Chapter 41: Make an Offer |
As training progressed into the 9th, 10th, and 11th weeks, the users seemed to be hitting their stride. The same users who had struggled with a simple long-distance run in the first week could now be seen effortlessly completing over twenty laps with smiles on their faces. I watched them complete all their training without a single person falling behind, a satisfied smile on my face.
The current number of remaining users was just over 80. It was unusual for the User Academy to have more than 80 graduates. As the final 13th week—the graduation season—drew near, a strange atmosphere began to permeate the academy.
The first thing to change was the instructors' attitude toward the new users. The instructors weren't exclusively from the Golden Lion Clan. About 70% were from the major city's representative clans, while the remaining 30% were selected users dispatched from clans in regular or small cities.
The instructors who had barked at them as if to kill them at the beginning gradually became gentler. It became a common occurrence for them to secretly call one or two users out for a delicious meal. In fact, it was now quite common to see them making offers on the spot right after training ended. Of course, this was limited to users with a certain level of skill.
It was even more absurd when I saw the newly assigned instructors under the pretext of being residential advisors. A beautiful female instructor was assigned to the male users' dorms, while a handsome male instructor was assigned to the female users' dorms. Anyone with a bit of sense could immediately discern the intention behind these personnel changes.
With training ending earlier, my group naturally had more time to meet. Lately, whenever An Hyeon, An Sol, and Yu-jeong met, they wouldn't even discuss their future paths; they would just look to me for everything.
"Hyeong, what are you planning to do?"
"Oppa. What about you? You must have gotten a lot of offers. Do you have any plans to join somewhere?"
"..."
"Who said I didn't think about it? I just wanted to hear your thoughts first."
"I'm still thinking. What if you and I have different ideas?"
"What do you mean? Of course, I'll follow you, Oppa."
"Right, right. I trust you too, Hyeong. Go for it."
An Hyeon, who was listening from the side, nodded and chimed in. It seemed like these kids thought I was some kind of magic charm lately. When I asked why, An Sol replied with a bright smile, "Because if we just listen to you, Su-hyeon Oppa, good things happen even in our sleep."
I could only shake my head with a bitter smile. It seemed my devotion during the Rite of Passage and the fame I gained at the User Academy had created a powerful synergy effect on them. On one hand, I was grateful for their trust, but for now, I wanted to hold my tongue. I would speak before graduation, but I felt the time wasn't right yet.
Kim Han-byeol no longer even showed her face. I heard that even when she and Yu-jeong saw each other, they would pass by without a word. She, too, had shown potential to rank among the top female users, so it seemed various clans were drooling over her.
While the promising users were smugly weighing offers from different clans, many others had received none. These users grew increasingly anxious as graduation approached.
Once they left, they would surely find clans to join in small or regular cities, even if the major clans were out of reach. But as the saying goes, "if you're going to get it, get the best," and some users still clung to the hope of joining a major clan. Rumor had it that some female users were doing some rather bold things. Now that they had grown friendly with the instructors, some were apparently using their bodies as bait to get closer. It was a clear sign of how fiercely they were all pushing and pulling against each other.
Watching the kids become more and more complacent, I nagged them to focus on their training since it was still training season. There was a reason the User Academy period was set for three months. The golden period for rapidly increasing stats varied from user to user, but it was generally between 90 to 100 days.
The kids grumbled, but they shut their mouths when I told them that later they wouldn't be able to raise their stats even if they wanted to. I also dedicated myself to training even more to lead by example. In my past life, I never skipped a single day of training until I reached the state of a Sword Master.
And so, time flowed on, and graduation season drew ever closer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Training had moved into the 13th week, and graduation was just a day away. The users were slowly wrapping up their time at the academy. The instructors, who had been strict during training, were now quite lenient outside of it. During this free time, users took care of personal matters or gathered in small groups to chat.
The day passed quickly, and soon night fell. As it was the last day, the users sharing the same dorm held a small get-together. The instructors also turned a blind eye, just telling them not to overdo it. This wasn't just happening in my dorm; it was the same in all the others.
It wasn't a grand party, just some dried meat they had been supplied with and some alcohol. Still, the users who hadn't seen alcohol in a while went wild, excitedly talking and drinking. An Hyeon and I met each other's eyes, nodded slightly, and stood up from our seats. At Yu-jeong's suggestion, we had decided to sneak out of our respective dorms and have our own separate celebration.
An Hyeon and I slipped out of our seats and successfully made our way out the door. Everyone was already tipsy, arms slung over each other's shoulders, chanting, "We did it!" With all that commotion, sneaking out was a piece of cake.
I habitually checked my pockets and realized I was out of cigarettes. I must have left them in the dorm. I told An Hyeon to go on ahead to our meeting spot and turned back. An Hyeon asked what the big deal was if I didn't smoke, but as a devoted smoker, I had a habit of needing a cigarette when I drank.
After sending An Hyeon off, I returned to the dorm, grabbed my cigarettes, and headed back out. The meeting place was a corner of the Academic Information Hall. It was a rather bold move, but at this point, even if we were caught, we'd likely get off without any serious trouble.
The deep night sky was casting a dark twilight over the land. I was hurrying my steps across the large, empty training ground toward the building in the distance. And just as I was about to pass the restrooms on the side...
"Ah... ugh... ahn..."
A strange, breathless moan leaked out from inside the restroom. My sensitive hearing must have caught it. Curiosity piqued, I carefully opened the tightly shut restroom door. I tried to be as quiet as possible, but the door creaked, the sound echoing around. However, before I had time to worry about the noise, a strange heat wafted out from within the open door, enveloping my entire body.
"Uwaaah... ahn... heung!"
Heung. The inside was a mess. The first thing I saw was clothes strewn about and a user wearing an instructor's cap. And beneath his stomach, a woman moaned. Her jet-black, short-cut hair was splayed across the floor, and her legs, with their fine thigh lines, were spread wide, flailing in the air. That face... I'd definitely seen it once or twice before.
The man on top of her was clearly an instructor. Every time he slammed his hips down with all his might, the woman's body thrashed like a fish, letting out uninhibited cries.
"Be... quiet! Your... moans... are too... loud!"
"Ahng...! It's because you're so rough, Instructor... heung... uh... uhn...!"
He moved his hips rhythmically with each word. The instructor, who had been mercilessly pounding his lower body into her, seemed to be running out of steam. He gave one last powerful thrust while still inside her and then stopped moving. The woman lying beneath him shuddered and hugged him tightly.
They savored the afterglow for a moment. Then, the lips of the woman with the ecstatic expression parted.
"You promised, right? You said you'd get me into your clan..."
"I told you not to worry. Wait for me after the closing ceremony tomorrow. I'll come get you."
After they finished speaking, they started moving their hips again. Lewd moans filled the restroom. Having grasped the situation from their conversation, I closed the door again. Unlike the Western Continent, there was no coercion here, but it was impossible to completely prevent such incidents from happening, especially when a new female user willingly used her body as bait, even on the strictly regulated Northern Continent.
I thought I should hurry to the Information Hall and turned around. And then.
"Huk."
"..."
I let out an involuntary gasp. I don't know when she got there, but Han-byeol was standing right behind me, staring at me. Even though I hadn't been sensing for presences and had my guard down, I was surprised that I hadn't felt her approach. It seemed I had been too focused on the rare sight of a man and woman's affair.
I quickly composed my expression and spoke calmly.
"You scared me. When did you get here?"
"I went to your dorm to talk, Oppa, but you weren't there. On my way back, I saw you go into your dorm and come out again, so I followed you."
"Then, inside the restroom...?"
The words "did you see?" were left unsaid, but she seemed to understand. She blushed slightly and avoided my gaze, which suggested she had seen everything from the beginning. I felt like I'd been caught doing something, but since I hadn't done anything wrong, I decided to act confidently. First, we needed to leave this spot for the sake of their... enjoyable time.
I quieted my footsteps and began to walk slowly. My destination was the Academic Information Hall. She trotted behind me, soon matching my pace beside me. We walked side-by-side under the cold moonlight. A silence lingered between us, perhaps due to the earlier awkwardness. It was Han-byeol who broke the silence first.
"The female user you just saw in there is probably someone named Lee Ji-young."
"Lee Ji-young... I think I've seen her once or twice."
"You don't know her?"
I tilted my head at Han-byeol's wide-eyed question. Of course I didn't know her. She wasn't particularly skilled, nor was she close to me, so how would I? She was quite pretty, but honestly, after seeing Yu-jeong, Sol, and Han-byeol so often, she was just average. I answered with a matter-of-fact expression.
"I don't. How would I? We've never even exchanged a single word."
At my words, Han-byeol's expression changed to one of relief. I grew more curious about this user, Lee Ji-young. Who on earth was she that Han-byeol would react like this just because I didn't know her? Before I could continue that line of thought, I heard Han-byeol's voice.
"It's better that you don't. She doesn't have a very good reputation among us either. As you just saw... there were rumors like that going around. I never thought I'd see it for myself, though. But Oppa, why were you there?"
"The kids and I decided to have a little party inside the Academic Information Hall to celebrate graduation. On my way there, I heard a strange noise from the restroom, so I opened the door and saw... that. Anyway. Since we've met, do you want to come too?"
I wanted to say, "You're coming too, right?" but my relationship with Han-byeol had been distant lately, so I couldn't bring myself to say it so casually. At my words, she lowered her head and stared at the ground. I suddenly thought her ears, peeking out from between her jet-black hair, were quite adorable. As I was lost in such trivial thoughts, I saw her lips slowly begin to part.
"I'd like to talk... for a moment."
Right, she said she had something to tell me. There was no reason to be awkward now, so I nodded readily. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since the two of us had talked alone.
"I received an offer from the Golden Lion Clan."
"...Yeah."
"They said they rarely accept new users directly, but they're making a special exception to increase their numbers this time. They also said they could provide a lot of help for my growth, especially since my class is a mage type. And... they said if I join, they'll recommend me as an executive candidate."
The moment I heard that, I let out a sharp groan. I had expected her to come at me with a straight pitch, but what followed truly surprised me. I didn't understand what she meant by helping a mage-type class grow. Putting that aside, the part about an executive recommendation was enough to make me doubt my ears. No matter how much potential Kim Han-byeol possessed, an executive recommendation was an excessive condition for a new user.
Unless she had a Secret or Rare class... The moment I thought that, a realization struck my mind, and I stopped in my tracks. Seeing me halt so abruptly, Han-byeol looked at me with a strange expression, but I ignored her and immediately activated The Third Eye.
⚔ PLAYER STATUS ⚔
Name:
Kim Han-byeol (Year 0)
Class:
Jewel Mage (Beginner)
Nation:
- (Unsettled)
Clan:
- (Unsettled)
True Name · Nationality:
One Who Originates from the Stars · She Who Wields Beautiful Light and Luster · Republic of Korea
Sex:
Female (22)
Height · Weight:
170.5cm · 45.0kg
Alignment:
Lawful · Chaos
⚡ Strength: 44
🛡️ Endurance: 52
💨 Agility: 64
💪 Stamina: 48
✨ Magic Power: 82
🍀 Luck: 62
"Oppa...?"
Still in a daze, I reflexively and reluctantly nodded at Han-byeol's call. Why? How? Questions chased each other in my mind, but I needed to get a grip.
<You just told me not to tell other users my information.>
<They also said they could provide a lot of help for my growth, especially since my class is a mage type.>
A Jewel Mage would certainly need a clan's help to grow in the beginning. Using jewels as a magical catalyst would cost an enormous amount of money. But that wasn't what was important right now. Kim Han-byeol had not told me that she had obtained the Jewel Mage class. And the fact that she was recommended as an executive for the Golden Lion Clan meant there was a high possibility she had revealed her class to *him*.
For a moment, an inexplicable sense of betrayal surged through me, and I clenched my teeth... but I soon forced myself to relax. When I thought about it, I had decided to treat her as a connection and was prepared to let her go if necessary. The fact that such a feeling had flared up meant a part of me still held some lingering attachment.
If I had known from the start that she was a Jewel Mage, one of the Secret classes, my attitude might have been different. But I had no intention of rationalizing my own position now. That was the kind of behavior I despised most.
I pushed aside my emotions and filled my mind with cold reason. I quickly controlled my breathing and collected myself. From now on, I would treat her not as a younger sister I had journeyed with, but as just another user.
"I heard the Golden Lion Clan made an offer to you too, Oppa."
Looking at Kim Han-byeol, who spoke with a still-composed face, I replied with an equally calm expression.
"I told them I'd think about it."
"Have you made a decision now?"
"Yes. I'm going to refuse. I have no intention of joining a clan."
"...Why?"
The moment I said I was refusing, I felt her body flinch.
I paused for a moment and then started walking again. She followed, matching my steps. All the while, my eyes were on hers, and hers were on mine. Our gazes held an unspoken, subtle, and complex mix of emotions.
Comments 2