Rank 0 at the Awakened Academy — Episode 10: Cleaning Duty
Now that she thought about it, she had fallen, hadn't she.
A large bandage was stuck to the knee that flashed briefly beneath her uniform skirt.
The girl flinched, her shoulders jerking as if Jiwoo's appearance had startled her considerably.
Jiwoo pretended not to notice and sat down beside her.
"I'll sit here. It's the only seat left."
"O, okay."
Neighbor was a generous word for it — they weren't close enough for their shoulders to touch by any means.
Even so, the girl pressed herself toward the window as if trying to shrink into it, putting as much distance between them as she could.
Amid a nameless awkwardness, the bus pulled away.
As they drew closer to the destination, Jiwoo realized the scenery around them felt strangely familiar.
Oh. This is where I ended up when I got lost on my first day of school.
The Abyss.
Yes — the very place where she'd encountered those zombie-like Infected.
So they really were entering the Abyss. Just like on 'that day' she'd seen in Jihyo's video.
If that's the case……
It was the exact moment she quietly curled her fingers into a fist, hidden where no one could see.
"Everyone, attention. You all guessed what today's practical assignment would be, right? Cleaning duty."
…Cleaning?
"Aw, I don't wanna do cleaning……"
At someone's muttered complaint, the teacher whipped around.
"Well, well. Got a problem with that? Then go ahead and take the F."
"Sir, isn't that a little unfair?"
"Shut up and listen. The rules are simple. See this marble here? As you all well know, it's a Magic Stone. Find as many Magic Stones scattered around the Abyss as you can, and return here by six p.m. when class ends. That's it. Anyone who didn't understand?"
A marble perhaps three centimeters in diameter glinted on the teacher's open palm.
So that's what a Magic Stone looks like.
She'd only ever seen them in photographs — this was her first time seeing one in person.
The Abyss spewed out not just Infected, but all manner of viruses and toxic substances as well.
Among them, it was said that any living thing exposed for too long to the special poison the Abyss exhaled would undergo Petrification.
Animals, plants, insects — even people.
A life form perfectly frozen by the poison would slowly crumble away, until at last it became a gleaming jewel.
And that jewel was precisely what they called a Magic Stone.
If you leave Magic Stones alone, they leak out harmful substances too, right? So they're making the students clean them up because of that?
Lost in that thought, she focused on the rest of the explanation.
"Use whatever Cores you have however you see fit, and bring back as many Magic Stones as you can manage. You all heard the alarm a while back, didn't you? Entry into the Abyss itself is forbidden today. If you're confident you can wipe out Infected on your own, be my guest."
Gaon was known to periodically purify the interior of the Abyss.
But that wasn't the duty of enrolled students. Unless it was part of a class, students were not permitted to come and go from the Abyss without authorization.
Of course, there were exceptions.
Jiwoo recalled something Jihyo had once told her.
— Some students even have clearance to go into the deepest levels.
— Even you, Jihyo?
— As if. I'm not at that level…… Only a handful of students ever are.
A small elite class recognized by the Chairman himself. They were said to be granted entry rights to the Abyss that surpassed even the Purification Squad's.
What did she say they called them again?
…The Special Squad? Search Corps? Something like that, she thought.
"Three people per team. Teams will be decided by lottery. Questions?"
"……"
"Good. No questions, so gather around. Stop standing there blankly and come pick your lots, quickly now."
The students shuffled sluggishly toward the lottery box.
Soon it was Jiwoo's turn.
I could end up on a team with Gu Minjae or Kim Yeonhee.
Half of her thought that since things had turned out this way, being on their team might not be so bad. The other half wanted nothing more than to avoid them here if at all possible.
Jiwoo drew her lot with those ambiguous feelings —
"……Ah."
— and the teams were set.
One of her teammates was the timid girl who'd sat next to her on the bus.
And the other was—
"……"
She found herself looking straight into those sunken, ash-gray eyes.
Moon Yoojin. Her desk mate.
Haven't we been on the same team before? Weren't they together in PE class yesterday, too……?
"Ah, dang it. I wanted to be on Yoojin's team."
A disappointed voice drifted over from somewhere nearby.
Moon Yoojin, for his part, didn't so much as glance in that direction, as if he couldn't care less.
Beyond that, the students who'd drawn matching lots began drifting together in twos and threes, setting off.
"Hey, let's head out right now."
"What's the rush? We have until six, don't we? There's plenty of time — why don't we head down and grab brunch first?"
"Oh, sure. I was starving to death."
While the clusters of students poured out of the starting point one by one, Jiwoo's team stood rooted in place, staring blankly at nothing.
Before long, everyone else had vanished, and only the three of them remained.
"…Let's go."
In the end, it was Moon Yoojin who spoke first.
With Moon Yoojin leading the way, the other two trailed slowly behind him.
Jiwoo, pretending to survey her surroundings, stole a glance at the girl's left chest.
Lim Lisa. That was her name.
Did she like black, perhaps?
Black socks, black sneakers. Just like yesterday, every single item on her today was swathed in black.
Long bangs hung down as if to hide her face, and between them glinted eyes gone dark and heavy.
Sensing Jiwoo's gaze, Lim Lisa flinched and took a step away.
"Oh — sorry."
It happened before Jiwoo could even process what, exactly, she was apologizing for.
It was as if…… as if Jiwoo had warned her not to walk beside her without permission.
She started to say that wasn't what she'd meant at all, but decided that wouldn't be a great move either, and turned her head away instead.
Then, in what she judged to be the brightest tone she could muster, she spoke up.
"Let's do well today."
"Yes. I'll stay out of your way."
No — that's not what I meant……
Well, fine. Trying to explain herself over every little thing would just look strange anyway.
After that, the three of them entered the mountains, each keeping a modest distance from the others.
No one spoke.
"Let's meet back here in four hours."
Once they reached the assignment point, Moon Yoojin was the first to suggest it.
…Wasn't this supposed to be a group assignment?
Granted, no one had said anything about being forbidden to act individually.
Still, she hadn't expected him to propose splitting up the moment they arrived, as if he'd been waiting for just this chance.
Is he more used to working alone than cooperating with others?
As the top-ranked student in the school, he'd have to have Cores and talent to match. It was possible that other people simply felt like dead weight to him.
Either way, working separately was exactly what Jiwoo had been hoping for.
She had no intention of bonding with her classmates and making precious memories, either.
And if she wanted to use her Cores freely, going solo was far more convenient, wasn't it?
"Got it."
Lim Lisa nodded without offering any objection, either.
"We gather as many Magic Stones as we can, count them up, and if it looks like we're short, we go deeper down and look for more. Sound good?"
Twelve thirty in the afternoon. The hour was just past noon.
Jiwoo and Lisa silently agreed to Yoojin's plan, and immediately they scattered in three different directions.
A few minutes later.
The empty clearing where the three had stood was deserted.
Off to one side, a patch of brush rustled softly.
"……"
Flamboyant, garish orange hair.
Gu Minjae emerged from the brush, his face frozen cold.
He stared for a long moment in the direction Jiwoo's team had disappeared, then strode purposefully that way.
One hand clenching a black shoe so hard it seemed about to burst.