I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 38 : Weekend (3)

Su-hyeon was engaged in their promised training with Yu-jin from Sunday morning.

But today, Yu-jin's concentration wasn't like usual.

"Ugh!"

After launching an obvious attack and getting caught in Su-hyeon's grappling technique, Yu-jin fell and rubbed her back.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Yu-jin took the hand offered to help her up.

"Is something wrong? You don't seem to be focusing well today. Is it because it's the weekend?"

"That's not it."

Yu-jin shook her head.

"Just..."

What Song Yu-ha had told her yesterday kept lingering in her mind.

'...It's something that could happen. Why am I acting like this?'

After all, she herself had suggested spending some time together after training since it was the weekend.

If she thought about it, Su-hyeon had accepted her suggestion just as he had accepted Seung-yeon's proposal, which was reasonable to understand.

Of course, that didn't necessarily make it a pleasant thing.

'But if it negatively affects my sparring, that's not right. Yeah. Absolutely.'

After convincing herself, Yu-jin finally opened her mouth carefully.

"Um, Su-hyeon."

"What is it?"

"By any chance... did you have lunch with Seung-yeon yesterday?"

'Was it Kim Ho-su? Or did someone else see us?'

Su-hyeon inwardly clicked his tongue and answered.

"That's right. News travels fast indeed."

'News travels fast?'

Yu-jin's eyebrows twitched slightly at the curious remark.

"We ran into a lot of familiar faces while walking around. I guess since it's the beginning of the semester, a guy and girl walking together provokes unnecessary curiosity."

"Ah, I see."

Yu-jin's expression softened a little.

"...So it's nothing like that, right?"

"Like what?"

"Ah. It's nothing."

Yu-jin's expression brightened.

"Shall we continue sparring then?"

"Sure."

"Yeah."

For some reason.

After that, Yu-jin's sword seemed to have shed its worries, becoming more fierce and precise.

After finishing lunch, the two headed to a small movie theater on campus.

'Seung-yeon might have just had lunch, but I'm different.'

Yu-jin's face wore a smile that couldn't be explained merely by having enjoyed a delicious lunch.

"Run! Everyone run forward!"

"Block the pass! Don't let it get to Hong In-hyeon!"

Noisy sounds could be heard from the distant playing field.

"Looks like our classmates are playing soccer over there."

"Oh, I see. They said they'd play on Sunday afternoon, right?"

Class 1 and Class 2 cadets were having a soccer match on the field.

"Die!"

Playing as left wing, Hong In-hyeon used his wind-like speed to tear through Class 2's territory, then evaded a fullback with a La Croqueta and fired a powerful mid-range shot from the front of the arc, splitting the net.

"Woooah!"

"It's already 3-1!"

"He's good."

Su-hyeon commented calmly.

"Yeah. In-hyeon seems to have good athletic ability across the board."

"There are people like that."

There was a reason why, despite his characteristic being wind, close combat was his specialty.

'We should hurry past before they see us.'

Su-hyeon quickened his pace.

"Here are your two tickets."

"Thank you."

Yu-jin politely bowed her head as she received the tickets from the employee.

They had decided to watch a thriller movie that had good reviews lately.

'The existence of a culture that enjoys movies. There are few better hints to confirm that civilization is still intact.'

Su-hyeon thought.

'Well, movies continued to be made even during world wars.'

"Want something to drink?"

At Yu-jin's words, Su-hyeon said decisively.

"I'll have a zero cola."

'I can't consume unnecessary liquid fructose.'

"Ah... then I'll have corn tea."

"Didn't you want popcorn?"

Yu-jin's pupils trembled slightly, but her answer was different.

"No. We had a delicious lunch."

"I see."

Su-hyeon, who hadn't guessed Yu-jin's inner thoughts, nodded in acceptance.

"Su-hyeon, shall we go sit down early? There probably won't be many people anyway."

"Sounds good."

Meanwhile.

Sure enough, there was a classmate who spotted the two.

"That bastard."

Park Chang-jun, who had brought along his roommate who acted as his minion, scrunched up his face.

'Why is Yu-jin with that guy?'

There are people who are attracted to those opposite to themselves.

Park Chang-jun was like that.

It had been a week since enrollment.

During that time, Park Chang-jun had developed a habit of occasionally glancing at Yu-jin's decent, diligent, and calm demeanor.

Add to that her background as the Sword God's granddaughter and skills ranked among the top three, it wasn't unreasonable for his light heart to flutter.

But.

Such glances were never returned from Yu-jin.

Complete indifference, or rather, the displeasure felt from slightly furrowed eyebrows.

The temperature of emotions felt in that gaze was so different from when she looked at Su-hyeon that it was enough to make Park Chang-jun feel inferior once again.

'That ill-mannered orphan bastard.'

But how many times had he already been humiliated by him?

He lost to him in entrance exam scores, was floored with one liver blow when he picked a fight on the first day, and was knocked out without lasting even one round during boxing.

Just one week since enrollment.

In that short time, Park Chang-jun's mood had fallen from heaven to hell.

Especially the practical training from the day before yesterday was the worst.

'Damn it.'

Being paired with Yu-jin, whom he was conscious of, was perfect.

'If I use my characteristic, I won't be outmatched anywhere.'

Therefore, he wanted to make an impression by fully utilizing his abilities and performing well.

Of course.

No one would have guessed that his solo actions were intended for that purpose.

Rather, he ended up running wild alone, being used as bait under Yu-jin's judgment, and retiring.

Everyone watching merely shook their heads, saying Park Chang-jun was just being Park Chang-jun again.

'Damn it. Why does everything keep going wrong?'

......It would take time before he started looking for reasons within himself.

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On the way out after watching the movie, Yu-jin didn't say a word.

'Our arms touched.'

Of course, that wasn't strange since they sat next to each other.

But.

For some reason, that sensation wouldn't leave her head.

'It's a shame we couldn't share popcorn though.'

Of course, it wasn't so much that she liked popcorn itself, but more that she just wanted to try doing something like that.

'Is Su-hyeon not affected at all?'

Yu-jin glanced at Su-hyeon's face, which showed no particular emotion, and checked the time.

"Um. If you're tired, should we head back now?"

"Not particularly."

At those words, Yu-jin spoke as if she had been waiting.

"Then shall we go to a café?"

At that moment.

Su-hyeon's eyes sparkled.

"Where to?"

The name of the café the two headed to was Paul Baguette.

It was considered the best for bean quality among enthusiasts.

Therefore.

"...What's this?"

Hwang Ji-su, who claimed to be a coffee enthusiast, was sitting there as usual.

'...Yesterday he was with Seung-yeon, and today of all people, it's Yu-jin?'

Ji-su's mouth creased with displeasure.

She didn't like it for various reasons.

"What's this? Dating right after enrollment? Lucky you."

"N-no, it's not like that."

Yu-jin strongly denied it.

Meanwhile, Su-hyeon just snorted as if it was ridiculous, not even bothering to answer.

'That impudent guy.'

"Everything here is delicious. Americano or latte are good for tasting the bean flavor. Also, the Spanish latte has a distinctly different flavor compared to other cafés..."

Su-hyeon, who started explaining about coffee, showed his most excited appearance of the day.

"I see. I actually drink a lot of tea as well as coffee..."

Su-hyeon likes coffee, noted.

Data was being input into Yu-jin's brain in real-time.

"Tea is good too. But coffee also has an irresistible charm once you acquire the taste."

In fact, one of the things that gave Su-hyeon the most relief upon coming to this EoG world was that the coffee industry had been well restored.

"Due to the world falling into chaos after the Gate Era, long-distance trade became very difficult, but people always found answers as usual."

From food items like wine and coffee to IT products combined with cutting-edge technology.

During the long period of turmoil when trade routes were cut off, people combined their strength and wisdom to devise ways of self-sufficiency.

'This is the result.'

"Using advanced agriculture with glass greenhouses, they successfully recreated climates and environments as similar as possible to specialty coffee origins like Ethiopia, Yemen, Kenya, Brazil, and Guatemala, which boast diverse flavors and body. Thanks to this achievement, which should be called a coffee revolution..."

"...This is the first time I've seen Su-hyeon explain something so enthusiastically."

At Yu-jin's words, Su-hyeon cleared his throat.

"Hmm. It's because I love coffee so much."

Hwang Ji-su's expression changed curiously as she listened to their conversation.

'That guy. He knows quite a lot in detail.'

There weren't many peers who could have deep conversations about coffee.

"...Hmm."

But she deliberately shook her head and turned her attention to her tablet.

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Even on Sunday, the homeroom instructor's work didn't end.

"Is Instructor Kim in?"

"Vice Principal."

Instructor Kim Cheol-han, who was concentrating on his work at his desk in the faculty office, stood up at Vice Principal Kong Gi-jeong's visit.

"You're working hard even on the weekend."

"You're not resting either, Vice Principal."

"Hmm. Relaxing comfortably during the busiest beginning of the semester would be dereliction of duty."

Even without listening to his words specifically.

The crisp, ironed suit, the meticulously combed slicked-back hair, and the dignified and disciplined posture all explained this man's uprightness.

'A person who followed the Principal to the academy out of respect.'

This man was a powerful individual who had served as a faithful subordinate under the Principal, a hero of reversals and living legend, for decades.

However.

'They always clash within the academy due to differences in educational philosophy.'

Yet the relationship between the two men, who share drinks on their way home and strengthen their friendship.

That was precisely the driving force leading the academy in the right direction, according to Instructor Kim Cheol-han's assessment.

'The Vice Principal's educational philosophy is clear. Ultimately, it's a select few genuine elites who save the world.'

Processing raw gems with abundant potential and producing them as the finest talents.

That was the Vice Principal's idea of running EFAC, and therefore, he tended to pay a lot of attention to the most elite among those 100 elites.

Also, teaching those talents proper character and discipline was the Vice Principal's primary thesis.

"Is the selection of guidance instructors proceeding without any issues?"

"Of course."

Instructor Kim Cheol-han answered.

"I've collected the list of preferred students from the instructors until noon today, and just finished organizing everything."

"You're thorough as always. If all instructors were like you, I'd have nothing to do."

"You're too kind."

"Are there any unusual matters?"

"It's mostly not different from what we expected."

"Seo Jun-seong received the most nominations, and next would be Hwang Ji-su, right?"

"That's correct. In Lee Yu-jin's case, it seems the distinctive nature of her sword..."

"Hmm."

Vice Principal Kong Gi-jeong, looking at the list, gave a dry smile.

"Mr. Seo Jun-seong will be busy with interviews tomorrow."

"Yes, he will."

"Isn't he nominated more than Miss Min Hae-na last year?"

"Well, Cadet Min Hae-na was in a special situation."

"That's true."

The Principal's granddaughter, respected by all.

Even a decent instructor would feel burdened just by guiding her.

"Miss Hwang Ji-su will also have a fierce competition."

"Yes. She certainly has enviable talent."

"This is like university coaches scouting a soccer team's ace."

The Vice Principal said, half-jokingly.

"Hmm. But Instructor Kim, you didn't nominate either of those two?"

"That's right."

Kim Cheol-han smiled faintly.

"Those three will have plenty of instructors to guide them well even without me."

"A choice befitting you."

The Vice Principal's eyes sparkled as he nodded and scanned the list.

"This is interesting."

"Indeed."

"Instructor Lee Ho-seung chose Jeong Su-hyeon instead of Lee Yu-jin?"

"Yes. That was unexpected for me as well."

"Interesting. Very interesting."

He stroked his smoothly shaved chin.

"What aspect of Jeong Su-hyeon did that eccentric see?"

"I don't know for sure, but."

Instructor Kim Cheol-han smiled slightly.

"I think I might know what it is."