Finally, the Meeting
The academy was a terrifying place. Ines was certain of it. Though the thought had come out of nowhere, the incident she'd experienced not long ago was more than enough to plant this negative feeling in her mind. Namely, the time she'd been caught stalking Kang Sian, picked a fight with him while spouting nonsense, and then fled. From start to finish, she had been the one causing trouble, so it was questionable what right she had to feel negative about anything. But to her, a Southerner, behaving like a loser was one of the most contemptible acts imaginable. Especially since she had shown that side of herself to someone of another race and ethnicity—she had no excuse, even if she died trying to make one. By the good customs of the East, she ought to have recited a haiku and committed seppuku, but she lacked even that much courage.
Tap, tap, tap-tap-tap.
"Honestly…… those other-race bastards…… the way they strut around…… doesn't it piss you off……."
In the end, all she could do was hole up in her room and hammer away at her laptop keyboard. She was skipping lectures to do it, but at least it was entertaining in its own way. In any country, communities where you could chat with internet friends were enjoyable—that much was obvious. Especially when the people gathered there were similar to yourself. It wasn't for nothing that SNS platforms tailored to personal tastes remained popular. Of course, the trends sometimes took on rather distorted forms, but the human desire for social connection with others was equal regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender.
"Whew…… I've already left over a hundred comments today."
That was why Ines gazed with satisfaction at the results of the sociability she had created today. The beautiful sentences written in English or Spanish seemed as though they might bring tears to one's eyes.
Of course, those were her parents' tears. If they found out their child was doing this kind of thing at the academy, who knew what would happen. It seemed almost certain that a shotgun-accompanied Southern-style compliment would follow. There was no more effective method for those who walked their own path stubbornly.
Ines smiled brazenly, as if unaware of her own situation and past actions. Her appearance was flawless—almost too perfect to belong anywhere. Yet what she was doing was nothing more than a basement warrior. If Kang Sian had known, he would surely have cursed her as being just as insane as Cheon Mari. And she would have gossiped about it in the comments again. In truth, it wasn't much different from now. Therefore, Ines became even more absorbed in her laptop and the internet world. Though it didn't last very long.
"Huh? What? Why's it like this?"
The slowed-down website spat out nothing but a cold error on a white background. It looked like a simple error, but Ines knew all too well what it really was.
"Ah, shit…… DDoS again? Those furry freaks never give us a break."
None other than the other-race lovers and furballs, whom she wanted to tear apart and kill, had interrupted her rest time. This meant the respect society once held for a woman who valued pride, supported the yard-pound system, discriminated by race and ethnicity, and believed in conspiracy theories had vanished. The fact that the very furballs who made her miserable were respected as a mere preference was the ultimate despair. If Dan'gun Wanggeom, the ancient Korean animal lover, had seen this reality, he would have called it a truly righteous world.
"What's so great about beasts that look like people, or people with cat ears and tails stuck on their heads and asses……"
An era where quasi-humans were treated better than humans. A white woman kept pressing the refresh button over and over.
Temporarily blocked due to excessive refreshing.
When even that didn't work, she let out a deep sigh. Her Dixie sensibilities, similar to gender sensitivity, had raised the white flag. Time evaporated just like that.
Some time later, Ines headed to the lecture hall to attend the class she had skipped. Since she hadn't bothered attending the first lecture or orientation, everything felt somewhat unfamiliar. The lack of information shone even brighter in a lecture hall packed with people.
"Ah…… there's no seat……"
With no one she knew, she wandered around awkwardly looking for an empty spot. Fortunately—whether by someone's consideration or coincidence—there was one seat left. If she had looked around a bit more, she might have found several more, but the human thought process upon discovering an empty spot was simply too straightforward. Without a shred of doubt or fear, she headed straight for it. Though it meant sitting with her back to the blackboard, the location was decent enough that it shouldn't interfere with listening to the lecture. There weren't many other races around either, so it felt relatively comfortable—
"……Huh?"
"……Ah."
Of all places, there was another race sitting right across from her. And it was a familiar face.
"Y-you……!"
"That bedwetter from back then?"
The elf who had brought her humiliation. The elf with a personality worse than Satan's. The elf who was nothing but a gay, a host, a gigolo. The elf who denied justice and purity. The elf whose presence here made no sense whatsoever. That damn silver-haired elf. Ines stared at Kang Sian in shock. Or rather, it was more of a rejection response.
"W-what the hell is this bastard?! A bedwetter?!"
Since many people were talking, her voice carried at a moderate volume. Of course, being heard moderately was different from the meaning being normal.
"Sian, do you know that person?"
"Well, not to the point of knowing them. Just someone I happened to run into last time."
"Happened to run into." A phrase so trivial it had no equal.
"Though it wasn't exactly a pleasant encounter."
Shannon also looked at Ines. Under the two men's piercing gazes, she bit her lip. She wanted to raise her voice, argue back, and crush them. But she couldn't muster the courage. Aside from the words that reflexively spilled out, she couldn't stand up to them. It was partly because it was two against one, partly because of her humiliating defeat in the past, and partly because of how ugly she had looked recently. In truth, when she thought about it, she was losing in every single aspect. In the end, she felt humiliated that two members of another race were looking at her with those eyes. But what good would feeling humiliated do? So what could she possibly do?
Kang Sian seemed to have read this mental flow and smirked. He was laughing at her suffering because of her discriminatory beliefs. Then he stood up from his seat and extended his hand toward her. It was clearly an offer to shake hands.
"Well, what happened back then is back then…… I'm Kang Sian."
He acted as if he were granting her a favor. As if confirming that he held the upper hand!
"Y-yeah……"
If she refused here saying she felt bad, that would truly make her the loser. Instead, Ines gripped his hand with all her strength and shook it. 'Still…… if I put this much force into it…… Eek, euaaak?!'
It was a bad move. Even if her strength was inferior to Cheon Mari's, she was still a hunter candidate who had grown under corporate care. Being in the upper ranks among her peers—perhaps even the top—was an unchanging fact. She was incomparable to Ines, who until recently had been hovering between the lower and middle ranks. In the end, the provocative handshake left only red marks on each other's palms. Among them, Ines, whose mark was more clearly visible, endured the pain. She had wanted to gain something, but she took nothing away. Kang Sian casually brushed it off, saying his hand was only a little red.
"By the way, could you tell me your name?"
She forcibly suppressed her senses. She glared at Kang Sian across from her as if she hated him.
"I-Ines……"
"Sorry? What was that?"
As if he hadn't heard properly. As if it hadn't reached him. It was a scene reminiscent of the past. She wanted to run away immediately, but the urgent glances didn't find an empty seat. Kang Sian repeated his question once more. The question felt as though it were about to strike her, and she had to make a decision. Inevitably, in the end.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
"……Ines Adriana Corceiro da Silveira. Ines is my first name, Corceiro is my last name."
She spoke flatly. Her pride, broken without her realizing it, was mixed throughout her words. How much time had passed after that? When she opened her eyes late, trying to grasp reality, she saw an unexpected sight.
"The protagonist?"
She couldn't understand the Korean. She could only recognize Kang Sian staring at her as if he had bitten into something foul.
"Why?"
Finally, the meeting between the transmigrator and the protagonist had risen to the surface. Yet the beautiful and static encounter the transmigrator had expected was nowhere to be found.