Hey, What's That in the Sky?
"So I just contact you at this number, then?"
The information I'd handed over to Kim Seojun had been thinner than expected.
Judging by the circumstances, he only knew the "main story" of Gate Apocalypse as well. Everything before that history was something he only vaguely grasped.
But that was the same for me — I'd only forced myself to memorize the history that was absolutely necessary for the story to progress.
In the end, all we'd managed was a cross-check to confirm whether each other's information lined up.
"You acted like you knew something in detail…"
Kim Seojun, who'd just handed me his business card, clicked his tongue. He'd been planning to prepare for the Academy incident with the exact date, but when I told him I was going to spread a Heavenly Net with Party Bears, he'd been disappointed.
What, were you expecting a history textbook or something?
I scrunched up my face like a wild boar and let my spite show.
He should just be grateful that the number of eyes keeping watch had increased dramatically. What was he expecting, a full banquet served up from the start?
"Then I hope the rest of the information will be a bit more useful. Send it over once you've organized it."
With that, Kim Seojun started preparing to leave.
I glanced at the clock — four in the morning.
It was still dark because of winter, but my sleep time had been steadily shrinking.
How dare he steal someone else's sleep and then just casually disappear like that. How infuriating.
…So this is an unavoidable choice.
Grab!
I timed it perfectly for the moment Kim Seojun sprang into the air and latched onto his left ankle, dangling from it.
In an instant, a gale so fierce it was hard to keep my eyes open whipped up, and the ground fell away in a flash.
"…What are you doing?"
Kim Seojun looked down at me in bewilderment as he flew.
I'd figured his power was so overwhelming he wouldn't even register my body weight, but apparently his senses were sharp.
I answered timidly.
"Well… I still had something to say."
"Something to say?"
"Yes."
"I just gave you my business card."
"Phone calls have a risk of being wiretapped."
At that, Kim Seojun's expression turned serious, deciding it must be important information.
"…What is it about?"
I carefully looked down over downtown Seoul and spotted the Academy.
The corners of my mouth rose on their own. As expected, the protagonist bus was a real thrill.
If I'd run to the Academy myself, it would've taken at least ten minutes. More than anything, moving my own body was a hassle.
I roughly calculated my landing point, let go of Kim Seojun's ankle, and said,
"I forgot. Thanks for the hard work."
The protagonist, realizing the situation too late, glared coldly down at me, but the distance had already opened up. A busy man like him wouldn't be petty enough to make a fuss over something like this.
"Pecia."
"…Yeah."
"If it really hurts, should we go to the infirmary?"
Elaine looked at me worriedly as I rubbed my bright red, swollen forehead.
I forced a smile and answered.
"I-I'm fine."
"Fine, my foot. It looks like you hit it hard. If you go to the infirmary and get a low-grade healing, it'll get better right away. Come on."
Elaine grabbed my wrist and led me to the infirmary. Even though nearly two weeks had passed since enrollment, I still didn't know the campus layout at all… so whenever something came up, I always had to rely on Elaine's help.
Once classes ended I always rushed straight back to the dorm to sleep, so it was only natural. Anyway, it wasn't inconvenient, so I planned to keep living like this for a while.
Where there's a mother bird like Elaine, there's a baby bird like me. No need to snatch her role away.
"It's a bruise. Did you get hit by a rock or something?"
The mid-rank healer man in the infirmary asked as he healed my wound with a skill. I watched the green light powder settle the swelling in the mirror and answered.
"I got hit. By a person."
The healer's eyes widened slightly.
"Who hit you?"
"I just hitchhiked and they hit me. It was a hunter."
"…Did they at least give you a warning to be careful? Even so, they didn't need to go this far."
"No, it was just assault. I guess they didn't like me asking for a free ride."
Deep wrinkles carved themselves into the healer's forehead as a sigh escaped him.
"Ah… is that true?"
"Yes."
"Heavens, how can the world be this cold-hearted. If they didn't like it, they could've just scolded you or ignored you. What a nasty person."
"Right? A completely uncivilized human being."
"Should I file a report for you? Doing this to a young student. Hold on, I'll contact the Hunter Management Bureau and secure the CCTV first—"
I hurriedly stopped the healer from reporting.
"W-w-wait! No! You don't need to do that!"
"Why? A bastard like that needs to be caught and taught a lesson."
"Th-that's… there might be room for debate… Anyway, I'll handle it myself."
…
"Phew, he's gone. So what if that bastard's S-class? His ride quality was garbage, so he can go eat shit."
"What did you just say?"
"What the— why are you still behind me?! You just disappeared! If I have a heart attack from the shock, are you going to take responsibility? And if you try to get revenge over what I just said, or demand an apology, you're a petty loser! Remember that!"
"This won't do."
"Aaaah! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
…
……
Still, did he have to hit me that hard? I was out cold for a few seconds.
As we left after the treatment, Elaine asked,
"Are you sure you don't need to report it? If they could hurt you that badly, they must be a pretty strong hunter."
"Nah, I didn't defend myself with mana. And do I really need to care about thugs like that? I'm busy enough looking after my own life."
Elaine's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Well, that's true, but… didn't you say just a little while ago that bad people should be tormented on sight?"
…The problem is he isn't a bad person.
"Whatever, let's just go to class."
If I kept this conversation going, it could drift toward how my logic during the pillow fight the other day had been wrong. Judging by Elaine's expression and tone, she was clearly planning to bring that up.
I needed to cut it off at the source before that happened.
For reference, today was Friday. The last class of week two. Protagonist or whatever, in a little while I'd be home healing to my heart's content, so getting hit once didn't matter at all.
"Alright— this is the last mana acquisition period of the week. For reference, there's no written test today. If you've stored even a little mana in your body, you pass. If you can even manifest magic, you're exempt from afternoon classes."
"Ooooh—!!"
Before Teacher Seo Yunji had even finished speaking, the kids' faces lit up.
Most of them came from well-off families, so they'd already learned mana cultivation methods and taken simple elixirs. A mana storage test was basically a free pass.
Manifesting magic only required floating something like a Firebolt, so most of them would skip afternoon classes too.
Just as everyone was excitedly making Friday night plans—
My heart started pounding.
…I'm screwed.
My body was already full of demonic energy, so I couldn't learn the pure power of humans.
If that were possible, humanity's detection systems would lose all meaning.
I'd known from the start that trying wouldn't work, so I'd just wasted the past two weeks.
"Next, Pecia. Our honor student Pecia."
Test time arrived in a flash.
It was a simple test — channel mana into a white orb the size of a bowling ball on the teacher's desk, and if it glowed even a little, you passed.
What do I do?
If I released my demonic energy as-is here, every security system in the Academy would react.
And I'd get dragged off to a lab.
"Just put your hand on the mana orb. Don't worry, I know you originally had no mana. Even a little is a pass."
I'd considered pulling some trick, but of all people, my examiner was Teacher Seo Yunji. The other kids with low test scores were being checked by assistants, but I had high scores so I'd drawn the wrong opponent.
"Hoo—"
I had no choice but to put my hand on the orb.
Teacher Seo Yunji saw me as a quiet model student, so I couldn't even make an excuse to leave. She was especially attentive to students like me who hadn't had the luxury of learning mana, and she held expectations for our growth accordingly.
Somehow, I was afraid of disappointing her.
…If you only looked at the amount of power I currently had, I was close to S-class. And I couldn't use even a scrap of it here. How lamentable.
Vwooom—!
…?!
But the orb started glowing brightly from the mana I'd carelessly let flow. Even though Mana Concealment was definitely active.
I widened my eyes in shock, and Teacher Seo Yunji smiled proudly and patted my shoulder.
"See, I told you not to worry. How about it? Nothing special, right?"
Nothing special, my ass.
That means my skill just got pierced!
If something was wrong with the skill and my mana got detected, I was finished. Aegis Academy had state-of-the-art security systems — the moment demonic energy was detected, combat golems and magic circles would activate.
I frantically rolled my eyes around, checking whether the security systems were activating. The magic circles on the walls, the mini golem on the teacher's desk, the teacher's emergency alert artifact, the scouts overhead, and so on.
But strangely, nothing unusual appeared.
If a demonic beast had shown up on campus, an evacuation order would've dropped immediately. Everything looked exactly the same as usual.
What?
As I stared blankly at the orb, I suddenly noticed that the power inside my body was different from usual.
I could feel a force other than demonic energy. About one-tenth of my total mana — not large, but it was definitely pure mana.
"Want to try magic while you're at it?"
At Teacher Seo Yunji's suggestion, Kang Jihun behind me laughed openly.
"Haha, what magic is that dumb bitch gonna cast, Teacher?"
"Be quiet, Student Adriel. Drop the prejudice that ordinary students can't do something just because you're from a prestigious family."
"Then wanna bet? Take off the rank badges and duke it out, or gut each other with knives — pick one. No no, I'll just take that magic hit myself."
At Kang Jihun's continued sniping, Teacher Seo Yunji shook her head.
Ignoring him, she smiled gently at me.
"It's okay. Even if you fail, just give it a try."
"Huh? Ah… yes."
I was still flustered, but there was a line of people waiting for their tests behind me, so I didn't have time to think deeply.
I grabbed any random card from the deck and peeled off the magic scroll stored in it.
I burned the scroll and manifested it above my palm.
Ding—
Casting Meteor.
"…Uh."