Chapter 46: Warm-up

The students around them buzzed at Eun Yuri’s suggestion.

“Crazy, did she just offer him a scout to Ojakgyo?”

“His life is set.”

“But I heard they don’t have a good relationship with Ojakgyo.”

Leaving the students’ chatter behind, it was a suggestion that wasn’t worth seriously considering.

“I’ve never even thought about being with you guys.”

“Really? This is a rare opportunity.”

Eun Yuri crossed her arms and slightly lifted her chest.

“Your academic skills will improve beyond comparison, and you can easily crush anyone who bothers you. Not only that, but even after graduation, talents produced by Ojakgyo will gather around you. And above all.”

Eun Yuri smiled and continued.

“You’ll become friends with Sungkwang’s only daughter.”

“……”

When I heard her last words, I ground my teeth. I was unknowingly excited.

And Eun Yuri wasn’t the kind of woman to miss such subtle emotional changes.

“Your reaction is quite novel? Why do you get so flustered when I mention Alice?”

“…I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

Calming my pounding heart, I quietly opened my mouth.

“Not only me, but countless students have suffered from Ojakgyo. The culprit is that woman named Alice. Of course, it’s normal to freak out just by hearing that name.”

“Well, it seems like there’s a deeper emotion in your eyes than simple anger.”

“Don’t talk nonsense…!”

“Ma, Maru.”

Na Yuna, who had been quietly watching from behind, put her hand on my shoulder. I came to my senses only after feeling her trembling hand.

“Calm down….”

“…Thank you.”

When I regained my composure, Eun Yuri stopped smiling and sighed.

“I didn’t intend to provoke you this much. Apart from the group Ojakgyo, I, as an individual, have a liking for you.”

“I don’t have a liking for you, so please go your way.”

“I can’t help it. I can’t be a woman who’s too clingy after being rejected.”

She gave a sincere look of regret and passed by me. As she did, she added one thing.

“Summer school entrance exam. You’ll have to do well. Or everything you’ve built will collapse.”

“I was going to say that.”

Eun Yuri didn’t answer my words and left the academy. Only then did the surrounding onlookers go their way.

Han Doa was pondering Eun Yuri’s remarks, lost in thought with a serious expression.

Kim Noeul slowly approached me.

“Maru, you…. Why were you so excited?”

“It’s worth getting excited. She mentioned Alice to me, who’s resisting Ojakgyo.”

“…Is that really all?”

I lowered my head and stared into Kim Noeul’s eyes. Kim Noeul also looked up at me and met my eyes.

I know very well what answer Kim Noeul wants to hear from me. But there was no need to talk about it.

‘It can only cause confusion. There’s an important fight coming up soon, so let’s just skip it.’

“Noeul, you’re hiding something from me too, right?”

“That’s….”

Kim Noeul said that at the beginning of the semester. That she would tell me about her past someday.

Of course, I already know that past well. So I’m avoiding the topic with a very cowardly trick right now.

But I can’t help it.

“I just have something like that too.”

“……”

Kim Noeul couldn’t speak. She grabbed her other arm with her hand and lowered her head.

We were all out of our minds from just having a few minutes of conversation with Eun Yuri. The ripple she stirred up was quite big.

“Everyone, get a hold of yourselves. We have to work hard from now on if we don’t want to lose the rights we worked hard to regain.”

“Maru is right!”

Na Yuna answered enthusiastically with the intention of restoring the atmosphere. Kim Noeul and Han Doa’s expressions also brightened slightly after seeing her awkward spirit.

“That’s right. We need to get a hold of ourselves.”

Kim Noeul chuckled and stretched.

After leaving the academy, I focused on what I could do.

Right now, it was receiving information about Ojakgyo’s movements from Veritas, studying for the summer school, and exercising.

[Gu Miho: As sunbae already knows, Ojakgyo’s movements have become more active]

[Gu Miho: Especially around TT Academy]

[Me: It’s understandable since Eun Yuri directly registered for the academy]

[Gu Miho: The chief says that Ojakgyo kids will probably be all over the academy district on the day of the entrance exam]

If that was true, the scale of this resistance would increase exponentially.

While I and Eun Yuri fought with pens inside the academy, the Ojakgyo and anti-Ojakgyo alliance would fight a brawl outside to determine the owner of the rotary.

[Gu Miho: Yushin High School is planning to help Haneul High School, so we can hold on to some extent, but we’re still a little short on numbers]

[Me: There’s no choice but to keep holding on and minimize the damage]

I was making weak noises, but if I thought about the flow of the original story, it wasn’t that disadvantageous.

It was worth holding out until the end of the exam.

[Me: Anyway, just hold out until the end of the exam]

[Gu Miho: Are you confident?]

[Me: Confident about what?]

[Gu Miho: Eun Yuri]

I was lost in thought for a long time after seeing Gu Miho’s message.

I focused on improving my academic ability, not my strength, since before I came to Hakdo.

This is because no matter how much I focus on strength from a young age, I will be pushed back by Alice, Seo Yoon, and Kim Noeul.

In the original story, those three were classified as ‘untouchable’. It means that you have to put in decades of effort with a natural talent for fighting to face those three.

In fact, I am immediately pushed back by Kim Noeul with strength, even though I inherited the power of my previous life.

I am pushed back by Seo Yoon with physique.

I am pushed back by Alice… in many ways.

It is irrational to invest in fields that will not work anyway. Then the rational choice left for me was academics.

Since I already had the higher knowledge of my previous life from a young age, I chose and developed a field that was advantageous to me.

But even after working this hard, I wasn’t sure that I could beat Eun Yuri.

Still, competing academically with Eun Yuri was more likely to win than messing with Alice with force.

‘Eun Yuri’s genius and the amount of effort I put in… It’s a fight between these two factors.’

[Me: I don’t know]

[Gu Miho: I think you can do it You got a perfect score on the premium practice exam]

[Me: Eun Yuri does that too]

[Gu Miho: Ah;;]

[Me: You focus on what you can do I’m doing the same]

[Gu Miho: Yes I’ll report as soon as I get new information]

After finishing the conversation, I looked back at the math problem I was solving.

‘I wouldn’t have started if I wasn’t confident.’

There was a need to cross the gateway called Eun Yuri in order to properly tie up with Alice.

The weather was hot a few days before the graduation ceremony and on the day of the entrance exam. Even if the sun was shining brightly, we had to go to the academy.

“The atmosphere is different after all.”

Han Doa, who was walking next to me, muttered while looking at the scenery of the street.

The gazes that were blatantly looking at us, and the students who were walking by our side to protect us.

It was a blatant landscape as if foreshadowing that something would happen today.

“It’s okay… It’s okay….”

Na Yuna was calming her mind by putting herself under self-hypnosis from behind.

“……”

Kim Noeul was also walking with her mouth shut, as if she was nervous as well.

“Relax.”

When I said a word to Kim Noeul, Kim Noeul glanced at me.

“It’s not easy to do that.”

“Even if we’re all scared, you can’t be scared. You know what I mean by saying this, right?”

“I know.”

After all, Kim Noeul is the face of the anti-Ojakgyo forces. It’s very bad if Kim Noeul shows a disheveled appearance.

Kim Noeul rubbed her face with both hands, thinking about my advice. Her complexion gradually improved.

“Ah, there… I see them….”

Na Yuna swallowed hard as she looked at the group of students stationed near the academy.

I could see their faces too.

They were faces I had seen someday.

Among them, the people to watch out for were the executives of Ojakgyo.

Je Galyeonhwa, Lee Jihye, and Eun Yuri.

The three women weren’t nervous at all, as if they were used to this atmosphere.

Je Galyeonhwa was distracted, manicuring her nails, Lee Jihye was sprawled out on a bench, blowing bubble gum. And Eun Yuri was calmly reading a book.

As we got closer, Je Galyeonhwa, who had taken her attention away from her nails, was the first to notice our approach.

“You’ve come~. Maru, long time no see~.”

Je Galyeonhwa blinked and tilted her head.

“What is this now? I was just trying to say hello, you know?”

Despite her eerie voice, the students didn’t move.

Lee Jihye, who was behind her, jumped up from the bench and approached us. Her gaze was fixed on one person.

“Doa-sunbae, I missed you.”

“Lee Jihye….”

Han Doa bit her lip and met Lee Jihye’s gaze.

“All the words are gathered.”

Eun Yuri closed the book she was reading and looked at Kim Noeul. When she walked, the Ojakgyo students around her cleared the way.

Kim Noeul and Eun Yuri stood close to each other. They were the women who were leading each force.

The students who gathered around them didn’t even make a sound and stared at the two women.

Kim Noeul was taller, so Kim Noeul looked down at Eun Yuri.

“We don’t need to talk much to each other. I’m going to take the entrance exam at the academy today.”

Eun Yuri pointed at me with her finger and continued.

“I was waiting to go in with him.”

“Then why did you bring so many people if you were waiting alone?”

“Then why did you bring students from other schools?”

Eun Yuri retorted with the same logic to Kim Noeul’s question. Kim Noeul gave up on the conversation and looked at me.

“Maru.”

“Yeah.”

“Lightly get a perfect score and come.”

“Okay.”

We ended the simple conversation. I passed by Kim Noeul and approached Eun Yuri.

Eun Yuri held out her hand to me.

“Do you need an escort?”

“…I can go alone.”

I was fed up with Eun Yuri, who was making jokes even in this situation. Eun Yuri raised the corners of her mouth and headed to the entrance of the academy.

As she headed to the entrance, she declared to the students behind her.

“Originally, my role is to stop you from running wild more than necessary in a situation where Alice is not around, but….”

Eun Yuri chuckled.

“While I’m taking the exam at the academy and concentrating, I won’t be able to stop you from running wild.”

There wasn’t a student in this place who didn’t know what Eun Yuri’s words meant.

I turned around.

Na Yuna with a nervous expression.

Han Doa with narrowed eyes.

And Kim Noeul with a calm expression.

They were all looking at me. After staring at them for a while, I turned my body and headed to the exam hall with Eun Yuri.

[Hello, students. This is the TT Academy Summer School Entrance Exam headquarters. Since it is almost time to enter the room….]

“Are you nervous?”

When I was walking side by side with Eun Yuri, she asked a question. I opened my mouth while walking, looking straight ahead.

“Not really.”

“You have a strong heart. I’m a little nervous. I’ve heard a lot about your reputation.”

“……”

“The men’s exam hall is upstairs. I have to say goodbye here.”

Eun Yuri saw me off as I walked away.

When I went upstairs and entered the exam hall, most of the gazes were fixed on me.

“Is that Kim Maru?”

“Can he do well in this situation….”

“He got a perfect score on the last practice exam, will he get it this time too?”

I listened to their chatter with one ear and let it flow out the other, then sat down in my chair.

The fight has probably started outside by now.

As much as they’re fighting hard, I have to fight hard too.

‘My weapon is this.’

I took out a mechanical pencil and a ballpoint pen from my pencil case. I relieved the tension by turning those weapons with my fingers, and before I knew it, the exam time was approaching.

“Check for missing pages and cover them again. The exam will start when the bell rings.”

The supervisor, who had a businesslike tone, didn’t care about the situation outside. This was Hakdo, after all.

I didn’t care about the situation outside now and focused on the exam paper in front of me.

[The first period, the Korean language section, has begun.]