Chapter 212
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: Lesson 42. Image Change - 2
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A massive floating island stretched out endlessly above the clouds.
A tower rose majestically from its center, as if it pierced endlessly into the heavens without end.
A perfect barrier, undetectable even by ordinary senses, enveloped the entire island gently with the tower at its heart.
Union Academy—the dimension's premier institution for nurturing the greatest talents across all dimensions.
These days, even its catchphrase felt a bit corny...
But for Ban Yu-won, the strongest emotion he harbored for this place was undoubtedly longing.
"Hoo..."
"Hee hee, Master is so peculiar. You've only just left home, so why do you look relieved at the sight of the tower?"
Lucelle, reading his expression, giggled as she spoke. Ban Yu-won wore a distant look.
"Considering all the hell I went through on Earth with Prominence this and constellation that, can you blame me? Honestly, so much has changed that it didn't even feel like home anymore."
"Ah, ahaha..."
Just the new elements creeping into his life were exhausting enough, but the number of people he'd met during this break—or grown even closer to—was staggering.
And Earth had undergone dimensional evolution, to boot. But nothing compared to the ordeal of dealing with his older sister and mother's changes.
Especially his sister, who had bolted off like a runaway train—what kind of relationship was he supposed to build with her going forward...?
Ban Yu-won sighed, his head throbbing, and pulled out his mirror.
"Let's have that meeting first. Everyone should be around by now."
The venue was the usual doorless lecture hall.
The members... He wouldn't mind including Mira and Shati, but for now, just the Rebellion crew.
He fired off a hasty group message to gather, then headed to the lecture hall with Lucelle. There stood Dokgo Yeon, dressed in her homeland's signature black martial robe with its long sleeves.
"Whoa, Dokgo Yeon! Hope you had a good break..."
"I assume you're prepared to die?"
Ban Yu-won, eyes sparkling as he approached his dear friend after a month and a half, froze at her icy tone.
Come to think of it, he'd pulled some silly pun right before they parted...
"Uh... Dokgo Yeon? You're not mad, right?"
As he halted and asked cautiously, Dokgo Yeon curled her lips into a cold smile.
"Me? At you? Mad? Why would I be?"
She's mad!
This woman was clearly angrier than his sister had been at twelve, when she'd swiped that expensive Japanese cup ice cream!
How had he calmed her down back then? Something about awkwardly playing cute...
"Tell me, Ban Yu-won. Why should I be mad?"
"N-No, I just asked because you look mad..."
Unable to explain properly—trapped in that classic Jang Geum persimmon state—Ban Yu-won fumbled his usual silver tongue. Dokgo Yeon suddenly burst into laughter.
Dokgo Yeon rarely laughed without malice.
It made her seem all the more adorable, but Ban Yu-won lacked the guts to say so. He backed away carefully.
"Anger... gone?"
"No."
Her smile vanished in an instant, as if she'd swapped faces with a sword.
"I just decided it'd be a shame to punish you right away. Better to save it for after the meeting."
Scary!
As Ban Yu-won cowered, Lucelle stepped forward, half-shielding him, and faced Dokgo Yeon instead.
"No fair, Dokgo Yeon. Even if Master missed you that much, you can't tease him like this."
"It's been a while since I heard your nonsense... Feels almost welcoming... Hm?"
Dokgo Yeon, brushing her off casually as always before break, suddenly narrowed her eyes.
Her cross-shaped pupils contracted sharply, trembling as if they couldn't believe reality.
"You're even stronger now... How? I figured you'd plateau for a bit after that insane growth spurt in the special activity."
"I faced hordes of enemies perfectly suited to me. Of course, I couldn't have grown this much without Master's infusion...♡"
"Lucelle, let's skip the itchy back-scratching lines."
Ban Yu-won and Lucelle acted unfazed, but Dokgo Yeon couldn't stay calm.
She knew better than anyone how ridiculous Lucelle's potential was—she'd spotted it first.
That's why she'd accepted Lucelle awakening her divine beast blood and skyrocketing after the special activity in her dimension.
But this was different.
For her to leapfrog another level after fully unleashing her potential? In the martial world, uptight righteous faction elders would've framed it as demonic arts or soul-stealing techniques and called for extermination.
"Thanks to Ban Yu-won, you say."
Dokgo Yeon hadn't opened her mirror once while back in her home dimension.
Partly to follow her cult's tenets, but mostly fear of getting distracted by idle thoughts.
So she still had no idea what massive events Ban Yu-won had faced during break.
It also proved nothing major had happened in her dimension meanwhile.
"I'll fill you in tonight when we're alone. Too embarrassing now."
"It's not even that embarrassing! Don't say it all meaningfully like that!"
"Ahahaha, Master is so cute."
Ban Yu-won finally snapped, and Lucelle giggled delightedly, as if she'd been waiting.
Dokgo Yeon watched them with an unsettled expression.
They were all chatting together, so why did she suddenly feel left out?
"This is serious, everyone!"
That was when Yumina appeared in the center of the lecture hall.
"Professor!"
Normally, she'd respond to Ban Yu-won's greeting with tenfold warmth, drawing cold stares from Lucelle and Dokgo Yeon. But not today—she had no time.
Thud. She slammed the nearby table.
"As Light has applied to leave the team!"
"Ah...!"
Lucelle sighed shortly as Dokgo Yeon ground her teeth and whirled around.
"That idiot finally."
"Hold on, Dokgo Yeon."
Ban Yu-won grabbed her as she rose, clutching her sword hilt like she meant to storm off and pummel As Light.
But Dokgo Yeon glared at him fiercely, her cross pupils dilating wide.
"Ban Yu-won, even you—I can't let you shield As Light anymore. If his conclusion after climbing the tower with us all semester is this sneak-attack dropout notice, that coward bitch gets it from me right—"
"It might be my fault."
"What...?"
Lucelle restrained Dokgo Yeon, who looked ready to swing her sheathed sword even at him.
"You really haven't checked your mirror at all, huh? At least read Yu-won's messages."
"Mirror...?"
Dokgo Yeon blinked—oh yeah, that—as she pulled out her own.
A few minutes later, having read everything, her expression turned profoundly strange.
"A stalker in an S-grade dimension? Ban Yu-won, what the hell are you...?"
"Sorry, my charm's too much... Wait! Just a joke to lighten the mood, for real!"
A huge lump now throbbed on Ban Yu-won's head. He resolved not to joke with Dokgo Yeon anytime soon and steered back to the topic.
"So, Professor, how'd you handle it?"
"I reassured him we could handle the dimension invasion fine... But As Light said that aside, he just wants solo exploration rights. I just finished counseling him in person... He seemed off."
Yumina's delicate brow furrowed, recalling the exchange.
"Like a totally different person... His speech was weird too. Until the end of first semester, he had long hair, but now it's cropped short. Like he was desperately trying to prove he's a guy or something."
"No amount of acting will make anyone here think that bitch is a man."
"Whoa, that's a stretch."
Ban Yu-won calmly countered Dokgo Yeon's prejudice-packed declaration, tilting his head.
"Isn't it just an image change? Everyone does that after summer break. Dyeing hair out of nowhere, piercing ears, acting all grown-up like something epic happened over vacation. When really, nothing did."
"Does that happen a lot, Yu-won?"
"Yeah, mostly from second year middle school to second year high school. Mentally, As Light's right around there."
"Just curse him out plain."
This time, Dokgo Yeon snorted and jabbed back.
Ban Yu-won protested, looking wronged.
"But no one in this academy thinks As Light isn't an idiot."
"Master, even if... Actually, that might not be a stretch."
"Do you all hate As Light that much?"
As Yumina narrowed her eyes at the string of harsh barbs from the trio, Ban Yu-won laughed it off.
"It's affection, pure affection."
"Please don't tease her too much. Her wanting to leave the team might even stem from how you treat her."
"Nah, doubt it."
Ban Yu-won denied it flatly.
"After hearing from you, Professor, something clicked for me."
"What a coincidence. Same here."
"Me too."
The three wiped their smiles and faced Yumina seriously.
As Ban Yu-won opened his mouth to speak for them, Yumina flinched.
"Professor?"
"Ah, just a call on my mirror. Nothing important—keep going."
But her mirror kept buzzing insistently, and soon Ban Yu-won's did too.
He excused himself to check, then made a peculiar face.
"Requesting entry permission... From Ire."
"Student Ire?"
Yumina checked her own mirror, mirroring his expression, then snapped her fingers.
The next moment, Ire appeared in the lecture hall.
Sky-blue hair fluttering ethereally, silver eyes serene—a girl of truly mystical beauty.
If debating the academy's most beautiful student, contenders like Lucelle or Mira abounded. But for most noble? Many would pick Ire.
"My, Student Ire. How did you get in?"
"I tampered with the spatial transfer coordinates engraved on my student ID."
Ire answered Yumina's genuine surprise calmly, then turned to Ban Yu-won.
"The hint came from first semester."
"Hee hee, no one matches your drive for self-improvement. So, Student Ire, what brings you here in person?"
"I found some ancient texts back home after a long search. Wanted to share what they said."
Ire approached Ban Yu-won and leaned in close.
Lucelle and Dokgo Yeon instinctively moved to block her, but paused as she stopped just shy of contact.
Ire shot them an exasperated look before addressing him.
"Still popular as ever."
"So, what material? Thesis stuff for second semester?"
"Sword."
Sword?
Ban Yu-won tilted his head—odd topic for a magic major—but intuition hit, hardening his face as he realized which sword.
"As Light's sword."
But one nagging question.
Why would info on a sword from a D-grade dimension's As Light appear in ancient texts from Ire's world?
"It stuck in my mind oddly after seeing it once. Now I get why. Because it's the sword we need to watch out for most."
Ire added that it also explained why As Light hadn't grown as a dragonkin.
"It's a Dragon-Slaying Sword."
No.
Why the hell would a dragonkin carry a Dragon-Slaying Sword?!