Lately, I think I’ve become arrogant.

I pretended not to be, but being subtly praised as if I were someone great might have spoiled me.

I had heard and experienced that controlling the Necklace of Confession could be a bit difficult.

But once I could switch it on and off, I didn’t pay much attention to it.

Filtering wasn’t entirely impossible, and I thought I could just cut the connection if I were about to say something I shouldn’t.

It didn’t work out as well as I thought.

This necklace… it would expose fleeting, inappropriate thoughts to the world.

[Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry]

“Oh, you don’t have to apologize so much. It’s okay, lift your head.”

I kept bowing my head as if I was about to bury it in the ground. Next to me, the hologram displayed my apology.

The moment the necklace blurted out that embarrassing word, I belatedly stopped the Necklace of Confession.

But plugging the hole couldn’t gather the spilled water.

Honestly, I was terrified that an ice spear from Baek Ahrin might fly at me. If not that, I thought cold stares and emotions would be directed at me.

“Really, it’s okay, you don’t have to do that. You had no bad intentions, right?”

[I’m sorry…]

But Baek Ahrin didn’t seem particularly offended.

Instead, she comforted me as if she understood everything.

I was a bit moved by that. I was so grateful and sorry that she let such a rude comment pass and considered me.

“Babies naturally look for breasts. So you don’t need to be embarrassed.”

[I’m sorry… what?]

‘?’

As I was diligently typing out the apology to show my sincerity, I heard something strange.

The Necklace of Confession was off… had my ears gone bad?

A question mark floated above my head.

Baek Ahrin chuckled at my reaction.

[What do you mean by baby?]

“The baby you’re thinking of, Hayul. Not ‘talk’ but a crying baby.”

‘?’

Another question mark added itself. I awkwardly interpreted Baek Ahrin’s words.

She called me a baby.

A baby…

A child?

Is she saying I’m a nursing infant?

Looking at me?

I was dumbfounded.

A sense of rebellion slowly reared its head from within.

Along with the embarrassment and shame of being called that at my age.

No matter how short I was, I wasn’t small enough to be treated like that.

In my previous world, though my birth registration was shaky, I was an adult, and I was also an adult in this world’s status.

Obviously, I wasn’t of the physique or age to be called a baby, nor was there any reason to be.

“What could you do if a baby looks for breasts?”

‘……’

“Right?”

But recalling the mistake I had just made, my resistance naturally subsided.

I had committed a wrong, so rebelling against her teasing was laughable.

Baek Ahrin kept teasing me with a mischievous smile.

Sometimes, her teasing emphasized her chest, making me want to flee… but I couldn’t run away because of the guilt.

Caught in the endless cycle of teasing, more cadets started to arrive.

They didn’t intrude between me and Baek Ahrin, instead keeping their distance and watching like it was none of their business.

I saw some familiar faces.

Atila and Aidan, sitting a bit further away, came into my observation.

Atila still had a sharp demeanor, and Aidan wore a blank expression.

While I felt a sense of welcome from seeing familiar faces after a long time, I was even more desperate for help.

‘Help…’

As if sensing my desperate emotions, Atila, who had been scribbling on her smartwatch, turned her head. Although our eyes didn’t meet, she was definitely looking this way.

She flinched. Her eyes trembled slightly as she alternated between looking at Baek Ahrin and me, then she turned away.

‘?’

Next to her, Aidan blinked, glanced around, and then followed Atila’s lead and turned away.

‘?’

Their blatant rejection hit me with a thud.

I thought we had some familiarity, but I didn’t expect to be ignored so bluntly.

While I was trembling in shock,

A figure walking towards the park entered my observation range.

Wearing a red jumper carelessly over her cadet uniform and with a disinterested expression…

It was Hong Yeon-hwa.

‘……!’

My complexion brightened instantly.

Though Atila and Aidan, whom I thought were familiar, ignored me, I believed Hong Yeon-hwa wouldn’t do the same.

“Oh.”

As if to reward my faith, Hong Yeon-hwa’s face brightened as she chewed on something and looked at me.

Her steps quickened, and she soon reached me. She naturally reached out and patted my head.

The touch on my hair made the corners of my mouth twitch.

“Did you recover well? No aftereffects?”

– Shake, shake

“Really? Not lying? Looking at your face, it doesn’t seem so.”

Her hand slid from my hair to my cheek.

I pressed my cheek into her grasping hand. The more area she touched, the more satisfaction I felt.

As I enjoyed the satisfying sensation, her slender fingers traced the shadows under my eyes.

Though she squinted as if my answer was unconvincing, she looked somber when she saw my left arm’s missing spot.

I didn’t want to see Hong Yeon-hwa make that expression.

Just as I was about to divert her attention, her gaze had already shifted.

Her gaze touched my neck.

“Huh?”

Her eyes blinked. A peculiar emotion flickered in her eyes as she extended her slender fingers to tap the Necklace of Confession.

“What’s this?”

Her voice was calm as she asked. Yet, it felt off. As if she disliked it for some reason.

“Who gave it to you?”

Does she dislike the necklace? The design seemed fine to me.

“It’s an artifact. It expresses thoughts; Elia gave it to him.”

“Elia? An artifact?”

“Yes. But since he can’t control it yet, it’s turned off.”

Baek Ahrin, who was watching us from behind with a curious look, explained on my behalf.

She mentioned the function of the Necklace of Confession and that it was currently off due to a recent incident.

Thankfully, when explaining the recent incident, Baek Ahrin noticed my desperate signals and edited her explanation with a smile.

Hong Yeon-hwa listened to the explanation and glanced down at the necklace again.

“……”

Her gaze lifted. A subtle look pierced through me.

Though it didn’t send chills, it felt odd.

I expressed my confusion by tilting my head, but Hong Yeon-hwa just patted my cheek, saying it was nothing.

If the Necklace of Confession had been on, what would it have said?

I didn’t want to think about it.

.

.

.

“Is everyone here?”

Liana arrived shortly after.

There were about ten minutes left until the scheduled time.

Using my observational power, I counted the cadets and confirmed no one was missing.

Liana stood with her back to the lake, doing a final check, while the cadets sat around her in a semicircle.

I was among them. Sitting at the far end of the semicircle, I rummaged through my pockets.

– Rip

I tore open a candy wrapper I had stashed in my pocket. I took out the candy and popped it into my mouth.

Though it didn’t taste good, it was a gift, and I couldn’t just store it away.

Moreover, while not malnourished, I had been advised to keep eating periodically, so I brought along nutrition bars and candy.

“……”

‘?’

As I did so, a gaze landed on me. Curious, I observed and found Hong Yeon-hwa watching my lips… specifically the candy sticking out since it couldn’t fit entirely in my mouth.

A colorful candy.

It was the okchundang Baek Ahrin had given me.

Her gaze on it was similar to the one she had given the necklace earlier.

“…No, it’s okay.”

Thinking she might want some, I offered extra okchundang, but Hong Yeon-hwa just shook her head.

– Clap!

Just then, Liana finished her final check and clapped her hands.

The crisp sound of the clap spread among the cadets.

“Since everyone is here and it’s time, let’s start simply!”

I readjusted my posture.

I was already behind on my studies. If I fell behind on this too, my midterm grades would be in the basement.

Gathering everyone’s attention, Liana began her explanation with her back to the lake.

Today’s lecture was 『Understanding Spirits』.

“First, let’s define what a spirit is. It’s simple! We call an entity with weak self-awareness and individuality that acts according to nature’s will a spirit. And the technique to contract and control spirits is called Spirit Magic.”

It was the same kind of spirit commonly seen in fantasy genres in my previous world.

Basically, there were spirits of basic elements like water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth.

Besides these, there were special attribute spirits, but most spirits belonged to the basic elements.

“I know you’ve all heard the theory, but let me ask, what is the advantage of Spirit Magic?”

“The output and quantity from controlling multiple spirits.”

“Yes, as Cadet Isabel said, the primary advantage of Spirit Magic is quantity.”

Liana smiled at a female cadet’s response.

“Spirit Magic doesn’t deal with a single spirit. If you have affinity, capacity, and the mana to handle them, you can contract as many spirits as you want.”

Of course, it depends on one’s aptitude, but most spirit magicians contract and control dozens of spirits.

It’s rare for dozens of spirits to belong to a single attribute.

Although there’s a difference in the strength of spirits, spirit magicians can easily exploit weaknesses by leading spirits of different attributes.

They can also command spirits to fight individually. Additionally, spirits inherently possess immortality, allowing them to be sent into battle multiple times.

Moreover, spirit magicians themselves aren’t entirely inactive. They can fight using body strength, Qi, magic, or other unique abilities.

“I’m a fairly accomplished spirit magician and a superhuman who became an advanced hero in large-scale battles.”

Combat heroes are performance-oriented. Regardless of their current skills, they accumulate achievements and use them as a basis for their grade.

Combat heroes are categorized into three main types.

Anti-personnel. The ability to fight human-sized enemies.

Anti-monster. The ability to hunt monsters.

And anti-army.

The criteria for anti-army heroes are unique.

Can they significantly influence the battlefield alone?

It’s a stricter criterion than anti-personnel or anti-monster.

Therefore, most heroes raise their grades through anti-personnel or anti-monster achievements.

Professor Liana was a hero who had risen to the top tier in the anti-army category.

Just before retiring, she single-handedly blocked a monster uprising on the front lines.

“Though it’s true for anything, Spirit Magic especially requires innate talent.”

Liana’s gentle voice filled the park.

“Why? Because other races need a contract process to handle spirits, and without affinity, they can’t even attempt it.”

Spirits are difficult to use.

Few people even qualify to use them.

Those who qualify have the unique ability to have spirit affinity.

In the first-year cadets of Shio-ram, who gathered talent from around the world, only a few had learned Spirit Magic.

Spirit Magic is a rare talent.

“So, what’s today’s learning objective? It’s to check your affinity! You never know, maybe there’s a hidden affinity you missed when you enrolled!”

With a bright smile, Liana beckoned with her finger.

Thud! One of the nearby boxes rattled, and a colorful orb popped out and flew into Liana’s hand.

Liana flinched as she grabbed it.

“…?”

Liana stared at the orb in her hand.

Externally, the orb emitted a faint, multicolored aura.

It looked similar to the orb she used to teach me about mana, except for the color.

The difference was that it was smaller, and instead of containing mana, it had mysterious auras floating inside…

And it was slightly trembling.

‘Are those auras spirits?’

I had been curious from the moment I noticed them.

I kept feeling like those auras were bumping against the walls, trying to get out, and they seemed to be heading in my direction.

“…Even without affinity, there’s no issue with today’s lecture. 『Understanding Spirits』 isn’t about controlling spirits but understanding the concept and learning how to deal with them.”

Liana glanced at the cadets listening attentively.

Then she looked down at the orb again and raised her head to look in one direction.

“But…”

Her gaze lingered for a long time.

“Having affinity would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

She was staring in my direction…

No, she was staring directly at me.

* * *

[Player Adjustment System: Affection Level]
Lee Hayul → Baek Ahrin
●●●●○○○○○○(51▷53/100)
[Affection] [Curiosity] [Confusion] [Guilt]

…
Lee Hayul → Atila Blerro
●●●●○○○○○○(49▷48/100)
[Acquaintance] [Disappointment]

…
Lee Hayul → Aidan Reynolds
●●●●○○○○○○(45▷44/100)
[Acquaintance] [Fool] [Disappointment]

[You did not meet the conditions to lift the “Curse of Silence”]
[You did not meet the conditions to lift the “Curse of Loneliness”]

End of Chapter