Escaping Reality (1)
I became Irena’s disciple. The moment that happened, everything around me changed. The first change was moving out of the honor student dormitory I’d lived in until then and into the exclusive disciple housing. It was a standalone house on the ground floor, complete with IoT systems, a pond, and a private garden out front. No wonder everyone burned with ambition the second they heard what kind of support came with the title of favorite disciple.
The most tangible difference hit me whenever I used the academy’s auxiliary facilities. Not only was everything free for me, it was free for my entire party too. Kim Jihun sipped his coffee and flashed a wicked grin.
“Damn, this stupidly expensive coffee is on the house? You’ve really made it, you bastard. I’m sticking to you like glue from now on.”
“Get lost. You’re gross.”
“Hey! We’re bros! Let me ride your coattails a little. Thanks to you, I’ve been strutting around with my shoulders back lately.”
Kim Jihun beamed like an idiot. It was true that just being known as my friend had boosted his status considerably. Still…
“The academy’s top delinquent, big deal.”
“Who cares if I’m a delinquent? Stop paying attention to the bullshit those pathetic second- and third-years are spreading. Plenty of people know the real story.”
“Maybe.”
The whispers around us had been nonstop since we sat down.
“Is that the guy who became Professor Irena’s disciple?”
“Yeah. The one who beat the shit out of the former student council president.”
“Kim Seongho definitely had it coming, but ripping his eyes out was still a little…”
Everyone was staring at me. For better or worse. I didn’t particularly care about their gazes. They had nothing to do with me anyway. What did bother me was something else.
She followed us again.
In the seat behind us sat a woman wearing a hat, sunglasses, and even a disguise artifact. Professor Irena. She clearly thought she was being stealthy, but I could see her perfectly. She was literally perking her ears up to eavesdrop on our conversation.
“Haah…”
“What?”
“Nothing. If you’re done eating, let’s go.”
“Sure.”
As we left the café, Irena quietly rose and trailed after us. I parted ways with Kim Jihun and headed for the professor’s office. She must have realized where I was going; the presence that had been following me vanished. When I reached the office and opened the door,
“You’re here.”
Irena was typing on her keyboard as if she had never left the room.
This is fucking ridiculous.
Ever since I’d been named her disciple, Irena’s behavior had changed. And not in a normal way.
“Didn’t you say you had something to tell me today?”
“Yes. Would you sit down for a moment?”
I took the guest chair. Irena began stacking piles of paper on the desk until the massive surface almost disappeared beneath them.
“What the hell is all this…”
“I compiled standard monster subjugation methods and response tactics specifically suited to you.”
“Huh…?”
“I organized everything according to your skill affinities, so please read through it.”
“……”
She expected me to read all of this? It looked like it would take a full month at minimum. I picked up one sheet. It was written like an academic thesis.
Positioning Using Expanded Aggro Skill Range
Numerous monster photographs were attached, with the exact activation order of my skills listed below each one.
“Professor… when exactly did you prepare all this?”
“It didn’t take long. So don’t feel burdened. Just read it at your own pace.”
Dark circles ringed Irena’s eyes as she spoke. Her skin looked dry and dull; she had clearly stayed up all night working on this.
“Professor.”
“Yes.”
The words You don’t have to do this rose in my throat. But when I saw how pale her face was, I couldn’t bring myself to say them.
“Thank you. I’ll read every page.”
“It’s nothing.”
She smiled. It was a beautiful smile I rarely saw from her, full of pride and satisfaction. I could only swallow a sigh at the sight.
The next day, while I was washing my face in a half-dazed state, Choi Ahyeon’s scream echoed through the house.
“Mom! What is this?! Seong, Seonghyun, come here right now!”
What now?
Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I walked to the entrance and froze. Fuck. A mountain of packages. The entire yard was buried under delivery boxes. Choi Ahyeon dragged one over to me.
“I think the professor sent all of these?”
“……”
I opened the box. Vitamins, health supplements, protein powder. There was even a virility enhancer. But the real eye-catcher was—
“Whoa?! Isn’t this a mana increase pill?!”
“It is.”
A pill that slightly increased the body’s mana capacity. Each one was insanely expensive and difficult to obtain, yet an entire bottle was packed full of them.
Just how rich is this woman?
I couldn’t hide my shock at gifts that far exceeded the budget allocated to me. While we stood there stunned, Han Yuri walked out from inside.
“What is all this?”
“Professor Irena sent everything for Seonghyun! Look! There are mana increase pills too!”
“This is insane…”
If even the daughter of the Portan Guild Master was shocked, that said everything.
“Let’s move them inside first.”
“Yeah.”
Who in the academy understood my abilities best? Han Yuri, my teammate? Choi Ahyeon? No.
Irena.
While we spent a week together preparing to crush Kim Seongho, we had talked about all sorts of things—my combat style, how I wielded a sword, everything. Thanks to that, Irena was the only person who could draw out my full power.
“Here I come.”
“Yes!”
Over a hundred hands of mana flew toward me. The same hands I used to frantically dodge or deflect. But now—
Thunder God
They couldn’t keep up with my speed. I swung my sword from behind Irena.
Clang!
A blue hand shot out to block the blade. I forced more mana into the sword and layered Thunder God on top again. It wasn’t an efficient method and I rarely used it, but with Eve sealed, I had no choice.
When dense sparks clung to the blade, I slashed downward in one clean motion.
Slice.
The hand was severed neatly.
This is it!
It had always pissed me off when they blocked and bounced me away, but cutting straight through them felt incredibly satisfying. I pushed my momentum even higher.
Equivalent Exchange
Consuming 10% pain to strengthen the body.
I contracted my muscles right before planting my foot.
Thunder God
I shot forward like lightning. Before I knew it, my sword was pressed against Irena’s throat. She raised both hands above her head in surrender.
“Whew… You’ve grown tremendously.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Professor.”
“At least put some saliva on your lips before you say that.”
“Yes.”
I deliberately licked my lips as instructed. She let out a small laugh.
“You only listen so well at times like this.”
“Thank you.”
“Anyway, have you thought about the suggestion I made?”
“Hmm……”
Irena was a long-range mage. She didn’t use swords. What she could teach me was limited. For combat, sparring like this was the best she could offer. That was why she had offered to introduce me to a swordsmanship master.
A master? It sounded good. I would surely learn something. But—
My sword has been built up over a long time. It won’t change so easily.
Right now, just practicing power-enhanced attacks with Thunder God was already overwhelming.
“I appreciate the offer, but I think continuing like this is best for now.”
“But… I can’t teach you anything beyond this.”
Her voice grew smaller, and her expression darkened.
“It’s really fine. Just sparring with you like this is enough for me to grow.”
“…I see.”
For a moment her face showed relief, but she quickly returned to her usual cold expression.
“Then let’s go once more. I’ll come at you harder this time.”
“Yes!”
As Irena returned to her position, the tips of her ears were faintly red.
C-rank Dungeon of Healing.
Shin Suyeon’s curse seemed to be progressing faster and faster. I had come to this white temple to obtain the Dispel skill. I had only heard how vicious this dungeon was; this was my first time entering it myself.
“Having to look at your own past just to enter feels way too demanding, doesn’t it?”
“That’s why it’s called a C-rank special dungeon. Anyway, if everyone’s ready, let’s go in.”
“Okay.”
“Okey~.”
The three of us entered separate rooms. Inside, a nun with her eyes closed sat across from a desk.
They said your past would appear if you just stood here.
But time passed and the crystal showed nothing—not even a flicker of light. Was it broken?
As I stood there confused, the nun quietly spoke.
“What do you…”
The nun opened her closed eyes and spoke in a chilling voice.
It had been several decades since Yu Chel settled on Earth. At first she had grieved the fact that she could never return home, but with Yu Cheong beside her she had somehow pulled herself together.
Then one day, while enjoying a leisurely moment, she discovered a fascinating document.
Witches. Beings that did not exist in her own dimension. At first she simply thought of them as one more interesting race. But—
[Get lost]
That overwhelming presence. The energy that shook space itself made her reconsider and hasten her investigation. She could not ignore the matter when the man her daughter was interested in was connected to Witches.
After beginning her research, Yu Chel let out a hollow laugh.
The very concept incarnate.
Pure white. Love and hate. Memories. These beings were the literal embodiment of those words given human form. Miracles that should not exist in reality.
Following the trail of truth, she stopped at a dungeon in Incheon. It was the day after Lee Seonghyun’s party had failed their challenge in the Dungeon of Healing.
The place was being used as a hideout by the Demon Sect.
Yu Chel’s expression grew rigid as she watched the video contained within the orb.
“This can’t be…”
The footage showed a young Lee Seonghyun and a girl. From beginning to end.
After viewing every record, Yu Chel shot to her feet.
I have to get this to Seonghyun immediately!
This should not be here. This soul, this record—it belonged to him.
As she turned to leave—
“Kieeeeeek!”
The screams of the wyvern pack waiting outside the cave rang out. Instant death. More than twenty wyverns had been killed in a single strike.
“……”
A metallic scraping sound echoed through the cave, like nails dragged across a chalkboard. The unpleasant noise grew louder, and Yu Chel’s heart began to pound violently.
Gulp.
What appeared before her was—
“You…!”
A Witch wearing a robe.