Don't Ask
Don't Ask
In front of the firmly shut doors of the Upperclassmen Sparring Ground.
"No, why me...?"
"Why do you think, you brat. From what I've seen, you seem to have a bit of a personal connection with Professor Baek."
"A con-nec-tion? Me? Have you gone senile, old man?"
Kang Han-na shot an incredulous look at Hwang Min-ho—her former supervising professor who was now her senior—unable to believe the nonsense coming out of his mouth.
"Isn't it natural for the next in command after Professors Jaden and Cheon Ji-ho to go in? Why would I, the youngest one who just runs errands, go in?"
"Heh heh, our Han-na grew up, but it seems only her head got bigger."
Hwang Min-ho offered a kindly smile like a friendly old neighbor, then clenched his right hand, which was covered in small scars, into a fist.
"Aaah, screw it!! I'll just let you knock me out! Then I can just lie down and be done with it too!!"
"Heh heh heh."
When Kang Han-na actually sprawled out flat on the floor, he shook his head.
"This crazy little goby of a girl..."
"Screw it, screw it."
Having scored a huge windfall from the bet on the ranking match, Kang Han-na currently feared virtually no one, save for a select few individuals.
"Honestly, tsk tsk. Open the door."
At Hwang Min-ho's word, the other professors pulled the closed sparring ground doors wide open.
Slyly.
Kang Han-na, who had been lying spread-eagle with her eyes shut, carefully cracked open a sliver of an eye.
She forced them open so wide they nearly burst.
No, she snapped them wide open.
"How can a martial artist like me just 'screw it'?"
"Kyaak?!"
Fwooosh─!!
Before she could even register what was happening, Hwang Min-ho seized her by the ankle. Kang Han-na sailed through the air and was tossed right through the gap in the open doors.
Thud─!!
Barely regaining her balance, Kang Han-na managed to land on the ground feet-first instead of face-first.
"Why, you...!!"
So utterly appalled and furious that she was about to unleash a torrent of scathing profanity, Kang Han-na just managed to swallow down the words that had risen to the back of her throat.
The sparring ground doors were already firmly shut again, and more importantly, now that she was inside, there was a presence here in front of whom she absolutely could not show an unsightly side.
'That crazy old bastard...'
Swearing to herself that she would get revenge on Hwang Min-ho no matter what, Kang Han-na slowly turned around.
Gulp.
She swallowed dryly.
A massive, shimmering blue Rift.
Claire Vin Asen stood before it as if keeping vigil.
'Whoa, is she even human or a statue.'
Skin so pale it was nearly translucent, with cool, sharp eyes as cold as ice.
A nose with a knife-sharp bridge, and lips like a cherry on top of that.
"Hoo, hoo, haa~"
Kang Han-na had to employ a heart-calming technique before she could finally take her first step.
"What is it?"
The moment she descended from the spectator seats, those eyes, filled with deep winter, pierced straight through her.
"D-do you happen to know when those who went inside might be coming out...?"
The voice that came out of her mouth trembled involuntarily.
Because she was nervous and scared?
No.
She was nervous, that was true, but she wasn't scared.
It was just.
'She's even more beautiful up close...'
Because she was too beautiful.
That was the reason.
She hadn't felt it from a distance, but standing right in front of her, there was an alluring sensuality about her that, well, made her whole body feel ticklish somehow. That was why she couldn't look her properly in the face.
"They will come out before midnight tonight."
"Ah... I, I see."
If the Executor herself, of all people, said they would be out before midnight, what could a mere professor like her possibly say in response?
The best she could do was nod her head up and down vigorously.
'...But it'll be a problem if they really do come out right before midnight.'
Following Baek Woo-jin's instructions, she had already efficiently packed the luggage for the thirty students and the two professors, Jaden and Cheon Ji-ho.
There was a small snag, though.
The opening ceremony, starting the day after tomorrow.
To make that schedule, they had to board a plane by tomorrow morning.
If they just planned to show up in time for the ceremony, they could leave in the afternoon, but doing that would obviously wreck the students' condition.
'It's going to be broadcast worldwide. Our kids can't show up looking like a disaster.'
More than anything, while she had perfectly organized the communal supplies like potions and spare weapons, the students' personal clothes and private belongings were something she couldn't touch, as they fell into the realm of privacy.
In other words, for the students to get even a little rest, they needed to come out at least before sundown.
Only then could they have time for personal maintenance and get even a wink of decent sleep.
'The upperclassmen already know the program order and all that. We can just explain it to our precious little ones on the plane.'
The one saving grace was that the academy had purchased and operated its own private jet for attending these events.
Thanks to that, while they weren't exactly swimming in time, they wouldn't have to scramble quite so frantically tomorrow.
'Hwarang will probably bitch and moan again.'
Though its world ranking was outside the top 10, domestically, it was a prestigious academy, second only to Arena Academy in age and in the number of skilled Awakened it produced.
They had their own jet, albeit a small one, but if every participating academy took their own plane, the airport itself would be paralyzed. So for big events like this, they always hitched a ride on this side's jet.
Kang Han-na subtly shifted her gaze, glancing sideways at Claire, who still stood like a statue.
'So what if they bitch?'
Their party included the famous Executor of the God of Amusement.
'If they don't like it, maybe they should try being better than us.'
She had just finished roughly organizing her thoughts and was just about to bow respectfully to Claire.
Wooooong──!!
From the previously silent Rift, a heavy hum erupted along with an intense burst of light.
It was the sign that the main players who had gone inside were returning.
"Stand back."
"Ah, yes ma'am."
Caught off guard, Kang Han-na moved off the stage alongside Claire, up into the spectator seats.
Flaaaash─!!
A light intense enough to potentially blind an ordinary person burst forth.
"Ooh..."
Kang Han-na let out an unconscious murmur of admiration.
After the intense light faded.
The Rift had vanished from where it once stood. In its place stood the students and two professors who had entered it a month ago.
'...What's wrong with those brats' eyes?'
Students glaring with axe-sharp, venomous eyes, like vipers full of poison.
'Well, our little darling... she's always had a bit of a fierce look.'
After checking on Baek Ha-na and some of the other students who seemed relatively normal, Kang Han-na's gaze naturally shifted to the two supervisors.
"Oh crap..."
Jaden and Cheon Ji-ho.
Taking a closer look at the state of the two professors, Kang Han-na winced.
Unlike the students, who looked a bit crazed but comparatively well off, the two professors looked utterly haggard, as though they were Awakened who had been rolling around in the jaws of death for days and just barely managed to crawl back with their lives.
-Pack your personal gear and assemble in the parking lot by 8 a.m. tomorrow...
Jaden's voice was so drained that anyone could tell he was exhausted.
-Haa... The sun se...
"Mart!!"
"Everybody get the hell out of the way!!"
"Taaaaanks!!"
Before Jaden could even finish speaking, the students, eyes burning with a crazed light, began their sprint.
'...What on earth happened in there?'
The stage emptied in an instant.
Carefully gauging Claire's mood beside her, Kang Han-na cautiously descended back down and approached the two professors.
"A-are you alright?"
"Do I look alright?"
Cheon Ji-ho, the man who spoke politely to everyone regardless of age or status, answered with a frown.
"N-no, sir."
Kang Han-na reflexively snapped to attention and gulped.
At that, the deep furrow on Cheon Ji-ho's forehead smoothed back out.
"Haa... I'm sorry. Is there anything we need to know right this second?"
"Huh? Ah, no. Nothing at all. Yes, sir."
"Then we'll be heading in first..."
Cheon Ji-ho let out a deep sigh and left.
Slowly.
Kang Han-na carefully rolled her eyes upward to look at Jaden.
A face so haggard with fatigue that a zombie would mistake him for a fellow corpse.
"Sir..."
"Don't ask."
"Understood..."
Jaden walked past Kang Han-na, giving a slight nod to Claire up in the spectator seats before leaving.
"Uh..."
"I'll be going."
"E-excuse me."
She wasn't sure if this was the right farewell, but Kang Han-na blurted out the first thing that came to mind and hurriedly scurried off after Jaden.
After everyone had left.
Swooosh.
Baek Woo-jin appeared on the empty stage like a mirage.
With a single leap, Claire landed softly in front of him.
"You have worked hard."
"Well... I suppose you could call it hard work."
Baek Woo-jin handed the storage-type artifact at his waist to Claire as he reflected.
-Holy shit, you can actually save?
-If we just figure out the save mechanic, the rest is a cakewalk!!
-Quit standing around like an idiot and start it up, you bastard!!
After deciding on a new order among themselves, the students' actions, once they realized that the save method Jaden and Cheon Ji-ho had figured out was real, proceeded more or less as he had expected.
To obtain high-quality food, they did not fear enemy attacks. When victory was impossible, they willingly offered their bodies as bait and took the opponent's life.
Actions that, in reality, no one would dare take even with their life on the line, they repeated tens and hundreds of times without a second thought.
No matter how desperate their craving for food, the pain of having a heart pierced or an arm severed was indistinguishable from reality.
In other words, the more they challenged, the more their minds wore down.
When that happened, at some threshold, fear would sprout, the madness would recede, and based on their regained sanity, they would continue a more efficient raid... That had been Baek Woo-jin's predicted scenario.
-Their heads!!
-Ahahahahahahaha!!
-Submit quietly and become an offering for the Queen.
But Baek Ha-na's presence created a variable.
Driven by their craving for food, a desire for Baek Ha-na's smile, and a single-minded hope to earn a little of her favor, the students challenged the summoned creatures without rest.
The process changed a bit, but since the result was ultimately a good thing for Baek Ha-na, it was a fairly satisfying outcome.
If only it hadn't been for those goddamned uninvited guests who kept butting in partway through.
"Professor?"
"..."
At Claire's call, Baek Woo-jin pulled himself from his reverie and took her hand.
"What about the other kids?"
"We have all decided to go together."
"Is that so."
"Yes. And there is a separate private..."
Claire couldn't finish her sentence.
A warm and happy sensation, the first she had felt in a long time, had sealed her lips.
"Let's go back to the mansion."
"...Yees."