RE: Player again

263

[Chapter 089] [The Duty of That Position]

The second semester began.

Students were busy deciding which classes to take.

There wasn't much time left as the course registration adjustment period was scheduled until Friday.

So Eun-ha and his friends decided to exchange information while taking different classes.

"─Especially monsters that form groups are the most dangerous monsters to be careful of. There are even male Players who underestimated 7th tier Goblin monsters and later suffered badly from Goblin groups in dungeons."

The class Eun-ha and Su-bin were taking was Basic Monster Cluster Studies.

It was a class aimed at understanding the habits of monsters that form groups and identifying the dangers inherent in clusters.

Looking at the purpose, it was quite an interesting content.

So Eun-ha invested points to prioritize registering for the class, but he was currently regretting that choice.

Classes from the first day.

The instructor in charge had a very strong tendency to over-explain.

The instructor who spent about 20 minutes on self-introduction as soon as he entered the classroom explained the flow of the class in detail and then started the lesson.

It was an unwanted situation for Eun-ha who had planned to leave the classroom after roughly hearing information about the class.

"You probably only know the fact that monsters attack living things simply to covet mana.

But monsters have brains too. Sometimes there are even monsters with intelligence far superior to humans.

Imagine them becoming leaders leading groups and attacking humans. Could we really resist them without great damage?" """"..."""""

"Above all, the reason these are dangerous is that among boss monsters leading groups, there are beings that can reproduce across species and gender. Or in some cases, they have the ability to infect humans and turn them into monsters."

The instructor in charge flipped to the next PPT slide.

A photo capturing the past of Yongsan Electronics Market appeared on the screen.

The photo contained neon sign signboards and rows of electronics stores that can no longer be seen now.

The past glory that no longer exists.

"27 years ago from now, there was an incident where monster waves occurred in Yongsan-gu. The monsters that came out of about 30 waves were Orc species belonging to the 6th tier." """"..."""""

"Players dispatched to the Yongsan-gu area at the time missed one while in the process of eradicating the Orc species.

Generally, Orcs are known as monsters that increase their numbers in a short time by reproducing within their own species.

But the monster that escaped was a mutant Orc, a monster capable of reproduction beyond the barriers of s*x and species."

The next photo showed the collapsed Yongsan area.

And students couldn't hide their shock seeing the photo that followed.

It was relatively mild compared to what the 3rd tier overrank monster Baek Myeon-sang did in Uijeongbu.

Cages installed here and there on roads to stimulate Players.

Inside the cages, naked people were all imprisoned with collars around their necks.

In some photos, an Orc was walking around with people whose limbs had been crushed as if taking them for a walk.

And in some photos, their 'nests' were explicitly revealed.

"The Orc that multiplied monsters by putting humans at the forefront suddenly attacked the Yongsan area one day without warning. At that time, the Mana Management Organization upgraded the leader of the group to 4th tier, and the ones it controlled to 5th and 6th tier.

The day the Orc group ran rampant was only 3 days. In that time, they steadily increased their numbers, and killed or domesticated ordinary people and Players.

The photo I'm showing you now was taken by Players who gathered to eradicate the Orc group when they arrived in the Yongsan area."

It took only 3 days for the Yongsan area to be destroyed.

In just 3 days, the residents of Yongsan-gu lost the civilization they later restored, and had their human dignity violated.

Moreover, the monsters that formed clusters continued to cause distortions even after they disappeared.

Is that place cursed?

There's hardly any good news.

Eun-ha who was resting his chin on his hand listened halfheartedly to the instructor's lecture.

Come to think of it, the Yongsan area was a region that had been destroyed several times.

Being along the Han River, Yongsan-gu was the first to suffer damage from monsters during .

Above all, isn't it miserably destroyed 6 years from now?

As a result, the Yongsan-gu area transforms into a region where distortions frequently occur again and dungeons begin to appear here and there.

Later, even Samael, one of the Nine Demons, causes a large-scale distortion.

But it's a land of opportunity for me.

Eun-ha was indifferent to the photos the instructor kept showing.

Although the case presented by the instructor was quite horrific, Eun-ha who had wandered around the Uijeongbu area ruled by Baek Myeon-sang before his regression didn't feel much emotion.

I should drop this class.

Eun-ha who was now rubbing his sleepy eyes decided not to take Basic Monster Cluster Studies.

Judging by how the instructor was explaining without resting his mouth for even a moment, it seemed there would be no practical lessons at all.

Although the class content seemed quite substantial, it wasn't a suitable class for him who prioritized practical over theory.

"Hey, Bae Su-bin."

"What."

I should just leave the classroom now.

Eun-ha nudged Su-bin sitting next to him with his elbow, wondering if she might feel the same.

She who had been diligently taking notes retorted in an irritated tone.

"Are you going to keep taking this class?" "The content is substantial and interesting. Are you not going to take it?"

"I'm too sleepy to listen. I'm going to look for a more comfortable class." "Okay. Leave quietly without disturbing when you go out. I'll contact you later."

"See you later."

Eun-ha packed his things and stood up.

The instructor was so focused on the lecture that he didn't even glance at him quietly leaving the classroom.

"...I have free time."

Eun-ha walked through the corridor looking for a suitable class to take on his schedule.

There was nothing appropriate.

It seemed this time would end up being a free period.

The time after that too.

He decided to devote himself to individual practice with Yeonhwa at the training ground from next week.

I wonder what the others are doing...

Time suddenly became empty.

Unexpectedly having free time, he didn't know what to do.

He didn't particularly want to train either.

But he didn't want to go to the dormitory to rest at this time either.

I should go chat with other friends.

He decided to look for friends with free time in the group chat.

「Me」: Anyone free now? (02:12 PM)

Replies flew in quickly.

Less than a minute after sending the message, Parang sent a reply.

He decided to ignore the blue wolf's words telling him to come over saying the class he was taking now was interesting.

Min-ji and Seo-na also sent messages, but it seemed to be class time.

Eun-hyeok said he was taking the same class too.

Soon the number of people who hadn't read his message was down to two.

One was predictable. It would be Bae Su-bin who had been concentrating on taking notes until just earlier.

The remaining one was─

"─Ha-yang got it too."

The unread number became 1.

And after a few minutes, Ha-yang sent a message.

「Ha-yang」: I just got free time too! Eun-ha, where are you now? (02:23 PM)

Jung Ha-yang happened to be free too.

Eun-ha who had been bored spending time alone thought it was good and exchanged messages with Jung Ha-yang.

It would take some time to come out here from the lecture building.

Eun-ha decided to kill time with AllDayFine, one of the SNS, while waiting for her.

Posts from the page Eun-a had saved saying he needed to keep up with trends popped up one after another.

...I'm craving something cool and sweet.

He who had been scrolling down the screen soon had his eyes drawn to ice cream released as a summer limited edition by Luminous Sweet.

The weather was hot, and he sweated even with just a little movement.

But if he ate that ice cream, it seemed like he could endure the hot summer well.

「Me」: If you don't have class next period either, want to go eat the ice cream Luminous Sweet released? (02:31 PM)

「Ha-yang」: Let's go! Let's go! (02:31 PM)

There wasn't much time left to eat the summer limited ice cream.

Eun-ha decided to go outside the academy since there were no classes anyway.

Although it was difficult for academy students to go out on weekdays except for weekend outings, he could live more freely at the academy after proving his skills to Sirius Group at the 1st semester closing party.

If he made an appropriate excuse and submitted an outing form, neither the academy nor Sirius Group would say anything.

It would be the same for Ha-yang who was Alice Group's direct descendant.

"─Sorry. Did you wait?"

"No, I didn't wait much..." "Huh? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Eun-ha who had been sitting on the bench turned to look at Jung Ha-yang who spoke from behind.

Eun-ha who was about to answer nonchalantly noticed her lips were unusually red.

It seemed she was a bit late from applying tint on the way.

She put in effort too since we're going out.

Eun-ha smirked.

At her putting on makeup to go outside the academy when she was only 14 years old.

He smiled not because the makeup didn't suit her, but because he knew her well when she was young, so it felt strange.

I shouldn't say anything unnecessary.

Besides that, although she was wearing her uniform, she seemed to have put in effort in a subtle way.

It was difficult to distinguish specific changes, but he could notice the atmosphere had changed.

Eun-ha had no intention of pointing that out needlessly.

Come to think of it, was this around the age Baek-ryeon started wearing makeup too?

Looking back, it seemed Ha Baek-ryeon started wearing makeup at 14 years old too.

As the next Fairy to succeed Fairy Im Ga-eul, she who grew up under strict protection from a young age due to her position didn't have a single friend.

She couldn't help but be late to trends.

Nevertheless, the reason she started wearing makeup at the age of 14 was because she had to show her face at politically active events from that time.

'...H-How is it? I don't look strange, do I?'

'It's fine, you're pretty.'

'...Really? Really? Really?'

'You're pretty, I said you're pretty. Satisfied?'

'Hmm... I can't trust your words, mister. You always just say I'm pretty no matter what I do.'

'Then do you want to hear that you're ugly?'

'...Am I ugly?'

'No, I said you're pretty.'

Ha Baek-ryeon whom he cherished like his own daughter in his previous life.

In Eun-ha's eyes, Ha Baek-ryeon was a child who was untainted by this world, truly like a fairy who had descended from heaven.

There was no way she wasn't pretty.

The members of the Mist Flower Party even teased Eun-ha jokingly calling him a doting father.

To the point where Ha Baek-ryeon who had only heard nice words later got tired of it and complained.

He never thought that child who had been like that would suddenly become a woman and approach him at some point.

'How is it? They say it's a new color released by YH Group. Isn't it really pretty?'

'Yeah. The pink suits you well.'

'Huh? What's with you, oppa? You've never given a specific compliment until now...'

'Any color suits you well. But now that I look, pink seems to suit you best.'

'...This is strange? Did you perhaps hear something from Yu-jeong unni?'

'Why is Yu-jeong suddenly coming up?'

'Well, whatever. It doesn't matter.'

At that time, Ha Baek-ryeon led him to a balcony where no one was at the party hall.

She who hurriedly locked the door clung to him with her silver-white hair fluttering in the wind.

Saying she had once learned from the twin sisters, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her chest that had swelled since becoming an adult tightly against him.

'What's wrong. You didn't get drunk from drinking that earlier, did you?'

'Tch... Have you ever seen me get drunk?'

'You used to get drunk just from smelling alcohol when you were young...'

'That was then.'

The cat who had vaguely left traces of her young self and become an adult puffed her cheeks slightly in protest.

Then she opened her mouth.

'But you know... You just said pink suits me well...'

'...So?'

'...It's not just my lips that are pink. Aren't you curious... where else it might be?'

At that moment, he realized.

That the girl he thought he had raised as a cat was actually a tiger.

☆

"I didn't know the outing permission would be approved so easily."

"There's no way they could stop us."

Eun-ha and Ha-yang were on their way to the school gate after submitting their outing permission forms.

As expected, the outing permission forms were smoothly approved.

The instructor who received the forms just skimmed them over and only gave a warning to the two.

'Don't come back too late from playing. You probably won't, but just in case you stray...'

'That won't happen.'

'Huh? Instructor, what is it?'

'You don't need to know.'

At that time, Eun-ha hurriedly covered the instructor's mouth and brought Ha-yang outside.

It wasn't a story she should hear.

"Luminous Sweet means... we're going to Seongbuk-dong, right?"

"Should we stop by Happiness on the way there too?" "Hmm... no, it's okay. I'm going home this weekend. Instead, let's eat dinner before we come back later!"

"Okay, then."

They received plenty of outing time.

There would be no problem as long as they returned before roll call at the dormitory.

The two walked towards the school gate chattering like that.

Just then, a voice was heard from somewhere.

"─Hey, Eun-ha!! It's been so long! Did you have a good vacation?"

Choi Ga-in was shouting loudly from far away.

Thinking her voice hadn't reached them, she was jumping up and down waving both hands widely.

Cha Eun-woo who was holding her textbooks behind her was shaking her head left and right instead of greeting.

"I don't want to get involved with her..."

"Should we pretend not to see and run away?"

"Yeah, let's do that."

Choi Ga-in was coming this way.

He had no desire whatsoever to deal with her.

So he decided to accept Ha-yang's words, but─

"─Let's hurry and go!"

"Huh?"

"Eun-ha! Noh Eun-ha! Where are you going!?"

Suddenly, Ha-yang grabbed Eun-ha's hand and started running.

He who hadn't expected this to happen just stared wide-eyed at her running ahead.

Did she want to go out that badly?

Ha-yang looked happy.

So Eun-ha didn't see.

The sight of Ha-yang having a staring contest with Choi Ga-in before grabbing Eun-ha's hand.