Club Activities

Far from Frontier Academy stood an abandoned factory. In a darkness that admitted not a single sliver of light, a man knelt on the floor. A black robe swallowed his frame. Head bowed low, he opened his mouth.

"I apologize."

"I'm told the Gwang-a Wolf has been dealt with."

"……."

He held his breath and waited. After a moment, a low, heavy voice resonated from the darkness.

"The target?"

The robed man bowed his head even lower.

"...We failed."

"...There was an unexpected variable."

A brief silence settled over the dark.

"A variable."

"Yes."

"A student is said to have interfered with the plan."

"We did not anticipate that the Gwang-a Wolf would be eliminated."

Presently the voice from the darkness flowed out again.

"It doesn't matter."

"This was only a test anyway."

"What is that student's name?"

Silence stretched for a beat. The robed man answered without lifting his head.

"A student named Kim Jin-hyuk."

"Upon investigation, he's a swordsmanship-track student currently ranked first among all second-years. Word is he's quite the rising star."

Another silence.

"Kim Jin-hyuk."

"So the existence He spoke of... is this student?"

At the words of the being in the darkness, the robed man's pupils blew wide.

"Th-that person...?"

"Watch your mouth."

"That is not a being you dare speak of."

The robed man's body locked in place.

"I-I'm sorry."

"……."

The being in the darkness crushed him with silence alone, offering not another word. Then the low voice returned.

"He recently spoke of an existence that would stand in our way."

"And we carried out this operation to confirm that possibility."

The robed man asked carefully.

"Then... the student named Kim Jin-hyuk...?"

"We don't know yet."

The being in the darkness cut him off cold.

"It is only a possibility. Declaring anything now would be premature."

The robed man bowed his head.

"Then from now on, how should we..."

"Watch him."

"Until it is confirmed whether that child truly is the existence that will stand in our way."

"Acting when we are not certain would be foolish."

"If we move rashly and raise Frontier Academy's guard, we are the ones who lose."

"When the necessary moment comes, we move then."

"For now, leave."

"...Understood."

The robed man rose slowly from the floor and slipped quietly out of the abandoned factory.

A moment later, the being in the darkness muttered low.

The next class was Special Entity Studies.

Kim Se-ah, the teacher in charge, stepped up to the podium, took attendance, and switched on the projector. Today's topic was the history of Demonic Humans.

"Demonic Humans first appeared approximately five hundred years ago."

"At first they were regarded as nothing more than highly intelligent monsters, but over time it became clear that they possessed cognitive abilities no different from a human's."

Kim Se-ah advanced the slide and continued.

"For hundreds of years after that, humanity and Demonic Humans repeated countless wars and collisions."

"There were periods of negotiation, and even stretches of temporary coexistence when their interests happened to align — but in the end, most of it concluded in betrayal."

Scratch. Scratch.

I glanced around. Every student in the room was busy taking notes. I, on the other hand, had no reason to move my pen.

…….

Convenient...

This thing really is broken, isn't it?

Just listening to Kim Se-ah lecture from the front was enough for the material to organize itself automatically. It didn't get branded directly into my brain, of course — I still had to pull up the organized notes if I wanted them — but still. This much was more than enough.

Anyway...

Demonic Humans, huh.

I listened quietly to the teacher's explanation and let the original story surface in my mind. Demonic Humans began appearing in earnest from the end of the second semester of second year. More precisely, you could pin it to the moment after Kim Jin-hyuk fully awakened his attribute.

For the record, students of every track at Frontier Academy can fundamentally manifest magic. The swordsmanship track imbues a blade with it. The archery track imbues a bow or an arrow. The alchemy track grants attributes to crafted goods or transmuted materials. The magic track implements the spell itself, directly.

Hearing just that, it might sound like every other track is magic-plus-something while the magic track only produces magic — as if that made it less valuable. That's a beginner's misconception. The true strength of the magic track is freedom. No sword as a medium, no bow as a limitation, no transmuted material as a condition.

Handling your own mana in its purest form — that is the magic track. Of course, the difficulty scales to match. In the end, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with the same quantity of mana, the result changes completely depending on how precisely you handle it.

Anyway. Back to the point.

Midway through the second semester of second year — specifically during midterms — Kim Jin-hyuk completely masters the light attribute. The fact hits the newspapers. A talent that ranks among the greatest in Frontier Academy history. A swordsman who wields light. The existence Demonic Humans fear most.

That was when it started. When the Demonic Humans began to move. They judged that something threatening their survival had appeared, and they started acting in earnest.

It should still be fine for now.

For the time being, I need to focus on growing steadily.

Lost in thought, I stared blankly at the projector screen. That was when Kim Se-ah's gaze found me.

"Seol Dam."

My name, dropped without warning, pulled every pair of eyes in the room toward me as if on a string.

"Are you sure you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠paying attention?"

"……."

...What's this all of a sudden.

Kim Se-ah smiled faintly.

"I noticed you weren't taking any notes, so I thought I'd check."

"Let me ask you one thing."

She pointed at the material on the slide.

"When Demonic Humans first appeared, what was the biggest reason humanity judged them to be mere monsters?"

W-wait, she's coming at me like this?

A blue window flickered in front of my eyes once more.

Th-this is...

I looked over the lengthy text the system had laid out and opened my mouth, keeping my voice even.

"Because the first Demonic Humans discovered had appearances and mana structures similar to existing monsters."

"After linguistic ability, sociality, and high-level cognitive capacity were subsequently confirmed, they were reclassified — not as mere monsters, but as intelligent lifeforms on par with humans."

Kim Se-ah's eyes widened a fraction.

"...That's correct."

Small murmurs rose from around the classroom.

"Did you know that?"

"No? I was gonna review it all later."

"Who even memorizes this stuff in one sitting?"

"But he wasn't even taking notes."

"That's what makes it weirder."

I averted my gaze for no good reason. Getting this much attention all at once was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠embarrassing. Yeah, yeah. That's me, all right.

Why would I take notes. I can just use Insight.

Then a familiar voice drifted back from the seat in front of me.

"Guess you studied a bit."

"……?"

I lifted my head slightly. Lee Si-hyun was facing forward as she spoke.

"I don't think I ever saw you concentrating like that in class before."

"……."

"And then you suddenly get something like that right."

She glanced at me.

"Did something happen?"

"Nah. Just."

I brushed it off with an easy smile.

"I did a little prep beforehand."

"Hmm..."

She turned her head and looked at me from the front for a moment.

"I see."

"Alright."

Uh... I'll take it?

Lee Si-hyun, who hadn't said a word since morning assembly, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had initiated conversation again. And her affection had gone up on top of that.

I have no idea what's going on, but...

A good thing is a good thing, I guess.

Before I knew it, the last period had ended.

"Alright, everyone take your seats."

Han Seo-rin stepped into the classroom, and the chatting students filtered back to their desks one by one.

"I have one announcement to make today."

She set down the attendance book she'd been holding and switched on the projector.

"Club applications begin this week."

A list of clubs filled the screen. Small reactions rippled through the room as the names appeared.

"Already picking clubs, huh."

"Where should I join?"

"Where are you going?"

The kids started talking among themselves as they scanned the listings. Han Seo-rin watched their reactions and smiled faintly.

"As you know, clubs have nothing to do with grades or evaluations."

"Think of them as a space where you freely experience the activities you actually want to do."

"You can go deeper into a field you're already interested in, or try something completely new."

"The application period is one week."

"Take your time thinking it over, and choose a club that suits you."

With that, Han Seo-rin wrapped up the end-of-day assembly. The classroom immediately grew noisy again with club talk.

"Hey, where are you applying?"

"I'm going for the Magic Research Club."

"Ugh, boring."

"Then what about you?"

"Hunter Club for me."

"I heard that's pretty popular."

"I'm just gonna follow my friends."

"Dude, you'll regret that."

"You spend a whole year in a club together."

"Still, joining alone is kinda awkward."

Conversations about which club to apply to didn't stop anywhere in the room.

Clubs, huh.

A kind of free activity — a way to pile up experience and widen your network among other students. The original story had a club episode too. A main one, at that. The club-related arcs occupied a fairly large portion of the original, and while they looked like simple school activities on the surface, from my position of knowing what was coming, I absolutely could not take them lightly.

But do I even need to think about this?

I grinned at the system window flickering in front of me.

"Yeah. You think so too, huh?"