Chapter 20

Chapter 19

After giving directions to Yumir, a mysterious blonde foreigner with blue eyes who might just be an extra.

"Um, have you eaten yet?!"

"...Huh?"

"If you haven't eaten yet, would you like to have lunch together? I'll treat you!"

I was offered a lunch date by Yumir.

What is this?

Is this girl trying to approach me because she's figured out who I am?

Is she subtly trying to blackmail me by saying, 'I know you're a goblin, so buy me lunch every day from now on'?

Or is she from the guild?

Although I can't easily grasp the situation, I have only one choice after being offered a meal.

"Sure."

Eating together is a new experience and it's all good.

"Do you like pasta? There's a really famous pasta place, but I've never been there. Would you like to go together?"

I need to let her know how dangerous it is to buy a meal on Jeju Island.

"Never...?"

"Yes. I've only been here for a week."

"Oh. So you're a new faculty member."

"Yes. I just started working as a librarian."

"Hehe, so this is your first time too, right, teacher?"

"...Teacher?"

"Yes. Librarian teacher. Isn't that right?"

"It's a bit different, but it shouldn't be a problem. Just call me whatever you like, Yumir student."

It feels a bit odd to be called 'big brother' by a blonde foreigner.

Maybe if we become close friends someday, I might hear such things, but I don't really see the point in getting close to a student like Yumir.

'She looks like the type that guys would go after.'

The protagonist and other extras are often obsessed with foreign women.

This is due to the trend where many foreign tycoons and powerful figures from abroad say, 'A top-tier young Korean man?! Make him my son-in-law immediately!' which makes the male students at the academy particularly target foreigners.

It's a sad fact, but the positions of male and female ability users are quite different.

Female ability users who go abroad are often seen as 'running away with a foreigner,' while male ability users are perceived as 'a capable man being treated well in the land of his daughter-in-law.'

It seems both unreasonable and a measure to protect female ability users in the country, creating an ambiguous situation.

"Yumir, you must be popular among the academy students."

"Huh? Oh, thank you. I think the librarian teacher must be popular too, right? Oh."

Yumir covered her mouth with her hand, surprised.

"Is your girlfriend going to be mad that you're having lunch with me?"

"Luckily, I don't have a girlfriend. Student."

"Oh...really? I see. Hmm."

What is this?

For a moment, Yumir's eyes seemed to sharpen like a hunting dog's.

Is she trying to take advantage of the fact that I don't have a girlfriend?

"Then no one will say anything, so let's go to the place you mentioned."

"Let's go this way. It's a bit of a walk, but is that okay?"

"Yes. I like walking. Oh, can I drop off my luggage at the dorm first?"

"Of course."

Yumir walked briskly with her suitcase towards the dormitory.

People are whispering because a man has come to the girls' dormitory, which is like a no-man's land, but no one really suspects me.

There are other men here besides me.

"Big brother, I've been waiting."

"I haven't been waiting long. Where should we go, honey?"

"Umm, where would you like to go, big brother? I'm fine with anything."

"......"

This is a place where men gather to wait for their girlfriends in front of the dormitory.

I'm not waiting for a girlfriend, but the road is bustling with people who have brought their girlfriends out before mealtime.

"Hey, over there!"

Someone pointed to one side.

Just as I was about to ignore it, thinking it might be a girlfriend they were waiting for.

"Snow White!"

At someone's words, the men's gazes, even those who had just met their girlfriends, turned towards the source of the sound.

"Wow...."

In the distance, a limousine, the kind you'd only see in front of a hotel in an American movie, began to approach.

As soon as the limousine stopped, the women in suits who came out put their hands to their ears and inserted radios. When the door was opened from the outside, a white-haired woman in a suit came out from inside.

"Snow White."

<<<

Even though it was the weekend, she came out in a suit, carrying nothing but her smartphone.

Correction.

She didn't need to carry her luggage herself.

The women in suits, probably bodyguards or supporters sent by the state, took care of moving her luggage from the trunk to the dormitory.

"Snow White has to stay in the dormitory too, huh."

"I heard the faculty housing is full. But isn't that the side of the dormitory where the graduate students stay?"

"Do you really think that's the reason? It's probably a dirty trick to get her close to the women who admire her and lure them to Korea."

Everyone started to come up with conspiracy theories about why Snow White was staying in a part of the student dormitory instead of the faculty housing.

'She must be having a hard time.'

An S-class ability user, and one who receives support and admiration from many female ability users both domestically and internationally, probably won't have an easy time at the academy.

"Huh?"

For a moment, my eyes met Baek Seol-hui's, who was just about to enter the dormitory.

Was it an illusion?

It didn't seem like an illusion, so I pretended to take a phone call to avoid drawing attention from others.

"Hey, it's been a while. A week, right? How have you been?"

Baek Seol-hui smiled faintly at me pretending to take a call.

"Look! Snow White smiled at us!"

"Of course, she's the celebrity of ability users. Wow, she's really beautiful."

"I want to marry her."

I can understand why the men are drooling.

She's a white-haired cool beauty with a charming magical aura, and she's not only S-class but also a hero. Any man would harbor dark thoughts about her.

"Poor girl, really."

She must have had a hard time receiving such attention from people since she was young.

Although she's a fictional character, I feel like I've indirectly experienced the inconvenience of being a top celebrity.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, you're here?"

I put away my smartphone when I heard Yumir's voice from behind.

"It was a friend."

"Friend...."

"What's that suspicious look for?"

"It's nothing. Rather, shall we go? I'm a bit hungry now."

"Yes. Shall we go this way?"

I guided Yumir out of the dormitory.

Something.

I felt a chill from behind, but it was probably just the ugly jealousy of the men who saw me going to eat with a beauty.

'But I don't like eating alone.'

Beauty offers to buy a meal and eat together vs. eating alone at home.

"By the way, if you eat with me, your boyfriend won't say anything, right?"

"I've never had a boyfriend, so I'm not sure."

"......"

(Virgin) Beauty offers to buy a meal and eat together vs. eating alone at home.

I, on the spot.

* * *

Thud.

Baek Seol-hui threw herself onto the bed in her suit.

The room was much smaller than her home in Busan, but it was still quite spacious, having been remodeled from three dormitory rooms into one apartment.

She would have to spend a year here, rubbing shoulders with countless people.

Although she came to the academy for a break, it might be more mentally exhausting than living as a hero in Busan, where she could be called to action at any time.

But what was troubling her now wasn't the worry about her life at the academy.

"...Who was that?"

Baek Seol-hui looked at the photo she had taken with her smartphone, which she had lowered earlier.

In the distance.

Beyond the crowd, a man walking with his back turned.

And a blonde girl walking beside him.

"...What, do they know each other?"

The girl was smiling brightly and slightly tilting her body towards the man.

She wasn't just walking shoulder to shoulder with him; she was tilting her body towards him and looking at him.

The man was looking ahead, and the girl was looking at the man's face.

"...What is this?"

Something began to bubble up in Baek Seol-hui's heart.

That strange emotion.

"......Hmph."

Baek Seol-hui tried to forget it by reviewing the script for tomorrow's opening ceremony.

"What is this? Irregular heartbeat?"

Baek Seol-hui placed her hand on her chest and stared blankly at the ceiling.

She reached for her phone to call or text a number she had been contacting frequently recently.

"......"

For some reason, her hand froze, unable to make the call or send a message.

* * *

A little later.

"Wow, lucky. There happens to be a good seat left."

"Yes. Hehe, maybe it's because of me?"

Yumir placed her index fingers on her cheeks and smiled.

"I really have better luck than others."

"Luck?"

"Yes. Luck. Meeting you like this is also my luck."

"I'm just an ordinary librarian."

"Is that so?"

Right now.

"You don't seem like an ordinary librarian to me."

What is she trying to say, building up like this?

"Teacher, you are...."

Yumir looked at me intently and spoke quietly.

"A handsome librarian teacher."

"......"

My affection for Yumir increased by 10 points.