The dormitory is a facility that provides meals and accommodations for members of a group.
Shio-ram offers the best dormitory facilities to students completely free of charge.
I also received a dormitory.
It was so good that it couldn’t even compare to a typical hotel.
However, I hadn’t really made much use of it.
I had hardly visited the attached facilities at all.
I didn’t go to the cafeteria often either; only every other day, thinking of it as an essential nutrient injection.
My dorm room was similar.
I didn’t bring in any other items or pack any belongings.
Compared to how it looked when I first received it, not much had changed.
That said, I hadn’t been sleeping in the dorm much either.
Mainly because of nightmares. Or even when I could sleep, I was too busy locked away in the library or pulling all-nighters in the personal training room.
During the midterm evaluations, I hadn’t even stepped into my dorm room. Since I could shower easily with magic, there was no need to stop by.
I was in the library during the written evaluations, and I woke up in Hong Yeon-hwa’s dorm after the preliminary tournament.
Now, after the finals…
I regained consciousness in my master’s embrace.
At this point, I wondered if I really needed the dormitory.
‘…….’
There was no need to check.
With the sensation and warmth wrapping around me, I immediately recognized who it was.
There was also a gaze piercing through the top of my head.
I had an idea of where I was, but out of curiosity, I glanced around.
As expected, it wasn’t the dormitory. It wasn’t even the dorm building.
It was a two-story single-family home with a yard. Judging by the exterior, it seemed to be housing provided for professors.
In other words, this appeared to be my master’s residence.
It was a bewildering situation in many ways, but thanks to my fair share of experiences with changing locations after falling asleep, I could keep calm.
Wrapped in the warm embrace, I traced back my memories.
I met Elia’s family and, swallowing my nerves, went to visit my master.
Honestly, I was scared.
I believed I did my best during my duel with Baek Ahrin.
I used harmonization without Gop-hwa or Chanhwa and relied on mimicking Baek Ahrin’s martial arts for my transformations.
I forced out spells while squeezing my brain dry, using my still-awkward spirit magic as support.
We fought back and forth, and in the end, I lost.
I wasn’t too down about it. I’d expected to lose from the start. In fact, I was surprised at how fierce the battle was.
There was a sense that Baek Ahrin was going easy on me… and that might have been because she was using her techniques in a somewhat textbook manner.
In any case, I gained a lot from that experience.
I filled my head with how Baek Ahrin utilized Chanhwa, and I also learned quite a few techniques using hand movements and cold spells.
If I could handle something like ‘flow’ instead of a common unique ability, it would be even more powerful.
I was satisfied with the outcome. Even though I lost and have to be dragged around by Baek Ahrin for a day, I didn’t mind much.
But from a teacher’s perspective, the story could be different.
Especially since my master’s comments at the start of the semester were filled with many and high expectations for me… I worried I might be lectured for being eliminated in the round of 16.
I was scared.
Imagining those warm eyes filled with disappointment… just picturing them looking coldly at me made it hard to breathe.
I didn’t want to go. But I couldn’t just run away, so I went.
And I was consoled while held by my master.
Her warm actions washed away my fears in an instant, and my tension melted away, causing me to fall asleep.
That was all I could remember.
‘…It was nothing special’
After thinking for a moment, I realized it really was nothing special. I just cuddled with my master and fell asleep, only to be moved.
If it’s my master, it’s fine. She cherishes me and plays the guardian.
I buried my face back into her embrace.
At that moment, a soft chuckle came from above my head, and gentle fingers stroked my hair.
“You woke up early. How do you feel?”
[I’m okay]
[Feeling good]
A soft and warm sensation spread throughout my body, and I relaxed uncontrollably.
[Happy]
[Sleepy]
Those moments in my master’s arms made both my body and mind lazily drift away from complex and frightening issues like doom and lifespan.
It might just be escapism, but it felt like my mental state was being restored.
I continued to be healed as I was petted for a while.
…
…
…
I looked around my master’s residence with a strange feeling.
The layout of the two-story house with a yard.
On the second floor, there were guest rooms, a study, and a workshop, all relatively small.
The bedroom where my master and I slept was located in the corner of the second floor.
Stepping down the stairs led to a spacious living room.
Morning sunlight streamed through a large window, illuminating the place, creating a bright atmosphere without needing any extra lights.
Also, there was the kitchen equipped with various cooking tools and appliances, along with several multi-purpose rooms… the first floor felt like it had everything one might need.
‘There aren’t any decorations.’
After one round of looking over, I thought it was indeed spacious. I got the impression it was clean, reflecting my master’s taste without unnecessary decorations.
My master had just entered the shower, sending me to the living room.
‘Should I cook something for her?’
The refrigerator was packed with ingredients. Various vegetables, fish, meats, along with lots of sauces and seasonings.
There were no signs of anything being used. I checked carefully, suspecting something might have spoiled, but fortunately, everything seemed fine.
I wasn’t particularly skilled in cooking, but I could manage a decent home-cooked meal.
To be honest, I had a small desire to cook for my master and receive her praise.
But the problem was my tongue and nose that couldn’t taste… and the missing hand.
I felt slightly worried, but with the powers of observation and the wings of the sky, maybe I could manage…
‘Oh, right.’
As I rummaged through the kitchen, pondering while fiddling with the tools, a thought suddenly struck me, and I tapped the holographic projector hanging around my neck.
[Contacts: Baek Ahrin (3)]
▶Baek Ahrin: Announcement! Losers, fulfill your promises!
▶Baek Ahrin: Arrive by 12 o’clock (on the map)!
▶Baek Ahrin: We’ll eat lunch together, and you can wear whatever you want~
The first message that popped up was from Baek Ahrin.
She was asking to spend the day with me, just as we had discussed right after the duel.
I tilted my head with a puzzling expression.
Why did she want to meet me, and what reason did she have for insisting on the wager?
‘…I hope she won’t do anything weird.’
Before questioning my personal trust, this place was Shio-ram.
A sanctuary that has never failed to ensure security from internal tricks or external invasions.
This was the only place where I could feel free to live.
The more I lived here, the more I felt the name “sanctuary” truly suited it.
If the students were likened to seedlings or young babies before they grow up, the sanctuary is indeed the optimal place to guide them to grow safely and rightly.
‘Wondering if I could meet the head of the Tower of Growth… hmm?’
While I was lost in thought, underneath Baek Ahrin’s number, I spotted the 99+ notification.
99+. That meant there were over 99 unread messages.
‘Why are there so many?’
It was utterly bewildering. There weren’t many people who had my number, and any random advertising messages would’ve all gone to the spam folder…
I quickly called up the message history.
[Contacts: Elia Slade (4)]
▶Elia Slade: My parents happily talked and then went home.
▶Elia Slade: Thanks to you coming to see Ha-yul.
▶Elia Slade: I’ll make sure to repay you next time!
▶Elia Slade: (chick emoji saluting)
Elia’s contact seemed to contain suitably casual exchange messages.
After sending back a normal reply, I checked the records again.
[Contacts: Liana Velus (7)]
▶Liana Velus: Lee Ha-yul, thank you for your hard work during the midterm evaluations!꒰(ノ⁾⁾˙∇˙)꒱乃
▶Liana Velus: Though there might be various regrets, let’s keep trying to achieve better results in the future!
…
▶Liana Velus: Also, I’m planning to focus on teaching spirit magic to you and Elia during the break before the vacation!
▶Liana Velus: I’ve aligned the schedule with Professor Atra, so please check!
▶Liana Velus: (Break Period Schedule.mng)
That was Liana’s contact.
It echoed what I heard before.
Now that the midterms were over, the vacation was approaching. The period right after the midterms until the vacation is often called the break period.
During this time, the academic side tends to relax the students a bit.
Simply put, lecture hours are slightly reduced, giving some free time.
When Professor Liana proposed the idea of briefly learning spirit magic, Elia and I nodded a few weeks ago.
From my perspective, there was no reason to refuse learning spirit magic directly from Liana, who had succeeded greatly in spirit magic.
‘Then I’ll learn briefly before the vacation.’
I had thoroughly felt the usefulness of spirits during the duel with Baek Ahrin.
I didn’t actually operate as a real spirit magician, just using them as support, but those supports made everything so much easier.
Without spirit magic, things would have been much more stressful in many ways.
I nodded and continued perusing through the message history.
There were a few minor contacts.
There were replies regarding scheduling compensation matters with the association, and brief congratulations from several acquaintances regarding the finals match.
Aiden’s message, filled with questions and astonishment over how I’d managed to mimic during the duel, made me chuckle a bit.
He hadn’t sent anywhere near as many messages to reach over 99+ though.
‘?’
As I scrolled down, my hand suddenly stopped at one entry.
[Contacts: Hong Yeon-hwa (99+)]
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Ha-yul.
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: What did Baek Ahrin say right before the duel?
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: She didn’t say anything strange, did she?
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: If she starts spouting nonsense, just ignore her.
…
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Ha-yul, where are you now?
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Ha-yul?
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Ha-yul?
…
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: (Missed Call (0:01:39))
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Ha-yul.
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Where are you now?
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Why aren’t you answering?
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: Is something wrong?
…
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: (Missed Call (0:02:10))
▶Hong Yeon-hwa: ?
…
“…?”
A contact with over 99 messages and missed call records.
The oldest record was from yesterday evening, and the most recent was an hour or two ago.
I stared blankly with my mouth agape.
It was shocking to see that there were over 100 unchecked entries.
‘What’s going on?’
And I was puzzled.
If there were messages and calls being sent, there was no way I wouldn’t have noticed them.
No way I could have missed that many notifications.
Even if I was snuggled up in someone’s embrace and asleep, I wouldn’t ignore alarms going off this often.
I couldn’t possibly miss a vibrating alert attached to me.
No matter how much I might have ‘deafened’ myself when embraced, I shouldn’t have missed the recurring alarms.
Desperately, I tapped on the hologram and entered the alarm settings.
[Alarm Settings]
[Alarm Sound: OFF]
└[Alarm Voice: Default]
└[Volume: 0]
[Vibration: OFF]
└[Vibration Intensity: 0]
‘Huh.’
And I was faced with all the alarms and vibrations turned off.
A ? stubble appeared above my head.
‘Why are they off? I usually keep vibrations on, even if alarms are off in public places…’
It was a highly perplexing situation. As I tilted my head repeatedly, I suddenly came to my senses and quickly tapped away at the hologram.
This wasn’t the time for puzzlement; I had to send a message to Hong Yeon-hwa that I was okay!
My fingers flew hurriedly.
*
[Player Enhancement System: Affection Level]
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
●●●●●●●●○○(83▷84/100)
‘Master’ ‘Expectations’ ‘Stability’ ‘Yearning for Affection’
[The conditions to break the ‘Curse of Silence’ have not been met.]
[The conditions to break the ‘Curse of Loneliness’ have not been met.]
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