Chapter 121 – Skirmish (1)

I stand in front of the library and catch my breath.

“Ha ha… Ha… Fuck.”

Fear.

Fear rules the head. How can a person change like that, Han Ye-rin’s actions have already far exceeded the scope of my understanding.

Gentleness.

I’m afraid of that kindness that pierces my heart. Previously, if it was just a bad consideration, now it is clearly aiming ‘love’ towards me. No, not love Probably not. No it should be never.

“If Han Ye-rin loves me.”

In a rage, he will explode. Then I’ll go crazy.

She used to treat me like a dog and treat me like a human, but now she loves me? I can’t stand the anger, the rage, the hatred. It’s not shameless, it’s disgusting.

I hate Han Ye-rin. She doesn’t just hate it, she hates it. Because it’s the worst relationship in my life.

“Ha…”

She hides in the library to avoid Han Ye-rin. I think I will be able to relieve this terrible feeling once I see something. Take a random book from the bookshelf and open it. It’s a history book

‘The Lost 100 Years’

Back in the old 1990s, when the gates first opened, the first was just pushed back. There were a lot of very strong monsters, and most of all, low-risk monsters could be defeated with normal firearms… But starting from medium-risk monsters, it wasn’t easy. I was just pushed by the overwhelming amount.

‘The ground is full of monsters.’

8 billion, no matter how low I set it.

They were helplessly attacked by an overwhelming amount of 8 billion – more than the entire human race. Even prominent scholars were so desperate that they questioned how mankind survived at that time. Anyway, there is an opportunity for mankind, who had been desperately surviving under the ground, to turn the tide of the war.

‘Awakening’

That’s awakening. Close the book for a moment and look at the author. Lucas Taylor. Englishman. A first-generation Awakener who was awakened for the first time in human history. For the first time in human history, when he was strong enough to step on the ground, the first thing he saw-

‘Fenrir’

It was Fenrir. To be precise, Fenrir and Svarozic. And… Bagda. Lucas Taily is still the only person who has seen all three ‘ultra-high-risk monsters’, which are considered the strongest in history, at the same time.

‘But Lucas is not dead’

He died of old age after the human-monster war ended. Again, open the book.

‘Three high-risk monsters were fighting other monsters’

Lucas calls this a ‘race for first place’. Because monsters grow by eating monsters, it’s just that. According to Lucas, these three demons cooperate-

Tuk-tuk.

“Huh?”

Someone touches my shoulder

“Hello…”

Seol-ah meets her gaze. Seol-ah slowly sits down next to me. Also… You’re not getting eaten, are you? When I consciously move her buttocks, Seol-ah’s expression changes to look like she’s about to cry. Seol-ah sighs in relief as she says it’s okay and sits down as usual.

“What book are you reading…?”

“Lost 100 years.”

“It’s a history book. Taeho… Sooner or later, in mid-November, there will be a ‘searching practice’…”

“Yes?”

Color practice.

It is a simple test in which a few non-aggressive small monsters are released in a controlled area, and the cadets form ‘pairs’ to find the monsters, lock them in cages, and bring them back.

No matter how strong a monster is, if it’s far away, it’s hard to notice it with only ‘spirit’, so the response may be slow. It is one of the required courses that all cadets who wish to become knights must take. But… All of a sudden?

“Why are you suddenly scouting?”

“There’s a search related magic… Taeho. Can I help you?”

Seol-ah laughs.

“It’s a magic that Arin or Socheon-senpai can’t…”

Then he suddenly said that he could only teach him, confidently hehe! After tapping her chest, she looks at me with bright eyes asking if she just wants help.

“Thank you for helping me…?”

“Hehe. I knew that…”

Seol-ah smiles happily. She takes a book from behind and opens it.

“The basics of searching are ‘finding’… So, I usually use ‘Detection Magic’ and ‘Tracking Magic’ in parallel, but these two consume a lot of mana, so it’s difficult to use continuously…”

Seol-ah opens the middle of her book and points to the letters with her finger.

“So, for efficient operations, ‘Detection and Tracking Magic’, which consumes a lot of mana, is used only in emergencies, and in general, artifacts are used for hunting. However, in practice, the use of artifacts is prohibited… So, I Use your magic…”

Seol-ah lifts one of her fingers and makes her magic expression.

“Enhancement magic?”

“To be precise… It is a combination of strengthening magic, resonance magic, and memory magic. Monsters also have their own unique ‘wave’… The waves are as diverse as human fingerprints, but like animal inscriptions, they are indistinguishable from humans. Because I can do it. Focus on this and cast this magic on the ‘ears’, then when I give ‘waves’, store it in the memory magic, and search for monsters based on that…”

This… Definitely helps. No, it’s at the free pass level. By the way, weaving three magic formulas together? Not nested? Just hearing the explanation makes my head hurt. Seol-ah is strong enough to hide the waves, so this must be possible.

“Thank you.”

…I don’t know if I can follow. It’s not just a simple stacking, because combining three magics is practically no different from creating a new magic.

“Huh… Right? Right? It’s very helpful? Because only I can do this. Taeho… Aren’t you happy? Heehee. Because Taeho likes me, I like it too…”

Seol-ah smiles brightly and likes it very much.

“Taeho has a goal, so I want to help as much as I can…”

Because she’s confident she’ll do better than her damn sisters.

“What?”

“Ah, no… Then, I’ll help you use magic… The librarian can say something if you use it here. Hey, let’s go somewhere else…”

Seol-ah grabs my wrist. Instinctively, I try to fall. Seol-ah drags me into her training room. With a bigger stride than before, she hurries to the training room. Her face was full of joy.

It’s the first time I’ve seen Seol-ah so active.

“Tae-ho…”

Arriving at the training room, Seol-ah catches her breath. Fearing that she might not be at the academy, there is almost no one in the training room. No, there are only two.

“Huh? Taeho?”

Yiji finds her sister. An ominous feeling.

“…Do you have snow?”

Her sister walks by As she approaches her nose, Seol-ah frowns in annoyance and stands in front of her sister.

“Arinah… I have something to help Taeho, but can you step aside for a moment?”

“Really? It’s a coincidence. We were also trying to help Taeho with something.”

I can’t.

She looks around, looking for a way out. She has to run away Seol-ah clings to me habitually.

“Oops.”

Instinctively, he drops Seol-ah from her side.

“If you get close, a little…”

Dangerous.

Seol-ah’s eyes widen. Seeing that, her sister raises the corners of her mouth. Approaching her as if she had caught the case, it seemed like a fight would break out.

“What happened? Seol-ah.”

“Oh, nothing happened, uh…”

Seol-ah is embarrassed. Can she run away now? As she moves her body, she is blocked by senior Li So-cheon.

‘Please let me go…!’

Even if I ask with her eyes, she holds on to me and does not let go.

“Huh… Really? But you keep avoiding it? Did you make a mistake?”

“It’s okay though. Even if I make a mistake, it’s because Taeho likes me more than you…”

The nerve war begins again. If you sneak back, the three of you creep forward. Even if you try to escape to the side, the senior blocks it. Ia Lin wrinkles her brow and raises the corners of her mouth.

“Well, I said it’s dangerous. I don’t think it’s any more? I like you more than I do. Isn’t it Taeho?”

“My girlfriend is more…”

As soon as a girlfriend pops out of her mouth.

“Ah…”
“Ugh…”
“Ha…”

The three groan at the same time.

“…Anyway, what? Taeho likes you more? I don’t think so anymore. Look, you’re just avoiding… Something’s going on, right? And what? Is it dangerous? Seeing that you said you went somewhere with Taeho yesterday, and you’re at home I thought you were playing until the night when you smiled, but you came back at sunrise, right? Did you fight?”

Socheon Lee intervenes.

“Wait, Arin. And, as soon as we played with Taeho, he immediately made an appointment and left right away? Did you envy our juniors? If you’re envious of what you’ve played, do you put it into action right away without even going through your brain? I thought you were timid, but you’re terrifyingly fast in front of Taeho, but what? Is it dangerous? Are those words coming out of the mouth of the person who played?”

Why don’t you just fall if it’s dangerous? Damn kid

“…I was considerate. I didn’t forcefully drag you out like the two of you. I went out at that time with ‘request’, and you guys were dragged out with ‘force’. Taeho, are you really tired? I asked the opposite. Crab, what the hell are you guys doing there, so Taeho came here exhausted? He said he was tired enough to want to play more, but you know Taeho has good stamina…?”

“That, that… Write.”

Sparks fly between the three. I don’t know why they fight over me.

I miss my girlfriend…

“You didn’t do anything strange, did you? Arin-ah. Or… Shall I ask Taeho? Why? It’s a difficult subject to answer. Heh, why don’t you look at yourself before telling me to leave? No. And why did you intervene between us from a while ago? You’re going to graduate soon anyway, so why don’t you get involved in a love fight and just go far away and prepare an article…?”

“What? Turn it off?”

“Yes, should I say it again? Get out of the way. Don’t interfere with Taeho and me. He’s the strongest in the 3rd year. He has great potential as a knight. He’ll only care about his family. Why are you even interfering in this love fight? It’s funny. Become a knight as you should now. Don’t bother unnecessarily. Even if you say that, Taeho likes me more.”

Seol-ah raises the corner of her mouth slightly. She glares at Socheon-senpai, telling him to stop talking and go away.

“No, you like me more, right? Taeho?”

“Do you like your girlfriend better?”

“Write.”
“Ha…”
“After…”

When my girlfriend comes out of my mouth, the three of them sigh at the same time.

“…Anyway, our juniors are a bit bold. There’s nothing I can’t say in front of my seniors. Get off?

A chill rises all around.

“It’s interesting. Senpai. As someone said, it’s yours? If you want to try something, do it. Even if you push it like that, in the end, I’ll be the first one.”

Magic power swirls around.

‘Isn’t this… Dangerous?’

“Seol-ah, are you going to keep coming out like that?”

“Why? Arin, are you going to intervene too?”

“No matter how close you are to Tae Ho, I’m first. Get back.”

‘It will turn.’

“That’s funny, back off? Don’t make fun of that mouth. No, don’t open your mouth. I have no intention of conceding the slightest… Give up when you say nice things.”

“No, I can’t give up.”

It looks like it will explode any moment. My whole body is drenched in cold sweat.

“Fuck you…”

‘What?’

Seol-ah, to Ia-rin… Wait, what?

“…What did you just say?”

“Sorry, I guess you didn’t hear me. I’ll say it again.”

Called it fucking

“…”
“…”
“…”

Help me.

Please someone get me out of here

“Let’s try this today, right?”

“I am confident.”

This isn’t spark, it’s like lightning. It looks like it will be baked in electricity. If these three stick together, the aftermath does not end in the training room.

“Funny, then let’s ask one last question.”

Who does Taeho like more?

“What?”

Me?

“…Me?”

The three nodded. If I say it wrong, it feels like it will split in half, and my lips don’t come apart easily.

There is only one way left.

“When we were playing yesterday, Taeho… Said he liked me better…”
“It’s a coincidence, two days ago you said you liked me better.”

I said I don’t know… I make up words that I don’t know, so I don’t want to be pushed back in the slightest.

“So, who do you like more, Taeho?”

Senior Lee Socheon asks. Of course, the answer is fixed.

“…My girlfriend.”

“Write.”
“Ah.”
“Oops.”

The three groan at the same time.

“Not his girlfriend… Out of the three of us…”

“Girlfriend.”

“Ha…”
“Ugh…”
“Whoa…”

The three put their hands on their foreheads at the same time.

I’d rather have a real girlfriend…

“Anyway, Taeho likes me more…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Seol-ah. He likes me more.”
“Me too…”

The three fight nervously.

Sreuk- Boom!

The door to the training room opens.

“Oh, Tae-ho…”

“…Han Ye-rin?”

As soon as my mouth leaves, the three of them turn their heads at the same time. When our eyes meet, Han Ye-rin’s cheeks blush.

“…I came because I wanted to see you. But, what the hell…”

She puts on Han Ye-rin’s innocent smile, but gets embarrassed when she sees the woman next to her.

“With Lee Je-ja… Han Seol-ah?”

“…Write!”

As soon as Han Ye-rin’s lips close, it accelerates her blood flow and quickly escapes her training room. Maybe she’s only been running for a while, she barely gets to the bench and catches her breath.

“Haha…”

Really, it’s piled up.

*

*

*

Han Ye-rin opened the door and came in. The eyes of the three focus on Han Ye-rin.

Han Ye-rin… She looks at her Tae-ho, full of her innocence like a pure girl. When her gaze meets Tae-ho, she sees ‘guilt’ in her gaze, and the three of them panic. That familiar feeling.

“With Lee Je-ja… Han Seol-ah?”

‘Could it be… Han Ye-rin too?’

Is she in love with the same man? As soon as Han Ye-rin’s mouth was closed, Tae-ho ran away.

“Ah, ah… Taeho, run away again…”

Having said that, she seemed to have no choice.

“I also… Have done something.”

I look at Tae-ho, who runs away, with blank eyes. His cheeks dyed red and he sighed briefly. Seeing that, the three thoughts interlocked.

‘Really… Do you like it?’

Hard to understand. No, after bothering you like that…?

‘Right. These days Taeho is by my side…’

Did you help out often?

Let’s think until there.

Doubt turns into certainty.

“You, you… I can’t believe…”

Han Seol-ah staggers toward Han Ye-rin.

“…Taeho, do you like it?”

As soon as her mouth is closed.

Han Ye-rin’s face turns bright red, and she shakes her head saying no and quickly leaves her seat. The sound of her footsteps gradually recedes. She is ashamed Negative, but not negative.

Han Ye-rin likes Tae-ho. Let’s think that far –

“What?”
“Uh?”
“Yes?”

Three.

Fall into the abyss of incomprehensibility

“…Are you kidding me?!”

The number of years has increased by one more.

That, too, was completely unexpected.