The Kids Seem a Bit Off? (1)
A massive, ultra-luxurious mansion stood in London, England.
In the third-floor conference room of that mansion, where the beak mask symbolizing the Ventrek family was engraved everywhere...
"The labyrinth on the outskirts of Reading has been cleared."
A man in a neat suit was reporting to the woman seated at the head of the table.
The woman had long golden hair and eyes that shone with a striking golden hue.
She was none other than Adelia Ventrek, a direct descendant of the family and its acting head.
To be precise, her official title was vice family head, and technically there was a family head above her—but ever since Adelia had come of age, the head had handed over all real authority to her.
Why had the family head suddenly relinquished power to Adelia?
No one knew.
All that was certain was that at some point, the head had transferred the family's sacred relic and all its power to Adelia, and she had accepted it.
Thus, despite being vice family head, Adelia wielded power equal to the head's, and in the four years since, no one in the Ventrek family dared oppose her.
She had completely made the family her own during that time.
"Good work. Anything else?"
"We found two promising recruits during this labyrinth expedition. I was thinking of bringing them on board."
"...Is that so?"
"They're at least good enough to run on labyrinth exploration teams."
She gave a slight nod at the man's words.
"Not some random nobodies, then?"
"Both are A-rank contractors. Survivors from the Robert family, which fell due to this labyrinth incident."
"Hmm. At that level, they should be fine to receive Ventrek's blessing."
"Yes."
"Still, just to be safe, run a aptitude test on them and bring them to me."
"Understood."
"Is that the end of the report?"
"The Reading situation is fully wrapped up for now, but I have a report on Rockdil."
"...Tch."
Adelia Ventrek clicked her tongue in annoyance the moment that name left the man's mouth.
Rockdil Ventrek.
Adelia didn't like him much.
And for good reason—he was a moron who used the family's prestige to satisfy his own selfish desires.
Of course, it wasn't his selfishness itself that bothered her.
'He uses the family's power but contributes nothing in return.'
The reason Adelia despised him boiled down to one thing: Rockdil was utterly useless to the Ventrek family.
In fact, just recently, he'd stirred up a scandal at the British Academy that drew universal condemnation, tarnishing the family's reputation.
They'd managed to suppress the rumors using the family's influence, but the damage to their name was real.
If he'd shown enough dedication to the family to cover for his screw-ups, Adelia might not have hated him.
After all, from her perspective, like and dislike hinged solely on whether someone helped the family or not.
"What mess has he gotten into now?"
"It's not that, but... it seems like he's up to something."
"Why do you say that?"
"Rockdil has summoned Disera to Korea."
"...Disera?"
Adelia openly grimaced at those words.
Disera Ventrek, once a branch member of the Ventrek family.
Now 20 years old, he was the family's expelled disgrace—the worst wastrel they'd ever produced.
The trash he'd pulled while carrying the Ventrek name numbered in the dozens.
But above all, with talent surpassing others, at just 19 he'd single-handedly slaughtered five British Academy contractors over a petty quarrel.
That got him banished from the family, but it forced them to bow their heads publicly, so Adelia loathed him.
No, loathed was too mild—it was outright disgust.
Still, she sighed in resignation and spoke.
"...Keep him under surveillance. And pass this on to Rockdil: if he gets caught pulling any more shady shit, I'll have him excommunicated."
"Understood."
The man bowed and left the room. Adelia let out another sigh.
'What the hell is wrong with these idiots, swinging around power that's not even theirs however they please?'
With that thought, she lifted her gaze to the motto hanging above the door and recited it inwardly.
"All for one."
That was the creed bestowed upon them by the Ventrek family's guardian constellation, the Beak Mask.
All for one.
The Beak Mask had never once named that "one," but Adelia had long since identified them without difficulty.
'It's me.'
Only she—the family's de facto head and bearer of the direct bloodline—fit that description.
And so, she murmured those sweet words once more.
"All for... one."
####
Currently, Kim Joo-hyuk was dealing with both good news and bad.
The good news: his body was developing at a rapid pace lately.
Not in height or weight, of course—just his physical conditioning.
Just a few weeks ago, his scrawny frame had seemed too weak to even swing a sword properly.
But now, after weeks of intense training, it had reached the level of an average student.
And from that, he'd realized this body—Kim Joo-hyuk's—didn't have overwhelming talent, but it had innately high physical potential.
'If not, there'd be no way this frail body could change this fast in just a few weeks.'
He knew better than anyone how human bodies changed only gradually through relentless training over long periods, so he'd avoided rushing things.
'...Better than I thought.'
Kim Joo-hyuk checked the mana flowing more smoothly through his body than before, a satisfied smile on his face.
'At this point, I could start seriously training in martial arts instead of just physical conditioning.'
With classes ending soon, he decided to switch to proper martial arts practice.
Yes, that was definitely good news.
So what was the bad news?
"Joo-hyuk, you free after classes? Wanna dive deep into some monster discussion?"
"Pass."
"Oh, you want me to buy you something? I'm a bit short this month 'cause I blew cash on stuff, but... nothin' too pricey, I'll hook you up!"
"No... I said pass."
"Why? This is seriously good for you too! The perks of being my assistant are insane!"
"Don't need 'em."
More people were bugging him.
'What the hell is wrong with this woman?'
He stared dubiously at Lilya, her eyes sparkling in front of him.
The first time he'd seen her, her vibe alone screamed venomous serpent, devouring everything around her.
Kim Joo-hyuk had figured that's how she'd stay while he was at the academy.
After all, he'd defied her, and she'd slapped him—that much was fact.
But...
"Huh? Huh? Wanna be my assistant? Be my assistaaant~"
Instead of grinding her teeth at him like he'd expected, post-slap she'd been orbiting him like a hyper Samoyed bouncing everywhere.
Watching her white bob dart endlessly around his peripheral vision, Kim Joo-hyuk stared at her in utter confusion.
"What happened? I figured you'd hate my guts."
"Huh? Why would I?"
"'Cause I got slapped?"
Lilya puffed out her chest, acting all mature as she replied.
"Who cares about that!"
"Oh... okay?"
"I've got a bunch of papers we could co-author if you join as my assistant! Skip the small stuff!"
"..."
'Is she nuts too?'
Kim Joo-hyuk feigned deep thought with a serious face, then waved her off.
"Anyway, not interested."
"Aww, why nooot~"
"...Aren't you embarrassed dragging out your words like that to a student?"
"Embarrassed? I'm only 22!"
"I'm 17."
"Five years ain't bad—great compatibility~"
'...She really is nuts.'
Caught even more off-guard than expected, Kim Joo-hyuk waved her away irritably.
"Fine, just go. I'll think about it."
Deep down, he wanted to curse her out, but he had to stick it out till the end of the semester—no need to burn bridges with a instructor.
"You gotta think positive! Promise!?"
She bounced her white bob around at max energy a few more times before vanishing for remedial classes with failing after-school kids.
"...Hey."
"Ah..."
The moment Lilya left, Kim Joo-hyuk turned at the voice calling him, spotting Yoo So-yeon standing behind.
"What."
His curt reply.
Yoo So-yeon shut her mouth, fumbling awkwardly for words, then...
"...Never mind."
"..."
She turned away again.
These two were the root of his bad news.
Lilya, disrupting his peace during breaks, lunch, after school—anytime.
And Yoo So-yeon, starting chats only to bail with nothing said.
Truth be told, from Kim Joo-hyuk's view, Yoo So-yeon was less annoying.
The problem was what she kept doing.
'Hey.'
'What?'
'...Never mind.'
No joke—they'd had this exchange over ten times.
She'd approach, he'd respond, she'd hem and haw alone, then bail saying never mind.
Once or twice? Fine. Five, ten times? Infuriating.
She perfectly embodied the two ways to piss someone off: half-assed conversations and—
"Hoo."
"Hey."
A sigh, then another voice.
He turned to see Yoo So-yeon, who'd just left, back in front of him.
Kim Joo-hyuk sighed again.
"What."
"Well..."
"?"
"...Um."
"..."
"No, never mind."
Their exact fifteenth exchange.
"Never mind my ass—what the fuck is wrong with you, you lunatic!!"
Kim Joo-hyuk finally snapped in the classroom hallway, unleashing on Yoo So-yeon.