Bae Seong-hyeon wandered around Eden Hill searching for magical beasts. However, no matter where he went, there were no magical beasts. There were only 'things that had been magical beasts.'
This meant that someone had already eliminated all the magical beasts before Bae Seong-hyeon arrived. He could roughly guess who it was. There was only one person capable of doing such a thing.
Walking hurriedly around here and there with an anxious heart, Bae Seong-hyeon finally met her.
Crack, snap, crunch!
She broke the ribs of a demon race with her bare hands, pulled out the heart, then dismantled the heart to extract the core. Even while covered in demon blood from head to toe, she remained expressionless as if she felt nothing.
"Kim Jin-seo."
Bae Seong-hyeon, who had been quietly watching her exterminate, no, dissect the magical beast, called out to her.
"You were the one following me?"
As soon as Kim Jin-seo saw Bae Seong-hyeon, she took a combat stance. Bae Seong-hyeon raised both hands as if surrendering.
Bae Seong-hyeon had no reason to fight Kim Jin-seo, and even if he did fight, he had no confidence he could win.
"I'm not here to fight. Come on, relax that stance."
"I can't trust you."
"It's true. I'd lose anyway, so why would I fight? Anyway, I just came to ask you something."
Bae Seong-hyeon looked around. He was checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping on their conversation. After confirming no one was nearby, Bae Seong-hyeon opened his mouth.
"How many cores have you collected?"
"Twelve."
"Twelve?"
Bae Seong-hyeon let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. Having twelve cores meant that Kim Jin-seo alone had eliminated twelve mock demon races. Yet Kim Jin-seo showed no signs of fatigue.
"That's impressive. With twelve cores, it must be hard to carry them all around."
"Not really. So what do you want?"
"Sell me some cores. I'll pay you handsomely."
Bae Seong-hyeon got to the point. Because Kim Jin-seo had monopolized all the cores, Bae Seong-hyeon hadn't been able to obtain even a single core.
Then there was only one way. To buy cores from Kim Jin-seo.
He was willing to pay any amount of money.
"Why would I?"
However, Kim Jin-seo rejected the proposal without a moment's hesitation.
She had more than enough money. No matter how much money he offered, she had no intention of selling cores.
"Do you need to have twelve cores? One would be enough."
"Bonus points."
"Ah, bonus points. Right."
Bae Seong-hyeon scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. There was no sign she would budge.
In the first place, Kim Jin-seo disliked cooperation or negotiation. To put it nicely, she was independent; to put it badly, she was someone who didn't trust others.
"If you have nothing more to say, leave. Or try to take them by fighting. You're good at that."
"Haha."
Bae Seong-hyeon laughed weakly. He felt very unpleasant but could do nothing about it. She wasn't an opponent he could win against in a fight. Even comparing wealth or backing, she was on par with Bae Seong-hyeon.
Bae Seong-hyeon sighed deeply and swallowed his anger.
"Phew, fine. But who were your team members again?"
"What do you want to know for?"
"Do Seon-woo and Go Jun-min, right?"
Kim Jin-seo, who had been about to turn around, flinched and stopped. Bae Seong-hyeon remembered exactly who Team 100's members were. It was because of Do Seon-woo. No, should he say thanks to him now?
"You're the one looking for cores. Those guys must be guarding the cart right now, right? You must be anxious. Worried and restless, right?"
"Why would I be anxious?"
"They have no skills, no special talents. They're completely incompetent kids. How could you trust such people?"
Bae Seong-hyeon knew about Do Seon-woo's talent early on. However, Kim Jin-seo knew Do Seon-woo as 'just an ordinary student in the middle-lower ranks, no different from others.'
Bae Seong-hyeon tried to negotiate using that information gap.
"Why do you think you collected twelve cores? I've been thinking about it. Since you can't possibly get high rankings with Do Seon-woo and Go Jun-min, you're trying to at least get bonus points by collecting many cores, right?"
"Speculation."
"Well, the idea is good. But no matter how many cores you collect, it's meaningless if the cart gets destroyed. But think carefully. Do Seon-woo, Go Jun-min. Can those two protect the cart? It might already be broken."
"..."
Kim Jin-seo's eyes wavered.
"So, if you're going to be eliminated anyway, sell me the cores and at least make some pocket money. How about it? Nothing good comes from being on bad terms with me. Why don't we become friends while we're at it..."
Piiiiiek!
Just as Kim Jin-seo's heart was beginning to lean, a loud noise cut off Bae Seong-hyeon's words.
It was the sound coming from speakers installed throughout the hill to inform students of the practical training progress.
"Team 100 has crossed the finish line. All team members return to the finish line to confirm results."
Kim Jin-seo's face hardened upon hearing the announcement.
Bae Seong-hyeon was momentarily confused, then grasped the situation and smiled broadly.
Kim Jin-seo had twelve cores. However, before Kim Jin-seo could load those cores onto the cart, Team 100's cart had already crossed the finish line.
Although they arrived at the finish line in first place, Team 100 was disqualified for not meeting the condition of loading 'at least one' core onto the cart.
This also meant that the twelve cores Kim Jin-seo possessed had become useless.
"I told you so. Do Seon-woo and Go Jun-min, those guys can't be trusted. How about it? Will you sell me the cores even now?"
Bae Seong-hyeon thought this was the perfect opportunity and attempted negotiation once again.
"Hey? Wait. Listen to what I'm saying!"
However, Kim Jin-seo didn't listen to Bae Seong-hyeon's words and began running toward the finish line. Her movements were quick and agile like a cat.
Left behind, Bae Seong-hyeon sighed in vain.
"This damn girl. She won't sell them till the end."
Bae Seong-hyeon cursed while watching Kim Jin-seo's retreating figure.
* * *
It took Kim Jin-seo less than five minutes to reach the finish line. It was an amazing speed.
Kim Jin-seo breathed heavily and looked around.
Soon her gaze found Do Seon-woo. He stood in front of the finish line with a composed face, or rather, with an extremely arrogant expression. Go Jun-min was nowhere to be seen.
Kim Jin-seo immediately approached Do Seon-woo and grabbed his tie.
"I told you to stay put in that spot."
Despite having his collar grabbed suddenly, Do Seon-woo showed no sign of surprise. He just maintained a leisurely smile.
"It just happened this way. Sorry for not telling you in advance."
"What?"
Kim Jin-seo's face crumpled. Even if he had prostrated himself and begged for forgiveness, it wouldn't have been enough, yet Do Seon-woo was shamelessly trying to brush off the situation with a single apology.
Even Kim Jin-seo, who was confident in managing her expressions, found it difficult to smile in this situation. She was furious.
"If you had just stayed put, I would have handled everything, but because of you..."
"Wait."
It was So Do-jin, the teacher of this practical training, who interrupted her angry outburst.
"Don't shout. It makes my head ring."
"I'm sorry."
Kim Jin-seo bowed her head toward So Do-jin. Only then did she let go of Do Seon-woo's tie that she had been gripping.
"You're Kim Jin-seo from Team 100, right?"
"Yes."
"Right. Team 100 crossed the finish line in 28 minutes and 15 seconds, resulting in first place. Since you brought one core, there are no bonus points. That's all, go back to the classroom and rest."
"Pardon?"
Kim Jin-seo asked back with a dazed expression.
"Do you want to hear it again? First place. Now go up and rest."
So Do-jin spoke irritably as if he was very annoyed and tired.
"Understood."
Kim Jin-seo answered reluctantly, then glanced at Do Seon-woo.
He was retying his loosened tie knot. However, his method was clumsy, so he repeated the process of untying and retying several times.
"You... where did that core come from?"
Kim Jin-seo took a step toward Do Seon-woo and asked.
"I told you. It just happened."
Do Seon-woo spoke with an expressionless face. He seemed to have no intention of revealing the detailed circumstances. Kim Jin-seo thought there would be no point in asking further and gave up.
"That tie..."
"Huh? What?"
"Never mind."
Kim Jin-seo started to speak but stopped and headed to the classroom. When she happened to look back on the way, Do Seon-woo was still tying his tie. Somehow, the more he did it, the more tangled the knot seemed to become.
'Maybe I should have just tied it for him.'
All the way to the classroom, Kim Jin-seo felt uncomfortable with that thought.
* * *
[If you're going to be like that, just go without it. You're seventeen years old and can't tie a tie. In my time, seventeen-year-olds were already married and having children...]
Ignoring Legba's rambling, I concentrated on tying my tie. Since I had never tried tying a tie without a mirror, the more I did it, the more tangled the knot became.
After struggling for about three minutes, it finally took shape, though crudely. It wasn't satisfactory, but it was passable enough to wear.
"Do Seon-woo."
Just as I was about to return to the classroom, So Do-jin called me. His face was full of fatigue as usual.
"Yes, teacher."
"It seems communication with Kim Jin-seo, who was in the same team, wasn't smooth?"
"Ah."
Only I knew about the plan to take advantage of Kim Ra-hee's scheme and then use their betrayal in reverse to win first place.
I had conducted the practical training entirely on my own without communicating with my team members. It was behavior that completely went against the purpose of team practical training.
"I'm sorry."
"Well, at least you know you should be sorry. There are many cases where guys like you don't even know they should feel sorry."
In times like this, a quick apology is the answer. Honestly, I wasn't particularly sorry, but I apologized first anyway.
Fortunately, So Do-jin seemed to have softened a little with that.
"Don't think about celebrating just because you see the result of first place. What's important isn't the result but the process. From next time, understand the purpose of the practical training and act accordingly. Don't just think about using petty tricks."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
"Good. Go back to the classroom."
I silently headed to the classroom. The words about keeping it in mind were a lie. As soon as I took a step, I erased So Do-jin's words from my head.
[That guy is totally that thing, that thing.]
"What?"
[It's a word I can't quite remember. It's a word that didn't exist in my time.]
"Ah, a geezer?"
[That's it! That's the word.]
Aren't we both geezers?
I only thought it and didn't say it. I was afraid he might get sulky.