The Networking Party (2)

Even tucked into a corner of the hall, where the lights ran dim, Nam Da-eun's face was unmistakable. She wore a lavish dress, her long black hair falling naturally down her back, and dressing up had made her far more beautiful than usual.

The dress covered almost nothing. What little of her back showed through was veiled by her hair, and she kept one hand pressed over the line of her cleavage.

Nam Da-eun slipped out from under Park Min-gyu's hand as it reached for her shoulder, the motion so natural it barely registered, and smoothed her clothes back into place.

Park Min-gyu shot her a faintly sour look, but with the man in front of him to consider, he kept his mouth shut.

"So anyway... oh?"

The man who'd been talking with Park Min-gyu turned his head and spotted me. He came over smiling, hand already out.

"Well now, we've got ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a celebrity in the house. Pleasure. Shin Young-hoon, guild leader of the Shin Young Guild."

I hadn't planned on making conversation, but this might actually work in my favor.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lee Ho-yeon."

Shin Young Guild — so this was the student council vice president's father. Seeing him standing here with the Buyer Guild's leader, I had a feeling the man wasn't exactly a saint himself.

"Hey, Min-gyu. Get over here. This is the cadet everyone's talking about these days."

Shin Young-hoon pulled Park Min-gyu out from where he'd been hanging back and made him greet me.

"Ah... so you're Cadet Lee Ho-yeon?"

"Yes. Nice to meet you."

Park Min-gyu stepped forward and offered his hand.

And only then, hearing my name, did Nam Da-eun look my way.

She'd been staring into empty air, thinking about nothing at all — and the sound of my name was what finally made her look properly ahead. The moment those lifeless eyes met mine, they started to tremble. Then she slowly shook her head and stepped backward.

It was the look of someone who'd just seen a monster. A look that asked what the hell I was doing here.

"Hm? Da-eun?"

"...I'll just step out to the restroom for a moment."

"Ah — sure. Go ahead."

With Park Min-gyu's permission, Nam Da-eun turned and fled.

"Must be having a real hard time holding it, to walk out in the middle of a conversation like that."

Shin Young-hoon gave a hearty chuckle and knocked back his drink.

I didn't have time for this. I needed to go after her.

"Then I'll be taking my leave as well."

"Already? We still have business to discuss..."

I ignored the hand that tried to hold me back and headed the way Nam Da-eun had vanished.

Following the faint scent of her mana, I found her in a corner of the corridor leading to the restrooms, crying. Nam Da-eun had her face buried between her knees, trembling weakly.

"...Nam Da-eun."

The instant I touched her arm, she slapped my hand away hard enough to crack through the air.

"Please. Please just leave me alone...."

"...Hey."

"Go away! Why do you keep coming near me?"

Nam Da-eun shot to her feet and shoved me — still talking, still refusing to leave her alone.

"I'll help you. Nam Da-eun."

At the word help, her expression went ice-cold.

"What do you even know that you'd offer to help? Do you have any idea what kind of situation I'm in?"

"I know everything. They're blackmailing you with Nam Daehee."

"...Yeah. And there's a massive debt on top of that. I can't go against Uncle Min-gyu."

The look on her face was one of someone who had already given up. She'd probably tried everything she could on her own. And none of it had made the slightest difference. Even if I offered to help, she wasn't going to believe me right away.

"That kind of debt isn't something you're supposed to pay back. And I've already saved your little sister."

"...What? What are you talking about?"

"You won't believe me, but it's true. I saved Nam Daehee. Let me explain one thing at a—"

BOOM. BOOM. KABOOOOOM.

Just as I was about to lay out the whole situation, a series of explosions tore through the party hall. And a wave of mana I knew all too well rolled over my body.

A Rune Barrier...?

Rune Barriers were going up across the hall, carving the space into isolated pockets, one after another.

A thin whine cut the air as I reverse-engineered the section of barrier trying to seal itself between me and Nam Da-eun. Ever since my awakening, this level of mana control had become easy.

"W-what is this...."

Nam Da-eun looked around in alarm, drawing up her mana.

"Nam Da-eun. It's okay."

This was a terrorist attack. And of every organization that carried out terrorist attacks, the only one that used Rune Barriers was Pandemic.

I had no idea why Pandemic would show up at a networking party — but I still needed to finish what I'd been saying to Nam Da-eun...

That was when a notification appeared — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one I hadn't seen in a long time, not since I'd been grinding through the quest to take first place in the practical exam.

"...."

A heroine with no combat ability. There was only one person that could mean.

Baek A-young.

I still didn't know why, but if she was the target, I had to get to her right now. Baek A-young had no combat ability whatsoever.

I looked at Nam Da-eun. I wanted to explain everything properly to the girl trembling in front of me. There just wasn't time.

"Nam Da-eun. Ignore every message from the guild and go to the academy's central fountain. Right now."

Fortunately, I'd taken out insurance just in case. I'd already talked to Scarlet.

"...What?"

"A blonde woman will approach you there. Follow her to my room in the men's dormitory. Nam Daehee will be waiting. That woman will explain everything. I have to go save people."

"W-wait—!"

"Do not trust the Buyer Guild. Just trust me. Once."

I met Nam Da-eun's startled eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, then saw the seriousness on my face and closed her mouth.

It was an expression I'd never seen on her before. My sudden instructions had thrown her completely — but I could tell at least one thing. She trusted me.

I left Nam Da-eun where she was and ran for the party hall.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Break! Damn it, break!"

A man swung his sword at the barrier. CLANG. CLANG. It didn't leave so much as a scratch.

Hunters who'd been enjoying the party found themselves sealed inside with whoever they'd been talking to. Faced with a barrier of an intensity none of them had ever seen, even the high-rank hunters were burning an enormous amount of time just trying to reverse-engineer it.

"What kind of lunatic would pull this at a networking party...."

Trapped inside, Min Yeji frowned at the wall of light. Given that the party required invitations, someone had clearly betrayed them. They'd only let in trustworthy people. They'd vetted everyone thoroughly. Something like this was impossible unless there was a traitor on the inside.

At this pace, reverse-engineering is going to take ten minutes.

Ten minutes in a terrorist attack was an eternity. More than enough time for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole situation to be over. But even a single second shaved off would matter, so Min Yeji emptied her mind of everything else and poured her focus into the barrier.

That was when it started to shake. The concentration of every hunter mid-analysis shattered with it.

"Damn it, the reverse-engineering got cut off!"

A low rumble rolled through the air. The hunters turned toward the source of the tremor. One section of the barrier was shuddering.

A sound like something tearing — and then a hole ripped open in the wall of light. A head popped through it.

"...Not here either. Huh? Miss Yeji. Have you seen Miss A-young?"

"Y-you... how did you...?"

The sudden appearance of Lee Ho-yeon's face was shocking enough. What left Min Yeji's mouth hanging open was the way he'd casually torn through a barrier that high-rank hunters had been throwing themselves at just to reverse-engineer.

"I'll explain later. I asked if you've seen Miss A-young."

"Uh — uh... I haven't."

Min Yeji had been enjoying the party. She'd completely forgotten about Baek A-young.

"Hmm. Got it. The people in here should come out and help take down the Demons. There are a ton of them outside."

With that, Lee Ho-yeon vanished back through the hole. The trapped hunters exchanged skeptical looks, then squeezed themselves through the tear he'd left and stepped out into the open.

Outside was pandemonium. Countless Demons were locked in combat with hunters across the hall — most of them hunters Lee Ho-yeon had already pulled free. Min Yeji drew up her mana at once and charged into the fight.

"Hah... ah... hh."

Hours of conversation had worn Baek A-young down, and she'd slipped away to a quiet corner to catch her breath. She'd been hoping for a drink and a moment of peace somewhere no one would find her. Then the explosions hit, and the attack began as if on cue.

Fortunately, there had been a male hunter with her...

"Miss A-young. Guh — run...."

The hunter's body was run through from every direction as the Demons piled onto him at once. There were far too many of them for Baek A-young's healing to handle.

"Y-Young-ho... ngh."

Once the Demons had finished with the man — no longer a human being, just meat — their next target was Baek A-young.

"Grk... kihik."

"The Saint... the Saint...."

She fled from Demons who could no longer hold onto a sane thought, but there was no outrunning dozens of them. The one in the lead caught her formal dress from behind and tore it open.

"Kya — kyaah! Aah!"

SLASH—!

Razor claws raked across her body and left deep, open wounds.

"A-aah... haah...."

Baek A-young collapsed where she stood and poured her magic into the blood streaming down her back. She knew she had to run. She just couldn't stop the Demons from closing in.

Is this the end...?

She didn't want to die like this — so meaninglessly. No. She couldn't die. There was still too much she hadn't done.

Her heart said one thing. The shrinking distance between her and the Demons said another.

If I'd known it would be like this, I should have just confessed.

Baek A-young understood, now, that this was the last moment of her life. And what rose to the surface at the end wasn't anyone else. It was Lee Ho-yeon.

If she'd known she was going to die this absurdly, she should have at least tried.

A single tear slipped down her cheek — a tangle of regret and grief and pain and something like love.

"I don't want to die... Ho-yeon."

Baek A-young looked at the Demons coming for her and quietly spoke his name.

"Grrrk..."

"Kill... the Saint...."

Their hands reached closer. Sensing death, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Baek A-young squeezed her eyes shut — and the pitch-black of her vision suddenly flooded with light. Even with her eyes closed, the brilliance from outside was strong enough to feel.

She opened them, slowly.

"KYAAAAAAAH!"

The dozens of Demons that had been standing in front of her were on fire.

At the familiar voice behind her, Baek A-young turned her head.

A leisurely smile that made her heart skip just looking at it. But the smile was a lie — Lee Ho-yeon was soaked through with sweat, the look of a man who had run here like his life depended on it.

"I came to save you. Did well, right?"

Thump. Thump.

"...."

The moment she saw his face, Baek A-young felt her heart start to pound. It was a different feeling from usual, and she barely managed to swallow the confession trying to spill out of her mouth.

She'd regretted not confessing. She just wasn't about to do it in the middle of a fight with Demons.

"Stay still. It'll be over soon."

Baek A-young watched Lee Ho-yeon cut through the Demons, and quietly willed her racing heart to calm down.