Chapter 201: What in the World is Happening?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 201: What in the World is Happening?
5
After the incident with Ha-chan, Shin Tae-hee kept a low profile at school for a while.
Seeing him strictly stick to his duties as the student council president, a few of his classmates grew suspicious, but since it didn't disrupt the school's atmosphere, it wasn't a problem.
However, whenever his classmates casually asked about Si-ho, Shin Tae-hee would flinch and stammer evasively.
As if she were some sacred ground that should never be touched.
Perhaps because of this, a strange rumor about Si-ho began to circulate.
The rumor was that Shin Tae-hee had recently been summoned by her brother, Ha Seo-ho, and given a stern talking-to.
It was a baseless rumor, but Si-ho, the subject of it all, paid it no mind.
Aside from Ji-eun, she wasn't particularly close to anyone at school, and her attention was focused on only one thing.
But another rumor was making the rounds as well.
It was that Si-ho had a boyfriend, one so incredibly handsome that he had completely captivated her.
In fact, Si-ho had often been seen taking a call and leaving with a bright expression, so the rumor spread among the students as if it were true.
A boyfriend liked by Si-ho, who wouldn't even give the famous Shin Tae-hee a second glance.
Just as curiosity about his identity was peaking, a new rumor surfaced: someone had seen Si-ho getting into a man's car.
For some reason, however, the reaction of the person who started the rumor was ambiguous.
Because the supposedly super-handsome boyfriend from the rumors turned out to be just… average-looking.
Not bad, but a bit underwhelming for someone said to be Si-ho's boyfriend, you know?
But one thing about him was far from ordinary: the car he drove.
“Is it because he's rich?”
“So it's all about money in the end.”
“But she's Ha Seo-ho's sister. Si-ho's an S-rank herself. I doubt she's short on cash.”
“Damn it, then what's so great about him?”
While everyone was coming up with their own wild interpretations.
Only Shin Tae-hee, who knew the man's true identity, could only smile bitterly.
Please, let them never find out about Kang Ha-chan. Let it all just pass as a simple rumor.
That was all Shin Tae-hee could do—pray.
*
Chapter 21 – Kkotbi's Scandal
1
Before I knew it, it was early April. Spring was in full bloom.
And here I was, clad in black armor, plunging my sword deep into the neck of a giant wolf.
This feeling… Yep, I've still got it.
Thud!
The ridiculously large wolf collapsed to the ground, dead.
Watching it fall, I let out a light sigh.
“Domi-oppa!”
An excited voice called out from behind me. It was Ahyu, hopping over with a bow in her hands.
But she looked different from usual. With her light red hair tied in pigtails, this was Ahyu's game character.
That's right. We were inside Lord of Academy.
'Peace is a wonderful thing.'
After a string of incidents that had kept us from logging in much, we were finally enjoying the game in peace for the first time in a while.
“Heehee, I gathered all the materials! I can finally go for my next enhancement.”
“What level are you at now?”
“+17!”
So she was about to face the dreaded +18, huh.
Having just recently managed to create a +18 Araman myself with Yu U-jeong's help, I patted Ahyu on the shoulder.
“Good luck.”
“I don't need luck. My enhancement RNG is amazing.”
She had a point. Despite starting the game much later than me, Ahyu's stats were already catching up to mine.
Just as she said, her luck with enhancements was just that good.
A blessed account, you could say.
As someone who'd blown up his Araman twenty-two times, I was truly envious.
“Jealous? Aren't you jealous?”
Perhaps that's why Ahyu started teasing me.
I pushed her forehead back with my palm.
“Not jealous. I'm going for +19 soon.”
“Planning on blowing it up again?”
“Ahyu, I can't exactly blow you up, can I?”
We continued our conversation as we moved. We had pretty much finished everything we needed to do for the day.
“Haaah, this feels so good.”
Flying on the back of a wyvern, Ahyu leaned her head against my chest and stretched contentedly.
I found it a little funny, considering she could literally walk on air, but seeing her so happy was nice, so I didn't say anything.
“Ahyu, how are Do Hwa and Naek doing these days?”
“I think they met up yesterday, too.”
Lately, Naek seemed to be enjoying her real life more than the game. She hadn't been logging in as much.
That's because she and Do Hwa officially started dating.
“Well, I'm glad to hear they're doing well.”
I couldn't say I was the one who set them up, but I did play a small part, so I felt a little proud.
For some reason, Ahyu looked up at me with a pout.
“Is this really the time to be worrying about them?”
“Huh?”
“Do you even remember the last time we went on a date, mister?”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, when was the last time Ahyu and I actually went on a date?
As I struggled to remember, Ahyu reached up and pinched both my cheeks hard.
“Oh? You can't even answer right away? Do you hate me now? Are you tired of me?”
“How could I ever get tired of you?”
“Then why don't you ever ask me out first? Are you showing off because you have so many other girls?”
I gave Ahyu a wry smile.
Maybe it was because we saw each other in the game almost every day, but we rarely met up outside of it.
And besides that…
“You haven't been going out much lately, either.”
Ahyu had been avoiding the World Returnee Association, saying she'd worked hard enough for a while and wanted to rest.
Thanks to that, I had to listen to Seol-hyang grumble about it the other day.
Apparently, a lot of problems get solved easily when Ahyu is around.
“Hmph, well, I couldn't help it. Everything I did was for you, Domi-oppa.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but haven't you been cooped up at home for almost a month?”
“So what? I once went a whole year without leaving the house.”
It was amazing how she could maintain her muscle mass and weight like that.
Just what was Ahyu's body made of?
I'd seen it with my own eyes, of course, but the body of the Heavenly Demon was respectable in many ways.
Still, hearing she'd been home for a solid month did worry me a little.
“Ahyu.”
So I called her name, and she glanced up at me.
“Want to meet up tomorrow?”
It was the weekend, after all.
Hearing this, Ahyu tilted her head slightly and stroked her chin. “Hmm, I'm a very busy woman, you know.”
“Never mind, then.”
“Ah, ahh! You're so mean!”
When I immediately withdrew the offer, she started pounding on my chest with both hands.
“So when are we meeting?”
“Let's meet for lunch.”
“Does that mean we'll be hanging out until night?”
At that moment, Ahyu looked up at me shyly.
Are all my girlfriends like this?
When I raised my hand to pat her head, she let out a happy squeal and threw her arms around me.
Well, she's cute, so I guess it's fine.
And with that, Ahyu and I arrived at our guild house.
As we walked inside, we saw two people playing a minigame.
One was Juksim, whose in-game character was also small. The other was Eva, a huge male character dressed in pink.
For the record, it was Eva noona playing today.
“Juksim, Eva noona.”
I called out to them as I approached, and they paused their minigame to look over.
“Domi.”
[Deathlight and Mr. Heart: Says welcome.]
As they both greeted me, I glanced at the minigame they were playing.
It was a simple game where you shoot down each other's planes, but it had a lot of items, allowing for a wide variety of strategies.
It seemed the two of them had gotten really into this game lately.
You could play it together, and it also had online matchmaking.
For reference, Juksim was currently ranked 3rd.
Considering she'd only started playing two weeks ago, it was a testament to her exceptional gaming skills.
“Looks like you're having a lot of fun.”
“It is. Don't you want to play, Domi?”
Eva noona looked at me expectantly, and I scratched my head.
“I don't think I can after getting completely wrecked by Juksim last time.”
[Deathlight and Mr. Heart: Calls it contempt for the weak.]
“Thanks to that, I've decided not to play any new games with you for the first time.”
Hearing that, Juksim flinched and glanced at me sheepishly.
[Deathlight and Mr. Heart: Says they'll go a little easy on you next time.]
“That's even worse.”
Juksim looked dejected, and I let out a small laugh.
“So next time, let's just start playing together from the beginning.”
Only then did Juksim's expression brighten.
[Deathlight and Mr. Heart: Says they'll come find you later.]
Getting dejected and then bouncing back so quickly was so typically Juksim.
“Domi.”
Just then, Eva noona called out to me quietly.
She glanced my way and spoke a bit timidly.
“You said you'd visit my company sometime… When do you think you'll be able to come?”
Hearing her question, I let out a small 'Ah.'
I remembered that I had, in fact, promised to visit Eva noona's company.
“Ah, sorry, I forgot. I'll drop by soon.”
“Really? I'll be waiting.”
“I promise, I'll go soon.”
As I said that, Eva noona broke into a bright smile.
Even though she was in a male character's body, that smile immediately brought Eva noona's real face to mind.
And at the same time, I remembered what happened that night.
The night Eva noona kissed me.
‘…Come to think of it, there are still a lot of unresolved issues.’
Starting with Ji-eun, then Kkotbi and Eva noona, and now Eunnamu, too.
Ever since I accepted what Baeksan called my 'masterpiece,' I've started to think of it as my destiny, but still, in the end, it was up to me, the person at the center of it all, to see things through.
'Is 'resolve' even the right word?'
I pondered for a moment before shaking my head.
The word 'resolve' doesn't exist in human relationships.
I knew that all too well.
It's something you have to work on together, adapting to one another. It's not something that can be finished overnight with a single conversation.
And then, the day came when an unexpected event brought this aspect of my relationships to a close.
“Domi oppaaaaaak!”
A piercing scream from Ahyu, who was on a date with me, echoed through the air.
I nearly spat out my drink as I whipped around in shock, only to see Ahyu staring blankly, practically foaming at the mouth.