Entangled Fates
Right after the second-stage qualification test ended, Lee Taehoon collapsed as if his strings had been cut. Even half-conscious, he kept muttering for a healer.
“Hurry... hurry and use recovery magic...!”
“There’s nothing we can do. His body has been restored, but the damage to his mind was so severe that he’s overloaded.”
Choi Daeun thought she was the most unfortunate person in the world. She had always believed she was doing everything she could for her poor younger siblings, who suffered in a broken home—that she was trying her best, giving it everything she had. But the moment she saw the man named Lee Taehoon, everything inside her came apart. He had risked his life. Really doing your best was the kind of thing you only got to say after you’d gone that far.
Have I ever done anything like that...?
Looking at him, she found herself asking that question. Had she ever pushed herself that hard for anything? Had she ever truly staked her life on overcoming some hardship, desperate enough to force her way through it? The answer was, plainly, no.
...
Choi Daeun looked at Lee Taehoon’s hand. Even after he fainted, he was still gripping his sword all the way to the end.
“Someone please help!”
Examiner Han Miyu called out, and Choi Daeun sprang into motion without thinking.
“I-I’ll help!”
With Han Miyu’s support and Choi Daeun’s assistance, Lee Taehoon was carried to the infirmary. Han Miyu stayed by his side for a while before turning to Choi Daeun.
“I’m sorry. The exam is still in progress, so there isn’t anyone available to watch over him right now. Fortunately, Lee Taehoon doesn’t seem to have any physical issues, so he should wake up soon. Thank you for helping. You haven’t taken the qualification test yet, have you?”
“N-no... not yet...”
“You were helping me, so you missed your turn. You can take the test within the remaining five hours by bringing this paper with you. One piece of advice: you’ll be tired from the physical ability evaluation, so rest a little before you go.”
Choi Daeun clutched the paper marked with Priority Access, her voice trembling as she spoke.
“I-is it really okay for me to receive something like this? I didn’t do anything...”
“Good people should be rewarded accordingly. This isn’t favoritism. It’s a reward for doing the right thing. If I hadn’t given you anything in return, you wouldn’t have been able to take the exam at all, and you’d have been disqualified on the spot.”
“Ah...”
“You just realized you’d left the test venue, didn’t you? Normally, leaving means disqualification. You didn’t notice because your body acted before you had time to think about it. Anyway, as long as you have that paper marked Priority Access, you can take the exam anytime, so be careful not to lose it, and make sure you do it within five hours. I’ll head out first. You can leave whenever you want, too.”
After Han Miyu stepped outside first, Choi Daeun stared dazedly at the priority paper.
To be honest, she was happy. Under normal circumstances, after the physical test, she would have had to go straight into the qualification exam. She would have had to kill a Dark Hound while already physically exhausted, and then immediately face the second-stage qualification test. There was no way she could have avoided being pushed to her physical and mental limits. But thanks to helping that man, she had gained time to let her body rest.
Maybe... maybe I really can pass...
Because of that, her chances of getting into Flote Academy had gone up. She had received an absurd privilege: the opportunity to enter the qualification test in peak physical condition.
- Thud
Choi Daeun lay down on the bed next to Lee Taehoon’s hospital cot and stared at him blankly. His thin arms and legs, the deep dark circles beneath his eyes, his rough, dry skin—at a glance, he looked like someone trapped in a grueling situation. Just how many hardships had he gone through, what kind of burden had he been carrying, to force that frail body to work itself so mercilessly? Why was he trying so desperately to get into this place? Her curiosity, very human and very real, stirred within her.
And then, while she was still staring blankly at him—
“Uuugh...”
Lee Taehoon opened his eyes. Then, meeting hers as if he had caught her spying on him, he muttered, “Choi Daeun...?”
“Hiiiiiik...! H-hello...?”
The greeting slipped out before she could stop herself. What was she supposed to say? Had he noticed she’d been watching him all along? Her mind raced frantically for an excuse, but before she could come up with one, someone beside her cut in.
It was Min Sua, who had somehow already appeared at her side.
“Looks like you two know each other. Mind if I talk to Lee Taehoon for a moment? I’ve been waiting for him.”
Choi Daeun hadn’t even sensed when she arrived. And if she’d been waiting “for a while,” didn’t that mean she knew Choi Daeun had been secretly watching him the whole time?
“Y-yes! P-please, go ahead!”
Choi Daeun answered in a rush, as if trying to flee. And then came Min Sua’s proposal to Lee Taehoon.
“Wouldn’t you like to join the club I’m making?”
It was a vague offer. There was no explanation of what kind of club it was, what it was for, or what benefits came with joining. But Choi Daeun assumed, naturally, that Lee Taehoon would accept.
She’s a daughter of the Blian Family...
The sword sheath hanging at Min Sua’s waist bore the emblem of the Blian Family, famous for its swordsmanship. By the look of it, Lee Taehoon was in such a desperate situation that he had forced his way into the academy no matter what. There was no way he’d miss an opportunity to build ties with the Blian Family. She had even approached him first—wasn’t that practically a scouting offer? If he played his cards right here, his whole life could open up.
That was what Choi Daeun thought, anyway.
“I’m not interested.”
- Hic!
Lee Taehoon’s flat refusal startled her so badly that Choi Daeun hiccuped. She slapped a hand over her mouth and held her breath, afraid the sound might reach the two of them.
Min Sua stared at Lee Taehoon, dumbfounded. Her eyes looked as if she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard.
“...Huh?”
Lee Taehoon answered again, this time with crisp, deliberate diction, as if to make sure there was no misunderstanding.
“I said I’m not interested. Why would I bother with something annoying like that?”
“No, you—do you even know what a club means? The Blian Family will support the activities, and more than that, you’ll be able to interact with me—”
“So what? Forget it. I’m not interested in dealing with someone who spies on other people and cuts them off in the middle of a conversation.”
“I wasn’t spying—!”
“Then what was that just now? Cutting in while we were talking without permission?”
“...I asked for your understanding.”
“That wasn’t asking for understanding. That was pressure. You’ve got the Blian Family crest on the sword hanging at your waist, and you’re leaning on that to push people around—who could possibly refuse? If the other person doesn’t even have a choice, how is that yielding? That’s called coercion.”
“I-I-I...”
Choi Daeun, listening from the side, fidgeted anxiously and hurried to speak.
“I-I’m fi...fine, so...”
“...”
After a long silence, Min Sua finally lowered her head.
“Hiiik... Why are you doing this? Ju-just a moment!”
“I’m sorry.”
The largest sword-fighting family in the country. And among them, Min Sua was the genius whose extraordinary talent guaranteed her a promising future. Yet here she was, bowing her head in apology before someone who had nothing at all. It was a bizarre scene. If any other members of the Blian Family were to witness it, who knew what kind of trouble would follow?
“P-please get up!” Choi Daeun cried in alarm.
Min Sua raised her head and asked, “Does that mean you forgive me?”
“I did! I already did!”
Only then did Min Sua straighten up. She looked over at Lee Taehoon again.
“If the other party has forgiven me, then isn’t that enough?”
“Ha... just what is wrong with you?”
Lee Taehoon rubbed at his throbbing head. And once again, let it be said: Min Sua would die alongside Choi Daeun in the academy bombing incident that would happen not long from now. He didn’t even know why she died. Right now, he could barely manage to protect Choi Daeun alone. If he got tangled up with the Blian Family’s precious young lady on top of that—if, through bad luck, things took a strange turn and they misunderstood him—he might end up suffering something horrific at the hands of the Blian Family.
Maybe he should just tell them in advance?
Your daughter will be caught up in an explosion at the academy and die in the near future.
But the crucial problem was that he couldn’t explain why. If they asked how he knew, he couldn’t exactly answer, I’m a regressor. If he failed to stop Min Sua’s death and it repeated exactly as before, the Blian Family would only become more suspicious of him. They might chase him, torture him, and if he still couldn’t explain himself, they could very well kill him for knowing her death in advance and refusing—or being unable—to give a reason.
The best course was to avoid getting involved with her at all. But—
Come to think of it, maybe I can use this to my advantage.
The reason Min Sua was acting like this toward him was obvious enough: it was because, that morning, he had left a deep mark on a rock with a tree branch. In other words...
“Min Sua. You said you were making a club, right? What’s the topic?”
“Swordsmanship. I plan to establish a swordsmanship club.”
Not a bad theme. Flote Academy provided club activity funds and supplies appropriate to the club’s purpose. If it was a swordsmanship club, they would receive not only money, but also a variety of swords for training and equipment for practice. For someone like him, who after regression didn’t have a single coin to his name, it could become a useful way to train in comfort.
In that case...
There was something that had bothered him since the past. When he learned that the girl he had saved at the cost of his own arm had died, the emptiness he felt had been beyond words. That was why he had already decided to protect Choi Daeun. But if things were going to unfold like this, then maybe he could simply tie Choi Daeun and Min Sua together. If the two of them stayed close, he could respond flexibly no matter where or when trouble arose.
Having reached that conclusion, he said to Min Sua, “I’ll join. But I have one condition.”
Then he pointed at Choi Daeun and added, “Take her into the club too. If you do that, I’ll join.”
“Y-you... you... wha—?!”
“Agreed. Besides, we need at least three people for club activities.”
“I-I mean... I’ve only done the physical evaluation, and I haven’t even taken the qualification test yet...”
For someone like her, who had to earn money for the sake of her younger siblings however she could, the chance to join a club created by a Blian Family young lady was an incredibly good offer. But until she actually passed, she couldn’t decide something like this on her own. To put it bluntly, if she were disqualified in the qualification test, wouldn’t her chance of entering the academy be gone entirely?
“Then hurry up and take the test.”
“W-wait, hold on a second...!”
Min Sua hurriedly grabbed Choi Daeun by the arm and dragged her away, while Lee Taehoon slowly followed behind them and thought to himself.
When the sun sets, monsters will attack. Before that happens, I need to prepare enough.
---