The Hidden Drawer
The house was surprisingly intact, aside from a few broken windows. Unaware that the door was unlocked, we smashed it open anyway, revealing a clean interior. Well, clean in a relative sense compared to the other buildings. It had been months since any human hands had touched it, so it was inevitably buried under a thick layer of dust. We stepped through the grime and began searching the house.
There might have been expensive items somewhere, but logically speaking, no one would leave valuables in a house on the Shareltea campus. What was the point of storing something in a place with no internet access, only for it to get stolen? As if to prove the point, the house contained nothing but books. Books, more books, and an overwhelming excess of books.
Staring at the endless bookshelves, I had a gut feeling this job was going to be a pain. And by “gut feeling,” I didn’t just mean there were too many books to search through. I meant that with this many books, there were bound to be just as many papers. A man this obsessed with ink wouldn’t have written only one or two theses. He had definitely gone through endless revisions—files named things like Final.txt, RealFinal.txt, SuperRealFinal.txt, and SeriouslyThisIsTheFinalOne.txt.
“This must be the study,” I muttered, heading toward one of the rooms overflowing with books. I swept my hand across the desk and looked around. Stacks of document boxes were piled neatly on the floor, while papers were jammed haphazardly into the walls. I randomly pulled one out to check.
[Title: A Study on the Correlation Between Mana Capacity and Likelihood of Remaining Single]
It was nothing special. Not particularly interesting either, so I put it back. At least one thing was clear now—there were definitely papers somewhere in this house.
I began examining every corner of the room. But with so many books and objects everywhere, searching blindly would be a massive waste of time. If I truly wanted to find the thesis, I needed to start with the spot that offered the most possibilities.
Someone might argue that in a normal-looking study like this, what could possibly count as the “most likely spot”? But human habits remain remarkably consistent no matter the world or era.
While the others searched through the bookshelves, I focused on a desk that looked like it had been used in collaboration with another hunter. Interestingly enough, like most desks of this kind, it had a locked drawer.
[Secure Drawer]
[¡Do Not Open Without Authorization!]
The sign practically screamed for someone to rip it open. I was dying to know whether it contained precious love letters or the real thesis.
“Ugh… The lock is too strong. It won’t budge…”
“Looks like a magic lock.”
The lock was far stronger than a muscular hunter could handle with brute force alone. Normal strength would never break through it. But there’s always a way.
Just as the hunter said it seemed impossible and suggested looking for the key—
“Step aside for a moment.”
“Huh…? What are you going to—wait, w-wait, what?!?!”
“Shatter!”
With a loud crack, I used a basic destruction technique combined with magic to demolish the desk. It tore apart like shredded paper, sending wooden splinters flying everywhere. Finally, the locked drawer was exposed.
“Whoa…”
“If you don’t have teeth, you use your gums.”
That was the limit of an ordinary wooden desk. The lock was practically useless. A thief who believed in honestly picking locks after seeing the wood might hesitate, but for someone openly here to loot, it was nothing more than an annoying obstacle. At that moment, I was truly grateful that magic desks and magic tools were so expensive.
I pulled the drawer out from the wreckage of the desk.
“Hmm, there are quite a lot of letters.”
The heart-shaped stamps on the stationery made it pretty obvious what they were. But my goal right now wasn’t to expose the lies of disgusting couples. I immediately flipped the drawer over. Carefully, I pulled out a thesis hidden among the letters.
“It’s yellow.”
Not it. I immediately started checking the other papers.
“Not this one… not this either…”
“Why would someone stuff trash in here?”
“Who even wrote these papers? No matter how much I look, I can’t find it.”
Same result. It seemed the thesis wasn’t in this drawer after all. I sighed and checked the other drawers that had spilled out when the desk broke. Unfortunately, none of them contained what I wanted. I was starting to think this was a complete bust.
Just as I was about to admit that it wasn’t here—
“……Ah.”
I looked back at the drawer that had been locked and then broken off. Then I compared its thickness to the other drawers and the bottom panel.
“They’re different?”
The bottom thickness varied. Specifically, the very first drawer I had pulled out was the thickest. That could only mean one thing.
A secret compartment.
Using a piece of broken wood, I pried off the bottom of the drawer. A blue document appeared.
[Title: A Study on Why Elf Women Prefer Younger Men]
“Found it.”
It was unmistakably a thesis. The thickness matched my expectations, and just reading the title made my head hurt. Since there were no other blue-covered papers, the chances of this not being the one I was looking for seemed slim. Of course, you could never be completely sure how things would turn out in this world… so I decided to check the contents anyway.
It wasn’t because I was curious about the thesis content. Absolutely not. Why would I worry about something like that when there wasn’t a single older woman around me trying to pursue me? Yep. Totally.
"...According to recent survey results, approximately 81.3% of a significant portion of elf women have married younger men. This can be considered a unique characteristic of elves not found in other human-type races."
"...This tendency becomes even more pronounced with members of the opposite sex they have known since adolescence. 37.9% of elf couples were found to have been close since the male was under 19 years old."
"...Women who are not chosen in this process often cause social disturbances. In particular, crimes resulting from rejected confessions and breakups are escalating into broader social conflicts."
"...Survey results show that 10.5% of elf women's partners began their relationships with 'unpleasant experiences,' and 4.2% described them as 'experiences no different from sexual crimes.' The reason elf women exhibit such obsessive tendencies, unlike elf men, is—"
“Hmm……”
This was kindling. It seemed the person who asked me to bring the thesis wanted it burned. It made perfect sense—denying common sense, denying modern ethics, and approaching the topic with racial discrimination. I clicked my tongue and informed the others of the discovery.
[Request Completed!]
[Academy Points '60p' have been added.]
“Well, not bad.”
The points had accumulated, there was still plenty of time left, and I felt good. Considering the time invested, it was a decent score. The Kankon Guild members treated us with utmost respect until the very end. They were so polite that it almost felt uncomfortable.
“Students, we truly thank you! We will never forget how you saved us today, not until the day we die!”
“No, you really don’t have to—”
“No, we must! I heard that Koreans value the chivalry of samurai. Rather than being remembered as a beast who only caused trouble while lost in anguish, I will become a warrior of the rivers and lakes who constantly reflects on this grace!”
“?”
What a chaotic universe. Just what kind of country was America…? It was probably just something nice to say, but the mixture of various worldviews felt strangely profound. Still, I couldn’t criticize people who were genuinely grateful, so I just let it slide.
They kept bowing their heads, endlessly repeating their thanks, and eventually left. Once their over-the-top reactions faded from my ears, the world returned to its normal state.
Houses with identical exteriors. A not-bad tropical night. Right now, a theory-heavy basic combat lecture. Cheon Mari, who seemed like she might lose her original spirit a bit. Shannon, who kept gasping in surprise even though it was just theory. Me, taking sloppy notes because I already knew the content thanks to the Gray-Zone game. The end of a promising lecture.
Now, casual chatter among the three of us turning into daily life. Another day passing by. Su-a Noona’s Magical Ice lecture. Taking detailed notes even though it was from an acquaintance. Helping clean the classroom like a graduate student after the lecture.
“You cute thing. Sian, any chance you’d like to visit Professor Noona’s house this weekend?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I have some things to do this weekend…”
Comforting a visibly disappointed Su-a Noona. Lending her my lap when she tried to lie down. Bringing her a drink when she kept licking her lips. Anyway, once that kind of day ended, a day full of cooking arrived.
My body felt incredibly light, and my mind was exceptionally refreshed. It wasn’t just because it was Thursday and the last lecture of the week. No, it was because today was the day I could finally meet the protagonist in the classroom.
“She wouldn’t have changed the lecture schedule, right?”
I had been looking forward to this day since last week. At the same time, I had been worrying that something might go wrong. The moment to resolve both feelings was finally approaching.
Thinking about what she might look like, I headed toward the classroom. And there, I saw far more people than last week. The students who hadn’t shown up during the first week’s orientation had finally appeared.
I kept scanning them, wondering which one was the protagonist. The thoughts of “maybe” and “what if” kept swirling endlessly. These thoughts lasted so long that time flew by in the blink of an eye.
After who knows how long I had been sitting there—
“Ah… there are no seats left……”
Someone was heading toward the seat across from me.