‘Are this year’s trainees really that special…’

That was all I could think of.

‘I kind of expected that, but…’

Along with Woo Hyo-Yeol, Han Sora graduated from the tutorial dungeon with good results, but I couldn’t erase the feeling that she was getting more attention than I thought.

I was sure many people were talking about her. I hadn't expected that she would stay back at the academy, but she was definitely getting a lot of attention, as people were already calling her "magic genius."

Obviously, those with power on this continent wouldn’t just leave her alone. In addition to submitting several offers, they obviously wanted to see her true strength.

Based on Han Sora’s personality, she had to have hidden seventy percent of her actual powers, and those with a brain would realize that fact. In the end, this situation was caused by the greed of those who wanted to see her true strength.

They decided to turn this mock battle into a bigger event for that sake.

‘Oh, man…’

Of course, I was happy because I had been missing old faces.

The news was sudden, but I couldn't stop smiling.

‘Looks like Ha-Yan didn’t stay back at the academy.’

If Jung Ha-Yan had joined the academy, I would have already heard any news about her one way or another, so considering the fact that I had yet to hear any news about her, she had to have gone into hiding.

Her top priority was finding Han Sora and me, and she had to have realized that the only way she could do that was to become even stronger.

‘I’m sure she’ll find us within a few months.’

Once she unlocked Detection Magic and Teleport, she would probably come to me right away, even if she was on the other side of the continent.

“Ki-Young.”

“...”

“Ki-Young,” Lim Cheong-Ha called out.

“Yes, noona?” I responded.

“You look like you’re in a good mood today,” Lim Cheong-Ha said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah. I do see you smiling all the time, but your smile feels different today. Did something good happen?” Lim Cheong-Ha asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t feel any different. Actually, I’m not in a good mood because you suddenly came in while I was showering. Do you know how shocked I was?” I complained.

“Was I imagining things? Anyway… you heard that the content of the mock battle changed, right?” Lim Cheong-Ha asked.

“I did. The other academy and our academy are going to be fighting each other, right? I’m feeling kind of down. It’s like they prepared the mock battle so that it benefits the familias. ṙâꞐỘ𝐁Èŝ

"However, I know they want to see just how powerful this group of trainees are… and I’m sure the GENIUSES wanted this as well, so it can’t be helped,” I said.

“Right? Well, it’s a good opportunity for me, so it’s not so bad… but since you already got recruited… it’s natural to think that way…” Lim Cheong-Ha said.

“What? Who recruited me?” I asked.

"The Flower and Fertility Familia!” Lim Cheong-Ha answered.

“What?”

“I thought you were joining them,” Lim Cheong-Ha said.

“I’m not…” I mumbled.

“There are some rumors that the Family and Fertility Familia are writing up a contract for a large amount of money. There are also rumors that they’re going to recruit you as their vice-captain regardless of your result during this mock battle… I heard that Mr. William—”

“

Ah!

It’s nothing like that. Wait, who did you hear that from?” I interrupted her.

“What do you mean? Rumors are bound to spread. Did you really not think that people won't notice that you're being called out often in the middle of class? And do you really think we're blind and can't see you hanging out with the members of that familia?

"Many people saw you having dinner with Mr. William two days ago. Some heard the rumors through the instructors, and I think the Flower and Fertility Familia were intentionally spreading those rumors,” Lim Cheong-Ha answered.

“I just made a good connection. I haven’t thought about which familia I’m going to join. Mr. William is a great man… but joining a familia just on that alone is kind of—Of course, I’m considering it, but that’s all,” I told her.

‘I’m already the owner, so there’s nothing else to think about.’

I felt like getting a job as an external advisor and earning gold would be enough. Of course, William was busy sending me offers, but I wasn’t the type to accept offers so easily.

At the moment, I felt like the distance between us was perfect.

‘If Sora is here, then isn't she supposed to visit me? Why isn’t she coming? Or does she not know that I’m here?’

Had she assumed that I joined some random familia and was trying to get as much profit as possible?

‘I would do that if it weren't for Woo Hyo-Yeol.’

I couldn’t understand it.

If she thought I wouldn't join the academy, then why had she decided to join one?

I felt like she could have done her best to locate me as soon as possible. Of course, there was a chance that she assumed I'd create the Sunset Familia within a month and send her an offer.

I wanted to dismiss it as an unavoidable situation because we had no way of communicating with each other, but the more I thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. I didn't want to think this way, but what if Han Sora…

‘What if she wanted to start a new life?’

She definitely knew better than anyone that it was impossible.

Besides what I stated earlier, Jung Ha-Yan would definitely find her someday. Of course, Han Sora probably just wanted to get away in the meantime. After all, escaping Jung Ha-Yan and my grasp had always been a small wish of hers.

I assumed that was the reason she decided to join the academy.

“Seung-Yoon should’ve gathered the party members in the cafeteria by now. Let’s go,” Lim Cheong-Ha suggested.

“Okay.”

“Students from the other academy will be there as well,” Lim Cheong-Ha added.

“That’s true,” I said.

‘We’re going to see each other anyway.’

I nodded and walked with Lim Cheong-Ha to the cafeteria.

I smiled upon seeing the cafeteria I had long become familiar with. I saw students moving around with food trays in hand, and as Lim Cheong-Ha had told me, there were students from the other academy here.

‘Why do they look so serious?’

Were they trying to show that they were proud of their academy?

For some reason, the students were divided, and they were looking at each other coldly. It was so tense that I thought the best fighters in each party were going to step up in a few seconds.

Perhaps they hadn't realized that they were going to leave soon, as it was such a strange sight, but in some ways, it was actually natural.

It was only natural to feel a sense of pride in one's group.

People familiar with each other would stick together, and since a mock battle was scheduled, they were even more on edge. There were also people trying to extract information somehow, so it was only natural they’d keep their guards up.

I was sure they were also aware of the fact that their lives depended on this.

“The atmosphere is pretty tense,” Lim Cheong-Ha commented.

“It’s to be expected. If it weren’t for the mock battle, it wouldn’t be this intense. Since there's a mock battle, everyone knows that they'll eventually have to fight each other. I assume they're worried about setting each other up… I don’t really understand it, though. If the average age were lower, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them fight,” I said.

And that was when I heard a loud noise…

“What’s going on? Is someone fighting?”

“Shouldn’t we stop them?”

‘Why are they acting like children?’

I was just hoping they wouldn’t fight like beasts fighting over territory.

I was sure there was a reason behind this commotion.

They were on edge, and since they had to spend time in one space, their stress and exhaustion levels had to have been rising until they finally exploded.

It suddenly turned into a school drama, or was someone improvising in order to earn some coins? Something would always happen whenever people were gathered in one place, but why do things always happen in places like this?

“You’re just a loser. Get up, you bastard.”

“

Yaaaaaah!

”

One of them was a Swedish woman attending the same academy as me, but I forgot her name. Her talent as a warrior wasn’t that bad. She was tall, like a model, and she was in pretty good shape as well.

However, she was short-tempered and often acted like a Viking warrior. Her opponent was a slightly short, young Latin American man. Seeing that he was on the floor, it looked like he couldn’t handle a few punches and ended up getting beaten.

“That’s why you should’ve kept your mouth shut. Or at least take responsibility for what you said. No matter who comes, they’ll be no match for Han Sora? Bullshit. You’re so weak,” the Swedish woman said.

“I was just caught off-guard… I’m different in a real fight!” the Latin American man argued.

“Didn’t you learn that you might get killed if you get caught up in situations like this outside the academy? Caught off-guard, my ass! If you feel so wronged, then get up. Let’s fight for real,” the Swedish woman said.

The kid on the ground bit his lips and stood up, but the result wouldn't be that different.

There was a huge difference between them physique-wise, and importantly, the Viking woman was pretty strong. She had also leveled up recently. As expected, the kid fell to the ground again.

“That’s enough.” A familiar voice echoed, and the Viking woman tensed up.

“It looks like the student at our academy has made a mistake.”

“W-Who are you…”

It’s been a while since I’ve seen those odd-eyes.

“S-Sora noona,” the man stuttered.

“Go over there, Christian,” Han Sora ordered.

“I’m sorry, noona…” Christian mumbled.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize. It’s true that you made a mistake, but she was also childish,” Han Sora said.

“Let go of me!” the Viking woman shouted.

“I won’t let you go until you calm down,” Han Sora told her.

“You… bitch!” the Viking woman yelled.

Han Sora was really charismatic.

“What the… She’s Han Sora?”

“That’s Han Sora? Rank two in the tutorial?”

“She’s a monster…”

The extras were really good at exaggerating things.

“Someone get Woo Hyo-Yeol over here!”

Why?

Well, their best fighter had stepped forward, so it was only natural for our best fighter to step forward.

'But did these guys really think that he’ll come just because they're calling for him?'

Even from a distance, I could feel the pressure that Han Sora was emanating. I could see her pressuring all the rookies here with her mana without them noticing it.

Han Sora was an influential figure to the students. Unlike the students at this academy, who appeared to be disheartened by her presence, the students from the other academy looked proud. They also showed a lot of trust and faith in Han Sora, and she seemed to have long gotten used to that kind of treatment.

For some reason, she looked like she was loved by everyone.

“...”

“Thank you, and I’m sorry, noona,” Christian said.

“Unni… is there anything we can help you with?”

“Go over there. I’ll take care of things here,” Han Sora answered.

It was funny seeing everyone use different titles to call our Sora, and Han Sora didn’t seem to mind because she was taking really good care of them.

For some reason, I was sad.

I wasn’t going to do this… but I had no choice but to take a few steps forward and make my presence known.

The crowd parted like when Moses parted the ocean, and I heard the extras shouting, “It’s Lee Ki-Young. It’s Lee Ki-Young!”

I wasn’t even their spokesperson, so why were they expecting me to chase our Sora noona away?

We went way back.

I had been missing her to the point that I cried tears of joy upon seeing her.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“Sora noona…” I muttered

“

Huh?

”

“Are you… Are you really Sora noona?” I asked.

“Sub… guild… I mean…

ah

… noona? W-wait! I mean… this is…” Han Sora stuttered.

“Y-You’re really Sora noona, right?” I asked.

“...”

“

Heuk… hiccup…

Sora noona… it’s really you, right?” I asked again.

I saw Han Sora looking at me with a pale face.

“It’s really you… right, noona?” I asked.

I had no choice but to run to her and hug her.

“Noona…

heuk

… noonaaa…” I cried.