It’s a Mental Good Morning!
Thanks to staying up late last night, I couldn’t hear the beep beep of my alarm and woke up late.
Eventually, I managed to tame my disheveled hair with a quick brush and hurriedly changed into my school uniform.
“Professor Chun, are you going somewhere today?”
“Oh, I thought I’d swing by the school to meet some fellow professors. Want me to take you to the Academy?”
“I’m meeting friends and we’re going together from over here.”
“Haha, sure, sure! It’s still chilly outside, so be careful not to catch a cold!”
In the elevator, I went down to the 1st floor while he went down to the basement, and thus we parted ways.
Outside, the wind was howling and dark clouds loomed, making for a gloomy day.
Not just me, but many students were bustling about, chatting as they headed to school.
“Hey, Na-me! Did you wait long?”
Han Seori came running, waving her hand.
“Hi, Seori.”
“No, no! It’s HEY, SEORI! Like this!”
She lifted her right hand to her head and stretched it high into the sky.
If she had brought her left hand to her stomach, it would have been a perfect Nazi salute, but thankfully, that history doesn’t exist in this world.
Just then, Ji-hye came panting in, greeting me.
“What if you run ahead without us…! Na-me, hi! Did you have a good weekend?”
“Hi, Ji-hye. Yeah, I stayed up late last night, so I’m a bit tired.”
“Really? I overslept too, and my dad woke me up when he left for work. I got scolded a ton, though…”
“Wait, scolded? Just for oversleeping?”
Seori’s eyes went wide. Ji-hye pouted, showing her grievance.
“My dad is usually pretty strict… Don’t you think scolding is a bit much?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know since I’ve never overslept before!”
“What are you talking about! Seori, you always oversleep and come out late!”
“But I was quick today!”
Ugh!
Seori tickled Ji-hye’s neck and ran away.
Ji-hye, with vengeance in her heart, dropped her backpack and chased after her.
“Hey, hey, hey! Using aura while running is cheating! Aaaah!”
“If I catch you, I’ll tickle you right back and won’t go easy on you!”
I have no idea where these kids get their energy. At this age, they’re bouncing around, unable to control themselves.
Shouldn’t I just take Ji-hye’s backpack as we head to the main gate?
Ji-hye entered the back gate of the apartment complex and met with Seori first, then formed the routine of joining me afterward, which had been steady for the past two weeks.
Hearing Seori’s laughter meant Ji-hye had finally caught her.
“Ugh, just my neck… only my neck! No armpits!”
“No way! More, more.”
“Ji-hye, stop…! Na-me, ahhh, save me!”
“Oh right, my backpack!”
“I brought it here.”
“Ugh, thank you so much! I seriously didn’t know what to do… Should I carry your stuff to school?”
“Oh no, not that much.”
“Am I invisible to you? How rude!”
As we passed the main gate, we walked along the main road.
Since all the cars run on electricity, the smog-free world was quite pleasant.
While Seori and Ji-hye continued their playful bickering, I couldn’t shake off thoughts of Adella.
Destroying 108 ice pillars was less likely than Adella becoming stronger than the Jin Chronicle.
But with so little time before the boss battle, is raising her really the right path?
Who knows until you try?
“Hey, Na-me, what’s up?”
Seori stopped by the bus stop and turned to me.
“I’m waiting for one of my classmates to go to school together. Do you want to wait and go with us?”
“Are we taking the bus?”
“Yep, it should be here soon.”
“In that case, let’s wait! We still have plenty of time.”
“By the way, who are you waiting for? Is it someone from your class?”
“I thought your best friend was just us!”
Just as I was about to answer them, the bus arrived, and people poured out.
Given that it’s a stop with a subway station, it took quite a while for everyone to disembark.
And can we even call that a bus…?
It was a double-decker bus with two frames connected, capable of accommodating more than 100 people comfortably.
Moments later, a red-haired girl squeezed her way out between a chubby office worker and a long-haired high school boy.
She looked around, checked her clothing arrangement,* and re-tied her shoelaces.
“Yuna! Good morning!”
“Hmm? Ah, NoName!”
Due to her family circumstances, she often carried a gloomy demeanor that suited the dull weather.
But today, it looked like a smile was stuck on her face.
“Hehe, hi! I haven’t been on a bus this time in ages; it was so crowded I almost died. If it’s going to be like this, walking to school is a better option.”
Yuna let out a short sigh as she spoke.
“What’s up, Seo Yuna?”
“Ah, it was Yuna. Hello…?”
Seori and Ji-hye exchanged glances, looking a bit uncomfortable.
An awkward atmosphere hung between the four of us.
Since we couldn’t afford to be late for school, I had to push everyone along.
“Seo Yuna, don’t tell me you hate Na-me?”
“When did I ever? I really like Na-me!”
“Are you okay? Were you hurt last week and had to go to the infirmary…?”
“Yeah, I got treated by Na-me and I’m all better now.”
Seo Yuna made it a point to emphasize our connection, though her tone was blunt.
She suddenly seized my right hand and interlocked her fingers with mine.
Meanwhile, Seori grabbed my left wrist.
Before things got any more tense, I tried to steer the conversation.
“So, what did you do this weekend? Is your mom doing okay?”
“Yeah, my family and I went on a picnic for the first time in forever! The weather was sunny yesterday, so my mom was really happy. Did Na-me go straight home after being discharged?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Discharged? Were you hurt?”
“Nothing serious. Just cut my wrist a bit.”
“Let me see! Please tell me it’s not your left! It can’t be your left…! I squeezed your wrist hard earlier!”
“Look, I told you. It’s all healed up, see?”
I showed my wrist, perfectly healed with no scars to Seori.
This is the advancement of modern medical magic, you guys.
“Be careful…! If you get a deep cut, it could leave a mark later. My dad has tons of scars on his back and arms because of that.”
“Right, Ji-hye, didn’t your dad used to be a detective?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Wow, having a detective dad sounds pretty scary! Does he ever use judo techniques to take you down when he scolds you?”
“He doesn’t do that… He just scolds me with words. He has used those judo techniques on me before, though.”
“Hmm?”
“Hmm?”
I left Seori and Ji-hye’s confusion alone for a moment as I observed Yuna’s expression.
I hadn’t noticed earlier, but her mouth was smiling while her eyes drooped.
“Not feeling so great, huh?”
“No, just a bit worried… Were you really not in pain at that time?”
“If you feel this much pain, you can’t become an adult. They say battlefield wizards fight even with holes in their bellies.”
“Eh? Battlefield wizards? I’ve never heard of that job!”
“Or maybe I’m mistaken?”
Back in my day, we all fought like crazy fools.
It seems like here, they don’t do that much.
“In any case, from today on, the four of us will go to school together, okay? Everyone agree?”
“Do we have to? I just want to go with Na-me.”
“What are you talking about? Na-me went to school with us first! You joined later!”
“From now on, I’m BFFs with Na-me.”
“Who decided that?”
“Come on everyone, let’s just walk fast. We can fight while walking, right?”
I really didn’t get why they kept stopping in between.
Even if Ji-hye was fidgety trying to stop them, I waved her off.
“Why…?”
“Because fighting while getting closer is how it goes.”
Especially when they’re younger, that’s definitely how it is.
Later on, if they become friends, they won’t even remember what they fought about.
That’s how I got close to Hiasen.
In most cases, I just pounded Hiasen on the head, but still.
“Then do you even know what Na-me likes?”
“Of course! What about you? Do you know my hobbies?”
“Then let’s guess. Based on what Na-me did yesterday.”
“Sure! Let me start. Na-me, Na-me!”
Yuna asked me with sparkling eyes full of expectation.
“Yesterday, you practiced the otamatone, right? You said you’d show me at school later.”
“I did it the day before yesterday, but not yesterday.”
“Whaaat…?”
“I played way too much at the hospital.”
Seori barely managed to stifle a snicker.
“My name is Han Seori, THE Nostradamus! I can totally know what Na-me did yesterday!”
“Nostradamus knows the future, not the past…?”
“Ji-hye, shh! Ahem, anyway… I got it! Na-me was studying magic yesterday!”
“Come on, that’s not a hobby! That’s cheating; if that’s the case, I’ll guess too.”
“That’s a hobby for Na-me, right? Say yes, NoName!”
Not bad for a guess, Seori!
“But I didn’t study yesterday. Usually, I would, though.”
“Oh no… then what did you do yesterday?”
“I played a VR game.”
“A game? VR? You mean capsule gaming?”
“Yep.”
“You play games? Whoa, I have a new respect for you. That’s super cool.”
You can bet Yuna was more surprised than Seori.
“What game is it?”
“World of Arseria, ever heard of it?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Isn’t that the game Kim Han-gyeol plays? He talks about it all the time. Do you need a capsule to play that?”
“Yep. Are you thinking of playing too?”
“Oh, no… capsules are too expensive…”
Yuna slumped down, looking like a wilted reed as she shuffled her feet.
“Is she still trying to copy Na-me?”
“I think Yuna’s got some serious determination! Last week, she mixed up her medication and was a total mess…”
