NOVPUBAfter sitting and resting in the cabin for about half a day, a vast lake, as large as the sea, came into view outside the window.
And not long after, the train entered Dungeon Island and came to a complete stop.
I gently shook Dang Gyu-young to wake her.
“We’re here. Let’s get up.”
“…Ah, I slept so well. I was completely knocked out. Why is your shoulder so comfortable?”
Dang Gyu-young looked at my shoulder as if it were some kind of fascinating object.
Soon after, Hong Yeon-hwa, perhaps sensing the movement, also groggily opened her eyes.
She still seemed a little hung up on the seat next to me, but there was nothing she could do now. We had already arrived.
As we got off at the platform, Dang Gyu-young stretched out with a big yawn, then smiled lazily and said to the two of us,
“Get home safe; see you later.”
“Take care.”
After exchanging our goodbyes, we each went our separate ways.
Judging by their direction, Dang Gyu-young and Hong Yeon-hwa were heading toward the Thieves’ Club and the Ruby Tower Clubroom, and as for me, the first place I needed to go was,
I should see the principal.
Since it was a matter related to world peace, it had to be handled with the highest priority.
It wouldn’t be too late to see my friends afterward.
So I sent a message, and a reply came back almost immediately.
He told me to come straight to the principal’s office.
***
It had been two months since I last visited the principal’s office.
As I silently looked around the room, the principal asked,
“What are you looking at so hard?”
“It’s clean.”
“…I did a little cleaning.”
Right now, the place was neat and tidy, but during final exams, it hadn’t been much of a principal’s office…it had practically been a garbage dump.
While the vice principal had been away supervising exams, the principal had indulged himself in the freedoms of adulthood.
But those good times were over, and the vice principal was now right beside him, shooting him sharp disapproving glances.
Perhaps because of his prior offenses, the strictness that had once been at a “2.5 Song Cheon-hye level” had now been upgraded to a “4.0 Song Cheon-hye level”.
Even I feel like I can’t breathe in here.
If even I, a third party, felt this much pressure, the principal himself must have been feeling it far more intensely.
He glanced around nervously, cleared his throat once, and then got to the point.
“Ahem, looks like you delivered the box.”
“Yes, I also spoke with the chairman.”
“I’m glad it all worked out.”
Here, when he said “it all worked out,” he didn’t just mean that the item was delivered. It meant that I, Hye-seong Group, the Underworld Dragon King, and Dragon Slayer Academy had all boarded the same boat together.
The principal asked another question.
“I also heard the news. The Witch of Death showed up, didn’t she?”
“It got a little chaotic.”
I explained in detail the battle I had with the Witch of Death, and the principal listened with a serious, hardened expression.
Then, when I reached the part where I defended against the final [Corpse Explosion] with the box’s [Sanctuary], his face showed considerable satisfaction.
“You put it to good use. I sent it over just in case; looks like my instincts aren’t dead yet.”
“Thanks to you, I got through it without getting hurt. Thank you.”
“Well, consider it your payment for running that errand.”
Since I had basically received a single-use S-class barrier in exchange for delivering one item, it wasn’t a bad deal for me either.
The principal moved on to the next topic.
“What will you do now? Keep attending school?”
“I have to.”
“From what I can see, you could probably crush the second-years too. Wouldn’t it be better for you to go out into the world with that level of skill?”
“That’s not necessarily the case. It’s still too soon for outside missions.”
Right now, there were still plenty of hidden pieces scattered all over Dungeon Island to scoop up, so there was no reason for me to venture outside yet.
“And as you know, this isn’t something I can accomplish by getting strong alone.”
“You said you’re going to grow together with your friends. Got it. Then you’ll keep going down into the lower floors too, right?”
“Of course I will.”
Most of the hidden pieces were gathered there.
At that, the principal made a subtle suggestion.
“How about it? Want me to cover for you a bit?”
“I’m fine for now.”
There was no such thing as a free favor in this world.
If the principal gave me special treatment, I would eventually have to repay him with something he wanted.
There would come a time when making a deal would be to my advantage, but hadn’t I already been accessing the lower floors just fine during the first semester without any favors?
“Well, suit yourself.”
As if he had expected me to refuse, the principal simply shrugged and moved on.
But then, the vice principal who had been standing quietly until now finally spoke up.
“Student Kim Ho.”
“Yes.”
“It’s fine for you to go down to the lower floors, but please make sure to stay within your authorized permissions when exploring the dungeons. Unauthorized raids will not be tolerated.”
“…Understood.”
I silently nodded my head.
I could fully understand the vice principal’s position.
She couldn’t exactly turn a blind eye to a student blatantly breaking school regulations.
Of course, I had no intention of giving up unauthorized raids altogether. It just meant I would have to be even more discreet.
Surprisingly, the principal ended up chiding the vice principal.
“Why are you being so uptight? Cut the kid some slack.”
“I’m not simply sticking to rules for the sake of it; it’s because it’s dangerous. He’s still a student and a first-year at that.”
“Do you think he’s an ordinary student? He’s already a Monarch, you know.”
“……”
The vice principal was momentarily at a loss for words.
Inwardly, I cheered the principal on with all my heart.
Way to go, our neighborhood fool! That’s the spirit!
It seemed my silent cheer worked, as the principal pressed the attack.
“He even went into the Teleportation Dungeon to catch the Witch of Corruption, and he came back without so much as a scratch, right? I really don’t see the lower floors being any problem for him.”
“Even on lower difficulty levels, crisis situations can arise at any time.”
“I’m sure he’ll manage just fine. From what I’ve seen, he’s not the type to act recklessly. You saw it yourself back then, didn’t you?”
“Back then” referred to when I had attacked the principal with my Inferno Fist.
At the time, the deal was one question per punch, and after landing three hits, I had given up my greed and stepped back.
Afterward, the principal glanced at me as if seeking my agreement, and I immediately added,
“I’ll never attempt an unreasonable raid.”
“…….”
At this point, even the vice principal no longer seemed so unyielding.
It was something I often felt. She was surprisingly flexible when she wanted to be.
Of course, it seemed the principal had no intention of completely letting things slide either, as he maintained a proper balance between me and the vice principal.
“Still, a violation of the school rules is a violation. If you get caught, handle the penalty points or disciplinary action yourself. You said you didn’t need any cover, remember?”
“Of course.”
***
The Ruby Magic Tower Club.
Even though the semester hadn’t officially started yet, Hong Ye-hwa was already overwhelmed with paperwork as the club president.
In the midst of her busy work, Hong Yeon-hwa walked in.
“I’m here.”
She headed straight for the guest sofa and flopped down on it.
Seeing that, Hong Ye-hwa almost reflexively shouted,
“Hey! I told you not to lie down there!”
Still, just this once, she decided to exercise patience. She didn’t want to start a fight with her sister, whom she was seeing for the first time in a month.
After taking a deep breath, Hong Ye-hwa asked,
“So, how was the mentoring?”
“……It was good.”
“Don’t just say it was good. Give me more details. What did you learn?”
“Well…”
Hong Yeon-hwa began listing the achievements of her second round of mentoring, one by one.
She had achieved a B-rank in [Core] and had advanced the rank of several fire spells by one level each.
The biggest accomplishment was the completion of the fire pillar combo technique, [Hydra].
She had even managed to increase the number of heads to three, and the next stage was already more than halfway complete.
Hong Ye-hwa widened her eyes in astonishment at results far beyond her expectations.
“Seriously? Show me.”
Fwoosh,
Since it wasn’t a difficult request, Hong Yeon-hwa immediately cast Fire Pillar.
She made it very small, about the size of a palm.
A pillar of fire, about the size of a water cup, shot upward, then split into three branches, taking on the form of a snake with three heads.
Each head then spat out tiny fireballs, each no bigger than a fingernail.
Puff, puff, pop!
Upon seeing this much, Hong Ye-hwa looked both very surprised and quite satisfied.
“Looks like Dang Gyu-young taught you properly. I see her in a new light now.”
“Uh, mhmm… I guess.”
Hong Yeon-hwa gave an awkward laugh as she thought to herself,
It wasn’t Senior Dang Gyu-young, it was Kim Ho.
While Dang Gyu-young had found them an efficient training ground, it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration to say that Kim Ho had been the real mentor during this second round of mentoring.
Thanks to the intense sparring and the grueling quests Kim Ho had set up for her, she had been able to grow this rapidly.
Of course, there was no benefit to revealing that fact out loud.
Thus, Hong Yeon-hwa found herself accumulating yet another secret she couldn’t share.
Hong Ye-hwa asked another question.
“Did you have any trouble living there?”
“Mhmm… No, they treated me really well…”
In fact, when she first heard that only Kim Ho and Dang Gyu-young would be there, she had been a bit worried.
She had feared she might feel stifled, unable to even breathe between them.
But contrary to her worries, both of them had treated her extremely well.
They always asked for her opinion, even on the smallest matters, and were considerate, so she never once felt left out.
If anything, most of the times she had felt uncomfortable had been due to her own needless anxiety.
Moreover, Dang Gyu-young and Kim Ho both had mischievous sides, and they would often tease each other whenever they found the chance.
As she recalled how she had managed to beat Kim Ho twice in the Bar 33 draw matches, a smile naturally formed on Hong Yeon-hwa’s lips.
“…Hehe.”
Meanwhile, Hong Ye-hwa, unaware of what her sister was thinking, could only see her as a complete lunatic.
“Why are you suddenly grinning like that?”
“No, it’s just… everything was really good.”
“Are you sure? You really didn’t have any complaints or regrets?”
“None at all. Seriously.”
Hong Yeon-hwa shook her head nonchalantly, but in truth, there was one thing she regretted.
A regret she couldn’t possibly confess to her sister.
Kim Ho pillow… I never got to try it…
She had had a whole month, and yet.
Unfortunately, the training center and lodging that Dang Gyu-young had arranged were extremely well-equipped.
The rooms were even separated.
Because of that, she hadn’t even had the chance to sleep in the same room with him, let alone stick close together.
During finals, she had been a crazy girl rolling around, but back then, there had been some grounds for leniency.
The secret room had been so cramped, and it was terribly uncomfortable to sleep there.
In contrast, during mentoring, unless she blatantly barged into Kim Ho’s room, there was simply no way.
And if she got caught doing that, she would be a crazy girl sneaking around … at best, a crazy girl with sleepwalking.
That’s just impossible…
There was no way she could bear such a label.
No, maybe barging in outright would have been the right answer.
During finals, even when she had been caught rolling around, Kim Ho had just shrugged and told her to sleep next to him.
However, Hong Yeon-hwa hadn’t been brave enough.
She wasn’t as nonchalant as Seo Ye-in nor as confident as Dang Gyu-young, so she couldn’t take that final step.
As she hesitated over and over about whether she should or not, the mentoring ended.
Her last chance came on the train ride back, and this time, Hong Yeon-hwa mustered up what little courage she had and made her move.
– Next to you!
However, despite her bold move, she had no choice but to give up Kim Ho’s lap pillow to Dang Gyu-young.
The main reason for her defeat was the existence, or lack of teleportation magic.
It was a clear difference in ability.
If only I had Blink too…
Hong Yeon-hwa made a vow to herself.
She would train even harder and reach Core A-rank.
And she would learn Blink too!
