Chapter 10 of the Academy's Bully

"I won't die."

"Stop it."

Bak Iljin's empty gaze, devoid of any emotion, met the cold and icy eyes of the girl holding her. The two gazes, seemingly similar, explored each other without either giving in.

"Let go."

Bak Iljin, who said this, tried to pull her hand free, but her wrist, already frozen, did not respond.

'So cold.'

The chill that started from her wrist had already seeped into her shoulder. It was an extreme cold that even Bak Iljin, who usually didn't feel the cold, found chilling.

In an instant, Bak Iljin's right arm turned blue as if it had frostbite.

"Hmm."

Bak Iljin, ignoring her frozen arm, used her strength to pull her wrist free. Her arm, once freed from the girl's grip, quickly regained its color.

For a moment, her icy pupils wavered.

Ignoring this, Bak Iljin lifted Fang Gechong by his shirt again. His face, swollen with bruises, was a mess.

"Please, let me live... I was wrong. Please."

Bak Iljin, without responding to Fang Gechong's plea, which was uncharacteristic for his large build, simply raised her hand.

'Just enough not to kill him.'

At that moment, the girl approached her again. Her pale, delicate hands exuded an even stronger cold than before.

'This is annoying.'

Bak Iljin, who was starting to find the girl's repeated interference annoying, threw Fang Gechong to the ground and stared directly into her eyes.

"What now?"

"Stop it."

As the standoff continued, the students watching began to recognize her.

"That's... Seol Hayun..."

"That Seol Hayun? From the Ice Palace...?"

Seol Hayun, the successor of the Ice Palace and a prodigy who started learning the Lesser Ice Technique at the age of ten, was quite famous among martial artists.

Their whispers reached Bak Iljin's ears.

'Seol Hayun?'

Bak Iljin remembered seeing the name Seol Hayun on the admission test results board.

'She was fourth in the martial arts category, right.'

Hwangbo Chulseung, who had approached the standoff, inserted himself between them with his characteristic honest face.

"Bully, I think you should stop now. Hayun, it's been a while. I hope you'll stop too."

Seeing Hwangbo Chulseung's anxious expression, Bak Iljin lowered her hand. She didn't want to make her first friend after entering society feel uncomfortable.

"Understood."

She then nodded at Fang Gechong, a gesture to leave.

"Thank you for sparing my life."

With that, Fang Gechong, as if his seat was on fire, quickly jumped up and disappeared.

Seol Hayun also lowered her hand. The frost on her hand gradually disappeared, reflecting the sunlight and sparkling.

"Wow!"

"Beautiful..."

The students marveled at the scene. Bak Iljin, too, appreciated the brilliant reflections of the frost as if they were scattered in the air.

'She can emit cold without using magic... Is this how it's done?'

For a moment, a cold aura emitted from Bak Iljin's fingertips, creating a tiny frost that quickly disappeared. The event happened so quickly that no one noticed the aura.

Even though Fang Gechong had left, Bak Iljin and Seol Hayun maintained their standoff. Hwangbo Chulseung, who was talking nearby, was barely audible.

A student with numerous injuries approached them. It was Yoo Eul, who had been hit by Fang Gechong earlier.

"Hey, thanks."

The student with a round head, a swollen face, and a broken glasses, evoked sympathy from those who saw him.

"I didn't try to save you."

"Still... thank you."

Yoo Eul seemed to want to say more but, fidgeting with his hands, he forced a smile without saying anything.

"No, really. Thanks. You're Bak Iljin, right? I'll definitely repay you later!"

"Alright."

Seeing this, Seol Hayun realized she had misunderstood.

'She wasn't bullying a weak student.'

Fang Gechong, despite his large build, didn't look weak, but Seol Hayun, who didn't have such biases, had mistakenly thought Bak Iljin was bullying a weak student.

'I should apologize... right?'

She knew that if she had misunderstood, she should apologize. The problem was that she didn't know how to do it.

"I misunderstood. Sorry."

A short, blunt apology. It seemed insincere, but for her, who had never apologized in her life, it took courage to say it.

Hwangbo Chulseung, who understood this, tried to accept the apology with a laugh, but Bak Iljin spoke first.

"Ha... Since Hayun apologized, Bully, you should stop too..."

"Is this how the Ice Palace apologizes?"

From Bak Iljin's perspective, she was curious if each sect had its own way of apologizing.

"......?!"

"......"

But the people around them interpreted it differently. Apologizing to the successor of the Ice Palace and even mentioning the sect's way of apologizing...

"Did you hear that?"

"Talking about the Ice Palace..."

"Even if the Ice Palace isn't as powerful as it used to be..."

Seol Hayun's eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her pale face turned a bit red.

"You..."

Hwangbo Chulseung, reading the subtle change, pondered how to handle the situation and then laughed awkwardly, starting to explain to Bak Iljin.

"Bully, since you're from the mountains, you might not know, but nowadays, this is how people apologize. It's a trend and a matter of etiquette..."

Trying to defuse the situation with a witty remark, but his explanation only made the cold atmosphere even colder.

"Trend? Etiquette?"

"Yep...!"

"Is that so."

Bak Iljin, who accepted Hwangbo Chulseung's explanation, nodded as if she had learned something new.

"Ha..."

Seol Hayun was speechless, her slightly red face still not back to normal.

Swallowing hard, someone's voice echoed.

Now, even the onlookers felt anxious. They were curious about what this long-haired guy was up to.

But Bak Iljin, not understanding why the atmosphere had suddenly turned cold, was oblivious to the tension.

She simply thought, 'Apologizing is a simple matter of etiquette.'

Having seen the test results and deciding there was no need to stay, Bak Iljin turned around.

"Charles, let's go."

"Wh... What?"

As they walked away, the onlookers began to gossip about the commotion they had caused.

* * *

This place, created with a new architectural style that naturally blends the soft elegance of the Zhongyuan people and the piercing nobility of the Rochet people, is the Magic Martial Arts Academy. It is one of the two prestigious educational institutions in the empire, alongside the royal academy attended by nobles. In fact, the admission process for the academy is even more rigorous than that of the royal academy.

For anyone, giving up on admission to such an academy is difficult. This was true for Yoo Eul as well.

'What should I do about the person who recommended me... I feel so guilty...'

His eyes, filled with regret, touched the various parts of the academy with trembling hands.

After much deliberation, he decided to give up on admission and wrote a letter of withdrawal at the academic affairs office. However, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't help but feel regret.

"Ha..."

Why did the ivory-colored building behind him look even more splendid? Was it an illusion that even the tiles he stepped on looked elegant?

No, it wasn't.

But when he thought of 'Fang Gechong,' his regret disappeared. He couldn't imagine enduring in a place infested with monsters, both physically and mentally.

"Sure, the academy isn't the only way. I can become a professor through other means too!"

The boy, who had shown remarkable talent by passing the academy entrance exam through self-study, rekindled the fire in his eyes and vowed to a hopeful future.

Rumble.

'But first, let's eat.'

He entered a rather luxurious restaurant, sat down, and ordered food. Despite the high price, which made him gasp, it was a permissible luxury given that his admission fee was already paid.

The waiters greeted him with 90-degree bows, showing their service mindset from the start.

'It feels like I'm a noble!'

The excessive politeness of the staff wasn't bad. 'Is this what people spend money on?' he thought, looking around.

"Wow."

The interior of the restaurant, made of high-quality wood, was splendid. The subtle wood scent and the music added to the charm.

'This is why people talk about money, money...'

While admiring the interior, Yoo Eul's gaze stopped at a certain point, and he spat out the water he was drinking.

'Why is he here...'

A person who shouldn't be here.

Someone who should be attending classes at the academy right now.

'Bak Iljin.'

With his long hair tied up like an ancient martial artist, a cold but handsome face, and a tall, sturdy build, Bak Iljin looked like he belonged in this elegant restaurant. But what caught his attention more was his expression.

'Wow... I didn't know he could make such a face.'

Smiling while eating, he looked like a different person. If it weren't for his unique hairstyle, Yoo Eul might not have recognized him.

'But why isn't he at the academy?'

He had been informed that the opening ceremony was moved up a day due to the princess's birthday. Yet, here he was, leisurely eating...

'Could it be that he didn't receive the notification because he doesn't have a personal tablet?'

He vaguely remembered hearing that Bak Iljin was from the mountains.

'Should I tell him? Or is it just meddling?'

Thinking of Bak Iljin's intimidating presence when he slapped Fang Gechong, he felt scared and wondered if it was meddling, but the answer was already clear.

'He might really not know.'

Swallowing the remaining water in one go, he approached Bak Iljin. At that moment, Bak Iljin was stuffing his mouth with a T-bone steak.

"Hey..."

* * *

Someone was running through the center of the academy building. His chin was stained with steak sauce, indicating he had just eaten.

'Tsk, the first day was moved up...'

After the admission test results were announced, the Huangbo twins said they had business at the family estate and would see him on the first day of school.

Thus, Bak Iljin, left alone without a tablet, did not receive the notification about the changed first day and was late on the first day.

Running quickly, he had no time to admire the splendid ivory-colored building or the elegant tiles.

Bak Iljin paid the registration fee at the academic affairs office, received his uniform, and quickly changed into it before heading to the lecture hall.

A staff member at the academic affairs office commented, "I've never seen a student who is late on the first day. Hehehe," but Bak Iljin didn't even respond.

'I need to buy a tablet or something right away.'

Even for him, this situation was not particularly pleasant.

'I heard the opening ceremony is already over, so the first class must be ongoing?'

Before the class placement test, all first-year students attend the same class. The large lecture hall, which can hold 600 students