As the weather gradually warmed and spring approached, a sudden snowfall blanketed the land.
The brilliant, shimmering lights on the white snow from the beginning of the year were enough to unsettle the minds of the students who were absorbed in their training, and the many inns doing business inside the academy were bustling with visitors.
“Haah.”
Traditionally, the beginning of the year was a time to gather in teams, but Tang Seon Yeong was sitting alone in her dormitory and staring out the window. She looked to be deeply troubled.
This was her third year at the Jeongmu Academy, and each year she was alone.
To men, she was known as a seductive witch that brought ruin or a predatory spider seeking prey, while women distanced themselves from her for monopolizing the attention of the men.
“I thought I was used to it….”
She had believed she was used to being alone, but today, the loneliness felt especially sharp which made her realize perhaps she wasn’t.
“Friends, huh.”
Watching the students moving in groups among the colorful lanterns, she had such thoughts.
If she had friends who shared her mind, she wouldn’t have been left to drown in such loneliness.
“What a foolish thought.”
It seemed the start of a new year truly was something remarkable.
For someone as deeply realistic and cynical about life as her to entertain the thought of “what if”.
“Huh?”
She gazed down at the students passing by on the street with a bored expression, but something caught her eye.
Tang Seon Yeong’s attention was drawn to Baek Woo Jin who was staggering along with unsteady steps.
Like someone who had just discovered an amusing toy, her eyes followed his movements with keen interest.
Baek Woo Jin.
He was a truly peculiar guy. His appearance bore some resemblance to his older brother, but his actions were the complete opposite.
While his brother Baek Moo Hyeok was devoid of desire, Baek Woo Jin was greedy. Every time he looked at her, his clear eyes made that fact glaringly obvious.
“From those clear eyes… huh.”
Greed typically clouds a person’s eyes. Every man who had ever shown lust toward her had been the same.
Their eyes were worse than those of fish rotting at the market after failing to sell for days.
But Baek Woo Jin was different. Despite his greed, his eyes remained clear and pure. It was as if vitality itself breathed within them.
Perhaps that was why. Even amid his greed, he displayed perfect control over himself.
“Huhum.”
Then suddenly, as she recalled his actions in the final match, a smile naturally formed on her lips. Yet at the same time, she still found it puzzling.
How could he not only remain unaffected after ingesting poison mixed with fire energy but also use it to breathe fire from his mouth?
“He really is interesting.”
She had never been so full of questions about a man before.
She watched him gradually fade into the distance, then quickly tidied her clothes, stepped on the window frame, and flew into the sky to a roof a little distance away.
She moved across the snow-covered roofs, leaping from one to another. Though using flying techniques on rooftops was against the academy’s rules, she didn’t seem to care as she closed the distance between them with determined steps.
She saw him enter an inn located on the academy’s market street, and she followed him in without hesitation.
After a brief delay, she stepped inside and was greeted by the bustling interior of the inn.
She saw the waiter, who had welcomed Baek Woo Jin earlier, rushing upstairs with an assortment of snacks, so she made her way up to the second floor as well.
“Enjoy your meal, young hero!”
The waiter bowed politely as he exited a room at the far end of the second floor.
Tang Seon Yeong passed by him and arrived at the room Baek Woo Jin had entered.
She fixed her hair which grew disheveled from her quick journey and adjusted the hem of her low-cut dress, tugging it down slightly to reveal more of her neckline. Then she finished all her preparations.
Just as she was about to grab the doorknob, a deep sense of doubt suddenly wrapped around her entire being.
What am I doing?
She suddenly felt ridiculous, thinking about how she had broken academy rules and crossed rooftops just to catch a glimpse of the man through the window.
What on earth was I thinking….
Even she couldn’t understand her own actions.
I must have lost my mind for a moment.
She decided to think that way. While it was possible for the man to cling to her, she could never allow herself to cling to him. No, she would rather die than do such a thing.
“Ugh!”
As her emotions flared, a faint scent wafted to her nose. It was coming from her own body.
“Haah.”
She let out a sigh and looked down at the first floor. The place was packed with men. Feeling that staying any longer might get her involved in something troublesome, she turned to leave.
Suddenly, the door opened with a creaking sound.
Before she could even turn around in surprise, a hand reached out, grabbed her slender arm, and pulled her inside.
“W-Wait…!”
In the blink of an eye, she was dragged into the room, and the door closed behind her.
Her flustered eyes looked up, and there was Baek Woo Jin who was grinning widely.
“You came to see me, didn’t you?”
A question that stretched out straight without an inch of deviation. It had enough power to further agitate Tang Seon Yeong’s emotions.
The more she was shaken, the stronger the scent emanating from her grew.
Baek Woo Jin’s one arm was wrapped around her wrist, while the other encircled her waist.
“Let go of me!”
Tang Seon Yeong forcefully pushed against Baek Woo Jin’s chest.
Against him and against herself.
Being alone with a man in a closed room was more dangerous than anything else. As she hurried to leave, Baek Woo Jin stepped in her way.
“I have something to say to you, Miss Tang.”
“Say it later.”
Normally, she wouldn’t have bothered with this. She had seen men lose their minds countless times, and she was not so weak as to be easily overpowered by someone who had lost his senses.
No.
But she did not want to see Baek Woo Jin lose control, nor did she want to see his face twist and become like any other man’s.
“Move, now.”
Seeing her urgency, Baek Woo Jin smirked briefly before suddenly flaring his nostrils.
“Is this smell making you so anxious?”
“What are you doing…!”
Tang Seon Yeong was startled by the sight of him greedily inhaling through his nose and grabbed him by the collar. She intended to push him back against the door and slip out.
“Calm down; nothing you’re worried about will happen.”
“What…?”
He had already inhaled a significant amount. For a man with weak self-control, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had lost his mind by now.
Even others would have shown abnormal symptoms after inhaling this much, but he seemed completely fine.
“You… you’re really okay?”
“I told you, I am.”
When Baek Woo Jin first met her, he had recoiled from the scent she exuded, but the Baek Woo Jin of then and the Baek Woo Jin of now had reached entirely different levels.
Through the mystical elixirs that Jegal Yeon Ji had given him in pieces, he had accumulated ten years’ worth of internal energy which made him reach the peak master level. And after he consumed half of the Immortal Carp Pill he had won as a prize in the martial arts tournament, it deepened his level even further.
The scent excited him. He allowed just enough to linger in his body to elevate his mood and burned off the rest by channeling his internal energy.
“……”
Even though they were in a confined space together, he could hold on for at least a couple of hours.
“So calm down and sit. Your food’s getting cold.”
“Ha.”
Everything he had done up to now seemed ridiculous.
She sat across from Baek Woo Jin and cast a suspicious glance in his direction.
What’s going on?
The deeper her mastery of poison arts, the stronger her body’s scent grew. She was a master who had stepped into the middle stage of the peak master realm. This was a level rarely seen among her peers.
To eyes trained in poison arts, it was obvious. Each time Baek Woo Jin inhaled, the scent widely dispersed in the space was drawn into him.
Even if he tried to hide it, his body would flinch every time the scent seeped in. This was a clear indication that he was reacting to it.
Is it simply that his self-control is exceptional?
It was as if something was blocking him, preventing him from getting overly excited beyond a certain point. Despite his light-hearted expressions and seemingly carefree demeanor, his self-control appeared exceptional.
She soon stopped pondering. She wanted to know the reason, but unless he told her himself, there was no way for her to find out.
“Say what you have to say.”
She regained her composure and spoke in a voice as sweet as the scent she exuded.
Baek Woo Jin filled his glass from the gourd again and again. He emptied it each time before he finally spoke.
“Why don’t we work on something together?”
“What…?”
“I’m talking about a team request.”
There was no rule that each team had to work separately. If it seemed that handling it alone would be too much, it was entirely possible for team leaders to join forces through mutual agreement.
“Hmm…”
She recalled hearing that the Divine Dragon Team of the first years had been formed with an unusually small number of members.
“If you were going to team up like this, wouldn’t it have been better to recruit more members instead?”
When she asked, Baek Woo Jin shook his head firmly.
“I don’t have enough space in my circle for anything that isn’t trustworthy.”
An unexpected answer came back.
Unlike those who were obsessed with getting high grades through team requests, his goal seemed entirely different.
She wanted to see his skills. However, she was also a team leader. She couldn’t judge matters based on personal feelings alone.
“I’ll decide after hearing what it’s about.”
“There’s no need for a long explanation.”
After emptying his glass once more, Baek Woo Jin replied.
“It’s demon subjugation.”
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