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Kang-woo and Ha-yul returned home after hearing shocking news from Jang Gil-yong.

Although they had always been open with each other as family, this time, it seemed they had to keep it a secret from Jeong Gyeoul.

“Welcome back!”

There was no way they could tell the innocent child lounging on the sofa, munching snacks and watching Netflix, that she was actually a sacrifice for the Satan Church.

Deep down, they felt Jang Gil-yong’s words were true, but a part of them didn’t want to believe it, so they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything.

“Has Gyeoul been okay?”

“…?”

“What happened outside? Your expression, temperature, humidity. I don’t like it. Why are you calling Gyeoul like that?”

Eun-chae, lying next to Gyeoul, who was giving Ha-yul a puzzled look, blurted out without thinking.

“What happened? We just went to scold Jang Gil-yong.”

“Ugh, thinking about it makes me mad again. Why did that guy do that to me?”

“Well… I didn’t ask.”

Kang-woo and Ha-yul were so shocked on their way back that they didn’t think of an excuse for Gyeoul.

“You… didn’t ask?”

“Honestly, did you two just go out to play?”

“No, no. Contact LK headquarters. We flipped the guild leader’s office.”

They did break the table, so flipping it was technically true.

“Whatever, if you got scolded by your sister, that’s the end of it.”

Thanks to Ha-yul’s strangely sincere expression, they managed to get away with it.

After that, they started treating Gyeoul carefully and delicately, just like when she first arrived at the Demon King House.

“Gyeoul, where are you going?”

“Just to the convenience store.”

“I’ll go for you! What do you need? Just tell me!”

“…I need to buy pads.”

“Ah… it’s okay! These days, guys run errands for pads too.”

“…Never mind.”

—

“Gyeoul, want some coffee?”

“No.”

“Then juice?”

“No.”

“How about an ion drink?”

“…Why are you two acting so weird today?”

“…Sorry.”

—

“Before returning to the academy, I should do some training.”

“No! How about taking a break today?”

“…What? Weren’t you the one who said the sweat you shed today will replace the blood you shed later?”

“I just thought you might be tired…”

“…”

Feeling that both Ha-yul and Baek Kang-woo were acting strange today, Gyeoul hesitated to ask what was going on, and before she knew it, it was time to return to the academy.

“…Should I just drop out of the academy?”

“Are you crazy, sis?”

“Ha-yul, you’re acting really weird today.”

“We have plenty of money, and Gyeoul has great abilities. Do we really need to attend the academy? How about quitting and going on a trip to England with me?”

“…Are you sick? Is it terminal? Did you get a death sentence?”

“No, sis is perfectly healthy.”

“Then why are you acting like this all of a sudden… Is it me? Am I going to die soon?”

“No! Why would you die all of a sudden?”

Ha-yul, who couldn’t stand seeing Gyeoul skip training even on rest days, had completely changed her attitude about making sure Gyeoul graduated from the academy no matter what.

Gyeoul definitely felt something was off, but her suspicions were slightly misplaced.

“If it’s not that, then why are you acting like this?”

“Just… I just want to spend time with you.”

“…This is suspicious. Let’s talk about it next week. I’m going to be late.”

In the end, they couldn’t tell Gyeoul the secret they heard from Jang Gil-yong and had to leave for the academy.

***

“What? That’s ridiculous!”

“It’s true…”

Is this… for real? After taking a break, suddenly there’s an exam.

“You’re telling me you didn’t inform the students about the exam schedule and just decided to hold it?”

“…?”

“Gyeoul, everyone else knows except you.”

Lee Chae-song and Lee Chae-rin looked at me with disbelief.

Everyone knew except me.

They must have notified each other and planned to take the exam while we were in Gyeongju.

“No! Ha-yoon doesn’t know either! Right, Ha-yoon?”

“…Today is the exam for Introduction to Monster Studies, Villain Capture Techniques, and individual subject exams.”

I was betrayed by Ha-yoon, whom I trusted.

They say you shouldn’t trust black-haired beasts.

Who would have thought black-haired Lee Ha-yoon would stab me in the back.

“Even if others knew… how do you know, Ha-yoon?”

“They explained it on the entrance ceremony day.”

…

“Summary notes! Give me the summary notes!”

In my desperation, I snatched Chae-song’s summary notes.

I had to skip Chae-rin’s notes because her study skills were unreliable.

After staring at them for about five minutes…

Instructor Kim Gae-soo appeared and tapped the podium.

If I had known this would happen, I would have come an hour earlier…

“Put away everything you’re looking at.”

The real exam had begun.

An exam I didn’t know about.

1. [The armored wild boar is famous for giving birth to a certain number of offspring each time. So then…]

As expected, the first question is a freebie.

It’s an obvious question with an obvious answer.

It was a bit strange to make this a subjective question, but armored wild boars give birth to 8 offspring each time.

Anyone who didn’t sleep through Introduction to Monster Studies like me could answer this.

[8] I confidently wrote the answer and was about to move on to the second question when I felt something was off.

Why is the question so long?

I read it again from the beginning.

[So then… what is the probability that one of these 8 armored wild boar offspring is an albino? Write the answer to four decimal places.]

…?

Are these guys crazy?

They want me to guess the probability of an albino being born? I don’t even know the probability of a human albino, let alone a monster albino!

I turned my head just enough to not look suspicious and glanced at the other students. They all had the same look of disbelief.

But Ha-yoon was smiling.

…

2. [The four-headed eagle is a mutated form of the original eagle…]

At least they had some conscience; the second question was common sense.

The four-headed eagle is a mutated form of the bald eagle.

I easily wrote the answer and was about to move on when…

[The mutated form… the bald eagle can be considered its ancestor. So then, how many strands of hair do the four heads have combined, and what is the reasoning behind your answer?]

Damn it.

I’d rather take the college entrance exam.

Guessing the probability of an armored wild boar offspring being an albino or how many strands of hair a four-headed eagle has.

‘Is this really meant for humans to solve?’

I’ve never heard of these questions before.

They wouldn’t test something we didn’t learn in class.

Did they only talk about the exam questions while I was asleep and talk about other things when I was awake? To intentionally exclude me?

This might be a conspiracy between Instructor Kim Gae-soo and our class.

Like the first question, I glanced around the classroom, but it didn’t seem so.

Everyone looked like they were about to slam their desks or tear up the exam papers.

Meanwhile…

Ha-yoon was still smiling.

‘What’s with her? She’s scary.’

This won’t do.

I need to focus more.

3. [The red-clawed monkey’s main diet is wild boar offspring. So then… what is the red-clawed monkey’s favorite tea?]

‘I know this. Grandpa Kim Seo-hyun explained it when he drank pu-erh tea.’

4. [The gray-tusked orc tribe’s shaman…]

‘Fights better than the chief.’

And so, I answered questions 5, 6, 7… up to the 25th and final question.

‘I’m only confident about 4 answers…’

I think I completely bombed Introduction to Monster Studies.

The only consolation was… the other students seemed to be in the same boat.

But Ha-yoon was still smiling.

‘What’s her deal?!’

I’ve seen that expression before at Cheongdam Elementary School.

It was the expression of the glasses-wearing kid who never missed a perfect score on exams.

Could it be that Ha-yoon…

The same Ha-yoon who always looked up to me throughout elementary school!

‘This won’t do!’

The next exam is Villain Capture Techniques, my strongest subject.

After the 10-minute break, Instructor Yoo Soo-gap and the assistant instructor came in and handed out the exam papers.

1. [What is capture technique?]

‘Effectively apprehending suspects at the scene…’

2. [What is villain capture technique?]

‘Effectively apprehending villains at the scene…’

3. [What is the name of the principle that must be recited when capturing a villain?]

‘Miranda…’

4. [What is the difference between a suspect and a perpetrator?]

‘The difference is whether they’ve been charged by the investigative agency…’

5. [What is a detention review?]

‘A review to determine if the detention process was lawful…’

The difficulty level was incomparable to Introduction to Monster Studies.

Everything was solvable with common sense.

This seems too easy…

And just like that, the Villain Capture Techniques exam was over.

“Wow, Introduction to Monster Studies was really hard.”

“I saw Ha-yoon smiling earlier. Did she know everything?”

“…Yes, there was one thing I was unsure about, but I got the rest right.”

She was already confident about her answers before they were even graded.

Looks like… I’m going to be under Ha-yoon this time.

“How was Villain Capture Techniques?”

“That was a bit harder.”

“Yeah, it seemed a bit harder than Introduction to Monster Studies.”

“…?”

What are they talking about?

Where was there a question harder than guessing the probability of an armored wild boar offspring being an albino…

‘Are they serious?’

The exam results will be announced next week.

And after the course evaluations, it’s the vacation ceremony.

Finally… the first semester of the first year is coming to an end.

“What are you all doing during the break?”

“Hmm, I think I’ll work at the Taebaek Guild.”

…?

The guild leader is your sister, why are you working there?

It must have shown on my face because Ha-yoon continued.

“She said I need to start from the bottom to become a great leader, so she told me to start with monster corpse disposal.”

“…That’s a bit much.”

Starting from the bottom… I can’t really agree with that.

The bottom has its own ways, and the top has its own.

If a third-generation chaebol starts micromanaging every material and supply, would the employees really like that?

But if someone who knows nothing comes and says, “Just cut costs!” they’d get beaten up.

There are things you can only learn through experience, that’s for sure.

But that’s why you have employees to fill in the gaps.

You just need to use people well.

I haven’t done monster corpse disposal? Just recruit the head of the corpse disposal team.

In an era where “If there’s no bread, eat cake” is used as a meme.

Do people who can actually do that need to learn how to make bread?

Corpse disposal team? It’s much better to learn how to run the entire guild from the top.

And… all the employees already know Ha-yoon’s face, so how much help would that really be?

They’ll avoid dangerous tasks, dirty tasks, annoying tasks.

If you take all that out, who’s going to do the work?

“Gyeoul, what are you going to do?”

“Of course…”

My first break at 14.

I need to use it wisely and productively.

I can’t just laze around at home playing games and watching movies like everyone else.

So…

“I’m going to travel!”

“…?”

I’m going on an overseas trip first.

And then I’ll come back and go on another overseas trip.

And finally, I’ll go on one more overseas trip.

But.

My grand plan was shattered in less than a week.

 

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