Discord
Discord
Hwoooosh──!!
The wind that rose across the quiet snowfield coiled into a snowstorm, and within hours it became a blizzard—a full-blown natural disaster—swallowing the entire snowfield whole.
Clank, clatter.
Even for an Enhancement-type Awakened with excellent physical abilities, walking through a blizzard without specialized equipment was nearly impossible. Yet there walked Ha-na, wrapped in nothing more than a fur cloak, and beside her, someone heavily armed in weighty plate armor.
Swish. Swish.
Each step left a clear footprint. But even those deep marks were erased in an instant, swallowed without a trace by the raging snowstorm.
"Huuuuh..."
An exhausted-sounding breath, a man's, leaked from beneath the lowered visor of the helmet. He crouched low and carefully pushed aside the rapidly accumulating white debris to the left and right. A sheet of iron, seemingly frozen solid, came into view.
The man moved it with care, revealing a hole large enough for two adults to comfortably enter.
"Whew. Much better."
After climbing down into the pit and sealing the gap with the iron plate again, the man let out a relieved sigh. He retrieved a small lantern hidden in his cloak and lit up the darkness.
Clank, clatter.
Taking care not to slip, the man descended slowly, the clamorous noise of his armor ringing out despite the Weight-Reducing Magic enchanted upon it.
"There we go."
At the end of a long passage carved diagonally downward, the man hopped down lightly. He stowed the lantern back in his hand and quickly pulled off the helmet he had been wearing.
"Nothing happened, right?"
"I should be asking you that."
At the man's—Kang Seok-ho's—question, his fiancée, Na Ju-hee, answered indifferently.
Their relationship had started turning distant around the last Grade Evaluation and was now nothing more than a business arrangement.
"Haha... Well, the snow started coming down out there. I almost lost my way going any farther."
"You wouldn't get lost if you remembered the direction you came from."
"Oh, uh, right."
At his fiancée's cold response, Kang Seok-ho laughed awkwardly and made his way cautiously to her side. More precisely, he headed toward his own tent, separated from hers by the magical brazier blazing with heat in the center.
-So you didn't see any Monsters?
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Didn't see any traces of other students either."
-Good.
His fiancée only asked the bare minimum before falling silent.
Kang Seok-ho sighed inwardly, removed the armor borrowed from his father, and took out his maintenance tools.
'Haa, how am I supposed to win Ju-hee back?'
Rubbing his armor with a special cloth, Kang Seok-ho found himself once again racking his brain for a way to reconcile with his fiancée, just as he had done yesterday and the day before.
Climbing to the second year had freed him from the hellish personal spars with Baek Ha-na, but in hindsight, escaping that wasn't necessarily a good thing.
It was sparring with Baek Ha-na, who had emerged as an all-time rookie shattering every record—not just at Arena Academy but across history.
Even if he was getting beaten one-sidedly, having the world's top rookie as his opponent was the envy of others. In fact, though his classmates had unwittingly branded him a punching bag, after the Ceremony his image had transformed into that of the 'Iron Man' who endured against the 'Wolf Queen' without giving up.
'...Dammit, why the hell would someone that strong pretend her tail is a weak point anyway?'
Kang Seok-ho, who had briefly harbored resentment toward Baek Ha-na, soon shook his head with a long sigh. He knew himself that his fiancée wouldn't distance herself from him just because he grabbed another girl's tail.
'Haa, if I could go back to that moment, I'd smash my own skull in.'
No matter how badly I was beaten down and wanted to win, trying to backstab the person who saved my life? Even now, the thought of that shameless act made my face burn with shame.
Having failed to come up with any good ideas again today, Kang Seok-ho spent his time in the same uncomfortable silence as yesterday before resolving dinner with the ready-made meals he'd brought.
"Don't wait around and wake me up late like yesterday. Wake me when it's time."
"Uh, yeah... Goodnight."
Kang Seok-ho stared blankly at the tent his fiancée had entered and let out yet another sigh.
When she first proposed they team up, he'd taken it as a sign of reconciliation, but he quickly realized that was just wishful thinking.
'Just what is the problem?'
Seeing as she still hadn't brought up breaking off the engagement, her heart hadn't completely left him. So even though it was hanging by a thread, he had to find a way to close the distance again while something remained.
"Would she come back if I showed up right at a critical moment to save her?"
He now knew a simple apology wouldn't fix this relationship. There was no way he couldn't know, since he'd already tried apologizing on his knees.
Since she was clearly disappointed by his cowardly behavior, perhaps the only way to improve this cold relationship was to show her the exact opposite.
"...I don't know why they even made us sign a Pledge."
Kang Seok-ho tapped the helmet resting on his knees, then slumped back in his chair and muttered quietly.
"If the place were crawling with Monsters, at least I could try to put on a show..."
"The fact that the thought even crossed your mind is proof it's already hopeless. Why doesn't he see that?"
"...?!"
A chilling voice came from directly behind him, and Kang Seok-ho instinctively threw himself forward into a roll.
"Mmmph!!"
No, he tried to roll.
Bound completely by Shadows that had coiled around him, Kang Seok-ho felt his mouth go instantly dry.
"You really found yourselves quite the hiding spot."
As a familiar face emerged from the deep darkness, Kang Seok-ho's eyes widened further.
'The Student Council President?!'
He had guessed as much the moment he saw the Shadows binding his body, but facing her in person left him no less shocked.
"Your eyes ask, 'Why?'"
With an eerie smile completely unlike her usual self, Yoon I-seul approached and reached for the silver necklace around Kang Seok-ho's neck.
Fwoosh─!!
In that moment, a massive flame erupted above Yoon I-seul's head and descended toward her.
"I've warned you before, but that level of firepower cannot pierce my Shadow."
Slink.
New Shadows born of the flames instantly stretched out and swallowed the fire falling toward Yoon I-seul's head.
"Hmph, you think I don't know that? I only did it because of the idiot standing in front of you."
Na Ju-hee had emerged from her tent and was glaring with open irritation at Yoon I-seul and her fiancé, who was captured before her.
"We only needed to hold out one more day. Why go this far?"
"Hmm."
At Na Ju-hee's sharp question, Yoon I-seul pondered for a moment and then nodded once.
Thud.
"Ughk..."
With a deeply unpleasant sound, Kang Seok-ho slumped over.
"...He may be a fool, but he's my fiancé."
"So? Do you want to be eliminated alongside your fiancé?"
"...Tch."
Looking at the Shadows that had already completely surrounded her feet, Na Ju-hee clicked her tongue sharply.
"Don't be like that. It's not as if I enjoy doing this."
"Try fixing that raised corner of your mouth first."
"Fufu, it's a habit."
"...More importantly, why did you ambush us? Don't tell me it's something ridiculous, like you ran out of food."
"Of course not."
As Yoon I-seul carelessly set the unconscious Kang Seok-ho down on the floor, she gave Na Ju-hee a brief explanation of the situation.
"So that's why I haven't seen any Monsters..."
Na Ju-hee grimaced and sighed when she learned there was a separate hunting squad.
"Seeing as you're telling me all this, I suppose you intend to let me live."
"Well, for now~?"
Slink.
"Kgh...?!"
In a flash, a Shadow climbed up her body, detached the silver necklace from Na Ju-hee's neck, and presented it to Yoon I-seul.
Crack!
A fracture appeared in the silver necklace hanging around the unconscious Kang Seok-ho's neck. At the same time, the floor where he lay sprawled turned as soft as a swamp and swallowed him up.
"Fufu, I do hope we can meet again tomorrow with smiles."
After shaking the silver necklace in her hand once, Yoon I-seul melted back into the darkness and vanished.
"Ugh, how truly annoying...!!"
Na Ju-hee stomped her feet for a while to vent her frustration. Then, as her head cooled, she realized one important fact.
The existence of the thick iron plate blocking the entrance.
'...I don't care. I'll just sleep first.'
Harboring thoughts of setting the Student Council building on fire if it came down to it, Na Ju-hee went back into her tent and lay down in her sleeping bag.
**
The fourth sun of the snowfield rose.
"..."
【...】
The landscape brightening under the snowy dawn was breathtakingly beautiful. Yet the mood between the two beings observing it was nothing but heavy.
【Grrr!! See! I told you we should have created Monsters!!】
The first to break the heavy silence was Vuar, who looked like a cute child.
【Verotha!! You sneaky goddess!!】
Shouting that the Goddess of Benevolence was sneaky, Vuar hopped up and down while glaring at a group projected in the air.
【To give a mere apprentice child a God-level Artifact!!】
Children in pure white robes emblazoned with a cradle.
They were apprentice clerics of the Goddess of Benevolence.
The seven of them had completely hidden themselves using an Artifact that turned the surrounding area into a maze, managing to evade the hunting squad until the very end.
【If we just unleash Monsters now... Kyang?!】
Vuar, who had hopped onto Baek Woo-jin's back, let out a loud shriek as the Void Energy flowing from his body struck her, sending her tumbling across the floor.
"Open the exit."
At her master's command, Crystal created a Rift leading outside near the surviving students.
Baek Woo-jin watched the startled students slowly file out through the Rift and clicked his tongue briefly.
This time was originally meant to be used purely for Baek Ha-na's growth. But he had also planned this exam to grant the wish of that insect who had begged to be killed.
'...A complete waste of time.'
However, when he had actually received and reviewed the list, he could not find the name of the insect who had agitated the students and begged for an opportunity.
Because of that, all preparations had become meaningless, which was also the reason Baek Woo-jin had not released Monsters inside the Rift.
【Hey, get this stuff off me!!】
"...Haa."
Vuar was perfectly capable of resolving it herself if she put her mind to it, yet she continued to make a racket. Feeling a deep exhaustion at her antics, Baek Woo-jin rose from his spot and disappeared into the blue light.
【What a coldhearted being.】
Once she confirmed Baek Woo-jin had completely left, Vuar sprang to her feet and lightly brushed off the ashen energy clinging to her body.
【Return to your master.】
The ashen energy circled her briefly and then rode the blue light and vanished.
Vuar touched her own lips, where the playful smile had disappeared, then artificially pulled up the corners of her mouth and murmured quietly.
【It has been far too peaceful.】
Craaaack──!!
Watching the space crumble majestically, Vuar left behind an enigmatic smile and became light before disappearing.