Carrying a hopeful dream, Ashikaga Hitomi arrived in South Korea, only to feel slightly disappointed after sensing the ki emanating from her homeroom teacher.
‘This person is B-rank. That makes them my level, huh. How can someone like this be a teacher?’
Following the direction of the homeroom teacher, she was led to Class B.
“Hello! I’m Ashikaga Hitomi from Japan! Nice to meet you all, and I look forward to getting along with everyone!”
The students, however, left little impression on her.
At best, they were C-rank and D-rank Awakened Ones.
There was none of the irregularity she had anticipated.
‘They say Korea is a hero powerhouse, but I guess an academy filled only with students has its limits, huh?’
Right as she was about to discard her hopes for Korea, the homeroom teacher’s next statement interrupted her thoughts.
“For Hitomi, there’s an open seat… Ah, next to Shinnoda. Shinnoda, take care of her.”
The homeroom teacher pointed towards the corner by the window where a lone boy sat.
He had blonde hair and golden eyes, exuding a cold aura reminiscent of a regal lion.
His appearance struck Ashikaga Hitomi as very appealing, like the delinquent-types she favored.
For a moment, their eyes met.
‘Huh? Who is this guy?’
Strangely, Hitomi couldn’t sense any magic from Shinnoda.
Considering even an unawakened person possesses a faint amount of mana, this was unusual.
The only case she knew of where she couldn’t feel any power was in the presence of an overwhelming skill gap.
‘An overwhelming difference in strength.’
Unbeknownst to her, Shinnoda was currently practicing a technique to hide his powers at the suggestion of Laura.
Hitomi developed a keen interest in Shinnoda.
She thought his piercings were just part of styling, as she considered them everyday accessories.
Handsome and stylish, he seemed to be her type. Added to this, he was likely talented as well.
He was everything Hitomi looked for.
Eventually, during lunchtime, she decided to take action.
“Hehe, I don’t quite understand Korean well… But Mister Shin! Could you show me around the school?”
“Huh?”
Thus, Shinnoda and Ashikaga Hitomi began exploring the school together.
“That’s the annex over there, and if you go right from there, you’ll find the academy’s gate. And the cafeteria is this way…”
While guiding Hitomi down the hall, Shinnoda accidentally crossed paths with Yang Min-seo, who had obvious dark circles under her eyes.
Yang Min-seo had recently started her own company and had been working until dawn, causing her to oversleep and be late.
“Uh… Have you eaten yet? Hmm.”
“Not yet. I was going to finish showing her around before I eat. Do you want to come along?”
“No, I need to go to the staff room first. By the way, who is this?”
Hitomi realized it was her turn to introduce herself.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Ashikaga Hitomi, an exchange student from Japan.”
“Ashikaga…?”
Yang Min-seo crossed her arms and paused for a moment before exclaiming as though it had clicked.
“I remember, don’t I? The Ashikagas, who wield influence in Japan’s electronics industry, weren’t they the owners of S-Corporation? Could you be their child?”
“Eh? You know about Ashikaga? That’s impressive! Where do you come from?”
Yang Min-seo was taken aback by Hitomi’s surprise and replied.
“My grandfather is the president of K Group. And starting today, I’m the president of K Management.”
Yang Min-seo then handed over a business card that read “President Yang Min-seo.”
“What is this? It’s super sleek. Must be some expensive material, huh?”
Shinnoda held her card between his thumb and forefinger, examining it.
“Hehe. I did spend a bit of money on it. Sometimes I like to flex too.”
“Wow, impressive.”
“I must be going now. Nice to meet you, Ashikaga. Let’s be friends!”
Hitomi waved to see her off.
“Yeah, we’ll be friends! And drop the honorifics. We’re friends now!”
“I’m comfortable this way, thank you.”
Shinnoda interjected, worried Hitomi might feel alienated if she misunderstood that Yang Min-seo was setting boundaries.
“Yeah, Min-seo usually speaks in honorifics.”
“Hmm—I see.”
Hitomi nodded. After all, she recalled encountering similar types.
‘Building a relationship with K Group’s daughter on my first day—lucky! This country will definitely be helpful.’
Hitomi felt she had made the right choice in approaching Shinnoda. He didn’t seem ordinary at all—handsome and strong, with connections to the child of Korea’s number one company, K Group.
‘He must be special!’
She mused that she might have even found her ideal partner already.
“See you later then.”
“Yeah, good luck. By the way, if you run into Hyeon-ah, it could get messy. Hehe.”
“Ah.”
With a playful comment, Yang Min-seo teased Shinnoda, then left. She was internally uneasy that a Japanese tycoon’s daughter was trying to get close to someone she already considered her own territory.
“Who’s Hyeon-ah? Is she your girlfriend?”
Hitomi asked out of curiosity. Shinnoda looked uncomfortable.
“Just… another female friend.”
Shinnoda tried brushing it off casually and quickly returned to guiding her around the school. By the time they had finished touring the campus, they were close to Class A of the 1st grade.
“I’m here anyway, let me take care of something.”
Shinnoda briefly entered Class A in search of Yongcheonhwa but found she wasn’t there.
“Hey, aren’t you from Class A?”
“Uh, y-yeah…”
Shinnoda approached a passing student who stiffened immediately at the mention, clearly aware of Shinnoda’s reputation.
“Do you know Yongcheonhwa from your class? Any idea where she went?”
“Yongcheonhwa? She might have been dragged off by Na-yeon. Sorry, I don’t know the specifics…”
The mention of someone dragging Yongcheonhwa away hardened Shinnoda’s face. The student assumed responsibility and trembled fearfully.
“Uh, sorry! I really don’t know!”
“Hmm? What are you apologizing for? Anyway, thanks.”
Shinnoda began inquiring other students about Na-yeon’s whereabouts, heading off to find her.
*
Behind the annex.
A place frequented by less savory students for smoking or scheming, due to the proximity to the mountainous area and its sparse foot traffic.
Popular girls from Class A were bullying Yongcheonhwa.
“Hey, doesn’t my word sound reasonable enough?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Didn’t you lose the bet? Hurry up and bring me 120,000 won.”
Yongcheonhwa had always been an outsider in middle school and wanted to fit in with the cool kids in high school.
Ever since the start of the school year, she had clung onto the delinquent group like a rice cake, trying to be closer to them.
Since she was quite pretty, the group didn’t completely shun her, but her lack of street smarts was obvious.
One day, wanting to test her, the leader of the gang decided to trouble Yongcheonhwa.
They would intentionally pick fights or hit her while laughing it off as a joke, telling her not to take things so seriously.
To continue being part of their group, Yongcheonhwa laughed it off herself and began to be seen as an easy target.
Over time, she was labeled a “lackey”.
“I… Well, I don’t get that much allowance, and my family isn’t rich…”
“C’mon, people might think we’re extorting you. You voluntarily lost the bet. Are you some kind of loser? Why not extort someone else?”
“But…”
The bet.
It was their method of extorting money while maintaining psychological dominance over her.
They collaborated with other students to rig bets Yongcheonhwa couldn’t possibly win while threatening that not participating meant losing their friendship.
Thus, Yongcheonhwa was forced into these rigged situations.
Deep down, she knew what was happening, but she denied it with all her might.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to handle the reality mentally: if she wasn’t their friend, she was just a loner in her class.
Tears brimmed in her eyes as she sat there, humiliated.
“I just want to be popular…”
“What are you doing here? Trying to steal money from your friends?”
They continued to harass her.
“Alright, I’ll bring it tomorrow…”
At that moment, Shinnoda and Hitomi arrived.
“What are you guys doing?”
Shinnoda walked towards them with his hands in his pockets, his step casual. Hitomi trailed closely behind.
“Y-You, what are you doing here…”
The arrival of Shinnoda, known as the strongest of the first year, surrounded by various legendary tales of his might, alongside the heavily made-up, pierce-laden Hitomi, caused the popular girls to retreat uneasily.
