“Everyone, great job.”
“Hehe, my friend got a C. They’re jealous of me. Heheheh!”
Mock raid, officially concluded.
Team 48 ranked in the top 17%.
“Ah, I’m starving!”
“Me too… How about we all grab dinner at the cafeteria?”
“Sounds great! I worked so hard today! I’m gonna punish my stomach with fried food on top of fried food!”
Maybe because of the good results, but the team’s energy was still lively. Top 17% was roughly a B.
Considering the team didn’t have any special admissions students, that was practically the highest score possible.
“How could this…”
Only Testarossa, the team leader, looked dazed. She clutched her crumpled report card tightly in her hand.
“Everyone got a B, so why am I the only one with a B-?”
“That’s… because you waited for the wave and didn’t attack the boss, Testarossa.”
I answered for her.
She waited for a wave that never came. Didn’t attack the boss, didn’t take down the small fry. Of course, her score wouldn’t be high.
“No way… But why didn’t the wave…”
I couldn’t exactly say, “Because I took care of them all!” Sometimes, being too honest is worse than lying.
“The terrain was unstable, remember? Maybe they all got buried when the sinkhole formed.”
“What?”
Testarossa’s head snapped toward me. Uh-oh. Did she catch on? Did I make up too flimsy of an excuse?
“Oh, I see! That makes total sense…!”
Wait, she didn’t catch on?
To understand the conditions of the terrain precisely…To focus on isolating scouts rather than obsessing over the clear…To consider alternative safety measures in special circumstances…
Testarossa mumbled to herself.
Whew, crisis averted.
I crumpled my report card, stamped with a B+, and stuffed it into my back pocket.
I have to keep this hidden…!
[Lucy… thump thump!]
[Lucy… tense moment!]
Even though my teamwork was trash, my personal score was too high because I wiped out the monster corps.
Testarossa suddenly shot me a sharp question.
“But why did Kim Seungtae get a B?”
“Wow, that’s… quite a question that stabs at the heart. Are you saying someone ranked 1111th should only be getting a D?”
“No, that’s not it! Let me see your report card.”
“!!! W-why?”
“I need to learn from it!”
Testarossa practically shouted.
“I’m the only one with a B-! Kim Seungtae, you got a B, right?”
“Well… yeah, technically a B….”
I was running out of things to say.
“That’s amazing. You managed to score a B despite being cut off from the main group. You must have handled things really well in isolation! There should be detailed feedback on your report card—I want to study it!”
“Ah, no. Stay away.”
Testarossa slowly crept closer.
Her big eyes sparkled with an intense desire to learn.
Whoosh!
That passion was burning hot!
If she found out, I’d be burned at the stake in that fire of passion!
Testarossa cornered me against the wall. Should I just eat the report card and pretend nothing happened?
Just then—
The crowded hallway split apart.
Even my teammates pressed themselves against the walls.
What? Did some terrifying guy just show up?
“Let’s talk, Kim Seungtae.”
Oh.
A terrifying guy really did just show up.
A Short Story
Marie Caulfield’s Opening Moves
Factions at the Superhuman Academy were no joke.
For first-years, the factions felt like school clubs but as you moved up the years, factions became a major force.
To take on requests or plan projects as a student, your faction had to be solid.
Given that—
“So, you’re Marie Caulfield?”
“Heard the rumors. You’re that first-year, huh?”
“I think you should have been the freshman representative. Haha, was that a bit much?”
Recruitment attempts to bring Marie Caulfield in were endless.
Her profile was just too perfect.
A noble family background, no close social ties.
There were rumors she wasn’t sociable, but that just meant she had no real friends.
And there’s no such thing as someone who isn’t lonely.
That empty space…
If they could fill the void in Marie Caulfield’s heart…
“A commoner like me, becoming the son-in-law of a noble house at the Superhuman Academy?”
Now that would make for a best-selling novel.
First-year students daydreamed of a colourful future.
If Kim Seungtae had heard their nonsense, he’d have flipped out and tried to stop them.
The consequences of such naive thinking were severe.
Boom!
On just the second day of the semester, an explosive sound rang out.
That was the sound of Marie Caulfield’s patience shattering.
“Guh-ack!”
And the sound of a second-year’s abs getting obliterated.
Hoo…
Marie Caulfield casually shook off her fist.
A thin wisp of smoke rose from the aftermath of her body blow.
She glanced down at the collapsed upperclassman and made a phone call.
“Hey, Attorney Gwak. It’s me. Yeah, morning over here. What’s up? Oh, yeah. I beat someone up. You know me so well. Listen, the bastard blocked my way to school. Huh? Did I kill them?”
She lightly kicked the downed student.
“Yo. You dead?”
“Guh… urgh….”
“Hah, still alive. Attorney Gwak, you hear that? Yeah, they’re fine. They’re still whining, so they must be in good shape. Handle it? Got it. You know I like you, right?”
Click.
Call ended.
The collapsed student glared at Marie Caulfield with bloodshot eyes.
So many people were watching… This damn delinquent…
Click! Click!
As expected, students on their way to class started taking photos.
A major incident.
A second-year, beaten by a freshman.
Their faction’s reputation would take a huge hit.
Guh!
The second-year, trying to get up with dignity, collapsed again.
Marie Caulfield’s punch had left mana embedded in their body, shaking up their internal organs.
“What the hell…?”
One punch did this?
If they weren’t in the martial arts track, if they hadn’t trained diligently…
Their spine might have been completely wrecked.
That realization sent chills down their spine.
“You… you…!”
“Get a medical certificate after you hit the hospital, got it?”
And with that, Marie Caulfield walked off.
That day, seven more people approached Marie Caulfield.
Either their information was outdated, or they were convinced they wouldn’t get hit.
All seven ended up in the hospital together.
“That bitch. You think we’re just gonna let this go?”
The injured seniors lay in a row in the emergency room.
Clenching their teeth in anger—
Until the Caulfield family’s legal team showed up.
Ta-da.
Negotiations were peaceful.
After school.
Penthouse.
“Hmm~”
Marie Caulfield was in a great mood.
In just two days, she had driven away all the nuisances.
Peace at last.
No one talked to her.
No one cared.
There are people in this world who don’t feel lonely.
“In the end, you gotta beat ‘em up to make ‘em understand~”
Laughing to herself, Marie Caulfield sipped on absinthe in her penthouse. *absinthe is a alcoholic drink made from plant. idk.
Drink.
Drink like crazy, and even this broken mind would go numb.
Not drinking was a waste.
She didn’t need friends, family.
No love, no conversation.
Before the pounding headaches, everything else was worthless.
Trash.
Alcohol, cigarettes, painkillers were supreme.
“Hah, shit… whatever. They say I’m gonna die from qi deviation soon anyway.”
She thought of the idiot who said that to her face.
Kim Seungtae, was it?
“I should’ve dealt with that bastard too.”
The one who confidently claimed he could help.
Marie Caulfield didn’t believe in hope.
Hoping for improvement was too painful.
Even someone used to pain like her couldn’t endure that.
“I’ll admit he got that prescription skillfully, but….”
Marie Caulfield picked up her phone.
“Hey, Attorney Gwak. No, I didn’t beat anyone up. Seriously! I haven’t even messed with a single rat lately. …What? That’s worrying in itself? If you don’t wanna run a fried chicken joint, shut up. Anyway, look into a certain student for me.”
The report she got back was disappointing.
A single page.
The guy—Seongtae? Seungtae?—his background was shockingly normal.
“How the hell did a guy like that swipe my prescription…?”
A sudden thought crossed my mind.
This was the Superhuman Academy—a place where all the world’s uncut gems gathered.
His major was Necromancy, but what if healing was actually his specialty…?
“Ow!”
The glass she was holding slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor.
Clatter!
Her right arm, which had been gripping the glass, suddenly started twitching uncontrollably.
“Shit… my arm… what a waste….”
Marie Caulfield nudged the shards aside with the tip of her foot and took a swig straight from the bottle. It had been over a year since her limbs started moving on their own like this.
So… deep down, Marie Caulfield already knew.
No one had told her outright, but even if her heart exploded tomorrow and she dropped dead, it wouldn’t be surprising.
“Still… saying it so bluntly… what the hell….”
Sniff.
She had drunk so much that her nose was stuffy.
But…
If that guy was really a medical expert…
— I can help you.
Should she fall for it one more time…? No.
But just in case…? No.
It was probably a scam anyway… No.
But if he was a fraud—
She had to meet him and settle things once and for all….
Completely wasted, Marie Caulfield drifted into a dream without expectations.
In her dream, her head didn’t hurt. That alone made her so happy she could cry.
Marie Caulfield walked down the hallway, splitting the crowd in two.
The atmosphere was completely different from a few days ago. Back then, everyone had wanted to talk to her.
Looks like she beat a few people up.
Since she wasn’t fighting Han Taepyeong, she must’ve taken it out on someone else.
That made him nervous.
After all, she had trespassed before….
“Hey… we need to talk.”
Marie Caulfield was a mess.
Her breath was ragged. Her hair messy. Cold sweat trickled down her neck.
“Oh, it’s you, Caulfield. Did you eat something bad during the mock raid?”
“The damn air purification system shut off like an idiot. I can barely… ah, just shut up and follow me.”
Marie Caulfield walked ahead. The students crammed in the hallway whispered among themselves.
“Did she screw up? Is this serious? Should we call an instructor?”
“She must’ve done something wrong. I mean, why else would she be in trouble?”
Her getting dragged off was nothing more than entertainment for a bunch of seventeen-year-olds.
Marie Caulfield didn’t even bother going far—she yanked open a janitor’s closet midway down the hall and stepped inside.
…Guess I have to follow, huh?
Creak. I stepped in after her and locked the door. Of course, the space was cramped.
It was just a supply closet, barely big enough for a few mops.
“Caulfield. Have you thought about it? That I can help you?”
Wheeze.
Marie Caulfield panted heavily.
Even if I was generous, there was barely half a meter between us.
Standing this close to a messy beauty, and yet I didn’t feel the least bit happy about it….
“I’ll take that as a yes. You’ve probably heard this question a lot, but if you had to rate your pain from 1 to 10, where is it right now?”
“Fifteen. No, eighteen. Feels like thirty tanks are blasting artillery inside my skull….”
Wheeze… wheeze….
“Then what do you want to do most right now?”
“Go to my balcony and jump. That way, the tanks in my head… will break too.”
Wheeze… wheeze….
This was really bad.
The conditions in the mock raid must have shattered what little balance she had left.
“Caulfield. Forget jumping. Just listen to me for one hour.”
“You… better choose your words carefully.”
Marie Caulfield stepped closer.
So close there was no more space left to close.
Her breathing, her voice, her trembling gaze—they were all louder, clearer than before.
“You’re telling me… in just one hour… you can do something?”
“That’s… a secret~”
Marie Caulfield clenched her fist.
Better be careful….
I shouldn’t piss her off unnecessarily.
“Ha. Fuck. You sure talk big, don’t you? Fine. One hour. Do something. If there’s even the slightest improvement….”
Her crimson eyes locked onto mine.
“I’ll pay you. Whatever amount you want.”
“Yess!”
Having gotten the answer I wanted, I stepped out of the supply closet.
“Whoa!”
The people who had been eavesdropping against the door stumbled back.
“He’s alive?”
“He looks fine?”
“Then what the hell were they doing in there?”
Were they waiting to see if I’d die so they could bury my body?
How touching.
But unnecessary.
“Alright, let’s go!”
We’re all going to hell together.
(To be continued…)
TL : I think the author is having whatever Marie is having, because why does this chapter feel so messy?
Marie Caulfield Official Illustration
TL : hmmm… not what I expected
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