Rejecting the Golden Lifeline
Becoming a professor's exclusive teaching assistant—what people commonly call a "grad student"—at the Disaster Salvation Academy carried far more weight among cadets than one might think.
It wasn't just about having a solid backer in that professor; it meant accessing an entirely different level of privileges within the academy.
Top-tier private training rooms that regular cadets could barely reserve were standard issue. Access to restricted confidential archives, and the freedom to use multimillion-won magic engineering tools or potions under the guise of research budgets.
Depending on the professor's discretion, you could even snag a free pass exempting you from tedious common practical classes or assignments.
Of course, the downside was drowning in the professor's endless errands and research grunt work until you dropped dead.
Even factoring in those nightmarish risks, the TA spot was an irresistible golden lifeline for any cadet drooling over it.
After all, the academy's countless elite cadets were desperate to catch a full professor's eye just once—that was the ecosystem here.
"I'll pass."
But.
"I already have a professor in mind."
"......Well, now."
Kang Dongsu's face went blank for a moment at my firm declaration.
But he quickly brushed off the singed hem of his clothes from the lightning strike and let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"Haha, what a guy. How many days since enrollment, and you've already lined up your connections? I knew you weren't ordinary, but this is next level~"
True to his veteran hunter experience through hell and back, he stepped back with a clean, relaxed demeanor.
"Whoever it is, looks like I was a step too late. Well, if you're that set on it, can't be helped. You're the one kicking away the gift that fell into your lap, Cadet Yoo Dohyun—so no crying later if you regret it~"
"No regrets here."
"That guts of yours is the one thing I like~"
Kang Dongsu smirked and nodded.
Then he scanned the clearing, where the acrid smell of lightning still lingered, flashed a grin, and turned away.
"Anyway, enough chit-chat. Time to go~"
"......Go where?"
"Where else? Don't we have to announce how many dungeons you cleared?"
"...Pardon?"
They were going to make it public?
"First-year Yoo Dohyun and Seol Eunha's team. Cleared 11 Tutorial Dungeons in one hour."
Kang Dongsu's amplification magic boomed across the dozens of cadets gathered in front of the already-conquered dungeon.
The moment that unprecedented record was read aloud.
A deathly silence fell over the plaza like a bucket of ice water, and I got to fully savor the sight of the cadets collectively dropping their jaws in shock.
......No wonder the spotlight felt way too intense.
Of course, eight out of ten awestruck stares were aimed not at me, but at Eunha standing beside me.
Never really get used to eyes like these, no matter how many times.
Even walking the halls, the prickly stares boring into my back made me let out a small sigh.
I already had my fill of admiration and obsession from Eunha and Seoa.
I'm not the type built to handle that kind of grandeur.
Unable to bear the onslaught of attention, I quietly veered off course.
Escaping the hallway teeming with rowdy, hot-blooded Martial Arts Department guys, I headed toward the Magic Department building like I was fleeing.
Largely to dodge the stares, but also to check something in person.
Make sure Ha Yuseong's face is okay, and see if Number One's actually doing her job.
If I caught Yuseong being mistreated somewhere or Number One slacking off against my orders.
Down she'd go from 'Slave Number One' to an even lower rank on the spot.
......Is there even a rank below that?
Lost in such trivial thoughts, I arrived at the large lecture hall for the Magic Department.
Peering quietly through the crack in the back door of the massive combined-classroom that seated dozens, killing my footsteps.
Instead of the usual break-time clamor, an eerie chill hung over the room.
"......"
At the far back row, in a dim corner seat. A girl with striking long white hair draped over the desk lay sprawled out.
Ha Yuseong, barely breathing, looking like everything was too much hassle.
And beside her. Standing ramrod straight, an intruder whose vibe was light-years apart from hers.
"Hey. You......"
My exclusive Slave Number One, Lee Yeji.
She clutched an expensive mana-recovery sandwich from the vending machine, glaring down at Yuseong with a stiff face.
"......Eat this."
"......"
"It's bread with top-grade mana recovery potion in it. You'd better eat it all, or else—er, it'll be good for you."
She was fumbling hard at this unfamiliar errand-boy routine.
Her voice trembled somewhere between threat and plea, lost in the middle.
"......Haaaah."
Yuseong lifted her disheveled head, fixing her sleepy heterochromatic eyes on Yeji.
Those weird blue-and-pink irises brimmed with annoyance at her constant second-seat-from-Class-One babysitting since first period.
"......Why're you doiiiing thiiiis."
"Wh-what do you mean?!"
"You've been bugging me all moooorning... Did I do something to youuu...? No point in hanging with someone like meee...."
Yeji's face twitched visibly at Yuseong's drowsy, resigned drawl.
Her elite pride screamed to chuck the sandwich, but.
"Ahem...!"
Yeji swallowed her shame, face red as a tomato.
"I just picked it up on the way! Shut up and eat every bite—no, please finish it! You think I'm doing this 'cause I like it?!"
"......?"
Finally snapping, Yeji slammed the sandwich on Yuseong's desk with a thud.
But her hand eased at the last second to avoid squishing the contents—textbook tsundere.
"Isn't that Class One's second seat?"
"Why's Lee Yeji acting like that with Class Five's bottom?"
"Total shuttle vibes? Pfft, Class One second seat as Class Five's bread shuttle."
The blatant whispers leaking from around the room scraped at her sensitive nerves.
Her head whipped around just shy of exploding from humiliation.
"What? Got nothing better to do than gawk?! Scram!"
Her venomous shout echoed through the lecture hall.
"Eyes down! If you've got time to meddle in others' business since morning, crack open a textbook instead! All mouth and no skill!"
Whether from her Class One second-seat intimidation or pure rage, the murmurers flinched and turned away in unison.
"Haa, damn... What a pain."
Muttering and sweeping back her hair, Yeji's retreating back drew a quiet "Ooh" from me behind the wall.
Nice.
Fiery temper aside, exceeding expectations.
Mission accomplished: ensure Class Five's absolute bottom, Yuseong, doesn't get sidelined in Magic classes.
I wiped the smirk off my face and casually stepped into the room.
"Number One, not bad."
My voice made her shoulders jump visibly.
The aura that had dominated the room vanished; she turned with a dumbstruck look.
"......Y-Yoo Dohyun? What're you doing here?"
"What else? Supervising my precious slave's work."
I nodded at the sandwich on Yuseong's desk.
"'Picked it up on the way'? That's ancient history. If you're gonna tsundere, study up more."
"......!"
Her face flushed crimson at the blatant tease.
"......You saw all that?"
"Yup. The 'scram!' part was especially impressive."
"Argh, seriously......!"
She bit her lip, clenching her fists to suppress the shame.
Looked ready to scream, but aware of the eyes around, she barely held it in.
Then, Yuseong slowly lifted her head from the desk.
"Dohyuuun...?"
"Yeah, it's me. Sleep well?"
I shoved the sandwich Yeji had left into Yuseong's gaping mouth as she stared up blankly.
"Mmph, mmf......"
Stuffed full without warning, Yuseong puffed her cheeks like a crucian carp. I patted her drowsy head and added casually.
"Yuseong, she's rough-mouthed and thuggy, but she's solid at looking after people. Get along from now on—she'll take good care of you."
"Who're you calling thuggy, you psycho!"
Yeji bellowed, her Class One dignity long forgotten, face twisted.
But I just shrugged leisurely, unfazed by the firestarter role.
Realizing retorts were pointless against my shameless calm, she clutched her bag strap like it might snap.
"I fed her the sandwich and stuck by her all morning—job done! Not doing more! No way, even if I die!"
Leaving that near-surrender cry, Yeji kicked open the back door and stormed into the hall.
Savoring the sharp slam, I watched Number One's back with satisfaction.
How'd a mentally fragile kid like that pick a fight at the entrance ceremony?
Go figure.
As the commotion died, surrounding cadets returned to their business, leaving only Yuseong munching the sandwich, cheeks twitching.
I propped my chin on the empty seat beside her, staring straight into her hazy heterochromia as she finally swallowed.
"Yuseong. Remember the text I sent yesterday?"
"......Yeeah, yup. I remember buuut...."
My words made her body stiffen noticeably.
Head bowed, fiddling her shirt hem till it stretched, no trace of her usual drowsiness—ears to white nape flushed red.
No clue why she was so tense, but time and place needed settling, so I spoke up.
Yuseong inhaled deeply, like she'd steeled herself, and opened her mouth too.
"About what you mentioned yesterday. Not after school, but now......"
"Waaait, even so, a date alreeady......"
"......"
"......"
A split-second silence. Our mismatched words clashed in the air.
Date?
I narrowed my eyes slightly, staring blankly at her.
Yuseong blinked her heterochromia slowly, processing my "business" word.
"......Huh?"
Her eyes lost focus, quivering finely.
"B-buusiness......? Not a daaate......?"
"You chased me down yesterday saying you had something to ask. Came to hear what first."
"......Oh."
My dry response left her lips half-open.
Finally, the puzzle in her head clicked into place. She'd been the one seeking me out for business.
Forgot clean, fixated on "just us two," rolling in bed all night with her own misunderstanding.
Aaah...... I, I alooone......
Overwhelming shame welled in her eyes.
"......Aaaah."
She let out a wail like she might cry and flopped face-first onto the desk, burying her flushed face between her arms.
Her ears poking through white hair burned scarlet, ready to burst.
Unable to even scream, just quietly hiding—oddly like a small animal.
I gazed at her round head, deep in thought.
......Pretty sure I know what she imagined.
Was "just us two" bad word choice for a date invite?
Come to think, yesterday when I shoved my phone for her number, Seoa behind me covered her mouth, and Taesan babbled about "true man snagging a number from his crush right away."
......Hmm.
I'm not that oblivious.
Maybe 'cause they're teens fresh into the academy—their heads are flower fields.
"So, Yuseong. What was the business from yesterday?"
My casual nudge made her shoulders twitch, fused to the desk.
After much fidgeting, she peeked only her eyes over her arm at me.
Face still beet-red, but pushing to talk somehow.
"Uuuuh...... On entrance ceremony daaay......"
"Entrance ceremony?"
"Yeeah. When you fought that Class One second seat and her crew... I saaw you deflect all their magic with one tree braaanch......"
Yuseong swallowed dryly, voice trembling faintly as she continued.
"Sooo. I thought maybe you could deflect my curse toooo......"
Curse.
I mulled the word from her mouth, quietly meeting her hazy heterochromia.
Ha Yuseong. Ether Frontier's first disaster.
Her horrific power wasn't standard magic to begin with.
A blind curse triggering the instant she drew mana. Indiscriminate catastrophe across her and the surroundings—a total outlier phenomenon.
Unpredictable scale. From tripping hazards to massive natural disasters, even humanity-ending calamities, purely random.
Problem is, it ignores all logic.
A reality-warping ability, skewed solely toward destruction.
That's why Yuseong hadn't properly used magic since enrollment.
The reason a world-ending time bomb lurked quietly at Class Five's bottom.
"Siiiince you deflected magic without physical form toooo......"
She gazed up desperately.
"Maybe you could parry the curse itself when I draw mana? Even if not, maybe parry disasters around me so our side doesn't get hurt......"
That's why she'd sought me.
Clutching a slim hope that my bizarre technique—physically reflecting even invisible magic—might break her lifelong curse shackles.
Grasping at straws.
She loved magic more than anyone, after all.
Adored and yearned for it most, yet destroyed surroundings the moment she channeled mana—a cruel irony.
The reason she fell as the first disaster in the original story stemmed from that pure longing.
A pitiful boss who faded bearing unwanted tragedy. Why I picked Ha Yuseong as my sore-spot favorite in this shit game—her bittersweet arc.
I watched her anxiously gauging my eyes, lips twitching.
Right now, she just wanted me as a safety net—block ally damage when disaster struck.
But knowing all this world's hidden pieces, I had a far more fundamental solution.
"Yuseong."
"......Yeeah?"
"Just parrying or blocking the curse isn't a real fix. You're not gonna trail me forever to use magic."
"Aah......"
Her hazy eyes dimmed at my firm words.
"But I do have one idea."
"......Iiiidea?"
"Yeah. Got a technique in mind."
An unfinished parry tech, perfected in theory in-game but never tested live.
If I could hijack its quirky mechanics against that blind curse......
"Not stopping the disaster—but maybe help you control the power itself?"
I might turn the First Disaster to my side.