“It was my first time fighting her, but she was incredibly skilled. Thanks to that, I learned a lot.”
I couldn’t help but be a little surprised at his words. Of course, Seo Ji-an was also very talented, but I thought that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with Hwang Ji-hak, who was still the top of the grade.
It seemed that Seo Ji-an had also grown much faster than in the original story, perhaps due to the many chAlanges she had faced, including the battle with Hektel.
“Oh, right. So what does that make us?”
“. . . If we had stayed the same, we probably would have been humiliated.”
“Oh, I totally told you to surrender obediently or something like that.”
Lee Yoon-hyeop and Baek Yu-jung, who had been targeting our team since the beginning of the exam, approached me with embarrassed expressions and told me what had happened after that.
“I went to see Guilford like you said, and the other team members were already wiped out, so he couldn’t do anything by himself.”
“I told you I was sorry. Just stop nagging me. How was I supposed to fight Guilford in the first place?”
Even though we were in the same Class A, the gap in strength within the class was severe since there were no higher grades.
Anyway, the exam was over, and I had some free time for a while.
So I went back to my usual routine, planning for the future and continuing to train.
「. . . 𝙊𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.」
Probably, there won’t be any major turning points in the story until the next vacation, except for some minor incidents.
But the problem was after that.
The part where the difficulty level started to rise sharply in the original story, and the episode where the protagonist Yoo Ha-on and her group began to get involved with the Academy’s external forces in earnest.
The division within the Three Great Houses would begin from within the Cheong family.
「𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙣.」
Basically, since it’s something outside the Academy, it will be common to encounter powerful people or dangerous people who can’t be matched with my current level.
Of course, in the game, such characters didn’t directly engage in battle, but this is reality.
If I’m not careful, anything could happen.
「. . . . . .」
I had been paying a lot of attention to that part since before, so I had come up with a few countermeasures.
But no matter how much I prepared, it wouldn’t be enough. This place where I stand now is none other than a world in Hell difficulty.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙-𝙤𝙣.」
So, from now on, I’m going to start putting the first piece in place.
「𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚.」
Thinking of the Cheong family’s enshrined deity sleeping in the shrine and one of the Cheong family elders who was desperate to get it, I looked up at the sky with a straight gaze.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
𝙖ẇ̇𝕖𝚋ṡ̇ṫ̇ᴏ𝕣𝘪𝙚𝔰.𝙘𝕠𝕞
“So, you’re saying you don’t want to train with me?”
“It’s not that, I just have somewhere I need to be.”
“Tch, and the last time you promised to bring me souvenirs, you didn’t.”
I let out a sigh as I looked at Cheong Juhwa grumbling beside me.
I really don’t remember that because I was out of my mind in Spain back then. Still, I was the one who made the promise, so there’s no way I can make excuses.
“I heard you’re teaching Ha-on some special spells.”
“. . . . . .”
“You mentioned that being on a team was essential for the rest of your life. Is this because there are no other well-known playboys out there? Or are you saying this because you’ve already given it a try?”
It’s true that I haven’t been paying much attention to Cheong Juhwa lately. So I couldn’t blame her for feeling hurt.
“I only said that because I knew you’d figure it out on your own. If you want, I can teach you the same things.”
“. . .You’re not lying, right? If you ignore me again this time, I’ll really ignore you for good.”
Since I’ve already passed on future spells to Yoo Ha-on, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t teach it to her.
Actually, maybe Cheong Juhwa would be able to use that knowledge more effectively than Yoo Ha-on.
After all, she’s a genius with the only EX-rank ability score in exorcism part 1.
「𝙀𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙪𝙥, 𝙬𝙚’𝙡𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.」
Unlike in the original story, the current Cheong Juhwa is closer to me than to Yoo Ha-on’s group. So the episodes themselves will probably unfold quite differently from the original.
If I can prepare for that to some extent, then there’s no reason to hold back on the knowledge I have.
“Okay. Then I’ll forget about the souvenirs. So where are you going this weekend?”
“Hanam.”
“. . .Why there all of a sudden?”
Cheong Juhwa tilted her head and made a slightly surprised expression.
When I gave her a questioning look, she replied with an expression that said it was just a coincidence.
“Because the house I lived in with my grandmother was in Hanam.”
“Oh.”
Now that I think about it, that’s right. Hanam is where Cheong Juhwa’s house is.
My goal was to meet someone else there, but maybe Cheong Juhwa knows that person too.
「𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙛𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮.」
I was staring blankly ahead, not thinking about anything in particular, when Cheong Juhwa hesitated for a moment before speaking to me.
“. . .Would you like to come over to my house when you have time?”
“Me? To your house?”
“Yes. My grandmother has heard about you and said she’d like to see you once.”
“Well, I don’t mind. . . . . .”
Just like that, without giving me a chance to refuse, we suddenly made plans for me to visit her house.
“I’ll go over there on Saturday morning. Eat before you come.”
“. . . . . .”
To be honest, I was curious about Cheong Juhwa’s house, which had been mentioned a few times in the story. It wouldn’t hurt to go there once.
I watched Cheong Juhwa walk away gracefully after our conversation, and I slowly registered the promise we had just made.
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