Academy Entrance Exam
The Dispel was gone.
I stared at the spot where it had happened and my brows furrowed on their own.
“Hwa-young…”
“Huh? Ah, aah! Now that I think about it, we met before, didn’t we? Eh! You’re that girl! You were there too! Hello, hello!”
The owner of the Dispel was Hwa-young, whose tongue could twist and tangle with mine every single time, making me want to grind my teeth in frustration.
“Haa… haa… haa…”
I saw Dang Hwa-ran breathing heavily beside me and realized she had probably dragged Hwa-young along like an idiot.
Haa… damn it, what a pain. I was going to turn her into a half-wit, but Hwa-ran ruined it all.
I had a countermeasure for starting a fight anyway.
The person at the academy needed something desperately, and I knew exactly where it was. If I traded for it, I could still get into the academy, though it would be a little annoying.
That was why I had wanted to turn this bastard into a half-wit, but Hwa-ran had completely ruined it.
Truly, Hwa-ran had never been helpful before or after the regression.
She’s really irritating.
Up until now, Yuna had been beside me and had suggested we come together, so I had held back. But Hwa-ran was still an annoying presence to me.
In the first place, the Dang family’s betrayal had started after the head of the family was replaced and Hwa-ran became the head.
Ever since Hwa-ran became head of the family and I had suffered, I couldn’t possibly view her favorably.
Hana—because I knew the reason and the way to fix it, I could stop it. Hwa-ran was like a bomb that didn’t even know its own reason: a nuclear-level danger molecule that scattered radioactive poison across the land of death.
“Tsk. Yuna, let’s go.”
“P-Please, Seong-ah. You helped me, so I should thank you…”
I barely suppressed the surge of irritation that rose in Yuna’s eyes as she looked at me and thanked Hwa-young instead.
“Thanks for helping. We’ll head back now.”
“P-Please, Seong-ah, wait a minute. Why did you suddenly…?”
Yuna looked at me, acting like a creature completely poisoned, and was flustered. Seong didn’t move, answering her words with quick, sharp replies even while his blood boiled. He pulled her into his arms and moved without delay.
“W-Wait a second, Seong-ah! Put me down! Th-This is embarrassing!”
Amid a crowd of people staring at them, Yuna suddenly blushed as Seong carried her bridal-style. She struggled, pleading to be put down, but Seong pressed her tighter against his chest without letting her move. He walked away from Hwa-young and Dang Hwa-ran while thinking,
I’ll have to go find Mir soon.
Last time I needed one identity. This time I needed a fake identity I could use.
Hwa-young, Hwa-ran… I have to check how pure you two are.
Because every piece of trash in this world has to be erased.
.
.
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“Hmm~~ that way of speaking kind of reminds me of that guy from the past…”
When I lost the masked man in the Seoraksan Dungeon and turned around, I caught one of the four-member teams falling into the trap. That grr… uh… ‘who was it again?’
Anyway, the effeminate blonde had introduced himself as ‘Han-wol’ while wearing the mask.
“Of course it’s probably a pseudonym… but, wait, if I look at the bangs of the guy in front of us right now, it kind of matches…”
I had helped that pretty girl before, and seeing her now… it seemed they were lovers… and he kind of looks like a handsome merchant, but with the bangs covering his eyes I couldn’t tell.
“Umm~~~ I don’t know! It’ll work out somehow! Hwa-ran, let’s go!”
“A-Ahh… th-thank you for helping… ah… no… thank you, Hwa-young.”
“Mmm! Since I helped, from now on you’re allowed to talk freely with me!”
Hwa-ran remembered the Heavenly Demon’s gaze that seemed to be targeting her and trembled all over.
Why… why did he look at me like that…? D-Did I do something w-wrong…?
Her bangs hid her eyes, but Hwa-ran had trained since childhood for the family’s martial arts, including assassination, so she saw it clearly.
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes that looked at her with irritation, with disgust.
I had only helped, so why was he looking at me like that? I couldn’t understand at all.
Of course, even if Hwa-young hadn’t tried to stop him, if Seong had started a fight or something, he would have been the one overpowered in the end. Hwa-ran would definitely have been right to help him.
But that Heavenly Demon didn’t know that he was a regressor who had betrayed humanity and caused a genocide in his past world. He didn’t know he had a countermeasure.
His choice hadn’t been wrong.
“Hwa-ran, let’s hurry! It’s about to start soon!”
“Y-Yes… ah… no… yes, let’s go.”
Waiting in line for the first test, the Mana Measurement, I kept seeing Seong standing down below on the left.
I-I should apologize for what I did…
I didn’t know what I had done wrong, but I had to apologize.
When I first saw Seong, my heart had been racing for no reason.
Even though I had never properly seen his face, just looking at him had made my heart pound like I was drinking Heavenly Blood Powder for the first time, which causes heart-racing symptoms.
I-I don’t know, but is… is this… love…?
The family didn’t need love and had taught me to marry someone chosen by the family and produce a successor. But reading romance novels secretly when the maids weren’t looking, Hwa-ran was the first to learn about love. To her, Seong looked exactly like the male lead in a novel.
That was why she had gathered her courage to apologize, but seeing him continue to pretend to forget everything in front of her, her courage snapped.
“A…”
“Whoa, whoa, Hwa-ran, Hwa-ran! Look at them! They’re so bold! How can they kiss in a place like this?”
“E-Eh… yeah…”
What Hwa-ran saw was Seong’s arms wrapped around Yuna’s waist as he kissed her on the lips that looked like wild plum fruit. And… the look in Seong’s eyes as he looked at Yuna, who was smiling happily unlike when she had looked at him with disgust.
.
.
.
Puha.
Coo.
After kissing Yuna, she buried her blushing face in his chest to hide it.
““A……””
Some pervert who was staring with empty eyes at Yuna’s blushing face sighed in regret.
Srooruk
“Eyes off.”
With a very faint killing intent, the perverts around them flinched and looked away.
“Seong-ah, don’t be like this… I’m yours, Heavenly Demon.”
His heart calmed hearing Yuna’s sweet words.
Truly, Yuna was so lovely it was maddening.
The precious person who had loved and looked at me only me before and after the regression.
Of course, if I heard about all the evil things I had done until now, she might hate me, but that was something I had to bear. Even if Yuna was scared of me, I would always be the shield that protected her.
***
The academy’s first entrance exam was incredibly simple.
All you had to do was place your hand on the mana crystal that measured mana and reach the standard value.
The problem was that the standard was high, so even people with a lot of mana often failed by more than half in the first test.
Anyway, I passed easily.
“MN:513. Cheon Seong passes.”
The Mana Node for mana was slightly above the 500 threshold for the first test, so I passed.
I hadn’t poured all my mana into it.
Because in this place I had to hide my strength.
The attention I received at the academy meant attention from outside.
Since I had to operate secretly outside, fame outside was just an obstacle, so I had adjusted my mana to keep the number low.
“MN:783. Lee Yuna passes.”
“Yes. Thank you. Seong-ah!! I passed!”
“Congratulations, Yuna. 783 is amazing?”
Since Yuna had finished, we went together for the second test.
Nothing would happen to attract attention until the second test.
But the third test is going to be tense…
It wasn’t because of the difficulty of the test. Honestly, I was confident I could pass every test easily.
But that was why I was tense about the third test: because I needed to be noticed by the professors to pass.
I’d rather be noticed among the students, but if a professor notices you, you’ll definitely be focused on no matter how late you are.
“Seong-ah, I’m going to take the recovery-type test! I’ll definitely pass, so you have to pass too! Okay? Fighting!”
Concerned about the third test, I worried even more when Yuna smiled and said fighting.
If Yuna acts like that, she won’t be able to control her strength.
Even though she was young, it was natural for a man to want to try his best and win when his beloved cheers him on.
“Yeah. Yuna, you cheer too.”
“Umm… oh right, Seong-ah!”
Yuna, having suddenly remembered something, rushed over.
Wait, did Yuna have something she entrusted to me?
Thinking Yuna had something entrusted, she came close and raised her foot.
Pat
“Every time you pass, I’ll give it to your lips, not your cheeks.”
Yuna kissed my cheek with her soft lips and whispered.
“So you have to do your best!!”
Seeing Yuna run off blushing to take the recovery-type second test, I rubbed the cheek she had kissed and muttered.
“Truly… if I do that, I won’t be able to control my strength at all.”
When my beloved tells me to do my best… even if I get noticed, I’ll try to wake up faster this time.
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“Hey… who is that? What’s he doing?”
Combat professor Aren was overseeing the second test, the Monster Extermination.
Among them, he was watching the monitor showing the three who were showing an overwhelming difference from the others and didn’t hide his surprise.
“His swordsmanship is amazing. This is so tempting. Should I bring him and just use him as an assistant?”
“No no. That won’t do. There are so many people who would want him, even if it’s not me.”
“That lightning of his looks really thrilling. It’s a shame his swordsmanship talent looks average. With that much lightning he should be able to learn Wall of Lightning Island easily.”
“Hey, I told you to stop watching anime. And I said it’s not her, it’s him.”
Aren was staring at the black-haired young man on the screen, who was slicing through monsters normally, while chatting with Namgung Jin who was with him.
“Um? I don’t know why Professor Aren is paying attention…”
“Open your eyes and look properly. You’re Namgung, but you’re not even thinking anything while watching that sword path? Watch closely, watch closely.”
When Namgung Jin was told to watch the sword path of an ordinary man closely, he stared fixedly and soon understood what Aren meant.
“His sword path is straight. That’s very good. It looks like he’s copying the movements straight from a textbook.”
Lower cut, upper cut, vertical cut, horizontal cut—all basic techniques beginners learn, so straightness matched the sword perfectly.
But Namgung Jin wasn’t surprised by the straightness.
The monsters in the current test were all D-rank Hounds that were weakened, but Hounds were used to pack hunting and had some intelligence, so they were difficult opponents for those who had just come to take the entrance exam.
The black-haired youth was slaughtering Hounds using only basic skills like horizontal and vertical cuts to dodge their attacks.
“Professor Aren, can I take that student?”
“Shut up. I’m taking him.”
That movement, situational judgment, and the sense to predict monster movements—all talents anyone would want were gathered into one person.
“Hey, can I know the info on that student Seong in advance?”
“Professor Aren, this time it’s really no. Last time I helped you and got chewed out by the chairman.”
“I’ll give you the limited-edition figure I got this time.”
“Of course I will. Right away!”
Before Aren could say anything more, Namgung Jin had already left, and Aren checked the second test pass record of the black-haired student, Seong.
2:49
It was the time it took to capture ten Hounds alone without any wounds.