Chapter 685

〈 Chapter 685 〉 Part 2, Chapter 4, Section 12

<3 weeks ago, Hero Academy Dormitory>.

“Are you saying you’re moving out? Hey, don’t joke around.”

Su Ri giggled while munching on the cream pie Yuna had bought.

“What, are you trying to change roommates? Oh my, does that mean you’ve grown tired of me?”

“I’m not changing rooms; I really am moving out. I’m serious. I’m leaving the dormitory. No, I’m leaving the school altogether.”

“Nonsense. So why are you moving out?”

Though Yuna’s expression was dead serious, Su Ri didn’t take it too gravely.

“Why would they kick you out? Did something happen with the administration? They want to expel you or something? But this is a school where people rarely drop out mid-term, and they advertise that fact. Whatever rules they have, they’ll just bend them as they see fit.”

Su Ri held up the letter sent from the academy. It was a notice recommending Yuna’s withdrawal, dated from December last year. This very letter was what caused Yuna to take a trip to calm herself down after receiving a major shock.

“This is all insane nonsense. Insane.”

Zzzt!

Su Ri tore the letter vertically into pieces. The original was carefully kept for potential future lawsuits, but dozens of photocopies were already shredded and thrown into the trash can.

“Do they really think they can expel you? They can’t.”

“Su Ri.”

“If there are rules about such things, they shouldn’t have accepted you in the first place. Cases like yours, where magical power increases after the initial awakening of special abilities, are super rare—like one or two out of a hundred. All the elixirs you’ve consumed so far… If you just hold on for another year, you’ll explode upon graduation and easily reach B Rank—”

“I’m withdrawing.”

Su Ri stabbed the cream pie forcefully with her fork. Yuna wasn’t listening to a word Su Ri said. Su Ri wanted to blow up the cream-colored suitcase by Yuna’s bed right then and there.

“Are you really serious?”

“Yeah, I’ve already submitted the paperwork.”

As much as Su Ri seemed reckless, Yuna’s determination was unshakable. Once she decided, Su Ri couldn’t sway her.

“Alright, alright. Is it because of those jerks? Don’t let anyone hurt you. Those guys are just jealous of you—they live their boring lives while you shine. Think of their complaints as stray dogs barking at a funeral house.”

“That doesn’t matter anymore. I’m withdrawing not because I got hurt by others but because Hero Academy doesn’t offer the future I desire.”

“Haven’t I seen this line before? People who quit their jobs say stuff like ‘there’s no vision here’ or ‘I’m heading toward a better future.’ But Yuna, haa…”

Su Ri scratched her head.

“The more I talk, the more I feel like I’m turning into some kind of old geezer. Is that weird?”

“Nope. Dropping out of a prestigious Hero Academy is practically equivalent to ruining your life.”

“This isn’t going well. I need to talk to your parents.”

“I’ve already told them. They were the first ones I informed.”

Su Ri pulled her hair in frustration. Why did she, a foreigner, have to explain how to survive in this hellish land to Yuna, a pure Korean?

What happened during the break? Unlike Su Ri, who had to stay in the dorm since she had no home, Yuna spent the holidays at home, and they didn’t meet much. Even when they could have met, Yuna was always busy.

Break.

During the short span between January and February, Yuna seemed like a completely different person. The turning point? Her part-time job at Oracle Studio.

“Is this really because you got hired by the guild?”

“Yeah. Actually, I was officially employed long ago. It was just unresolved issues with the academy.”

“I can’t understand this at all… haa.”

Graduating from the academy would make Yuna an elite talent sought after by Korea’s top ten conglomerates.

Even if Yuna’s family wasn’t particularly wealthy and belonged to the middle class, Yuna’s existence alone could attract marriage proposals like marathon racers lining up on tracks. As an E-Rank special ability user, her beauty and figure guaranteed interest regardless of her rank.

“Yuna, listen without misunderstanding. Do you remember that one CEO of a Yu-Sung Group subsidiary who gave a hefty settlement to his ex-wife and married a D-Rank special ability user for her body?”

“Yeah, but that’s not why.”

“…Not that I’m suggesting you become like that, but your worth is at least on that level. Why someone like you… haa. Never mind. I was wrong. If Yoonah has made her decision, that’s final.”

Someone who ranked second nationwide in the college entrance exam chose to attend Hero Academy despite having only E-Rank talent to walk the path of a hero. Could even close friends break the stubbornness of someone whose parents couldn’t sway them?

“Got it. I support you.”

“Thank you.”

“But I want to join you.”

“…Huh?”

Su Ri’s words twisted Yuna’s expression slightly. Su Ri grabbed Yuna’s hands firmly and nodded vigorously.

“Wherever Yoonah goes, Jung Su Ri must follow. What use is attending school without you? You mentioned a foreign company, right? Perfect. Let’s succeed and emigrate overseas with your parents. I’ll help.”

“…No, that won’t work.”

Su Ri, who had resolved to help Yuna wholeheartedly, felt hurt when Yuna refused.

“Why? Why can’t I come? What reason do you have?”

“You’re an excellent student at the academy.”

“Don’t you realize how ridiculous that sounds? Your practical skills might be lagging now, but you’re always number one in theory. You’re an excellent student too. Saying we’re different is absurd.”

“…”

Yuna turned her gaze towards the window. Su Ri ran in front of her, grabbed her face, and continued questioning.

“You’re smart enough to rival academy professors in terms of theory, despite the limits of your magic power. After graduation, they’d hire you as an assistant professor with a salary over 200 million won. And that’s not all—you know how much attention academia gives you now, right?”

“That’s…”

“Why can’t I help you enter a guild where fieldwork is more common and you’ll immediately encounter monsters? Yuna, if you really want, I’d quit too-”

“…Su Ri. Actually.”

At Su Ri’s earnest interrogation, Yuna tightly shut her eyes.

“During my part-time job in the winter break, I accidentally…with a guy I met…”

“……What?”

The bombshell left Su Ri frozen in shock.

“….My period hasn’t come this month.”

They say quiet cats get to the kitchen first. With a beet-red face, Yuna pulled out a photo of a magical gear.

“Kk.”

There stood a woman with brown short hair whom Su Ri knew all too well, playfully biting a large, thick stick with her mouth while forming a V sign with two fingers covering her eyes. She was even naked, her precious hair soaked in white sticky liquid.

“T, That… Brother and… I didn’t realize…!”

Su Ri fainted from the overwhelming shock.

* * *

Jung Su Ri.

She currently brought Xian.w.Hibiscus, Baek Cheonghwa, separately into a warehouse. His reddened eyes struggled to catch his breath, and Su Ri locked the door, closing her eyes in the confined space.

“…Look, I didn’t bring you here to make you cry.”

“I know. I know, but…”

Had she ever made a man cry in her life? Definitely not under these circumstances. Su Ri found herself baffled by the sight of Cheonghwa’s tear-streaked face.

“…I don’t intend to interfere with your sex life, but you may or may not have heard: Yuna is my classmate and best friend.”

“I know. She’s Huamae.”

“But suddenly one day, Yuna started hanging out with some blonde chick…and then she tells me she’s dropping out. Not only that, she’s leaving the secure academy to join a guild. So I asked, and guess what? She’s pregnant. Tell me honestly, is this true or not?”

“…It’s true.”

Cheonghwa’s answer, delivered after barely regaining composure, was astonishing.

“True?”

“Yes.”

“…You admit to getting Yuna pregnant?!”

“…That, the order…hhuu…”

Cheonghwa shrank back in fear, his shoulders trembling. Their reflection on the glass window clearly depicted a villainous scene of a superpowered individual intimidating a civilian. Su Ri briefly remembered that the man opposite her was merely a rich non-special ability user.

“So let me recap. You and Yuna had a good relationship, used condoms, but then Yuna went all natural?”

“…Well, although it’s crude, that’s the truth…”

“Why didn’t you resist?”

“How could I resist when she suppressed me with her magic power?”

Su Ri couldn’t argue against that. Just recently at an underground shopping center, if someone had magic power, a 140cm girl could beat up a 3-meter tall monster. The world had transcended the frame of men raping women, evolving into one where special ability users oppressed the powerless.

“I suggested using condoms…”

“Uh, um…”

Su Ri wasn’t naive. Though the same age as Yuna, she had experienced more twists and turns since childhood, fully aware of the difference between using or not using condoms, even if she remained a virgin.

The situation pointed to only one conclusion. Su Ri immediately tapped on the magical gear.

[Su Ri? What’s wrong?]

“Hey, Yoonah. There’s Mr. Baek Cheonghwa in front of me right now?”

[…….]

Yuna fell silent. Su Ri bit her lips, praying desperately that nothing untoward had happened, then cautiously spoke.

“Did you perform a pregnancy attack?”

[Yoo…Ri, um, something a close younger sibling told me…]

Yuna’s voice trembled like a quivering willow.

[Honestly, I acknowledge wanting to get pregnant.]

“…”

Su Ri barely swallowed the words rising to her throat. As Yuna prepared to continue, Su Ri cut off the call and sank into thought.

“Huu, huuh…”

Baek Cheonghwa wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, panting heavily.

“…”

Slap!

Su Ri slapped her own cheeks with both hands.

“What, what are you doing?!”

“I needed to do this to snap out of it.”

Su Ri turned away from Cheonghwa.

“I, I understand now. I made a huge misunderstanding. So-”

“Wait!!”

Cheonghwa hastily grabbed Su Ri’s wrist. Despite being a powerless man who had forced unprotected sex on a woman, Su Ri oddly didn’t resist his grip.

“P, please, I have a favor!”

“…Even though I misunderstood, you still manipulated innocent Yuna, right? Let go. Before I call someone.”

“Please join our team!”

“Team member?”

Cheonghwa took out a business card from his wallet and handed it to Su Ri. The pink card with gold foil prominently displayed “Oracle Studio.”

“Oracle…”

“Would you consider doing your internship at our guild?”

“I’ll think about it…but there’s a condition.”

After freeing herself from Cheonghwa’s grip, Su Ri pointed at herself.

“If you can defeat me.”

Cheonghwa grinned widely, and Su Ri felt a chill run down her spine as if falling into some strange abyss.

* * *

A little later.

After wiping away all the tears given by Gaon, I called Yuna.

“Yuna, I’m sorry.”

[Mr. President is bad.]

I instructed Yuna to lie. Specifically, if Su Ri called to confirm, Yuna agreed to pretend as if she admitted to what she had done to me.

“But Yuna, it’s not entirely a lie, right? We don’t need that between us, do we? Hehe.”

[You turned my body into one that doesn’t need condoms.]

“So you’re using them?”

[Is the price of aligning with your lies condoms? That’s unfair.]

Yuna’s pouting face made me laugh involuntarily. No matter how hard Yuna tried to save Su Ri from my clutches, as a heroine, her fate was predetermined.

“Yuna, are the kids there? Listen carefully. Our A-Rank target has been decided.”

[Somehow, I felt it would end up like this.]

“It’s not necessarily so. When there’s an easy way, why make it difficult?”

Due to the snowball effect of Yuna, our Mission 3 conditions changed.

“A-Rank special ability user, <Huamae>, needs to be defeated.”

Defeating Jung Su Ri in a 1-on-1 battle is undoubtedly the best way to bring her to bed.

“Hey, Harang. Yo.”

They say water counters fire.