五月天激情片

Gunfire filled the auditorium.

That guy just stood in place and pulled the trigger. He seemed like a nobody no matter how long she watched him.

“…”

This confused Jin Sahyuk even more.

He was definitely a good-for-nothing gunner who only knew how to pull the trigger judging from his actions, but something in her kept resonating with his existence.

“Well, his aim is quite good.”

Someone’s voice flowed into her ears.

It took Jin Sahyuk a while to realize that person was talking to her. She looked sideways and saw Yun Seung-Ah smiling at her.

“That cadet’s name is Kim Hajin. His gift is related to guns…” Yun Seung-Ah blabbered on while trying to be friendly.

However, Jin Sahyuk paid her no mind and only focused on that guy below.

She felt as if a wave of emotions rose from the abyss and swept her away. This strange sensation truly dumbfounded her like an ego sleeping inside her was saying…

‘You should never forget. You must repay him.’

However, Jin Sahyuk had no idea what to do and couldn’t decipher the feeling that guy gave her.

— We will now start forming groups for the specialization class!

A new voice spoke from the auditorium.

— The next class will simulate a real battle, which is the most basic skill a hero should possess!

***

[Everyone, gather in the Pharmacy Club room. This is an emergency.]

The next day, President Chae issued a command for everyone to gather in the club room. However, I couldn’t go from my current location.

“Why is she suddenly acting like this?” I grumbled while untangling the branches wrapped around my legs and sent her a reply.

[I can’t come.]

I continued climbing as I looked for a road through the thick vegetation.

The vegetation in Mount Geomjuk of Hamgyeong Province was quite overgrown and made it difficult to see ahead. It didn’t trouble me since I already figured out the way thanks to the Book of Truth…

“Eugh!”

That’s what I thought, but a tree root suddenly caught my foot.

Thud!

I fell face-first into the ground. Only then did I see the root binding my feet.

“What is this… Huh? Wait a minute…”

It didn’t look like an ordinary root after a closer look. I crawled on all four to inspect it. This dirty, long root was the size of my arm with more slender legs growing from it.

“Oh my god…”

I found a wild ginseng. Not only that, this looked older than the last one I found judging from its size.

I looked around.

Gulp!

I subconsciously gulped. This wasn’t the first time I got lucky and found a wild ginseng, but this was definitely the first time I came across one the size of a mandrake.

“Huff… Huff…”

I even used stigma to dig the wild ginseng out as carefully as possible.

***

Meanwhile, the Pharmacy Club members gathered in the club room while Kim Hajin busily foraged the wild ginsengs on Mount Geomjuk, which was Chae Nayun’s private property.

“Why did you ask us to gather?” Yoo Yeonha asked.

She sat on the sofa and pouted to show her dissatisfaction with being summoned. It was understandable since President Chae one-sidedly called for them to gather.

Chae Nayun kept looking at her smartwatch without making any announcements.

“Ah… Damn it… why is that guy not coming?”

[I can’t come.]

‘I already prepared a gift for you, so you’re the only one who loses if you don’t come. Stupid.’

“Chae Nayun?”

Only after Kim Suho called her did she finally take her eyes off the smartwatch.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you ask us to gather?”

“Oh, right. Take a look at this,” Chae Nayun said as she projected the hologram of a poster from the Hero Community.

[Neutral City-State Virance – Adventurer’s Colosseum]

This poster came from Virance, a very famous neutral city-state.

The club members stared intently at it before tilting their heads in confusion.

“First place gets the Gautz Gauntlets? What about it? I know it’s a famous artifact, but only Yi Yeonghan uses fists among us.”

“Ah! Chae Nayun you… just for me?!”

“Ah, damn it. Do you have a death wish? Not that one, look at the second place prize.”

The club members slightly lowered their gaze on the poster. The second place prize had quite a unique name.

“Soul Mana Vermillion… Ah, this one?” Yoo Yeonha said with a smirk.

However, Kim Suho and Yi Yonghan still seemed clueless. Shin Jonghak pretended to know when he also had no clue.

“Sigh… How can you guys call yourselves members of the Pharmacy Club when you don’t even know what this is? It’s an orb with a spirit and mana concentration. Can’t you see? It’s an extremely precious medicine. I saw it on the almanac.”

‘Chae Nayun? Almanac?’

Those two polar opposite words rendered Yoo Yeonha speechless.

“But Nayun, how do you plan to win?” she asked.

“How else? I just have to participate in the colosseum, right?”

“What? Are you crazy?” Yoo Yeonha frowned at her words.

Chae Nayun’s declaration also surprised Yi Yeonghan, Kim Suho, and Shin Jonghak.

However, she seemed confident for some reason.

“Why? I don’t think it’s impossible. We just have to place second, right? I hope you guys aren’t thinking that we can’t achieve that.”

“No, Nayun. You seem to be looking down on the neutral city-states too much. No, rather than that, it might be problematic if people found out we’re cadets.”

“It’s alright. They can guarantee our anonymity, so we just have to wear a mask or something. Better yet, we could all go in wearing full disguises. Also, our value will only increase if we perform well in places like this. I already asked my dad’s friends about it.”

The information would be credible if it came from Chae Shinhyuk’s side. Not to mention, a lot of heroes saw their value jump after performing well in neutral city-states. Prime examples of this included Yoo Sihyuk and Aileen.

However, it would still be risky nonetheless.

“Sounds like it’ll be fun,” Kim Suho said.

“What are you talking about—” Yoo Yeonha retorted.

However, Shin Jonghak interrupted her, “Sounds good to me. It was starting to get boring since I couldn’t find a match in Cube. I think it’ll be a great opportunity to test my skills against other people from neutral city-states.”

Yoo Yeonha felt appalled by Shin Jonghak for the first time in her life after hearing his bluff.

Regardless of how she felt, three of them already agreed. Only she and Yi Yeonghan remained. She glared at Yi Yeonghan, who flinched in response. It didn’t look like he opposed the idea. He probably felt more optimistic about it as a fist user because of the Gautz Gauntlets.

Yoo Yeonha glared at Chae Nayun with a dissatisfied look before finally conceding, “Then, when are we leaving?”

“When? Of course, it’ll be this Thursday,” Chae Nayun nonchalantly replied.

Yoo Yeonha frowned at Chae Nayun with quite a scary expression.

***

I was forced to join the Pharmacy Club on Thursday after our theory class ended. No, to be more accurate, they abducted me.

Chae Nayun said I had no choice since I missed the last club meeting. She abducted me from the gym and shoved me into an SUV. Then we headed off to the large portal at Cube to travel to China.

“So this is a Goldwood.”

The Pharmacy Club supervisor, Seo Youngji, also came with us. She admired the Goldwood SUV, which actually resembled diamond more than gold. She gripped the steering wheel with trembling hands.

“I’m going to drive now… Is it really fine for someone like me to drive a gorgeous beast like you?” she muttered like a crazy person before stepping on the accelerator. The Goldwood SUV fiercely, yet gently sped away.

“Oh right, Yoo Yeonha. You’re going against Kim Hajin, right?” Chae Nayun asked with a smirk.

As she said, I got matched against Yoo Yeonha in one-on-one combat for the specialization class.

“Yeah… it just turned out that way,” Yoo Yeonha nonchalantly replied while stealing glances at me.

“Go easy on me,” I added.

“…”

Yoo Yeonha didn’t say anything and only bit her lower lip. She seemed dissatisfied with the match-up.

Of course, a match between a supporter and a sharpshooter would always be uneven since a supporter usually hid behind the warrior. However, Cube wanted to test the supporters’ abilities if the warrior died. Besides, Yoo Yeonha was one of the rare cadets in Cube who could serve as a supporter and sharpshooter.

In short, Yoo Yeonha would be an insurmountable wall for someone like me. Our ranks were way too far apart. I was ranked 934 while she ranked in the single digits.

“You should be the one going easy on me.”

“No, I’ll treat it as a life and death situation. You should go easy on me though.”

“Ha… Unbelievable…” Yoo Yeonha scoffed and looked out the window.

“I should quickly finish my match and come watch you two,” Chae Nayun snickered without letting go of the game device in her hands.

The SUV ran without a hitch for hours until we reached our destination.

“That’s… that’s the city…” Seo Youngji muttered. She became too excited after driving the Goldwood for six hours and seemed out of it.

Chae Nayun’s eyes widened in surprise and she asked, “We’re already here?”

“Yeah… this car is… too good…” Seo Youngji replied with a disoriented look. Her eyes caressed every inch of the car.

“Ah… Alright… let’s get out.”

The club members exited the car at President Chae’s order and Seo Youngji went to park the SUV.

“Wow… who knew a city could exist in the middle of nowhere?”

Chae Nayun’s description of the city-state was quite accurate. Virance had been built in the middle of a desert like Las Vegas, but they chose traditional architecture instead of modern designs. High-rise buildings could hardly be seen here. Most buildings had been built with bricks instead of concrete.

“Let’s go. Follow me,” Chae Nayun confidently led the way and we followed closely behind.

We couldn’t help but feel nervous approaching a city situated on the border of a danger zone. However, China was nearby and this place had enough visitors that they didn’t require any strict inspections like New Alliance.

Thanks to that, we entered the city without a hitch.

“Let’s head straight to the colosseum and register before anything else,” Chae Nayun said.

I slowed down and leisurely looked around. People crowded the streets. Most of them carried weapons on their waists or backs. They all looked like mercenaries.

“This city is famous for mercenaries.”

“Ack! You surprised me!”

“Ack!”

Seo Youngji appeared out of nowhere and surprised us.

“Ah… You’re really fast…”

“The leader of this city is a madman, so nobody dares to stir up trouble here.”

“Oh, I see.”

Everyone, including myself, understood what she meant.

The Hunters of Madness ruled this city, so nobody dared to pick a fight. I didn’t create this story setting, but easily understood her warning.

“Then, shall we head to the hotel?” Seo Youngji said before flashing a shiny card that contained the Pharmacy Club’s stipend.

“We can stay anywhere and even book one room per person,” Seo Youngji smiled and led us to a luxurious hotel called [Angel’s Sanctuary].

We immediately left the hotel after unpacking due to Chae Nayun’s pestering.

“We only have an hour left before the public transportation stops. Hurry and walk faster!” Chae Nayun shouted from the front.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

We ran with Chae Nayun in the lead until we spotted a crowd at the city square.

I slowed to a halt.

“Everyone! Time to place your bets! Who will emerge victorious this season in the colosseum? The minimum bet starts at one million Korean won!”

The city square featured a big board surrounded by bookies collecting money from people and handing out receipts.

I could tell from a glance that this was the place to gamble in regards to the colosseum. I tiptoed towards the betting board and looked around.

“Hey, Kim Hajin,” Chae Nayun called me.

She squatted in front of a street peddler.

“Look at this,” she pointed to a wolf cub and played with it as it barked.

“Should we raise one?”

“…”

I checked the cub’s breed. It was a black wolf, which wasn’t that special.

“Why?”

“This looks like you. It has eyes, a nose, and ears. Its hair is also black like yours.”

“Is that what looking alike means nowadays?”

Going by her logic, the wolf cub probably had five hundred million other people it looked like.

“Is that so?” Chae Nayun replied and hugged the wolf cub. She already planned to buy it.

“…?”

She extended the wolf cub towards me and motioned for me to hug it.

I suddenly noticed two hooded figures in the distance as Chae Nayun tried to shove the wolf cub into my arms. They wore black robes that covered their entire bodies and their hoods also covered their faces. They walked on the street without sparing a glance at anything.

However, I sensed a dangerous aura from them and peered through their disguises.

“…”

I could see their faces and recognized them from the midterm exam. They probably also came for the colosseum.

One of them suddenly stopped and looked around. It seemed he felt my gaze.

“Hey.”

“Huh? What?”

I pulled Chae Nayun’s arm towards me. I didn’t even pull that hard, but she ended up hitting her head on my chest and embracing me.

“W-What is this… Kya!”

I pulled her into an alley as the sudden turn of events surprised her. I treated her a bit rough, but Chae Nayun easily came along as if letting herself be taken.

“Stay still for a moment.”

“H-Huh? W-Why?”

I pushed Chae Nayun against the alley wall and placed a finger on her lips while motioning, ‘Shh!’

Fortunately, Chae Nayun didn’t ask any questions and obediently listened.

I patiently waited until those two disappeared from view. It would be problematic if they saw me since we met during the midterm exam.

“…”

“…”

Thankfully, they left without any particular reactions. I finally sighed in relief and let go of Chae Nayun.

“Who is it this time?” I grumbled after spotting another group of robed people.

Around twenty of them walked in single file. Most of them were djinns and probably belonged to one of the evil organizations.

Our chances of winning would greatly diminish if they also participated in the colosseum event.

— Hey, do you think we can make any money out of this?

— Don’t worry. I already did my research and we have an 80% chance of winning.

— What about the remaining 20%?

— Just shut up and stop being a worry wart.

However, their goal was just to bet. A strict rule prohibited anyone and their friends from participating if they had placed a bet.

“Mmph… mmm… haaang…”

Suddenly, I heard someone moaning. I looked down and saw steam rising from Chae Nayun’s head. I wasn’t exaggerating. Actual steam came out of her head.

“Oh…”

I finally realized that I stuck too close, but why did she react like that? Was she going to throw up? Well, that would be understandable since I hadn’t showered after being abducted from the gym.

I took a few steps back and tapped her on the shoulder, “Hey, Chae Nayun.”

She looked up at me. Her eyes were out of focus and she kept biting her lips, which made me certain that she would throw up at any second.

“I’m sorry. Are you alright?” I asked.

“H… H-Huh…?”

“Are you sick?”

“W… W-Why?”

“Come on. Let’s go register.”

I left the alley and Chae Nayun obediently followed with the wolf cub in her arms.

Sniff… Sniff…

I discreetly sniffed my shirt. It did smell a bit. No, I reeked of sweat. However, I couldn’t do anything about that since this desert city was incredibly hot.