Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Just Don't Open Your Mouth
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“Then I'll be the group leader. Luckily, the groups were put together well by position. I'm frontline, and you two are backline—”
I looked at the guy diligently taking charge and issuing commands. His hair was a slightly lighter gold than Raphael's.
It stuck out in all directions like he'd been struck by lightning, and piercings were jammed everywhere.
Rings on his fingers, earrings in his ears, bracelets on his wrists, sunglasses over his eyes.
He'd crammed on every accessory imaginable. I knew who this guy was.
They'd said everyone was a stranger, but if you're not close, that counts as not knowing them, right? It's not like I could strike up a conversation just because I knew him unilaterally. Yeah. Total stranger confirmed.
To explain who he was: the guy who'd faced off against Isia in the ranking matches.
I'd run into him briefly when I went to the Billiards Club to spy.
In the original story, he had one role.
Kim Tae-hyun's rival and friend. Eventually, he rose to the position of right-hand man.
He liked strong people and had a pathological hatred for the weak. Of course, he got reformed after going through various incidents with Kim Tae-hyun later on.
But right now, pre-reformation. Which meant—
“I'll be straight with you. You two don't have to do anything. Just follow behind me, and I'll handle it. Don't step up and make things bigger than they need to be. Got it?”
Yes. He spouted lines like that without a second thought. The confidence of ranking second. It was a sight to behold.
With that intimidating glare and mana pressure, it was normal for them to be speechless.
The backline girl next to me let out a little “Eek!!” and the stoic guy beside her stayed silent too.
Ranking second was offering a free ride. Turning it down would be rude.
But I knew better. He liked strong people. He couldn't even remember the faces of the weak.
A battle maniac who'd at least ask for your name if you could fight him on equal terms.
That was the guy. Winning him over here could derail most of the incidents he'd cause with Kim Tae-hyun.
But.
Why would I?
Curry favor with some dude? Hell no? Just thinking about it gave me the creeps. No way in hell.
I'd already interfered plenty, and I had zero interest in whether Kim Tae-hyun and this Park Ho-soo guy scrapped it out.
Yeah. So.
“It's not started yet, so can I hit the bathroom?”
Just hop on the bus and chill.
Pure honey.
“...Do whatever.”
＊＊＊
In the end, I got permission from the teacher and bolted to the bathroom, waiting out front without going in.
The reason was simple. I had a meeting with someone.
Knowing her personality, if I called, she'd come running—
“Ahem!! Ahem!! W-Why'd you call me?”
I couldn't help but chuckle at the guy—no, girl—who arrived before I even finished the thought. Looking up, I saw.
A flushed face from running, one eye squinted as she looked my way, one hand covering her mouth while fake-coughing. A total fool.
“Yo.”
See? The black-haired idiot. Long time no see, idiot Isia. She'd dropped that speech pattern after Maldives, which bummed me out a bit.
But now that it was just us, she slipped right back into it. Listening to it grew on you after a while—like watching a cousin still fumbling with words. Kinda cute.
“W-Why'd you call me? I d-didn't run here, okay?! ...Yo.”
She looked out of breath, but if she said she didn't run, she didn't. I cut straight to the point with Isia, who couldn't meet my eyes.
Time was short until training, so we needed to wrap this up quick.
“Isia.”
“Y-Yeah... No. Yes!!”
“You still have that Post-it I gave you before?”
One reason for calling her. Just in case. Checking now.
This training was a major event in the original story. Blew up right at the start of the second semester.
A half-demon raid signaling demon movements. Isia was at the center. Park Shin-woo, who'd gotten wrecked by Kim Tae-hyun in the first semester and bailed, would return.
Of course, I caught the guy, so that shouldn't happen. But with Shin Chae-yeon fighting demons recently too.
I came to check because I was uneasy.
“Yes. I have it.”
“If—and I mean if—anything happens, rip it right away. Got it?”
“Huh? Oh. Yes.”
“Then no matter where you are or what's going on, I'll come running.”
“A-Anywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
“No matter the situation?”
“Any situation.”
Isia flinched at my confident gaze and stepped back. Her face flushed even more.
Definitely ran here.
“Th-That's too soon for talk like that. I-I'm not ready yet—hold on.”
“?”
Why'd she trail off? Making me anxious. As I looked at her with worried eyes, her previously sparkling, trembling pupils cooled to ice.
No light in those vibrant irises, her flushed face paling past normal to blue.
And those lifeless eyes turned to me.
“Lee Seong-hoon.”
“Yes?”
I reflexively used polite speech. Hiccupping as I slowly backed away, Isia approached.
One step. One step.
With each footfall, mana spread across the ground, sending vibrations.
This was legit scary.
“You gave one to Sophia too... right?”
“I... did?”
“What did you say to her...?”
“......”
Ah. That. I shut my mouth and stared at a distant mountain. No answer, but it was answer enough—Isia smiled thinly.
I smiled awkwardly too.
Yeah. Reusing the exact line on someone else would piss anyone off. Shouldn't have copy-pasted my script.
Adults warn against juggling credit cards for a reason.
＊＊＊
“Hmph.”
Isia puffed out her lips and trudged toward her group.
Every 30 seconds, a “Hmph” slipped out unconsciously.
Her shoulders stayed hunched, refusing to relax.
—Anywhere, any situation.
—I'll come running.
A bit embellished in Isia's head, but it was a cool line. Romantic, even.
The kind that made your heart race uncontrollably.
Just thinking about it now had her lips curling up dopily.
However.
—Haha...
Asking if he'd said it to Sophia too soured her smile again.
Not even original for her—just recycling lines on Sophia.
She couldn't stand it. She'd planned to pin him to the wall and demand a weekend date—
—Hey!! What're you doing over there?! Training's about to start! Back to your groups!!
But the teacher's interruption ruined it. So of course her lips stayed pursed.
Squinting as she walked, she reached her group.
Silver hair she secretly liked waited there. Being grouped like this felt like fate now.
“Hmph...”
Standing before Sophia, Isia squinted at her.
“What's with the death-glare look?”
Isia said nothing to Sophia's question. Just one action.
She held out the Post-it in her hand, covered in unreadable script.
“Ah.”
Sophia got it immediately.
“You too?”
Nod.
Was it true that hate turned to affection? Sophia and Isia eyed each other with pity.
＊＊＊
“Yeah.”
I gave a short reply to Lachesis and chased after the sprinting Park Ho-soo.
This training was straightforward. Set in a ruined cityscape, prepping for an outbreak dungeon.
Start by protecting holographic civilians, then fight popping monsters.
Combat and rescue.
Training to handle both at once. Simple concept.
Our group split roles: Frontline for fighting, backline for rescues.
The two backliners trailed Park Ho-soo, rescuing any distress signals.
Monster fights? All on lightning-head, naturally.
So what about me, neither frontline nor backline?
Doing jack squat. My job: catch any monsters that slipped past.
But none did. So I just ran around doing nothing.
Hmm. Can't get sweeter than this. Lady Luck's smiling today.
You know flags too? Nearly died to Isia earlier, but teacher's timing saved me.
Today's my lucky day, for real.
“How many points now?”
“2500P.”
Point tally was my job, so I answered quick. Doing just this? Peak honey.
“Haven't run into other groups yet. Let's sweep the area more.”
“Sure.”
I nodded along casually. Weird to compete instead of cooperate in team training, but whatever.
World's all competition.
Social Darwinism—kill or be killed.
Still, things were smooth sailing. No clashes with other groups, plenty of rescues.
Tons of monsters down. Time passed without incident.
“Keep this up and we're golden.”
Right then. Park Ho-soo halted. We stopped too.
As if reacting to the stop, blue windows popped up.
Super Sense and Mana Eye lit up—ones that'd never triggered before.
Didn't take long to grasp what that meant.
Not monsters Park Ho-soo could solo. Something with presence that triggered on sight.
And that wasn't all. The landscape projected by activated 「Mana Eye」—
A massive magic circle under our feet.
“We're screwed.”
Guess you're right.