Chapter 148: 2nd Semester (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 148: 2nd Semester (2)
After quickly unpacking, I went outside.
It felt a little strange being alone in such a massive room, but there was another, more important reason.
Starting this semester, a special training ground had opened, available only to penthouse residents—those ranked in the top 10.
Apparently, it was completed over the summer break.
I wanted to see for myself what it was capable of.
I'd heard it was world-class, but I wondered what it would actually be like...
This is how Gaon motivates students at the bottom of the rankings, while reminding those at the top that they could lose their privileges if they fall.
It might seem cruel, but it couldn't be helped.
After all, Gaon's rankings are directly tied to one's talent as a hero.
I walked down the stairs and headed for the penthouse's main entrance.
"Huh?"
Just then, a clear voice called out to me from behind.
"Where are you going, Hae-in?"
It was Cheon Yeo-wool.
...No way.
It couldn't be.
Beside her was a massive suitcase, nearly as big as she was.
Like me, she seemed to have just arrived to unpack.
Cheon Yeo-wool wasn't the culprit.
Then who on earth was it...?
"Go on in. The rooms are spacious and nice."
I said, gesturing toward her room with my chin.
Her eyes followed my gaze to the penthouse for a moment before she turned back to me with a seductive smile.
"My room? Or our room?"
"..."
"So, where are you off to?"
When I deliberately ignored her question, she just smiled and asked again.
"I was going to check out the training ground."
"Ooh? Let's go together! I wanted to see it too."
Cheon Yeo-wool chirped.
I nodded and pointed at her suitcase.
"Unpack your things. I'll wait for you out here."
"Hmm? But it's hot outside. Why don't you come in?"
Cheon Yeo-wool seemed to think for a moment, then her eyes lit up as she spoke.
"Oh! How about you go on ahead? You need something cool to drink if you're going to train. I'll grab us some coffee."
It was a good suggestion, uncharacteristic of Cheon Yeo-wool.
"Sounds good. I'll go on ahead."
"Okay!"
I nodded and started walking.
Leaving the sound of the rolling suitcase behind me, I headed for the training ground.
I arrived at a private elevator located in the center of the complex.
When I touched my watch to the sensor, the doors opened with a soft mechanical hum, ready to take me deep underground.
-Ding.-
The moment the doors opened, I caught my breath.
I expected it to be somewhat damp and stuffy since it was underground, but it was nothing of the sort.
Instead, I was greeted by crisp, cool air.
The space stretched out before me like some vast, futuristic research facility.
As if mesmerized, I stepped inside.
Huge glass training rooms lined the long corridor.
Next to the door of each room was a small digital device.
I walked up to an empty room and fiddled with the device.
[Environment Control]
It seemed you could freely adjust the environment inside.
For example, if I set the environment to the inside of Bulgaram and typed it in...
[Generating Virtual Environment...]
The view through the glass transformed in an instant, the room becoming a hellscape of churning, crimson lava.
"Wow."
State-of-the-art, indeed.
[Transparency Control: Opaque]
You could even make it impossible to see into the room from the outside.
Impressed, I walked further down the corridor.
That's when it happened.
One of the opaque rooms suddenly turned transparent with a soft, staticky sound.
I turned my gaze toward it.
"..."
And I stopped in my tracks in front of that room.
I found myself staring, captivated by the scene inside.
The room was no longer a cold training facility.
The entire space had transformed into a wide-open field.
The floor was covered with red camellia petals like a scarlet carpet, fluttering and dancing on the wind.
And in the center of it all was Yu Hana.
...Sword Force.
With every swing of her sword, the petals scattered, tracing beautiful arcs along the path of her Sword Qi.
The Butterfly Sword Dance?
Yes, that was it. But...
It wasn't the Butterfly Sword Dance I knew.
The profound principles of Yu Mujin's Azure Cloud Sword were intricately woven into it.
If the Butterfly Sword Dance was feminine and beautiful, the Azure Cloud Sword was a swift style, defined by its crisp, clean principles.
But the swordsmanship Yu Hana displayed was a fusion of both.
It was fast yet fluid, gentle yet simultaneously lethal.
I leaned against the glass wall, holding my breath as I watched her.
Beads of sweat trickled down her body.
Seeing her lips slightly parted in concentration, I could feel how completely absorbed she was.
I watched like that for a long time.
Finally, Yu Hana executed her final form.
As she raised her sword, the thousands, tens of thousands of petals that filled the room converged at its tip.
-...
I couldn't hear a sound, but I could feel it.
The Sword Qi she unleashed was a wave of power so strong that the reinforced glass I was leaning on shuddered.
After all the petals had vanished, she calmly sheathed her sword.
And when she slowly raised her head.
Yu Hana and I made eye contact.
Her blue eyes widened.
It was the first time I'd seen her since the break, so I was happy to see her too.
'Long time no see.'
I smiled and mouthed the words to her.
Yu Hana rushed frantically to the glass wall.
-Thud.-
Her pale palm hit the glass.
-Tap. Tap. Tap.-
She began searching for the exit, her hands feeling along the glass as she looked left and right.
She looked quite desperate.
I smiled at the sight and opened the door on my side.
"Hana, it's over here—"
Before I could finish my sentence.
-Whoosh!
Yu Hana's hand shot out from inside the room and pulled me in.
I lost my balance and fell right on top of her.
A deep, sweet scent of camellias, one I had never smelled before, filled my senses.
Her body beneath mine was burning hot from the exertion of her training.
"Hana."
Flustered, I tried to get up, but Yu Hana wrapped her arms around my neck and wouldn't let go.
"I... missed you."
Her voice trembled faintly.
I said nothing, simply accepting it as I looked at her. I had missed her, too.
I wondered how much stronger she had become after successfully completing her succession against Yu Mujin and being reborn as the Sword Empress.
I had been so curious to see what she would be like now.
And she had far surpassed all my expectations.
But just then.
-Ding.-
The clear chime of the elevator arriving echoed through the training ground's corridor.
My gaze and Yu Hana's simultaneously turned toward the sound, beyond the glass wall.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a familiar figure.
A woman holding my favorite americano in one hand and a strawberry latte for herself in the other.
It was Cheon Yeo-wool.
She must have come all this way to find me.
She glanced around the corridor before her eyes landed on us inside the glass room.
She had found us tangled together in this embarrassing position, with me on top of her.
The bright smile that had bloomed on Cheon Yeo-wool's face froze solid, turning as cold as ice.
At that moment, Yu Hana, still in my arms, broke into a smirk.
Without taking her eyes off Cheon Yeo-wool, she elegantly extended a long, slender leg from her position on the floor.
And with the tip of her toe, she lightly tapped the open door.
"!"
Startled, Cheon Yeo-wool started running toward us.
-Click.-
But the open glass door slid silently shut right in front of her.
-Beep.-
The next moment, Yu Hana lightly touched the watch on her wrist, and the transparent glass wall instantly turned a dark, ashen gray.
Cheon Yeo-wool's face, twisted with shock and fury, disappeared behind the gray curtain.
The space was now completely sealed off from the outside.
Yu Hana looked up at me and whispered, her expression one of utter satisfaction.
"This scene... looks familiar, doesn't it?"
It was just like what happened during the board game.
Back then, Cheon Yeo-wool and I were a married couple, and Yu Hana, the lord, was the outsider.
"She must have been happy during the break, right?"
Her fingers slowly, gently traced my lips.
-Sshk.-
"And now... she's probably going to be even happier."
I couldn't understand what Yu Hana was saying.
Something like ecstasy flickered in her eyes.
"Because I was."
It didn't feel like she was talking to me.
Still beneath me, she propped herself up and brought her lips to mine.
"Ah, maybe it's better if I just show her?"
"Wait!"
Realizing her intention, I cried out in alarm.
But as if she'd anticipated my resistance, she smoothly leaned back to dodge me and operated her watch.
-Beep.-
The ashen wall must have turned perfectly transparent again, without a hint of cloudiness.
I didn't dare turn around to look.
I could almost feel Cheon Yeo-wool's gaze on me.
As if to mock her, Yu Hana lifted her head and pointedly kissed my cheek, the tip of my chin, and my neck.
-Mwah.-
-Mwah.-
As her hot, soft lips touched me, I realized I had been right.
Yu Hana was the same, after all.
To be honest, I had expected her to do more.
She was, after all, the first one to show her feelings for me.
"Hmm, on second thought... maybe I won't show her."
After a few kisses, Yu Hana murmured as if she were completely satisfied.
She touched her watch again.
-Beep.-
And the glass wall.
Once again turned a deep, ashen gray.
