Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Ha-ryeong's Interest
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A voice called out from behind her.
“Seo-yoon! What are you doing here?”
When she turned her head, her best friend, Song Seung-ah, was approaching with a bright smile.
Choi Seo-yoon smiled back in response.
“Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just training and taking a short break.”
At Choi Seo-yoon’s reply, Song Seung-ah glanced toward the spot Choi Seo-yoon had been watching.
“Oh? That’s Sun-woo sunbae.”
“Yeah.”
“Wow, who’s that next to him? She’s super cute.”
“No idea. Looks like his sparring partner or something?”
“Sparring partner? Oh, I see. But is that guy teaching her magic?”
“Yeah, seems like it.”
“Ooh… As expected of a model student. Even at the bottom of the school rankings, his theory knowledge is impeccable.”
“…Model student?”
Choi Seo-yoon’s expression froze for a moment. Model student? Kim Sun-woo?
“Who’s the model student?”
“Kim Sun-woo sunbae, obviously. Haven’t you heard the rumors?”
“What rumors?”
“They say he has the best reputation among the teachers these days. Great class participation, and surprisingly good grades in practical subjects too. Anyway, they say he’s super diligent. I heard he even cleans the school by himself when no one’s around.”
“...Really?”
Choi Seo-yoon stared at Kim Sun-woo with a baffled look on her face.
Model student.
‘The guy who smuggles beer into school?’
The top floor of a high-rise building overlooking Seoul’s nightscape.
A man stood there gazing at the city lights.
“Long time no see, Ha-ryeong.”
Then, someone called out to the man from the shadows.
The man called Ha-ryeong replied without taking his eyes off the night view.
“What is it?”
“Two days ago, I lost contact with my close friend Baek-gang. My investigation showed his last known location was your underground arena. I was wondering if you knew anything about it.”
“Sorry, but I don’t.”
“Then, do you happen to know someone named Kim Jin-woo?”
Ha-ryeong fell silent at the man in the shadows’ words.
Kim Jin-woo.
The identity of the rabbit-masked man who had placed a huge bet on the rookie Ryang-ryang recently.
He knew because he’d had his subordinates look into it personally after the underground arena ended.
But why was that name coming up now?
“I do.”
“I see. It’s strange for someone of Baek-gang’s caliber to vanish without a trace, so I had to ask. In that case, this Kim Jin-woo…”
“Cheon-hae.”
“Yes, Ha-ryeong.”
“He’s my customer. Don’t touch him.”
Cheon-hae shut his mouth.
The Ha-ryeong before him was one of the fewer than ten S-rank top-tier demons in the world. Despite his immense power, he wasn’t arrogant or complacent—a remarkably prudent man.
And now, for the first time, he was issuing a forceful command.
Cheon-hae swallowed hard.
“May I ask why?”
“I’m interested in him.”
Ha-ryeong answered, recalling the previous underground arena.
Kim Jin-woo.
He had been certain Ryang-ryang would beat Yang Hong-ju.
It wasn’t just luck.
Even when Ryang-ryang won, he showed no joy—clearly, he had known the future.
Ha-ryeong wondered. Could he have the power to read the future?
‘I need to find out.’
Whether he truly possessed the power to foresee the future.
Sunday morning.
When he opened his eyes, a message floated up.
[The character ‘Ha-ryeong’ feels curiosity toward you.]
[You acquire 1,500 points as a reward.]
“What’s this?”
Ha-ryeong was the S-rank demon he’d encountered at the last underground arena. But he’d been wearing a mask, so he shouldn’t have recognized him.
Why was this guy taking an interest in him?
‘…Could it be because of the bet on Ryang-ryang?’
It was possible.
No, thinking about it, there was no other reason Ha-ryeong would take interest in him.
‘Even so, just because I succeeded on a reverse bet?’
Something felt off about the situation.
“Hmm…”
It had been five days since the underground arena. For the reputation message to pop up now meant Ha-ryeong had uncovered his identity.
This guy had definitely investigated him.
The silver lining was that Ha-ryeong’s feeling toward him was ‘curiosity,’ not ‘malice.’
He probably wouldn’t be in immediate danger.
Ha-ryeong was known among demons for his calm and cautious nature, after all.
“Should I prepare for something?”
But would preparation change anything?
Ha-ryeong was one of the top 20 powerhouses in this world.
If that guy decided to come after him, there’d be no way to fight back.
‘I need to hold back on Kim Jin-woo activities.’
That was the only option.
Lately, he’d drawn too much attention operating as Kim Jin-woo.
He’d earned points and a ton of money, but it was time to lay low.
He could resume once things quieted down.
“Sigh.”
He let out a deep sigh as he got out of bed.
He was still sleepy, and his body hadn’t fully recovered, but he couldn’t waste time sitting around.
Time to start his routine.
After a hearty breakfast, I headed to the training grounds.
Normally, I’d go to the magic training room, but today, I went to the physical training room instead.
The reason was simple.
To compensate for my mana deficiency with physical strength.
Enhancement magic required relatively less mana consumption than manifestation magic. With my current mana shortage, I needed to rely more on my sub-specialty, enhancement.
[The door opens.]
Entering the training room, I saw various fitness machines. It felt a lot like a gym.
The space was filled with training equipment, and people sweating it out as they worked out.
Then someone called me.
“Hey? Sun-woo?”
Turning toward the voice, I saw Lee Seo-jun approaching, drenched in sweat.
“Hey.”
“Hey. What brings you here?”
“What do you think? To train my stamina.”
“Haha. Yeah. I just haven’t seen you here before.”
“I realized I’ve been neglecting my sub-specialty, so I’m working on my physique.”
Lee Seo-jun looked me up and down at my words, then shook his head.
“Yeah, enhancement as a sub-specialty, and that’s your build? Put some meat on those bones.”
“Shut up.”
“You know how to use the machines?”
“Of course.”
“Oh, right. You were enhancement back in first year?”
Instead of answering, I smirked and did some light stretches. Lee Seo-jun chuckled lightly too, then hefted a barbell loaded with who-knows-how-many plates and started his strength training.
As I stretched, the training room door opened.
Shin Young-jun burst in, waving his hand energetically.
“Yo! Seo-jun, hi!”
“Hey.”
Lee Seo-jun smiled and greeted him back, then Shin Young-jun’s gaze turned to me.
“Sun-woo, hi!”
“…Hey, hi.”
Shin Young-jun grinned satisfied at my greeting.
“Ooh, Sun-woo. What brings you to the training room?”
The same question Lee Seo-jun had asked. I gave the same answer.
“To train my stamina.”
“Oh, yeah. Haha!”
Ignoring Shin Young-jun’s hearty laugh, I resumed stretching. My body was loosening up now. Time to start with the treadmill.
Just as I was about to get on.
The training room door opened again. A woman walked in.
“Oh my, Seo-jun. We meet again.”
The woman approached Lee Seo-jun with a seductive smile and greeted him.
All the students’ eyes turned toward her at once.
Her flashy beauty stole the male students’ gazes.
She was already a celebrity among the boys.
“Hello, sunbae.”
“Training hard?”
“Yeah, same as always.”
Lee Seo-jun smiled back. Shin Young-jun, standing next to him, gaped slightly in awe of her looks.
I stared at her too. I knew her face.
Third-year rank 4, Park Min-ye.
“Is the one next to you Seo-jun’s friend?”
“Yes! Hello, sunbae! I’m Shin Young-jun, Seo-jun’s best friend!”
Shin Young-jun bowed energetically. Park Min-ye smiled quietly at his lively greeting. Then she noticed me stretching beside him.
I met her gaze calmly.
“This one’s Seo-jun’s friend too?”
Lee Seo-jun answered her.
“Yeah, a friend.”
“Nice to meet you.”
She smiled at me with her eyes, greeting me. It felt just like Choi Seo-yoon’s fake eye smile. For a moment, I was slightly taken aback by the look in her eyes as she watched me.
Her eyes widened hugely for a few seconds before she turned back to Lee Seo-jun.
“But we’ve been running into each other a lot lately, huh?”
“Yeah. Guess it’s because we spend so much time in the training room.”
I quietly watched their conversation.
No, more precisely, I was looking at the face of the female student talking to Lee Seo-jun.
I wasn’t staring because her beauty caught my eye.
At a glance, she seemed like just another eye-catching ordinary girl, but I knew one secret about her that no one else did.
Park Min-ye.
She was a demon.
Her real name was Jang Ye.
The daughter of Jang Han, the demon who died in the Han River.
Magic guilds.
Typically, a magic guild refers to a group of skilled wizards from various magic lineages who band together for profit.
Ninety percent of magic school graduates end up employed here, conquering dungeons and towers.
But unlike them, there were magic guilds dedicated purely to the research of magic.
A prime example was the support-type magic guild, Rune of Enlightenment.
Founded by Jeong Yun-seul, one of only five S-rank support wizards in the world, Rune of Enlightenment was a dream guild for young support wizards.
At least until a year ago.
“Huh? What? Guild master? What brings you here?”
Inside the empty guild headquarters of Rune of Enlightenment.
Senior guild member Park Min-hee reacted with surprise to the woman’s arrival.
“What do you mean ‘what brings me here’? What kind of nonsense is that when the guild master visits her own guild?”
“Wow. It really has been forever. You still look like you’re in your twenties even though you’re over fifty.”
“Really? And you still look like you’re in your fifties despite being in your twenties.”
“Ugh.”
The guild members gathered one by one, happily welcoming their guild master, Jeong Yun-seul, who had appeared after a year.
Jeong Yun-seul was known among wizards as an eccentric.
It was already famous that she’d left all guild duties to the vice guild master and hadn’t emerged from the Tower of Proof for over a year.
Jeong Yun-seul scanned the empty guild interior.
“But it looks kinda empty? Where’s that guy Jeong Woo-chan?”
“Sigh. He quit.”
“Huh? Quit? Why?”
“Why do you think? Because you abandoned the guild.”
Jeong Yun-seul cleared her throat awkwardly at Park Min-hee’s words.
“Ahem, when did that guy quit?”
“About half a year ago?”
“…That punk quits on me without a word.”
“How were we supposed to contact you when you wouldn’t come out of the Tower of Proof?”
“Fair point.”
“Besides him, Min-jin, Lee Do-hyun, Jo Jung-in, Emily, Park Chan-hee, and Mason all left too.”
“What? Hey, you lunatic! All the core members are gone!”
Jeong Yun-seul shouted in disbelief. The members Park Min-hee had just named were the core executives of Rune of Enlightenment. But Park Min-hee merely narrowed her eyes at Jeong Yun-seul.
“That’s why I said you abandoned the guild.”
“I thought it’d run fine without me!”
“Then why’d you come back? Did you give up on the 27th floor of the Tower of Proof?”
“Are you crazy? Why would I give up? I got so pissed failing it that my competitive spirit’s through the roof now. I’m definitely clearing it.”
“Yeah, sure. Disband the guild before you head back in. And give me a fat severance package.”
“Don’t even joke about that. It’s scary.”
“I’m not joking.”
Then Park Min-hee spoke up as if remembering something.
“Oh, right. Yesterday, the magic academy contacted us to submit an application if we want to observe the exams. Should I send it?”
“Nah, why would we go there?”
“Guild master, the guild’s on the verge of collapse right now. Of course we go. We need to recruit members.”
“Nah. It won’t collapse. Leak to the press that I’m back. The guild’ll be fine again.”
Jeong Yun-seul leaned back in her chair and yawned.
“Sigh. The people who left aren’t just the ones I mentioned. A ton of regular members went too.”
“You’re so persistent.”
“That’s how serious it is.”
“Ha. When’s the observation?”
“The week after next.”