The Wind God's Trial
Choi Ahyeon’s eyes sparkled with pure excitement as she leaned forward on the sofa. “Wow~ So you’re really a C-rank, senior?”
“Yeah. And just call me unnie. If you’re Seonghyun’s friend, you’re basically my little sister too.”
“Okay! Unnie!”
Choi Ahyeon was chatting with Yeon Hyoju over tea, her natural friendliness on full display. Meanwhile, Han Yuri pretended to be completely uninterested, flipping through a book on the couch. Except the pages hadn’t turned once in the last ten minutes. Her mind was clearly somewhere else.
‘How the hell did it come to this?’
Yeon Hyoju’s sudden appearance was completely outside my expectations. After the Demon Sect attack, every student in the academy had received mental treatment skills. I’d assumed that would’ve canceled out my pheromone skill too… So why was she here?
Right now, Yeon Hyoju was basically a live bomb that could go off at any moment. If she suddenly blurted out that she’d slept with me because of my skill…
‘The mood would go straight to hell, and that’d be the least of our problems.’
Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, Yeon Hyoju kept the conversation going with that mature, knowing smile of hers.
“By the way, unnie, what brings you here?”
“I don’t really have any business. I just wanted to see Seonghyun’s face.”
“Ah… Are you two really close?”
Yeon Hyoju glanced in my direction. I shot her a sharp glare.
‘Choose your words carefully.’
At my warning look, the corners of her eyes curved slightly in amusement.
“Hmm. Not that close. A little? Seonghyun sends me a lot of messages first.”
“Oh… does he?”
That fucking bitch.
The entire room’s atmosphere instantly froze at Yeon Hyoju’s words. Sensing the shift, she quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Since he’s the group leader, he has a lot of questions. I’ve just been answering them for him.”
“Ah! I see~ Thank you, unnie. We’ve been getting so much help thanks to you!”
“Oh, sweetie. I’m just doing it out of goodwill. Don’t think too much of it.”
She was acting like some generous benefactor. The sheer audacity made my eyes narrow even more. Finally, Yeon Hyoju decided to wrap up the conversation.
“Sorry. You all must be tired from doing assignments, right? I’ve taken up too much of your time. Would it be okay if I borrow Seonghyun for a bit?”
“Of course, of course.”
“Seonghyun?”
“Yeah.”
I stood up, barely hiding the look of someone who’d just swallowed shit.
The rooftop of the dormitory.
I stood with my arms crossed, glaring at Yeon Hyoju.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Your teammates are really pretty, huh?”
What the fuck was she talking about now?
“Which one is it?”
“Which one is what?”
“You must like one of them, right? That blonde girl? Or the brown-haired bob?”
“Ha……”
This was giving me a headache. As I let out a sigh, Yeon Hyoju approached me with an unreadable smile. She waved a talisman in front of my face. It was a mental corruption prevention talisman.
“Use that skill again.”
“……What skill?”
“You know. The one where people lose their minds the moment they smell that scent coming off your body.”
“……”
“You played with me so well using it. Did you enjoy yourself? Setting the 1st and 2nd groups against each other while you watched from the back. Making me wag my ass like a bitch in heat. It was quite the spectacle, wasn’t it?”
Tsk. So her memories had returned.
Normally, when mental interference skills like pheromones or charm were dispelled, the memories would become hazy. The fact that she remembered everything so clearly meant…
‘Side effects…….’
Flawed Incubus Pheromone B / E
Side effects may occur after skill usage.
As expected from a half-assed skill, it was full of flaws. I tried to keep my voice calm.
“You were the one trying to control people with charm. I don’t think you’re in any position to talk.”
“That’s true. But I can’t help how fucking pissed off I feel right now.”
This woman used to be the queen bee. A bitch who only gave orders from above, now forced to spread her legs beneath me. Of course she’d be humiliated. Typical double standards from a cheap whore.
“Everything you did to me until now… Should I tell those two girls about it?”
“……”
“Or I could post it on Instagram. I actually have quite a few followers, you know? I get dozens, sometimes hundreds of DMs a day just asking to fuck me. If I mobilize all of them, I bet it’d cause quite the interesting scene, don’t you think?”
She shook her phone while giggling. The sight suited her perfectly. If it had been anyone else, I would’ve been boiling with rage. Unfortunately for her, it was me.
‘How cute.’
This level of threat wasn’t even a threat. Yeon Hyoju wasn’t particularly strong, nor did she have any exceptional backing like Lee Seol or Han Yuri. So if she crossed the line I’d drawn…
‘I’ll just bury her.’
I asked her directly.
“What do you want?”
“Your cock.”
Her lewd hand reached down and stroked my crotch.
“Whenever I want it, whenever I’m horny, you come running and fuck me like a dog. That’s the condition.”
A sex friend. With on-call service included, apparently.
“No.”
“W-what?”
She clearly hadn’t expected me to refuse. Shock spread across her face.
“It’s annoying.”
“A-annoying? Think about it. You could have this body whenever you want! Other guys would kill to even get a taste!”
“So what?”
I’ll admit you look fuckable. But so what? If I spent time with you, I could be with Shin Suyeon instead and raise my skill proficiency. There’s no reason to fuck you while being blackmailed.
And besides…
‘I don’t have time to waste on a tool.’
From the beginning, Yeon Hyoju was nothing more than the vanguard of the 2nd group. Now that everything was over, her value was close to zero.
My confident attitude made Yeon Hyoju’s face gradually turn red with rage.
“This is your last chance. Are you doing it or not?”
“I said no.”
“You useless piece of shit who’s only good for his dick…! Just wait. I’ll make you regret rejecting my offer!”
Grinding her teeth, Yeon Hyoju stormed off the rooftop.
‘What a fucking idiot.’
Regret my ass. I headed back down to the dormitory while already planning how to deal with her.
When I entered the room, the two girls were in the middle of eating dinner.
“You’re back early?”
“Yeah. The talk ended quickly.”
“You must be hungry. Come sit down.”
“Hungry? After eating so much with her, I doubt it.”
At Han Yuri’s barbed comment, Choi Ahyeon flinched.
“You two must’ve been so busy biting and sucking each other that you didn’t even notice how hungry you were, huh?”
“There’s nothing like that between me and senior.”
“Who said there was? What? Did that hit a nerve?”
“I swear on Ahyeon’s teddy bear that there isn’t.”
“Why are you dragging my teddy bear into this?!”
“Because I bought it for you.”
“Ugh…!”
Han Yuri seemed to lose interest at our back-and-forth and went back to eating. As expected, Choi Ahyeon’s reliable airbag performance never failed.
Finally, the day had come.
The day we would open the real treasure that could grant the S-rank unique skill Wind God.
In an open plain with nothing around for miles, Choi Ahyeon was nervously shifting from foot to foot.
“Relax a little. At this rate, even if it could work, it won’t.”
“Ugh… Seonghyun, can I go drink a shot of soju first?”
“You think that’s allowed?”
“Aaaagh… This pressure… This nervousness… I feel like I’m going to die. Save me……”
“It’s fine even if you fail. It’s not that great of a thing anyway.”
“Okay……”
Choi Ahyeon only knew that the Wind God’s Orb gave one wind-type skill. She had no idea of its true nature. Even so, she was making a huge fuss.
‘Good thing I didn’t tell her.’
If she knew it was a potential S-rank skill, she probably would’ve waved her hands in panic and refused.
“Then I’ll start?”
“Go ahead.”
Choi Ahyeon placed her hand on the orb. A status window appeared.
“It says, ‘Would you like to challenge the trial?’”
“Accept it.”
“Okay.”
The moment Choi Ahyeon nodded, the surrounding air completely changed. The once quiet and peaceful plain grew heavier and heavier.
“……”
Choi Ahyeon tensed up and scanned her surroundings at the sudden shift in atmosphere.
Whoooosh.
The wind brushing against her skin started gentle and pleasant, but its intensity gradually grew wilder. All the wind in the area began gathering toward a single point.
“Ugh! My body……!”
The strengthening wind made it hard to even breathe or stay standing. And then—
Crack!
The flowers around them were torn apart, and trees were ripped out by their roots.
“A tornado……”
A massive pillar of wind reaching all the way to the sky. Choi Ahyeon stared at its majesty with her mouth wide open.
‘Prove your worth. Only then shall I grant you power.’
Those were the words of the Wind God’s previous user from the last round.
“Um… Seonghyun. I don’t have to go in there, right?”
“You saw correctly.”
“Oh my god……”
We were roughly three hundred meters away from the tornado. Even at this distance, it was difficult to stay upright. When Choi Ahyeon cautiously reached out her arm—
“Ouch! It stings…!”
Her skin was cut. Moving forward from here would be no different from committing suicide by walking into the storm’s blades.
Realizing that, Choi Ahyeon’s pupils shook violently.
“Can I break through it with my unique skill?”
“Who knows.”
The ability to accelerate faster than the wind. Faster than any wind blowing within a one-kilometer radius. It was the power Choi Ahyeon had gained after three years of competing in track and field events. In a way, the path she had walked had manifested as this skill.
If she used this skill, Choi Ahyeon would definitely reach the tornado.
But…
‘Her body would be torn to shreds.’
It was a dangerous gamble that could cost her life. Even so, Choi Ahyeon got into position. It was the same starting stance you’d see in any running competition.
She tried to steady her trembling voice and spoke.
“Seonghyun.”
“Yeah?”
“I can do this, right?”
Good grief. This cowardly little thing. I patted her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Even if you fail, no one will blame you. And even without this, I have plenty of ways to make you stronger. Just run with everything you’ve got.”
“…I’m not scared of failing. I’m scared of dying……”
What the fuck?
My dumbfounded expression must have eased her tension. Choi Ahyeon let out a small laugh and turned her gaze forward.
“I’ll be back.”
“Go on.”
BOOM!
The ground sank as a bloody wind exploded outward. The thick scent of blood lingered in the air. Her speed was so fast it was hard to follow with the naked eye. Yet I didn’t lose sight of her for a second.
‘Beautiful.’
With every step she took, red flowers bloomed around her. The desperate struggle of a slow starter trying to climb one more step. The frantic flailing to avoid being left behind. Every single stride carried her desperation.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the sight.
“Haaaaap!”
A shout to suppress the pain burst from her throat, and she accelerated once more. She broke through another wall.
BOOM!
Her hand—now nothing but bones—finally reached the tornado that had seemed so far away.
“……”
The wind enveloped Choi Ahyeon. Like a mother’s gentle touch after a scolding. It embraced her. Her blood-soaked body returned to its original state.
Even so, several minutes passed and Ahyeon remained standing there with her back to me.
When I approached to check on her…
‘She’s crying.’
Wind God (S)
The word she had wanted most, yet had the least connection to. Now it was right in front of her. She was probably repeating it over and over in her head dozens of times.
“Stop crying. Your face is going to swell up!”
Choi Ahyeon threw herself at me, knocking me over.
“Thank you… Seonghyun…! Really, thank you so much……!”
She was sobbing uncontrollably. I gently stroked her back.
“If you’re that grateful, buy me a meal.”
“Okay! Take my whole card!”
She was completely out of it. All the pent-up sorrow must have burst out at once. She kept hugging me tightly and repeating how grateful she was.
“I’ll really work hard… I’ll work so hard……!”
Ahyeon lifted her head and met my eyes.
“I’ll become someone who can help you…!”
I’d heard those words somewhere before. They were the same ones Lee Seol had said during her hospital visit. Were they in cahoots or something?
I smiled bitterly and pulled her back into my arms.
“Alright. I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Talent. Effort. It was always a controversial topic with no easy answers. But one thing was certain.
‘Blooming talent and seizing opportunity when it comes.’
Both of those things are effort.
Because of everything she had built up until now. Because of everything she had run toward until now.
“You worked hard.”
I kept patting her back as she cried all night long.