The Bet (1)

He begged, pleaded, and tried every angle he could think of, but the librarian barring the entrance never softened, and in the end Bihyung never set foot inside the library.

Hoo... Fine. Without that woman, going in would've been useless anyway.

The Hidden Piece training manual he'd been after could only be reached by making separate contact with the head of the library committee and borrowing her barrier arts. There was a reason for that. The anomaly nesting in the library had to be undone first.

Touch that anomaly without her, and there'll be an incident.

It wasn't that the thing would run wild, exactly. But if he failed to seize the space with barrier arts, its influence could spill onto the library's other visitors.

They'd convene a disciplinary committee.

He would have to stand before a crowd of exorcists, and one wrong step might expose him as a half-yokai. With that hanging over him, pulling back for now was the right call.

I'm not exactly flush with time, but there's still some left.

Eleven days. All he had to do was handle it before then.

...Assuming the committee chair actually shows up in that window.

If she didn't, he would slip into the library late at night and hide. By that hour, everyone who inspected the anomaly would have clocked out.

I should work out a way in, too.

There had been a reason he'd clung to the librarian and kept begging even after being told no. He needed to map the library's security measures and detection sensors.

I spotted a few things worth remembering. Neutralize those, and I can sneak in.

Turning the method over in his mind, Bihyung walked the academy grounds. Spring had arrived. The cherry trees were in full bloom, and the green lawn looked fresh and bright. Returning students strolled the paths at their ease, while this year's new cadets kept craning their necks, wide-eyed at everything around them.

It is impressive.

The campus was well made — a whole mountain carved and shaped into a school, boasting infrastructure that put most major cities to shame. But behind that face lay secrets born of subduing every kind of anomaly.

Users of Dokja Jeon-gi called it farming.

Nothing on the level of a Hidden Piece, but pieces that help push the story along.

One of the means he meant to secure right away was exactly that sort of farming. He was rifling through the list of tools rising in his head when a voice rang out.

"Ah! Finally found you! Bihyung!"

Footsteps came pounding after it. He turned, and Mina came trotting over like a puppy. She clenched both fists.

"Your speech was so cool!"

Then her face went blank, her eyes changed, and she set a hand on her hip. In a low voice she drawled:

"Was the test difficult? Tch... It wasn't that hard, though."

"Kkh..."

The old humiliation slammed into his solar plexus out of nowhere, and Bihyung ground his teeth.

...I told her to provoke them, and she did, but thinking back on it now — that was insanely embarrassing!

This wasn't even a belated case of eighth-grade syndrome. What was that? No. Before that — he didn't think he'd gone quite that far over the top, had he?

He stared at Mina in disbelief for a moment. She broke into a bright smile and went on.

"Did you see how people reacted? Everyone was basically acknowledging you! It was amazing! A-amazing!"

Not a wrinkle of calculation showed on her face. She seemed to be speaking nothing but pure truth. Watching her eyes sparkle, Bihyung meant to offer his own thoughts on her speech.

But what had Mina even said?

I was so focused on the effect of the speech that I don't remember the details...

He didn't know. If he simply returned the compliment the way she had praised him, wouldn't that be enough?

"Yeah. You were pretty, too."

"...Huh?"

"Ah?"

Was that not it?

He'd been about to hand her cool right back, remembered she was a girl, and then a useless little syllogism had flashed through him — wouldn't calling her pretty make her happier? — and out came that disastrous line.

Bihyung flapped his hands, flustered.

"Ah, no... that's not... I mean..."

"...Pfft!"

Mina clutched her stomach and burst out laughing. It didn't look like he was about to be hauled in on a false charge, thankfully. Well, he also knew she wasn't the type.

"Thanks. That's the first time in my life anyone's called me pretty."

"What kind of lie is that..."

Was this the usual lie pretty girls told when they knew exactly how pretty they were? Objectively speaking, Mina was beautiful. The flash of her blond hair sat perfectly against her clear, striking features, not awkward in the least, and when she smiled brightly she looked just like a sunflower.

And more than anything, the view when his eyes dipped for a second and the landscape came into sight... ahem.

Stop there. He really would get sued.

Mina smiled shyly and went on.

"See, I never really got to attend school properly, not since I was little."

At the sudden turn into her past, Bihyung couldn't help muttering.

"What, is this a country mouse and a city mouse thing?"

"Huh? What's that?"

"...Nothing."

Remembering the anime line that had slipped out on its own, Bihyung shook his head.

"More importantly, why bring that up all of a sudden..."

"Mmm. Just because? My family was pretty poor. So I couldn't go to school properly. Which meant I never really had a chance to meet boys my age, either."

So Bihyung was the first boy her own age to compliment how she looked.

"Ah..."

A small sound escaped him. He felt a little sorry for stealing her first (?) in such a stupid way.

...Wait. Why did that wording sound off?

Just as he was about to apologize, Mina beat him to it.

"Ehehe... Aigoo, this is embarrassing! Let's just go, Bihyung! They said orientation's today!"

She bounced off with a spring in her step, then spun halfway around to look back at him.

"Anyway, we're in the same class, right? Top rank and second."

"Yeongwol assigns classes by grades, so yeah, probably."

He answered her as they walked the grounds. Beside him, Mina kept stealing glances.

...There it is. My heart's pounding.

Just as when she had first seen him at the entrance briefing, she didn't know why, but being near him made her heart refuse to stay put.

Why am I like this?

She had never even met a boy her own age. For Mina, who had no resistance to men whatsoever, the feeling rising in her refused to be easily named.

Carrying their separate, unresolved worries, the two of them stepped into the classroom they had been assigned.

"...Huh?"

"Hm?"

And both of them went wide-eyed at the same person.

Why is he here?

Geumtaeyang.

Shorthand for a blond, tanned piece of trash.

The person they had all agreed to call social garbage was right here.

"Ah..."

Mina's face soured. The memory of being grabbed and harassed by him at the entrance briefing had come rushing back.

Bihyung looked at Geumtaeyang and nodded to himself.

Figures. His grades were on the high side.

This was the guy who had latched onto Mina, the second-ranker. If Bihyung hadn't helped her, she would have been late to the briefing and missed the test entirely. Judging from that, Geumtaeyang's talent was considerable, and the odds were high he possessed some ability to bind an opponent.

This class is called Class Gap.

Of the entire year, only those with the most outstanding talent and ability were allowed to remain in it.

He's glaring hard. Getting along with him is a lost cause.

Helping Mina at the briefing, and the humiliation he himself had suffered — the guy was clearly still nursing both. Mina seemed to feel the weight of it. She tapped the back of Bihyung's hand and whispered.

"Bihyung. I'll handle it. Don't worry too much."

At that moment Geumtaeyang rose from his seat and strode over. A glance at his name tag showed the name Geum Taehyung.

His name is Geum Taehyung? How?

"Nice atmosphere, huh? You played so damn hard to get with me... Guess our dear top student is just built different, yeah?"

At Geum Taehyung's words, the students around them started murmuring, wondering whether anyone could talk to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠top student like that, and what he was leaning on to run his mouth.

Mina frowned and stepped in front of Bihyung.

"Go sit down. Don't pick a fight with someone who didn't do anything to you."

"Oh? Last time you were all polite, and now you're talking down to me? Fine by me. Feels like we've gotten closer."

Geum Taehyung wore a sly smile, looking back and forth between Bihyung and Mina.

"I looked the two of you up after that day. One of you've got a sick mother, and the other's an orphan with no clan and no backing. That about right?"

Bihyung nodded inwardly. As expected, someone had been watching the guy's back.

Bringing up clans first — he's from a renowned house.

A clan. An exorcist organization gathered around blood kin. Every clan belonged to the Exorcist Association, and rank within it was divided by merit, power, and influence. The ones squatting at the very top of that heap were what people called the renowned houses.

Looks like he dug into us the same day the trouble started.

A mistake. He hadn't expected to lock horns with a renowned house this soon.

Who would've guessed an extra like that came from a renowned house?

In the game, the character never appeared again after a single mention. His name hadn't even come up. He was listed only as the ringleader who had tormented Mina. Even so, Bihyung didn't particularly regret it. From where he stood, Mina turning into a villain and dragging an official inquiry down on them was far more frightening than a fight with a renowned house.

At least, for as long as he still held his place as an academy cadet.

"So?"

He caught Mina's arm, drew her back, and stood face to face with Geum Taehyung.

"And what are you gonna do about it?"

Geum Taehyung lifted his head. The eyes that had gone cold and still were pitch black. And between them—

Fwoosh.

Something like a chill ghost-fire seemed to burn.

W-what...

Just as Geum Taehyung swallowed dry before a presence fiercer than he had expected, Bihyung patted his shoulder — tap, tap — and whispered by his ear.

"Looks like you're picking a fight. Then why'd you go and lose to an orphan? You started off in a way better place than he did."

Geum Taehyung's body trembled. He had thrown the first punch and still couldn't get his own back. Heat climbed his face.

"You little bastard..."

Grind, grind—!

His teeth ground as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if they might shatter. Watching him, Bihyung smiled inwardly.

That's it. Come at me.

Since things had tangled like this, better to blow the board wide open — so Mina would not become a villain, and so the renowned house he belonged to could not lift a finger.

He meant to borrow the academy's power.

That was the moment.

"Haaahm... Energy to spare, energy to spare. Must be nice. That's youth for you, huh?"

The classroom's front door opened, and a man walked in. Scratching at his greasy hair and yawning wide, he looked at Bihyung and Geum Taehyung with open interest.

"Still, that's enough. Sit down. I'll give you a chance to settle it later."

"...Tch!"

Geum Taehyung clicked his tongue, displeased, and returned to his seat. Bihyung and Mina found empty seats and sat without another word.

The professor in charge seemed satisfied. The corner of his mouth lifted.

"Good. Then I'll assume everyone's here and start orientation. Phones out, all of you."

So saying, he drew several talismans from his coat and flung them at the new students.

Flutter!

The talismans cut through the air, then were sucked toward the phones. With a chime, something that had not been there before appeared on the screens.

"Talisman app. You'll be using it for a while, so look it over carefully."

"This is a twenty-first-century exorcist."

Muttering that, the professor dropped into a chair that had appeared from who knew where, sprawling as if he had been poured into it.

Bihyung stared at his phone screen.

Feels like it's been a while.

He had seen it often while playing the game. Opening the app, the most basic arts were waiting inside.

One of the benefits you get for enrolling at the academy.

Normally, using an art consumed a talisman. But from the moment of enrollment, this app covered the cost of the most basic arts.

Of course, the truly strong arts still need real talismans.

The app had another advantage, though.

Fwoosh!

The phone belched blue flame as if it had caught fire. At the same time the blaze became letters and spread across the space before Bihyung's eyes.

There it is. The status window.

Information about him was laid out in a row, from height, weight, and skeletal muscle — the sort of thing on a body-composition scan — all the way to his progress as an exorcist.

It shows up because I'm half human. Good.

Bihyung smiled and checked his Rank. It still read 1, and beside it sat a progress of 0 percent.

I have to fill all of that before I reach 2nd Rank. In the game it was displayed as a level.

He was feeling out the small differences when he sensed the flame of his phone drawing back inside. Then a new notification rose at the top of the screen.

With those words, the phone's flame climbed his wrist and spread into his body.

Ugh!

A pain like an injection shot through him. It passed in a moment, and Bihyung's mouth fell open at the status window floating not on the phone, but before his eyes.

...The descriptions got more detailed. How many stats he has, his achievements, the half-yokai trait, even the story currently in progress.

An interface that had become just like the game. The question of why never left his mouth. When he checked the phone, the message history that had been sending him notifications was gone.

That thing swallowed the art. And then it entered my body.

He didn't know whether that was good or bad. But he was already a half-yokai. He wasn't sure what one more thing added on top would even change.

I've got a rough read ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the stats, and if the top-rank privilege applied... this should be doable, right?

Smiling, Bihyung looked at the professor. Had the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠man read the meaning in his eyes? A spark of interest showed on the professor's face.

"Plenty of hot-blooded brats in here, so how about we sort out the pecking order, nice and simple? To the sparring hall."

Bihyung was watching Geum Taehyung, and he saw the guy turn his head toward him as well.

In that instant—

Huh?

He had been about to step on the bastard anyway, and now a derived story had spawned on top of it, completely unplanned.