Sowhere in the training field, Kim Hajin remained silent, observing the overflowing energy among the Cube cadets. The incessant chatter of voices and laughter, mixed with the sound of weapons being adjusted, was a constant reminder of where he was.
"Hah! This is going to be a drag."
With a muffled sigh, Hajin already felt exhausted even before the training began. For soone who had been thrust into this world not long ago, getting used to the intensity of this environnt was no simple task. Everything here seed so distant from his previous life that, at tis, he wondered if he could really continue. He knew, however, that he had to stay strong, as his survival depended on it.
"Hey, gun guy."
A voice caught his attention. Hajin looked up and saw Jin Hoseung, one of the side characters from his story, approaching with a large axe slung over his back. Hoseung had a friendly expression, but also a hint of hesitation.
"Huh? Yeah, do you need sothing?"
"Well... Areum and I were thinking it might be a good idea to look for Yoo Yeonha. It makes sense to prepare before the training starts."
Hoseung scratched his head, clearly unsure how Hajin would react.
'Yoo Yeonha...'
Hearing that na, Hajin fell silent for a few seconds. The image of Yoo Yeonha appeared in his mind, bringing with it a flood of thoughts. He knew her better than anyone in this world. She was cunning, complex, and full of layers. Hajin knew that any wrong move around her could complicate things for everyone, especially for him, who wanted to build a good relationship with her.
"Better not. She'll probably be here soon."
He gave Hoseung a aningful look.
'The best way to build a relationship with her is not to ddle in her personal life. Forcing an interaction could be disastrous. Yeonha is the type of person who analyzes every detail and builds theories based on any small action.'
anwhile, Areum, who had been silently listening to the conversation a little behind, stepped forward.
Areum was a completely new figure to Hajin. He had never appeared in the canon, not even as an extra. To Hajin, his existence was intriguing, but nothing impressive. Areum had an ordinary face and an equally average build, the perfect archetype of an extra.
'Maybe he's just that... an extra.'
Hajin thought. But his mind soon drifted to soone else.
'...I can't say the sa about him.'
The image of a cadet with white hair and reddish eyes appeared in his mind.
Theo Sagan.
To Hajin, Theo was an anomaly. A complete unknown. He wasn't soone Hajin had created, nor soone he expected to encounter. While all the other characters, even the side ones, followed a script he had planned, Theo was completely outside that frawork.
'Why is he here? Is it a butterfly effect caused by my presence? Or... is it the work of the Co-Author trying to complicate my life?'
These thoughts were like a constant needle in his mind. If Theo was indeed a piece placed there by the Co-Author, what did he represent? A disguised Djinn? A spy? Or perhaps soone sent to create direct conflicts with the main characters? Each possibility made his head throb.
'Hah... I don't know.'
Hajin murmured, massaging his temples. He hated the unknown, and Theo was the embodint of that.
"Look! It's Yoo Yeonha... and who's that? It's Cadet Theo Sagan."
Hoseung's words snapped him out of his reverie. Hajin followed the other's gaze and saw, in the distance, Yoo Yeonha walking with her usual elegance. But it wasn't just her. Beside her was him, Theo.
'Speak of the devil..."
Hajin narrowed his eyes, observing Theo more closely. He seed relaxed, but sothing about his posture bothered him. Every interaction with that cadet only increased his doubts and concerns.
'Whatever your purpose is, Theo Sagan, I'll find out.'
...
Walking side by side in soft steps, Theo and Yeonha moved in silence until they reached a more isolated part of the field, where they finally saw the other mbers of their teams. Theo and Yeonha exchanged a few words before parting ways to greet their respective teammates.
'I hope she follows my advice! I'm sure if she does, her team will perform much better than in the canon.'
The words they exchanged before parting were essentially Theo advising her to listen more to what others had to say, since this was a team test.
And Yeonha, well, she responded in the most altruistic way possible, telling him not to worry because she knew what she was doing.
As he approached his team, Theo noticed three cadets staring at him intently.
'One is Jonghak's bootlicker, the other two aren't even worth knowing.'
Since this was a class where all first-year students participated, it was possible to see not only the Veritas class in this space, but several other classes as well. The place was truly packed.
'They're definitely plotting sothing...'
Theo was 99% sure the reason for that conversation was him, but even if it wasn't, there was no reason for him to worry, after all, we're talking about a bunch of nobodies.
Without paying more attention to the stares, Theo moved forward until he approached a girl who straightened her posture upon seeing him. Her eyes shone with a mix of determination and nervousness as she took a deep breath and, in a firm voice, spoke.
"Nice to et you! I'm Hazuki."
Theo's eyes widened slightly upon hearing her na.
'Hazuki...? So that's it. Now it makes sense why her na sounded so familiar.'
Hazuki, with her green hair and hi-cut hairstyle, should have been in Yeonha's group, but for so reason he didn't know, she was now on his team.
"Hi! Hazuki! I'm Theo Sagan. You can call Theo, I'll be in your care today."
Theo extended his hand to greet her, maintaining a calm expression. Hazuki, realizing he was much more approachable than she had imagined, let out a sigh of relief. She had been afraid he would be difficult to deal with.
Hazuki shook his hand firmly and gave a hesitant smile.
"I hope we can work well together, Theo. I'll do my best!"
" too, Hazuki-san. Let's do our best."
Hearing Theo add a suffix when addressing her, Hazuki seed surprised for a few seconds.
And her surprise was not unwarranted. Even though she had lived in South Korea for so long, rarely did anyone add a suffix when speaking to her.
And seeing Theo call her that made her feel so happy.
What she didn't realize was that Theo only called her that because he rembered her origin from the novel, and according to so ani he had watched in his short life, girls in Japan usually had so suffix at the end of their nas.
'Phew! Good thing I didn't use Chan.'
At the last second, he rembered that "Chan" was only used when soone was very close to the other (it's used to refer to younger won who are close, children, babies, grandparents, or even pets), unlike "San" (a neutral term, similar to "Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Sir"), which would be the correct way to address soone you weren't that close to.
"So... Have the other mbers not shown up?"
When he checked his smartwatch earlier, he saw that all three mbers were together, but looking around now, he didn't see anyone, except for other teams talking.
"Actually, the two of them were here just a while ago, but before you arrived, they left with soone else... There, look over there."
Looking at the spot Hazuki pointed to, Theo found himself smiling alone.
The two mbers who were part of his team were talking to Jonghak's lackey, Kim Horak.
"I knew it... These guys are plotting sothing, and considering how they're talking and looking over here, they're definitely planning a way to sabotage the test."
Without realizing it, I let my thoughts slip out, and Hazuki, who was nearby, ended up hearing.
"Huh? Plotting? Who? What?"
"Hazuki-san, I need to talk to you. It's nothing serious, but I think it's good for you to know as soon as possible."
Leaving it to tell her later might have been the better choice, but for Theo, the sooner a problem was resolved, the less of a headache it would be, or not...
"What?! If this is true, we should talk to Instructor Kim Soohyuk. I'm sure he'll understand and do sothing to help us."
"Hazuki-san, do you really think he'll do that? Have you forgotten Cube's motto?"
"Heroes are made, not born."
After realizing what he ant, she fell silent, her eyes alternating between the other two mbers of our team and Theo.
"He'll definitely tell us he can't do anything and that it's our problem. After all, this is common out there, and it's up to and you to decide what to do."
It was common for mbers of the sa party to betray or abandon their teammates during dungeon expeditions, tower climbs, or even in monts of danger.
The world was like that, and Cube existed to prepare cadets for monts like these.
"So... It's just you and ?"
"Huhum! Of course, I could be wrong about this."
The chances were high, but it wasn't certain. And Hazuki hoped Theo was wrong.
"Cadet Theo Sagan and Hazuki. Two mbers of your team have chosen to withdraw from participating in the test. The reason being they lack confidence."
To crush any hope Hazuki had, the instructor appeared with the ssage of the two guys from the team withdrawing.
"Do you still want to take the test, or would you like to go to the repechage? The second option will only give half the points of now, and in it, teamwork will play the biggest role in the evaluation."
In the current combat test, individual performance had the biggest role. So even if your team finished last, if your performance was good, you could score big points, as long as the rule of completing the test was fulfilled.
"Instructor Kim Soohyuk, I'll still take the test."
The first to respond was Theo, obviously. For him, this news was no surprise, and not bad at all.
'With this, I won't need to put them to sleep.'
Yes, Theo planned to put the two of them to sleep as soon as he realized they weren't cooperating.
It would be annoying to have people getting in the way.
"And you, Cadet Hazuki?"
She looked at the instructor, then at Theo, who had a calm expression. Noticing her gaze on him, Theo smiled.
Seeing that smile, Hazuki felt her mouth open on its own.
"I'll also take the test, Instructor."
The instructor looked at both cadets with pride.
"Get ready, I'll send the location and information about the monsters you need to eliminate. Don't forget, if you realize it's too much for both of you, cancel the mission. Sotis giving up is the right thing to do."
"Thank you for the advice, Instructor!"
"Thank you, Instructor!"
Nodding, Kim Soohyuk left us alone, and soon after he started passing information to all the other teams.
"Hah! I hope it's not a tough monster to deal with."
Murmuring to herself, Hazuki pleaded.
***
"Phew! We're done for. It's going to be impossible to complete this, Theo."
Looking at the white, endless horizon stretching before her, Hazuki began blowing on her hands and rubbing them together.
Even though she had high cold resistance as a mana user, Hazuki felt she couldn't withstand the -6.5°C temperature for long without starting to suffer the consequences.
"It really is a bit cold!"
The truth was, Theo didn't feel anything at all. He was sure he could walk naked in that place and still, his body wouldn't suffer any effects.
'Well, ice that freezes you conceptually must be much colder than this, right?'
Fragnted mories of the monts when Anos Voldigoad fought a goddess capable of doing that ca to his mind in the form of experiences.
"Here! Use this."
Theo reached into the void and, from his magical storage, pulled out a red overcoat, handing it to the girl, who took a few seconds to understand what he had done.
"This!"
"It's spatial magic. And this coat will help you with the cold."
The overcoat was one of the many magical artifacts stored magically by Theo. It had the ability to provide the user with significant resistance to low temperatures.
Hazuki looked at the piece in her hands. With no other options, she decided to put it on.
"Ah! It adjusts to your body as soon as you put it on, so don't worry about taking it off when we fight the gray wolves."
As if to prove Theo's words, as soon as Hazuki adjusted the coat on herself, it reshaped to fit her body and visually disappeared, leaving her only with the Cube uniform.
"Wow! I can already feel my body warming up."
The effects were almost instantaneous, and Hazuki seed full of energy again.
"Ready?"
"Eh... But what about you? It's really cold. I'm sure it'll get even worse once we start climbing the mountain because of the wind."
Even though Theo didn't show any signs of feeling cold, Hazuki believed the situation could change during the climb.
"You worry too much! Besides, who said we're going to climb on foot, Hazuki-san?"
Theo positioned himself beside her and, in a quick motion, picked her up in his arms, like a princess.
"Huh?!"
Hazuki felt her vision suddenly change. Her eyes turned to Theo's face, but before she could complain, her perspective changed again.
Flight Magic
...
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