216. Cat Fight (2)
216. Cat Fight (2)
The Utopia Party members, who had been verbally sparring and lunging at each other for quite a while, scattered in an instant as if on cue.
And Ichika remained alone in her spot, staring blankly into empty space.
Right now, a single question filled her mind.
'......Just what exactly is she thinking?'
Shin Se-hee had formally declared war, saying she would confess her feelings the moment Jin Yu-ha returned.
A sudden outburst, too sudden by any measure.
They hadn't been friends for all that long,
but Ichika could roughly guess what kind of person Shin Se-hee was.
'I doubt she just blurted that out without thinking.'
Shin Se-hee was fundamentally calculating and cunning.
She knew how to draw up a big picture.
And she would use any means necessary to achieve her ends.
Why else would she have sought to befriend Shin Se-hee the moment she saw her?
Because she was exactly the kind of person who would be the biggest pain to have as an enemy.
But she still didn't know the other party members besides Shin Se-hee that well, so the more she thought about it, the more tangled her head became.
'Hmm, I don't know.'
As expected, in times like this, it was better to see for herself.
"Kids."
Wriggle.
Sssssss─
Five shadows rose from Ichika's feet when she called.
"From now on, go to the party members, observe what they're doing, and report it back to me."
And the five shadows dispersed, heading toward Lee Yu-ri, Kang Do-hee, Shin Se-hee, Im Ga-eul, and Sofia respectively.
* * *
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! KABOOM—!!!!
Inside one of the private training rooms, massive booms echoed in succession.
Kang Do-hee was inside, swinging her fists wildly and smashing holographic monsters to bits.
"Bull!"
Boom!
"Shit!!"
Boom!
"SHIT!!!"
KABOOM!
Crackle-crack!
The phantasms that had formed the monsters' figures blurred in an instant, then vanished entirely with a sound like tearing fabric.
The damage exceeded its limits, and the artifact that had been projecting the holograms was completely broken.
An oppressive silence settled over the training ground.
Haah─
Haah─
Kang Do-hee stood before it, rain-like sweat pouring down, glaring murderously into empty space.
She had raised her voice with the Utopia Party members only moments ago, but the biggest occupant in her mind right now was not any of them—it was Shin Se-hee.
"You Flowerbed bitch. What kind of horseshit are you pulling now......."
She's going to confess her heart to Yellow Dog the moment he gets back from his Personal Request?
"Ha, crazy slut......."
It was such bullshit that a hollow laugh just slipped out.
Even if she confessed, where was any guarantee Jin Yu-ha would accept it?
And what about the ripple effect that confession would cause?
Did she just not give a damn about Utopia's internal situation?
As expected, what a selfish snake.
'I never liked that bitch from the start.......'
Crunch─
Kang Do-hee bit her lip and clenched her fist tight.
*
Meanwhile, Lee Yu-ri sat on a bench in front of the academy's central fountain, hugging her shield.
"......Is Shin Se-hee really going to confess?"
Knowing Jin Yu-ha's personality, even if she confessed, the odds he'd accept it were slim.
The guy always had his head packed full of upcoming tasks and plans.
But still, what if she did confess, and Jin Yu-ha did accept her heart?
Lee Yu-ri gazed vacantly at Aegis, the shield Jin Yu-ha had newly obtained for her from Chairwoman Rina.
Even if that happened. Still, unless he was the one to cast her aside first, she wouldn't leave Utopia.
Anytime, any moment, she would protect Jin Yu-ha with her life.
She had sworn it upon her own conviction.
It was a promise that must be kept, regardless of any goodwill Jin Yu-ha might feel toward her.
But.
"Even so, I hate it......."
Just imagining the scene of Shin Se-hee at Jin Yu-ha's side was enough to make her stomach churn.
No, she had to be honest.
She was jealous.
She was so jealous she could go crazy.
Just imagining a single other person next to Jin Yu-ha made her want to do something to that person.
So much so that she could instinctively understand the emotions Shin Se-hee had laid out in front of everyone.
Lee Yu-ri hugged the shield deep against her chest.
*
Im Ga-eul came straight to her room after that big argument with her juniors.
Several empty green bottles were already scattered at her feet.
Glug, glug, glug─
She grabbed a bottle of soju by the neck, jammed it into her mouth, and chugged it straight down.
Heat spread through her gut and the intoxication rose.
She wasn't normally a strong drinker, but there was just no way she could endure this without alcohol.
"......Keuu, bitter!"
Clunk.
Roll, roll, roll.
The freshly emptied soju bottle dropped to the floor by her feet and rolled away.
No matter how she thought about it, it was bitter and unfair.
"Cleaning the house isn't good enough for you? Huh?! Pathetic? Is that what a junior says to her senior?!"
Glug, glug, glug─
Not being able to say a single word when they were shouting and fighting earlier, but saying it all now—that was classic her.
"And! What else was it? A confession?! Who confessed to who? Shin Se-hee to Jin Yu-ha?!"
Hic─!
Im Ga-eul's face had turned bright red as she let out a hiccup.
"What kind of country uses ethics where the car behind overtakes when the car in front hasn't even cleared out yet!!!"
Snatching up the bottle like a sword and thrusting it toward the heavens as she roared at the top of her lungs, she was the perfect picture of a drunkard.
"Waaaaaah─!!!!"
Im Ga-eul then burst into a flood of tears.
All sorts of complicated emotions churned inside her until they couldn't help but explode out in sobs.
"Hate iiiit!!! I said I hate iiiit!! Why are you taking my junior away from me?! I won't allow it, everrrr! I'll never, ever allow iiiit!!!"
Im Ga-eul kicked and thrashed wildly against the floor.
*
And Sofia.
She was the only one who hadn't invited Jin Yu-ha to her room.
After all, on the wall of her room hung a giant photograph that took up an entire wall.
That photograph was a high-definition print of the moment Jin Yu-ha's star rank had risen.
Sliiide─
Sofia stroked Jin Yu-ha's face with a hand full of longing.
But the words that left her lips were the exact opposite.
"......You dare, you dare, you dare, you dare, you dare, you dare......? Confess to Jin Yu-ha? Who do you think you are, just what do you think you are, to try to monopolize Jin Yu-ha? As if Jin Yu-ha would ever accept something like you?"
Not a trace of her usual lively demeanor or her Saintess-like benevolence remained.
"Absolutely not. Not Kang Do-hee, not Lee Yu-ri, not Shin Se-hee, not Im Ga-eul, not Ichika. No one can monopolize Jin Yu-ha....... He belongs to everyone. He must belong to everyone. I can never allow it......."
There was simply a woman, seized by a cloying and dark obsession, and nothing more.
"So, Shin Se-hee. I can never forgive you......."
With that, Sofia lifted her phone, her eyes cold and frozen.
* * *
"Whoa......."
Ichika, having received reports on everyone's situation, let out an exclamation of wonder.
Kang Do-hee hadn't spoken her true feelings aloud, but she was expressing her rage through violence.
Lee Yu-ri had been hugging her shield for hours, sitting and staring blankly like a person afflicted with depression.
Im Ga-eul had gotten drunk, made a colorful spectacle of herself in every possible way, and howled her innermost thoughts at the top of her lungs.
......Muttering in front of that giant photograph, Sofia even seemed just a little bit dangerous.
And yet, even after observing all of them, Ichika still didn't know.
Just what exactly Shin Se-hee was trying to do with all this.
'I get that they're all sincere about our benefactor.'
And so was she herself, for that matter.
'If Shin Se-hee monopolizes our benefactor...... I think I'd hate that too.'
And the root cause who had started the problem.
Shin Se-hee was just sitting silently with her arms crossed in front of her computer, as if she was waiting for something.
"Hmm, you're saying the screen just looks pure white?"
Ichika wanted to know what Shin Se-hee might be scheming, even by checking the monitor,
but the shadow shook its head.
It seemed security countermeasures against her were already fully prepared.
Just then.
The shadow sent to Sofia urgently relayed news.
"......What? Sofia contacted our benefactor? And—and the others too?"
And it was at that very moment that Shin Se-hee also started tapping at her keyboard.
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【Yeees, It's Sofia】 ─ Jin Yu-ha~ I kept calling you....... Why aren't you picking up? Are you inside a Gate right now? If so, please reply as soon as you come out of the dungeon!
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Huh? Sofia? Sorry. I can't take a call right now, so messaging is all I can do.
【Yeees, It's Sofia】 ─ Ah, I seeeee. Hmm, I wish we could talk....... Oh well, if we can't, we can't. So, I contacted you because I have something to tell you privately, Jin Yu-ha.
【Sword Demon(劍鬼)】 ─ Huh? Privately? What, did something explode while I was away?
【Yeees, It's Sofia】 ─ ......Yes. Well, actually.......
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