Chapter 67.

After finishing his evening training, Kim Suho headed to Cube’s cafeteria . Although Cube had several restaurants and cafes, the cafeteria was the only place cadets could eat for free . As such, Kim Suho and other cadets from non-wealthy backgrounds frequented this place . Most likely because it was summer break, only few cadets were inside the cafeteria .

Kim Suho ordered a dinner set, then headed to grab a random seat .

“Huh? Why are you guys here?”

But on one table, he found two people he never expected to see, Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun . They were whispering to themselves and were startled when Kim Suho came up to them . Then, they dodged each other’s gazes with somewhat awkward gesticulations .

“O-Oh, you’re here . ”

Chae Nayun then spoke up .

“What were you two talking about?”

“Nothing . ”

Kim Suho sat down next to Chae Nayun, then Chae Nayun sniffed him .

“Did you come from the Fitness Center?”

“What’s the point in sitting around, right?”

“…You’re obsessed . Can’t you take a break for a day?”

Chae Nayun narrowed her eyes .

“Rather than that, why are you guys here? I thought you didn’t like cafeteria food . ”

Kim Suho couldn’t understand what Chae Nayun was doing here . She was well known for eating her every meal at restaurants . No one would have expected to see her in the academy’s cafeteria .

“Well… I realized during the final exam that my pickiness can become detrimental . ”

Chae Nayun was speaking in a grave tone, but Yoo Yeonha immediately added a piercing jab .

“You stopped eating after three spoonfuls . ”

“…I wasn’t hungry . ”

Hearing Chae Nayun’s excuse, Kim Suho lightly smiled as he picked up his spoon .

Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun glanced at him, then met each other’s eyes .

In truth, Yoo Yeonha and Chae Nayun were talking about what one would expect from girls their age . The topic of their conversation was the person who was at the center of many emotions and mysteries, Kim Hajin .

Suddenly, Yoo Yeonha had a mischievous thought . She tapped Kim Suho’s shoulder .

“Kim Suho . ”

“Hm?”

“Are you close to Kim Hajin?”

Chae Nayun reacted strongly to Yoo Yeonha’s question . She furrowed her brows and glared at Yoo Yeonha . Meanwhile, Kim Suho answered .

“No, I’m not that close . ”

“But you’re probably the closest one out of all the male cadets . ”

“Huh?”

At these words, Kim Suho tilted his head . The corner of Yoo Yeonha’s mouth curled up to a smile as she continued .

“Isn’t it weird? Out of everyone in our class, only a few have talked with Kim Hajin . Be it a guy or a girl, Kim Hajin never approaches them first, and he responds coldly to anyone who approaches him, driving them away . ”

At this point, Chae Nayun’s face contorted to a frown . Yoo Yeonha seemed to be planning on telling Kim Suho about everything they had talked about .

“But there’s one person Kim Hajin is noticeably interested in . Can you guess who?”

Kim Suho stared at Yoo Yeonha for a moment, then made a thin smile .

“Of course, I’m not that dense . ”

“…Really?”

“Haa . ”

Meanwhile, Chae Nayun sighed with mixed feelings and massaged her temples . On the other hand, Yoo Yeonha’s face was filled with an even greater enthusiasm .

“Who is it?”

Rather than answering, Kim Suho looked at Chae Nayun . Chae Nayun also looked back at Kim Suho . Their eyes met, and that was enough of an answer .

“…Agh . ”

Chae Nayun clenched her head and leaned against the back of her chair . Then, as though she found a counterargument, she faced Yoo Yeonha with sparkling eyes .

“Wait, Yoo Yeonha, wasn’t Kim Hajin close to you at first?”

However, Yoo Yeonha cut down her counterargument instantly .

“He approached me because he wanted something from me . ”

Just like Chae Nayun said, Kim Hajin had approached her first . However, his interest disappeared completely once he received the Desert Eagle . Of course, Yoo Yeonha wasn’t disappointed or sad . In fact, it was a clear exchange that Yoo Yeonha preferred .

After striking down Chae Nayun’s argument, Yoo Yeonha quickly asked again .

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Do what?”

Chae Nayun didn’t answer . She was concerned about Kim Suho who was sitting next to her .

Chae Nayun then glanced at Kim Suho . To provoke jealousy, Chae Nayun asked .

“…Hey, what do you think?”

“About what?”

Kim Suho’s reply was completely innocent .

“Oh yeah, you’ve been single your entire life . ”

“…So have you . ”

“What? No, I’m not . I’ll have you know when I was 7… . ”

“Oh~ You guys are here too?”

At that moment, Yi Yeonghan appeared out of nowhere . He sat down next to Yoo Yeonha, and Yoo Yeonha scooted to the side with clear displeasure .

“Yi Yeonghan, you didn’t leave yet?”

“Yeah, and it looks like I came just in time for the interesting part . ”

“You should’ve left . ”

“…Aren’t you being too mean?”

At that moment, the cafeteria door opened once again . Speaking of the devil, the person who walked in was… Kim Hajin . He seemed to have come from the Fitness Center just like Kim Suho as he pushed up his wet hair and pulled out a meal ticket .

Yi Yeonghan chuckled and spoke .

“He’s here too . At least he’s working hard, right?”

Seeing Yi Yeonghan talk condescendingly, Yoo Yeonha felt a deep disappointment . Yi Yeonghan clearly had no clue what he was talking about .

“You should work hard yourself . ”

“Huh? I am! My end of the semester grades are higher than his . ”

“…Sure, just focus on your grades for the rest of your life . ”

At that moment, Kim Hajin received his food in a to-go box, then turned around . He stared at them for a moment before turning around . Although he only looked at them for a split second, Yoo Yeonha made a big fuss .

“You see that? He was looking at Nayun just now . ”

“Okay! I get it! Can you stop talking?”

Chae Nayun yelled, half-embarrassed, half-annoyed . Yi Yeonghan then widened his eyes and cut in .

“What? Chae Nayun likes Kim Hajin?”

“What, where did that come from? Screw off, Yi Yeonghan . ”

Chae Nayun reacted sensitively . One reason was that Kim Suho was sitting next to her, but another was that Yi Yeonghan was known for being a loudmouth .

Knowing this, Yoo Yeonha gave Yi Yeonghan the fuel he needed .

“No, we think it’s the other way around . ”

“Ah, really? Kim Hajin likes Chae Nayun? But didn’t you guys argue and fight? Oh, is it like what happens in dramas? You know… love sprouting up while arguing and fighting… . Uh, I guess the gap in your strength is too far for that . Right, rank 4 and rank 934 is too far apart . ”

Feeling Chae Nayun’s deadly killing intent, Yi Yeonghan quickly changed his tune in the middle of his speech .

“Screw off . ”

After blurting out fiercely, Chae Nayun glanced at Kim Hajin, purely out of curiosity . But Kim Hajin just happened to be looking at them again, and their eyes met . Chae Nayun quickly averted her gaze, then scratched her face awkwardly .

**

—…The gap in your strength is too far for that . Right, rank 4 and rank 934 is too far apart .

“What are they talking about?”

I only listened in at the end, so I couldn’t understand what they were talking about . But I didn’t really mind since it seemed like they didn’t realize I had two people’s worth of food . I no longer cared about people talking about me behind my back .

I took the to-go boxes and returned to my room .

As soon as I opened the door, Evandel ran up to me hastily . I quickly shut the door first .

“Daddy~”

“Not Daddy, Uncle . ”

After picking up Evandel and letting her sit on my arm, I placed the to-go boxes on the kitchen table .

“I brought food, but before we eat, let’s test what we practiced . ”

“Un!”

I put Evandel down on the couch . Although Evandel didn’t need to consume food like humans, she seemed to love the taste, so I prepared them .

“Okay, first, try this one . ”

Using my smartwatch, I projected a picture of an adorable cat .

Evandel then transformed into the cat in the picture . Other than her hair being blonde, she looked just like the cat in the picture .

“Oh~ great . Next is this, a bird . ”

Evandel immediately transformed into a cute crow-tit . She was a bit big, being the size of about six rice-balls, but it was within an acceptable range .

“Well done~~”

I patted her tiny head . Evandel transformed back and giggled .

“Did I do well?”

“Of course . ”

Was it because she inherited Rachel’s bloodline? She was a good listener .

When I was showering Evandel with praises, my smartwatch suddenly rang .

[Today at 6 P . M . , guilds released their lists of cadets for Guild Experience Program . Selected cadets will be contacted via their smartwatch . ]

Guild Experience Program .

It was exactly what it sounded like . The program lets cadets, who didn’t have things to do over the break, observe Heroes working in guilds .

But well, it wasn’t something that concerned me .

In order of rank, guilds in Korea were given the right to select three cadets from first and second-year cadets . As such, most first-year cadets had to be in the top 300 of their class to have a chance to be selected . No matter how well I did on the final exam, it wasn’t enough to put me above rank 300, so there was no way I could have been chosen .

But almost as to prove me wrong, my smartwatch rang once again .

[Kim Hajin – Essence of the Strait]

[Contact us if you would like to turn down this offer . ]

“…Huh?”

Essence of the Strait chose me? Why?

“Ah . ”

Soon, I figured out why . There was one girl who had a strange fantasy about me .

“It’s Yoo Yeonha . ”

As the guild leader’s daughter, it made sense for her to have such authority . But wasn’t this abuse of power? I hoped it wouldn’t cause trouble for her position as the successor .

**

I stood under the blazing sun and the blue sky, enjoying the clear and warm Seoul weather . The only thing that worried me was the fact that I left Evandel at home . I told her sternly not to leave the room, but I still felt uneasy . Was this what all fathers felt?

“You’re here . ”

I was waiting at the Gwanghwamun Plaza, and soon, Yoo Yeonha came up to me . Looking at me, she tilted her head .

“Wow, this is unexpected . ”

“What is?”

“I thought you’d reject the offer . ”

Just like she said, I planned to reject the offer at first, but I suddenly became curious about what kind of work Heroes did . There had to be things other than what I had set .

“We’re still waiting on one more person, but it looks like we’ll have to wait quite a while . Should we go ahead first?”

“I don’t care either way . ”

“Then let’s go . ”

At the same time, a limousine stopped in front of us . It was a long, luxurious limousine that was often seen in movies .

The driver then came out and opened the door for us .

“Get in . ”

I got inside the limousine with Yoo Yeonha . The car seat was extremely comfortable . Just sitting in it made me drowsy .

“Let’s go . ”

At Yoo Yeonha’s words, the driver drove off . The limousine moved without shaking in the slightest, and before long, we arrived at Essence of the Strait’s guild building .

As expected of the world’s second ranked guild, the building’s exterior looked spectacular . Each part seemed to have been designed carefully as the building looked both beautiful and geometrically marvelous . This tall building was undoubtedly built using cutting-edge magic engineering and technology .

“Let’s go in~”

Yoo Yeonha led me into the building . The lobby that entered my view could only be described as vast . It almost felt like I was in a concert hall .

“Offices for Heroes are on the second floor and up, but there isn’t much to see on the first four floors . The real thing begins on the fifth floor . The first floor has the lobby you see here, a lounge, a training room, and a sparring room . Ah, there’s a sports field too . ”

I was completely absorbed in looking around the first floor, which, according to Yoo Yeonha, had “not much too see” . Marble flooring and sleek interior, and in the distance, I could see a grass lawn the size of a soccer field . It was an indoor sports field .

“First, let’s go meet the Hero in charge of the program . ”

“…Oh, right . ”

It was then that I remembered I was here for the Guild Experience Program . Because of how familiar Yoo Yeonha was with everything, I almost thought she was the one in charge .

Together with Yoo Yeonha, we stood in front of the elevator .

“Ah, by the way, the person who isn’t here yet isn’t Chae Nayun . ”

“Huh? Uh, okay . ”

What was she talking about out of the blue? I muttered thoughtlessly, but Yoo Yeonha looked at me with meaningful eyes, then snickered .

Ding—

The elevator then arrived, and Yoo Yeonha hopped in and pressed the third-floor button .

After a brief moment, the elevator arrived on the third floor . Immediately, I saw a large circle-shaped lobby and office doors spaced out along the wall .

“Follow me . ”

Yoo Yeonha guided me to an office labeled A-35 .

“To be honest, you won’t be doing anything special . Today, you’ll just look around the building, then starting from tomorrow, you’ll get to interact with other guilds . You might also get to follow a Hero to see him exterminate monsters . ”

With that, Yoo Yeonha opened the door .

Unlike what it looked like from the outside, the office was quite spacious . The owner of the office seemed to have a gentle character as there were flower pots under the window sill and documents were stacked nicely on the office desk .

“Have you heard of Park Sangho?”

“Uh… I think I’ve heard of him . ”

“Sangho-ssi is a very highly ranked Hero . ”

In truth, I haven’t just heard about him, I knew him better than Yoo Yeonha .

Park Sangho . Although he was acting as Yoo Yeonha’s right arm, he was devious and sly on the inside . He wasn’t a Djinn but was someone who would betray Yoo Yeonha in the future . A bit harshly, at that .

“Oh right, I saw that you did well on the final exam . ”

“Please, I only had 67 points . ”

“If you wanted to stay around the average mark, you should have given away 20 or so points . Now, other guilds are starting to pay attention to you . ”

“… . ”

“You don’t like being in the center of attention, right? That’s why I’m letting you know . ”

I decided to just ignore the strange things Yoo Yeonha sometimes said .

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