Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Part 35. Ah, These **** Bastards Are Really ****ing Around (4)
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Yoo Ji-tae and Yeoreum couldn't care less, but the current top ranker candidates on campus weren't on good terms with each other.
The conflicts started around day seven. They began competing in "mission assignments" and "personal spars." They were all kids with power and backing to begin with, and since their interests and stakes didn't overlap, there was no reason to play nice. All that was left was pride and rivalry.
So they badmouthed each other whenever they met in private.
Just like right now.
"You dog-like chink bastard..."
"You done talking, nigger?"
The Black cadet Yong Dan-bi hurled an insult at the Chinese trainee, and Ou Wang fired back with casual racial discrimination without batting an eye. From the Yong family side, Yong Tae-ha held Yong Dan-bi back, while from the Erpan side, Jang Soo-young restrained Ou Wang.
As the heated atmosphere began to cool down bit by bit...
Yeoreum spoke up.
"What's going on? Why'd you all stop fighting?"
Several pairs of slanted glares turned her way.
"Hey. He just called you a nigger."
"..."
"You got no pride? If someone called my hair 'ramen,' I'd peel their face off."
Yong Dan-bi scowled fiercely. Visibly pissed, her body turned back toward Ou Wang.
"Hey. Hey. Dan-bi!"
A handsome, neatly featured face. Yong Tae-ha, the once-in-a-generation genius cadet from the Yong family.
He panicked and blocked Yong Dan-bi's path.
"Yoo Yeoreum. What the hell are you butting in for?"
"No, but come on? Hey, Chinese guy. She's calling you a chink."
"..."
The fierce-looking Ou Wang suddenly drew a dagger from his waist. "Calm down!" "Hey, hey." Jang Soo-young restrained him again.
"Yoo Yeoreum. I know what kind of girl you are."
"So?"
"Don't stir up fights for no reason. Please. What's the point in cadets fighting each other?"
Yeoreum shrugged at Yong Tae-ha's words. Heh heh heh. Someone laughed then. It was Sophia Borcova.
"This is hilarious. Weren't you just calling me a 'bratty girl' the other day?"
"Hey, Sophia. When did I say that?"
"Fuck off, you bastard. That's exactly how you said it."
Just as things were about to explode into chaos again, the PR team's PD entered and announced interview wait times. The cadets finally calmed down.
A place thick with awkward tension. Yeoreum looked at Lingling. Zhou Luxin, Jang Soo-young, Ou Wang. A tiny girl buried among the tall, burly cadets.
"You."
In the silence, Yeoreum's words drew everyone's attention. What the hell is she up to now?
"Got nothing to say to me?"
"..."
Unlike when she'd gripped her knife, Lingling's eyes seemed devoid of any fight.
"Nothing to say?"
"Nothing..."
"Bullshit. You said it to me in that huge blaze. 'If we meet outside...'"
That was when Erpan Guild's Jang Soo-young cut Yeoreum off and shot to her feet.
"Yoo Yeoreum. Enough."
"What the hell are you on about now?"
"You're a real nasty girl, aren't you? Our Lingling's a fragile kid. She's got mental issues. The match is over, she's already punished for her mistake—do you have to keep bullying her?"
Her voice dripped with pathos. The mood shifted. The cadets glanced at Yeoreum.
"Cut it out, Yoo Yeoreum. As a fellow Korean, it's embarrassing."
"Yeah. Your personality's infamous, but this crosses the line."
"What? I crossed the line?"
Yoo Yeoreum snapped irritably and stood up.
"Want me to show you what crossing the line really looks like?"
Just as the commotion was about to erupt again, the PD entered right on cue and announced the start of interviews.
Interview room. Guardian waiting area.
After sending Yeoreum to the waiting room, Yoo Ji-tae entered. As expected from prestigious guilds and families, the guardians were of high caliber. Yoo Ji-tae recognized several familiar faces.
Among them was Ha Yun, the professor in charge of Zhou Luxin cadet.
"Fancy meeting you here again. Hello."
"...Hello."
"Yeoreum cadet. I heard she was doing some unique training. She's gotten ridiculously strong."
"Yeah."
The regressor's voice was as dry as sweeping asphalt with a straw broom.
Whatever was bothering her, Professor Ha Yun shot Yoo Ji-tae a glare.
Soon, the cadets in the waiting room filed into the interview room.
The interview began with the main PD tossing random questions at the ten cadets.
The PR team's questions were deliberately provocative. To make the cadets feel competitive— the public ate that up. And the guardians permitted a certain level for their cadets' fame.
Four days ago, Erpan Guild's Ou Wang and Yong family's Yong Dan-bi had clashed. Yong Dan-bi won. So the PR team asked Ou Wang: 'What is Yong Dan-bi to you?'
"Cadet Yong Dan-bi?"
Ou Wang flashed a friendly smile.
"She's a very strong cadet."
Trained in media handling by their guilds and families, the cadets deftly dodged the sensational questions. No trace of the throat-grabbing hostility from moments ago.
Yong Dan-bi smiled gracefully too.
"Cadet Ou Wang is... a very hardworking cadet. Endless potential ahead."
It sounded like praise at first glance, but not to them.
"One word to each other?" The PD's next question made it clearer.
"Ou Wang's got such a pretty face. It's his talent too. Perfect Erpan model.
He's a retard who struts on his looks alone.
"Her magic's better than Cadet Yong Tae-ha's. Swordsmanship tops Cadet Yong Ji-yoon's."
He's mediocre at both sword and magic.
"You could do better than being a superhuman. This world's dangerous."
Go be a clown. Who the fuck does this shit think this place is?
"Cadet Yong Dan-bi's agile. Talent for stealth ops."
She'd disappear if the lights went out.
The barbed compliments continued.
The PD smacked his lips in disappointment during the interview. He'd hoped for more sparks, but it was too subtle.
Next up: Lingling. The PD handed her the mic.
"Cadet Lingling. Hello."
"Ah, yes..."
Hesitation flickered in her messy bangs, and the PD's face lit up.
"Haha. So cute in real life. But in battle, that feral charm—tons of fans. Gap moe, right? Gap moe. You know the term?"
Lingling anxiously glanced at Jang Soo-young.
Jang Soo-young answered for her.
"Lingling's oblivious to attention."
"Really? Then about this morning's fight with Cadet Yeoreum..."
"Oh, and sorry, but Lingling's sensitive. Please skip that question. Sorry."
The mic passed to the Chinese Jang Soo-young.
Until then, the interview room brimmed with stifling awkwardness. Cadets who'd been ready to kill each other moments ago were forcing smiles.
"Ah, these fucking bastards..."
So Yeoreum's mutter hit the room like a bomb.
"...are really full of shit."
The strangely amplified whisper shut the chattering PD's mouth. Jang Soo-young whipped around in shock.
Everyone's eyes bulged. The startled PD thrust the mic at Yeoreum.
"What was that? Cadet Yeoreum?"
"Didn't hear? Whatever. PD-nim, if we're interviewing, do me first and let me go. Can't stand another second in this disgusting place."
The blunt words made the AD behind gasp and zoom in on Yeoreum's face.
The PD felt fireworks exploding in his head. This might be the real start.
"Uh, okay... Let's interview Cadet Yeoreum first. How'd you get so strong?"
"I'm not that strong."
The softball question backfired unexpectedly.
The PD chuckled awkwardly.
"So humble. There was that spar with Lingling in broad daylight. You were cursing in anger—got caught on tape. Just a heat-of-the-moment thing?"
"Yeah."
"Ah, so the curses weren't sincere?"
"They were sincere. That fucking bitch started it."
Here it comes. Something was about to blow.
"Pitch-black bitch. Plays nice here, but in that blaze, that little runt threatened to tear me apart if we met outside. Spat double curses at me. Who wouldn't snap? You wouldn't, PD-nim?"
The shocked AD swung the camera to Lingling. She looked innocently stunned.
"I, uh, see. But Cadet Yeoreum, even if heated, snapping back with curses isn't befitting a proper superhuman cadet, right?"
"What the fuck."
"...!?"
"See? That'd piss you off too, right PD-nim?"
"...Haha."
'But it's exploding too much...' The PD sweated bullets.
"Got it. Any close cadets?"
"Nope."
"What if there were?"
"Hm. Her?"
Sophia chimed in playfully from across the room.
"I don't like you though?"
"I don't like you either, you bitch."
They burst out laughing in turn, cracking up at their own words.
"Any rivals among the cadets here?"
Yeoreum scanned the room, then stared seriously into the camera.
"None. Everyone's weaker than me."
The bombshell made the AD pan over the cadets. Shit-eating faces filled the frame.
"In the pre-break interview, Cadet Zhou Luxin said he could beat someone like Yoo Yeoreum."
Zhou Luxin was under Professor Ha Yun's Moonlit House.
The sharp-featured male cadet smirked, and Yeoreum picked her ear.
"Honestly, I'd have won back then too."
"And now?"
"Dunno? Wanna test it right now if you're up for it?"
The PD's eyes sparkled. Good line.
"I'll twist your fucking head off."
No. Too much.
Arrogant to the core. Her unfiltered mouth had the cadets murmuring.
The guardians muttered too.
"Mouths like that..."
"Tch. Some people..."
Yoo Ji-tae ignored their words and stares. He had no intention of reining her in or swaying public opinion. The situation was just mildly amusing.
Professor Ha Yun, however, was not.
"Guardian Yoo Ji-tae."
"Yes."
"Cadet Yeoreum seems awfully rude."
"She does."
Ha Yun glared, exasperated.
"As her guardian, shouldn't you rein her in? The cadet's going off the rails."
"Hm..."
"Mind if a professor chimes in? I get the laissez-faire style, but left like that, she'll end up resenting her guardian."
Yoo Ji-tae asked slowly then.
"If you rein her in, does the cadet obey her guardian?"
"Pardon? Well... it's not about obeying the guardian—it's about guiding her right."
"What's 'right'?"
"Becoming strong enough to protect everyone. A beloved superhuman. Isn't that the goal for Lair cadets?"
Yoo Ji-tae turned silently to the cadets.
Thinking she'd landed a point, Ha Yun added,
"Wrong direction leads back eventually. Yeoreum's attitude is off. As guardian, you should hold her back before—"
Yoo Ji-tae's gaze returned.
He stared piercingly into Ha Yun's eyes without a word.
And stayed that way for a long while.
Ha Yun couldn't even breathe until he looked away.
No matter how many times, that gaze never got easier. Like a demon or killer...
"Final question. Cadet Yeoreum, you're brimming with confidence. Any reason?"
"My guardian."
"Your guardian? That much faith in him?"
"Nah? Our guardian's the strongest."
"..."
The AD swung the camera to Yoo Ji-tae. He met it calmly.
Still, the PD was a pro. He forced a grin and joked,
"Like a fox riding a tiger's back?"
"Hm. That fits."
Yeoreum nodded readily.
"This is rabbit kingdom."
The PD massaged his temples. Where to edit from—to? He was lost.
Other guardians coughed loudly, openly displeased. No manners at all. The cadets were baffled too.
Yeoreum turned and swept her gaze over the guardians.
"Why the fucking coughs? Spit it out if you got something to say. Or, big bros and sis—wanna spar our guardian right now?"
She grinned like a tomboy.
"He'll twist your heads off♥"
That ended Yoo Yeoreum's interview.
Internal review found no objections—it had massive hit potential. So the "Top 10 Ranker Candidate Cadet Interviews" video went up unedited, swear-filtered only.
The next day.
Yeoreum's fan cafe 'Crazy for Summer' exploded.
This explosive interview spread far and wide.
Yeoreum became kindling for countless communities. In and around the Lair, fans grew who loved her free-spirited attitude. But haters calling her rude multiplied too.
The person herself didn't give a damn.
"How was the interview? Good?"
"Yeah."
Yeoreum was satisfied with Yoo Ji-tae's single word.
If he said it was good, it was good.