Open Class (2)
Chaewon stepped through the transparent glass. The tension on her face was impossible to miss.
A moment later, a hologram materialized her opponent.
"Oh no, oh no. How's a little thing like her supposed to take down a brute like that? Are these Academy bastards out of their minds?"
I flailed my hands and feet, putting on a full theatrical panic. Yujin, standing beside me, answered in a small voice.
"Um... that's a goblin. Even a regular civilian could take one of those."
"Chaewon! Run!"
This was the first time I'd ever seen Chaewon fight a monster — across this life and the last. She was a Hunter, so of course she'd be fine, but watching it happen right in front of me was a completely different kind of nerve-wracking.
Chaewon glanced my way, looking mortified. People around us were staring.
"Damn it... Who the hell put a savage, hideous monster like that in there? Who's in charge? If so much as a single hair on her head gets touched, I'll kill every last one of them."
"S-Seonghun. Please, calm down."
I swallowed hard and locked my eyes on Chaewon.
The generated goblin let out an ugly shriek and lumbered toward her, a club in its right hand that looked ready to splinter at any second.
"Dodge!"
Chaewon rolled lightly to the side. The goblin lost its target and staggered.
Training sword gripped tight, she cracked it across the back of the goblin's skull.
Thud.
Then she backstepped, clean and sharp.
She understood the goblin's patterns perfectly. Tears streamed down my face.
"S-Seonghun?"
"Kh-hhk. My little sister. She's all grown up."
The goblin started circling her this time, wary. Chaewon pressed it step by step, then lunged forward and rolled sideways. The goblin swung its club through her afterimage. The opening this time was even wider than before.
One. Two. Three.
Chaewon cut it down with a calm, measured triple slash. The goblin's form went hazy, then vanished.
Virtual Combat Complete
I cheered like an idiot and clapped until my palms stung. Good lord, how could anyone be that precious? We were having beef tonight.
"Pfft."
"Does she not even know how to use her Trait?"
Snickers rippled through the crowd around us.
I whipped my head around, scowling.
A cluster of ajummas had gathered to whisper among themselves.
"If it's a goblin, they probably scaled it down, and she's still beating it with her bare hands like some brute. Our Jihoon at least put on a dazzling fireworks show."
"Oh my, how can you even compare her to Jihoon? I heard she's a lock for C-rank. You're so wicked."
"Ohohoho! Yours is far more impressive anyway, isn't she? A B-rank prospect, I heard?"
These extras.
I got the gist. When you awaken as a Hunter, you get something called a Trait — and they were tearing into Chaewon for not using hers.
These virtual combats, the ones you put on for an audience, usually went one of two ways. You either scaled the opponent up and put on a breathless, hard-fought show, or you scaled it down and crushed it with overwhelming force. Most people preferred the downward adjustment. Scale it up, lose, and you'd never live down the humiliation.
But I knew better.
Chaewon's got talent!
A raid didn't need to look cool. What mattered in the end was clearing it as safely as possible, with everything you had.
What was it again — even the people I used to party with would strip off every Trait when they trained. That's what talent looks like. She's just precious, that's all.
Truth be told, I didn't know much about training. I had Instant Death, a cheat stat if there ever was one.
But I wasn't blind. In my previous life I'd spent plenty of time around the strong, and when they trained, they dropped every Trait and faced monsters with nothing but raw physical ability. I remembered them saying it was far better for reading monster patterns, training dynamic vision, and sharpening your actual combat sense.
"I couldn't bear to watch my daughter doing that. Rolling around on the ground like some vulgar thing."
"Hey, ajumma."
I'd been planning to let it slide, but I was not about to sit still while someone insulted my little sister.
They were picking a fight out in the open anyway. What did I have to lose?
"What do you know that gives you the right to run your mouth?"
"Oh, oh my. I cannot believe this. Excuse me?!"
The ajumma fanned herself with one hand and snapped at me, sharp as a whip.
"You're badmouthing my sister right now."
"I-I never said any such thing."
"A young man shouldn't talk like that. Are you threatening me?"
The pack of ajummas closed in around me.
Eyes turned our way. I looked young; they were my elders. And they were women. The optics could not have been worse.
Not that I gave a damn about optics.
"When a bunch of people who sit around cooking dinner at home start running their mouths like they know something, yeah, I get pissed."
"C-cooking?"
"Though I do understand."
I nodded and stepped in closer.
"You've never been hit before, have you. That's why you're dumber than a savage. You don't even realize that if you talk to people like that, you might just get your face caved in."
The only way to deal with a nightmare customer was to become a bigger nightmare yourself. You had to set things straight from the start, or they'd become a headache later.
I was about to deliver a proper lesson when Yujin caught my hand. Her words from earlier flashed through my mind.
If you get angry, look at my face for ten seconds.
I turned and looked at her.
She was beautiful.
I counted to ten in my head.
Then I looked back at the ajumma.
"Right? You fucking bitch!"
WHACK.
I cracked her across the face. I'd kept my promise, so this should be fine.
In the training waiting room, Chaewon had just finished her bout. She sighed and wedged herself into a corner, fidgeting with her small hands, worry eating away at her.
What if Oppa was disappointed?
She'd taken the downward adjustment. A goblin, of all things. And she hadn't even used her Trait.
She just... couldn't bring herself to use that Trait in front of her brother. After turning it over and over in her head, she'd taken the goblin down with nothing but raw physical ability.
I should have used it...
Chaewon didn't like her Trait. Strength aside, it was a little... unseemly, for a girl to use. So she'd agonized over it and ended up not using it at all — and the thought that Seonghun might have been disappointed made her chest ache.
"Chaewon! We've got a problem!"
Sia came running while Chaewon was still stewing by herself. Sia had been next in line. Chaewon looked up, wondering if she'd already finished her turn, and found Sia wearing an awkward, uneasy expression.
"Y-your brother..."
"M-my brother? What about him?"
The moment she heard it was about Seonghun, Chaewon's heart kicked into a sprint.
"What's going on?"
"...He got into a fight."
"A fight?!"
Chaewon's eyes went round and she shot to her feet, so worked up that the cadets nearby jumped. She was usually so quiet that seeing her explode like this caught everyone off guard.
"Who was it? Since when does my brother hit people?!"
Chaewon hurried toward wherever Seonghun was.
I looked around with a perfectly calm face.
Everyone was staring at me, dumbstruck.
"W-what did you just do?"
"Disciplining a rude parent."
"Even so, that was too much! You hit someone!"
Keeping in mind she was a civilian, I'd only hit her as hard as the lesson required — softly. It would probably just sting. Nothing to make a fuss over.
"Y-you've lost your mind! Do you even know who I am?!"
The woman clutched her face, lurched to her feet, and bellowed.
"No."
"You're so fucked, you son of a bitch! I'm not letting this go. I'll tell my husband, have that girl of yours kicked out of the Academy, and you'll be eating prison food for the rest of your life!"
I pulled a wad of cash from my wallet and tossed it on the floor. I'd withdrawn it today to give Chaewon as allowance. Funny, the uses money found for itself.
"Take that for your trouble, and get yourself a bowl of rice soup with whatever's left."
The woman glared at me, eyes blazing even hotter than before.
"Oppa, what's going on?!"
The commotion must have been loud enough — a professor and Chaewon shoved through the transparent glass door.
"It's nothing."
"Nothing? Are you hurt? They said you got in a fight...!"
"Look at her. I'm the one who got hit, and she's worrying about someone else? This is what happens when kids grow up without parents...!"
I turned a look on the ajumma so cold it could have frozen the air.
There were things you didn't say in front of a child.
Looks like a second round of discipline was in order.
"Wasn't it the ajumma's fault? My brother would never hit anyone. You're just faking it!"
Chaewon...
A lump rose in my throat. Someone who took your side no matter what. Wasn't that what family was?
"...Both of you, please calm down for now. Let's discuss the details in my office."
The professor, who had been watching in silence, finally spoke up. He seemed to want to hear both sides.
"There's nothing to discuss! That thug of a—"
That was when it happened.
RRRRUMBLE.
A massive tremor rolled through the entire training hall.
"W-what was that?"
Students and parents alike turned toward the exit, baffled.
"Everyone stay calm and wait here. I'll go see what's going on."
The professor pushed his glasses up and headed for the door.
The campus broadcast cut in — and a scream tore through it a second later.
"W-what's happening?"
"Professor, you can't just leave?!"
The cadets were already sliding into a panic.
What's going on?
I hadn't attended the open class in my previous life. I had no idea what had happened here.
Judging by the scream, someone had broken in.
"Nobody takes a single step from this room. It's dangerous. I'll assess the situation and be back shortly. Please wait."
"Hold on, hold on a second. Professor. If you leave, who's supposed to protect us? The kids don't even have any real power yet."
The parent whose face I'd rearranged stared at the professor like he'd lost his mind.
"I'll be right back."
The professor left those words hanging in the air and vanished.
"...Don't worry, Oppa. It's probably nothing. If anything happens, I'll protect you."
Chaewon patted her chest with one small hand.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Stay right next to me, okay?"
"Got it."
That tiny little thing thinks she's going to protect someone.
That's what I said, but I was quietly delighted. Maybe this was how a parent felt, watching their kid grow up.
That said.
"Oppa needs to use the bathroom."
"What, are you crazy? Right now?"
"I'll be quick."
I couldn't use my power with Chaewon standing right there. Anyone coming into the training hall would have to pass through the entrance anyway. I could just hold the front.
"No! Hold it. It's dangerous!"
"...Emergency dump."
"Seriously? Right now?"
I shot a look at Yujin, who was standing a little apart. She caught on immediately and drifted over to Chaewon, striking up a conversation. I used the opening to put some distance between myself and my sister, fast.
Whoever you are, you picked the wrong address.
I'd wrap this up quick so Chaewon could get back to class.
And who's this?
I glanced sideways. A familiar-looking girl was walking right alongside me.
The one who hadn't dodged the ogre's attack earlier. Hyeonji, was it?
"Where do you think you're going?"
"The bathroom."
"You too?"
"I have to pee."
She actually did look like she was in a hurry.
"Now this is what I'm talking about!"
CRACK.
A blue-skinned man tore a hinged door apart with his bare hands.
"Hey, Jack. You enjoying yourself that much?"
"Obviously. Nothing's more fun than crushing sprouts before they grow."
"You psycho. You're not supposed to kill the kids, you hear me? We take them alive."
"Depends on the situation."
The other man looked uneasy, then shook his head.
"Fine, do whatever you want. I'm heading this way. Grab some of the ones who look strong and we'll meet up."
Once his companion was gone, Jack's mouth curled into a grin.
Today, he had no intention of leaving a single one of them alive.
Academy cadets were all supposed to be strong, weren't they? He wasn't about to waste a golden opportunity to test his power.
"Oho. A training hall?"
A massive training facility filled his vision.
"Plenty of strong ones in there, I bet."
He walked toward the entrance without a second's hesitation.
A man was standing there. Civilian clothes — not a cadet, then. Truly a man with the worst luck in the world, running into him of all people.
"Red eyes, blue skin. A demon, huh. You planning to go in there?"
The man scratched his head as he spoke.
"What, you gonna try and stop me?"
"If you go in, yeah, I'll have to. Can't you just go somewhere else? Leaving a trail at the Academy is kind of a pain."
"Heh. This crazy bastard's so scared he's lost it."
Jack swung a massive, spike-studded arm.
And then.
BOOM.
Something stopped it cold.
"Wh-what?"
He stared at the man, baffled.
A high school girl in uniform was standing in front of him, her arm braced against the blow.
"Get inside. Now."
"I knew you were strong. Hyeonji, was it?"
"Stop chatting and go inside."
"Why are you hiding your strength?"
"I said get inside. You not gonna listen?"
"Why'd you suddenly drop the formal speech? And are you sure you're a high schooler? Those wrinkles on your skin..."
Jack clenched his jaw until his teeth creaked.
"These bastards are making small talk in front of ME?!"
His muscles began to swell, twisting into something grotesque.
"I'll chew you both to pieces."
Jack's eyes burned a deeper red as he lunged.
And in that same instant—
Pshk.
His head rolled across the floor.