Chapter 213: A Resurfacing Conflict
Chapter 213: A Resurfacing Conflict
There’s a term called an “Easter egg.” It refers to fun or surprising things that a creator hides within their work.
Though this place was different in many ways, discovering it felt just like finding an Easter egg. Of course, it wasn't as if this entire vast campus was filled only with buildings, so it made sense for a place like this to exist. Still, I never expected to find such a refreshing forest atmosphere within the User Academy. The fact that I hadn't known about it in the first playthrough only heightened the novelty.
The fragrant scent of trees and the rich smell of the fields cleared my head. My mind had been cluttered lately, as I’d been getting little more than snatches of sleep, but breathing in the fresh air for the first time in a while seemed to restore a bit of my vitality. It was a much-needed moment of rest, essential for me to function properly from now on.
Beside me lay a neatly placed square of cloth, on top of which were several delicious-looking cookies. Hanbyul had brought them, saying they were snacks for the instructors. They looked far too high-quality to be simple treats.
I couldn't understand why they were spending money on such trivial things when the clan’s finances must have been tight after the failed expedition. But from the perspective of the one receiving them, I had no complaints. I gladly reached for a cookie. A sweet aroma drifted into my nose. The cookies smelled so good that Vivian would have gone crazy for them.
“You seem to have changed a lot.”
As I was brushing crumbs off my clothes, a calm voice came from behind me. I turned to see a female Mage staring at me with her usual expressionless face. It was Kim Hanbyul.
I looked at her with a bored expression. Until now, our conversations had mostly been about our duties as instructors. Even when we exchanged greetings or asked how the other was doing, it was always brief. This was the first time she had brought up something that could be considered personal.
After a final flick to brush the last of the crumbs from my collar, I asked in a flat voice, “How so?”
“Well… before, it seemed like you always had to be doing something, without a moment's rest.”
“Alright, I get it. I can get up now. If you wanted me to stop resting and get back to work, you could have just said so instead of beating around the bush.”
“…That’s not what I meant.”
Of course, I was joking. Hanbyul gave me a slight, sullen glare before falling silent. I held out my right hand to her and, with my left, picked up the bag of cookies and offered it to her. She looked at my hands and seemed to ponder for a moment. Soon, she placed the clipboard she had tucked under her arm into my right hand and accepted the bag of cookies.
“Did you not like them?”
“No, they were good. Anyway, I’m done with my morning duties. Is there anything left for the afternoon? Ah, you should have some too.”
“It is fine…”
“Let’s see.”
I gave a vague reply and flipped through the clipboard. It was filled with neat handwriting in a stylish script. As I read through it carefully, I found something strange. I tilted my head for a moment, and just as I looked up to ask about it, I saw her.
“Pfft.”
Kim Hanbyul was cautiously taking a bite of a cookie. When she noticed me looking, she let out a surprised puff of air. The cookie she had just bitten into tumbled to the ground.
“I have a question. What’s this about providing support for the afternoon training supervision?”
“It’s a support request from Instructor Na Seung-hye, who is in charge of the magic aptitude demonstration training. She said there are too many trainees and asked for help with supervision.”
Hanbyul’s reply was swift. Still confused, I tilted my head further.
“That makes no sense. She needs supervising instructors to teach Users with Magic Power aptitude?”
“It’s because it’s a demonstration, not specialized training yet. It’s for all the Users.”
“Ah, I see. Still, it’s a bit strange. If it’s for everyone, aren’t there plenty of supervising instructors available?”
“…She said to have dinner together after the training. It’s a message from the Han Clan Lord.”
Only after Hanbyul’s added explanation did I understand what was happening. Sung Hyunmin and Na Seung-hye belonged to the representative clans of different eastern cities, so the Moonlit Night Clan must have asked the Han Clan for the favor. I had expected them to start testing the waters after about three weeks, but I had not thought they would make a move after only one.
I sighed and closed the clipboard. In any case, Sung Hyunmin was someone worth getting to know. For some reason, I felt like he had been making advances toward me ever since the Call to Arms, but I just hoped it wouldn't go in the wrong direction. Like a coming-out, for example.
“Well, I guess we should get going.”
With that silly thought, I took a deep breath. About an hour had passed since lunch, so the trainees would be gathering by now.
Listening to the faint training shouts in the distance, I started walking. I could feel Hanbyul’s presence behind me, her quiet footsteps following mine. What was this strange sense of déjà vu?
*
When a User teaches another User, the methods can vary greatly from person to person. Broadly, they can be divided into theory-focused and practice-focused, but the finer details become as complex as the various interpretations of classical literature.
It’s not that there’s no difference in efficiency between methods as one gets into advanced courses, but the fundamentals are mostly the same. In other words, debating the quality of instruction at the basic level was meaningless.
Magic Power was arguably the most important stat, as it was used by all classes. At the User Academy, they first taught the definition of Magic Power and basic theory. After that, in the demonstration training, they would teach how to generate and handle Magic Power based on the theory learned in the first week.
The incident began with a question from a single User. To summarize, the question was, “There’s a difference between what we learned in the theory class and the method you’re showing us now.” If Na Seung-hye, the instructor, had just yielded a single step, the matter could have been overlooked. She could have simply said that there might be slight differences based on personal interpretation and that they should follow the established method without emphasizing her own, which would have been enough to resolve it.
But Na Seung-hye didn't. She had the User who asked the question stand up, listened to him recount the theory he’d learned, and then let out a blatant sneer.
“I had no idea you were all taught in such a low-level, inefficient manner. I’m sorry to say this, but you’d be better off just forgetting all the magic-related theories you’ve learned so far.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“Yes. You need to be guided properly from the very beginning. I don’t know who taught you this way, but most of it makes no sense. It’s almost like someone was determined to lower the standards for the new recruits, hmm~?”
I wasn't the only supervising instructor there; instructors from other clans were present as well. In fact, the instructor who had taught the first week’s class was also there, which was bound to cause a problem. The new recruits’ eyes immediately turned to the previous instructor, and her face flushed bright red before she stormed out of the training area.
The demonstration training somehow managed to conclude, but of course, the matter wasn't going to be buried. After the training ended and the new Users had left, instructors from the Moonlit Night Clan and the Waning Moon Clan swarmed in. At their respective heads were Na Seung-hye and the former instructor, Jo Eun-yeong. A quick glance with my Third Eye confirmed that Jo Eun-yeong had decent stats, though it was undeniable that she paled in comparison to Na Seung-hye.
“Honestly. How can you just change instructors after teaching so arbitrarily? Now we have to teach them all over again from the beginning.”
“What did you say? Oh, for heaven’s sake.”
“I was going to let it slide, but it’s gotten to the point where I can’t just stand by and watch. Do you think magic training is the same as physical training?”
“Excuse me. You’re going too far. Just because you have a Rare Class…”
This was the unfortunate outcome of Park Hyunwoo’s plan to switch instructors after the first week. But it couldn't be blamed solely on him. Even to my eyes, the scene unfolding before me looked like nothing more than simple nitpicking or an attempt to tear someone down.
As I watched the fire from across the river, Jo Eun-yeong finally exploded, her sharp voice ringing out. Her voice trembled with injustice and anger, and there was even a faint sob mixed in.
“So what do you want me to do about it now! If you didn't like it, you should have said something earlier! You didn't even show up for the first week of training, so what am I supposed to do now?!”
“Ugh, so loud. All you have is a big voice. Well, it’s not like I expect you to do anything. What if I trusted you and you wasted more of our precious time? Anyway, if you don’t have the skills, just stay quiet and watch. Don’t go making a scene.”
Just as Jo Eun-yeong was about to erupt at Na Seung-hye’s scathing remarks, members from several other clans arrived and quickly stepped in to mediate.
Their intervention caused the clash between the two clans to fizzle out, but the incident was a signal flare, announcing that the conflict, which had been barely suppressed by the Matriarch’s mediation, had been rekindled. It was impossible to predict how fiercely they would keep one another in check under the pretext of promoting their clans to the new recruits.
Even as he was calming Na Seung-hye down and leaving, Sung Hyunmin came over to apologize, saying he would have to postpone our dinner. I smiled and told him it was fine, then decided to head back to the dorms with Kim Hanbyul.
It was on the way to the instructors’ quarters that I felt it—an unsettling current swirling through the User Academy, a feeling that washed over my entire body. It was a stark contrast to the refreshing mood I had enjoyed after lunch. As I contemplated its source, one face came to mind.
Park Hwanhee. The User I had noticed in the plaza, and the User who had asked Na Seung-hye that question. Since I had also attended her training, I had seen his face and felt the same unease as before. His expression was strange, as though he were not asking out of genuine curiosity but aiming for something. And it was not only him. Most of the new Users around Park Hwanhee wore similarly peculiar expressions.
The current I had just sensed was a premonition that something unsettling was about to happen at the User Academy.
All was quiet. It was the quiet that comes just before something happens… The thought that it was like the calm before the storm briefly crossed my mind.
*
“Shall we call it a day?”
Ko Yeonju stopped in her tracks. The six Users following her also halted simultaneously. Then, Ko Yeonju spun around halfway and lashed out with a powerful kick at the User behind her.
“Kugh!”
With a thud, Ahn Hyun was sent tumbling to the ground by Ko Yeonju’s kick. A reddish liquid stained the ground where he rolled. It wasn't his own blood, but rather something that had been on his equipment, smearing the ground as he fell.
Despite his fall, no one stepped forward. They all held their breath with tense faces, seemingly with no intention of helping Ahn Hyun up. No, it wasn't that they wouldn't, but that they couldn't. Ko Yeonju looked down at him with an arrogant gaze and spoke in a chilling voice.
“Do you even know why you were hit, brat?”
“Yes… yes.”
“I don’t know how many times I have to say this. Soohyun insisted that I teach you well since you’re all skilled. Was he wrong, or do you just have no intention of listening to me?”
“I’m sorry.”
Ahn Hyun bit his lip hard and pushed himself up. Ko Yeonju glared at him with piercing eyes, then shook her head slowly.
“Unlike the kind-hearted Soohyun, I get frustrated with kids who don’t get it the first time. I have a mountain of other things to do, and if you keep holding me back like this, I’ll start to really hate doing this, no matter how much he asked.”
“I’ll be more careful.”
“Yes. You’d better be. Just try showing up with that shield again next time. I really won’t let you off then.”
Ko Yeonju spat the words out coldly, then turned and started walking away. The rest of the group, who had been watching silently, cast sympathetic glances at Ahn Hyun before following her.
Watching their retreating backs, Ahn Hyun quickly scrambled to follow. He must have bitten his lip incredibly hard; a clear imprint of his teeth was left behind.