09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
09. 3,827th Class Enrollment
"If you're curious, come see for yourself today."
Luckily, it didn't seem like she was about to attack.
Unlike her expression, she answered pretty calmly.
"That's not it. You said 'report.' A report means you summarize how you handled the job and tell it to me."
"Why should I? What's in it for me?"
"There might not be anything good in particular, but you okay with that? Everything in that sector is mine."
"You seem to be misunderstanding something. You think I'd throw away my life and everything for the tribe?"
"You might not give up your life, but you'd compromise a little for them, right?"
"That's been the case so far."
She affirmed it while drawing a line.
"But I don't feel the need to go that far just to serve someone as my master?"
"You're colder than I thought."
"Of course. I've already sacrificed plenty."
An answer he hadn't expected at all.
Sihwan's plan had been to exploit Rihana using the tribe as leverage, but if she came out like this, he had no pretext to grab onto.
It was because she was registered at the Academy and thus not an 'unregistered object.' If he cut off the tribe, she'd be mentally free.
The silver lining, if any, was that there was room for negotiation.
If she truly didn't want to do anything for Sihwan and had no intention of compromising even a bit for the tribe, there'd be no need to even continue this conversation.
She probably would've told him to fuck off the moment he spat out 'report.'
And her face.
Her exhausted expression, like she hadn't slept properly, and the heavy dark circles were traces of deep worries.
'Is she after money or something?'
That left money as the only plausible motive he could think of.
A few days ago, Sihwan had offered her 100 gold per month as payment for guarding the store.
And yesterday, after learning Rihana lived in the Slums, he'd said there was 'no need to hire her with money anymore.'
So, wasn't money what she wanted?
She wouldn't just abandon the tribe overnight after working part-time jobs to support them all this time.
'I even gave shares to some people, so gold's nothing.'
To Sihwan, who was already drowning in a massive 200,000-gold debt, a few hundred gold was pocket change that wouldn't even register.
"Alright. You want money, right?"
"I never said that."
"I'm not a nice guy, so I've got no plans to pay the Slums folks who are now my property. But I can give you some. How much?"
"..."
Sihwan deliberately didn't name a figure.
He was trying to make Rihana state her own value and sell herself, securing total dominance.
"Spit it out. You need money, don't you?"
"...This makes me look like a total joke to you."
Her intentions were so transparently obvious that she got pissed, but nothing changed.
Sihwan still looked down on her, and between them stood Eun-hye.
"I've never seen you as a joke. Just poor."
"This guy!"
"See? I only said you're poor, and you're the one flipping out. You're the one who looks down on being poor."
"Quit your bullshit. Your attitude that money can buy anything is what's fucking shitty. Got it, Human?"
"Money can buy anything...? Nah. I can do anything even without money?"
"Ha..."
"It's not that money lets you do anything—it's that I could always do anything to begin with."
The sheer audacity was enough to draw admiration.
What the hell had made this Human like this?
She was so flabbergasted she couldn't find words.
"And you seem to be agonizing over something way above your station. You think a Beastkin like you can make it in this Tower overflowing with racial discrimination?"
"You gonna say that, Human?"
"I'm obviously the exception. My existence level is totally different from yours. But you? No matter how much you thrash around, you'll end up serving someone above you in the end."
"..."
"And when that time comes, you won't have a choice. You have to survive, but you lack the ability."
At this point, wouldn't she challenge him to a duel?
Rihana started seriously pondering it.
If she challenged this Human to a duel and beat him to a pulp, wouldn't her life get a bit better? At least her stress would go down, right?
"How much do you think you'll get then? You think you'll get what you want?"
Rihana quietly raised her middle finger.
She was biting her lip hard too—she was seriously pissed.
"Even the 100 gold I offered before seems tough. In the worst case, it might be less than what they give out here."
"Fuck off."
Furious Rihana.
She was beyond reasoning now.
"Fine? If that's what you want."
Sihwan turned away without a shred of regret.
There were plenty of other women anyway, and above all, he was convinced Rihana would end up bending and coming back.
'She couldn't cut it off this time either—think she'll manage next time? So indecisive.'
If she was gonna do it, she should've left a strong impression this time.
'Whatever happens to the tribe has nothing to do with me.' She should've sliced it clean and raised her own value.
But she couldn't, and after vaguely leaving room for negotiation, she'd blown it all out of pride.
'I'll just break her spirit and keep her as a pet dog. Wait, Ho-in Tribe, right? Pet Ho? Whatever....'
.
.
"Tomorrow, the 3,827th Trainee Batch successful candidates will arrive. Total of 466 passers. They'll be divided into 8 classes and compete in Class Competition format for the remaining 3 months. And you all will command each of the 8 classes respectively, getting separately evaluated on your leadership aptitude."
"Huh? Aren't I the A-Class class president and trainee representative? If you're making 8 classes for the Class Competition, doesn't that disband A-Class?"
"No. A-Class still exists. Just think of it as the class reps from each class gathering together, without directly participating in the Class Competition."
"So, like running a student council or something?"
"Huh?"
"Nah, nothing. Keep going."
Finally, the 3,827th Trainee Batch was coming.
Apparently, a whopping 466 newbies would join at tomorrow's entrance ceremony.
With A-Class trainees taking class president roles for each of the 8 classes, it seemed like a chance to use the Command Arts they'd learned over the past month.
'But I forgot it all.'
The problem was Sihwan hadn't paid serious attention in class.
With Bari around, he'd skimped a bit, and even then, most of the stat orbs went to her—er, precisely, to Bari.
[Info]
Name: Ryu Si-hwan
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 23 (Adult)
Level: 59 (.4)
Alignment: Free-Arrogant
Stats -
[Strength: 52]
[Agility: 58]
[Mana: 33]
[Stamina: 73]
[Endurance: 81]
Traits -
[Nano-robot.lv12] [Hormone Regulation.lv5] [Mechanization.lv2]
Titles -
[A-Class Class President] [Academy 3,827th Trainee Batch Representative]
[A-Class Class President]
You are the class president of Academy A-Class. Charisma envelops your entire body.
All stats +10
[Academy 3,827th Trainee Batch Representative]
You are none other than the representative of the Academy 3,827th Trainee Batch!
All stats +20
His stats had risen dramatically compared to before.
Level up by a whopping 12 (.6), and each stat had jumped big time.
This was all thanks to the stat orbs he'd snagged during classes and the beatings from Yu Ina and Eleonore after every session.
'A-Class average level is around 100, right? Without Bari and Eun-hye, I'd get one-shot.'
He almost felt humble for a second, but quickly recovered his arrogance with, 'But I'll never be without Bari.'
"During the training, you'll do the 3-month Class Competition, but after everything's done, you'll take the exam on the 11th Floor with graduates from other academies. And the command then will be handled by the trainee representative and vice-rep."
"Ah... This is such a fucking hassle."
"...Shut up, Human."
"What's with 'Human' to your sky-like husband, Human?"
"We're in class, idiot. And who said sky?!"
"By the way, 11th Floor? Didn't that Phone Eun-jeong woman have an incident there before?"
"She's a commissioner. Noblesse Committee 3rd Rank Commissioner."
"Anyway."
"There was... an incident. All the graduates at the time and the accompanying instructors died."
Murmur murmur.
The class got noisy.
"And you're sending us back there?"
"What's the problem? The Tower's dangerous everywhere anyway."
Yu Ina smirked.
Like she was saying, 'Scared?'
But she was his wife—how could she act like that!
"If you're that scared, you don't have to go. Normally it's mandatory, but with that incident, we can't force it. Just know if you don't go, you can't take the graduation exam, and no diploma."
In short, if you don't wanna, get out.
"..."
Yeah, that was Yu Ina.
That sly attitude and mocking 'whatcha gonna do?' expression.
That cold, ruthless, haughty face was Yu Ina to a T.
"But no need to worry too much. For this graduation exam, I'll be going too, and above all, the Chief Instructor will accompany us."
"? Yeonseo's coming too?"
"Yeah. The chief instructors from the other academies agreed. Over 10 chief instructors in total will go along."
At this point, wasn't it just them skimping on investigators and dumping it on academy trainees?
Sihwan felt a reasonable suspicion.