Wishes on Paper and Letters
"By the way, young master, what name did you decide on for our team?"
"Team name?"
Registering for the tournament required submitting a team name without fail. It had the minor benefit of giving your team an identity and maybe even intimidating your opponents a little. As I mulled over what to call us, Jung Ayeon suddenly chimed in as if offering helpful advice.
"A true martial artist can be seen as a single god who cultivates the spirit, you know."
"Oh yeah?"
"And one who is proficient in the arts of war while constantly honing oneself is also called a master."
Jung Ayeon rattled off various Chinese characters and opinions, clearly deep in thought. After pondering for a long while, I presented what I believed was the ultimate team name.
"Combining all those meanings—how about Spirit War Master?"
"That is not even the correct characters at all!!"
"Should we shorten it? Call ourselves the Psychos?"
"That is not the fucking problem here!!"
While Jung Ayeon stomped her feet in frustration, I brainstormed another team name. Someone extremely proficient in the arts of war could also be called a god. The God of War. It had a beautiful ring to it. Expressed in two Chinese characters, that would be—
"From the meaning of God of War, how about War God?"
"There are so many options like Heavenly God, Martial God, or Battle God! Why must you always pick exactly those kinds of words!"
Isn't it a good meaning though?
Suddenly I'm in a shitty mood. As expected from the top lecturer.
Jung Ayeon let out a deep sigh and shamelessly revealed her personal desire.
"It was foolish of me to expect anything from you, young master. Just include the word Heavenly Demon, please."
"Heavenly Demon at your level?... Check your conscience, you lost cause."
"Shut up."
Jung Ayeon averted her gaze for a moment. Looked like even she felt a twinge of guilt.
"But can I really name it whatever I want? What if your mental state completely shatters?"
"In any case, your brain level is incapable of inflicting any kind of internal demons on me."
This bitch?
"Don't regret this later."
"Hmph. Go ahead and twist that non-functional head of yours as much as you like."
You're dead.
"Then I'll just scribble something down and submit it?"
"Do as you wish."
With those final words, Jung Ayeon left her seat. I headed to the temporary registration desk set up for the tournament. There, a woman with heavy dark circles under her eyes was desperately fighting off waves of drowsiness by chugging an energy drink. Even so, she kept nodding off—she must have been exhausted.
Noticing my approach, the woman lifted her head and asked in a lifeless voice.
"Here to register?"
"Yes."
"Please write your team name and number of participants here and hand it to me."
She passed me a single sheet of paper. It was densely packed with names of countless participants and all sorts of team names. While I looked through it out of curiosity, a familiar name caught my eye.
Wow, Hye-ji and Elsia really are on the same team.
We're so fucked. There's no way we can beat that.
Hye-ji and Elsia's names stood out with overwhelming presence. Even though they'd been written somewhat sloppily in the middle. Their team name in particular left a deep impression.
......She's not joking.
Fuck, that's terrifying.
It was the kind of team name only someone carrying Hye-ji on their back could use. Caersi's name was there too, paired with some unfamiliar ones. Their team name was written as Cats, so it looked like she'd teamed up with some cat beastmen.
......That name is exactly the same as that cursed movie.
Don't say it. I'm already getting a bad feeling.
My enlightenment gauge shot up in an instant. I had to focus hard to suppress the nightmare rising in my mind. One lucky Jellicle cat had found the peace of death, but the rest of us unfortunate souls had no choice but to keep on living.
Before I could fall any deeper into dark thoughts, I quickly wrote down Jung Ayeon's name, my own, and our team name before submitting the form. It was an intense team name that perfectly incorporated the word Heavenly Demon, just as Jung Ayeon had requested. The moment she saw it later and grabbed me by the collar was a story for slightly later.
With my business finished, I was about to leave when the registration staff member stopped me. She suddenly thrust a small piece of paper into my hands.
"What's this?"
"You'll understand once you read it."
It was exactly what I'd been hoping for. A single ray of light in the darkness. One spark of hope. Without a moment's hesitation, I wrote the characters down as smoothly as flowing water.
Pouring every last wish into it.
Unlike first-years, second-year students at the Academy were given free time in the afternoon to do whatever they wanted. There were usually two reasons for this free period. The first was to prepare for the integrated tournament that replaced final exams and to run the preliminary rounds. The second was free time to find guilds willing to sponsor them. That was the ultimate goal of afternoon classes for second-years.
That's why, unlike during their first year, second-years had to actively seek out guilds to sponsor them. Of course, it wasn't mandatory. But the difference was as massive as whether you'd get a job right after college or suffer through the hellish life of a job-seeker. Plus, receiving sponsorship from a guild at the Academy meant you could attend in comfort and abundance.
That's why, in the current student meta, getting guild support was practically mandatory. Normally in these cases, guilds would reach out first to secure promising talents in advance.
"Mom, fuck, why am I the only one not getting any calls?"
In my case, that didn't apply. Considering the things that would happen in the future, I hadn't caused any major incidents, yet the guilds were strangely reluctant to contact me. It seemed to be because of that violent incident where Hye-ji and I had slaughtered every single monster in existence. But that wasn't the only reason.
Because Hye-ji was receiving love calls from almost every guild.
"Lady Hye-ji! Please consider our guild's terms at least once!"
"We'll serve you with the industry's best conditions!"
"We'll provide two top-grade breast enhancement pills every month!"
"This is our guild's newly developed 'Breast Enhancement Pill MK3'! Not a single woman has failed to grow larger breasts with this!"
"Don't make me laugh! You think those conditions are enough? Every woman in our guild is A-cup or smaller!"
"Our guild will cover the full cost of breast surgery!"
That's how Hye-ji ended up with a mountain of business cards and documents. I tried approaching some of the guild sales reps who'd contacted her, but—
"Cockt Pistol! Cockt Pistol!!"
"It's that bastard the Guild Master mentioned! Run!"
"We're cursed now! Fuck!"
"Ptooey!"
I couldn't even start a conversation. They all just ran away. I could only stare at the scene in utter disbelief.
"Fuck. Seriously."
Meanwhile, Hye-ji was proudly spreading out the pile of business cards and documents stacked on her desk. She tried to act cool about it, but she couldn't hide the way the corners of her mouth kept creeping upward.
"Ugh, seriously, everyone's contacting me. I don't even need any of this~."
"Stop gloating, you bitch."
Shut up, damn it.
Elsia wasn't getting quite as many as Hye-ji, but she was still receiving plenty of love calls. Given how versatile her abilities were, it was only natural that many guilds had their eyes on her.
On the other hand, Jung Ayeon was clutching her head and face-planting onto her desk.
"Hey, Jung Ayeon. What's wrong with you now?"
"We're screwed....... The Martial Artists Guild said they won't sponsor me."
According to Jung Ayeon, her previous report must have been too poorly written. After getting thoroughly scolded, she couldn't even secure sponsorship. It was the worst possible situation—wanting to join a guild but being unable to get sponsored by any of them.
I patted her shoulder and offered some words of comfort.
"So you're unemployed too? We're all comrades in this."
"Shut up!!!"
But I was in an even more hopeless situation with zero sponsors. If no one came to me, I'd have to go to them myself. With a gloomy expression, I started operating the gate at the Academy.
Elsia, who'd followed out of curiosity about what I was doing, looked at me in horror.
"Husband! If you go to the guild right now, it'll be a huge—"
Before Elsia could finish, I stepped through the gate. My destination was the largest guild among those in a symbiotic relationship with the Academy.
When I entered the guild building, I saw many people, but they all seemed to be watching someone else's reaction and deliberately avoided my gaze. Shaking off the inexplicable anxiety, I immediately approached the receptionist the moment I walked in.
"How may I help you?"
"I'm here about sponsorship."
"Understood. One moment please."
The receptionist pulled out some documents from below the counter and handed them to me.
"Please fill out the sections marked with highlighter."
"Sure, I'll get it done quickly."
I began filling out the paperwork I'd been given. Name, gender, age, rank, and so on. They asked for more information than I'd expected. After even listing Choco as a family member in the household section, I finally returned the documents to the receptionist.
The receptionist took the papers, began reading them, then suddenly froze.
"By any chance....... Is your name Kim Shinu, student?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"...One moment please."
The receptionist suddenly put on a serious expression and started making a call somewhere. After a brief conversation, she looked at me with a complicated expression.
"The Guild Master says she wants to see you personally."
"Right now? Sounds good. Where should I go?"
"Take the stairs in the back to the third floor."
Finally, someone who recognizes my value.
I climbed the stairs to the third floor. There, just as the name suggested, was a door extravagantly decorated with flowers and trees. I knocked, and as soon as I heard a woman's voice telling me to enter, I flung the door open.
What greeted me inside was a Guild Master's office decorated like a small arboretum. By the window, completely out of place with the surroundings, sat a woman at a modern desk and chair. She had long green hair and a youthful, delicate face.
Fuck, she's got pointy ears? And she's a high elf too.
Not at all! There's nothing to be ashamed of or caught for.
She had long ears and an earring on her right ear that marked her as a high elf.
"Please take a seat."
"Yes."
I sat in the chair the Guild Master indicated. The female elf looked at me and began to smile warmly.
"Do you know why I called you here?"
"To interview me in person?"
"Well, that's half correct."
At that moment, the Guild Master manipulated something, and a screen appeared on the display beside her.
"You know what this is, right?"
"Mom..."
The screen clearly showed my face along with the spectacular sight of the World Tree burning brilliantly. The Guild Master's warm smile vanished, replaced by a terrifying expression full of murderous intent, as if she were looking at her mortal enemy.
"Die!!! Enemy of the World Tree!!!"
She immediately hurled a dagger at me.