Survival Arts (1)
My brain froze at the sudden question. What was I thinking? I was trying to determine whether Beatrice was really the Blood Witch. I couldn't just eliminate an innocent person without cause.
“I wasn’t thinking anything in particular.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“That came out of nowhere.”
“Junior, I have something I’m curious about.”
With a playful smile, Beatrice leaned her upper body a little closer toward me.
“What are you curious about?”
“What exactly is your relationship with Han Yeoreum?”
“It’s a secret.”
“So you’re not officially dating her.”
Was this a woman’s intuition? Or was there another reason? Either way, Beatrice had seen straight through the relationship between me and Han Yeoreum. Too close to call us just friends, yet too ambiguous to call us lovers.
“Why are you asking that?”
“Want to date me?”
A seductive smile. Beatrice gently placed her hand on the back of mine.
This woman is insane.
After that little performance, the possibility that Beatrice was Jegal Hye had shot up dramatically. I immediately pulled my hand away.
“That’s way too sudden. I’m a bit of a conservative guy.”
“I’m a conservative woman too? Did I seem like the open type to you?”
Beatrice pouted, tilting her head with a coy expression.
“If that’s the case, then suddenly acting like this doesn’t make any sense.”
“You beat Kim Yong, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t belong to any faction, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Does my intention make sense now?”
She was trying to recruit me into Cheonoechun under the pretext of dating? Was that really the only reason?
“I’m not interested.”
“You’re quite firm, Junior.”
“How can I date someone without love?”
I was already agonizing over whether to date Han Yeoreum. There was no way I’d lose my mind and start dating a Blood Witch candidate.
“How old-fashioned. These days, people date first and think about it later. There’s even that saying—‘first this, then that.’”
She was basically talking about first sex, then love. Had the Unicorn Divine Art’s virgin detection ability broken down? For the first time, I felt a strong suspicion toward the Unicorn Divine Art. First sex, then love? That was definitely not something a virgin should be saying.
“That’s enough. Why are you making this so awkward? We’ll be seeing each other often in the student council from now on.”
“Awkward? Not at all, I think?”
With eyes full of certainty, Beatrice stared at me.
“Whatever. If you really are such a conservative woman, Senior, please don’t say things like that anymore.”
“This is the first time I’ve said something like this to a man, and you’re being so cruel. You’ve completely shattered a maiden’s heart.”
I was dying to curse at her. Shattered her heart? What the hell.
“There’s nothing about me that could possibly shatter your heart, Senior.”
“But there is?”
“...?”
When I looked at her with suspicion, Beatrice gave me a seductive smile.
“Your face. It’s my type.”
Even bullshit has its limits. I frowned deeply and opened my mouth.
“Don’t talk nonsense. My face? If anything, just say you have a thing for orcs or goblins.”
“You’re too much, Junior. How can you insult me like that?”
“Are we done with the tour? If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
“No. Let’s hang out a little longer.”
With a gloomy expression, Beatrice lightly grabbed the hem of my clothes.
“I don’t want to.”
I firmly shook her off and stood up. It was all an act anyway, just another scheme. As if to prove it, Beatrice lifted the corners of her mouth and waved her hand.
“See you soon. Don’t block my number, okay?”
“I won’t.”
If she weren’t the vice president and a Blood Witch candidate, I would’ve blocked her immediately.
Watching Kim Mugong’s retreating figure, Beatrice hummed a little tune.
Once he disappeared into the distance, a man wearing the academy uniform approached her.
“Hmm, what do you think?”
Having noticed the man, Beatrice asked. The badge symbolizing the student council gleamed on his firm chest.
“...I’m not sure.”
“Right? I’m not sure either.”
Beatrice shook her head. The man widened his eyes in surprise.
“He’s only a first-year, isn’t he?”
“Exactly. I shook him up that much, but he barely reacted.”
“On the surface, it looked like he was completely taken in.”
“Not at all. His eyes weren’t smiling.”
Though their conversation was light and playful like a comedy skit, Beatrice was certain. Just as she had tested Kim Mugong, he had been testing her as well. From his heartbeat that didn’t change despite all that seduction, to his cold, calculating eyes. His somewhat casual tone was a fake. No one else might notice, but he couldn’t fool Beatrice’s sharp senses.
I want him.
Unlike before, Beatrice now genuinely liked Kim Mugong.
“What do men usually like?”
“Pardon?”
“Say ‘pardon’ one more time and you won’t get away with it. What kind of education are they giving at headquarters these days?”
“Ah, understood.”
Looking at the man, Beatrice let out a deep sigh.
“So, what do you think he likes?”
“Wouldn’t it be beautiful women?”
“Are you saying I’m not a beautiful woman? Do you want to die?”
“That’s not what I meant. I was saying that if the Thirteenth Apostle shows her true self, he would have no choice but to fall for you.”
“No, it’s not enough. And while we’re at the academy, call me Vice President. The level here is seriously dropping. They should at least give proper basic education before sending people out.”
Beatrice pouted and grumbled. This place was practically the territory of the giant known as the Invincible War God Dokgopae. She had to be careful with every single action. If situations like this kept repeating, she would eventually get caught.
“Understood.”
Sitting on the edge of the pavilion and swinging her legs, Beatrice thought to herself. For an ordinary man, the beauty trap would have been more than enough. After all, there were almost no men who would reject a woman as ‘beautiful and pure’ as her.
But in this world, there were also men who couldn’t be broken by something as simple as a beauty trap.
“Now that I think about it, what does our brother Hyeokri Ak say? He’s probably too busy pouncing on women like a dog in heat to have any thoughts.”
“Even so, speaking of the Young Sect Leader like that…”
“Why? If you don’t like it, go ahead and tattle.”
Beatrice narrowed her eyes and stared at the man.
“That would never happen. My master only has eyes for the Thirteenth Apostle. The Young Sect Leader had no particular comments.”
“Is that so?”
The man immediately lowered his gaze and bowed his head. There was no way such words would lead to Beatrice being punished. At most, they would just raise their voices at each other. On the other hand, the moment he snitched, he would definitely die at Beatrice’s hands. Before that, Hyeokri Ak might personally kill him for being a dog that betrayed his master. No one could predict Hyeokri Ak’s tyrannical nature.
Even though it seemed reckless, she had calculated all of this. The man quietly waited for her next words.
“Maybe I should have acted more coy? I tried being proactive because I heard men these days like aggressive women. It was a complete failure. Romance novels and internet tips really aren’t reliable.”
“Couldn’t he have learned the Pure Yang Art, or perhaps he’s completely impotent? There is information that he possesses the Extreme Yang Body. Maybe he’s using extreme methods to suppress his yang energy…”
“No way. If we’re only talking about strength, it’s suspicious, but I doubt that’s the case.”
Kim Mugong and Han Yeoreum. Sun and Moon Yin.
That’s it.
After thinking it over carefully, Beatrice reached a conclusion.
“I roughly understand now. Since ancient times, there has been a traditional method to correct a broken Yin-Yang balance. Our junior is more perverted than he looks. He already knows everything there is to know, doesn’t he?”
Beatrice lightly licked her lips with her tongue.
Yin-Yang Harmony. The Jegal Clan, which had obsessively collected information, naturally had records on the subject as well.
Watching Beatrice emit a bewitching aura, the man instinctively shrank back.
“W-what will you do?”
“Act as usual. Refrain from contacting me for a while.”
“...Understood.”
Humming a tune, Beatrice stood up from her seat. Although she had failed to make a good first impression, there was still plenty of time. There was no way Kim Mugong could know her true identity. All she had to do was continue pretending to be a refined young lady from the Righteous Faction, just as before.
Under the alias Beatrice.
The Blood Sect’sThirteenth Apostle.
Jegal Hye thought to herself.
With the setting sun painting the sky behind me, I slowly walked along the path between the buildings. Maybe it was because I had gone through so much in the past few days, but my head was throbbing.
If Beatrice really was Jegal Hye as I suspected, how should I respond?
In the game, the truth about Jegal Hye was strangely never revealed. Maybe because her first appearance was also her last. She had only briefly appeared as the mastermind behind the Tang Clan Blood Massacre that signaled the beginning of the Blood Sect uprising. That was all.
Why she had sacrificed herself, or why she had specifically targeted the Tang Clan—none of the inside story was ever uncovered.
If this were a game, I would have killed her in advance somehow. But reality wasn’t a game. I couldn’t just eliminate her without solid proof.
Moreover, just because someone was from the Blood Sect, did that mean I had to kill them before they even committed any crimes? If it was someone like Hyeokri Ak, that would be one thing. But Jegal Hye belonged to the ‘blank spaces’ of the game’s story.
What if I could prevent the Tang Clan Blood Massacre in advance?
The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.
Lost in thought while taking a walk, I soon found myself in front of the dormitory room.
Click.
When I opened the door and stepped inside, I saw Cheon Hayeon sitting at the kitchen table with her legs crossed. As always, she was wearing an evening-dress-like, rather revealing set of pajamas while staring at something on the desk. Noticing me, Cheon Hayeon set down her long champagne glass.
“You have returned.”
“What were you drinking?”
“Would you like some?”
“Sure.”
After changing into comfortable clothes and coming back out, Cheon Hayeon had already prepared a glass for me. The moment I took a sip, a bitter taste spread through my mouth. However, it was slightly different from what I had expected.
“This isn’t alcohol?”
“A warrior must keep their distance from alcohol.”
“That’s not wrong, I suppose.”
“Do you have something on your mind?”
Calmly meeting my eyes, Cheon Hayeon asked.
“It feels like one mountain after another. That kind of feeling.”
“There is alcohol if you want it.”
“...Just one glass, then.”
“What kind?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
I had no idea when she had brought it in, but a small wine cellar had appeared in the kitchen. Cheon Hayeon took out a bottle from it.
“...This must be expensive, right?”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t particularly enjoy drinking. I didn’t buy it myself.”
Despite saying that, she poured the wine into the glass with surprising skill and handed it to me.
“Not bad.”
Behind the sweet yet bitter taste, a strong oak aroma lingered. However, perhaps because my immense yang energy immediately neutralized it, there was no alcoholic effect at all.
“I’m glad it suits your taste. May I ask what kind of worry troubles you this time?”
Cheon Hayeon gave a gentle smile. Just looking at that expression somehow felt healing.
“It’s just… I was thinking about whether it’s okay to hold someone’s life in my hands and shake it around as I please. Even if they haven’t clearly committed a crime yet, is it right to kill them based solely on future possibilities? Is it right to massacre everyone just because they’re from the Blood Sect?”
“It is a dilemma every warrior who walks the edge of the blade must face.”
“What about you?”
“The Divine Cult has many enemies.”
Resting her chin on her hand, Cheon Hayeon continued in a low voice.
“If I were to eliminate everyone simply because they might one day harm the Divine Cult, even dyeing the entire world in blood would not be enough.”
I nodded in agreement. As Cheon Hayeon said, if we considered even potential threats, the Righteous Faction would also be enemies of the Divine Cult.
“Therefore, I established a standard. I cut down demons who have fallen beyond redemption. I also cut down those who have clearly committed crimes. It is fine for them to bare their teeth and bark. However, the moment they forget their place and try to bite, I cut them down.”
With a lofty attitude, Cheon Hayeon declared.
“So you’re a bit more lenient when it comes to mere possibilities?”
“Because a human life is precious. It is impossible to kill everyone based solely on possibilities.”
“That’s something only someone with power can say.”
Cheon Hayeon stared at me quietly.
“Warriors are beings who can only answer with force in the end. If one possesses overwhelming martial prowess, such dilemmas naturally decrease. Therefore, the first thing you must focus on is—”
“Training?”
“Correct.”
If I had overwhelming power, I probably wouldn’t even be having these worries in the first place. However, as Cheon Hayeon said, at this point in time, these were secondary concerns. Even if Beatrice was definitely Jegal Hye, until I gained proper strength, I wouldn’t be able to touch her anyway.
“By the way, what were you looking at earlier?”
“Starting this week, they will be holding a class called ‘Survival Arts.’ This is the guidebook for it.”
“I’m not sure why first-years would need survival arts, though.”
It had felt strange ever since I saw that Survival Arts was listed as a required major course.
“Did you not know?”
“Know what?”
“I heard that the first-year evaluation at the academy takes place on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. The Survival Arts class is preparation for that.”
An unexpected piece of information flowed from Cheon Hayeon’s lips.