I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 58 : Aftermath (4)

"Ahem."

"Hrm."

Lee Yu-jin and Hwang Ji-su.

Song Yu-ha and Kwon Seung-yeon.

A silent and heavy atmosphere settled in the tent where the four had barged in.

"...Well, shall we all eat fruit first!"

Kwon Seung-yeon, who felt suffocated by this atmosphere, said as she pulled out fruit.

"Roger roger! I want an apple!"

Song Yu-ha's eyes brightened.

"Wait a moment."

Kwon Seung-yeon took out a knife and skillfully peeled the apple.

"Have one each. Ji-su and I picked them out together."

"Wow, such dedication! I'll enjoy it!"

As Song Yu-ha responded with her characteristic high tension, even Lee Yu-jin and Hwang Ji-su, who had been showing signs of discomfort, reluctantly relaxed their expressions.

"...Thanks. It's delicious."

"Hmph."

After tasting the apple while smacking her lips, Lee Yu-jin took out a dagger from her bosom, infused it with sword energy, and peeled the skin as sharply as a razor blade.

"Eat this too."

"...Why use sword energy for something like this."

Hwang Ji-su pouted and waved her hand, lowering the temperature of the dish containing fruit enough to form a thin layer of ice.

"Wow! This is totally amazing. Ice apple!"

Only Song Yu-ha smiled with a face that seemed to know nothing.

"Su-hyeon, try some too!"

"Thank you."

Song Yu-ha swiftly picked up a piece of apple and directly fed it to Su-hyeon.

'Damn, she's no ordinary girl.'

Kwon Seung-yeon inwardly admired her snake-like skills.

"So."

Hwang Ji-su, who had been watching that scene, turned to Su-hyeon.

"Has your body fully recovered?"

"...Almost."

Su-hyeon, who had been quietly keeping his mouth shut, not knowing what to do in this strange atmosphere, nodded.

"That's totally a relief! Instructor Jang said there was quite a lot of damage, so he didn't know when you'd wake up."

"I think it's because my ability has the characteristic of exceptional recovery."

"I heard the power-up you showed when fighting Lee Yong-ju was also thanks to your ability."

Su-hyeon nodded at Hwang Ji-su's words.

"Yes. It's like temporary doping."

"Hmm."

"You were really amazing then. He was a monster we couldn't defeat even attacking in numbers, but that Ma-in couldn't do anything against you and just got beaten up."

Kwon Seung-yeon patted Su-hyeon's shoulder repeatedly.

"I survived thanks to you. I really wanted to say thank you."

"It's nothing to thank me for."

"Hehehe. As a token of gratitude, I'll exempt you from next month's food expenses."

"No, that's too much."

Su-hyeon waved his hand in refusal.

"Anyway, get better soon. We should work out together again."

"I was thinking of asking to be discharged today anyway."

"Will you be okay? Isn't that too soon?"

Lee Yu-jin asked worriedly.

"There's no problem with my physical condition."

Su-hyeon said.

"What about all of you? You were quite injured too."

"We're fine."

"Thanks to Instructor Jang Jin-won and Yu-ha. After getting one heal from Yu-ha, even my bone fractures disappeared?"

"Hehe. My healing is pretty awesome."

Song Yu-ha made a V-sign with her hand.

"By the way, Su-hyeon, haven't the other kids come?"

To Lee Yu-jin's question, Su-hyeon shook his head.

"Seo Jun-seong came and left earlier."

"Really?"

"He's quick."

"When did he come again?"

"He said he had something to tell me."

Su-hyeon laughed softly.

"Has Tae-hoon come yet?"

To Kwon Seung-yeon's question, Su-hyeon shook his head.

"Not yet."

"Wow. What's he doing that he hasn't come? He's your roommate after all."

"Are you two awkward with each other?"

"Hmm. I don't know. Nam Tae-hoon does act overly friendly."

"Ahahaha!"

Kwon Seung-yeon, who had been giggling, tilted her head.

"Come to think of it, where was Tae-hoon and what was he doing at that time?"

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"Damn, this has become troublesome."

Nam Tae-hoon sighed after finishing his communication with his superiors.

"Ah damn it. Of all people, to meet that bastard there."

He could have just escaped through the shadows.

However, Nam Tae-hoon didn't do that, and as a result, he left a big trail in the form of an unidentified Ma-in corpse.

'Why did I do that?'

Nam Tae-hoon, with his arms crossed, looked at Su-hyeon's empty bed and sighed.

'It's because of that guy.'

Twin Axes Won Jeong-gu.

Jeong Su-hyeon was in the direction he was heading.

It was obvious that if he appeared in front of Su-hyeon, who was fighting Lee Yong-ju at the time, even someone like Su-hyeon couldn't guarantee victory.

That wasn't what Nam Tae-hoon, who was observing Su-hyeon as a person of interest, wanted.

'If the situation had been completely devastated beyond help, I would have just gone along with it. But this Jeong Su-hyeon bastard was running around too well in all directions.'

In the end, it was Nam Tae-hoon's heart that moved, feeling great curiosity about Su-hyeon's activities.

'I was just trying to buy time until the situation was over.'

Won Jeong-gu's resistance was more troublesome than expected, and there was also no one around, plus the fact that he was an opponent who could be beaten sufficiently.

Due to these three factors aligning, he eventually got excited and caused an incident.

'What should I say I was doing then? It's awkward to match alibis.'

It's fortunate that due to the EMP going off, all CCTVs and the like were rendered useless.

"Hmm."

Nam Tae-hoon, who was lost in thought, checked the time.

"I guess I should go see my roommate's face first."

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"Whoa, looks like a lot of kids have already come and gone."

Nam Tae-hoon made a fuss as he looked around at the flower vase from Lee Yu-jin and the fruit basket from Kwon Seung-yeon.

"Can I eat one of these apples too?"

"Do as you please."

"Oh, thank you, thank you."

While watching Nam Tae-hoon pick up and eat a slightly yellowed apple, I examined his expression.

'In hundreds of playthroughs, it was extremely rare for Nam Tae-hoon to directly intervene in a fight.'

Though he basically adheres to the role of an onlooker and observer.

Depending on the cumulative score built up by the player until that point, and the level of activity shown in the fight against the Ma-in, there are cases where Nam Tae-hoon's hidden behavior pattern is unlocked.

'The way Won Jeong-gu's corpse was killed matches exactly with Nam Tae-hoon's method.'

"...Have you heard about that?"

"What story?"

I spoke in a casual voice, deliberately not looking at Nam Tae-hoon.

"I heard that among the Ma-in who invaded this time, there was one who died from being stabbed with a dagger."

Nam Tae-hoon's answer followed after a short delay that would have been imperceptible if I hadn't been conscious of it.

"Ah, right. I heard about that too."

"I wonder who did it? I heard none of the instructors whose main weapon is a dagger were left on campus at that time."

"Heh. Really?"

"Perhaps one of the assistant instructors did it?"

Nam Tae-hoon turned to me with his usual sloppy face.

"That could be. I heard that bastard killed several assistants."

"Indeed. So they took revenge, but since killing an opponent without a red alert being issued could be problematic, they might be keeping quiet about it."

As I nodded, Nam Tae-hoon snapped his fingers as if that was exactly it.

"That's right! That makes sense."

"Right?"

I smiled softly.

"Though the real culprit is probably someone else."

At those words.

The corner of Nam Tae-hoon's mouth stiffened slightly.

Very subtly, but enough for my eyes to recognize.

"Someone else? Then who?"

"On the ankle of the dead Ma-in."

I said.

"I heard there was a mark as if it had been tightly gripped by a palm."

"...!"

Nam Tae-hoon's eyes widened a bit.

Of course, since no one had told me this, he would be curious about how I knew.

"What's strange is that no fingerprints were left on that hand mark. As if..."

"Heh."

I could feel Nam Tae-hoon's gaze changing in real time.

"...As if a shadow itself had risen up and grabbed it."

"Hahaha."

A faint killing intent mingled in Nam Tae-hoon's laughter.

"Stop it."

I said calmly.

"Stop it? What?"

"I mean if you take one more step from there, it will be irreversible. That's beyond your authority."

"......"

The killing intent disappeared from Nam Tae-hoon's expression.

"Just how much do you know?"

"More than you think."

I smiled and stared directly into Nam Tae-hoon's eyes.

"And I also guess that your action of killing Won Jeong-gu was ultimately well-intentioned."

"Ha."

Nam Tae-hoon laughed with a face that said he'd been hit hard.

"You really surprise me several times."

"Let's do this."

I said in a calm voice.

"I'd like us to make a non-aggression pact where we keep and acknowledge each other's secrets."

"Why?"

"Because it's beneficial for both of us."

"Hmm."

"Raging Wolf Hong Byeong-gwon. No one knows yet that I was the one who fought him."

I said.

"But you probably know."

"......"

"Let's create alibis for each other. You also need to fill in the empty alibi during the time you were fighting Won Jeong-gu, right? If we say we fought together, the academy will accept it."

This is probably an offer Nam Tae-hoon has no reason to refuse.

"...It seems like we have more to talk about in the future."

"We'll make time separately after I'm discharged."

Nam Tae-hoon and I shook hands.

"Okay. Let's cooperate for now."

Feeling the deep curiosity rising on his face, I smiled softly.

"Right."

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Two days later.

A joint funeral was held within the academy for Class 3 Homeroom Instructor Bang Woo-gil, seven assistant instructors, and one cadet who had died in the line of duty.

"With a heavy heart, we bury our great friends in our hearts today. But in our memories, they will live and breathe forever."

Principal Min Jeong-gap personally read the eulogy, and the heads of the Execution Force and high-ranking government officials, including the Prime Minister, were in attendance.

"We solemnly declare here. We pledge in our name that we will track down the villains and make them pay the just price. The Ma-in's conspiracy to destroy citizen safety and social order will never be realized."

It was a moment when the structure between the two forces, which had been loose for a while, was being tightened again.

"For this goal, we will unite our strength. We believe that if the will of hunters, the Execution Force, government, and citizens comes together, we can resolutely crush any difficulties. Furthermore..."

It was both a eulogy and a declaration of war.

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In accordance with the declaration made through the principal's mouth.

The academy and the Execution Force began investigating the entity behind the surprise attack.

"There's no doubt that those bastards are the villains. The Executioner and the Battle Maniac were veterans in that organization."

The so-called Sword of Belphegor.

It was a mysterious organization whose size was not even properly known yet.

It was also a famous organization in the underworld, where powerful Ma-in who had committed all kinds of heinous crimes gathered under a veiled boss.

"Those bastards are really tricky ones, Cheol-han."

Team Leader Song Young-hwan, who had faced them several times in the field, hardened his expression.

"Tactical, meticulous, and organized. If other guys are gangs, these guys are the mafia. We've received intelligence that they've been continuously growing in the underworld struggle, but..."

"Hmm."

Kim Cheol-han nodded with a serious face.

"Their behavior patterns have been quite different for a long time. They quietly built their strength, operated in the shadows, and were brutal and thorough."

He felt it was time to reassess their dangerousness.

"I hate to admit it, but there must be someone who helped the Ma-in infiltrate. First, we need to catch that spy."

Song Young-hwan agreed with Kim Cheol-han's words.

"Right. We should think that they conduct intelligence activities just as we do."

"The enemy is cunning and clever. Always assuming that is the only way to avoid further misjudgments."

"The most frightening thing is that this incident might be a sign that the landscape of Ma-in, which had been scattered in fragments, is converging into one."

Song Young-hwan said.

"If that's the case, we may eventually be unable to avoid a massive war."