-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Tutorial Boss Battle (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The indoor training ground, located in a secluded corner of Velvet Academy.
This facility had been neglected for a long time, rarely used and isolated from other areas.
Normally, this place would be filled only with the damp smell of dust and the gloom of darkness, but...
Today, hundreds of people swarmed and gathered here.
Murmuring—
"Hey, you too...?"
"Did that bitch call you?"
Those gathered here stared at each other, unable to hide their bewildered expressions.
"Yeah. Uh-huh. That bitch Choi Aram suddenly cursed me out and told me to come to Training Ground G..."
"Crazy bitch. I wasn't even thinking about her, and she sent me a text just cursing me out. I came because I wondered what that girl, who couldn't even meet my eyes normally, was thinking."
At first, they wondered if it was a wrongly sent message, but
Choi Aram had meticulously sent long messages, each with a person's name, subtly mentioning their complexes and pasts.
"Right, with this much effort, I guess I should show up. But it seems like she called every single bitch she knows, huh?"
"What if she doesn't show up today and just drops out?"
"If that happens, I'll really hunt her down to the ends of hell and beat her to a pulp."
*Ptooey!*
One of the girls roughly spat on the floor.
"Damn it, screw this. That bitch obviously isn't coming out, so what kind of idiotic crap is this? I'm leaving—"
*Click!*
Just then, the sound of a door locking came from behind.
*Thunk—*
*Thunk—*
*Thunk—*
*Thunk—*
Lights came on one by one from above, illuminating a platform in front.
*Clop*
*Clop*
And then, a girl appeared with light footsteps.
Pink hair and pink eyes.
A small girl dressed in a suit.
It was Choi Aram.
Everyone's gaze focused on her.
"Hello, everyone?"
She greeted them, her pink eyes sparkling brightly.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Choi Aram looked around at those with dumbfounded expressions, then spoke in a clear voice.
"Hmm, some of you I haven't seen in a while, and some I just saw recently, haven't I?"
"Hey, you fucking bitch. What kind of bullshit is this? Did you miss your meds?"
The first to speak was Kim Su-hyun, the girl with short black hair who had told Yu-ri to join her group this morning.
She glared at Choi Aram, snarling fiercely.
"Damn it. My mood's already ruined because of that retarded bitch this morning, and now what's your deal?"
She had just finished the practical gate training. And received an unbelievable result.
Her party wasn't first, but second.
At a time like that, suddenly, another worthless person from that party.
The repeat-year dealer, Choi Aram, was telling her to come to the training ground.
So, she headed straight to the training ground without even washing up.
"Wow! Kim Su-hyun! Just now, you called Im Ga-eul retarded, didn't you!?"
Choi Aram looked at her, her eyes curving into a smile.
"Even though you've ignored me all this time, I can totally understand you. Hmm. Hmm."
She nodded her head.
Kim Su-hyun furrowed her brow sharply.
"Did this bitch seriously swallow a whole box of expired meds...?"
"Hmm, it's no fun if you keep talking like that—"
"Fun? Fun or not, you worthless bitch, you're dead today."
Kim Su-hyun rolled up her sleeves and strode forward.
At that, Choi Aram's face froze coldly.
"As expected, I don't like talkative people. I do like that you hate Im Ga-eul, but it's not like you were ever nice to me, were you?"
Her slender finger pointed at Kim Su-hyun.
"Alright, I'll make an example of you. If there's no one to set an example, no one will listen to me."
As she finished speaking, a streak of black light shot out from Choi Aram's fingertips.
*Ping—!*
A sudden attack.
The emitted flash pierced Kim Su-hyun's abdomen as she stepped forward.
"Ugh...!?"
Kim Su-hyun clutched her pierced abdomen, her eyes wide open.
Choi Aram looked down at her, a cruel smile on her face, and said in a chilling voice,
"I'm not the person you knew anymore."
*Thud—*
Kim Su-hyun collapsed on the spot.
Bright red blood began to flow from her fallen body.
"Oh...?"
"Su-Su-hyun!!!!"
"Isn't that, that demonic energy!?"
"That bitch, she sold her soul, sold her soul to a demonkin!!!"
In an instant, sharp screams and chaos filled the training ground.
*Crack, crackle—*
And the floor began to split.
"F-fuck, what is this!!!!!"
As sudden cracks appeared beneath the floor, the gathered students frantically moved to find a slightly safer position.
*Crash, bang, crackle—!*
There weren't just one or two cracks.
*Boom—! Boom—! Boom—! Crash, bang, crackle—!*
A series of loud earthquakes erupted simultaneously, shaking the training ground with vibrations and the roar of something breaking.
Finally, a monster's hand burst through the floor, gripping the edge of the fractured ground.
And following it, countless other hands burst from other crevices.
Thick muscles with sharp, hook-like claws, revealing their ferocity without filter.
Chaos.
Moreover, most of those gathered here hadn't been wary of Choi Aram, so they hadn't even brought their weapons.
Some tried to somehow regain control of the situation, but the sudden appearance of demonkin and a gate explosion only accelerated the chaos.
"Th-that's right! C-call the instructors! And the director!"
A student shouted amidst the chaos.
Choi Aram watched them with an intrigued expression.
She wanted to crush the hope they harbored.
"I'm sorry, but we're already inside a gate here. That means no electronic devices will work."
"...What!?"
"Hehehe, the people you're so eagerly waiting for won't come here. Well, they might figure out the situation later and come, but... by then, everything will already be over, won't it?"
Choi Aram clasped her hands together in the air, speaking as if in prayer.
"Ah, that person truly is omnipotent..."
She walked lightly down from the platform.
And then, she placed her foot on Kim Su-hyun's head, the one who had rushed at her just moments ago.
"Honestly, I don't know why everyone is so bad at grasping the situation. Right, Su-hyun?"
"..."
Kim Su-hyun, her abdomen pierced and having lost consciousness, could not respond.
However, Choi Aram continued as if she didn't care.
"Hehehe. That's right. I became a demonkin. Thanks to that, I can now crush people who used to ignore me beneath my heel. This feeling..."
She curled her lips into a smirk as she looked at Kim Su-hyun beneath her foot.
"It's truly the best!"
And then, she rubbed her foot back and forth as she spoke.
"You always got to taste this feeling, didn't you? Ignoring me, looking down on me..."
"..."
"So, how do you feel now? Hmm? How does it feel to have the tables turned by someone you ignored and treated like trash?"
*Growl—!*
*Kyaaaah—!!*
In front of them, monsters chased students, who screamed and fled.
That scene overlapped with her own appearance before she became a demonkin.
The monsters' faces became the faces of those who had ignored and looked down on her, and the fleeing students' faces became her own.
In truth, only a few people here had directly tormented her.
Velvet Hunter Academy was a place where even the strongest individuals faced continuous lessons that tested their limits every single day.
At such times, they spent more time training and recovering their own bodies than focusing on others.
But Choi Aram believed that their gazes, their dismissive attitudes, all of it was guilty.
After all, wasn't it a natural and self-evident truth of this world that the strong stood above the weak?
*Ahahahahahahahahaha!!!*
Suddenly, she burst into laughter.
"Yes, it was all a fake world! All of you were just worthless bugs, yet... I, I didn't have to suffer like that...!!!"
She laughed for a long time, then let out a languid sigh.
*Haa—*
"Hmm, so... where is Im Ga-eul?"
Choi Aram looked around, searching for her.
But no matter how much she searched, she was nowhere to be seen.
"I really want to see her face."
Im Ga-eul, who had stayed in the same hell as her, then abandoned her overnight and escaped alone.
Choi Aram could not forgive her.
*Hmm—*
"It won't do if Im Ga-eul isn't here... She's supposed to be my grand finale—."
As she narrowed her eyes, carefully observing the fleeing students,
"Pinky bitch. Your chuunibyo just got worse."
Suddenly, a voice clearly pierced her ears.
She turned her head.
Next to her stood a black-haired boy with a stern expression.
And behind his back, the one she had been searching for,
Im Ga-eul.
She was watching her, biting her lip.
"Aram. You truly have crossed a line you shouldn't have..."
* * *
A horrific scene: a gate explosion occurring inside the academy.
'It was real...'
Shin Se-hee swallowed hard, gazing at the scene.
"We're not late. We're right on time. This is the starting point of the battle."
Jin Yu-ha said in a stern voice, looking around.
At his words, Shin Se-hee's conversation with Jin Yu-ha from a little while ago naturally came to mind.
"...What? A demonkin, suddenly?"
"Yeah, assuming one of the students became a demonkin. Where in the academy do you think they'd cause trouble? Things might happen differently from the original schedule."
Jin Yu-ha had abruptly come to her, saying a demonkin might appear.
And that it was a student, no less.
Honestly, it was so sudden that her mind went blank for a moment.
Still, since he asked, she had to answer.
"...Hmm, I'm not sure, but they'd probably go somewhere the instructors' eyes can't reach, right?"
"Can you pull up a list?"
"...Excuse me, Jin Yu-ha."
"Hm?"
"Putting aside the source of that information, wouldn't it be better to leave such dangerous matters to the instructors?"
At that, Jin Yu-ha scratched his head.
"Hmm, I did think about that, but... as you know, it hasn't been long since I was suspected of being a demonkin myself."
"...Yes."
"So, I thought it wouldn't be good to reveal that I knew something in advance. And I don't think there's time to build up to it either."
However, his words were a bit strange.
The information that came out of his mouth, its source unknown.
He seemed to be reluctant to reveal it to others, yet at times, he didn't seem to hide it at all.
Yes, he didn't hide it.
Especially not from them.
"Then why are you telling *us*?"
"Because you're my party members."
"...Huh?"
Jin Yu-ha folded his fingers one by one as he spoke.
"Hmm, well. First, Kang Do-hee is the type who absolutely never betrays someone she decides to trust. As for Gukbap, well, if you can't trust him, there's no one to trust. Im Ga-eul, even if she's suspicious, she's the type who just goes with the flow given the atmosphere."
"...W-wait a minute. Im Ga-eul? Who is that?"
"Ah, a senior. A support I'm planning to recruit."
Shin Se-hee glared at him with disgruntled eyes.
"You said you'd tell *me* first..."
"I met her today. That's why I came straight to you. To tell you."
Jin Yu-ha gave a sly smile.
Cruelly, his voice and face naturally made her feel better.
But,
Shin Se-hee still hadn't heard it.
She understood that he believed others would never betray him, even if he revealed his suspiciousness.
Then, what about her own case?
The very fact that he was telling her this proved that he trusted her, but...
Given their first encounter, she was still uneasy.
She also wanted to hear that one phrase.
"...Then, what about me?"
Shin Se-hee swallowed hard, asking in a hesitant voice.
At that, Jin Yu-ha glanced back at her.
"Actually, in some ways, I feel the most secure with you, more than anyone else."
"...Huh?"
"No matter what kind of person I am, as long as we're on the same side, you'd never betray me, would you?"
She bit her lip tightly.
How could he say something like that so casually?
This man always spoke as if he could see right through her.
And he said exactly what she most wanted to hear.
"Besides, what's wrong with two suspicious people like us sticking together?"
Jin Yu-ha chuckled.
"...I-I just have hobbies, okay!?"
Shin Se-hee sharply turned her flushed face away, trying to act nonchalant, but her pounding heart beat loudly.
"Heh. Right, right. Well, I also thought about hiding things at first... but I figured if I did that, something really big might happen. And I don't even have growth resources."
Jin Yu-ha sighed deeply, looking into the air.
"If I hide what I know and then regret not being able to fix things in advance... well, that doesn't seem right, does it?"
As he spoke, his eyes seemed to hold deep regret, or perhaps even deep fear.
Watching him,
Shin Se-hee could recall one possibility.
'...Jin Yu-ha. Could it be, you can see the future?'