Chapter 155: 2nd Semester (9)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 155: 2nd Semester (9)
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
The sun had long set, but with its neon signs and teeming crowds, the city showed no signs of sleep.
The sweltering air, the scent of exotic spices.
Atop the highest spire of a skyscraper that overlooked it all.
A group clad in dark combat uniforms silently observed the city.
Phantom.
They were Maengju's Team 0.
Before the Apostle attacked Hamgyeong-do, a massive force of Mines had assaulted Shanghai.
The damage to China, completely unprepared for a Mine attack, had been… horrific.
At the time, Yu Serin had also gone to provide support as a member of Lotus, at the request of the Chinese government.
And now, she had returned to this land.
It was because of news that the same strange mana eruption that had occurred before the Shanghai attack had now been detected here in Guangdong.
Ordinarily, this wouldn't have been a matter for her to handle personally, but Kang A-rin was aware that a Fragment of Yu Hana was in Hunan Province.
Guangdong was just south of Hunan.
On the off-chance there was a connection, Kang A-rin had dispatched her sharpest blade.
With her eyes closed, Yu Serin was sensing the flow of mana in the city.
‘Insight Eye.’ It was her ability.
Her consciousness began to sweep across the entire city.
But Yu Serin's brow slowly furrowed.
“Something's a little… off.”
she murmured softly. The subordinate standing beside her asked,
“What is it?”
“It's too… quiet. Artificially so.”
Yu Serin shook her head slightly.
“Hold on, let me get a proper look.”
To grasp the true nature of this silence, she focused her consciousness to its absolute limit.
Her consciousness swept over the city once more.
Then, she gradually expanded her range of perception beyond Guangdong, north to Hunan Province.
And then.
“……!”
The moment her consciousness touched a mountain range in Hunan.
Yu Serin staggered violently and fell backward.
A drop of dark red blood trickled from her nose.
“Team Leader!”
Her subordinate cried out in alarm, rushing to support her.
Yu Serin wiped the blood away with the back of her hand.
It had been brief, but she had felt it clearly: an intense malevolence, lying in wait.
A malevolence that might be even greater than the one behind the Shanghai attack.
She activated her watch.
“Contact the Sub-Guild Master. Now.”
And the location wasn't Guangdong.
“It's Hunan Province,” Yu Serin murmured, her gaze fixed on the north.
*
Morning classes were over.
For our afternoon class, we had to go to the Portal Clearance Office. We had a field training session.
So, before heading to the clearance office, we were on our way to the cafeteria for lunch.
But that plan was canceled.
“Make me food,” Yoon Chae-ha said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, clinging tightly to my arm as we walked.
Truthfully, it was a shorter trip from our dorm to the clearance office anyway, so I didn't object.
Today's lunch was pasta.
It was the perfect choice—quick to make and easy to eat.
“Who's taking the unit activity class?” I asked, dropping pasta into the boiling water. The girls were sitting at the table, watching me.
In the second semester, majors and electives were more specialized, so you could pick and choose the subjects you wanted.
That meant not everyone in the same class took the same courses, and students from different classes could end up together.
Just then, Cheon Yeo-wool, who was next to me pretending to help by setting out the tableware, answered.
“Me, her, and you. That's the three of us, for now.”
She added, “I heard Yu Hana and Kang A-rin didn't sign up for the unit class. Yu Hana's taking Introduction to Weaponry, and Kang A-rin is in Mana Application Theory, I think?”
I stirred the red tomato sauce slowly with a wooden spatula, lost in thought for a moment.
Yu Hana with Introduction to Weaponry, and Kang A-rin with Mana Application Theory.
Even without anyone telling them, they'd made the optimal choices.
They were majors that would enhance their respective strengths.
Both of them had made very smart decisions.
In contrast, the unit class was a perfect fit for Cheon Yeo-wool and Yoon Chae-ha, who were here with me now.
Since both of them were pretty terrible with people…
“…What are you thinking about?”
Cheon Yeo-wool, who was arranging the dishes beside me, looked at me with narrowed eyes.
I avoided her gaze and gestured with my chin at the pasta she had just put on a plate.
“You can't cook.”
I'd handed her the boiled pasta to transfer to the wok. But it seemed she thought that was the finished dish.
She'd piled the boiled noodles into a mountain in the bowl.
She must have thought you were supposed to pour the sauce on separately.
You know the kind, right? Like cafeteria pasta, where you get the noodles and sauce separately and mix them yourself.
Cheon Yeo-wool, her face flushing, cleared her throat and made an excuse.
“I-Isn't this how you do it? You're supposed to add sauce to your own taste…”
Instead of answering, I took the plate she'd prepared.
I ladled a generous amount of my rich tomato sauce over it, sprinkled on some parsley, and mixed it with a bit of the pasta water until it was thick and creamy.
Then I replated it and set it back down in front of her.
“Here, eat up.”
She couldn't say a word, just stared blankly at the perfect plate of pasta before her.
I gave her cheek a gentle poke.
“It's okay. Even if you can't cook.”
I added, “I can just do it for you.”
“……”
That was the moment.
At my words, Cheon Yeo-wool, who had been looking down, slowly raised her head.
And she stared right at me.
I could feel something smoldering in her blue eyes.
Sensing something, I quickly averted my gaze.
“Should we… just skip class? I don't mind relaxing in my room in the middle of the day.”
“No.”
“Then don't provoke me.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
The stiff reply escaped my lips before I knew it.
“Ha.”
Yoon Chae-ha, who had been watching the entire exchange, let out a scoff of disbelief.
And so, our meal began. As I was inhaling my pasta, I had a sudden realization.
Cheon Yeo-wool, Yoon Chae-ha, and even Ha Sion, Yu Hana, and Kang A-rin, who weren't here.
Come to think of it, my communication with these five had always been one-on-one.
We'd be doing more team-based activities from now on, and it would be awkward to keep communicating through me or by passing messages through others.
We were all living in the same building now anyway, and we'd need to keep in touch.
…Should I make a group chat?
The moment the thought occurred to me, I put it into action.
I carefully took out my watch and started tapping.
I created a new group chat room.
And without hesitation, I invited everyone from my contacts.
– Tiring.
– Tiring.
The watches of Yoon Chae-ha, sitting next to me, and Cheon Yeo-wool, across from me, chimed at the same time.
They checked their watches with puzzled expressions.
[belief_ has invited OnE, RIN, 1000_y, summer, and Sion to the chat.]
Cheon Yeo-wool and Yoon Chae-ha's eyes went wide as they looked at me.
Acting nonchalant, I tapped out the first message on my watch.
[belief_]: From now on, all announcements will be made here. It's easier, right?
It was an excellent idea.
I nodded in satisfaction.
– Tiring.
Just then, a new message arrived.
The first to respond was Kang A-rin.
[RIN]: Is casual chat allowed?
Hmm… what should I do?
There was really no reason to forbid it.
[belief_]: Of course
[RIN]: Good
There wasn't much chatter after that.
– Tiring.
[OnE]: Perfect timing
But then, a message from Yu Hana came through.
[OnE]: I happened to see this article today, what do you guys think?
[OnE]: (Article Link)
What kind of article?
Don't tell me the Mines have started to move.
Startled, I quickly tapped the link to check.
But a completely absurd headline, nothing like what I'd expected, popped up.
[BREAKING NEWS: Macedonian A-Class Hero Petridis Welcomes 12th Wife, Breaking World Record for Most Spouses!]
“……”
I let out a deep sigh as I stared at the holographic news article.
I shouldn't have looked.
This world was fundamentally based on the modern world I had lived in.
But at the same time, its foundation was the ‘game’ I had created.
When I designed the game, I envisioned a ‘happy future’ for the protagonist.
And that happiness naturally included an ending with multiple heroines.
However, the institution of monogamy in modern society was the biggest obstacle to that ending.
Therefore, I had slightly loosened the regulations of the world's setting, just enough so it wouldn't feel out of place.
There was no law enforcing ‘monogamy,’ but it was the most common practice.
However, polygamy was not impossible.
Naturally, it wasn't a matter I'd ever had to consider for myself.
I hadn't been paying it any mind.
– Tiring.
– Tiring.
[RIN]: He looks happy
[1000_y]: Agreed
Oh, no.
– Thump.
I shot up from my seat.
I couldn't stay seated any longer.
“Let's go.”
I scooped up Yoon Chae-ha—who was looking up at me with her cheeks puffed out, her mouth full of pasta, as if asking what was wrong—and lifted her right into my arms.
“Mmph? Mmmph?”
She struggled in surprise, but I paid her no mind and headed straight for the door.
I could hear Cheon Yeo-wool snickering behind me.
But I didn't look back.