Chapter 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Academy (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With a heavy thud that matched her bulky frame, Anne tumbled across the floor after taking a blow to the gut.
Professor Liliane turned her gaze to Kang Su-ho.
"What about you?"
"Uh... Professor, I have no complaints about learning control techniques."
"Tch... How much mana do you think I used to deflect that girl's attack just now?"
The classroom fell silent.
"Not even a tenth of the mana she used. If anyone still thinks this class is useless, speak up. I'll make you feel it in your bones."
The room stayed quiet.
Professor Liliane scanned the cadets with rigid posture. Her stiff expression looked more like a soldier's than a teacher's. She glanced at the watch on her wrist and spoke.
"Then pick your partners for the semester. You have five minutes."
At her words, the classroom erupted into chatter.
A male cadet mustered his courage and spoke to the girl next to him.
"W-Wanna be partners with me?"
"Ugh... S-Sorry."
The girl grimaced as if she'd been propositioned by a bomb and stood up, hurrying away.
The abandoned guy slumped dejectedly in his seat.
Similar scenes played out everywhere, but the professor stood motionless in her rigid stance.
Si-woo pondered what to do. He had no friends, no one he knew.
'Partners out of nowhere... They should've just assigned them.'
He planned to wait and pair with whoever was left, staying seated. Then someone approached.
"Hey, Jin-gu? No partner yet?"
This punk Kang Su-ho was at it again.
'Damn it.'
"I told you to mind your own business. You really wanna get wrecked?"
He'd held back to deliver despair worse than violence, but there was a limit.
"Haha... Calm down, Jin-gu. You're my friend—how could I do that? Right? Yeah... You don't have friends, so it's hard to find a partner. I'll help you out."
Kang Su-ho glanced back at the girls trailing him like ducklings.
They all averted their eyes, praying not to be picked. No one wanted to partner with Jin-gu.
"Ah! Hey, Anne! Won't you partner with Jin-gu? Please?"
Hearing that, Anne twisted her already ugly face and glared at Si-woo with disgust.
Si-woo stood up. He shoved Kang Su-ho aside and headed somewhere.
"Jin-gu! Where you going? With Anne..."
Kang Su-ho grinned, then panicked. Si-woo was approaching her.
Si-woo spoke.
"Amelia, wanna be partners?"
Amelia, who had been sitting blankly, glanced at him and said,
"...Sure."
She acted like it didn't matter who. Seeing that, Kang Su-ho yelled in panic.
"Amelia! Partner with me instead. I-I'll find someone else for Jin-gu!"
She glanced at Kang Su-ho and shook her head.
"No thanks."
In her position, it was consideration for him, but he didn't get it. He shot Si-woo a jealous glare.
Si-woo smirked back at him. Seeing his fist clenched and body trembling was pure satisfaction.
"Heh... You can partner with Anne then. Right?"
Anne perked up at that.
"Oh! Great. Su-ho, let's be partners!"
"Uh, what?"
Anne sidled up and hooked her arm through his. Kang Su-ho panicked. His arm sank into flesh that could have been belly or chest.
He smiled awkwardly, trying to pull away, but Anne wouldn't let go.
"Why? Don't you want to?"
"No, it's not that..."
"What? You tried to stick me with that loser, and now you're backing out?"
"I mean..."
As Kang Su-ho floundered, sweating bullets, five minutes passed.
The professor snapped her arms from their fold like a blade.
"Anyone still without a partner, come forward."
A few cadets shuffled out reluctantly. Kang Su-ho sighed in relief and hurried forward.
"You, you're partners. You two."
Professor Liliane paired them up, and their faces relaxed.
And then...
"Ho... The two who questioned the class. Perfect. You're partners."
She stuck Kang Su-ho with Anne.
Kang Su-ho's eyes bulged, but he forced an awkward smile.
"Y-Yes... Thanks. Let's go, Anne."
Anne linked arms with him smugly, making him flinch. Watching that felt like sweet candy melting in his mouth.
He turned to Amelia. She blinked sleepily.
"Amelia."
"...Yeah?"
Her violet eyes turned his way.
"Let's have a good semester."
Si-woo held out his palm. She shook her head.
"Sorry, but hands are kinda..."
Si-woo shrugged. He'd wondered about her aversion to touch since awakening, but couldn't ask.
This was the first time they'd even talked like this.
'How do I win her over? Longing for warmth... What the hell is that?'
Lost in thought, Si-woo went quiet. She wasn't talkative anyway. They sat in silence until Professor Liliane's voice rang out.
"It's the first day, so just the basics. Everyone, face your palms with your partner's."
Amelia's face stiffened. She clearly didn't want to, looking troubled.
The professor continued.
"Like chicks in a coop... Anyone not moving gets penalty points."
Penalty points could lead to expulsion if they piled up.
Cadets hurriedly pressed palms together. Si-woo extended his.
"Amelia?"
"...Sorry."
Amelia held out her trembling hand. Sorry?
Si-woo tilted his head but met her palm. It felt cool and soft.
'Gonna have to give her a handjob with this.'
Si-woo hid his lewd thought and smiled. Amelia asked in a shaky voice,
"I-Is it... okay?"
"Huh? What?"
It made no sense, but she looked genuinely shocked.
Amelia was cursed.
It was a family curse passed down since her ancestor slew the King of Dream Demons.
The King of Dream Demons was a monster that could hold an entire front line alone.
Her ancestor earned legendary fame by beheading it.
But the King didn't die quietly. It cursed him with nightmares.
"Ah... Amelia... I'm sorry."
The bloodline curse reached her too.
At first, Amelia didn't know. Just nightmares—what's the big deal?
Even the first time she felt it, she thought the same.
Just occasional bad dreams.
But after awakening, the nightmares intensified. A cut in the dream burned for a day in reality.
A beheading brought deathly terror, leaving her curled in a corner, shaking.
She could endure that much, somehow.
The real problem came with touch.
Physical contact transferred the curse's energy.
The other person instinctively pulled away. But if contact persisted, worse happened.
They dreamed the nightmares too.
Not as vivid or real as hers, but far worse than normal bad dreams.
She had no choice but to snap if anyone touched her. She'd desperately hidden the generational curse, living in daily fear of discovery.
The hero's lineage who slew the Dream Demon King faded into obscurity. When the hero secluded himself, even worried folks lost interest.
Such things happened endlessly, and people's memories were short. In that world, Amelia entered the [Efficient Mana Control] class.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
She'd tried everything to avoid it, but no choice.
"...Sorry."
She offered her hand to her unlucky partner, Park Jin-gu—no, Choi Si-woo. Kang Su-ho had refused her for this very reason, yet he glared jealously, blind to her feelings.
She'd pushed him away precisely because his persistence was a bit touching.
'Haa...'
Si-woo's palm approached. She shut her eyes tight.
The human warmth felt nice. But soon, it'd recoil in horror and hurt her.
Bracing for disgust, it never came.
'...?'
Si-woo still smiled at her.
"I-Is it... okay?"
"Huh? What?"
His puzzled head-tilt flustered her.
Did he have too little mana to sense the curse? Normally, instinct warned them off...
For the first time—really seeing him after knowing his face since middle school.
His kind eyes and the warm palm.
Human warmth after so long.
'Ah...'
Focused on the warmth, she didn't notice Kang Su-ho's jealous glare.