A Genuine Beginning (2)

The front corner seat of the classroom.

Jin Dallae seemed to be deep in thought, chin in hand, and eventually let out a sigh as if the ground should cave in under her.

She had always been full of worries, but today, they seemed deeper than ever.

She mulled over the message she received last night.

-It's urgent, Dallae. Lee Shiheon. Bring anyone with that name who is trying to enroll in the academy. He will be of great help to us.

A sudden notification from her stepfather.

'That kid is truly outrageous…'

Dallae didn't like the stepfather she met after her father's death. To say she didn't like him was an understatement.

She despised and scorned him, and even the thought of him made her nauseous.

The reason was simple. To her, that stepfather was like a beast's offspring who stole her mother from her father.

However, she had no choice but to follow her stepfather publicly.

Her situation was absurd and sorrowful.

Jin Dallae sighed.

'Lee Shiheon.'

Her first impression of him wasn't good.

An extremely ugly guy who leered at her in the practical exam waiting room. That was it.

She didn't even have much conversation with him. How could she know anything about him?

'And, what, he will be of help to us?'

What a joke. So far, there had not been a single instance where her stepfather's numerous actions had helped her.

Surely, it would be of help to the cult organization he managed.

-Clunk.

At that moment, the door opened, and that guy came in.

The surrounding students who reacted to the door glanced at the masked man once, then started chatting among themselves as if uninterested.

Jin Dallae, watching this scene, focused her gaze again on Mask-man - no, on Lee Shiheon.

Upon reflection, several things were strange.

'I thought it was natural for him to fail. How on earth did he pass?'

Unlike the other students, he had no magical power, and his body was frail.

At first glance, he was so weak so she assumed he would inevitably fall against Jung Siwoo and fail.

But he passed, against all odds. Did that clumsy man have some special ability?

There must be something.

Did she really need to approach that guy?

She softly bit her thumbnail as someone tapped her shoulder.

"Dallae!"

"What? -Eh."

Pop. Guseul's index finger pressed against Jin Dallae's cheek.

"Caught you! Hehehe."

"Ah, what. Go away."

Guseul. Her friend from the private Tree Person school she attended.

Initially, they weren't that close –she still didn't think they were close- but they became acquaintances while aiming for the same academy.

"So, what's the matter since a while ago? Biting your nails."

She was about to dismiss it when Guseul tilted her head and asked.

"You were staring at Shiheon since a while ago."

At the accurate observation, a twitch passed over Jin Dallae's lips.

Guseul usually acted slow, but in such situations, she unnecessarily demonstrated her sharp observation skills.

"Do you like Shiheon, by any chance?"

"…Are you insane?"

Facing Guseul's teasing joke with a laugh, Dallae responded with a surprisingly icy voice.

It was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard in her life.

'The worst insult in the world' according to Namuseon's selection.

"Kekeke"

At Jin Dallae's intense reaction, Guseul held her belly and laughed for a while.

"Sorry, Dallae likes Siwoo. But Shiheon is a bit strange, right? Always wearing a mask. Have you seen his face under the mask? You were in the same group during the exam, right?"

"I saw it."

"How was it?"

"Ugly as a stepped-on persimmon."

Guseul burst into laughter again at the harsh evaluation and went back to her seat, giggling.

Guseul always seemed cheerful, unlike Dallae.

Of course, it seemed that way because she hid her true feelings behind her lively demeanor.

'And I don't like Siwoo.'

Approaching someone had nothing to do with liking them.

So, she even deliberately got assigned to the room next to Siwoo in the dormitory.

In her plan, Jung Siwoo, the husband candidate of the World Tree, was a powerful person who absolutely needed to be persuaded.

To be blunt, if she could only bring Jung Siwoo to her side, the rest didn't matter.

Her plan was simple and clear.

'Someday'

She would ruin the stepfather who destroyed her and her father's life.

-Snap.

In her hand that held a sharp pencil, shattered plastic pieces were scattered everywhere.

After venting her anger once, she felt better. Thanks to that, she could look at Lee Shiheon with a more relaxed eye.

'But do I really have to befriend him?'

To be honest, it was a bit, no, highly unpleasant.

Should she call it a physiological reaction? The last time she saw him without his mask, she felt a level of irritation she wouldn't usually experience.

Should she say his face was one that provoked anger?

If he somehow distorted his face artificially, maybe it wouldn't be so. It was that kind of charm.

Should she say he was a difficult counterpart to talk with, unlike Siwoo?

It was the first time an object of disgust emerged due to being extremely ugly. Honestly, his wearing a mask was a blessing.

'Let's give up on becoming friends.'

After all, that guy probably spoke out of courtesy once.

If Shiheon had value, her stepfather would have approached him on his own.

Jin Dallae propped her chin and sighed again.

After wrapping up a moderate recreation time, Guseul and I grabbed some food in the cafeteria and stopped by the training room for a while.

Official classes started tomorrow, and today was free.

A female voice flowed from the machine as I reached out to the gigantic hologram device.

"Starting the training. Please choose the difficulty level."

A standard wooden dummy wielding a light bastard sword dropped from the open ceiling.

I drew one of the wooden swords hung on the wall and selected the beginner level.

Creak, creak, creak.

The wooden dummy moved.

After bending its body a few times, it ran towards me with its sword clutched in both hands.

Thump thump thump, my heart raced, and my body heated up.

I could clearly see the movements of the attacking combat dummy.

The current stat of the wooden dummy was around 3.

I dodged the sword and naturally hit the back of the dummy's head with my elbow, not the sword.

Crash!

The wooden dummy fell clumsily.

The light on the ceiling blinked once.

'It's too easy.'

What kind of stat did Jung Siwoo, whom I already fought against, have?

I should adjust the stat to 4.

The wooden dummy quickly got up again and charged at me.

The movements, unlike a human's, appeared devoid of a speck of fear or hesitation, and I could clearly see the trajectory of its sword.

But there were still things to learn there.

Whoosh!

A hesitation-free strike and a well-established basic stance.

Although straightforward, the advantage of the dummy, being straightforward, was clearly visible to me.

Static and combat-type body.

I could see something to learn from its blatant movements.

So, I had to learn.

I took my stance and observed the wooden man.

Our stats were already equivalent.

Following the movements of the wooden man, my foot moved.

The movements that were somewhat instinctive slowly adapted to their standard and began to form their own shape.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of clashing resonated in the training ground where I was alone.

I was swinging my sword unknowingly until nightfall in a place I entered with a simple mindset to train.

Adjusting stat to 5.

I learned how to overpower a weaker opponent.

Adjusting stat by 1. Adjusting difficulty to intermediate.

I learned how to take down a stronger opponent in return.

Adjusting stat by 1. Adjusting difficulty to beginner.

I learned the attitude required to engage in a battle one can never win.

This place was just a simple training ground, a place used occasionally when there was no decent opponent, but it had a treasure that no one could find.

The sufficient qualities and foundation engraved in my body led me to the realm of swordsmanship.

Crack!

Average stat of 6. Intermediate difficulty.

The wooden mentor, who finally overcame me, seemed to snicker as it nodded its head.

Creak?

Was there more to do? The way it arrogantly lifted its chin seemed to say so.

Though my body should have been exhausted,

I found myself enjoying the learning process when I looked inside.

I suddenly stood up and exchanged swords with my wooden mentor.

Its sword swung horizontally, and my sword swung vertically to meet it, disrupting our stances as we stood on the battlefield with a thin crash sound.

The wooden dummy corrected its imperfect stance with a few movements.

I did the same.

I moved as it moved, leading as my body led.

Like surrendering my body to the pouring rain, I was soaked in thrilling ecstasy. The tensions holding my body momentarily loosened.

Grip the sword, swing, and conclude.

Clang, Bang!

The movement of the puppet that fell lifelessly to my sword stopped. I stared at this sight and reconsidered the stance I just had.

For a long time.

In the dark Association Hall.

"This time, the power is significant."

The woman in the mask spoke.

"Who are the Chosen Husbands of the World Tree this year, I wonder. Are we prepared?"

"Yes, Chairperson."

A secretary approached her and handed over a file.

Seohyun receives and reads it.

In a time when the activities of the World Tree have become sparse, the document contained quite interesting content.

<Tree Seeker>

- Those who observe the movements of the World Tree and follow them.

The topic of this meeting was nothing special.

Who had become the husband candidates of the World Tree?

And what functions did the newly repaired system have?

Given the system had transcendent abilities, securing husband candidates quickly was necessary.

"Shall I start explaining now?"

"Go ahead."

"Yes, the identified husband candidates are three so far. Two are already known to have moved to major corporations. The remaining one is currently enrolled in the Academy."

"Oh, who was that, Jung Siwoo? That man, right? He's become a complete star, even appearing in articles recently."

"Yes. Gathering specific information without the cooperation of Jeong Siwoo would have been impossible, it's believed."

Seohyun nodded her head. It was a signal to continue.

"The abilities identified for the husband of the World Tree are a shop system called the World Tree Auction and a quest system. The shop has the peculiarity of using our relations with the World Trees as currency."

"Using relationships with the Trees as currency? Why?"

"I don't know. Extensive connections are a required element for the husband of the World Tree. Perhaps that's the purpose."

"What if he falls in love with another Tree? Do World Trees have a preference for having their lovers taken away?"

While it seemed to insult the World Tree, no one there could reprimand Seohyun.

"Next."

"Yes. The quest system seems to be used for gradually developing the husband candidates. There are disadvantages if the quest fails, but they seem minor, like mandatory training for 10 hours."

"It's like a game."

"Indeed, this system has many game-like elements."

Fail a quest and get training? Interesting mechanism.

"Oh, there was an interesting feature in that shop. A gacha system where one can draw unique traits or items that don't exist in this world."

"Hmm, why would the World Tree, which insisted only on traditional methods, do such a thing?"

Seohyun didn't hide her intrigued expression.

Being able to draw unique traits.

It was a top-tier ability, even among talents.

"I heard there are even legendary artifacts."

"Legendary!"

Seohyun had to widen her eyes.

Legendary artifacts were treasures treated a step above even national treasures. The secretary hastily changed the subject, seeing Seohyun's face filled with imagination.

"Of course, it's just a possibility. Based on precedents, not even talking about artifacts, there hasn't been a single case where a unique trait was drawn."

Perhaps, the probability was extremely low.

The secretary closed her mouth after saying that.

At the same time, those sitting in the association thought to themselves.

These candidates would be lucrative.

[A Legendary Artifact Appears!]

"Eh?"

Lying in the dormitory bed, my sleep broke sharply as I lazily spun the gacha with sleepy eyes.

"Lucky."