This Is What They Call an Academy
While waiting for my body to recover, I spent roughly two hours soothing Kang So-seon—who had begun wailing as if the world itself were ending—and explaining the mechanism behind creating a familiar.
“You tear off a piece of the soul and turn it into a familiar. Then you mix it back in and reattach it to make yourself whole again. Damage comes with the process. It was something that had to be done anyway, a natural step, so there’s no need to blame yourself. Understood?”
“Sniff…”
At my words Kang So-seon sniffled and gave a slow nod. Yet not a shred of acceptance showed in her eyes. She understood, but that was separate from actually accepting it.
Her thoughts right now were probably something like this: There must have been a safer way, and it was her own stubbornness that had left things in this state. Even without mind-reading or thought-sensing skills, her feelings were written so clearly across her face that anyone could see them.
In those sorrow-filled eyes I already looked like someone spinning lies just to put her at ease.
She clearly had a mountain of questions she wanted to ask, yet the strong sense that she would say nothing more for my sake hung over her. I smacked my forehead and finally gave up on persuading her.
Fine, I don’t know anymore. If she wants to wallow in guilt on her own, let her. Why should I keep explaining and correcting every little thing?
I’ll just do whatever the hell I want too!
Whether he was simply thrilled that the boring lecture was over, Kallion dashed over from my side and flicked out his tongue to lick the tears streaming down her cheek. Yuck! No, bad boy. What if you get sick from eating that?
“Aww… are you trying to comfort me?”
“Grrung!”
“Thank you…! Smoothie, you’re such a good boy!”
“Grrung?”
Who said you could go around naming him? First she calls Growl ‘Fluffy,’ and now it’s ‘Smoothie’? Our kid already has the perfectly cool name Kallion.
Of course I kept that complaint to myself and never voiced it.
Grumbling would only sour the mood that had finally brightened a little. Teasing her about where her usual contrarian streak had gone would be pointless; that streak came and went according to my own mood anyway.
And right now my mood was simple: I wanted to escape this childish little play as soon as possible.
Apparently embarrassed about how hard she had cried, she kept stealing glances at me while blasting Healing and Ice Fog magic to cool her tear-reddened face.
No matter how much she pretended to hug Kallion and hide her face, I had noticed long ago. Kallion, looking pale and miserable from the cold, shot me a dead-eyed glare, but I ignored him for the sake of my own peace.
Sorry. This is a necessary sacrifice.
The look Kallion gave me was exactly like Caesar being betrayed by Brutus. Even their names were similar. History really did seem to repeat itself in cycles.
Once Kang So-seon’s condition had settled enough, I pointed toward the rear of the waterfall cave—now a wreck thanks to her sword swings—and spoke.
“…Senior, is that the temple?”
“Ah, yes. So it was hidden in a place like this this time.”
The long sword scars had collapsed the wall, revealing a hidden path behind the waterfall.
A milky-white stone wall of clearly different material glowed with a soft light—an energy that felt slightly different from mana.
Given the word “temple,” it was probably holy power. The protective aura of a temple—cliché as clichés go.
Holy power was a form of healing that operated on a completely different vector from the recovery magic used by mages or medical specialists.
If magical recovery was closer to a scientific procedure that analyzed structure and restored it, holy-power healing was literally a miracle. It ignored every principle and mechanism, simply returning the body to its uninjured state, which made it far more efficient than magic.
The time my neck bone had been broken, and the clean recovery of Mom’s wounds—both had been healing by holy power.
Come to think of it, the recovery skill the earth dragon had shown was closer to holy-power healing as well.
A temple hidden where the earth dragons nested. A named monster that used skills similar to holy power. And finally, the information Hong Su-ah had given me about the treasure-hunt reward. All three pointed toward the word “dragon.”
It felt like everything clicked into place, but that was only true for someone who already knew the information. If Hong Su-ah hadn’t told me about the hidden mission, I would have simply declared the clear at the goal without poking around the temple any further.
That was probably true for most people, not just me.
Come to think of it, did Kang So-seon know about the hidden mission? Most of the information she had gained by running around herself was related to monsters.
Having experienced all of that meant she had run this dungeon many times. With that much experience, it wouldn’t be strange if she knew about the hidden mission.
“Sen—”
I turned to ask her, and my eyes went wide at the sight that greeted me. Without a word my body moved toward Kang So-seon.
I tried to stretch my shadow, but there wasn’t enough time to form anything else. I coated the mana circulating through my body with a mass of shadow and thrust my hand forward.
Whoosh!!
“Hic!”
Startled by my sudden movement, Kang So-seon reflexively drew the sword at her waist, but my hand was faster. It shot past her cheek and smashed into the sharp mandibles approaching from behind her.
Crack! Crunch!
“Shaaaa!”
The shadow coating my fist shattered against its head, and something in my hand snapped with a sickening sound. At the same time a searing pain like being burned made my wrist throb.
It hadn’t been a simple charge; the follow-up surge of mana flung my body backward as if gravity itself had yanked me.
“Kh…!”
I didn’t know the enemy’s skill, but the difference in raw strength was simply too great. Every time my dangling wrist moved, a sharp pain raced through it.
Because I had moved so suddenly I couldn’t even right myself properly; Growl dashed over and caught my flying body while Hive and Kallion stood guard in front of the still-dazed Kang So-seon.
“Brahma Centipede…!”
Kang So-seon finished drawing her half-drawn sword and shouted the enemy’s name.
The scissor-like mandibles fully opened, revealing a creature whose horns sat like those of a buffalo—the centipede monster I had seen while fleeing the earth dragon. The instant she locked eyes on its true form, Kang So-seon’s arm, already projecting mana into her blade, vanished in an afterimage.
Slash!!
That alone was enough; the creature’s body and head separated and exploded apart.
Summoner class level has increased.
Skill Sadism level has increased.
Technique stat has increased by 1.
It seemed to have been alone; no follow-up appeared. Probably one of the ones that had aggroed while we fled the earth dragon, and only now had a survivor finally arrived.
“Junior!!”
Kang So-seon rushed over and immediately chanted Healing magic over my hand. She poured so much mana into it that the scraped skin began recovering the moment the spell touched it, and the wrist I had thought broken rapidly found its proper place again.
Once my hand was healed enough that I could rotate the wrist and confirm it moved, I let out a sigh. This scene felt familiar—exactly like earlier. But this time she wasn’t crying.
That was not a good sign. The situation had actually gotten worse.
Her pupils shook as if she had taken a massive shock, unable to focus, and she clutched her trembling hand tightly with the other as if a single touch would shatter her.
Self-loathing and self-reproach. I had seen that look countless times in my previous life.
She was less devastated that I had been hurt because of her, and more shattered by the fact that she had reflexively drawn her sword the moment I moved to attack. Realizing that attack had been to save her had detonated every negative emotion she held toward herself.
There are people like that sometimes—people who lash out first in a fit of anger, then cry and apologize afterward.
Whether late-arriving reason made them regret what they had done, I couldn’t say, but for the person on the receiving end it was enough to make you wonder what the hell kind of farce this was.
After all, the one who got hit is fine and breathing steadily while the one who did the hitting is the one crying—a bizarre spectacle.
In this case the problem was that I, the actual party involved, thought it was no big deal, while she was agonizing over it far more seriously.
If anything, easily trusting someone she had only met today was the strange part.
If I had been in Kang So-seon’s position I would have been startled and swung first too. I might even have ordered my summons to attack. In other words, she had done nothing wrong. It was actually the appropriate response.
But telling her that would never convince her.
In most human relationships, people who are generous and kind to others are paradoxically strict with themselves.
Even when she had casually mentioned her broken skill Munmu-gyeombi to me as if it were nothing special, it was probably for the same reason. Possessing a cheat skill like that must have earned her plenty of envy and jealousy from those around her.
Every time, she would have driven herself even harder. Not because of the skill, but because of her own effort—she wanted to be able to say that proudly.
So even if I pretended not to notice and let it slide, she would still berate and whip herself behind the scenes, suffering alone where I couldn’t see.
People of this type, once they collapse, do not get back up easily. Watching her agonize over something truly trivial as if the world were ending was hard to stomach.
“Senior.”
“…Yes.”
At my call Kang So-seon squeezed her eyes shut and answered.
There was no strength in her voice. She looked exactly like someone waiting for the guillotine blade to fall, and I couldn’t help sighing.
Vague comfort wouldn’t cut it; something she could feel clearly would be better. I raised my hand, loaded my finger with mana, and flicked her drooping forehead.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
“Let’s call it even with that.”
Because I had put mana into it, it would sting quite a bit. Sure enough she clutched her forehead with a blank expression. Then her face twisted and she dropped her head completely. Don’t tell me she’s going to cry again?
“Let’s finish this quickly and disband. Senior, aren’t you hungry?”
I deliberately spoke curtly because I didn’t want to see that face. We had already burned three hours here. That meant it was lunchtime. After how badly my body had hurt at dawn today, I had sworn I would eat even if only a little rather than starve.
She mumbled something, lips moving, but I couldn’t catch it. Even with Technique over 30 thanks to the skill level-ups in this dungeon, I still couldn’t hear it—how quietly had she spoken?
I thought I faintly caught the word “rumor”… If it was a rumor, was it that worthless one Leus had mentioned? If it was serious enough for the Public Morals Committee to bring up, it would be strange for a student council member not to know.
“What? Got a complaint?”
“…No, I was just thinking that Junior is a strange person~.”
“I’ll return those exact words to you.”
Forcing a smile only to badmouth me. A woman who turned into half a serial killer the moment she grabbed a sword, calling someone else strange.
It didn’t land at all. There wasn’t a shred of malice in it, so the words were light as air. Yeah, this was better. If insulting me helped her feel better, that was enough.
Nothing beats trash-talking someone else for venting stress and clearing your head.
I myself spent a high percentage of my time mentally chewing out that god bastard. At first it was genuine anger, but after it piled up day after day it had become half a habit. Something goes wrong? God’s fault. Things get tangled? God’s fault.
Yeah, if that god hadn’t sent me to this world in the first place I wouldn’t have to feel this shitty. That god bastard is the one who screwed everything up. Fucking bitch. Just thinking about it pisses me off again.
Someday I’ll wreck him. Even if he begs for his life I’ll beat him to death. I’ll stomp him until dust flies on a rainy day.
Ah, but if you’re going to trash-talk, do it quietly where I can’t hear. If you do it right to my face it ruins my mood. I was already seriously considering another mana forehead flick; if I actually heard insults to my face it wouldn’t be a flick—it would be a fist.
Talk behind my back all you want, just don’t get caught. Get caught? I’ll bury you. Reason: because it annoys me. I’m a thorough mood-driven freeloader who wants to live however my mood dictates.
When I conveyed that thought as-is, Kang So-seon forced a smile that suppressed her emotions.
“Mm, still strange. Junior really is a strange person.”
“…If you don’t want another hit, shut your mouth and follow me.”
I didn’t wait for an answer. From behind she kept muttering “strange,” “weird person,” “idiot,” “dummy,” “sea cucumber,” “sea anemone,” and other things that gently scraped at my nerves, but I thoroughly ignored her and pressed on.
I had no desire to hit someone who was so openly asking for it.
My personality is twisted enough that I prefer doing what the other person hates rather than what they like. Even when I play games I’m the type who thinks more about how to make the opponent suffer than about winning.
“…Tch.”
When I ignored her and kept walking she pouted her lips and began deliberately dawdling as if she wanted to waste time.
I used my shadow to grab the back of her clothes the way you’d scruff a cat, hoisted her onto Growl’s back, and bound her with shadow so she couldn’t escape.
“…Hiiing.”
Only a dejected little whimper reached me; there was no real conversation. No fighting either, so no chance for breathing to grow rough. Whether because of the holy power or something else, there were no monsters nearby.
At last, the moment a massive stone statue shaped like a dragon came into view on the far side, a system message floated before my eyes.
You have successfully arrived at the designated location within the time limit.
🎁 Reward: Condensed Blue Steel × 4
“…Ah.”
We had cleared the dungeon. That meant it was time to part ways.
Realizing it, she let out a short sigh. At some point she had freed herself from the shadow on her own and had been lying buried against Growl’s back; now she slowly rose and stood on her own two feet.
“It’s over.”
“We’re still in the middle of class, so Senior should go first. If we leave together it’ll just draw more aggro. I’ll leave after your classes are completely finished.”
“…Can’t I stay with you?”
I looked at her as she lightly gripped the edge of my clothes. On her face, something other than regret sat more heavily. Because of that sense of debt she was prioritizing me over her own affairs.
If I didn’t cut it off cleanly here, she would keep putting me ahead of her own thoughts from now on. For the flimsiest of reasons she would turn someone she had only met today into a presence that could dictate her entire life.
Honestly, her feelings were too heavy and burdensome. Just maintaining my current situation was already hard enough. I didn’t want to start worrying about someone else on top of that.
I couldn’t understand why I occupied such a large place inside her. Life is far too busy and short to go around assigning meaning to every single thing.
“Senior, do you remember what I told you at the beginning?”
“Yes, that I was in the way, and that I would prove I was capable.”
“I hate bothersome things. I’m more comfortable alone, and I prefer to take things as slowly and leisurely as possible. Unless it’s something I absolutely have to do, I plan to drop everything and live half-assed.”
Someone as sharp as her would understand exactly what I was trying to say. The longer I spoke, the darker her expression grew in real time.
“…So I really was just a nuisance to Junior after all?”
“No. The opposite.”
In truth, having Kang So-seon was the only reason we had cleared the dungeon this quickly.
I could have cleared it alone, but I would have been too busy dodging other monsters to even think about hunting the earth dragon. Most likely I would have missed every afternoon class.
Looking only at that, I had basically been bused by a powerhouse who had claimed the student council vice-president seat through her own strength.
Unintentionally I had dragged her into my private business under the pretense of school duties, so I deserved to be called trash.
“Then why…?”
The question she let out like a sob carried a great many emotions.
For someone who had always lived in a world where people approached her first, and where even if they didn’t she could quickly become close just by approaching them, an existence like me—who kept pushing her away and rejecting her—must have been ambiguous and fascinating.
That was why she was even more curious. If she didn’t hate me, why keep pushing her away? What was the reason? Questions chained into more questions until everything became a tangled mess she could no longer understand.
I would not give her the answer that would resolve her doubts.
“Unlike me, Senior is extremely capable and busy. You’re kind enough to hang around with a guy like me, so there must be plenty of other people who need you.”
I would simply offer an alternative. So stop worrying about uncooperative, bothersome me and go hang out with someone whose personality actually matches yours.
Stack favors with people who need you and feel goodwill toward you, rather than with me who keeps rejecting and pushing you away. That would be better for both of us.
Right now she was simply encountering a new sensation and temporarily misunderstanding it. Meeting someone whose grain was different from everyone she had known until now made this moment feel special, made this unusual daily life feel enjoyable.
The way her emotional line had been swinging far too sentimentally was proof of that.
Because she had been so high, the crash when the mood dropped hit even harder. The shocks she had taken along the way had only intensified it, never lessened it.
I organized my thoughts that way and looked at her. Sometimes things are conveyed simply by looking, without words.
I met her eyes without looking away as they began to tremble and glisten with moisture.
Those beautiful amber pupils that called to mind pumpkins watched me for a long while, then—perhaps understanding that my firm will would not change—slowly closed as if in resignation.
Yeah, I knew you would do that. Because she prioritizes consideration for the other person over herself, she always takes a step back and chooses to give up when faced with a stubborn wall.
If someday she breaks that shell on her own, I’ll deal with her differently then. For now, this is the end.
“…Will we be able to meet again?”
“Someday.”
As long as I attended the academy and she didn’t give up, we would inevitably run into each other eventually.
But by then there would be other people’s eyes, and the power difference between a mere academy student and a core member of the student council.
I wouldn’t be able to toss out jokes so freely without thinking, and we wouldn’t be able to laugh and make a fuss the way we had today.
In the small society that was the academy, unlike me who had nothing to lose, she had built-up reputation and standing.
Lines like “That doesn’t matter at all! What matters is the person’s heart!” were nothing more than dialogue number one from some pretty piece of fiction when faced with cold reality. Therefore that line did not apply to me.
The place I lived was not a beautiful fictional world but harsh reality. No matter how many insane settings ran wild in this world… at least I intended to think of it that way.
Whatever I thought inside, from beginning to end I had drawn a line by using formal speech with her. Senior and junior. The connection between us was so thin that it wouldn’t be strange if it snapped at any moment.
Sorry, but I did not place the same expectations on her that she seemed to place on me.
She and I were strangers to the end. I was not optimistic enough to suddenly change overnight and keep someone by my side who might betray me at any time.
I was that kind of person. No matter how close we became, once we turned away it was over. A person who could cleanly separate even previous life from current life. Humans do not change easily.
Perhaps she had instinctively realized that as well, which was why she was clinging even harder to this moment. Because if we parted like this it would truly all be over.
Doing mental care for someone else—something I had never done even in my previous life—made thorns seem to sprout inside my mouth. This full-on youth-drama atmosphere really didn’t suit me.
In the end I couldn’t just be coldly ruthless either. The odds were low, but if Kang So-seon later flipped out and came to stab me asking if I had hated her that much, it would actually be terrifying.
Extreme as it was, making enemies never did anyone any good. So my true wish was to maintain a somewhat awkward yet decent relationship as much as possible.
Trash? I know. But what can I do when that’s who I am? The storms of my previous life had been far too bitter for me to chase after responsibility-free pleasure.
While I secretly let out a bitter sigh with those thoughts, Kang So-seon hid both arms behind her back, leaned her head forward, and spoke playfully.
“Can you hug me one last time? Squeeze me so hard my body breaks, so I can never forget today.”
“…Have you lost your mind?”
I had thought we had ended things reasonably well, but she suddenly crossed the line and turned into a total pervert. What the hell had happened in that brief moment? Had she visited some room of time and spirit I didn’t know about? I really couldn’t understand her.
When I furrowed my brow hard and glared at her, she finally laughed “hehe.” Then she tightly hugged Growl, Kallion, and even Hive behind her before sticking her tongue out at me.
“I never expected anything from Junior in the first place.”
The moment a scroll appeared in her hand, her body began to be wrapped in light. She had received the reward and cleared the dungeon. I gave her a small nod of farewell.
“Good work.”
“…Yes, Junior worked hard too.”
Apparently satisfied with nothing more than the empty comfort that this was not the end, Kang So-seon nodded in acceptance.
With a peaceful smile that suited her gentle impression perfectly, her figure completely vanished from this place.
I let out a sigh and shook my head hard. Doing something so unlike me had left my mind a mess.
Slap slap!
I smacked my cheeks once to clear my head. There was still work left to do. I turned toward the temple area behind me.
Calling it a temple was generous; it was just a collapsed ruin with a single massive dragon statue standing there. Without the residual holy power I wouldn’t even have known it was a temple.
“Treasure in a place like this, huh.”
Nothing immediately caught the eye except the statue.
Change how I think.
Keep it simple. This was the hidden mission Hong Su-ah had discovered. If a woman who preferred moving her body over using her head had found this statue, what would she have done first?
Smash it.
Push it.
My thoughts leaned toward option one.
Ever since that incident, the image of Hong Su-ah inside me had been branded as a muscle-brained woman who acted first and thought later.
Statue? Maybe something would come out if I smashed it? She would have thrown a mana-loaded fist at it with that kind of lighthearted attitude.
Sure, the classic of old RPG games was smashing pots, but whether that applied here was unknown. The fact that this was a temple bothered me more. I felt like I’d get cursed for destroying a sacred dragon statue if I smashed it for no reason.
The cliché that a temple hidden in a place like this almost always sealed something that needed holy power to keep locked away was strong, after all.
The dungeon had already been cleared by my arrival fulfilling the conditions, and once I took the reward I would automatically be moved outside… so should I just do it and bolt the second things went south?
“…Let’s look around first and think.”
Smashing or pushing could come after. The moment I raised my mana and started walking toward the statue—
Crunch, munch, smack smack!
“Huh?”
A strange sound reached my ears. At first I thought a monster had appeared and tensed, drawing more mana, but the sight before me made my strength drain away and my mouth fall open without thinking.
“…Kallion?”
“Grrung? Grrung?”
Crunch!
When I called him, Kallion finished stuffing the pale-blue something he had been deliciously chewing into his mouth and licked his lips with his crimson tongue. Then he tilted his head as if asking what the matter was.
Where he stood, half-hidden by the rubble of the ruins so that you wouldn’t notice unless you looked carefully, sat a box. And it was smashed open as if it had been forced.
I trudged over to Kallion’s side and saw fragments of broken shell and something translucent that looked like membrane. The problem was that the complete form that should have been there was nowhere to be found—only crumbly leftovers remained.
He had eaten so thoroughly that his once-flat belly was now nicely rounded.
…Wasn’t that the hatchling eggshell Hong Su-ah had mentioned? So the statue was a fake? No, more importantly, why was an eggshell inside a box in the first place, and why had this guy—who didn’t even fill his stomach by eating—eaten it?
No one could answer my questions. There was only Kallion, wrapping his tail around my arm and nuzzling his head against me as if happy I had come closer.
“Kaaah…”
Hive’s cry from the far side somehow sounded pitiful.