The Annoying Ones Always Show Up Together

Time slipped by quickly.

And the hour of my promised reunion with Seol Hwaryeon drew near.

The problem, though, is somewhere else entirely.

I stared straight ahead. Professor Song Rahee was watching us from the front of the room.

"This past weekend, Professor Han Byeolyeon, who oversees the alchemy classes, was attacked. The assailant has been identified as a demon."

Not Seol Hwaryeon, then?

If it had been pinned on a demon, the odds were high that it was a staged act. Then again — maybe not. Demons wield tremendous power, but in exchange they lose all restraint. Things change when you get to the upper tiers, of course, but an impatient, hot-blooded demon could very well have gone after Han Byeolyeon.

"Therefore, leaving campus will be prohibited for this week only. Korea Hero Academy exists, in the end, to raise heroes. All of you are still students, and students must be protected."

Song Rahee stopped there and fixed her gaze squarely on me.

"Well then, everyone enjoy your weekend. Hell begins next week, after all."

With a witch's cackle, Song Rahee swept out of the room.

"Ugh, I seriously hate the practical exams."

"We'll manage fine enough. Honestly, I feel worst for the top-ranked kids who end up drawing Lee Seoha."

At someone's remark, the whole room flinched.

Hong Yuhwa was glaring at me with smoldering eyes. Kim Seohyun was looking at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me like she wanted nothing more than to trade blows with me. And Erciel was watching me with an expression of deep, unmistakable distaste.

Well, to be fair, Erciel's matchup against me is about as extreme as it gets.

If Erciel ever truly let loose, she could beat even Kim Seohyun — but her primary power is illusion. Against the Heaven-Defying Physique, especially, that's a hard counter.

Conversely, I must absolutely never fight Kim Ara. She's tough enough to take my Heaven-Defying qi head-on and keep swinging, and strong enough that if she closes the distance, she'll crush me flat with raw strength.

Kim Seohyun is a headache too. Martial artists are supposed to be vulnerable to wide-area attacks — that guy has no such weakness. He inherited a thousand years of murim history wholesale: no flaws, nothing but strengths.

My second-least-favorite opponent to fight, right after Kim Ara.

Ideally, I'd just want a mage.

I was mulling this over, scanning the room, when I spotted a blond ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boy standing in the doorway.

……Ah right, him. Forgot he existed.

"Ho ho. So you're the famous top ranker."

A voice brimming with confidence, dripping with self-assurance.

"The hell? Why is a guy from another class in here?"

"There's no law against another class visiting, is there?"

Utterly unmoved by Park Unhyeok's growling, the blond boy went on.

He really is a strange one. He passed seventh — but he is not the seventh-strongest. In the Tower of Ordeals, he met the one being who could truly be called his natural enemy, and he brought it down. And then, for the sake of the thing he had slain, he offered a prayer.

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Saint Royalrose. A holy knight, come from Heaven."

He was also number three on my personal list of people who were a pain in the ass.

……Emotion.

Nearly every stat sat at 25.

His talents were a pile of skills that practically screamed look at me, I'm a holy knight.

His art was Spectrum Swordsmanship, a light-wielding sword style. I wanted to ask how a holy knight was supposed to learn martial arts in the first place — but that technique was one Heaven had developed all on its own.

That one is a genuine nuisance.

On my team, he'd be an iron wall. Facing him, he's more annoying than anyone alive. His nickname is the Holy Cockroach — because no matter how many times you beat him down, he clings to you like a roach and refuses to die.

"Pleased to meet you."

I shook the offered hand, and Saint grinned wide.

"I can feel it — you're the same kind of existence as I am."

"Don't think so."

"Do you too find the world a bore?"

"No. The world's full of interesting things."

The conversation kept missing each other, two ships running along different horizons.

That's just what the character called Saint Royalrose is.

Divinity, by its nature, is power gained by believing in yourself and offering that faith up to a divine being. So those people have egos carved from bedrock. And among them, Saint Royalrose was a special breed of eccentric — a man who lived drunk on his own magnificence, basking in his own towering self-regard.

"Do you not resent a world with so few beings of singular, peerless caliber like ourselves? I knew it — you felt the same."

"Mm-hm," Saint nodded along to himself.

You little shit.

Would it kill you to actually listen to people…

"So, using this opportunity, let me declare it. Next week, in the practical exams — during the mock duels — I will name you as my opponent."

"I see."

I'd suspected it from the moment Saint showed up at this classroom. That smug bastard doesn't spare a thought for ordinary people, but he pays obsessive attention to anyone he deems exceptional.

"Sorry, but first pick is mine."

A voice that simmered like live coals. Sweeping her crimson hair back, Hong Yuhwa spoke with cool, imperious composure.

"Ah — the Red Tower Lord's granddaughter."

"That's right. I take first, you take second. Apologies, but I called dibs."

"Haven't you never once beaten the top ranker, though? There you have it — a loser's record. This time, I go first."

"Sorry, but first is me."

While Hong Yuhwa and Saint were locked in their standoff, Kim Seohyun appeared and cut in.

"I want to go a round with Seoha too. I've done nothing but lose so far, see."

Hong Yuhwa shot Kim Seohyun a withering, haughty glare.

"Haah… fine. This once, I shall graciously yield."

Behind her, Park Unhyeok declared with an air of supreme arrogance — and was, oddly enough, quietly relieved.

And my opinion in all this……?

The practical assessment began.

The venue was a colossal circular structure, something like a domed coliseum. On the way there, I stumbled onto a rather strange scene.

"Seol Hwaryeon. Why did you try to leave campus over the weekend?"

"I-I had… hck… an important… hic… appointment, sir."

Seol Hwaryeon was speaking in a voice on the verge of outright sobbing. Her face was a portrait of a soul cursing the entire world — so much so that Instructor Seo Wooju wondered for a moment if this really was some critical appointment, and if perhaps he had done something wrong.

"Rules are rules. Seol Hwaryeon, five demerit points."

Watching the scene, I thought: …She really was going to bolt, huh.

Maybe her feelings toward this Elder weren't as ordinary as I'd assumed.

I walked over to Seol Hwaryeon, kneeling in the corner and sniffling. I had decided on a well-meaning lie.

"You — hng — what do you want."

"……That masked man from before. He had a message for you."

"W-wha—?! R-really?!"

Seol Hwaryeon's expression flipped in an instant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— from tearful despair to blazing brightness. I found myself nodding before I knew it, and handed over the spare phone number I'd jotted down in advance.

"A n-number?"

"Yeah. The masked man said to contact him here."

"F-for real? The El— …did he truly say that?"

"……Yeah."

With that, I swiftly turned and strode off toward the practical assessment grounds.

The practical assessment was, in a sense, an arena of opportunity. You were judged as a hero, and a strong showing there opened doors to the best places. Take Hong Yuhwa, granddaughter of the Red Tower's Magus Lord; Park Unhyeok, heir to a famous chaebol dynasty; Erciel, born to a family holding an English earldom. Catch their eye — or the eye of powers like them — and your future smooths out overnight. That was why everyone would throw everything they had into it.

Maybe that was why the assessment grounds were packed and buzzing. Some were studying their rivals through narrowed, nervous eyes; others sat in silent meditation, steadying their minds.

I leisurely popped a yakgwa sweet into my mouth.

"Attention, everyone! The practical assessment begins now."

Instructor Seo Wooju stepped forward and brought the students to order.

"Students will duel one by one in the order displayed on that board. We'll start with the highest-ranked. Student Lee Seoha — step forward."

At the call, I stepped up.

With the exception of the year's top ranker, everyone else could name their own opponent for the mock duel. Picking someone with a favorable matchup against you costs you points; naming a dangerous opponent earns them. The same logic applied to rank. But the year's top ranker must always be flawless — so their opponent is decided at random from the top ten.

Everyone swallowed hard and stared at the board.

The board spun.

First, the nine names of those who had cleared the Tower of Ordeals scrolled past, in order of completion. And then, at last, a single name emerged.

Tch. Had to be the annoying one.

Saint beamed radiantly, traced a cross in the air with one hand, and offered a prayer.

A forest of skyscrapers — a skyline of soaring towers stacked shoulder to shoulder. And from the tallest of them all, a figure stood surveying the city below.

The man's appearance was grotesque. He towered well past five meters, and bat-like wings spread from his back.

The Seven Evils. One of their number — the being called Fierce Evil — gazed down at the city from atop the tower.

"Even here, observation is impossible. Curious. Did the Emperor leave a star behind?"

Fierce Evil frowned at the mystery, then shook his head. It hardly mattered. The Emperor would have to bring every last star to him sooner or later. And if he failed to bring them all? Why, that would simply be Fierce Evil's chance to kill him.

Fierce Evil reached a hand toward the sky — a sky without a single cloud.

And there, space began to warp.

Keiiiiing—

The air itself seemed to crumple inward.

Krak-krak-krak-krak.

Like shattering glass, the sky began to break apart.

Passersby stared up at the grotesque phenomenon with hollow, stunned faces.

What Fierce Evil had done was simple. He had applied force. That act alone was enough to tear and shatter space.

"To begin with, something light… hmm?"

Something snagged on his transcendent senses.

Fierce Evil tilted his head — and there it was: an arrow, cutting past him.

He traced its trajectory.

The artificial island in the East Sea, home of Korea Hero Academy — a distance of well over five hundred kilometers. And from the highest tower on that island, a man was drawing a bow, aimed directly at him.

One of the Emperor's stars. The wielder of the Heaven-Piercing Arrow that pierces through space itself — for him, the word range was meaningless.

Fierce Evil grinned until his face split, and kicked off into the empty air.