Chapter 237: First Snow (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 237: First Snow (1)
Right from day one, the Heaven Class had felt off to a rocky start.
As its de facto founder, I was secretly worried about its future.
Anxiety gnawed at me that I might have done something pointless that diverged from the canonical storyline. After all, the Heaven Class was something that had never existed before.
Since the blueprint of this world was based on Miracle Blessing M, to use a gaming metaphor:
‘System error and bug.’
Some guy who should’ve been nothing more than Background Extra A hadn't just become one of the Seven Stars—he’d gone ahead and created a brand-new class. It wouldn't be surprising if something got messed up along the way. Naturally, I had prepared myself for that possibility.
‘Still, steeling yourself for something is different from actually facing reality.’
But as time passed, I realized all on my own that every single worry I had rambled about was entirely groundless.
The students followed All-Power’s curriculum without a single word of complaint. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that—every day, they died twenty times over.
Their deaths came in every flavor imaginable. To protect their human rights—and for the sanity of the reader—I will refrain from going into detail.
Anyway.
Despite such brutal instruction, none of them gave up.
Even when they threw up their breakfast, passed out with nosebleeds, or went deathly pale, they pushed off their trembling knees and stood back up. Though their core strength was shot, bending them double like shrimp, they forced their backs straight. Somehow, they dredged their bodies and spirits back from the depths of sheer exhaustion.
All to build an immunity against visceral fear—against death itself.
‘Why go to such lengths?’
What made these kids push themselves to the brink when there were no real material rewards attached? Their total lack of complaints actually unnerved me.
If they had told me they were going insane, I would’ve happily brought it up with Senior Hana, asking her to tone down the intensity, arguing that it was bordering on abuse.
They had joined the class relying entirely on me, so I could easily advocate for that much—if not more. Besides, hadn't I already secured a promise of support from the Archery Saint?
But they remained dead silent. Even as their complexions drained into corpse-like pallors, not a single whine escaped their lips.
‘No matter if they’re cadets at Joaquin Academy, hand-picked from among the best...’
They were still just teenagers. They were at an age where they were allowed to express how they felt—to say if they hated something or loved something. No one would reprimand them for speaking up.
It was a right afforded to teens. At least, that was what my first master had always lectured me about.
“It’s fine for kids to act like kids. Whining when things get tough is infinitely better than pretending to be mature. Bottling it up just to look like an adult will only make it rot inside.”
‘Master... so why on earth are the teenagers in your world like this?’
So about a week after the Heaven Class opened, I asked Weapon about it.
His response was straightforward:
“Honestly, it’s brutal. I’m still nowhere near used to dying. Whenever my vision fades to black, panic sets in. Am I really dying for good this time? What if I wake up in the afterlife instead of reality? But as for why everyone endures it... well, things have been so chaotic these past few days that I haven't really thought about it. If I had to guess, though, maybe it’s 'greed.' A kind of desire bordering on a desperate longing to grow stronger, to reach greater depths. That’s why everyone’s gritting their teeth and hanging in there. At least, that’s how it is for me.”
I was stunned at the time. His words grounded my anxious heart—and to think those words came from Weapon, who just six months ago had been shivering uncontrollably at the mere sight of Majin Mermaid.
‘I never expected to hear something like that from him.’
To think I was learning fortitude all over again from someone so much younger than me. Belated remorse welled up inside.
“Without realizing it, I was looking down on them just because they’re teenagers.”
Somewhere along the way, I seemed to have transformed into the very type of person I used to despise back in the day—an old boomer.
* * *
Time flowed relentlessly.
A month had already passed since autumn's vivid reds and yellows began to fade. Gloomy days bled into one another, marked only by gray clouds adrift in a heavy sky. In turn, the cadets’ attire grew thicker by the day.
Whoosh.
A frigid draft swept over me, chilling me to the bone. Early winter had arrived, bringing with it a biting wind.
“Ugh... brrr.”
I buried my mouth inside my scarf, buttoned my coat up tightly, and rubbed my hands together frantically.
“Why is it so damn cold?”
I couldn't see without a mirror, but my lips were probably turning blue. Meanwhile, my extremities—my hands, ears, and the tip of my nose—flushed red as blood rushed to keep them warm.
Winter in this world felt unusually harsh. Before leaving the dorms, I’d checked the temperature—it was easily well below minus ten degrees Celsius. Even for December, it was freezing.
‘If early winter is like this, how bad is midwinter going to be?’
Grumbling against the chill, I hurried along. My destination was the Principal’s office. Ever since the Heaven Class was established, I had held weekly meetings with the Principal.
‘Though calling it a meeting is generous; it’s more like private tutoring.’
Whenever Medea and I met, we discussed our future course of action—not just concerning the Heaven Class, but international affairs, movements among the demons, and other topics never taught in standard classrooms.
Thanks to her, I could feel my once narrow perspective broadening day by day. It did mean an extra official duty on my plate, but Medea was in the same boat. She was already swamped with work, squeezing out time for me through sheer effort.
It would be shameless of me to complain about lacking time. Still, given how biting cold it was today, I couldn't help but drag my feet.
“If it were only reasonably far, I wouldn’t even complain...”
Joaquin Academy was huge. Excessively huge. Damnably huge. Walking through the howling cold wind brought that fact home all over again.
To make matters worse, the decayed leaves underfoot only added to the bleak atmosphere. At least if it snowed, there’d be the satisfying crunch of walking on fresh powder.
I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky. The leaden, slate-gray sky remained dull, its clouds drifting sluggishly. It didn't look like it was going to snow anytime soon.
Just as I let out a sigh and lowered my gaze, a splash of color caught the edge of my vision. Sky blue—a vibrant color completely forgotten in this dreary winter—swayed softly in the breeze. Without thinking, I uttered her name.
“Ryozo.”
Ryozo turned her head toward me. She wore a red scarf wrapped around her neck, which went surprisingly well with her sky-blue hair.
Ryozo looked at me with a sullen expression.
“Look who’s out and about on a weekend.”
Her voice was curt. I gave an awkward chuckle.
“I’m on my way to the Principal’s office. I have a private meeting with her every weekend.”
“I see. Hard work in this weather.”
“Well, yeah.”
The conversation dried up almost immediately. To be honest, Ryozo and I had grown somewhat distant ever since the Heaven Class was established. It wasn't due to any rift; we simply had fewer chances to bump into each other. I was tied up with various tasks, and Ryozo seemed just as busy in her own right. Dying twenty times a day in subspace while keeping up with her studies—I wasn't the only one suffering from a chronic lack of time.
‘Still, this feels way too awkward.’
Ryozo was a founding member of the Travel Club, the predecessor of the Heaven Class. Even if we had drifted apart a bit, she remained a cherished friend to me.
‘I still have a bit of time before my meeting with the Principal anyway.’
I decided to strike up a casual conversation.
“Ryozo, you don’t usually come outside on weekends either, right?”
She stared into my eyes for a long moment. It was a peculiar gaze—cold yet warm, but far from lukewarm.
“I...”
After a quiet pause, Ryozo finally spoke. Squeezing the words out seemed like an effort for her, but she eventually managed to finish her sentence.
“...I’m going to see my mom.”
I blinked. From Ryozo’s perspective, my bewildered face must have been quite a sight, as a faint smile tugged at her lips.
“Making such a blank face after asking... aren't you making me feel awkward?”
Caught off guard, I stammered.
“Uh, well... I mean... that’s... good for you.”
“Pfft.”
A soft chuckle escaped her. Plumes of white breath puffed out through Ryozo’s slightly pursed lips.
“Geomma, do you realize how much your image has changed since I first met you? Just because I snapped at you when we first met, you went ahead and threw a sashimi knife right at a target.”
“...”
Back then, my synchronization rate had been soaring, causing my humanity to rapidly erode. It was, so to speak, an adjustment period—or a rebellious phase—for the Blessing of the Sword God.
Only after undergoing all that and raising my Humanity Rank did I finally turn into the person standing here today.
‘Looking back, I really was a complete psychopath.’
Embarrassed, I scratched my brow with my thumb. Ryozo didn't miss the gesture and teased mischievously.
“Back then, I genuinely thought, ‘What is wrong with this guy?’ But now? You’ve gotten so much more expressive.”
Ryozo turned around and stepped up alongside me, walking by my side. Her profile peeked out now and then between strands of her sky-blue hair.
“To tell you the truth, Saki Hina texted me yesterday. It was a link showing my mom’s current location.”
“...”
“Honestly, I didn’t expect a single thing. I thought her promise back then was just an excuse to squirm out of trouble. I don’t know what came over her, but Hina really surprised me.”
A sudden sense of dissonance struck me at Ryozo’s words. She was naturally cautious and deeply suspicious—the type who would knock on a sturdy stone bridge multiple times before daring to cross. Yet right now...
‘She believes it completely.’
She didn't doubt for a second that the address sent by Saki Hina belonged to her biological mother. This was a stark departure from the Ryozo I knew.
It was unlikely her personality had suddenly shifted. If it had, I would have noticed the moment we ran into each other today.
‘After all, we’ve spent nearly a year together.’
Then why was she so certain? The reason was simple.
Ryozo tilted her head slightly.
“Did you catch on?”
“...”
I remained silent. Sometimes, silence is the best answer.
Ryozo turned her gaze back ahead, as if unwilling to let me see the face she was making.
“Yeah... I already knew my mom’s address. The very first thing I did after creating Vixbig was look up her location. And since Vixbig turned out to be so ridiculously high-performing, she found it right away.”
Perhaps because she was laying bare an old vulnerability, Ryozo’s breathing and pulse turned erratic.
“Once I found the address, I had no idea what to do. I mean, how could I? It’s not like I could just waltz up to her and say, ‘Hi, your daughter is here.’”
The young Ryozo must have been terrified. What if her mother didn't want to see her? What if she turned her away? What if she had already started a new family?
“What was the point of knowing where she lived? I didn't know how she felt, and even if I went, I’d just be a burden if she didn't want me there. So even though I knew, I pretended I didn't. But...”
The wind died down for a brief moment. At that exact instant, her barely audible voice sounded crystal clear.
“...If Saki Hina found out, it means Mom must have implicitly given her consent to share that address with me. Yeah... yeah, that must be it.”
Ryozo clenched both hands into fists.
“If Hina found out, she must have gotten it from the Archery Saint. And he obviously would’ve asked my mom if it was okay to share her address.”
She knew inside that the words tumbling out of her mouth might be nothing more than self-rationalization.
“And because she agreed, Hina sent me the link.”
There was every chance Saki Hina hadn't asked her mother's permission at all.
Yet Ryozo desperately wanted to erase that sliver of doubt. Her mind knew better, but her heart refused to accept it.
Even if it meant building up a feeble justification, she needed to believe it.
She made up her mind to go see her mother. She summoned every ounce of courage she possessed.
‘And yet...’
Taking that first step proved easier said than done. Her aimless wandering through the academy in the biting cold was the direct result of her hesitation.
Then Kang Geomma had appeared. Seeing his face in the midst of her inner turmoil made tears swell up behind her eyes.
She tried to quickly excuse herself and walk away, but her feet felt glued to the frozen ground.
It was a face she hadn't seen up close in over a month—a face she had missed so desperately.
Knowing full well she might expose her shameful, vulnerable side, she remained frozen where she stood.
And this was the result: babbling about her past insecurities and desperately rationalizing her hopes.
Overwhelmed with shame, she bit down on the inside of her cheek until the copper taste of blood filled her mouth.
That was when it happened.
“Ryozo.”
At the soft call of her name, Ryozo looked up.
With a smile warm enough to melt the dreary chill of early winter, he spoke.
“Let’s go together.”