Nam Seo-hee (1)
Nam Seo-hee (1)
Due to the entrance exams, Arena Academy was bustling with people both inside and out.
The student cafeteria, designated as the waiting area for the test-takers that day, was absolute chaos.
With examinees clustering by school, academy, and every other connection, it was no surprise the noise showed no sign of dying down.
While some chatted eagerly to share information and ease nerves, others sat in silence, waiting for their turn.
Nam Seo-hee, seated near the entrance, was one of the latter.
'...I want to get out of here.'
She was the youngest daughter of Namgung Min, the guild master of Changgung, one of Korea's Top 10 Guilds.
She had awakened at fourteen, following in the footsteps of her two older sisters. Her talent was remarkable, but she lacked the drive.
Her father, Namgung Min, and the rest of the family didn't want to pressure her, so they never demanded results. That allowed her to graduate from a specialized school with perfectly average grades.
Even the thought of attracting attention was bothersome, so ignoring her father's vehement objections, she deliberately enrolled in a specialized school far from Seoul and lived in the dorms.
'...I want to sleep.'
Originally, she had planned to quietly laze around at home after graduation, but her mother's not-quite-a-threat threat forced her to apply to Arena Academy.
-You'll be an adult next year.
-We've fed you, clothed you, and raised you until now. Starting next year, you'll live off your own earnings.
-If you don't like that, then help your father and sisters with guild work or something.
Guild work. Entering rifts, hunting monsters, collecting magic crystals.
Just thinking about it was exhausting.
Of course, being one of the Top 10 Guilds, simply being the guild master's child wasn't enough to join.
Still, if she took the separate admission test, her skills were good enough to join even now, albeit at the lowest rank. She had simply never bothered to show them.
For that reason, Nam Seo-hee weighed her options.
Joining the guild now versus after graduating from the academy. Which path would lead to a more leisurely life?
The former would be a hassle right away, but if she quickly established herself, she could soon sit at a desk and while away the time. The latter guaranteed four years of freedom as long as she maintained her grades.
Since she wanted immediate peace more than a distant future, she chose the latter, and here she was, waiting for her turn at the entrance exam.
"Hey."
"......?"
Just as she was growing annoyed with the noisy hall, a group of five students approached her.
"You're Nam Seo-hee, right?"
A reasonably good-looking guy among them stepped forward and asked.
Nam Seo-hee looked over the faces of the five kids who seemed her age, then nodded in answer.
"Mind if we sit for a—"
He didn't finish. Because the closed cafeteria door right beside them swung open and an adult who looked like a staff member stepped inside.
The rowdy cafeteria instantly fell silent.
The staff member glanced around the now-quiet room, then raised the megaphone to his mouth and spoke.
[Groups 1 and 2, please follow me. Groups 3 and 4 will be picked up in 20 minutes, so be ready. No restroom breaks along the way.]
The staff member lowered the megaphone, and hundreds of examinees rose from their seats at once.
And Nam Seo-hee was among them.
Her joy at finally leaving this noisy, boring place was short-lived.
"Looks like we're in the same group."
"......."
The group who had called her name followed her out and continued to pester her.
"Ah, my name's Park Cheol-min, from the Minos Guild..."
And then he started introducing himself, as if she wanted to know.
"And here is..."
"Nice to..."
Park Cheol-min and the other four introduced themselves, but unfortunately for them, Nam Seo-hee's mind didn't bother to register any of their names, including his.
Not that she cared—their motives were painfully obvious, so she simply used her mana to block her sense of hearing.
Five people, introducing themselves as the children of guilds she'd never even heard of.
'...Just like my eldest sister said.'
Students entering the academy had their own goals, and her eldest sister had warned her that the type she should avoid most were the ones trying to network, like these five.
'Not even paparazzi...'
She'd worn a perception inhibition artifact since her awakening, so her face wasn't known in the media. How had they recognized and approached her?
The actual children of other Top 10 Guilds, people she actually knew, had just given her a slight nod and tactfully kept their distance.
She blocked sound for a while, only withdrawing the mana protecting her ears after entering the Grand Auditorium.
[Numbers 1 to 30, far left. 31 to 60...]
Following the staff's directions, Nam Seo-hee moved to the center.
"Haha, same group again."
"......."
Park Cheol-min, who'd been annoying her, followed once more.
At least the other four had scattered.
"All right, welcome. First, we'll measure mana levels. Please come forward one by one in numerical order and place your hands on this sphere."
The examinees began moving as instructed by the proctor.
"You're examinee Nam Seo-hee, correct?"
"Yes."
"Confirmed. You may begin."
Nam Seo-hee glanced at the equipment, several times larger than the mana measuring devices at her specialized school, then placed her hand on the crystal orb.
'Moderately...'
She released a moderate amount of mana into the orb.
-*Beep.*
A short electronic sound, and the orb emitted light, projecting a small hologram above it.
[ 47 ]
"Thank you. You may proceed forward and continue."
"Okay. Thank you."
A score of 47. For an Ability-type Awakened, it might be a bit low, but for an Enhancement-type like Nam Seo-hee, it was more than high enough.
Simple physical fitness and reflex tests followed.
"Enhancement and Transformation types, this way. Ability types, please go to the left."
The core of the practical exam—the mock combat—was approaching.
"Examinee Nam Seo-hee?"
"Yes. I'm Nam Seo-hee."
"Please wait here for a moment."
"Yes."
She sat in a prepared chair as the proctor guided her, then looked at the transparent square glass enclosure set up ahead.
'...So white.'
Inside the 'Summoner,' a product of magitech combining magic and science, a girl was fighting a monster made of mana extracted from magic crystals, and she caught Nam Seo-hee's eye.
A girl with hair as white as the first snowfall of winter.
Beast ears of the same snowy white fur stood perked on her head. And whenever she jumped or rolled, a fluffy tail came into view.
'...Looks so soft.'
How blissful it would be to hug that tail and sleep.
Nam Seo-hee couldn't tear her eyes from the girl's behind as she hopped around a giant man-eating mantis called a Mentis, which swung scythe-like forelegs.
More than noting the girl's dominance against the stage 5 monster set for the final round, Nam Seo-hee's mind was entirely occupied by the desire to hug that tail.
Just as the snowy girl clawed the Mentis's eyes with sharp nails and was gradually finishing it off.
"What, we meet again even here."
"......."
For the first time, Nam Seo-hee faintly frowned.
Because Park Cheol-min, with a voice that somehow grated on the nerves despite his decent looks, had sat down right next to her.
The moment he sat, he started talking nonstop, as if he had a motor attached to his mouth.
Nam Seo-hee thought he was a man whose looks were truly wasted, given how much he couldn't keep quiet.
"Well... she's decent. But if she dodged the foreleg there, she should have gone straight for the leg."
'...Moron.'
That was Nam Seo-hee's assessment of Park Cheol-min.
This man, not knowing his place, was evaluating the snowy girl mid-exam.
Prattling on about what he would have done.
If you only listened, his observations weren't entirely off. The problem was he hadn't noticed the girl could finish it but chose not to, running around instead.
The snowy girl was exhilarated. Even though she could end it, she was methodically slicing off the Mentis's legs one by one.
Like a well-fed predator toying with its prey for fun.
"Looks totally foreign. With skills like that, getting close wouldn't be a bad idea..."
His poor judgment was only outdone by his ridiculous thoughts.
"Let's see."
Park Cheol-min casually stood up, using his height to peek at the proctor's tablet over the proctor's shoulder.
"Baek... Ha-na?"
'...?'
Nam Seo-hee briefly felt an illusion that her eyes met the girl playing inside the glass.
Park Cheol-min sat back down and chuckled.
"A person's name is Baek Ha-na? What a half-assed name."
Just then, the Mentis's chest split in two and it vanished.
The predator that had been playing with its prey suddenly tore the victim apart in one blow.
Nam Seo-hee missed the girl's movement for a split second, and then the Mentis's chest was split.
The girl who had ripped the Mentis apart turned around.
Shudder—!!
Meeting those blue, vertically slit pupils, truly like a beast's, sent a chill racing across Nam Seo-hee's entire body.
The look was hostile, unmistakably so.
And Nam Seo-hee easily figured out the reason.
'...It's absurd, but...'
The summoner completely blocks external and internal noise. But if the opponent had the ability to ignore that and hear sounds...
"Damn, what an ugly glare."
"......."
The snowy girl exited the summoner, radiating a menacing aura, and walked straight toward Nam Seo-hee and Park Cheol-min.
The distance closed quickly.
"What, looks like she's about to throw a punch..."
Slap—!!
A crisp sound rang out, and Park Cheol-min tumbled loudly to the floor.
All eyes, including the proctor's, turned toward where Nam Seo-hee and Park Cheol-min were.
Even the snowy girl, Baek Ha-na, who had been advancing, stopped short with a startled look and stared blankly at Nam Seo-hee, the one who had slapped Park Cheol-min across the face.
Ignoring all the attention completely, Nam Seo-hee shook the mana from her palm and faced Baek Ha-na with a very serious expression.
"I have no relation whatsoever with this guy."
A fluffy tail. She absolutely did not want to give up on it.