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I slapped myself and snapped out of it.

Even though I seemed quite flustered by my sudden outburst, I didn’t feel the need to fix it and just naturally continued talking.

“Did you enroll with your sister?”

“Yeah, I’m 17, and my sister is 19. We awakened late, so we’re a bit older, but I heard there are even adults over 20 who join, so I just let it slide.”

“We don’t care about that stuff, so don’t worry.”

“That’s a relief. My sister was really worried because most students enroll at 17, and she thought we wouldn’t make friends.”

In the real world, a one or two-year age difference is nothing, but since they’re still high schoolers, they seem to take it pretty sensitively.

I left the room with Lee Chae-rin and Hayan.

“I heard the snack shop is huge. I’m excited.”

“I only saw it briefly from the outside earlier, but it’s massive. Some kids even call it a department store. They sell equipment for Awakened Ones and have a lot of luxury brands too.”

“I don’t need that stuff… I just hope they have a lot of tasty food.”

As soon as I returned from England, Jeong Ha-yul gifted me a Hero Suit.

Jeong Ha-yul paid for it, the Association provided the materials, and alchemist Park Seol-hwa crafted the Hero Suit.

It can be made in the form of jewelry, and in my case, it’s a necklace.

When I press the button on the necklace, the suit instantly covers my entire body.

The clothes I was wearing are automatically stored inside the necklace, and they return when I deactivate the suit.

She kindly explained how it works, saying it’s only for me to know… but I still didn’t get it.

The Hero Suit fits perfectly, adjusting to my body even if I grow taller or gain/lose weight.

I commissioned the suit before I knew Park Seol-hwa, but after it was completed, she added a lot of extra features knowing I’d be the one wearing it.

Jeong Ha-yul’s suit is purely for defense and automatically regenerates even if it gets torn.

For Jeong Ha-yul, whose natural defense is higher than the suit’s, it’s more for clothing purposes than defense.

Before getting the suit, Jeong Ha-yul reportedly spent more money on clothes than food because she kept tearing them every day.

Eun-chae suffered as a result.

Anyway, mine is better than Jeong Ha-yul’s, so I don’t need to buy any equipment or clothes.

The snack shop just needs to focus on its main role: tasty food!

After leaving the room, we went outside the dormitory to meet Lee Chae-rin’s sister…

“19 years old? Wow… why is someone so humble in such a precious place…”

Did I hear that wrong?

Something feels off.

“…Awakening late isn’t a crime, you know.”

“Of course it’s not a crime! A world where lacking is a crime is a bad world.”

I didn’t mishear.

They were definitely being sarcastic.

I saw the back of Lee Chae-rin’s sister.

In front of her were three girls.

They seemed to be subtly mocking Lee Chae-rin’s sister, who awakened at 19.

“What are those…”

“Is that your sister?”

“Yeah, hold on a sec.”

Lee Chae-rin, frowning, tried to walk over quickly, but Lee Ha-yoon was faster.

“Hey, just because you awakened earlier than her, you think you can act like that? Then can I bully you too? What’s so great about awakening at 17?”

“What, what’s with Lee Ha-yoon?”

“Do you know her?”

“She’s a close friend of mine!”

“…Why? Why would someone like you hang out with a late bloomer…”

Oh, Ha-yoon…

If you take down those who awakened at 17, won’t that sister feel even more hurt?

Sure enough, the sister looked really flustered.

By the way.

Lee Chae-rin’s words were true.

…Crazy.

I never thought I’d see someone prettier than Jeong Ha-yul in my life.

The pinnacle of a desert fox look.

A face that combines the best features of Jeong Ha-yul’s cat-like beauty and Park Seol-hwa’s puppy-like charm.

A perfect upgrade from Lee Chae-rin.

If it were me, I’d try every trick to befriend her, but why are those crazy girls acting like that?

Is this some kind of female jealousy?

What, are they elementary schoolers bullying her because she’s pretty?

“Late bloomer? What’s a late bloomer?”

“Late Awakened Ones are called late bloomers. It’s not too late, so I recommend you stay away from her.”

Late bloomer.

Whoever came up with that has a Demon King-level sense of humor.

“Oh, then except for Gyeoul, everyone’s a late bloomer, so why are you…”

Lee Ha-yoon’s sharp remark made the girls’ faces turn red.

“W-we’re normal! Awakening at 17 is the right way! You, her, and Jeong Gyeoul are all freaks!”

“…”

The word “freak” seemed to hurt her a bit, as her eyes started to redden.

Oh, Ha-yoon…

I had no choice but to step in.

“Are late or early Awakened Ones freaks?”

“Of course! Normal people awaken at 17! It’s because of people like you that the Academy’s reputation is ruined!”

“Then our sister must be a freak too… I didn’t know, I’ll tell her.”

“…Huh?”

Idiots.

They’re emotionally driven kids, so they easily fell for my shallow trick.

“According to your logic, our sister is a freak too, since she awakened at 15.”

“Ah, no. Why is the Demon King here?”

“You freaks ruined the Academy’s reputation, and now our sister’s at fault.”

“…No! That’s not it!”

“I’ll go scold my sister this weekend. Why did she even enroll in the Academy? Freaks shouldn’t be allowed to enroll. Right?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant…”

Did an earthquake happen?

All three of them were trembling.

Their pupils too, of course.

But I’m not planning to stop here.

You have to take the initiative early with these kinds of people, or they’ll keep causing trouble later.

Based on experience, they’ll still cause trouble, though.

After some time, they’ll probably come back like nothing happened.

“I’ll submit my withdrawal form tomorrow. The reason… ‘I’m a freak and don’t deserve to attend the Academy.’ Is that okay? Thanks to you, I now know my place.”

“We were wrong…”

“Sniff…”

The three girls who were bullying Lee Chae-rin’s sister instantly backed down after my few words.

A few more pokes, and they might start crying.

Since we’re right in front of the dormitory, the dorm supervisor might notice.

I was thinking of stopping here when…

I heard a sniffle from somewhere.

…?

Tears were falling from Ha-yoon’s eyes.

What, what’s this? Why the sudden outburst?

Could it be that she was hurt by the comment about awakening at a young age?

I thought Ha-yoon was just excited about being S-Class… but she’s crying over being called a freak.

…These jerks made Ha-yoon cry?

“Why? We’re freaks. The normal Awakened sisters don’t need to apologize, right? I’ll bring our sister tomorrow and make her kneel and apologize. It’s our fault.”

“No, no… please don’t…”

“Sniff… I’m sorry, Gyeoul…”

You’re apologizing to the wrong person.

“Beg.”

“…Huh?”

They opened their eyes wide, not understanding what I meant.

Watching them just naturally made me annoyed.

“Beg. You’ve already cried.”

“Ah!”

The girl in the middle was the quickest.

She pressed down the heads of the two beside her and bowed her own head.

“We’re sorry… we won’t talk nonsense like that again. It’s all our fault. Sister… Ha-yoon… please forgive us…”

“…”

Forgiveness is something you beg for on your knees, with your head pressed to the ground.

I was about to explain that when Lee Chae-rin’s sister stepped in.

“…It’s fine, I wasn’t really hurt. It’s okay.”

“R-really? Thank you, sister!”

“Thank you! We won’t do it again!”

The trio, having received a non-apology apology, ran into the dormitory like they were fleeing.

She’s really soft-hearted.

If it were me, I’d only forgive them if their heads were bleeding.

Seeing Ha-yoon cry must have put her in a very emotional state.

“…Thank you, Lee Ha-yoon, Jeong Gyeoul.”

“No need. Just speak comfortably with us.”

“But we just met…”

“I’m already on casual terms with Chae-rin’s sister, and we’ll be hanging out together, so we should get close quickly.”

“…?”

I’ve never been on casual terms with Lee Chae-rin.

And we never agreed to hang out together.

We just said we’d go to the snack shop together today.

Unlike the trio, Lee Chae-rin caught on quickly and immediately matched my tone.

“Right! Ha-yoon and Gyeoul are such great kids, we’ve already become close. Sister, you should speak comfortably too, or they’ll feel awkward.”

“R-really? Then you can call me sister too…”

Quick-witted kids are the best.

“By the way, Ha-yoon, are you okay?”

She seemed hurt by those senseless comments…

“Huh? I’m fine.”

“…?”

What?

“I was just pretending to cry, hehe.”

…

What exactly did I raise?

***

Hero Academy offers general subjects corresponding to high school education in the morning.

Most students enroll at 17, so the majority are first-year high school students.

Next are 18-year-olds, then 19-year-olds.

I heard there are no 16-year-olds in this batch.

Those over 20 are exempt from morning classes.

Classes are divided by age.

The number of students is adjusted according to the instructor’s ability, and there’s even a course registration frenzy like in college.

However, there are only two of us at 14 years old.

We were assigned a homeroom teacher just for us.

I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

It’s like private tutoring, so it’s good, but…

Even middle school classes are boring for me.

But with a 2:1 ratio, there’s no room for other activities.

“Study well, and see you at lunch!”

“Thanks for yesterday…”

“No problem, and please speak comfortably with us, we’re not strangers anymore.”

I agreed to speak casually with Lee Chae-song yesterday, but after a day, she went back to formal speech.

“Right. Sister! You don’t need to be formal with Gyeoul and me.”

“S-sorry… formal speech is a habit, so it’s hard to change.”

“It’s okay, you’ll get better with practice! Anyway, see you later!”

If I don’t leave soon, I’ll be late.

After saying goodbye to Lee Chae-rin and Lee Chae-song, I headed to the classroom.

Classroom A1.

It’s the closest classroom to the dormitory.

Being on the first floor, there’s no need to take stairs or the elevator.

Is this special treatment because of the special admission?

Or is it because Ha-yoon is S-Class?

Anyway, I entered the classroom holding hands with Ha-yoon…

“…Hi, kids.”

…

Why are you here?

…

Why are you here?

 

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