81. What Color Are You?
81. What Color Are You?
81. What Color Are You?
I was on patrol around the academy, same as any other day.
While walking, I reviewed course material to prep for the upcoming exam.
The Hero Academy holds a comprehensive exam once a semester.
First-years take it twice.
Anyone who scores below the cutoff gets expelled. No mercy.
The academy's excellent facilities are reserved strictly for students who clear the bar.
"Haa..."
"Something on your mind?"
The moment I sighed, Lee Seol-ha spoke up.
She and I were holding hands as we walked our patrol.
After some distance,
she'd grown used to patrolling with her eyes closed,
and as long as they stayed shut, she didn't seem to mind being near me.
"Lee Seol-ha, how are your grades?"
"Pretty good. They'd be even better if one person weren't around."
Eyes still shut, Lee Seol-ha pulled a face.
She's stuck in perpetual second place behind Yu Ha-yeon, who holds the top spot.
It didn't look like those two were going to become friends any time soon.
Watching her stew even in second place, I let out another sigh.
'My grades are borderline failing, and she can't even be happy with second...'
The reality is, if I score low on this comprehensive exam, I fail.
The culprit: high written scores and abysmal practical scores.
I know V. AGE theory cold, but my low stats make combat points hard to earn.
"I just hope I don't fail..."
"No way, you? Fail? With how much you've already shown..."
"Stop. Lee Seol-ha."
Don't raise a flag.
You're going to make it actually look like I'll fail.
Lee Seol-ha caught her slip and covered her mouth.
This is the world of V. AGE.
Flags can matter more than you'd expect.
Just then, Lee Seol-ha's ears perked up.
"By the way, isn't it a little quiet today? There aren't even any people."
"...Yeah. Usually there'd be a few students or staff around."
Zone B is the academy park.
In the evening, after training and dinner, students would stroll here to settle their stomachs.
If they were dating, they'd walk hand in hand.
Worn-out staff would enjoy the scenery with a cup of coffee too.
The park was normally full of people.
But today, strangely, not a soul was in sight.
"Today... it's quiet."
...
A quiet park.
And no one around.
I'd seen this phenomenon in V. AGE before.
'It's finally here. The Hidden Piece.'
After all the effort I'd put into this stroll... I mean, patrol.
The Hidden Piece had refused to show itself as exams drew near.
Only now was it trying to appear before me.
I asked Lee Seol-ha urgently.
"Lee Seol-ha, no one's around, right?"
"P-people? No, but I do hear something..."
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Lee Seol-ha sharpened her focus.
The second she did, she turned her head in a different direction.
"There's one presence over there. But I don't think it's a person. The wind, maybe...?"
One presence.
"Wh-what! Where's it going?!"
"Wait! I'll go check!"
I ran toward the bush she'd indicated.
That had to be the Hidden Piece's presence.
I sprinted to get my hands on anything that could help protect me.
Thud, thud, thud.
My footsteps rang out as I closed in.
I approached the undergrowth, uncertain if it was rustling from the breeze or something inside.
"Found it."
There, on the ground, lay a small mask.
That mask was the Hidden Piece of the Villain Research Club.
The recent string of crimes targeting women on campus...
Every one of them had been the work of this mask.
"That thing's seriously ugly..."
The Mask of Color.
The name can refer to the colors of light,
or to revealing a woman's true colors.
True to its name, the mask wore a lecherous grin.
Its wide, slack-jawed lips stirred something deeply unpleasant.
"Tch. Why would anyone wear something this repulsive."
I picked the Mask of Color up off the ground.
Seeing it up close only made it worse.
It wouldn't be out of place to call it a possessed object.
No, it actually is possessed.
Bracing myself, I pressed the mask against my face.
It squirmed, molding to the contours of my face.
The moment it fully wrapped around me,
a huge urge erupted inside my head.
'Break into the girls' dormitory and steal their underwear...'
'Strip in front of a passing woman...'
A coercive voice rang inside my skull.
So this is how every perpetrator committed those crimes.
Unlike them, though, I had zero intention of listening to the Mask of Color.
"I may fool around, but I don't commit crimes."
Why do you think I raised my Will so much?
Will 8.
I'm not the type to fold under temptations this feeble.
"Wh-what nonsense...! Women...! Humiliate women...! This instant...!"
"...Talk all you want. I still won't be swayed."
I do not engage in vulgar acts like stealing other people's underwear.
If I had to describe myself, I'm closer to a gentleman.
Inside my head, the mask's voice gradually dwindled.
'Debauched memories... Y-you... you like kissing...! And kissing multiple women...!'
...
The mask's voice echoing inside my skull was noisy.
This must be what it feels like to have speakers lodged inside your ears.
I addressed the steadily quieting mask.
"How about you disappear now? I'm busy."
"Y-you piece of trash...! You're a bigger bastard than I am...! You two-timing scum...!"
The mask shouted its impassioned tirade.
But the booming voice faded, bit by bit, until only the quiet whisper of the wind reached my ears.
"Whoa. It's finally gone."
The mask's voice vanished from my face without a trace.
If my Will had been low, I would've submitted.
But from what I recalled, a Will stat over 6 let you resist the mask's temptation and snuff out its influence entirely.
"Well, rotten luck for you."
It just happened to run into me: someone with no real combat strength, but absurdly high Will.
In that sense, the Mask of Color was unlucky.
When I didn't reappear even after some time had passed,
Lee Seol-ha came running toward me from a distance.
'...Why is she so fast?'
She was practically sprinting.
Lee Seol-ha looked genuinely worried.
She stopped a short distance in front of me.
I teased her lightly.
"Were you worried about me?"
"N-no, I wasn't...! You just didn't come back for a while..."
Lee Seol-ha waved her arms in emphatic denial.
Seeing her like that, I let out a quiet laugh.
"Wh-what's so funny...!"
"It's just funny."
Lee Seol-ha flustered.
I used the opening to activate the mask's ability.
The Mask of Color.
It perceives a person's color and gauges their danger level.
Someone dangerous to me ranges from white to black.
The deeper the color, the greater the danger.
What color would Lee Seol-ha be?
My curiosity piqued, I sharpened my focus.
"...Lee Seol-ha."
"Why are you calling me? And why are your eyes like that?"
"No reason. By the way, are you the type to get jealous easily?"
Asking what that was even supposed to mean out of nowhere, Lee Seol-ha blinked at me.
But I'd already seen her color, so I couldn't help asking.
'Seriously, why is Lee Seol-ha navy blue...?'
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, navy.
Lee Seol-ha's color was navy, the same as her hair.
The Mask of Color, which sees only women, had rated her danger level rather high.
She smiled and answered my question.
"No, I don't really get jealous. I'd say I'm pretty open-minded?"
"...Then, let's say you and another girl are eating with your boyfriend, and two pieces of lettuce are stuck together. What if the boyfriend peels them apart for the other girl?"
"I'd want to kill both of them."
Lee Seol-ha answered without a moment's hesitation.
What part of that is "not jealous"?
Evidently, Lee Seol-ha's tolerance for jealousy is about the size of a fingernail.
"...? Did I say something weird?"
"No, it's nothing..."
Lee Seol-ha hadn't caught on to how that sounded.
I left her standing there a moment and said,
"...Shall we keep walking?"
"Sure...!"
Eyes shut, Lee Seol-ha—danger level navy blue—fell in beside me and stayed close.
Today's patrol felt longer than usual.
***
"Hehe...! Si-jun! I studied super hard for the exam! Don't be too surprised when you see my grades!"
"Just don't be surprised by mine, Ha-na."
Ban Ha-na giggled and set off for the academy.
Around her, a pinkish hue danced.
Pink is a mix of red and white.
Since her shade fell between white and red, Ban Ha-na's danger level was fortunately not high.
This was how I'd gauge people's danger levels to raise my survival rate.
A shame it only worked on women, but my odds were still bound to improve considerably.
So, on the way to the academy,
at the spot where I normally waited for Yu Ha-yeon,
Yu Ha-yeon was walking toward me from a distance.
Frozen for a beat with a chill of fear, I spoke to Ban Ha-na.
"Ha-na."
"Hmm? What's up, Si-jun?"
"...I'm just seeing things, right?"
Yu Ha-yeon drew closer and closer.
Her color was giving off an oddly ominous air.
"Si-jun, are you feeling sick this morning?"
"No, that's not it..."
Yu Ha-yeon's color.
Why was I seeing her as violet?
Violet, located just below black.
The future S-rank hero, Yu Ha-yeon, was registering as a violet danger level.
Lost in that thought, I realized Yu Ha-yeon was already standing right in front of me.
She smoothed back her damp, long black hair.
With a smile, she spoke to me.
"Han Si-jun, why's your expression so awful?"
"...It's nothing."
I said that and started toward the academy.
Inside my head, old memories flickered past like a highlight reel.
'...I really am trash, aren't I...?'
I had clearly done something deeply wrong to her.