The Entrance Ceremony
In the original story, Choi A-rin had enrolled at the Academy.
Her reason for enrolling back then, though, had been closer to necessity than ambition. After "that surgery," parts of her body had changed in ways that weren't normal, and surviving meant she had no other choice. If she didn't periodically discharge mana, her condition would deteriorate — so she entered the Academy to learn about mana and to search for a way to restore her ruined body.
In the original, she had maintained a cold, detached attitude throughout. But she had always been gentle by nature, and thanks to the positive butterfly effect I'd set in motion, her personality had shifted in a much better direction.
Was it this much, though…?
If someone asked whether she needed to come running over and throw her arms around me just because we hadn't seen each other in a while — well, I honestly wasn't sure.
"Uh… I'm glad to see you too, but there are people around, so…"
I glanced sideways at Lee Yeon-hui standing behind me, and at Min Gyeong-ho, who had just opened the door and still had his hand on the handle.
"O-oh…"
With an awkward reply, she pulled away from my side. Watching her grow embarrassed a beat too late, I figured her excitement had simply gotten the better of her.
"So you got into the Academy?"
"Yeah. I'm a freshman starting today too."
The way she proudly showed off her uniform made a laugh slip out of me before I could stop it. Choi A-rin had once told me she wanted to be useful to me, and she'd asked whether honing her abilities would help. I'd said yes at the time.
I just never expected her to go and pass out of nowhere.
We'd been in regular contact, but I only heard about her Academy acceptance after the second-round results came out. Apparently she hadn't wanted to say anything only to have to report that she'd failed.
"The entrance ceremony's in the auditorium. What are you doing all the way out here?"
"I saw you going in, so I chased after you."
The little hehe she let out made her look like a kid who'd just pulled off a successful prank. Having her at the Academy would make things easier for me in a lot of ways — but I hadn't wanted to narrow the options of a Choi A-rin who was finally free, and part of me had hoped she'd choose something else.
Still, she made the decision and passed on her own. I don't have any right to stop her.
I was glad to see her after so long, but it was about time I got going, so I started to say goodbye.
"I've got something to take care of, so I just stopped by—"
"Park Yeon-chan."
Lee Yeon-hui had somehow already reached my back. She tugged on my clothes and cut me off.
"Hurry up. The Association President is waiting."
"Ah, right."
As I said it, I stole a glance at Yeon-hui. There was nothing particular in the way she looked at Choi A-rin. The two of them didn't start moving together until the midsection of the original story, so to the current Yeon-hui, A-rin was nothing more and nothing less than a stranger she barely knew.
"See you later, then."
I waved as Yeon-hui tightened her grip on my collar and started dragging me away.
Then — a firm clasp.
"Huh…?"
A-rin stepped up to me mid-drag, laced her fingers through the hand I was waving, and said,
"See you later."
With that farewell, she slowly let go.
What was that…?
The place we'd stepped into for our talk was the Chairman's office. In practice, the Academy was jointly managed by both the Hunter Association and the Hero Association — but the Hunter Association's president was such a free spirit that Min Gyeong-ho handled nearly all the administrative work himself.
A sofa sat in front of a large desk. Min Gyeong-ho occupied the seat of honor in the center, while Yeon-hui and I took the places on either side of him.
Heavy.
I couldn't put my finger on why, but the atmosphere was unmistakably bad. I was fidgeting over whether I should say something when Min Gyeong-ho leaned slightly toward me and whispered,
"This whole mess is because you were flirting with another girl right in front of your girlfriend, isn't it?"
"What are you talking about? When did I ever flirt? And I think you've been under some kind of misunderstanding for a while now — Yeon-hui is—"
"Flirting…"
The moment Yeon-hui's mouth, which had been shut until then, moved, Min Gyeong-ho and I both flinched and snapped back into proper posture.
"You two seem pretty close."
"A little…?"
I had nothing to feel guilty about. I hadn't done anything wrong. And yet I somehow felt like I needed to answer carefully.
"You looked very close."
"D-did we? We just… kind of crossed paths somehow, and one thing led to another…"
What is this? Why do I sound like a guy who just got caught cheating?
"You are close. Otherwise, what kind of gi— what kind of woman throws herself into someone's arms the second she sees them after a long time?"
Were you about to call her something worse…? Still, she'd corrected herself at the end, so I wanted to believe it had just slipped out.
Honestly, A-rin suddenly hugging me had caught me off guard too. It wasn't the first time — but the previous occasions had been under special circumstances. I could write those off.
I just never expected her to hug me the moment we met.
"I think she was just really happy to see me. She's always had a bright personality."
"That wasn't the person I knew at all."
Yeon-hui was probably comparing her to the version from the previous loop. In the early parts of the novel, before she'd built any bond with Yeon-hui, Choi A-rin had shown nothing but a cold, impassive demeanor.
"Anyway, let's save that for later and finish what we came here for."
Yeon-hui didn't seem to care for this topic, so I tried to move on quickly.
"Why the rush? Don't mind me — feel free to keep talking."
"Haha… The Association President is busy too, so he's saying we should wrap this up."
"Hoho. It's fine, Yeon-chan."
This damn old man refused to cooperate.
— Work with me here, Mr. President. It's not like we have that much time.
— We may not have time, but time has a way of appearing if you make it. Just keep chatting comfortably.
— What part of this looks comfortable to you? Are you going senile already?
— Hoho. That mouth of yours is just like his. My fist is itching to fly.
We were mouthing all of that behind covered lips when—
Knock. Knock.
"Mr. President, it's about time. It would be best if you wrapped up soon."
The secretary's knock and urging voice came through from outside.
"Hrm… A shame, but let's get to the matter at hand first."
A shame? So that was why he'd been dragging this out — he was just entertained watching me suffer. Anyway, thanks to the secretary's clutch play, we could finally discuss why we'd gathered here.
"It won't differ much from the conditions I mentioned last time."
As he spoke, he slid a single sheet of paper toward Yeon-hui and me. The document was titled Permit, with various clauses listed beneath.
"I'll keep the explanation brief."
Min Gyeong-ho picked up the paper, cleared his throat once, and began slowly.
"Yeon-chan and Yeon-hui will be free to enter and exit the Tower under the Academy's management. And with the Academy's approval, you may also select personnel to accompany you, within the limits of Academy students. However — if you abuse these privileges for any misconduct, they can be revoked. And regarding personnel selection, the Academy reserves the right to intervene. Keep that in mind."
Yeon-hui and I both nodded. Min Gyeong-ho looked between us once, then continued.
"And to keep these conditions in place, both of you will need to conduct yourselves in a manner befitting the top and second-ranked students. If you find yourselves at the center of unnecessary disputes, it will be difficult to continue guaranteeing the privileges I just described."
Honestly, that barely even qualified as a warning — it was just common sense. The Academy was already an educational institution that held its own against any other elite school. If its students caused problems outside, the fallout would splash back onto the Academy itself. Its entire reason for existing was to cultivate outstanding Awakened. So if a troublemaker turned out to be an Academy student — and not just any student, but the top or second-ranked one? I could already picture the complaints pouring in. In short: you two especially, don't cause trouble.
"And one last thing. The two of you cannot attend the same campus. Remember that as well."
Figures.
The Academy currently operated three campuses — two in the capital region and one in Busan. Cases where the top and second ranks both came out of Busan were different, but when both came from the capital region, the standard practice was to split them across campuses to maintain balance.
For us right now, that's actually ideal.
We needed to keep an eye on both campuses anyway — we still had to catch the spies Freedom had planted inside the Academy. I looked over at Yeon-hui, and she met my eyes and nodded.
"If you understand the above, go ahead and sign."
Min Gyeong-ho wasn't the type to pull underhanded tricks, so there was no real need to be wary. I'd read through the permit myself — nothing beyond what he'd just explained. I picked up the pen beside me and signed immediately.
"Mm. Confirmed."
Min Gyeong-ho took the signed paper, stood, and headed toward his desk.
"You two go on ahead and join the entrance ceremony. I'll process this paperwork and follow."
With a final I'll see you on the stage later, he signaled that the conversation was over.
Rows of chairs filled the spacious auditorium. After the ceremony, everyone would split off to their assigned campuses, but for now we were all gathered in one place — and there were quite a lot of us. Seats were arranged in alphabetical order by name, so Yeon-hui and I ended up sitting apart. I found the seat with my name on it and sat down.
"You're early, Boss."
The familiar voice came from beside me the moment I sat. I turned my head to find Park Jae-hyun in the seat next to mine. Same last name, same alphabetical block — of course we'd been stuck together.
"Hey, are you okay with this many peop—"
His voice sounded surprisingly calm despite the crowd, and I was about to compliment him on how far he'd come when—
"Hey… you…"
The state Jae-hyun was in made me shut my mouth on the spot. A party hat completely covered his entire face. A tiny hole poked through the tip suggested he was looking out through that, and the overall effect was anything but dignified.
"Did you… come here like that?"
"Haha. Come on, Boss, how would I get here looking like this?"
"Right…?"
I let out a sigh of relief at the denial.
"I put it on once I got to the station. Haha."
"……"
An answer that rendered my relief completely meaningless.
Fine… as long as you're happy…
I had plenty to say, but I decided not to bother. I sat there staring at Jae-hyun's bizarre getup until, before long, the entrance ceremony began.
It proceeded step by step in an atmosphere not much different from any ordinary school's entrance ceremony — a welcome from the student council president, greetings from the faculty, and remarks from the Academy's generous sponsors. The one real difference was this:
"—We will now hear a welcome address from the President of the Hero Association and Chairman of the Academy, Chairman Min Gyeong-ho."
"Whoa… it's the Association President."
"His presence is insane."
"Look at those muscles… isn't he almost fifty by now?"
The Chairman's welcome address — the equivalent of a principal's speech — was wildly popular with the students. In Korea, his fame rivaled that of most celebrities, and the students' attention locked onto him at a level nothing so far had come close to matching. The speech itself didn't contain anything particularly special — just that he looked forward to everyone's future achievements. But that alone was enough to fire the students up, and an enthusiastic response erupted through the hall.
"—Next, I will call forward those among our outstanding first-year freshmen who have shone even brighter. Second rank, Lee Yeon-hui. Top rank, Park Yeon-chan. Please come forward."
As we walked up onto the stage, small murmurs of admiration rippled through the students. Probably thanks to Yeon-hui's striking looks. Having that kind of reaction every time people saw you had to be exhausting in its own way.
There wasn't much to do after being called up. We respectfully received the certificates Min Gyeong-ho read out, then bowed to the people seated in a row at the front of the stage. When I returned to my seat, Jae-hyun — who'd been sitting there in that ridiculous party hat — was gone. He'd left a text behind:
This bastard. Does he genuinely not realize how ridiculous he looks? If that's the case, I'm seriously worried…
I let out a small sigh and stared blankly at the stage as the Academy's entrance ceremony wound down. Once it ended, the only thing left was for everyone to board their assigned buses.
"Let's see… number seven. Number seven."
I was scanning the numbers stuck to the bus windows when—
"Park Yeon-chan."
At the sound of my name, I turned. Yeon-hui was walking over from the side.
"I'll leave that side to you. Contact me if anything comes up."
"Yeah. You be careful too."
The Academy ran a full boarding system across its separated campuses, so once we parted ways here, it would be hard to see each other for a while. Yeon-hui had come to say goodbye knowing that.
But then—
"Why are you smiling like that?"
I tilted my head at the look of genuine good humor on Yeon-hui's face.
"No, it's just… originally my head would've been a mess right now, thinking about how I have to do this and that and everything else. But having someone I can say this to… it feels comfortable."
"……"
A regressor, put generously, had the advantage of knowing the future. Flip that around, though, and knowing meant being tormented by the compulsion to stop it all somehow. She'd been fighting that burden alone all this time. It must have been hard.
"You've got me this time. If anything comes up, just say the word. I'll handle it perfectly."
"Well, actually—"
Yeon-hui started to say something, then her gaze shifted past me. I followed it and found Min Ji-won climbing onto a bus at the end of her line of sight.
Unlike Choi A-rin, Min Ji-won was someone Yeon-hui had built a bond with from the start. Originally, Yeon-hui — as the top-ranked student — would have gone to the same campus as Ji-won. But I'd taken the top rank, which left Yeon-hui in a position where forming that relationship would be difficult.
"There's a girl named Min Ji-won. She's my friend, and…"
"Got it."
"I haven't said anything yet."
"I said I'd listen to whatever you asked."
It wouldn't be that hard anyway, I added — and a small smile tugged at the corner of Yeon-hui's mouth.
"She's always stayed my friend. Make sure nothing happens to her. I'm counting on you."
"Got it."
"Thanks. And—"
"Park Yeon-chan!"
Just as Yeon-hui was about to say something more, Choi A-rin came running from behind, calling my name.
"Hey, which campus are you?"
"Gangbuk."
"Ah… so we're split up…"
She must have been running around looking for me — she was gasping for breath as she voiced her disappointment.
"Where's Jae-hyun…? He said hi to me earlier wearing some weird cone hat."
"He said the noise was going to kill him and went to the nurse's office. He's Gangbuk too."
"So I'm the only one left alone…"
Watching A-rin droop dejectedly, a certain idea occurred to me. Since things had turned out this way, wouldn't it be good to pair Yeon-hui and A-rin together?
"She's Gangnam."
I pointed at Yeon-hui with my chin by way of introduction. A-rin's eyes went round with surprise, then she smiled and held out her hand toward Yeon-hui.
"Ah! You're the one who got second rank, right? Nice to meet you."
Had she always been this sociable? But her personality was already so far removed from what it used to be that dwelling on it now was pointless.
"Yeah. Sure."
Yeon-hui didn't seem to have particularly warm feelings toward A-rin from the previous loop — there was a slight chill to her manner — but she accepted the handshake without incident.
"Oh, right! Tell Jae-hyun I'll make that 'stew I cooked at your place' again. When I ran into him earlier, he said he wanted some."
For some reason, I thought she glanced sideways at Yeon-hui while saying that. Was I imagining it?
"Y-yeah. He'll probably drool all over himself."
"And—"
"Park Yeon-chan. My mom said she wants to see you. Drop by sometime if you get the chance."
"Uh, yeah. I will."
It felt oddly like Yeon-hui had cut in on purpose. Surely not?
"And about that favor I asked earlier — I'm glad you'll do it, but."
Yeon-hui, who'd left her previous sentence unfinished, strode right up to me, leaned in close, and brought her lips to my ear.
The ice-cold voice made me flinch and jerk back on instinct.
"Got it?"
Yeon-hui looked at me with a warm, gentle smile.
"Haha…"
After that eventful final exchange, I climbed onto the bus to find I was apparently the last one on — only a single seat remained. With no other choice, I sat in the one open spot, and the guy sitting by the window looked over, smiled, and spoke up.
"Oh? You're the top-ranked guy, right?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa, sitting next to the top rank. Nice to meet you — I'm Lee Ju-won."
A perfectly ordinary greeting. Nothing special about it at all. And yet my body locked up on the spot.
Lee Ju-won gave me a puzzled look, clearly finding my reaction strange. Watching him, I slowly reined in my shock.
"I see. I'm Park Yeon-chan. Good to meet you."
I put on a natural smile and returned the greeting — to the man who would appear as the main villain of the spy episode.