What the Hell Are You? (2)

Valhalla Academy's dormitories were divided by rank.

There were the standard dorms for regular students who had just enrolled.

Then there were the upper dorms for the children of those who had donated a decent sum to Valhalla.

One might think it absurd to have such disparities in an academy where all students should be equal, but Valhalla stuck to its policy without compromise.

And for good reason—donations made up a significant portion of what kept the place running.

Of course, the academy could operate fine without them, but the quality of operations improved dramatically with that extra funding, so Valhalla offered various perks to its donors.

Academics were non-negotiable, though.

In any case, Rockdil Ventrek, who had donated an enormous sum to Valhalla and entered as a special exchange student, was using one of the largest rooms in the upper dorms.

And that vast room was filled with luxury items far beyond what you'd expect from a mere dorm—couches and display cases that made you wonder if any regular student even needed them.

Of course, those lavish furnishings hadn't been provided by Valhalla; Rockdil Ventrek had brought them himself.

"What the fuck!!"

Crash!!

Rockdil Ventrek had just smashed a chair worth millions of won with his own hands, sending it flying into the air, his face twisted in fury.

"How dare he treat me like that?"

Rockdil felt his guts churning as he replayed the earlier scene.

The image of Kim Joo-hyuk hurling unfamiliar insults—even ones he'd never heard from his own family's direct line—without pause, utterly humiliating him.

"That lowly orphan bastard...!"

Thud! Crack-crunch!

The chair fragments Rockdil hurled shattered a desk worth millions, but he didn't care, lost in his head, replaying that moment over and over.

"You fucking...!"

The more he dwelled on it, the more rage boiled up inside him.

If he'd ever faced even a sliver of this humiliation in his life, he might have handled it better, but unfortunately, Rockdil Ventrek had been born with his family backing him, and no one had ever dared speak to him like that.

In short, Rockdil was so consumed by fury that he couldn't think straight—too enraged to even judge how foolish his current thoughts were.

"Yuria."

"......"

Yuria de Palis stood silently beside the shattered desk at Rockdil's call.

But Rockdil, clearly displeased by her silence, strode over to her—

"Eek!"

—grabbed her by the hair, and glared with bulging eyes.

"Answer me, huh? You still think you're the eldest daughter of the Palis family? Want me to kick your ass out of the family right now?"

"......No, sir."

Her eyes flashed with venom toward Rockdil for a split second, but she quickly lowered them and replied.

Rockdil shot her a look of disgust but soon released her hair with a jerk, snapping irritably.

"Contact Disera. Tell her I've found someone worth touching."

"......Understood."

"And that second-year from the Sunrise family? Reach out to him too. Say the Ventrek ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠family wants to meet."

"Understood."

"Stop just answering and get the fuck out! Move it!"

"......"

Without a word, Yuria quietly left the room strewn with broken furniture. Rockdil clicked his tongue in annoyance at her retreating back.

'I'll make him regret humiliating me like this.'

He grinned, his signature sleazy smile creeping across his face.

Valhalla's grounds were massive—over 3 kilometers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in diameter alone.

At the center stood the main school buildings where students attended classes, surrounded by arenas and specialized facilities to support training.

Despite the abundance of buildings, the grounds had far more open space than developed areas.

Or more accurately, it wasn't so much open space as a full mountain situated right on the premises.

Developing it for buildings would cost a fortune, and since they already had plenty of land, they'd just left the mountain alone.

"Wonder if I can find it."

Kim Joo-hyuk had business there—the spot even Valhalla's chairman hadn't bothered developing yet.

He had business there, but—

"......"

"Hoo......"

"......Is she a total psycho?"

Kim Joo-hyuk stared at the over 40 new messages on his smartphone, letting out a disbelieving chuckle.

To be honest, he didn't enjoy scamming people, and mentioning ten million won to Choi Ah-rin had only been to shake her off—not to actually rip her off.

So he'd sent it back.

Politely, with some loving profanity thrown in to say "don't send it again."

But all he got in return was a deposit notification for 100 million won.

He'd even considered just taking it after a few rounds and pretending not to notice.

But Kim Joo-hyuk figured staying quiet after taking the money would only make things more annoying later, so here he was, repeating this ridiculous loop.

"Hoo......"

Truth be told, if Kim Joo-hyuk were short on cash, this situation wouldn't be half bad. But he wasn't expecting to run low on money anytime soon.

And more than that...

'What a pain in the ass.'

It was a hassle.

How much of a hassle?

A lot.

Of course, part of it was his personality—he never half-assed anything once he started. But taking on a disciple meant way more work than he'd imagined.

Vrrr—

His smartphone buzzed furiously the moment he sent the money back.

But Kim Joo-hyuk ignored it, turning off notifications to focus on the task at hand. He closed his eyes.

He'd climbed this poorly lit mountain on Valhalla's grounds under the moonlight for a reason.

"Hoo......"

He powered off his endlessly ringing phone, took a steadying breath, and began circulating the mana within his body.

A pitiful amount compared to his original body—barely a teardrop.

Anyone else would say you couldn't do shit with that little mana, but Kim Joo-hyuk was different.

'Possible with even a tiny bit.'

Though controlling it is a bitch, he thought, swallowing the afterthought as he spread his mana as widely as possible.

A faint blue ripple emanated around him in an instant.

It spread through the mountain, then sank into the earth.

Eyes closed, he focused on sensing something within it.

—Zzzt.

"!"

Soon, he felt something snag on his mana. A smile tugged at his lips as he headed that way.

About five minutes of climbing later?

"Here it is."

Kim Joo-hyuk grinned satisfactorily at the ground amid the dense trees and—

"Alright, let's get started."

—began digging eagerly with the shovel he'd brought.

Why was Kim Joo-hyuk digging?

Because of a secret vault he'd—or rather, Kim Hyeon-oh 300 years ago—hidden.

Yeah. A secret vault.

As odd as it might sound now, 300 years ago, the world had been on the brink of total destruction.

In that chaos, he'd had to climb the Tower of Destruction with his disciples, so he needed someone to manage his accumulated tribute.

But with the world hurtling toward apocalypse, there was no one he could trust with his wealth.

So he'd built secret vaults to store it all.

Not just one, but scattered across multiple locations, like diversifying investments.

In case some lucky bastard stumbled on one and looted it.

'I wasn't even sure any were left...'

After reincarnating, one of Kim Joo-hyuk's first moves after assessing the situation had been checking if his vaults survived.

Someone might ask how after 300 years, but it was easier than it sounded.

He'd memorized the exact locations—maps, latitudes, longitudes.

That let him investigate smoothly.

The bad news? Barely any remained.

'Three might still be intact, and one uncertain...'

And the most likely survivor was this one, buried in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the mountain on Valhalla's grounds.

Everywhere else had changed beyond recognition over 300 years of development, but this mountain was mostly untouched, despite some surrounding progress.

Plus, when he'd probed with the tiny mana he could handle, a mana orb tuned only to his detection method had reacted.

So he knew his vault was still buried intact below.

Thus, full of anticipation, Kim Joo-hyuk dug.

An hour later.

"Huff, huff... What the actual fuck... This goddamn weak-ass body... Shit..."

Realizing just how pathetically weak his body was,

"Ha... Fuck, shoulda made it shallower..."

he realized he'd buried it way too deep, tossed the shovel aside with a defeated look, and headed back.

The next night.

"Fuck..."

The night after.

"Fuuuuck...!"

And the night after that.

"FUUUUUUCK!!"

Finally.

Clang!

"Aaaargh, you fucking shiiiit!!!"

Nearly 10 meters down, Kim Joo-hyuk finally hit the door of his buried vault.