Chapter 343: Reunion

The next day,

Seo Ye-in, Ahn Jeong-mi, and the Underworld Dragon King accompanied me to the platform to see me off.

Just before I left, the cooldown for [Hardship] had ended, so I cast it right away.

[Activated ‘Hardship’.]

[Cooldown: 5 days 23:59:59]

[‘Stage 3 Hardship’ has been granted to the target.]

Immediately, the Underworld Dragon King activated the spell he had prepared.

A translucent mana clock appeared, and its hour and minute hands spun at incredible speed.

– Tick, tock, tick…

[Cooldown: 15:59:57]

Not even a day left.

Since I was leaving, he had reduced the cooldown drastically for me.

Thanks to that, I’d be able to use it right away during mentoring.

After expressing my thanks to the Dragon King, I turned to face Seo Ye-in.

“……”

Seo Ye-in wasn’t even checking her quest window. She just kept looking at me.

A lonely emotion flickered in her gray eyes.

I offered her a gentle smile and said,

“Take care. Train hard, and when you rest, make sure you rest well.”

“……”

Then, Seo Ye-in stepped closer and grabbed onto my sleeve.

“Stay longer.”

“Longer? How long?”

“A month.”

“That’d mean we leave together when the break ends.”

“Good idea.”

Seo Ye-in nodded her head.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to stay even a single day, let alone a month.

“Sorry. I have to leave now to arrive on time.”

If I were late, Dang Gyu-young would stretch my cheeks like rubber bands.

Seo Ye-in looked a bit down at that but then seemed to switch tactics.

“Come with you.”

“You can’t. You’re supposed to train with your butler and your godfather, remember?”

“Let’s all go together.”

She looked ready to drag the entire Hye-seong Group along if necessary.

Seeing that it was time to step in, the Underworld Dragon King spoke up.

“Niece, stop being unreasonable.”

“Godfather…”

“It’s just a month, isn’t it?”

“That’s long…”

“It’ll pass in no time. And some relationships grow deeper when apart. Let him go now.”

Even Ahn Jeong-mi joined in to gently persuade her, and eventually, the strength in her hand holding onto my sleeve gave way.

Smiling, I said my goodbyes again.

“See you at school.”

“Okay…”

Then, with Seo Ye-in slowly waving goodbye behind me, I boarded the train.

***

Dragon Slayer Academy.

Training Center.

Go Hyeon-woo stood at the very center of the training room.

Wooden dummies were charging at him, yet his magic sword remained sheathed.

And he had no intention of drawing it.

That was the nature of this training.

Whooosh—

A breeze swirled around him.

Go Hyeon-woo raised his hand and guided the flow of the wind like a skilled conductor.

And the moment the wooden dummies touched that breeze—

Crack-crack-crack!

They shattered into pieces as if they’d been slashed apart by invisible sword strikes.

Watching the scene, Go Hyeon-woo silently nodded to himself.

I’m improving little by little.

Stage 1 of the Hardship Quest: Execute techniques without using a sword.

To him, a sword wasn’t merely a weapon; it was a medium or tool used to control the flow of wind.

Naturally, trying to control it without that tool made the difficulty spike sharply.

But if I become skilled enough to make it possible…

Then, when he wielded the sword again, he would become far stronger than before.

That was why Go Hyeon-woo faced the wooden dummies barehanded.

Of course, he had already cleared Stage 1 of the Hardship quest.

It had given him a fair bit of trouble, but he managed to achieve the goal in just under a week.

Even so, he had continued the same training up to now, nearly a month later.

He told me to prepare for Stage 2.

It was a heads-up that Kim Ho had given him before leaving.

No matter how soon it came, Stage 2 of Hardship would only be assigned after the start of the new semester.

Rather than sit around twiddling his thumbs until then, it made more sense to build up his strength and prepare in advance.

If the objectives of Stages 2 and 3 turned out to be similar to Stage 1, he would be able to clear them more easily.

Of course, there was always the chance they could be entirely different.

Even so, it doesn’t matter.

One way or another, this training was helping him make up for his shortcomings.

Even if it wasn’t part of Hardship, it was more than worth continuing.

Just as Go Hyeon-woo was about to face the wooden dummies again—

Knock, knock, knock.

There came a soft knocking on the training room door.

There weren’t many people who would come looking for him.

Narrowing it down further, there was only one person who had stayed behind at Dragon Slayer Academy over summer break.

So, Go Hyeon-woo spoke softly toward the door.

“Come in.”

At that, Han So-mi poked her head inside.

“Heyy! What’cha doin’?”

“The usual. I was doing the training Kim-hyung taught me.”

“Aah… Kim-hyung…”

The moment she heard that name, Han So-mi’s cheerful energy immediately drooped.

Go Hyeon-woo’s symptoms of “Kim-ho obsession” had reached a serious level, and Han So-mi was beginning to feel a kind of anxiety at the mere mention of the words “Kim-hyung”.

Go Hyeon-woo seemed to know it too, as a bitter smile tugged at his lips.

“Haha, as Miss Han knows well, my social circle is somewhat limited. Repeating the same person’s name is unavoidable. Besides, Kim-hyung was my first true friend—”

“—A comrade you fought beside, who supported you in every possible way, blah blah blah. I’ve heard it more than ten times already.”

“…Have I really said it that often?”

“Yes!”

When Han So-mi glared at him with dagger eyes, Go Hyeon-woo gave a small, awkward cough.

“Ahem, It seems I may have gone a bit overboard. I shall reflect on that. But may I ask what brings you here?”

“I was just bored, okay? Is that not allowed?”

“Of course, you are always welcome, Miss Han. Still, I was in the middle of training, so if possible, I’d like to continue a bit more.”

In other words, this meant: “I don’t have time to play with you, so just go.”

Han So-mi puffed out her cheeks.

Was training really that important to him?

She herself trained quite diligently, but this was on another level.

He was practically a living training machine.

Han So-mi, who had just about transformed into a pufferfish, soon let the air out of her cheeks.

Then she made a suggestion.

“Then spar with me.”

“Gladly. I shall prepare at once.”

Go Hyeon-woo accepted with a delighted look.

He hadn’t drawn his sword at all during his flow control training, so his hands had been itching for action.

Han So-mi, being stronger than him as a member of the Disciplinary Committee, was the perfect opponent to warm up with.

However, Han So-mi puffed her cheeks again. She realized that the following equation held true:

Kim-hyung > Kim-hyung’s assignments ≥ Sparring > Herself.

“…I’m leaving.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to spar?”

“Whatever, I’m going.”

“Miss Han, wait just a moment!”

***

While the train was heading toward its destination, I sat alone in the compartment, taking some time to review things.

It had been a truly rewarding month.

I had copied two S-rank traits from the Underworld Dragon.

[Time Resistance] wouldn’t be particularly useful at a student level, but having it would allow me to prepare for unexpected situations.

Like when I faced the Witch of Death, for example.

And it’s not like I won’t use it at all.

Even in the lower levels of the dungeon building, there were a few hidden pieces related to time.

I’d collect them later when I went down.

[Pain Delay] reduced damage penalties and significantly boosted my fighting power.

Even with prohibited skills amplified to S-rank, I could likely use them up to three times.

The new skills I’d learned were also powerful.

If Pain Delay addressed the damage problem, then [Time Share] handled the cooldown problem.

For the time being, I wouldn’t have to worry about penalties.

[Mutual Destruction Eye] was still D-rank for now, but I’d been working on its rank for a while with Seo Ye-in, so it wouldn’t be long until it reached C-rank.

Even at that level, it matched the average for first-years, so it would be quite useful.

Now that I had achieved B-rank with [Spiral Explosion], I had already completed more than half of my goal to “strengthen my foundation”.

With mentoring still left, reaching my target didn’t seem too difficult.

On the other hand, there were things that hadn’t made much progress.

The Crow Branch.

I had planned to use the S-rank material I received from the Crow Great Sage to craft equipment.

But the materials I had in mind were notoriously difficult to obtain. Even the Underworld Dragon had expressed reluctance.

That was because the spatial attribute was outside of his domain.

I’ll have to think long-term.

He had said he would look into it himself, so maybe I’d hear some good news eventually.

On the other hand, there was also the benefit of having successfully built a smooth relationship with the Hye-seong Group and the Underworld Dragon King.

Being able to take Seo Ye-in to the underground floor was just a bonus.

When school starts again, where should I go first…

I sorted through the dungeons based on the rewards and set my priorities.

While I spent quite a bit of time like that, the train finally arrived at its destination.

I stepped off onto the platform and slowly scanned the surroundings. This was the place we had agreed to meet.

And before long, I spotted a familiar face.

It was none other than Dang Gyu-young.

She was lounging on a bench, killing time as if lying down.

Soon enough, Dang Gyu-young seemed to notice me too and waved gently.

As I approached, I bowed politely.

“Senior-nim, have you been well?”

“Young monarch, that title feels too distant. Try again.”

Dang Gyu-young gave me a sidelong glance as she said that, and I did as she asked.

“Have you been well, Qyu?”

“Pfft.”

Dang Gyu-young let out a laugh right away.

Then she patted the seat next to her, so I went over and sat down.

Soon after, she scooted closer and gently placed both hands on my cheeks.

Then, as she gradually applied pressure, she spoke.

“But I haven’t been well.”

“Is it my fault?”

“You’re quite a big part of the problem. Should I pull on these, or squish them?”

“Neither sounds great, but let’s hear what I did wrong first.”

“Why have you been so out of touch? It’s hurtful, you know.”

“But I’ve been messaging you almost every two or three days—”

Dang Gyu-young suddenly grabbed both of my cheeks and pulled them wide.

“Every day! Morning and evening! At least once! And with extras on top!”

“Mmm sowwy…. I wash jusht havin’ too mush fun. (I’m sorry. I was just having too much fun).”

This time, Dang Gyu-young squished my cheeks hard.

“In times like this, you’re supposed to play along and say it wasn’t fun, that you missed me!”

“Buh I wash havin’ fun, wha’ can I do… (But I was having fun, what can I do).”

“So… you didn’t miss me?”

“O’ coursh I did. (Of course I did).”

“…Really?”

The corners of Dang Gyu-young’s lips curled up slightly, and she finally let go of my cheeks.

“I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Not sure you can say that after pulling as much as you did.”

“So what were you doing there? Come on, tell me.”

Dang Gyu-young switched topics in a flash.

It was a masterful move. She was shifting away from her disadvantage in the conversation while satisfying her curiosity at the same time.