Chapter 181
Chapter 181
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 181
Chapter Title: Part 2 Episode 44
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Honestly, when Seol Do-yoon first mentioned the Arctic, I had no idea he'd be this dead serious about it.
I'd just figured it was some fresh provocation from that lunatic.
The next day, he pulled up an Arctic PPT right in front of Lee Sa-byeol while she was self-studying and launched into an enthusiastic explanation.
Most of the slides were filled with cute Siberian huskies, Arctic foxes, Arctic hares, and all sorts of other Arctic animals.
It wasn't the animals that got to her—it was how much effort he'd clearly put into it—so Lee Sa-byeol humored about half of his sales pitch.
But once it passed the halfway mark, his sheer sincerity started to freak her out.
“. . . So anyway, I've gotten permission to build a base in the Arctic right now.”
“And what's the purpose of this base?”
“Hmm . . . Bonding with cute Arctic animals? Oh, right. Sa-byeol, you'll have your own space in the base too.”
Then he showed her a husky bathroom.
It took a full-blown fight—the first in ages—just to chase off the Arctic travel salesman.
The day after that.
“Sa-byeol, wanna watch a movie together? It has great ratings.”
She was studying when Seol Do-yoon showed up with his laptop, tempting her to watch.
She'd always said cultural activities to consume emotions were the most boring thing ever, so the fact that he was recommending one piqued her interest a bit.
If it was a pick from someone with such picky tastes, it had to be a real masterpiece.
The movie opened with a polar bear swiping its front paw.
[Grrrrraaah!]
It was set in the Arctic.
Just a coincidence, she thought, letting it slide—then every time the stunning Arctic scenery appeared, Seol Do-yoon oohed and aahed.
“Wow, what amazing natural scenery. Don't you wanna go see it for real? Imagine studying for college entrance exams with views like that.”
“My brain cells would freeze solid.”
When a scene came up of someone freezing to death in a cave, Seol Do-yoon quickly covered Lee Sa-byeol's eyes.
“No need to worry about freezing. I'll boil up a hand warmer for you every day.”
It didn't stop at product placement; ads kept sneaking in here and there, so Lee Sa-byeol threw Seol Do-yoon out of the room along with the laptop.
* * *
Fed up with Seol Do-yoon's relentless Arctic promotion, Lee Sa-byeol packed her bags and moved to her school friend Kim So-jin's place.
At first, she truly couldn't fathom why he was acting like that, but now she had a rough idea.
With Kim Woo-sung dead and his purpose gone, the rich kid had lost his mind and gone off the deep end with money.
The guy who hated cold and animals more than anything was talking about building a base in the Arctic—that alone proved he wasn't right in the head.
When she told him she was moving out, he half-heartedly tried to stop her, but when he shoved an Arctic pamphlet into her hands, she knew without a doubt she couldn't live with this lunatic anymore.
“Hello.”
Lee Sa-byeol greeted Kim So-jin, the Nagilgo student who'd opened the door for her.
“Uh, uh . . . C-come on in.”
Lee Sa-byeol stepped into the decent-sized studio apartment, backpack stuffed with her stuff slung over her shoulder.
She rummaged around in the bag for a while before pulling out a thick envelope and tossing it to Kim So-jin.
“Here, this. Rent.”
Kim So-jin caught the thick envelope with wide eyes. It was stuffed full of crisp 50,000-won bills.
“Sa-byeol, th-this isn't, like, money from some illegal source, right?”
Kim So-jin asked, her hands trembling.
Yeo Woo-hee, who had the class power players in her iron grip, often came around sniffing at Lee Sa-byeol, and kids with intense auras trailed after her.
Before Lee Sa-byeol's crew showed up, Nagilgo had been a total delinquent dump, so the group that flipped the school vibe scared her even more.
They were the bigger force that crushed the old top dogs without breaking a sweat.
There were even rumors that the current powers-that-be only seemed clean because they were doing an image makeover.
When the girl at the very top of that dangerous crew suddenly showed up asking to move in together, Kim So-jin wanted to say no out of sheer intimidation, but she didn't dare.
She'd been stressing over how to broach the rent issue now that Lee Sa-byeol was coming, but getting handed a fat stack of cash brought on a whole new worry.
She suddenly felt like she might end up in an interrogation room.
“Illegal source? Nah, I don't do that anymore. Put the past behind me.”
Kim So-jin took a deep breath to calm her pounding heart.
“S-so how'd you earn this?”
“Long story. Too annoying.”
Lee Sa-byeol scowled as she scanned for a spot to lie down, and Kim So-jin offered up her bed.
“The bed, the bed—right here!!”
“Isn't this your bed?”
“No, no!”
“Why lie? I'll just crash here.”
Lee Sa-byeol plopped down next to an empty outlet, spread out her puffer jacket, and lay down.
She popped in her earbuds, opened YouTube, and started watching hunter gate exploration videos.
After a while, she realized her mistake, deleted her watch history, and cleansed her YouTube algorithm of all the hunter and gate contamination. Gotta stop watching this stuff if I want to let go.
“If you're not using the bed, mind if I . . .”
“Do whatever, landlord.”
Kim So-jin sat at her desk with her textbooks open to do homework, stealing glances at Lee Sa-byeol the whole time.
She'd expected her to just laze around on her phone, but surprisingly, she had books out and was studying.
It was fascinating watching her finish problems, pull out a red pen for grading.
Scribble! Scribble!
Then came the brutal rain of red marks. Kim So-jin glanced over and desperately swallowed a laugh.
“What're you laughing at?”
“N-nothing . . . S-sorry . . .”
“That hurts my feelings.”
Lee Sa-byeol grumbled, switched the hand propping her chin, and slowly tackled the next problem.
“Sa-byeol, aren't you a hunter?”
All her friends were awakeners, hunters, or hunter hopefuls, so the one prepping for sports college entrance exams felt off.
She'd heard Lee Sa-byeol came from the Abyss, so she'd assumed she'd be a hunter for sure.
Lee Sa-byeol's pen paused at Kim So-jin's innocent question as she was jotting down answers.
She couldn't let stuff like this stress her out anymore.
People who didn't know her well would cross lines without malice, and she couldn't snap at every one if she wanted to get things done.
It was time—really time—to let go of lingering regrets, swallow reality, and digest it. Half-hearted adaptation and ambiguous attitudes would just keep eating away at her.
She'd actually gotten caught in a B-rank gate because of that vagueness.
Lee Sa-byeol tamped down her irritation and spoke softly.
“I'm registered with the association, so yeah, I'm a hunter. But I'm unawakened. Planning to quit once I'm settled in somewhere bigger.”
“Oh . . .”
“I get you didn't know, but try to avoid questions like that. They suck.”
“G-gasp, got it! Sorry . . .”
The association president had said that to stop people from doing things you hate, you have to clearly tell them exactly what bothers you.
In normal society, she was way down the pecking order. To adapt to their ecosystem without much fuss, you had to bend a little for others.
Their world flipped between strong and weak often enough that not making big enemies was the smart play.
Lee Sa-byeol let out a small sigh and flipped to the next chapter to keep solving problems.
Scribble! Scribble!
The red marks poured out the second she finished each one, making Kim So-jin feel uneasy.
It looked like stuff she knew, so she wondered where she was getting tripped up.
She got up for water and hovered near Lee Sa-byeol, peeking at the problems.
“That one—you gotta memorize the application part in the starred box to solve it right . . .”
“Huh?”
Lee Sa-byeol's sharp retort scared her, but from their earlier talk, she seemed pretty rational—not a total jerk.
Mustering courage, Kim So-jin sat down next to her. Her heart raced—maybe from fear, maybe from wanting to get closer.
Truth was, Lee Sa-byeol was one of those people in class she really wanted to befriend.
She had this aura that drew eyes whenever she passed, flipping the room's vibe to lively. She had that magnetic charm.
Tall and striking beauty with sharp, clean features that made her handsome-pretty.
Lee Sa-byeol occasionally smiled in passing, and it made hearts flutter.
Her husky voice was pleasant too—if you ignored the intimidation factor, she was super likable.
“So, like, check this page . . . Look at it and review your mistakes.”
Lee Sa-byeol checked what Kim So-jin showed her against the problem and retried it. The ones that stumped her unraveled all at once.
“Error notebook . . . M-making one is good! It stops you from repeating mistakes!”
Lee Sa-byeol nodded.
It felt like filming your wrong moves on video.
Having someone teach her was rare these days. It bruised her pride a bit, but the fresh start vibe wasn't bad.
She'd bolted impulsively from the association dorm to escape Seol Do-yoon's Arctic pressure, but leaving the familiar behind freshened her mindset.
“Sa-byeol, floor's dirty—I'll grab the summer blanket!”
Lee Sa-byeol nodded.
Did she use that super-brand detergent? The blanket she laid down smelled like lavender, not association-brand soap.
“You gave me so much money, we can order delivery! What do you want?”
“Get whatever you want.”
“C'mon . . .”
Lee Sa-byeol spotted XX Chicken coupons plastered all over Kim So-jin's fridge while leaning against the wall.
“XX Chicken.”
“Gasp, yes! It's my fave chicken place— you like it too?”
Lee Sa-byeol nodded vaguely.
Kim So-jin hummed happily as she ordered, humming and beaming the whole wait.
“You're really into it.”
“Chicken's expensive . . . Delivery night's a party.”
‘Party level, huh?’
Lee Sa-byeol raised a brow, pulled her wallet from her back pocket.
“Order another one.”
“No, no! This is plenty!”
She rummaged, realized it was empty, scratched her head. Good thing Kim So-jin refused—conversation over.
She'd blown it all on rent earlier. No regrets, though—the place and her roommate were nicer than expected.
[Heard the association dorm's empty, so our folks are heading up to the association this time.]
Bored waiting for chicken, she scrolled her phone for something fun when Pyo Sang-hun messaged her out of nowhere.
‘Guess B-Class fills the empty dorm.’
[Thrilled to see you more often.]
She sent a casual “Got it” to Pyo Sang-hun and paused to think.
She'd spent less time with the B-Class kids relatively, so being around them brought less self-loathing.
She considered heading back to the old association dorm per plan, but seeing the workbook in her hand and her new roommate's textbooks on the desk made her decide to stay.
Sticking to an environment that fit her goals cleared the confusion fast.
With less hunter info floating around, the subtle inferiority feelings faded too.
No big issues? Might as well stay here long-term, she thought, wriggling under the flower-scented blanket.
* * *
A week after switching dorms.
Lee Sa-byeol had mostly adjusted.
“S-S-Sa-byeol?”
She opened her eyes to Kim So-jin's panicked voice calling her name.
Coming to, she realized she'd pulled Kim So-jin into a tight hug in her sleep. Unconscious habits kicking in—she was that comfortable now.
“Hate it?”
Lee Sa-byeol scratched her messy head and asked with sleepy eyes.
“N-no. It's not hate, but we gotta go to school . . .!!”
Clutching her racing heart, Kim So-jin patted Lee Sa-byeol's angular shoulder.
She wanted to bond with her as much as anyone, so she tried not to squirm and risk making her uncomfortable—but model student Kim So-jin of Nagilgo prioritized avoiding being late.
“You're sleepy too . . .”
Lee Sa-byeol nuzzled her head against Kim So-jin's shoulder and closed her eyes again.
Ring ring ring!
The second alarm blared right on cue, and Lee Sa-byeol grumbled as she rolled out of bed to get ready for school.
She used to commute with Abyss kids, but as gates multiplied, group commutes dwindled.
Solo trips became habit, but now the new dorm added noisy daily life fillers.
“So, who solved problem 5 yesterday?”
“Oh, I looked it up—chapter 2's your reference.”
The kids' chatter gave her headaches, but it helped with upcoming tests, so it was fine.
[Screeeech!]
Out of nowhere, on the way to school, a hunchbacked rat-based monster with sprouting horns appeared.
Since the disguised gate near the association, minor gates had popped up around—probably one that didn't get closed in time acting up.
“Kyaaah!”
The school kids around Lee Sa-byeol screamed.
Quick scan: E-rank level. Threaten it and bolt the other way over the wall to shake pursuit.
She was calculating the best move when sparks crackled from afar.
Zap!
Monster cries rang out as they dropped one by one.
“Pyo Sang-hun?”
Familiar hunter. Lee Sa-byeol tucked the cutter knife she'd grabbed from her pencil case and tilted her head.
Pyo Sang-hun and other B-Class hunters had swarmed to close nearby gates.
“Hello!”
“Gasp, insane, it's Dawn-noona. How do you do!!!”
“!!!!H-hello!”
The hunter group lit up with感動 faces and bowed deeply at the sight of Lee Sa-byeol.
She nodded and waved, and they beamed, straightening up.
“What rank?”
“E-rank emission type opened over there.”
Pyo Sang-hun stared at commuting Lee Sa-byeol in her uniform—it looked cool somehow—and answered. Her school outfit suited her.
“Noona! I came up too!!! Missed you so much!! Can you look at us later too!!!?”
“D-D-Dawn sis! Gasp, epic. Wow . . .”
“Don't bug her on her way to school—let's go.”
Pyo Sang-hun nudged the others and pointed toward the gate.
They booed and ribbed him but bolted for the gate—clearing it was priority.
“Coming with? It's not disguised.”
Pyo Sang-hun turned to Lee Sa-byeol. Registered association hunters don't get absences for gate closures.
She hesitated on joining, then spoke.
“Nah.”
“. . . Understood. Have a great day.”
Pyo Sang-hun smiled, bowed deeply to her, and walked off.
Lee Sa-byeol stared at the gate direction a moment before turning back to school.
The commuting kids gawked at her, mouths agape.
“Sa-byeol, I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm sorry . . .”
“Insane, those guys are Abyss too, right?”
“So cool . . .”
“Sa-byeol, want the apple I brought for breakfast?”
Lee Sa-byeol raised a brow at the nonsense, picked up her dropped textbook from the ground, and dusted off the dirt.
“Let's just get going.”
She gave the gate direction one last glance before leading the kids toward school.