The Meeting at the Hospital
At the central section of the east wing, second floor, beside the academy main building.
“Let the report begin.”
A round table sat around it. Everyone present swallowed hard when the elderly woman in traditional hanbok spoke.
“No one has anything to say?”
When she pressed, the man seated on the right opened his mouth.
“A total of twenty-four academy instructors were deployed to hunt the 1st-class dangerous demon BASILISK that appeared on the Gangwon Province coast. The result… fifteen dead, four seriously injured, eleven lightly injured. The Basilisk capture… failed.”
“Basilisk will no longer be classified as a 1st-class dangerous demon. I propose upgrading it to a special-class dangerous demon.”
A hand touched the baton and the man beside her continued.
People groaned with worried expressions.
“That topic was raised before. Who opposed it back then?”
The woman scanned the room with sharp eyes.
Her head turned, making the blue flower petal drop earrings on her ears rattle.
All eyes locked on the man sitting directly opposite her.
“Didn’t Professor Sim strongly oppose it?”
The man known as Professor Sim looked down, visibly shrinking under her gaze, unable to move.
The others stared at him with suspicious eyes too.
He had been the one who actively supported deploying twenty-four instructors after the Basilisk incident was reported.
And he was the one who opposed the proposal to upgrade it to a special-class dangerous demon.
“That, that…”
The man stammered, sweat beading on his forehead.
“At the time it was classified as a 1st-class dangerous demon, and I thought twenty-four instructors from Jindal would be enough… I must have been wrong…”
“Coincidentally, the demon infiltrated Jindal that day? And two of them.”
A young woman with glasses perched on her nose spoke up beside the man.
“According to Professor Jeong, the demons apparently knew there were almost no instructors in the building at the time.”
“That, that! I didn’t know! I didn’t think the demon would accidentally break into the building that day…”
The man wiped his sweat with desperate excuses.
“Hmm? ‘Accidentally’? A self-centered demon like that would never have relayed his situation, and three high-class demons appearing simultaneously in South Korea on the exact same day—an UROROBOROS and a RUBRUM-LUNA—is what you’re implying, Professor Sim?”
The woman’s gaze sharpened behind her glasses.
“And we even pierced the academy’s protective barrier?”
“Hah! That, that…”
SLAP
The white-haired woman slammed her hand on the table.
The woman who had been glaring at him like she wanted to devour him sat up straight again.
“Professor Sim?”
“Yes, yes!”
The man answered stiffly.
“I don’t want to suspect people on circumstantial evidence alone. Especially not longtime colleagues I’ve worked with as instructors.”
“W-well, Headmistress…”
Her warm tone let the man relax his tension.
But the next words froze him solid.
“Still, it feels off to just let it go. ‘Visit the Jindal Heart’.”
“W-well, Headmistress! That…”
“If Professor Sim is innocent, there’s no problem, is there? He didn’t participate in the Basilisk hunt, so he never made contact with any demons.”
“That, that…”
The man’s entire body was soaked in sweat.
“Professor Jeong, escort Professor Sim to the Jindal Heart.”
“Understood.”
“Th-that! Wait just a—!”
A single gesture from the white-haired woman, and the pleading man vanished from the table.
“What do you think?”
“…He died.”
Professor Jeong answered the white-haired woman.
Some people widened their eyes in shock.
Others nodded as if they had expected it.
The man who had entered the Jindal Heart—the academy’s beating heart that devoured demons—had been devoured in an instant.
According to the report, he had not made contact with any demons for over two years.
This could only mean one thing.
“Professor Sim really…”
The burly man with massive muscles groaned.
“It was obvious. We won’t be able to use the Jindal Heart for a while, but at least it wasn’t in vain. That’s fortunate.”
The woman with glasses spoke calmly.
Two people opened the folder, and the room buzzed with excitement.
Conversation swirled around the table, growing louder.
But when the white-haired woman raised her hand, everyone fell silent as if by magic.
“Professor Jeong, where are the demons now?”
“They are currently sealed within the protective barrier of the Jindal Gate.”
Professor Jeong answered in a flat tone, but the eyes watching her sparkled with surprise.
I received the report, but she really captured two 2nd-class dangerous demons by herself… without killing them.
I can’t see the end of it. She’s truly amazing.
“UROROBOROS near the Jindal Gate and RUBRUM-LUNA in the Old Building, was it?”
“Yes.”
The white-haired woman tapped the table with her fingertips.
It was her habit when she was thinking.
“The two students in the Old Building were holding off RUBRUM-LUNA for twenty minutes, while Professor Jeong subdued UROROBOROS and moved, eventually subduing RUBRUM-LUNA as well. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Headmistress. Precisely, when I arrived at the Old Building, RUBRUM-LUNA was already nearly subdued, and I only handled the capture.”
Professor Jeong explained, but no one in the room believed her.
The students who had been in the Old Building when it happened were two first-years who had enrolled that year.
It was absurd that two first-years had captured a named demon.
The evidence backed it up too.
The two students were now in critical condition at the hospital.
Fortunately, the latest report said they were out of immediate danger.
“Twenty minutes,”
The white-haired woman didn’t believe it either.
The overwhelming power that had single-handedly subdued a 2nd-class dangerous demon.
It was almost embarrassing how focused the surrounding gazes were on her.
“Twenty minutes is quite something,”
Even so, the two freshmen’s achievement was enormous.
The current damage was limited to the majority of Jindal Gate personnel injured by UROROBOROS and three people who had run into RUBRUM-LUNA on the path to the Old Building.
Considerable damage, but at least it ended there.
It could have been a catastrophic disaster.
“What were the names of the two students?”
“Kawada Arena, who enrolled early this year, and Jeon Chayeon, who joined a month ago.”
The blonde man standing behind the white-haired woman answered when the meeting began.
People buzzed again.
Early-year enrollees were one thing, but a month ago?
Only a month had passed since enrollment—too short for their abilities to be fully polished.
The white-haired woman pondered, then nodded and spoke.
“Add both students to the intergrade list.”
“Both of them?”
The skinny woman beside her startled and answered.
“Both. There was supposed to be one more student scheduled for intergrade next month, right?”
“Yes, the one from the Joo family. She hasn’t missed the top spot since she enrolled.”
The skinny woman answered.
The white-haired woman’s eyebrows twitched in displeasure but quickly smoothed out.
“I see. Three students will be intergrading this year.”
Only three first-years intergrading.
Unprecedented.
“Then let’s conclude the meeting here. Dismissed.”
The white-haired woman stood, and everyone followed suit.
She gestured, and people near the door began filing out one by one.
Professor Jeong was about to leave the room too.
“Professor Jeong.”
“Yes, Headmistress.”
Professor Jeong stopped at the call.
“I’d like to meet those two students, Chayeon and Arena.”
“Understood. I’ll arrange it as soon as the students recover.”
Professor Jeong bowed her head.
The white-haired woman and the blonde man passed in front of her and left the room at a leisurely pace.
***
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of something being bitten echoed.
The scent was familiar.
Was it an apple?
Crunch, crunch.
Hunger protested with an empty stomach.
Thirst gnawed at her throat.
Jeon Chayeon opened her eyes.
Where am I?
White ceiling and neat cream-colored walls greeted her.
Behind her, a luxurious feather bed made of fine silk felt comforting.
Her arms felt slightly sore.
She turned her head.
An IV drip was inserted in her arm, and fluid was flowing.
Crunch, crunch.
The sound had started earlier, deliciously tempting.
She turned her head toward the direction of the noise.
Slurp, slurp.
“Ah, you finally woke up.”
A tall, golden-blond man with an incredibly handsome face that would charm every woman he passed on the street held a smartphone in one hand and an apple slice in the other.
“…Who are you?”
“You forgot me already after a month? That’s so sad. I missed you so much, our Chayeon.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Why are you here, Jo Namyeon.”
The golden-blond handsome man named Jo Namyeon spoke with a completely carefree expression.
“A friend was injured and hospitalized, so of course I rushed over in a month. Ah, I should call.”
He tapped the screen of his smartphone, then came close.
“Our Chayeon has gotten so thin in the time I wasn’t looking…”
CRUNCH
“Ah!”
Jeon Chayeon bit down on Jo Namyeon’s finger with his front teeth.
While Jo Namyeon writhed in pain, she spat a quick spit.
The salty taste lingered, and she felt disgusting.
“Hah-, hah-. That’s too much. Are you on your period again today?”
“You’re dead, really.”
Chayeon remembered the real period she had suffered after enrolling in the academy and spoke harshly.
“Hah-. You’ve become extremely sensitive since turning into a girl, huh?”
“You’ve gotten even more lecherous.”
It looked painful, but it was still cheap.
Chayeon turned her head to the other side and stared out the window.
The blurry view outside was the familiar landscape she had grown used to over the past month.
This was definitely the central hospital inside Jindal.
“How did you get in here?”
“How did I get in? You came here with me a month ago.”
Jo Namyeon made a puzzled face, as if he didn’t understand the question.
Then something occurred to him, and he clapped.
“Oh, you don’t know my situation?”
“Of course not. I thought you went back after Professor Jeong said you were safe.”
“I got a job here.”
What kind of nonsense was that?
Before she could question him, the hospital room door creaked open.
“Chayeon, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
Professor Jeong entered and approached.
Because she had seen this scene for the past month, her appearance in the normal way rather than teleporting felt unfamiliar to Chayeon.
“I seem to be fine.”
Chaeon rolled her eyes as she spoke.
Probably Professor Jeong had been the one contacted by Jo Namyeon a while ago.
They knew each other?
It was confusing.
“Whew, too late. I touched the baton, so I’ll go first. See you later, Chayeon.”
Jo Namyeon waved lightly the way he had a month ago and left the room.
As he left, he bowed lightly to Professor Jeong.
Professor Jeong replied with a light nod.
“You know him?”
“Huh? Ah, Chayeon’s friend? Yeah, there were some circumstances. Right now we’re like colleagues at work.”
Professor Jeong sat on the chair where Jo Namyeon had been sitting.
“Are you really okay? I heard you have abnormally fast recovery, but you were in such serious condition…”
When she heard the word “serious condition,” Chayeon finally remembered why she was here.
The red-horned demon.
“RUBRUM-LUNA was captured two days ago. Thanks to your performance, the damage was minimized.”
After healing her wounds, Professor Jeong gently stroked Chayeon’s hair.
Normally she would have jerked her head back in fright.
But now something else was bothering her.
“What about Arena?”
She remembered the last sight of Arena, torn rags and being dragged by her hair.
“Um…”
Professor Jeong hesitated, then stood.
“Can you walk? I can help you up.”
“I’m fine.”
“Really? Then I’ll walk with you.”
Chayeon followed Professor Jeong out, took the elevator, and arrived in front of the intensive care unit.
Professor Jeong entered first, and Chayeon followed.
A person was lying in the bed.
At first, she couldn’t recognize her.
On the hospital bed, Arena lay connected to a respirator.