Second Year, Second Semester
Second Year, Second Semester
The Tower of Bitter Cold launched an invasion.
The Tower Master of Bitter Cold descended upon A-rin's body and tried to kill me. I sent him packing — half-crippled.
Physically, I died once. And came back as a fairy.
The Tower of the Dead launched an invasion.
The Tower Master of the Dead forced his way in and tried to kill me. With help from many, I drove the Five Ends into him and killed the Tower Master of the Dead.
'All of that happened during a single vacation.'
It's now the second semester of second year. Every one of those events happened beforehand.
I could hardly believe it.
In the original story, this is still the phase where I'd be pouring everything into growth. At the latest, it's the period when I'd be cautiously considering dipping my toes into outside activities.
And yet, at that same point in the original, in reality I've already killed one Tower Master and smashed another.
'The other catastrophes haven't even broken out yet.'
2nd-Rank monsters. Monsters of comparable danger levels.
Dungeon outbreaks sprouting up everywhere and the African Demon Realm's stirrings. Even incidents arising among humans themselves.
The things that should have happened before the towers' invasions — two Tower Masters' invasions broke out ahead of them all.
We've deviated too far to compare this to the original anymore.
That said, the original's information hasn't become useless. Still, it sent a chill down my spine to realize, anew, that if I'd stayed on the original's growth curve, I would have been completely screwed.
'If I'd stuck to the original growth curve, not even the 11th Iteration or the 12th Iteration could have stopped this...'
The world wouldn't have ended.
The constraints our own Tower Masters placed on the opposition still hold, and this world's military strength remains intact, after all.
There would have been enormous sacrifices. But it would have been faster for me — growing safely at Siyoram — to wreck the Tower Masters later, compared to letting the world fall. That was, in fact, our Tower Masters' plan.
'Thank goodness.'
Truly, thank goodness I grew faster than the Tower Masters' plan.
It made things incredibly hard on me personally, but we managed to keep the number of casualties nearly zero.
I was able to protect the people of the Taesan and Azure Sea families. A-rin and Lee Ji-yeon, too.
Of course, the Tower Masters' plan would have been far safer and more comfortable. But for me, this outcome was the best one.
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
"Pffb."
A finger pressed firmly into my cheek and an odd sound came out. I could see the hand. The culprit was Ellia, sitting right next to me, grinning ear to ear.
"Just... things I have to do moving forward."
"It's barely the start of the semester and you're already thinking about work?"
Ellia slightly narrowed her eyes.
"Pff."
"She's right. You pushed yourself way too hard all through the vacation. Shouldn't you be resting and having fun for a good while now?"
From the other side, another approaching finger pressed into my cheek.
A white, slender finger. I could see this one too. A-rin, resting her chin on her hand, kept prodding my cheek repeatedly.
"You still haven't even returned to your physical body. What are you going to do if you overdo it for nothing and something goes wrong?"
"I'll be back in it soon, so it's fine."
"Who's going to believe it when you say it's fine, Ha-yul?"
"......"
I had no comeback for that. The moment I firmly shut my mouth, laughter sounded from both sides.
"Tsk."
I also heard a tongue click. It was Yeon-hwa, sitting in the seat next to A-rin.
"Why click your tongue on such a nice day?"
"Why do you think? Because you two are tormenting someone who's keeping to himself."
Yeon-hwa, eyes sharp with irritation, glared at A-rin. A-rin smoothly deflected the gaze and shrugged.
"Oh-ho? Tormenting, she says. I'm simply looking after my lord husband."
"Lord husband... listen to her running her mouth."
"Then what should I call him, if not lord husband? Husband? My man? Honey?"
At those low, whispered words, Yeon-hwa's eyebrows twitched. A-rin giggled and turned back toward me. Her blue eyes curved like crescent moons.
"Which title do you prefer, Ha-yul? Or would you like me to keep calling you 'dear'~ just as before?"
"Stop teasing me..."
"Aha? So you do like the current title, I see. My, you have such steadfast tastes."
A-rin didn't even wait for a real answer before deciding one on her own.
Mischievously. And softly. A-rin, smiling, turned her head away again. She was back to bickering with Yeon-hwa.
Watching that, I let out a small laugh.
'I'm glad their relationship is still the same.'
I'd worried that A-rin, freed from her curse, might grow distant with the people around her. It had been a pointless worry.
In hindsight, it was obvious.
This was A-rin, who had handled all her relationships with ease even while her emotions were suppressed. She was never someone I — with my total lack of social skill — needed to worry about in the first place.
'...Hmm.'
Yeon-hwa and A-rin, bickering. A familiar sight, but still one that drew eyes.
However, the attention of the cadets in the lecture hall wasn't on those two's squabbling. It was directed at me.
Those gazes were distinctly different from before the vacation.
I'm used to cadets' gazes shifting after a vacation, but this change was the most dramatic by far.
'My purpose was revealed, so I suppose that figures.'
Why select the first-ever Special Admission Cadet at this particular time?
The question that had pervaded public discourse was now answered.
A means to fend off invading Outer-realm Tower Masters.
Siyoram's first Special Admission Cadet. The reason behind the unprecedented preferential treatment from the Association and the Observation Corps had been dragged into the light.
Their eyes were bound to change. That much was easy to see.
- Squeeze...
Then, the hand I'd placed on my desk was wrapped in warmth.
"Yeon-hwa?"
"What are you going to make for dinner tonight?"
Yeon-hwa had tugged my hand into hers and suddenly asked about the dinner menu. I tilted my head.
"...Is there something you'd like to eat?"
"How about dakgalbi? I passed an ad for it on the way. Looked good."
"All right, I'll make dakgalbi for dinner too."
"What should we do after lunch? It's the first day so we've all got free time. Before the afternoon lecture, maybe a park..."
"Oh, that sounds great! We haven't gotten to wander around the second-year section yet. Should we go with Seo-yul?"
"How about the lakeside park next door? I heard it's smaller but the facilities are decent."
Still fiddling with my hand, Yeon-hwa kept the conversation going.
Before I knew it, Ellia and A-rin had chimed in too, keeping the chatter flowing.
Whenever I started to drift off into other thoughts, they'd speak to me again or poke my cheek or hand, holding my attention captive.
"...Heehee."
As the conversation rolled on without leaving me an opening to answer, a soft smile spread across my face.
Even though the gazes around me — the ones that found me intimidating — didn't bother me in the slightest.
.
.
.
Before long, every cadet of the Ipha Class was seated.
Soon after, our supervising instructor, Professor Liana, arrived as well.
"Beginning of Spring... ah, old habits. Cadets of the Ipha Class? Did everyone have a good vacation?"
Professor Liana, standing at the podium, gave an awkward laugh.
"Honestly, I had a very busy vacation. Yes... as for why it was so rough — the cadets who've just finished closed chamber training will know all too well, so let's move on."
At her nonchalant shrug, a few cadets let out small laughs.
Only then did Professor Liana's awkward smile relax. She tapped the podium.
"As ever, there are announcements, but you're already in the second semester of your second year. You've spent three terms at Siyoram now, so I expect you all know the drill without me going into detail. Still, do check the posted announcements at least once."
- Clap
Professor Liana drew attention with a light clap, then smiled brightly.
"There is one announcement I do need to explain. The announcement you've all been expecting... is, of course..."
Oong! Above Professor Liana's head, a large hologram flickered to life.
[Mentoring Practice]
"A schedule you all experienced last year, isn't it? The Mentoring Practice that paired you with the second-years... who are now third-year seniors. It's come back around, right on cue, for this second semester."
Siyoram traditionally holds Mentoring Practice during the second semester.
First-years pair with second-years. Third-years pair with fourth-years.
"Which means, this time, your position changes. The turn to offer guidance has come to you. Just as the seniors who guided you did last year!"
Professor Liana twirled her finger, and the hologram scrolled through its slides.
"I trust everyone remembers the procedure. It's conducted between first- and second-years, and you may each designate your counterpart. And of course, remember that you are allowed to refuse!"
Since this was an important section, Professor Liana poured effort into her explanation.
Watching her, I blinked.
'Last year, I was on the receiving end, with Senior Lee Ji-yeon.'
Now I was a second-year myself. And I was the one on the giving end — teaching a first-year.
Time really flies.
Just a little over a year.
Even so, my growth in that time, and the events that have happened to the world — you'd believe me if I said they'd taken several years.
"This week is the application period! It overlaps with the course registration period, so keep that in mind, and please decide carefully throughout this week!"
The explanation was nearly over.
Around then, I discreetly touched my smartwatch.
- Ding!
A small hologram appeared.
A brand-new product I'd just opened a few days ago. My previous smartwatch vanished without a trace while I was fighting the Tower Master of Bitter Cold.
The account was the same, so my past records and settings remained.
I swiped through the hologram to find the mail app.
Among countless apps, the mail app was shaped like a warehouse.
[(New!)999+]
...The warehouse looked about ready to burst. The image of letters poking out through the seams of its triangular roof was terribly pitiful.
Couldn't be helped. I'd had no time to tidy up my emails recently.
Making needless excuses to myself, I sorted the mail by newest first.
[Regarding Mentoring, from Kang Yeo-wool, First-Year Usu Class]
[To Senior Lee Ha-yul, I'd like to apply for Mentoring!]
[This is Anuk van Dijk of the First-Year Gogu Class. I wish to apply for Mentoring with Senior Lee Ha-yul...]
As expected, the emails were packed with mentoring requests.
'...No matter how tough things are, are they just putting down a mentor name at random?'
The explanations had only just ended — in many lecture halls, they were probably still underway. They must have written these emails in advance.
"Wow... just how many people is that."
"It's still going up."
Beside me, Ellia had been peeking at my hologram and murmured in wonder.
Indeed, the emails were stacking up one by one.
"Our dear's popularity is simply sky-high."
"A-rin, you're probably getting flooded with mentoring requests too."
"Oh, as if I could match the hero who annihilated two Outer-realm Tower Masters?"
Smirking, A-rin poked my cheek repeatedly. I let her tease my cheek while I moved my fingers.
'Hmm...'
My fingers hesitated for a moment.
Some emails might have been sent carelessly — just someone taking a shot at fruit out of reach. But others might contain sincere effort.
If time allowed, I'd read and reply to each one, but I already had too much on my plate...
Swallowing an odd sense of guilt, I scrolled further and further down.
'There they are.'
Most of the emails were mentoring-related. After scrolling past them for a while, I found the messages I'd been looking for.
Those emails, too, had only just arrived recently.
[Lee Ha-sol / First-Year Ipchun Class / Mentoring Application]
[Daera / Junior disciple, I'm hungry, what are we eating for lunch?]
It was a bit unfair to the other applicants, but my mentoring partners had already been decided.
I checked the messages, pulled up the mentoring application form, and wrote in both their names without much deliberation.