Hero Academy (4-3)
[The subject is Cho Kang-hyun.]
‘….’
I didn’t need Armonia to tell me. I knew at a glance.
Around 180 cm tall, strikingly handsome, with an aura that completely subdued everyone around him.
Eyes that went beyond expressionless, carrying a profound emptiness.
Even a clueless kid from the neighborhood would shrink up and go speechless standing before him.
He exuded a dignified, calm presence, yet at the same time, he had an impression that intensely gripped the mind.
After staring down at me for a long while with those empty eyes, Cho Kang-hyun turned his gaze away and started walking again.
And the place he headed to was…
“Long time no see, you two.”
“Oppa… what brings you here…?”
“Were you coming back from somewhere?”
The entrance to the cafeteria, where Cho Seo-hyun and Seong Sua stood.
The entrance was crowded with people, but only the three of them were talking.
As if the others had been granted no permission to speak, they just stood there quietly listening.
“Yeah, I was coming back from some urgent business outside.”
“Ah, but what brings you here? No way you’re eating cafeteria food too?”
Cho Kang-hyun fell silent at Cho Seo-hyun’s words, tilting his head expressionlessly before asking her back instead.
“…Sister, you eat here?”
“Ah! Yeah, sometimes lately. Haha.”
“…I see.”
And then the pleasantries continued.
“Sua, you doing well?”
“Yes… Oppa. How about you?”
“Yeah.”
It was a conversation, sure.
But not the kind you’d have with a lover or family.
Just the bare minimum exchange—necessary words, necessary responses. Pure communication, nothing more.
‘It was weird he hadn’t shown up for so long, but this is just incomprehensible.’
[There are quite a few concerning aspects.]
My reason for targeting Seong Sua was solely because of her close connection to my ultimate goal, Cho Kang-hyun.
There were only a few things I could infer from watching him.
‘Did he maybe turn gay?’
[If so, the target would become a man…]
‘Don’t make me laugh!!! If the target’s a gay dude, I’m quitting!’
Seduce a guy?
I had no confidence in that, and zero desire to try.
And another speculation followed.
[It’s also possible his feelings toward the opposite sex have vanished entirely.]
‘Ugh….’
The second-worst scenario.
Still better than gay, so not the absolute worst.
‘Well… if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do. Might as well settle for seducing Cho Seo-hyun and Seong Sua while I’m at it.’
[Still, we should gather more detailed info for the time invested. Like whether he’s really into men…]
‘Stop….’
I cut her off in terror, dreading the words “seduce a man” might come out of Armonia’s mouth.
Even if it was an order from a superior, just hearing it would sour my mood…
That’s when I was pondering Cho Kang-hyun.
He murmured lowly to the two women, continuing the conversation.
“Since we ran into each other like this, wanna eat together for old times’ sake?”
“Huh!? You’re eating cafeteria food?”
“…You’ve changed a lot, Sis.”
Cho Kang-hyun dropped those meaningful words, glanced around briefly, then looked at the two women and said,
“Well… you can only feel this kind of atmosphere here.”
“…You always say such cryptic things.”
Cho Seo-hyun let out an awkward laugh, glanced at me, and beckoned me over.
‘…This feels ominous.’
Truth be told, I wanted to bolt right then, but judging it too late, I approached Cho Seo-hyun and greeted her.
As soon as I bowed to her and Seong Sua, Cho Seo-hyun immediately introduced me to Cho Kang-hyun.
“This is Instructor Seong Su-ho, the one I’m partnering with. And this is… you already know her, right? My little brother, Cho Kang-hyun.”
“…Hello.”
“….”
Cho Kang-hyun stared without so much as a twitch of his brow hairs at my greeting, then extended his hand.
I stared piercingly at his outstretched hand before cautiously offering mine.
[Preparing for any contingencies.]
‘….’
In any other situation, I’d laugh it off as overkill, but not now—I couldn’t brush it aside lightly.
Shaking hands with a guy who’d once tried to kill me wasn’t something you did with a light heart, evidence or not, guarantee or no.
I slowly extended my hand… and grasped his.
The moment our hands met.
The perfectly emotionless face and eyes suddenly twisted faintly, and I felt a surge of inner turmoil flow into me.
“…?”
“….”
Staring fixedly at my hand during the handshake, Cho Kang-hyun withdrew his and said to me,
“Since we’re here, shall we eat together?”
..
..
The meal with Cho Kang-hyun was pure agony, like sitting on a bed of nails.
The guy across from me had tried to kill me before.
No hard proof, no guarantee he’d targeted me specifically, but…
Plus, his sheer presence amplified it.
“….”
Not just me—Seong Sua, Cho Seo-hyun, and everyone else in the cafeteria whispered quietly instead of their usual chatter.
Cho Seo-hyun occasionally tried to liven things up by speaking first, but Cho Kang-hyun kept responses short and curt.
And Seong Sua quietly eating beside him looked even more pitiful.
They were right next to each other, yet it felt like they dined in separate dimensions.
Cho Kang-hyun focused solely on the food before him.
Impossible to see him as family or fiancée.
In the end, the meal was just that—a meal, nothing more.
“Had fun today.”
“…Yeah.”
“…See you later.”
After the two women saw him off, Cho Kang-hyun paused, turned to stare at me intently for a moment, then headed toward the Hoe-gwa building.
Only once he was fully gone did people start chattering noisily again, as if they could finally breathe.
He had an aura on a whole different level from anyone I’d met so far.
There was one person I’d encountered with a similar vibe, but…
‘That presence is almost on the level of the dean or the Maou?’
I’d thought the church guys I’d seen were just too incompetent, but Cho Kang-hyun was clearly different.
[Han Yeoreum and Louis are just starting to shine, that’s why.]
‘…So eventually, those two will end up like that too?’
Time favors the protagonists.
The longer I drag this out, the stronger Han Yeoreum and Louis will grow.
‘When I get to Strata later, I’ll have to smash Louis flat right from the start, like I did Han Yeoreum.’
Han Yeoreum might struggle to recover after the thrashing I gave her, but Louis still had plenty of chances to rise.
But for now, my focus was Cho Kang-hyun.
As I racked my brain over what to do with him, Cho Seo-hyun standing beside me nudged my arm and spoke up.
“He’s always been that brusque. Don’t take it to heart.”
“Huh? Oh….”
She must’ve thought I was upset from staring so intently.
“He’s got some serious charisma.”
“That’s Kang-hyun for you.”
Cho Seo-hyun nodded in agreement, then glanced sideways and spoke.
“But why’d you say ‘long time no see’ to him? Huh? Seong Sua, where’d she go?”
She and I looked around for Seong Sua but never spotted her.
“Man… she just vanishes without a word.”
“….”
Facing this firsthand, the situation started clicking into place.
The answer to why a woman with [Pure Love] and [Good Wife, Wise Mother] traits would stray toward me.
And the reason for her emerging [Love Deficiency] trait…
I watched Cho Seo-hyun search around for the vanished Seong Sua and thought,
‘Let’s check VR quick.’
..
..
After parting with Cho Seo-hyun, I returned to the dormitory and fired up VR right away.
I caught a glimpse of her displeasure during the goodbye, but it couldn’t be helped.
‘Seong Sua takes priority for now…’
I’d visited Cho Seo-hyun’s dorm once before, so I could again, but not Seong Sua’s.
There was only one way for us to meet alone.
‘Whew… please be inside…’
I prayed as I donned the VR headset and activated it.
Seong Sua lay on her bed in her darkened room, still in her suit, staring endlessly at the ceiling.
‘…How many months has it been? Three? Four?’
She’d finally met the fiancé she’d longed for.
Cho Kang-hyun, who showed up once every few months if that, had appeared before her without warning.
Back then, she’d have been thrilled just by him making time for her.
But during the entire meal, she hadn’t felt happy at all.
No, instead, a suffocating displeasure welled up.
At first, she thought it was just awkwardness from seeing him after so long, but she shook her head, denying it.
‘That’s not it…’
Cho Kang-hyun hadn’t always been like that from the start, but ever since graduating from the embassy, he’d shown that side consistently.
Gradually losing emotions.
In other words, it wasn’t like that initially.
That’s why Seong Sua had grown accustomed to his slow change and, unlike others, could reminisce and stay by his seemingly emotionless side.
But not today.
And she realized the reason quickly.
‘What must Instructor Seong Su-ho think of me?’
It was because of Seong Su-ho sitting across from her.
It had only been a month since they met, but she could feel her emotions toward him extending beyond mere camaraderie.
For two people who’d created a secret space and shared feelings beyond colleagues.
It hadn’t started that way.
But their perfectly isolated secret space had put Seong Sua at ease, and Seong Su-ho’s youthful appearance enchanted her, gradually drawing her mind into the virtual world.
Seong Sua’s eyes drifted to the VR headset by her bedside as she sank into thought.
‘…He must think I’m some weird woman.’
Unable to meet Seong Su-ho’s eyes, she’d fled to her room.
Yet even after fleeing, her hand slowly reached for the VR headset.
The VR world, which she’d been sucked into like an addiction, had become indispensable.
But her anxiety outweighed even the virtual reality’s addictiveness.
‘What do I even say when we meet? What if he doesn’t log in? How do I talk to him tomorrow if he doesn’t…’
In the end, Seong Sua’s worries dragged on until her eyelids finally drooped.
..
..
“Huh!? What time is it?”
Seong Sua jolted upright in the quiet early morning, checking the digital clock on the wall.
2:24
She grabbed her hair wildly at the sight, then sighed and flopped back onto the bed.
“Haa… Yeah, he probably didn’t log in anyway. Who’d wanna meet a woman like me?”
She gave up logging in and decided to sleep in her clothes.
But once awake, her mind sharpened, and her worries condensed, grating on her nerves.
‘…What if he is in there?’
She worried about facing him, but also about him waiting.
‘…I can just check the friends list.’
Still clothed, she caressed the VR headset like a baby, then donned it and logged in.
The moment she connected, the discomfort of her clothes melted away, replaced by the warm embrace of soft fabric.
Feeling that, she thought inwardly,
‘A reality more comfortable than reality…’
The biggest reason people dove into VR was the easy access to experiences craved in real life.
Even the powerless could wield power; even in a dim basement, you could bask in sunlight and live grandly.
Though reality made it hard for such people to even afford the device…
Seong Sua had power and lived happily under sunny skies.
But she lacked one thing.
Family.
The most basic, essential sense of belonging for humans.
Seong Sua was deficient in that belonging.
And the one who’d nearly filled it was Cho Kang-hyun.
‘Seeing Oppa today, I was happy at first. But…’
Yet in the end, Cho Kang-hyun hadn’t filled her void—instead, he’d plunged her into deeper loneliness.
And then, the real one who filled it appeared.
‘Why of all times when Instructor Seong Su-ho was there…’
Thinking that, she slowly opened her eyes.
She’d meant to just check the friends list, but without going through that, she connected straight to Animal Village.
‘He’s definitely not there. I’ll… just sleep here alone.’
Intending only a quick check, Seong Sua found herself drawn to the Animal Village environment, heading to the house.
Even if lonely, she wanted to lie in the bed where they’d slept together, reliving the memory.
That’s when she arrived home.
“Snoo… snoo…”
“Hm?”
From the house under the dark starry sky came the sound of someone sleeping soundly.
Seong Sua shook her head and approached the house.
‘No… he can’t be here.’
But the more her negative thoughts grew, the clearer the figure huddled asleep by the door became.
‘No way…’
As she reached the front, the child’s form before her washed away all doubt.
“Instructor… Seong Su-ho?”
“Nngh…? Ah… Instructor Seong Sua.”
At her voice, the small, huddled Seong Su-ho woke, rubbing his eyes and slowly sitting up.
Struggling upright, he looked up at her with sleepy eyes and said,
“I thought you were too tired to come today.”
“Ah…”
Seong Sua pulled the rubbing-eyed Seong Su-ho into a tight hug, her voice breaking.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Huh? Why, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“No… it’s nothing.”
Seong Sua held the bewildered Seong Su-ho, sobbing for a while before calming down and regaining her senses.
‘…I really can’t do without him. I don’t think I can endure without Instructor Seong Su-ho anymore.’
To her, blending eros and maternal instinct, Seong Su-ho had carved a place in her heart’s center.
Seeing his puzzled gaze, Seong Sua began apologizing.
“I’m sorry… I was too tired to log in.”
“Haha, it’s fine. It’s just a game—you might not make it sometimes. I logged in and fell asleep too.”
“Instructor Seong Su-ho. Then…”
After deep thought, Seong Sua cautiously took his hand, helping him up as she said,
“Since you’re here anyway… wanna sleep together?”
“….”
Cho Kang-hyun stared endlessly out the window with emotionless eyes and expression.
Entering his dormitory penthouse, he stood motionless in the living room, not even twitching a finger.
After gazing blankly, he raised his right hand, clenching and unclenching it repeatedly.
After several times, he gripped it hard, furrowing his brow with a displeased expression.
“…I was told there was an interloper, but I didn’t expect him to be glued to those two.”
Muttering those cryptic words, Cho Kang-hyun turned from the window.
But before fully stepping away, he glanced back at the black night sky beyond and murmured,
“If he gets more annoying, I’ll have to kill him.”
With those final words, he headed to the bedroom.