Chapter 153: 2nd Semester (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 153: 2nd Semester (7)
The first week of the semester, as always, was filled with boring orientations.
New majors were introduced, and the instructors in charge gave their explanations.
Listening to a three-hour lecture on what we would be learning for the entire semester was no easy task.
The students’ eyes were half-closed.
Mine included, of course.
I was lost in my own thoughts.
Fwoosh.
I unconsciously touched the nape of my neck.
Even through the turtleneck, I could feel my skin burning.
I had slept with Cheon Yeo-wool last night.
To be precise, she had barged into my room, taken over my bed, and slept while holding me in her arms.
Naturally, she didn't just sleep. She spent the whole night biting me.
That was why I was wearing a turtleneck that came all the way up to my neck, despite the sweltering heat.
In the end, it was settled: the mysterious intruder in my room had been Cheon Yeo-wool.
‘What do I do?’
The very concept of keeping my room secure was now gone.
It was Cheon Yeo-wool yesterday, but there was no guarantee that Ha Sion, Yu Hana, or Yoon Chae-ha wouldn’t open my door and walk in tomorrow or the day after.
I couldn’t keep living my life this exposed…
It was then that the instructor spoke.
“This concludes the orientation for the second-semester theory classes.”
Instructor Do Han-seong, who had been standing on the podium, turned off the tablet in his hand as he spoke.
At his indifferent words, every student’s eyes shot open.
“For the next class… please make your way to the Portal Clearance Office.”
I nodded.
It was time to focus more on practical application than theory.
“We will also be forming the units next class.”
The units would be formed randomly, for the most part.
Then, the instructors would make some adjustments.
For the sake of fairness… and to maximize learning opportunities.
With that, Instructor Do Han-seong left the room.
Morning classes were over.
Today was Friday.
It was a relatively relaxed day for me, too.
I stood up from my seat and stretched my stiff body.
What to do now? Should I take the others to the Secret Armory and look for some useful gear? Gaon’s armory had plenty of good stuff, but it also had mountains of useless junk.
Digging through all of that by myself would be a ton of grunt work.
Well, if not that…
“Jung Hae-in.”
Yoon Chae-ha, who was beside me, poked me as I was lost in thought.
“It’s Friday.”
“……”
“And class ended early.”
“So?”
“What are we going to do now?” she asked, looking up at me with eyes full of anticipation, as if she was dying of curiosity.
We had never done anything together on a Friday, yet here she was, looking at me with such expectation.
Hmm?
A thought flashed through my mind.
Come to think of it, this was the perfect time to find a laborer.
“You’re just the person I needed.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go do something.”
Yoon Chae-ha nodded, a wide smile spreading across her face.
“Okay! I’d love to!”
What was she so happy about?
I turned my head to look at Cheon Yeo-wool.
The more workers, the better.
I put on a business-like smile and called out to her.
“Ms. Cheon Yeo-wool, would you care to join us?”
At my innocent proposal, Cheon Yeo-wool’s brow twitched for a moment.
She quickly forced an awkward smile and shook her head.
“I’m… fine. You two have fun, okay?”
Judging by her subtle expression, it seemed she had caught on.
A shame.
Cheon Yeo-wool was indeed quick on the uptake.
Though she had escaped my recruitment drive, there was something else I needed her to do.
I needed a place to present the items I was about to get from the armory as gifts.
Today was Friday, and the penthouse just so happened to have the perfect space.
Using the barbecue area in the yard, we could have dinner together, and I could naturally hand out the equipment. It seemed like a perfect plan.
We could even bond a little.
I approached Cheon Yeo-wool again.
She flinched and took a step back.
“Yeo-wool, in that case, could you buy some meat? Let’s have a barbecue party tonight. I’ll grill for you.”
At my words, her blue eyes wavered.
“Meat…? Sounds good… Is that all I have to do?”
“Yep.”
“Alright.”
Cheon Yeo-wool let out a sigh of relief and nodded.
The stage was set.
I smiled in satisfaction and turned my head to Yoon Chae-ha, who had been stuck to my side, watching the whole exchange.
She was still beaming.
“Shall we get going?”
“Yeah!”
And so, I led the unsuspecting… no, Yoon Chae-ha, toward the Secret Armory.
*
Gaon’s Secret Armory.
Yoon Chae-ha and I stood amidst mountains of artifacts.
There were certainly items here that could be treated as national treasures, but sleeping alongside them was an equal amount of worthless junk.
“Can you lift the things around here?”
At my words, dozens of artifacts floated up around Yoon Chae-ha.
As her orange eyes sparkled, the items flew over and arranged themselves in front of me.
“Hold it right there!”
I rested my chin on my hand and scanned the items one by one.
“……”
Yoon Chae-ha froze the objects in mid-air with her psychokinesis.
“Nope, not this either. Next!”
“…I should have known when she ran away.”
Yoon Chae-ha muttered under her breath.
Still, I had already found items for everyone else besides her.
The Blacksmith’s Whetstone for the swordswoman Yu Hana, the Divine Bird Gani’s Armor for Cheon Yeo-wool, Greaves for the martial artist Kang A-rin, and a Chest Protector for the archer Ha Sion.
As far as I could remember, they were all top-tier artifacts that had the best synergy with each of them.
Of course, in Gani’s case, she’d have to grow a bit more before she could wear the armor…
“What is this, really? I thought we were going out to have fun…”
Beside me, Yoon Chae-ha pouted and grumbled as she moved the items with her power.
I walked up behind her.
As I sat down, I pulled her down with me.
Right onto my lap.
“Ah?!”
Yoon Chae-ha’s body went rigid.
Completely trapped in my arms, she was rendered speechless.
“What do you like?”
I gestured to the floating artifacts and asked her.
It was time to choose an artifact for Yoon Chae-ha.
Her face flushed red as she reached out a hand.
Among the countless artifacts suspended in the air, she pointed to a particularly flashy, glittering staff.
[Staff that Spits Stars]
‘…….’
You really don’t have an eye for these things, do you?
I flicked my finger toward the staff, dismissing it.
Seeing her choice rejected, Yoon Chae-ha pouted.
Then, she shook her head and buried her face in my chest.
“You pick for me…”
I chuckled and gestured with my hand.
From among the dusty relics, a pair of small, brilliant silver earrings flew into my hand.
[Earring of Mana Circulation]
It was the perfect artifact for her, a girl with an insane capacity for mana.
It was originally something that would have suited Seong Si-woo well, but it was an excellent fit for the current Yoon Chae-ha, too.
“How about this?”
Her shoulders flinched as I brought the earring to her ear.
I gently tucked her golden hair behind her ear.
Carefully, I fastened the earring onto her small, white earlobe.
The moment it was in place, a soft blue light illuminated her cheek. She looked surprised, touching her ear.
“Looks good.”
I lightly pressed the bottom of the earring. With a flash of blue light, it vanished.
“It can be invisible, too. This will probably be more convenient.”
It was an invisible mode.
A function for practicality. But Yoon Chae-ha’s hand went back to her ear.
“……”
Click.
The earring reappeared.
“I like it this way…” she mumbled, her head bowed low.
Her face was even redder than before.
*
“Come and get them, one by one.”
Like a traveling merchant, I untied a giant sack filled with artifacts and emptied it onto the lawn of the penthouse barbecue area.
I felt a bit like Santa Claus.
As the gleaming artifacts tumbled out, the others’ eyes widened at my enormous haul.
“Oh, that. You can use it to sharpen your sword. Sion, that’s yours… What do you mean, it’s too small?”
I never imagined that chest plate would be too small… I had underestimated her development.
I sighed and promised to have it refitted.
“What did you get?”
Cheon Yeo-wool quietly set down Gani’s armor and asked Yoon Chae-ha.
Yoon Chae-ha placed her hands on her hips with a confident expression.
She usually wore her hair down, but today it was in a ponytail.
Thanks to that, the earring on her ear glittered in the light.
“How is it?” Yoon Chae-ha asked proudly.
Cheon Yeo-wool replied with a deadpan expression.
“Ah, so you got the leftovers?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Yoon Chae-ha frowned, but Cheon Yeo-wool just gave a sly grin.
And so, the heartwarming Santa Claus time, where everyone received their gifts, came to an end.
Now, it was time for the real party. The cooler Cheon Yeo-wool had brought was opened.
“……?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The cooler was packed with top-grade Korean beef and black pork collar.
But next to the meat, taking up almost half the space, were rows of neatly prepared eels.
“What’s with the eel…?”
When I asked, Cheon Yeo-wool just smiled sweetly.
“It’s good for your health, isn’t it?”
At her words, all the other girls nodded in agreement.
Everything was already set up. With no other choice, I stood in front of the grill.
I started grilling the meat.
Tssssssss!
Soon, a mouth-watering aroma rose from the grill.
And then, the meal began.
The girls filled their plates with nothing but juicy beef and pork.
My plate, however, was piled high with only eel.
“Could I maybe have some beef, too…”
The moment I cautiously spoke up, five women simultaneously turned to me and shook their heads.
“Nope.”
“……”
In the end, I had to sample every kind of grilled eel imaginable, from salt-grilled to teriyaki-grilled to spicy-sauce-grilled.
I just chewed the eel in silence.
This was truly pathetic.
“By the way, where are the others?”
I asked, trying to change the subject.
I was sure I had told Cheon Yeo-wool to call everyone in the penthouse. It would be a good chance to bond.
“Joo Sho-joo wen’ home,” Yoon Chae-ha answered, her words muffled by the large wrap stuffed in her mouth.
“Oh, right… Go on, finish your food.”
I was curious about Yohan, too… but I didn’t bother asking.
He returned to the Arcadia Cult every Friday.
I just kept eating the endless supply of eel being grilled for me by five women.
Is this what it’s like to be fattened up like livestock?
The meal was winding down, and we were all sitting around the bonfire, staring blankly at the dancing flames.
“Can we all sleep in your room tonight, Hae-in? To really get that camping feeling.”
Ha Sion was the first to suggest it.
With a piece of eel wrap that Kang A-rin had just put in my mouth, I nodded.
I had been thinking the same thing.
If I let them all go back to their own rooms, there was no guarantee another one of them wouldn’t sneak into my room like last night.
It was better to gather them all in one place and keep an eye on them.
I swallowed the food and replied.
“Be my guest.”
I had a defensive measure in mind, anyway.
After finishing up the campfire, we quickly cleaned up the leftover food and trash and returned to my room, Room 201.
The penthouse was incredibly spacious, after all.
I took out a pile of guest blankets and pillows from the closet and spread them all over the living room floor.
And then.
“Good night.”
I turned around, went into my bedroom, and closed the door.
Then I set Catastrophe horizontally against it, creating a double lock.
There was no way they could open this.
BANG, BANG!
Ugh, seriously!
“See you tomorrow. I’ll make stew.”
Using all the noise as a lullaby, I threw myself onto the bed.
I pulled the covers up to my chin.
Tonight, it seemed, would be a truly peaceful night.
*
Everyone else gave up.
They all disappeared into the blankets in the living room.
But Yoon Chae-ha was a woman who didn’t know the meaning of giving up once she set her mind on something.
She crouched in front of Jung Hae-in’s door, endlessly gesturing with her fingers in the air.
She had already succeeded in undoing the lock.
The next problem was how to get past the spear.
Jung Hae-in’s spear had the unique property of distorting all magic.
Therefore, she had to reverse-calculate and reconfigure the mana waves emanating from the spear’s barrier.
All through the night.
Finally, just before the break of dawn.
Click.
“Finally…”
She opened the locked door.
Chirp, chirp, chirp…
Of course, outside the window, the birds were already chirping, heralding the morning.
“Ugh… so annoying…”
She didn't feel happy at all.
Yoon Chae-ha grumbled as she opened the door. Her plan to observe him all night had failed.
Well, since it had come to this, she might as well wake him up and have him make the stew he promised.
She entered the room.
Jung Hae-in’s strong scent stimulated her nose.
She approached his bed.
He was sleeping soundly, the covers pulled up to his chin.
Not a single movement.
She gazed at his peaceful form for a long time.
Then, with a mischievous grin, she yanked the blanket away.
Fwump!
“Time to wake up!… It’s morn…?”
She trailed off, freezing in place.
Before her eyes, lifting the white sheets, was something towering like a mountain.
She had heard about it somewhere.
A perfectly natural phenomenon that occurred in men when they woke up in the morning.
But there was a vast gulf between the textbook description and the real thing.
“……”
Her face, her neck, her ears—everything turned beet red, as if about to explode.
Yoon Chae-ha’s brain ceased all calculations.
And then.
Very slowly, very carefully, Yoon Chae-ha covered him with the blanket again.
Swoosh…
Then, creaking like a malfunctioning robot, she silently exited the room.