Ti kept flowing, and the exchange tournant was now right around the corner.
And today was the day before.
The current lecture was Introduction to Authority Studies.
A mandatory course for all first-year Gaon students—there were no exceptions.
The professor in charge was a retired trainer who used to work exclusively with the guild master of the number one-ranked guild.
Though he had plenty of real combat experience, he always placed more importance on the direction of growth rather than battle itself.
With a blank expression, he wrote three words clearly on the chalkboard.
Will, Experience, Choice.
Then he set the chalk down and continued in a calm voice.
“...Therefore, the growth of a hero and the expansion of authority is not achieved through ti or repeated combat experience alone.”
He slowly circled each of the written words one by one.
“All outcos ultimately depend on what path you choose for yourself. Not a path soone else tells you to take, but the one you choose.
Depending on the direction of your training and willpower, your expanded authority will respond to you in completely different forms.”
A brief silence settled over the classroom.
So students slowly nodded, while others paused their pens to reflect on what was said.
I was no different.
For soone like , who has to guide the main characters’ growth, this was valuable insight.
And as soone who needs to unlock the second stage of the Fragnt of Harmony, I had to listen even more closely.
Even if it was sothing I already knew, hearing it this way gave it a whole new aning.
A masterful lecture, honestly.
‘This feels surreal.’
A scene where soone else—soone with authority—is professionally explaining the settings and systems I created and planned.
It was fascinating.
“That concludes today’s class.”
With the professor’s closing words, the silence broke.
Imdiately, the students stood up in unison.
Still, with all the talk of authority and whatnot...
‘I wonder how everyone’s systems are doing now.’
I suddenly found myself curious about the systems of the people around .
Up until now, I’d only known as much as I’d rembered or had guessed based on the original.
Except for Yoon Chaehwa.
I had personally confird her system recently.
Looking back on it now, that was quite unusual.
I was in a rush and desperate, so I had asked her directly—normally, I would never be so blunt.
It was kind of her to agree so readily.
Revealing one’s system to soone else carries a lot of weight.
If it falls into the wrong hands, it can beco a weakness, and it’s dangerous in many ways.
It’s even been discussed on TV broadcasts.
Even top-ranking hero couples try not to share their systems with each other.
No matter how much trust or love there is, systems are considered an exception.
To ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) put it simply, it's like showing soone your naked self as a hero.
That’s how sensitive and cautious the matter is.
So after that day, I made ti to quietly apologize to Yoon Chaehwa.
She had looked at for a mont, then turned her head and said,
—“It’s fine...”
Good thing she has a cool personality.
Organizing my thoughts, I turned my head to the left.
“Haaam...”
Cheon Yeoul let out a long yawn and stretched her body.
She looked like she had just woken up.
Shrugging her shoulders and stretching, she smiled slightly when our eyes t.
“Good morning.”
“Yeah, sure. Good morning.”
I imdiately flicked her forehead in punishnt.
Smack!
“Eep!”
Cheon Yeoul winced and rubbed her forehead.
“If you’re not even going to listen to this, what do you listen to?”
Look over there at Kang Arin and Yu Hana. They were glued to every word the professor said the whole lecture.
A model student shows their attitude in class.
She giggled softly and rubbed her forehead.
Then I turned my head to the right.
“......”
Yoon Chaehwa.
She was still slumped over her desk, not moving an inch.
I definitely told both of them to listen to this instructor’s class.
“...”
Eyes closed, breathing steady.
Was she unaware that class had ended, or was she just too lazy to move?
“She’s hopeless.”
Cheon Yeoul muttered coldly beside . Not that she was much better herself.
“Geez.”
Well, I guess she gets a pass. She’s already unlocked all her first-stage powers.
Still, I couldn't just let it slide completely.
I picked up the iced coffee sitting in front of .
The condensation on the cup made my fingertips cold.
Then slowly—
Slip.
I gently pressed that cold hand against the back of Yoon Chaehwa’s neck.
“Gah!”
She jolted upright like she’d been electrocuted.
As she stared at in surprise, I calmly took a sip of the coffee.
“Awake?”
“...Tch.”
Still groggy, Yoon Chaehwa scowled slightly and rubbed the back of her neck.
Her face, peeking through her tousled hair, showed a mix of fluster and mild annoyance.
And then—
“Let’s go, Haein!”
A bright voice called out from afar.
Yu Hana approached with a cheerful smile, waving her hand.
Since the exchange tournant was tomorrow, today was the unveiling of the group mission.
Yoon Chaehwa and I stood up and followed our team leader, Yu Hana, to the auditorium.
The walk to the auditorium was more crowded than usual.
Unlike Gaon’s blue insignias, we saw uniforms embroidered in vivid red and gold.
They were students from Kalos Academy who had arrived the day before.
We’d be clashing with them tomorrow, but for now, this was just the awkward phase of scouting each other out.
“So many people.”
“Too crowded.”
Yu Hana muttered softly while turning her head, and Yoon Chaehwa grumbled beside her.
Up ahead, the auditorium entrance ca into view.
As we stepped inside, the projector mounted on the ceiling lit up with a grand display.
We took our seats and waited for the announcent. The other side of the auditorium, usually empty, was filled with Kalos students.
A professor took the mic, gave a brief greeting, and outlined a few important notes before getting straight to the point. All eyes turned to the massive screen behind the podium.
“We will now reveal the mission for tomorrow’s exchange tournant group match.”
The screen changed, and a large title appeared.
[Exchange Tournant Group Mission: Guardians of the Ancient Ruins]
A ruined site veiled in blue mist filled the background of the screen.
Below it, key mission details were summarized clearly.
The rules were simple: each team would be assigned a base.
Ten waves would appear sequentially, and all teams would face the sa enemies simultaneously.
The team that eliminated their wave the fastest and most completely would earn points based on placent.
It was modeled after the monster crisis I had stopped a year ago.
During the ten waves, the key would be how stably a team could hold out and how quickly they could finish.
Feeling soone’s gaze from beside , I turned my head—Yoon Sanghyuk was looking at with an overly smug expression.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Gross.”
I let out a dry laugh in response.
Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult assignnt.
The main event was the individual tournant anyway.
The professor tapped the mic once, then looked back at the screen.
“And now, we will reveal the bracket for the individual exchange matches.”
The screen darkened again, then a tournant bracket began to appear.
Nas popped up one by one, drawing everyone’s attention.
Yoon Chaehwa.
Her na appeared.
‘Looks manageable.’
The first round would be easy. Honestly, it would be harder to lose.
I traced out the second and third rounds as well—no threatening nas there either.
However, on the opposite side of the bracket...
Ju Seojun was in the sa situation.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Unless sothing wildly unexpected happened, Yoon Chaehwa and Ju Seojun would be facing each other in the finals.
I turned my head to look at Yoon Chaehwa, seated next to .
“Soone asked to pass sothing on.”
“What?”
“That he’s changed a lot since the old days. Just... wanted you to know.”
“Is that so?”
Yoon Chaehwa blinked at the air in a daze, then turned her head toward .
And then, a slight smile ford at the corners of her lips.
“So have I.”
Her voice was quiet, but filled with confidence.
With that, we finished checking the match brackets and rose from our seats.
Team Yu Hana—eight mbers in total—gathered one by one at the front of the auditorium.
“Anyway, let’s do our best tomorrow.”
Kim Daehyun, usually calm and quiet, looked surprisingly excited as he spoke.
Everyone nodded in their own way.
And then—
Ding! Ding-ding-ding-ding!!
Suddenly, Yu Hana’s watch exploded with rapid-fire notifications.
“What the...?”
She furrowed her brow and looked at the screen on her watch—
Her eyes widened, her lips trembled.
“Wait a second—I have to go! Haein! See you tomorrow!”
She dashed off before she even finished speaking.
Without looking back.
‘What was that?’
I wondered to myself.
What could’ve happened to make Yu Hana react like that?
“...What the heck?”
Soone murmured under their breath, and another quickly shouted while checking their watch.
“Guys, look at this!”
Everyone crowded in, eyes all drawn to the small watch screen.
There, a freshly updated news alert popped up.
[Breaking News] [‘Blue Cloud Sword Emperor’ Yoo Mujin announces return to the front lines after ending five years of closed-door training.]
For a mont, silence fell over the crowd.
Ah. So that was it.
Yu Hana’s father.
The head of the Yoo family.
Yoo Mujin had returned.
Only then did I understand why Yu Hana had run off like that.
It had been five whole years.
And he was her one and only family.
***
The private residence of the Yoo family’s patriarch, which had been inaccessible for years.
Today, for the first ti in a long while, many people passed through its doors with bright expressions.
Yoo Mujin, the patriarch of the Yoo family.
Today marked the end of his long, secluded training.
“The Yoo family is about to rise again...”
“Cheongpungdae will reclaim its place at the top...”
The place was bustling with excitent.
Amid the smiling people and the disciples of Cheongpungdae—
Yu Hana walked quietly, yet with confidence.
“Congratulations, Miss!”
She responded to the flood of greetings with a gentle smile.
Nodding and waving, she finally asked softly,
“Where is the Patriarch?”
A servant pointed toward the largest tile-roofed house.
Yu Hana gave a silent nod and walked toward the door.
Click.
She carefully opened the massive door.
A clear, refined energy filled the room.
A man sat cross-legged, back turned to her. His aura alone radiated overwhelming presence.
“You’re here.”
Yoo Mujin’s deep, low voice made Yu Hana suck in a breath.
Sothing rose within her chest.
But she held it down firmly.
“It’s been five years, my daughter.”
No.
To her, it wasn’t just five years.
Yu Hana slowly knelt and bowed deeply.
Barely steadying her trembling voice, she finally spoke.
“The daughter of the Yoo family greets the Patriarch. It’s... been far too long, Patriarch.”
“...You’ve grown so much. My daughter.”
Yoo Mujin slowly turned to face her, his expression complicated as he looked upon her.
Pride. Bitterness. Guilt.
All of those emotions surfaced quietly on his face.
In his hand were photos of Yu Hana’s school life and several newspaper articles—collected during his years in seclusion.
It was already a well-known fact.
He was a hopeless daughter-doting father.
Leaving such a daughter behind and locking himself away must have been a decision that cut like swallowing blood.
His gaze slowly swept over Yu Hana.
The energy she exuded was not just the swordsmanship of the Yoo family.
A strange, foreign energy mingled with it—sothing entirely her own, fused harmoniously with her family’s techniques.
And the sword she held at her side, with its crimson scabbard—
Even at a glance, its aura was anything but ordinary.
She had already stepped out from under the shadow of the Yoo family and was walking her own path.
Yoo Mujin narrowed his eyes.
He was curious.
How had she grown this strong?
Whom had she walked with to reach this point?
But Yoo Mujin—
What he was most curious about right now, as a father, wasn’t that.
“...Daughter.”
He lifted one of the photos in his hand with trembling fingers.
“Who the hell is this guy?”
His shaking hand pointed to a handso young man pictured with Yu Hana.
From the looks of it, he’d been with her through half—no, nearly all—of her school life.
He was practically woven into her day-to-day existence.
Yu Hana followed his finger and raised her head slightly.
Looking at the photo, a soft smile blood on her lips.
But only for a mont—she then bowed deeply once more.
In the breathless silence that followed, she spoke the na.
“Jeong Haein.”
A breathless exhale.
And then, a voice filled with unwavering certainty.
“He is the man I will serve and devote my life to—as my husband.”
The mont those words fell—
Yoo Mujin forgot to breathe.
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