The Boundary of Dreams (3)

It was early morning. I had just stepped out of the dormitory on my way to class, but my footsteps halted at the sight of someone blocking the second-floor hallway with a sullen expression on her face.

“...?”

Yeon Minha stood with her arms crossed, glaring at me with sharp, venomous eyes. She wore silk pajamas, her shawl wrapped so tightly around her it might as well have been armor. Only three nights had passed since I last projected the Blockade, yet she already radiated a vitality that had been absent before. Her skin was smooth, her long, flowing white hair glossy and full of luster. The sole drawback was that her sky-piercing insolence and arrogance had grown even more pronounced. That trademark condescending gaze remained unchanged. Now that her body had recovered, perhaps she thought she could test the waters again. Her ingratitude was almost laughable, but she had no way of knowing what I had done for her. Better to avoid raising pointless suspicions and interrogation.

“What do you want?”

“Y-you… hic.”

She kept glaring in silence, so I asked her business outright. I needed to leave for class immediately, so if she had something to say, she should get it over with. But just look at her. One casual remark from me and that insolent attitude melted away in an instant. The scathing words she had prepared scattered into thin air as she bit her tongue in panic. Shame at her collapsed dignity flooded her pale skin with a deep crimson blush. Anger at her own reaction made her entire body tremble faintly.

Overcoming a fear once imprinted is never easy.

“H-how long are you planning to stay here…? If you wanted to humiliate me… isn’t this enough already…!”

Yeon Minha, who had barely steadied herself, began to protest in a desperate tone.

“S-stop it here… You said you’d let it go… W-what exactly are you trying to—”

“I intend to stay for the time being. And what do you mean, enough? Who decided that? Besides, I don’t think it’s nearly enough yet.”

“Hi… hic.”

With a strange, choked whimper, her face drained of all color. I had taken only a single step toward the stairs, yet Yeon Minha stumbled back two or three paces and pressed herself against the wall. Leaving her there, I descended the stairs and left the dormitory. If she had no real business with me, I had no time to waste.

“Hic… you pervert… you crazy bastard… hic, you psychopath…”

Behind me, her curses echoed like white noise, faint and persistent.

“Even now, large and small problems are scattered throughout our nation. The appearance of mutants, black mages, reports of suspected demonkin, sightings of Rank 2 or higher monsters, and so on. And most of these are issues that ordinary people who cannot use magic cannot handle at all.”

The two-week period for external requests had just begun. The large lecture hall was packed with first-years gathered to hear the preliminary briefing.

“These are problems that fundamentally only mages can resolve. However, compared to the frequency of incidents, the number of mages is always woefully insufficient. The capital area may appear peaceful at first glance, but if any of you later visit the frontiers or the vicinity of the northern wall, you will understand. You will see just how precarious a position this country is truly in.”

On the dais, a young professor with horn-rimmed glasses and a faint beard continued his explanation alongside the projector.

“When the 10th Republic was established thirty-two years ago, various measures were introduced to address this chronic manpower shortage. The current national policy is to utilize even inexperienced individuals as efficiently as possible wherever they can be of use. The adult age lowered to seventeen, military service extended by up to five years, and now the external requests you will undertake—all of these exist within that context.”

When Professor Kwon Chan-yeol pressed a button on the device in his hand, the projector whirred and displayed the next slide.

“These are requests received from the Special Crime Investigation Bureau and the National Security Agency, then classified by the Cradle’s academic affairs office according to appropriate difficulty. You will first experience C-level requests, then proceed to carry out B-level requests together with your mentoring groups. Should you receive passing evaluations on both, you will thereafter gain the authority to freely undertake any request appropriate to your qualifications at any time.”

“I apologize for repeating myself, but fitting the first button correctly is the most important thing. If you receive a failing evaluation during this external request period, you will have no choice but to wait for the next period several months later. While you sit in the Cradle sucking your thumb, your classmates will ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be free to roam about, taking requests and building their records. This will affect your immediate ranking, contract renewals with sponsors, and even your assigned workplace after graduation.”

Professor Kwon ended the projection and swept his gaze across the students in the lecture hall.

“Of course, C-level requests cannot be called high in difficulty by any means. They were classified with your current level in mind, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the average pass rate exceeds seventy percent. However, if you don’t want to find yourself in that remaining thirty percent, it would be wise to adjust your mindset rather than take things lightly.”

He glanced at his wristwatch to check the time.

“You may freely change your party composition for now, but once the request form has been filled with names, it becomes impossible. Also, keep in mind that students who placed in the top ten during the previous practical must each join different groups. That is all. I wish you all good fortune.”

He left the room yawning, and the lecture hall immediately erupted into a clamor like a marketplace.

“Over here! Come this way!”

“Hey, we’re all Emission types! We need one Circulation specialist, just one…!”

Originally, C-level requests could be undertaken by first-years alone, but because this was their first external request, parties of four were mandatory.

“Hyun, you remember them from last time, right…? These are my friends…”

Once again, I ended up in a party with Yena. Since our teamwork had been good before, I saw no reason to change it. Yena sat at the table and introduced the two female students she had brought. Their faces seemed familiar, so I searched my memory and quickly recalled who they were. They were the duo we had encountered during the Cheongong Basin practical while fleeing from the Arkrates attack. One had screamed upon seeing me, and the other had been badly wounded and carried on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her back.

“Hi. I’m Sera. Hong Sera.”

The girl who had screamed smiled brightly and extended her hand toward me. She had bleached her ponytail and tied her uniform jacket tightly around her waist. Her skirt was barely half the length of Yena’s. It was an impressive—almost rule-breaking—outfit. She seemed the complete opposite of Yena in every way. How on earth had these two become friends…?

“Um… Hyun doesn’t really like that sort of thing… Just a greeting is fine…”

Yena spoke to the girl while watching my reaction. I thought I had hidden it well, but it seemed she had noticed how I flinched whenever an arm or similar body part brushed against me. I felt a twinge of guilt.

“Hmm…?”

“W-what…”

Yena shrank back slightly but still protested. The girl withdrew her hand with a mischievous smile.

“Hehe, okay. Just a greeting then. Anyway, I’ll be in your care this time. And thank you so much for last time. Thanks to you stepping in, we managed to escape.”

“That’s right. Because of you, I was able to receive treatment quickly. I’m Joo Yeoreum. Just call me Summer.”

The girl with the shoulder-length bob beside her bowed her head as well.

“…It’s nothing. I didn’t help you on purpose.”

“Haha, let’s go with that then. But you’re actually a lot cleaner-cut than the rumors suggested. Guess you really can’t trust gossip.”

“See… I told you…!”

At the girl’s words, Yena nodded repeatedly with a pleased expression.

Sera was from the third city in the Masada metropolitan area; her parents were civil servants working for the Mid-to-Long-Term Strategy Bureau. Summer was the granddaughter of the founder of a famous capital logistics chain. Both were first-generation naturally awakened mages with ordinary parents, but their talent had been outstanding enough for them to enter the Cradle.

“So… last time Yena was saying…”

“D-don’t say it…!”

It was rather interesting to see people from such different backgrounds gathered together. Leaving the three girls to their cheerful conversation, I turned my head and scanned the surroundings. Before long, I spotted Muyeong in the distance, talking with his own group members. Whatever was so funny, he burst into loud laughter mid-sentence. Since we hadn’t had any bad memories during the previous practical, I had wanted to team up with him again this time. He was also one of the few people I could speak comfortably with. But after his polite and apologetic refusal, I had no choice but to give up. Muyeong’s party consisted entirely of boys. He had even taken off the mask he always wore and wore a refreshingly bright expression. Not even a slave freed from tyranny could look that happy. He didn’t seem like a bad person no matter how I looked at it. He really was a unique friend…

“Alright, shall we talk about our plans now?”

Sera, who had been pinching Yena’s cheeks, opened the discussion.

“Uh… um…”

“Just call me Hyun.”

“Ahem, got it. From what I know, Hyun, you’re a Circulation major, right? And the three of us are all Emission types.”

She had already taken out the request cards and spread them across the table with a rustling sound.

“The balance is a bit off, but since your skills are overwhelmingly superior, it probably won’t matter much. As for the mission…”

She knew a surprising amount of miscellaneous information for a first-year.

“Although first-years can only take C-level requests, even within the same level the actual difficulty varies wildly depending on distance and location. For example, an easy mission like exterminating a Novecus in the Masada underground sewers has probably already been claimed by the quick-witted kids.”

“Novecus…?”

“Y-yeah, those sewer rats… about this big…”

When Yena tilted her head in confusion, Summer spread her arms wide like balloons to describe the creature’s size. At the mention of its massive body, Yena’s face turned deathly pale.

“Eek… I hate it…”

“Sigh, I wonder when she’ll get over this…”

Sera shook her head. I had seen Novecus a few times myself. They were mutated rodent-type monsters, each about the size of a small pony. Their reproductive ability was monstrous; they constantly gnawed at the sewers or clogged drain holes with their corpses.

“And they’ve probably all been taken by now anyway. What we’re aiming for is this. Mutant extermination.”

Sera pushed forward the request card she had chosen.

“There’s been a sharp increase in mutant sighting reports in the B-143 district of the capital lately. Let’s take this one. What do you think?”

Those who could not become mages but whose minds had been grotesquely twisted by negative exposure to particles were called mutants. Statistics showed that over eighty percent of those arrested for committing various crimes while hiding in the city’s back alleys were mutants.

“I asked a senior about it last time, and she said that depending on the situation, dealing with mutants can sometimes be easier than monsters. They often develop excessive obsessions toward specific targets, so if you set up a proper bait and install traps well, they fall for it every time.”

“Excessive… obsession…?”

“For example… a bald mutant that only drinks the blood of virgins?”

“Eek… scary…”

“It’s fine. I don’t know why someone stronger than me is such a scaredy-cat.”

Yena shivered and clung to Summer beside her. Sera shook her head at the sight. After a brief discussion, we decided to take the mutant extermination request Sera had suggested. Although it was somewhat more difficult than other C-level requests, the significantly shorter time requirement compared to missions that required traveling to the outskirts was a major advantage.

But B-143 district. It sounded familiar. I was certain I had seen that name in Yeon Minha’s report. I recalled that a research facility belonging to a company owned by the Red Fire Yeon family was located in that district. That would make it part of the wealthy area, wouldn’t it? It was rather strange that mutants had been sighted near such a place.

“Have you all finished preparing your gear? Then let’s sign the request form and head out immediately. The sooner we finish, the better.”

Sera stood up from her chair. We each gathered our belongings and agreed to meet on the campus before departing. Naturally, my thoughts turned to Yeon Minha. I had run into her briefly this morning on my way out. I would have to be away from the dormitory for at least a day. There was no option to skip the request. External requests carried enormous weight in our grades. And I had promised the director that I would graduate from the Cradle with excellent results. But if that was the case, Yeon Minha would be exposed to her old environment again while I was gone.

…Well, she had lived that way for over ten years. A day or two of returning to her previous state probably wouldn’t have that great an impact. In any case, the immediate crisis had been resolved. The rest could be handled gradually.

With that thought, I stood up along with the others and left the lecture hall.