“Yes, I’m Jin Yuha, but it’s not me following Cheonhwa. It’s Cheonhwa following me.”
“Hah, Cheonhwa is following you? A piece of trash like you?”

They laughed as if they had heard a funny joke.
My eyes narrowed coldly.

“Fine, then why did you touch them?”
“Who?”
“The guys you’re sitting on.”
“They’re the same quota students as you.”
“So?”
“So? Normally, when you have a bunch of trash, you burn them all together, not one by one, right?”

Squeak, squeak…

“Ughhh…”
“Ugh…”

The square-jawed guy rubbed the quota students’ heads on the ground as if putting out a cigarette.

I felt disgusted.

‘Ugh, these slimy bastards.’

In this ambiguous world where gender roles were reversed, women had strong powers but still maintained their feminine personalities.

However, it seemed that the opposite was true for men.
They had male personalities but weaker powers, which might have led to their twisted behavior.

‘No, it’s just that this guy is like this. In the original world, there were also someone like him.’

In Shin Se-hee’s personal story, he had followed her around and eventually crossed the line, leading to his dismissal.
He was probably just that kind of guy.

“I’ll let you rest for a few days, so be grateful. Anyway, you’re trying to train at a level that’s way above your station, right?”
“What did he say? That he wanted to train at the same level as the special admission students?”

The guy with the slimy expression, who had been standing next to the square-jawed guy, twisted his lips and spoke mockingly.
Laughter erupted from the group again.
The square-jawed guy shook his head and got up, moving slowly.

“I was going to wait a little longer, but I couldn’t stand it. How dare you touch Cheonhwa?”

He was a pretty big guy.

I rolled my eyes to assess their strengths.

‘Fifteen.’

I was holding the wooden sword that Instructor Baek Seol-hee had told me to carry with me at all times. I never expected something like this to happen on the very same day.

Squeeze…

I tightened my grip on the hilt of the sword. At the same time, I spoke to the square-jawed guy in a calm tone.

“Is this a man’s jealousy? It’s a bit disgusting.”
“……What?”
“But even if I’m not here, Shin Se-hee won’t look at you anyway.”

I looked at the square-jawed guy and smiled faintly.

“That’s because you’re ugly.”

His face seemed to be a complex for him, as he twisted it in anger and lunged at me.

“You son of a bitch!!!”

A fist flew towards my face. The guy’s hand was wrapped in a chain.

Whoosh─!

The huge fist filled my vision.

‘……Compared to Kang Do-hee’s punch, this is laughable.’

I smirked and slightly turned my head.
The fist barely missed my cheek, passing by just a paper’s width away.

“……You dodged?”

The guy’s face twisted in anger as he turned his body to throw another punch.

Whoosh!

“Ugh!”

The hilt of the wooden sword dug deep into his waist.

The square-jawed guy’s eyes widened as he fell face-first to the ground. He writhed on the ground, clutching his waist.

“Ughhhh……”

Drool mixed with blood dripped from his mouth as he glared at me. I looked down at him and said,

“……You’re going to keep getting hit until you can open your eyes properly.”

I held the wooden sword with both hands and lifted it up.
It was the basic downward strike that I had been practicing during training.

Whoooooosh─!

The sword tip drew an unwavering path as it fell onto the square-jawed guy’s back.

Smack─!

“Ughh─!”

The guy, who had been trying to get up, fell back to the ground.

“Don’t put your hands on your back. You’ll break your bones.”

Smack─!

“Aahhh!!!”
“Hey, I told you not to put your hands on your back! You’ll break something!”

The guy turned his body away.

Smack─!!
“Ugh!”

Smack!
“Ugh!”

Thud!
“Ugh!”

I swung the sword like a club, beating him all over his body.
Since he was big, there were plenty of places to hit.
He tried to block with his hands and get up again, but I wasn’t going to let him off that easily.
The merciless beating continued.

“Aaaahhh! Stop, please! I’m wrong!”

The guy curled up on the ground, unable to take it anymore.

“Nope.”

Smack─!!

I finished him off with a blow to the head.

The guy’s eyes rolled back, and he fell to the side, unconscious.
The surrounding area fell silent.

The leader of the group had charged at me and ended up getting beaten to a pulp and knocked out.
It had all happened in an instant.

“What, what?!”
“……Boss?”
“How did he…!”

The guys surrounding us were stunned, their eyes wide as they looked back and forth between me and the square-jawed guy.

I exhaled slowly and took a casual step forward.

“Hey! F*ck!! Arm yourselves!”

The slimy-looking guy shouted hysterically.

The others cried out in surprise and drew their weapons or clenched their fists.

“It’s good that you’re still motivated after seeing that…

I curled my lips into a smile.

“But you should know when to give up.”
“F*ck! You son of a bitch! Let’s all beat him up!”

The fourteen guys charged at me with rough curses.

.

.

.

Smack!

“Ughh─!”

A crisp strike rang out, and another man fell to his knees.

These were some of the strongest male students among those who had just enrolled. All their attacks were directed at Jin Yuha.

However, Jin Yuha simply twisted his body or lowered his head to dodge and deflect the attacks. The sword strikes that followed were hidden in the darkness, invisible to the eye.

Smack!

“Aaaaahhhh!!!”

With each strike, one of them would let out a horrific scream and fall to the ground. Those who remained had trembling pupils, as if they had just experienced an earthquake.

The male quota students. They hadn’t even taken any entrance exams, unlike the others who had toiled and bled to earn their spot.

These male quota students, who had been admitted without any effort or sacrifice, were already unforgivable in their eyes. And now, one of them had the audacity to get close to Cheonhwa and even eat with her.

That was why they had gathered here. They wanted to give him a taste of their own suffering and make sure he never dared to think of getting close to Cheonhwa again. That was their intention.

However, what was happening now was beyond their comprehension. The fifteen of them were being hunted by a single person.

“This can’t be…”
“What, what is this…!”
“No way, this isn’t happening!”

The remaining guys shouted in confusion. Meanwhile, the wooden sword relentlessly struck them down.

“How, how is a quota student like him so strong…!”
“Damn. Don’t call him a quota student!”
“Hiiii!”

Whoosh─!

Perhaps he had been holding back some resentment, but the wooden sword flew towards the guy who had just shouted “quota student.”

Smack─!!

“Ughhhh─!”

The guy twisted his upper body and then collapsed on the spot.

Thud.

By now, the remaining guys realized that something was very wrong.

“We, we need to run…”
“He’s a monster…”

Just as they were about to turn and flee,

“Hey, you pussies. Are you going to run now?”

A cold voice stopped them in their tracks.

“If you take one step back right now, you’re really going to die.”
“……!”
“Do you want to just pass out from the beating here, or do you want to keep getting beaten up until graduation?”

From the entrance ceremony to the graduation ceremony.

The guys’ faces turned deathly pale as they imagined years of beatings and violence. In the end, they had only one choice.

“Ughhh… Fine, we’ll just take the beating and end it here!”
“We’re sorry!!!”

Smack!

Smack!

The last remaining guys closed their eyes tightly and obediently took the strikes of the wooden sword, falling to the ground.

Thud.

Thud.

And those who witnessed all of this were the male quota students who had been lying on the ground.

‘This is insane…’
‘What the hell is this…’

They couldn’t even open their mouths. They felt chills running up their spines.

This was the first time they had seen Jin Yuha’s sword skills. They had missed the sparring with the instructor, and all they had seen since then was him standing there with his sword, doing nothing.

So, they had been badmouthing him behind his back. They resented him for being treated specially by the instructor and for being used as a training tool, ignored and disrespected.

And today, because of Jin Yuha, they had ended up in this horrible situation!

Jin Yuha, who seemed to consider himself different from the other male quota students, had rubbed them the wrong way. Naturally, their feelings towards him were far from positive, and their resentment had been building up.

But now, this… He had saved them. And his skills were beyond their imagination.

“……Are you guys okay?”

Jin Yuha scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression as he stood with his foot on one of the guys’ heads.

“I think this is my fault. Sorry.”
“Why…?”

He was apologizing to them.

The same guy who had scolded them on the first day of training, who had treated them like training tools and ignored their resentment.

They knew they should be grateful, but they couldn’t help but ask.

“Why are you apologizing? Why did you save us…?”

.

.

.

“Miss Shin Se-hee, here is the information and recorded footage of Jin Yuha as you requested.”

Under the soft lighting, a freshly made hamburger sat on an antique desk, emitting a mouthwatering aroma.

Flap, flap…

Shin Se-hee flipped through the documents containing information about Jin Yuha.

“Hmm, there really isn’t much here… There must be something else.”

Thud. She closed the file nonchalantly. “This is probably all a cover. Ah, and did you check that other thing?”

Shin Se-hee turned to the man and asked.

“Yes, we were able to identify the person who leaked the information about the stolen necklace. It seems the information was leaked quite extensively.”
“So it was true… Well, it’s not that surprising that Jin Yuha knew about it.”

Shin Se-hee sighed softly and shook her head.

“Well, it’s fine. We made a deal. Did you check the footage?”
“Yes, it was impressive… Now I understand why you’re interested in him.”

Munch, munch…

Shin Se-hee took a bite of the hamburger as she played the footage. In the video, Jin Yuha wielded the wooden sword like a ghost, dominating the male students.

“Ah, you did well. Thank you, Kim Secretary.”
“……You predicted all of this, didn’t you?”

Shin Se-hee pouted and glared at him.

“Please don’t make it sound like I orchestrated this or intended for it to happen. That makes me sound like a really bad person.”
“……”
“I just had lunch with him in front of everyone. And I didn’t expect things to move this quickly.”

Shin Se-hee pouted cutely, but the man felt a chill running down his spine.

She had intended to incite jealousy.

The jealousy of those who followed and worshipped Shin Se-hee.

‘And not just that… How many moves ahead are you reading?’

The man, who had worked for her for a long time, felt a sense of dissonance whenever he saw her angelic appearance.

“In Do-hee’s case, it’s quite simple. Her desires are clear. Her admiration for what she doesn’t have, her unwavering attitude in difficult situations, and her misplaced sense of heroism that makes her reach out to the weak.”

Chomp…

On the screen, Jin Yuha was seen offering his hand to the male quota students. Shin Se-hee took a sip of her cola as she watched.

“So, Kim Secretary, please overlay the image of the Parandis Guild Master on the footage of Jin Yuha’s daily life, as well as the footage we just recorded. Make sure it’s subtle, frame by frame, so that no one notices. Slowly overlay the guild master’s face on his.”
“……Should we show it to Kang Do-hee right away?”
“No, that would be too boring.”

Shin Se-hee smiled brightly and said,

“We should wait until it’s ripe. Until Do-hee starts to find him annoying and hateful. In fact, I’d like to take it even further until their relationship completely falls apart, but it’s a shame that I can’t because of the deal with Jin Yuha.”
“……”
“It will be interesting, though. How will Do-hee, who has been rejecting and pushing him away, change when she falls for him?”

Shin Se-hee’s smile deepened as she imagined Kang Do-hee squirming in front of Jin Yuha.

Goosebumps ran up Kim Secretary’s arms, but he simply bowed his head silently.