A sudden headache made my expression contort for a moment. At this point, it’s just getting tiresome. How can I possibly run into that girl in a place like this?
Thanks to the entrance being on the upper floor, I could clearly see the movements of the blonde female student.
And I could instantly tell that something was off with her.
Her hair, usually neatly tied up, was practically a mess. Dark shadows clung to her skin around her eyes, and her gaze was so blurry that I couldn’t figure out where she was looking.
I wondered if the injuries she sustained in the last two matches hadn’t healed yet, as bandages were still wrapped around her neck and limbs.
She clearly didn’t notice my presence as I approached.
Hah… Hah…!!
Boom!
Jin Yeseo panted and unleashed her signature black flames wildly. Fiery serpents, blazing walls, and a rain of flames poured from the air towards the targets and automaton dolls.
But all I felt was a weak struggle. Her power and precision didn’t even come close to what I’d experienced from her before. It felt more like a regression.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
When magic flames missed their target and hit the poor training room walls, pieces flew off and crashed to the ground.
Seeing this, I could understand why they had to repair the training room on such a large scale.
“Ugh…!”
Seeing that scene, Jin Yeseo bit her lip with desperation. A streak of blood dripped down, but she didn’t seem to care.
Then, she shot more magic around her, still with that vague expression.
Or maybe she didn’t even realize she was bleeding?
But even so, she wouldn’t gain anything from this. She was exhausting her body nearly to the point of torture rather than experiencing an appropriate overload for growth.
And there’s no way that a top student like her wouldn’t know this. It’s one of the very basics taught in the Cradle. Also, it’s something that professors often remind students about when they’ve had a lapse in judgment. They say impatience is the biggest poison to growth.
In other words, it meant that right now, Jin Yeseo was so out of her mind that she wasn’t even aware of such basic things.
That could also explain why her magical skills felt like they had regressed even further.
They say the vessel particles that make up magic interact very closely with the mind.
What is she doing? Even if she lost to me, did losing to Moon Yeowool shock her that much?
Well, according to Choi Woojin, she had never lost to Moon Yeowool even once, so I guess it makes sense.
“…”
I quietly watched Jin Yeseo for a moment before slowly turning to leave the training room.
I was curious about her self-destructive behavior, but it wasn’t really my concern to dwell on.
I could just give up for today and come earlier tomorrow.
As I retraced my steps back to the beech dormitory, I began to feel a bit of an uncomfortable emotion creeping into my body.
I could immediately realize the source of it just by stopping to think for a moment.
It felt like I had just looked into a magical mirror reflecting the past.
*
It didn’t even take a day to realize my simple assumption was a huge mistake.
Jin Yeseo was monopolizing that vast training room for two straight days. How does she arrive so quickly? Is the dormitory close by? Or did she drop her afternoon classes entirely?
The sure thing was that I was the one burning up inside for not being able to practice properly.
Though I improved slightly, I, too, had been somewhat obsessive about training.
Thanks to that, I’d previously overdone it and received a harsh scolding from the dorm supervisor.
Though afterward, I ended up rolling in the mud with a “suitable” intensity myself.
Ultimately, I wasn’t able to claim that old training room in Building A until the third day.
I made that sprint after dropping one of my afternoon classes.
Changing into my training outfit, I completed my warm-up and swung my blade around like a fish in water. With each automatic doll I smashed into pieces, a sense of liberation washed over me, as if I could fly into the sky.
During that, I heard the sound of the door creaking open.
Creek-
The dissonant sound disrupted my focus, and I frowned hard. Without even needing to turn my head, I could tell who had come in.
I tried to ignore him and threw myself back into my trance.
This place was my own paradise today. Anyone with a conscience would go back on their own.
But after waiting and waiting, I heard no sound of the door opening to leave. Instead, I could only feel a pair of eyes gazing specifically at me.
Clang!
Unable to endure any longer, I finally hurled the training blade onto the floor.
I just couldn’t concentrate on my training with that persistent gaze.
I took a few steps toward the blonde female student sitting in the corner with her knees pulled up.
“Hey.”
“…”
Jin Yeseo didn’t even turn to look at me, let alone respond. Her vague gaze remained fixed on a spot in the dueling ground.
“Can’t you at least respond when someone calls you?”
“…Why?”
Finally, Jin Yeseo lifted her head slightly and looked up at me with weary eyes.
Seeing her up close, her condition seemed even worse.
She looked like someone suffering from an incurable disease, or maybe a drug addict, and I would totally believe it.
“What are you doing right now?”
“…I’m waiting for my turn.”
I was surprised by the change in her voice. The exaggerated confidence she usually flaunted was nowhere to be found.
Her voice, crawling toward the floor, was barely audible.
Of course, that didn’t do anything to quell my irritation.
“Well then, go out and wait. I can’t train because of you.”
“…There’s no rule like that.”
Jin Yeseo only left that retort and once again buried her head down. She didn’t open her mouth anymore. Her gaze remained fixed on the same spot as before.
In that moment, something hot surged up to my throat. A burning heat spread across my face.
I had to fight back the impulse to kick her while she sat there.
This wasn’t childhood, nor was it a duel. If I made a scene, I’d be causing trouble not just for myself but also for the dorm supervisor and the Heukryeon family. Naturally, it would also affect the already poor reputation of Minha.
It was undeniable that Jin Yeseo’s words weren’t entirely incorrect. In fact, it aligned even more with the methods of the Cradle.
The Cradle encourages observing and learning from excellent individuals as much as possible… So, from a typical viewpoint, I could be seen as the odd one.
Hah…
I clenched my fist and released it repeatedly to calm my anger.
With Jin Yeseo lingering there, I turned my body toward the exit.
I had plenty of time left, but in this situation, I couldn’t continue my practice.
However, I then remembered that I had left the training blade I had thrown aside unorganized and turned back.
Jin Yeseo remained squatting in the same position, staring intently at a spot in the training room.
“…?”
At the end of her line of sight was the practice blade sprawled across the floor where I had unceremoniously tossed it.
*
“Baek Seoyeon. Why don’t you just tone it down a bit?”
“Well, isn’t it you who should be toning it down?”
In the regular student council meeting held every other week, the chairperson Hyeon Juhak was anxiously glancing around at his peers amidst the biting cold wind.
“Don’t you know our Cradle aims for equality as an educational institution? How could we possibly approve such a club?”
A student with beautiful hair cascading like the night sky, Baek Seoyeon waved a piece of paper with her slim fingers.
“If this is the admission condition… I feel like it would be hard for students from the five noble families to join.”
The club application written by Yeon Minha was densely packed with previously unheard-of stringent admission conditions.
Yeon Minha, sitting with her legs crossed in a disreputable manner, smirked and redirected Baek Seoyeon’s statement.
“There’s clearly no problem at all. I reviewed everything properly while confirming the school rules. I wish you’d stop nitpicking. It’s rather vulgar.”
“Is that even something you can say? It’s blatantly obvious that this is a workaround…”
Next to Seoyeon, a girl with braided hair, Choi Ireh, jumped into the argument.
She supported Seoyeon, shot a jab at Yeon Minha, and then swiftly turned her attention to the chairperson Hyeon Juhak.
“Chairperson, could you also speak up? Aren’t you a member of the student council’s executive committee, and can you condone this blatant workaround?”
“Y-Yes?”
In an instant, all eyes in the room turned towards Hyeon Juhak, including a pair of blazing red eyes that burned like molten lava.
Hyeon Juhak internally resented Choi Ireh for shifting the arrows towards him, but he desperately racked his brain to avoid the crisis.
Um, um…
“Well… then…”
While Hyeon Juhak cleared his throat to buy time, he opened his mouth slowly.
“In this case, I must admit that Miss Choi Ireh has a point. It’s not the regulations of the Cradle that pose a problem, but if the media catches wind of this, it would create a huge uproar. Lately, public opinion has been rather volatile… If a prestigious educational institution were to approve a club with such conditions…”
Instead of putting forth his opinion directly, he sought to divert the conversation by bringing in external circumstances.
“Miss Yeon Minha… While I fully support the young lady from a noble family being active in school activities, I believe it would be best to reconsider the rather unreasonable admission conditions for the club…”
Tsk.
However, Yeon Minha didn’t even pretend to hear his earnest words and clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction.
Hyeon Juhak shuddered involuntarily at her disregard. He found himself blaming the masked male student with whom he had once forged a deep friendship.
“Didn’t he say he would talk to her properly?”
But he soon shook his head internally.
Given Yeon Minha’s notorious past, maybe this was the best outcome, given that she had actually at least talked to him.
“Let’s wrap this up for today…?”
Hyeon Juhak, cautiously watching his surroundings, added his words.
The ones wanting to escape this uncomfortable situation nodded to him and hurriedly began wrapping up the meeting.
He was the first to disappear from the meeting room.
As the remaining members sorted out their things, someone approached Yeon Minha as she was packing up.
I didn’t have to lift my head to know who it was, just by the flowing black hair.
Upon seeing him, Yeon Minha frowned and showed her displeasure.
The establishment of the club had already been twisted several times due to Baek Seoyeon.
Her plan to create a sanctuary where just the two of them wouldn’t be disturbed by anyone else had never even taken its first step.
“What do you want?”
“Yeon Minha. I told you to stop doing that.”
The whisper from the ear seemed to imply that he knew all of her schemes. Baek Seoyeon’s words, laced with warning.
“…Ha.”
Hearing that, Yeon Minha let out a hollow laugh and stood up to face her.
Baek Seoyeon still wore that bright smile, her lips curling slightly like a puppy, the eyes appearing cuter than they seemed.
But her gaze was glacier-like and utterly cold.
While others seemed oblivious, Yeon Minha understood very well why Baek Seoyeon was working to sabotage her.
“He’s not your toy. Don’t just mess around with him at your whim…”
“Hey.”
Baek Seoyeon’s seemingly terrifying warning, but Yeon Minha brushed it off, cutting her off.
After smirking, she whispered softly in Baek Seoyeon’s ear.
“He’s now my man. Wake up from your dream.”
“…!”
The moment those words left her mouth, Yeon Minha could distinctly see the crack forming in Baek Seoyeon’s gaze. A quick glance down revealed Seoyeon’s fists tightly clenched, her arms trembling.
“…”
But witnessing that turmoil in her emotion brought a greater sense of discomfort than satisfaction.
Yeon Minha walked past that Baek Seoyeon and headed for the meeting room door.
“Whose decision is that?”
Baek Seoyeon barely managed to spit out a whisper, laced with obsession and love, which practically clung to Yeon Minha’s back.
*
As Yeon Minha returned to the dormitory, her steps were heavy. It reflected her true self beneath the mask she had worn to confront her adversary.
Her eyes were filled with unease.
Either way, the person closest to him right now was none other than herself.
But the biggest issue was that Baek Seoyeon’s advances were not a one-sided affair.
The person who had kept a portrait of Baek Seoyeon close at all times was none other than him.
I couldn’t assert that there was absolutely no room for anyone else.
“I need something. Something more decisive…”
While lost in thought, Yeon Minha had already arrived at the entrance of the dormitory.
“I can’t wait to see him…”
Yeon Minha mumbled her heartfelt yearning and stepped onto the dormitory grounds. He would always return only after finishing his own training, so she wouldn’t see him for at least two to three hours.
However, as Yeon Minha opened the dormitory door, she couldn’t continue her sentence.
The sight of Lee Hyun working out with a weight attached filled her field of vision.
The rugged curves of his upper body, looking sturdy and chiseled. The scars etched in both large and small patterns all over. Even the hot air of the dormitory filled her senses. Yeon Minha could see it all.
As soon as she recognized Lee Hyun, he too became aware of Yeon Minha.
He abruptly stopped his movement and awkwardly greeted her as if caught off guard by her presence.
“…You’re here. You’re early today…”
Bang!
However, Yeon Minha involuntarily slammed the entrance door shut.
Her heart raced, and she felt her face turning hot.
Standing dazed for a moment, she leaned against the door and then gradually sank to her knees.
“C-could it be any more mortifying…”
Yeon Minha muffled her burning face with her hands as she muttered in a heated voice.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.