In front of me, the old man sat deep in thought, his hand resting on his chin.
“Hmm… he absorbed the fragment, you say…”
His voice carried a mixture of both awe and doubt.
“It seems there shouldn’t be any problems. Even the tests conducted by Kwang-cheol’s team came back clear.”
I explained to the old man the process of how I had absorbed the fragment, omitting the part about time-traveling seven days into the past.
I simply glossed over that part.
A moment of silence passed.
“Does anyone else know?”
An image of one individual came to my mind.
Kang Ah-rin.
She knows I’ve absorbed the fragment.
I don’t know where she is right now, but…
“Kang Ah-rin knows.”
I mentioned her name.
“Kang Ah-rin? Glory?”
Park Kwang-cheol, who had been quietly listening beside us, responded.
I nodded to him.
“Tiring, isn’t it~”
He murmured.
The old man’s eyes remained closed, as if organizing his thoughts.
The silence stretched on, filling the room.
Then, finally, the old man slowly opened his eyes, sighed deeply, and spoke.
“…Anyway, it was just a matter of time before you revealed yourself to the world.”
His voice carried a mixture of resignation and determination.
“It’s time… to accept it.”
With that, he stood up from his seat.
With heavy steps, he opened the door and looked back at me briefly, saying one last thing.
“Take care.”
I silently watched him leave.
I understood his feelings.
He had lost his daughter, Sion’s mother, to the Demons.
She was a brilliant hero.
But the Demons feared her growth and ultimately killed her.
After that day, the old man changed.
While he trained and nurtured both Sion and me, he avoided exposing us to any places.
He initially opposed both of us even attending Gaon.
But in the end, he bent his beliefs and accepted it.
After the door closed, the silence lingered momentarily in the room.
It was Park Kwang-cheol who broke it first.
“Are you going back to Gaon?”
I briefly replied.
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
He didn’t react to my answer.
Instead, he suddenly said,
“Ah… the midterms are coming up soon, aren’t they?”
Considering the timing, it probably was true.
“Right.”
Park Kwang-cheol slightly smirked and said,
“Got it.”
There was an odd air about his smile.
I returned to Gaon.
Message from Sion: Hae-in, Arat mentioned there’s something up. What is it?
At the dorm entrance. My watch vibrated.
I briefly replied to Sion’s message and simultaneously opened the door.
But when I stepped inside,
“Shit…”
On the day I climbed Mount Baekdu, I had placed the Azalea Sword I received from the Association on my floor.
And now that Azalea Sword had grown roots into the living room floor.
Red vines extended from the sword, transforming the room into a perfect jungle.
The furniture was completely tangled with vines, unrecognizable in form.
Intertwined branches hung from the ceiling, resembling a botanical garden.
I sighed as I pulled out the sword that had been leaning nearby.
“How am I going to clean this up….”
I slashed through the vines blocking my path and approached the center of the living room.
There, the Azalea Sword planted in the middle of the room gleamed as if pleased with itself.
Then,
-Swoosh!
I pulled out the sword with its sheath.
As the roots connected to the sword snapped one by one, the hanging vines began to wither, as if their life force had drained away.
‘I need to quickly return this.’
There wouldn’t be such issues if it were in the hands of a suitable owner.
As I stared at the sword, I thought,
Yoo Hana wasn’t just agreeing to morning jogs; we had also arranged to do partner training together.
I checked the time. 11 PM.
It was too late to meet now, so I needed to make arrangements for tomorrow.
I opened my watch and sent a quick message.
Message from Jung Hae-in: Hey Hana, are you available for partner training tomorrow?
Almost instantly, within 10 seconds, a reply came in.
Message from Yoo Hana: Partner?? What partner?? But I’m up for it anyway.
She replies fast.
I immediately sent a reply.
Message from Jung Hae-in: It’s the partner training we talked about last time, and I also have something to give you.
Message from Yoo Hana: Oh… I remember now. How about the B building training ground at 6 PM tomorrow evening?
I briefly replied, “Sounds good,” closed my watch, and began gathering the withered stems.
But before I closed it, I thought,
How am I going to give this to her?
The Azalea Sword is far from an ordinary item.
Given her personality, it doesn’t seem like she’ll readily accept it.
‘Wait.’
Isn’t this an unnecessary worry?
If I think about it, I could just force it into her hands.
I hung the sword haphazardly from the ceiling light.
This way, at least, it won’t root again.
It was already 11 PM.
‘Time to sleep.’
There was nothing else to think about. It had been a tiring day.
Once again, I arrived exactly at 9:00 AM.
I opened the back door and headed toward my usual seat where Cheon Yeoul was already sitting.
Without a word, I sat beside her.
“Hi.”
I casually greeted her.
However, Cheon Yeoul silently stared at me without a response, as if examining every detail of my body with a focused gaze.
Then, joy quickly filled her expression.
“Anything special about yesterday’s classes?”
I naturally brought up the conversation.
But she still wore a blissful look on her face.
After looking at me for a few seconds, as if snapping back to reality, she opened her mouth.
“Uh…”
Cheon Yeoul still sat neatly, her hands clasped together. She shyly bowed her head.
Unlike her usual energetic self who would enthusiastically strike up a conversation, she now sat quietly, behaving properly.
“What’s up with you this morning?”
Though I tried to converse naturally, Cheon Yeoul still avoided meeting my eyes.
Her fingertips fidgeted, and she seemed lost in thought.
Finally, she whispered carefully.
“Well… it’s just…”
“Just?”
“Something… feels different…”
Cheon Yeoul quickly glanced up at my face, then blushed and turned away.
I tapped my desk lightly.
Apparently, even she, one of the candidates for the title of Saint, instinctively noticed my change.
After all, Sacred Power and the essence of the fragment share similar aspects.
But before Cheon Yeoul could ask more, the front door of the classroom opened.
-Click.
It was Do Han-seong.
With his usual calm expression, he entered, walked to the podium, and calmly opened the attendance sheet.
“Kang Ah-rin.”
A brief silence.
She wasn’t here today.
Do Han-seong, without much ado, finished attendance and started the lecture right away. It wasn’t particularly important content.
A detailed theoretical lesson about various weapons.
While necessary, considering the curriculum that focuses on practical weapon combat skills, it wasn’t crucial.
I passively listened with one ear and let the other tune out as I killed time.
As the classroom atmosphere relaxed and concentration waned,
Do Han-seong turned towards the students and slowly spoke.
“As I mentioned last Monday, next week will be midterm exams.”
The classroom buzzed with noise.
Midterms.
Gaon’s first midterms are quite famous.
It’s not just a grade evaluation.
Here, the exam is a Value Assessment.
Also nicknamed ‘The Bidding War’ among students.
This system works like a bidding war where guilds, organizations, or individual teams watch the students’ performances during the exam, evaluating and “bidding” on them.
Each group places money bets to secure the students they want in a bidding process.
Students who are bid on form an automatic connection with the respective group and get opportunities to gain practical experience through guild internships or special programs.
And the bidding amounts naturally influence Gaon’s rankings.
A bone-deep capitalist system.
Students go to great lengths to seize what might be their only chance to shine.
To get higher bids from guilds and organizations, they need to appeal as much as possible during the exam.
It’s almost like a student auction.
“Of course, as you may already know, this semester’s midterms will also be conducted as a Value Assessment.”
Do Han-seong finished speaking and turned back to write a memo on the board.
“Thus, I will now provide a list of major organizations participating in this assessment.”
Major organizations are the targets of all students. While non-major groups also participate, for students, the goal is usually the major organizations.
Every student’s attention was drawn to the board.
-Glory
Naturally expected.
As the world’s number one guild and the most powerful group.
-Lotus
Same here.
The world’s second-ranked guild next to Glory.
-Arcadia
“Hmm…”
Arcadia’s involvement in such assessments isn’t common.
Perhaps they’re looking to select specialized healing support members.
After that, several more names of major organizations were listed on the board.
And just as it seemed like the list was closing,
Do Han-seong added one more organization’s name last.
-Vanguisher
Instantly, the classroom started buzzing.
-Vanguisher? Really?
-Wow, they’re participating this time.
Seong Si-woo, who was sitting at the front row, jumped up in his seat to stare at the board.
Whispers erupted throughout the room.
It made sense.
Vanguisher was renowned for not recruiting members.
Naturally, they didn’t participate in value assessments either.
But this time, their name was up as a major organization.
This held significant implications for the students.
Vanguisher’s direct involvement in the assessment signaled an intention to recruit at least one member.
However, I was…
“Why are they here…”
I couldn’t help but feel confused.
Vanguisher didn’t participate in the evaluations in the original story.
-Ah.
“Ah… are the midterms coming up soon?”
I remembered.
The mysterious words and the smile Park Kwang-cheol had directed at me.
I covered my face with my hand.
*
