Hide and Seek (4)
Hide and Seek (4)
"I'm changing the content of the practical exam."
At the stroke of midnight, the very moment the date changed, Baek Woo-jin appeared and addressed Baek Ha-na and the students.
"You all read the notice, so you should have a rough idea of the situation."
The students didn't answer, nodding quickly instead.
He looked the same as always, but the students instinctively sensed it—Baek Woo-jin was in an extremely foul mood.
Far from asking questions, they'd already decided they'd agree to whatever he ordered.
"One hundred and one. That's the number excluding you. Also the number of lunatics who don't care if anyone dies in there."
Gulp.
Hearing the larger-than-expected number, Im Gyeong-su clenched his new shield tightly and swallowed hard.
"Baek Ha-na."
"Yes, Professor."
More attuned to Baek Woo-jin than anyone, Baek Ha-na dropped her playful demeanor at his unusually sharp voice and answered seriously.
"Take it."
A map folded in multiple layers flew through the air and landed in Baek Ha-na's hand.
"Terrain map of the rift interior."
Rustle.
The map was much larger than expected, so Baek Ha-na spread it wide on the ground. Immediately, the students standing behind her turned their attention to it as well.
"There are no monsters inside the rift. There might be a few wild animals, but nothing that poses a threat to Awakened, so don't worry about them."
The students, who had been studying the map—which stood as tall as Im Gyeong-su—quickly lifted their heads and refocused on Baek Woo-jin.
"Three days. Eliminate eighty-eight of them within that time. Destroy their base camps, or deal with the tokens given to them."
Baek Woo-jin pulled out a silver necklace and showed it to the students.
"Or you can destroy these things around their necks. I don't care if they get hurt or die in the process. That means do whatever it takes. If you fail, I'll cut as many of you as we fall short, so don't waste your sympathy."
A few with strong intuition had already guessed the general picture, but they never imagined he'd outright tell them it was okay to kill without a second thought.
If any other professor had said something like that, they might have assumed it was a bluff to raise tension, but everyone present knew all too well that their supervising professor wasn't the type to joke.
So they couldn't easily nod.
Except for two.
Baek Ha-na and Nam Seo-hee, confident they could subdue anyone, nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Baek Ha-na, Nam Seo-hee."
"Yes, Professor."
"Yes, Professor."
At his call, the two girls looked up at him with stern faces and answered.
"If any stragglers are left behind in the process of achieving the objective, you two bear full responsibility."
"Understood."
"In addition."
Baek Woo-jin's gaze moved from Baek Ha-na and Nam Seo-hee to the five standing behind them.
"You five are not to rely on these two. You must do your utmost to achieve the goal I've set."
"Yes!!"
The five answered with all their might.
"Once the status check is complete, enter immediately."
That was the last exchange between the students and Baek Woo-jin.
**
"What should I do..."
Baek Ha-na looked down at Lee Na-young, who had fainted in her arms, and scratched her cheek.
In truth, it was sheer coincidence that Baek Ha-na had found her.
With the fastest mobility and a sharp mind that could memorize a map in an instant, Baek Ha-na had split off from the party like a detached force to hunt as efficiently as possible.
Indeed, following hidden paths marked on the map, she raced across the snowfield, destroyed two base camps, and shattered six necklaces. Alone, she had already eliminated over ten people before even a day had passed.
Still with energy to spare, Baek Ha-na decided to take advantage of night's greater freedom of movement to hunt new prey rather than rest.
Based on the map in her head, she chose this cave, which looked like a good hiding spot and was the closest to her current position, and by pure coincidence found Lee Na-young rushing out of it.
"This is all because of you."
Baek Ha-na glared at the compass pointing in some random direction and grumbled quietly.
Her original plan had been to move quietly, stay hidden, and catch everyone off guard. But then the compass suddenly pointed in Lee Na-young's direction, and Lee Na-young, sensing something wrong, was about to scream.
So, in a panic, Baek Ha-na dropped down instantly and clamped a hand over Lee Na-young's mouth. Their eyes met, Lee Na-young's widened in shock, and then with an innocent roll of her eyes, she fainted on the spot.
On top of that, in the process, she saw something she shouldn't have, no matter how close a friend.
"Uhm..."
After a moment's thought, Baek Ha-na picked up the unconscious Lee Na-young and stood.
She figured she could apologize later, but the priority was to handle the clothes situation before her precious friend woke up.
Walking quietly through the darkness, Baek Ha-na soon found a campfire crackling and popping pleasantly, and Na Yeon-ju sitting beside it.
"Oh, you're back...?"
Na Yeon-ju, who had been calmly sipping a yuzu-flavored recovery potion, looked up to greet the figure emerging from the darkness—but froze. The silhouette and build slowly coming into view weren't Lee Na-young's. Her alarm lasted only a moment, though.
"H-Ha-na...?"
"Shh."
As Na Yeon-ju's eyes went wide and her mouth gaped open, Baek Ha-na brought a long, elegant finger to her own lips, asking her to stay quiet.
"Ah, hup."
It wasn't really necessary, but Na Yeon-ju promptly clamped both hands over her own mouth and nodded rapidly.
"You've been working hard."
"H-hrm..."
When Baek Ha-na stroked her head, Na Yeon-ju, still covering her mouth, couldn't stop her lips from curving into a wide grin, her delight completely obvious.
"Let's talk later. Where's Na-young's stuff?"
"Ah, um, we share a bag... It's in the tent over there."
"Ah... I see...?"
Baek Ha-na made a slightly troubled face but soon shook her head and sat Lee Na-young down in an empty spot.
She herself had noticed thanks to her sharp sense of smell, but the protective gear made it barely noticeable outwardly, so she decided to just pretend she didn't know anything.
"So that's why you've been so busy lately. You were participating here."
"Heh, hehe..."
Na Yeon-ju awkwardly scratched her head at the question. She had hidden it on purpose, planning to surprise everyone in the lecture hall later.
"But why are you here, Ha-na?"
"You want to know?"
Under Baek Ha-na's narrowing gaze, Na Yeon-ju shuddered.
"N-no..."
"Just kidding."
With a faint smile, Baek Ha-na approached the cowering Na Yeon-ju.
"Don't be so nervous."
"Ah, yes, yep..."
Though it seemed like normal behavior, something felt different to Na Yeon-ju, making her swallow hard. Then, at the sound of a click, she blinked.
"H-Ha-na...?"
Noticing the silver necklace now in Baek Ha-na's hand, Na Yeon-ju stared at her with flustered eyes.
"I'll just hold onto it for a bit."
"Ah, ahh..."
Why did she suddenly recall the mittens that she had been told would be 'borrowed just for a while' and never returned?
"If nothing goes wrong, I'll return it on the last day, so don't be like that. You trust me, right?"
If they eliminate eighty-eight in time, she'll come back to return it. Unless she's truly unlucky, that is.
"Ugh..."
Na Yeon-ju looked at Baek Ha-na with the face of a woman who had been jilted.
"E-even if you look at me like that, I can't give it back right now."
Baek Ha-na's heart wavered briefly at the wounded look from her one and only little junior, but she couldn't give up something so precious, so she managed to steel herself again.
Click.
Then, leaving the sulking Na Yeon-ju behind, Baek Ha-na also retrieved the necklace hanging around Lee Na-young's neck.
And to collect the necklaces of the two friends who were deeply asleep, unaware she'd even arrived, she pulled back the tent's blackout curtain.
Whoosh——!!
"Gah?!"
As holy light burst out from the tent, Na Yeon-ju shielded her eyes with her hands and shrieked.
"Die!!"
At the same time, Idni's fist flew at Baek Ha-na's face.
A perfect ambush, presence completely hidden.
The only problem was that the target was Baek Ha-na.
"'Die' is a bit harsh, don't you think?"
Dodging Idni's fist with a slight turn of her head, Baek Ha-na fixed a slightly hurt gaze on Idni's flustered face.
"What the fuck..."
A blinding flash had just erupted, so why were her eyes still wide open?
Idni's eyes asked that silently.
"Hmph."
But the only answer was a sulky snort and a fist from Baek Ha-na, clad in a half-glove.
·
·
·
"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."
"Don't be dramatic."
Idni, now sporting a nasty purple bruise on her left eye, scrunched her face and glared at the culprit who'd done this to her eye.
Watching from the side, Maria sighed and shook her head.
"I told you it wouldn't work. Even Jane Moore's light couldn't do anything to Ha-na, so how could we?"
"... I'm the one who got hit, so can you be quiet?"
"You brought it on yourself."
"Right. It's Idni's fault for attacking first."
Under the combined assault from Maria and Baek Ha-na, Idni couldn't retort and simply squeezed her eyes shut.
"So after you take care of the eighty-eight, you'll come back to return them to us?"
"Yeah. I've taken out about fifteen so far. With Seo-hee also moving, I'd say it's up to twenty."
"I see."
Nodding, Maria fell into thought for a moment. Not long after, she surfaced and called the youngest.
"Yeon-ju? Where's the compass?"
"Ah, Big Sis Na-young took it with her..."
Naturally, both their gazes turned toward Baek Ha-na.
"This one?"
"Yeah, that's it."
Baek Ha-na held it out.
"I was going to surprise you, but then this suddenly pointed in my direction and startled me even more."
"Really?"
Maria could see the compass needle pointing in a completely different direction.
Swish.
As soon as she took the compass from Baek Ha-na, she saw the needle swing back toward the rear.
"I knew it..."
Maria gripped the compass tightly and focused.
Swish.
The compass rotated once more and pointed to where Baek Ha-na stood. With a look of conviction, Maria handed it back to her.
"I think this might be able to help you."
"This?"
"Yeah. If you hold it and strongly desire to find something, it will tell you where it is."
Baek Ha-na took the compass back with a surprised look.
Swish.
Sure enough, the needle moved.
Baek Ha-na looked in that direction for a moment, then closed her eyes.
Swish.
Before long, the needle moved again.
Having wished for the location of the second closest base camp from their current spot, Baek Ha-na turned her body while holding the compass.
"I'll go check if this actually works."