The Elite Class and the Dual Cultivation Test

EP 6: Retake Academy Elite University Class. A message arrived, and not even a minute later, a knock echoed at the front door. Taeguk Singun had come. Right to the front door! "Kuaaaagh."

"Baby. I'm here. Open the door for me."

Resisting any longer would be pointless. I opened the door with no other choice. Taeguk Singun and Lee Ah-rang stood there. Taeguk Singun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wore her usual attire, though her eyes looked hollow from exhaustion. Lee Ah-rang was dressed in a simple white one-piece.

Taeguk Singun raised both hands. Each held a large black bag filled with something. "Here. I brought a few things to celebrate your acceptance into the elite class!"

EP 6: Retake Academy Elite University Class. Taeguk Singun and Lee Ah-rang sat side by side while I faced them directly.

"You worked hard to get into the elite class. First, let me send you some congratulatory money."

"Ah. Thank you."

"It's nothing. How could I stay still when my baby is working so hard? Still, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I didn't expect you to leave the In-Seoul class this quickly. Do you have some secret method?"

Hearing that, I thought of Hephaestus. 'No. I still can't talk about that.'

"...Your support and my sparring with Ah-rang helped a lot."

Taeguk Singun looked slightly downcast. Calling her "Mother" in front of Lee Ah-rang was too difficult, after all....

"...Then, have you had any dual cultivation experience?"

"No."

"Baek Seol said she dual cultivated with you."

"We haven't."

"...I see. Have you learned the dual cultivation technique?"

"No. I only bought the manual."

"Is that so. Good that I came."

If I'd known it would come to this, I should have practiced the technique in advance. If I'd mastered dual cultivation beforehand, I wouldn't have to watch Taeguk Singun nodding about giving me dual cultivation lessons.

"Weren't there quite a few girls in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the elite class who wanted to dual cultivate with you?"

"Ah. Yes. About one."

"Did you?"

"No. I told her I hadn't."

"...Right."

Taeguk Singun pondered for a moment before speaking. "I introduced you to the academy to give you at least the minimum opportunity. It would be unfair otherwise."

"Ah. Yes. I'm grateful."

"No.... This is an apology."

Taeguk Singun pressed her forehead. "Honestly, I never imagined you'd do this well, and even less that the academy would be full of such fools. I thought you'd manage somehow, but before I knew it, things turned out like this...."

"Ah. Yes."

"To think you'd even enter the elite class. Those girls have learned dual cultivation techniques...."

"Why does that matter?"

What was wrong with learning dual cultivation techniques?

"Dual cultivation originally boosts each other's energy through magic, but depending on the situation, it can also become a technique that drains power from a weaker opponent."

I heard something terrifying.

"...Ah. Is that how it works?"

"If the elite class girls have mastered the basics, they might request dual cultivation to steal your strength. That's why I came."

"Excuse me? Why would they?"

I couldn't understand. Women qualified for the elite class could be seen as prime candidates for devoted wives. Why would such women steal a man's power...?

As if reading my thoughts, Taeguk Singun spoke. "Stealing an opponent's power through dual cultivation can happen without one's knowledge. It's not uncommon for someone to drain everything from their partner regardless of their own will. And those underachievers aren't delicate enough to avoid requesting dual cultivation out of concern for such accidents."

"...They won't do it on purpose, but that doesn't mean they'll be careful either."

"Something like that. That's not all, though."

I kept thinking and asked, "If they take it by mistake, wouldn't they try to return it? Apologizing for stealing it."

"...No, they won't."

"Really? Stealing someone's power seems unacceptable. Isn't that a crime?"

Taeguk Singun shook her head. "No. Power theft through dual cultivation isn't always punishable."

"...Hmm. Treated like theft?"

"No, not that. Protecting and providing for men is a woman's role now, isn't it? So even if a woman takes a man's power, if she uses it to serve him, isn't that the attitude of a devoted wife?"

"...What if she steals the power and goes to another man, or picks men to steal from?"

"Those types were executed long ago. What I'm saying is that even if she steals power, if she dedicates that power to her partner, some argue it's actually to keep her husband away from danger."

"...Danger?"

"For example, the risk of overwork and death from overtime at work, the danger of a man secretly joining dangerous battles, or the risk of a man trying to use his abilities on his own.... Well, there's also a conservative view that a man having power exposes him to dangerous jobs or harsh work environments unnecessarily. If a man heads toward danger himself, the argument is that it should be stopped."

I understood the theory. If a man moves toward danger on his own, they drain his power as an extreme measure to protect him.

"...But magical realms are precious. Stealing that feels worse than rape. No, more importantly, are there actually people who do this?"

"...There were. Occasionally. Even when I was in university, it happened once or twice."

"...What happened?"

Taeguk Singun's eyes looked slightly sad. "Everyone understood. The husband's side accepted it and forgave her. Of course, there was a lot of talk because of it.... But they're still continuing their married life. Baby. If the woman who stole your power begs and cries, could you demand the death penalty while looking at her?"

I thought quietly. If Lee Se-rin secretly dual cultivated at night, drained all my power, and said while shaking her chest, "Ji-tae-nim. I'll take care of you for the rest of my life. Please don't do anything dangerous anymore. Just stay home and play and eat for the rest of your life, please," could I really tell her to die?

"...Hmm. Killing her might be too much."

Taeguk Singun made a small sobbing sound. "You're too kind..."

"It's not that much. I can just build my power back up."

"...Not all women are concerned about men. There are also women who would exploit a man's heart."

Taeguk Singun began a new explanation. If the previous one was attachment dual cultivation to keep a man from danger, this one was obsessive dual cultivation to weaken a man and make him dependent.

"Rather than sending a man to university, letting him earn a degree and get a job... there are women who would rather weaken him, make him dependent on them, and say they'll support him for life while devoting themselves."

"...Then why are you helping me, Singun-nim?"

Taeguk Singun thought for a moment before answering. "...Because I'm different from them."

"...In what way?"

"Their minimum standard for a man they can aim for is quite low. A woman can't propose unless she's superior in ability to a man. So those girls want men to stay below them rather than surpass them. But I want my baby to grow as much as possible, taste various setbacks, and grow again."

Taeguk Singun smiled contentedly and wiggled her fingers.

"...Hmm, thank you for that. But the women around me have helped me a lot."

"That's because they don't see you as competition, right? Losing to a competing woman just means challenging again, but losing to a man carries much greater meaning. The elite class girls will definitely think that way."

This I understood. Men are protected and very fragile. For a woman to lose to such a man would be the end. It means she lacks the ability to protect a man. That's how she's evaluated. Remembering some of the brutal scenes of women fighting among themselves, it wasn't strange they thought that way. It had been that bloody.

Taeguk Singun clapped. "So let's do a test. Girls from all over the academy will try to dual cultivate with you, and it would be bad if they sneakily steal your power."

Taeguk Singun pulled hairpins one by one from her braided hair and placed them on the table. Her long hair cascaded down. Lee Ah-rang scratched her cheek and took off her one-piece, leaving her in underwear. Taeguk Singun and Lee Ah-rang sat on the studio floor. Lee Ah-rang looked at the floor while fixing her hair, and Taeguk Singun gestured for me to come over.

"If you lose to Ah-rang in this dual cultivation, leave the academy. Ah. Underwear is fine. Dual cultivation doesn't necessarily mean only that. Holding hands, pressing bellies together, or rubbing cheeks is also dual cultivation. What's important is exchanging each other's energy."

When I took off my clothes and sat facing Lee Ah-rang, she took my hand shyly. "...I'm sorry, Ji-tae-ya."

Hearing that, my thoughts stopped. Why was she apologizing? I looked at Lee Ah-rang. She couldn't meet my eyes, as if something was bothering her. I kept thinking from there. Had I missed something? Then one possibility came to mind. 'Is she planning to dual cultivate and steal all my power?'

I kept thinking 'surely not...' but if Lee Ah-rang had something to apologize for, that was the only thing I could think of. 'What Taeguk Singun mentioned....'

I covered my mouth. 'Surely they wouldn't go that far....'

I didn't think I could escape from here. Taeguk Singun not laying a hand on me herself was the last courtesy....

"Wait. Can I go for a walk outside? I'm too nervous, just for an hour."

"Sure. Go ahead."

I got dressed and headed to the parking lot. My hands were shaking. But running away wouldn't mean anything. If I didn't run, the only path left was to fight back. In the middle of the parking lot, after skimming through all the dual cultivation technique PDFs, I opened Hephaestus's magic acquisition window.

The dual cultivation technique had about 15 basic forms. If I spent 2 seconds per form, mastering all forms would take 30 seconds. That meant 2 sessions per minute. With 60 minutes left, I could do 120 practice sessions. 'Hurry.'

There was no need to focus on each individual form. Once the level rose, my depth and understanding of the magic would rise with it. I roughly waved my hands in the air, sat down, lay down, then stood up again, repeating the motions. I kept practicing the forms in the parking lot, and whenever a notification sounded, I immediately raised the dual cultivation technique's level. Time passed in a blur, and before I knew it, 75 minutes had gone by. I looked at the notification window.

Ultimately, I went 15 minutes over, but the result wasn't bad. With this, I should be able to beat Lee Ah-rang. I returned to the dorm, showered, then sat in front of Lee Ah-rang in my underwear.

*****

Lee Ah-rang looked at Yoo Ji-tae, then shot a resentful glance at her grandmother, her eyes filled with blame. 'Grandma is a liar.'

Lee Ah-rang had mastered the dual cultivation technique up to level 3. It was Taeguk Singun's order. This dual cultivation test had two hidden purposes. The first was to increase Lee Ah-rang's training efficiency through dual cultivation. If her emotionally beloved Yoo Ji-tae was the dual cultivation partner, the efficiency would be at least 10 times greater. The dozens or hundreds of times rumored among people were stories of those who had reached higher realms. At Lee Ah-rang's level, even 10 times was an enormous number.

The second reason was to eliminate women approaching Yoo Ji-tae. Taeguk Singun had thought that if Yoo Ji-tae went to the academy, he would despair at the students' miserable economic power. Then he would feel even more favorable toward Lee Ah-rang, who possessed wealth that overwhelmed the academy students. But when Yoo Ji-tae took a poor academy girl as a concubine, she felt a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sense of crisis. That was why she was now trying to pull him out of the academy.

Lee Ah-rang didn't like it. '...It's deceiving Ji-tae.'

Guilt even welled up, making it hard to meet his eyes. In contrast, Yoo Ji-tae was having quite a few mistaken thoughts. 'She's planning to pretend to dual cultivate, steal all my power, and then persuade me. These people.'

After hearing Taeguk Singun's "You're too kind..." and Lee Ah-rang's "I'm sorry, Ji-tae-ya," he had slightly misunderstood the situation. 'She's going to steal my power, apologize while saying sorry, and slowly persuade me.'

"Then. Let's begin."

Taeguk Singun stroked both their shoulders. The dual cultivation began with Lee Ah-rang. The basic form of the dual cultivation technique, Boksangpungma. In simple terms, it meant sitting while embracing each other with bellies pressed together. Also called the facing seated position.

'I'll finish this quickly, Ji-tae-ya.'

Lee Ah-rang pressed her belly against Yoo Ji-tae's abdomen and pushed upward. At that moment. Bang!!!

Lee Ah-rang felt a volcanic heat spreading from her belly throughout her entire body. "Huh...?"

Lee Ah-rang was in danger.