercussions.
Considering the Necromancer's notoriety, it might even spark some buzz in the communities.
“It's the highest-level duel for freshmen. I'm looking forward to it.”
“The result's obvious. His opponent's a National Treasure Candidate. Loren wins anyway.”
“You're right that he's favored. But he's not a National Treasure yet. Right now, I'd say Oja-ha has nothing to fear.”
A boy born to S-Rank Player parents and raised with Shilla Family support.
If National Treasure Candidates were chosen purely on 'martial prowess,' Oja-ha could have been one without issue.
As the students' anticipation built...
Clatter, clink, clatter.
The sounds of Jae-hyeok scooping food grew louder and faster.
“…….”
More students turned their eyes toward him.
Even as Oja-ha and Loren traded barbs, they kept glancing at him, so now the other students were starting to find it annoying too.
'Hey! Kang Jae-hyeok!'
Frustrated, Cheon Hye-ji yelled silently with her mouth flapping, but Jae-hyeok ignored it completely.
The guy who heard insults like a ghost was oblivious at times like this.
'No way that's true.'
Jae-hyeok's stats were all superior to his level.
His insight in particular was incredible enough to instantly detect Ha Kyung-su's stealth.
There's no way he couldn't hear her voice.
“Hey! What are you gonna do!”
Finally losing patience, Cheon Hye-ji raised her voice.
As the students' attention focused on her blushing face, Jae-hyeok finally turned to her.
“What do you mean? Eat, obviously. You guys stop wasting energy on nonsense and eat too. You don't plan on training on an empty stomach, do you?”
“That's not it, but...”
Cheon Hye-ji faltered.
The students' reactions to Jae-hyeok dismissing the Oja-ha-Loren showdown as nonsense were anything but ordinary.
Oja-ha in particular was glaring at Jae-hyeok like he wanted to devour him.
“Yeah. The weird ones are the kids causing a ruckus in the cafeteria.”
Amid the worried Class B students, Park Hae-rin suddenly stepped forward.
Grabbing her tray, she strode toward Jae-hyeok, and the other kids began following stealthily.
“Do Class B kids lack empathy?”
Oja-ha grumbled.
“Can't you see our classmates beaten and bloody? They're trying to avenge a friend from the same class—is that pointless?”
“Yeah. If they wanna eat, they should just eat quietly instead of insulting Oja-ha's actions.”
“It's beyond rude—it's psychopathic.”
Public opinion shifted sharply.
The students' hostility toward Loren had turned into favor for Oja-ha.
Many reflexively sided with him when he criticized Jae-hyeok and Class B.
He was an appealing boy to begin with.
Fresh looks, bubbly personality, rare talent, and status.
Plenty wanted to build connections with him while the opportunity lasted.
“The psycho trying to sword-dance in a cafeteria where people are eating is the one yapping about empathy? Pathetic.”
Of course, Jae-hyeok didn't give a damn about status.
“Uh...?”
Oja-ha was dumbfounded by the sudden outburst.
He blinked, looking like he doubted his ears.
The other students were even more shocked.
Even as fellow duke's sons, Kang Jae-hyeok wasn't Loren.
He was just the bloodline of a fallen house.
He had no right to spout such nonsense at Oja-ha, vassal of the Shilla Family.
“You... you don't know who I am?”
The mole under Oja-ha's left eye twitched like it was having a fit.
He completely dropped his bright expression, face scrunched in fury.
“How could you not know me? Does your house not even have internet?”
A top genius of the Shilla Family.
Plus his bright and radiant beauty.
From Oja-ha's perspective, who firmly believed he was Korea's second-most famous teenager after Silla-kyeong, Jae-hyeok's attitude was shocking.
'Is he some clueless idiot?'
Jae-hyeok looked at the genuinely flustered boy in disbelief and nodded toward Loren.
“Why are you sitting around bickering like idiots? When are you gonna deal with him?”
“For the same reason I'm letting you live. Even striking a Shilla Family vassal carries some burden.”
“You're something else too. No wonder fights break out everywhere you go with that personality.”
“Is 'pot calling the kettle black' the expression for this?”
Jae-hyeok was the one starting fights wherever he went.
He was the culprit who turned the cafeteria into a battlefield.
Not content with throwing trays at Do-jin, he'd even swung a sword at Silla-kyeong.
It was the shit-smeared dog scolding the fur-smeared one.
As Loren stuck out his tongue in amazement at Jae-hyeok's shamelessness...
“You two get along well?”
Regaining his composure, Oja-ha flashed a meaningful smile.
“Kang Jae-hyeok, I was wondering why you kept ruining the mood—you're sabotaging to help Loren, huh? That desperate to stop the fight?”
“When did I say that? Hey, Loren. Get to fighting already.”
“I won't move at your whim.”
“Haha, see? You're totally killing the vibe naturally. Shaking hands with House Baos? Nah, they'd never associate with fallen House Kang, so 'surrendered' fits better?”
The students buzzed loudly.
They nodded as if Oja-ha's words made sense or pointed at Jae-hyeok.
“Hey, isn't that going too far?”
Yi Jin-seong couldn't stand by and intervened.
“What the hell did Kang Jae-hyeok do to make you bitch like that? Bottom line, you should've fought Loren instead of wasting time on him. Bluntly, you were scared, right? Jae-hyeok gave you a perfect excuse when you didn't wanna fight, so you stalled.”
“And what are you? Jae-hyeok's lackey? How stupid do you have to be to serve a has-been?”
“Not a lackey—a classmate. Unlike you serving Silla-kyeong 24/7, not everyone's your slave.”
“He'll be the Shilla Family's master someday. Serving Korea's top dog is the greatest honor—calling that provocation?”
“Look at him yapping like a duke's house slave. They say his family served for generations—is that slave mentality carved into his bones?”
The reason Yi Jin-seong was on Jae-hyeok's shitlist was his rude mouth.
Against anyone but Jae-hyeok, he wouldn't lose a verbal spat anywhere.
“Sl-slave? Thousands serve the Shilla Family—lumping them all as slaves? You... you! Can you handle that?”
“Things get tough, so you drag others in? Admit you called my family slaves too? Not sorry to them?”
“Argh! Should I deal with you first?”
“…….”
What?
Why's the mood like this?
As Oja-ha and Loren's big match devolved into a spat with some nobody, the students snapped out of it.
“Well, messing with Austria's National Treasure Candidate is tough. Could turn into a diplomatic issue.”
“Loren threw the first punch—diplomatic my ass. Like he said, Oja-ha's just scared.”
“Gotta understand. If Shilla Family and House Baos clashed, it'd be a mess. Shilla's Korea's best, but not that big a deal globally.”
“…….”
How did things end up like this?
He'd gotten heated for a moment, but now the atmosphere had cooled sharply.
Some were even openly insulting his house.
Oja-ha's gentle eyes turned fiercely cold in an instant.
Enraged at his house's honor being sullied, he felt the need to turn it around.
“…Loren, you, Kang Jae-hyeok too. I'll make you pay for crimes you can't handle.”
Shing!
Oja-ha's twin swords shot out like lightning.
The left stabbed straight in while the right traced a crescent blade path, like two swordsmen swinging at once.
Yi Jin-seong's mind froze in shock at the swift, profound swordsmanship.
At his level, reacting to Oja-ha's attack was impossible.
'Next is you.'
Oja-ha was determined to humiliate the three who insulted him and the Shilla Family.
Slice Yi Jin-seong and Jae-hyeok's belts to expose their underwear, then immediately ambush Loren for the win.
But his swords didn't even reach Yi Jin-seong's belt.
“I'm deducting 10 demerit points from you all!”
Oja-ha's sword halted abruptly in midair.
The students thought it was because some teacher had rushed over yelling.
But Oja-ha's trembling gaze was fixed on Jae-hyeok.
“Good instincts?”
Jae-hyeok smirked, withdrawing the hand he'd placed on the sword hilt.
The trays that had floated briefly in the air stacked neatly back on his palm.
“But I have one question too. How exactly do you plan to make us pay?”
“…What?”
Jae-hyeok's low voice forcibly snapped the confused Oja-ha back to reality.
“A Shilla Family vassal insulted House Kang in front of everyone. You gonna offer your worthless life as payment?”
“What nonsense…”
Oja-ha couldn't retort.
A teacher who had arrived on scene grabbed his wrist and bellowed.
It was Teacher Park Geoseo.
The one who had previously given demerits to Jae-hyeok and Do-jin for fighting in the cafeteria.
'This guy's routine is always so predictable.'
Jae-hyeok had known it was about time for him to show up.
They crossed paths every morning.
Tap, tap.
Jae-hyeok patted Yi Jin-seong's back, who was still pale-faced.
“Thanks. Let's eat.”
“Huh? Uh...”
Yi Jin-seong had an astonishing experience.
The moment he felt Jae-hyeok's touch, an inexplicable calm washed over him, tension melting away.
'Perfect.'
As Jae-hyeok led the way to the table, his lips kept twitching upward.
Thanks to Oja-ha, he now had justification to demand an apology and compensation from the Shilla Family.
'An immature vassal insulted House Kang in front of this many people—the ducal house can't just let that slide for face.'
If he played this right, it could yield astronomical value.
Savoring his food while enjoying Loren's scowling reaction to the demerit, Jae-hyeok's mood soared.