Chapter 8

Chapter 8— School Life! (1)

‘And thus, this is why students who were sent to the Beta Class are unable to properly

grow,’ Desir thought .

Alpha Class students received excellent lessons from the faculty’s most brilliant

professors . As such, the faculty, carefully and with great passion, nurtured the

Alpha Class and ensured they received the best attention the professors could

offer . With this, their talents would surely awaken . They would inevitably

become excellent combatants that would conquer the Shadow Worlds .

Yet Beta Class was the complete opposite .

It was mostly composed of commoners who lacked any kind of support . Care

and passion was not pointed towards the students of the Beta Class as almost

none of the lectures had proper professors assigned to them . Because of this, it

was extremely difficult for these students to reach their full potential .

Desir smiled bitterly . ‘Even in my past life, I was a Beta Class student . ’

Desir had been born as a commoner . So, of course, due to his social status, he

had been assigned to the Beta Class . And without proper education, it had been

impossible for him to improve . So, when he’d first entered the Shadow

Labyrinth, he had only been a 1st circle mage .

‘In an environment like this, many talented people were buried . The system was at

fault . If it weren’t for a system like this, Beta Class students would have been able to

become stronger . They wouldn’t all have been massacred so easily, nor so quickly . ’

Yet, the only person who had survived to the end as a Beta Class student was

Desir . Being reminded of such end results, Desir decided on one goal in his

heart . ‘I will make sure the most talented students in the Beta Class will be promoted

to Alpha Class . ’

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In the past, Desir had failed to clear the Shadow Labyrinth . But there were

many hidden gems in the Hebrion Academy . And he knew that if he was able to

properly nurture them and guide them to their best potential, then it wouldn’t

be impossible to clear the Shadow Labyrinth . ‘To do that,’ he thought . ‘I must

move together with them . In other words, I’ll create a party . ’

He would find the ones with the most potential based on his past life

experience and knowledge . He would find these hidden gems, convince them to

join his party, and then he would ensure their promotion into the Alpha Class .

And he knew who the first gem would be: Romantica Eru, the Wind Mage who

had taken the entrance exam with him . She was the esteemed daughter of

Baron Eru and was called the Tempest Sage . Her specialty was chant-less

magic . In the past, she’d also been a veteran mage who’d survived in the

Shadow Labyrinth for 8 years .

And Desir was determined to win her over and make her his first party

member—to ensure she advanced from Beta to Alpha class, thus increasing her

power for the future .

***

A girl with clean, lustrous hair cascading down her shoulders sat at a desk in a

lecture room . . Her snow-white skin clashed with her red cheeks . And her

usually bright coral green eyes exuded a gloomy darkness .

“To think I would end up in Beta Class,” she sighed .

The ancient clock on the wall screeched with every movement the minute hand

made . The lecture room’s damp atmosphere, creaking chairs that gave off a

rotting cucumber smell, and marked up desks with gashes carved into them

only proved to make the girl’s shoulders slump even more .

It was truly a horrifying scene .

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Romantica could not believe this was a classroom . At that moment, a shadow

loomed over her open book .

“Hello . Are you Romantica Eru of the Eru Barony?”

Romantica raised her head . Three people stood before her, wearing the shiny

blue badge on their right chests, which represented the Alpha Class .

The person who’d spoken was the tallest person amongst the three . With thick

eyebrows and thick lips, he exuded a heroic aura .

“You know my name, but you haven’t introduced yourself yet,” she said .

“Pardon me . ” He sat down across from her . “My name is Doneta Hadun . I’m a

new student just like you . . . and I’m currently looking for a new party member . ”

He spoke very politely, the dulcet tone of his voice flowing between them, so

different from the atmosphere of the room .

“I hope you find a good party member who suits you,” Romantica said .

“I hope so, too . That’s why I came here,” Doneta said .

“Do you have some business with me?” she asked .

“I wanted to meet you, but it was difficult to do so . As you know, the lecture

rooms for Beta Class and Alpha Class are quite far apart . ”

‘In more ways than one . ’ “Well, yeah,” she said .

“I heard you are an exceptional Wind Mage . Furthermore, I heard your family

has the title of Baron . For an exceptional Mage with noble status to end up as a

Beta Class student, the academy must have made a mistake . ”

A stiff smile stretched across Romatica’s face . The awkward moment spread out

before her, as she tried to maintain her poker face . “Well, even the academy

professors are people, too . They’re bound to make mistakes . ”

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“Oh, right . However, it’s still unacceptable for the academy to assign you into

this group of garbage commoners . They must apologize to you . How dare they

assign a noble like us to this foul smelling lecture room . . . ” With a look of

disdain, Doneta surveyed the moist and dank lecture room . There were a few

people who glared at Doneta for insulting commoners; however, upon eye

contact, they quickly turned their heads away .

The Hadun family was well known . There were almost no commoners willing

to fight against such a large noble family .

“These insects . ” Doneta’s chilling voice gave the other students goosebumps .

The sincere and respectful attitude he’d had towards Romantica was nowhere

to be seen, as if it had been merely a dream or a passing breeze . He continued

to look around the Beta Class, scrunching his face in pure disgust .

“So what do you want to talk about?” Romantica’s smile trembled ever so

slightly .

Doneta turned back to look at Romantica . Without noticing her, he said, “I’ll get

to the point . I recently joined the Blue Moon party where Senior Elheim is the

leader . And I decided that you, who are exceptionally skilled, should join our

party . ” Doneta’s voice was firm .

“The Blue Moon party?” Romantica tried to remember . She had a gut feeling .

“It’s the school’s greatest party . ” Doneta said . Romantica now realized that she

had just received an offer to join one of the largest Alpha Class parties . It

wasn’t an easy opportunity to get and rarely would anyone see this kind of gift

fall into their laps like this . Romantica opened her mouth to say something, but

Doneta grabbed her hand .

“For recommending you into this party, I hope that we could start dating . ”

After a brief moment of silence, Romantica looked at Doneta in disbelief .

“ . . . What?”

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“I said I wish we could start dating . ”

So, she hadn’t heard him wrong . “Have we met before?” Romantica asked .

“At the entrance exam’s banquet hall . It was love at first sight, Romantica . ”

She forced Doneta to let go of her hand .

“There are no reasons for you to decline, Romantica . ”

“I just need some time to think about it . ”

Doneta’s face wore a dumbfounded expression . “Why?”

“I need some time to think . ”

“Of course, but . . . this is—”

Romantica’s green eyes, which looked like the wind itself, glittered sweetly at

Doneta . “You should give this lady some time to think . If you truly are a polite

gentleman . ”

A polite gentleman .

Hearing those words, Doneta leaned back . “Ah, of course . Also . . . ” Doneta stood

from his seat .

As Romantica was about to stand up, too, Doneta took something from his

pocket and spread his palm towards Romantica . It was a wooden dagger . “I

hope you would accept this from me . ”

A finely detailed and colorful pattern was etched into it . For a dagger, it was too

thick . It looked almost like a box that was shaped as a dagger .

Romantica thought she could open the lid and her thoughts were correct .

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“It’s a tradition followed in my Kingdom’s military where we gift this Kemubin

to the person we love . ” Pushing the groove of the handle with his fingers, the

knife and the handle separated with a click . At the same time, a smooth golden

chain necklace trickled down from inside the dagger .

Doneta gave the necklace to Romantica .

But, she shook her hands to politely decline . “This is too much . ”

“You don’t have to feel pressured . ” After lightly bidding his farewell, Doneta

headed towards the exit .

As soon as Romantica saw him leave, she went limp . She felt like a tempest had

passed by . But without even a moment’s reprieve, another person approached

her from behind and stopped at her side .

“You surely are popular, Romantica . ”

“Kya!” She yelped . With a crash, Romantica’s chair fell back . She had been lost

in thought, so she did not notice another person’s presence from behind her . It

was her bad habit to yell when she was taken by surprise .

As if untouched by this scene, Desir Arman nonchalantly sat next to her . “I

greeted you five times, but you wouldn’t respond . So, I decided to personally

come to you . ”

Embarrassed, Romantica quickly pulled her chair back to its original spot and

settled back into her seat .

“We first met at the entrance exam . So, I guess it’s been two days since we’ve

met?” Desir said .

“What do you want from me?” Romantica cleared her throat, her face pinched

with annoyance .

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Naturally, Desir was unfazed by it . “I came here to invite you into my party . ”

Party invitation .

She responded back, uninterested . “I have nothing to talk to you about any

party . ”

“Are you declining my invitation because you don’t want to date me? Don’t

worry . I won’t ask you to date me . ”

Romantica scoffed . “Enough with the lame jokes . I’m not in the mood . ”

“If I ask for a reason, would you answer me?” Desir asked .

Romantica sighed . Opening her palm, she showed him the golden chain . “You

see?”

For the first time, Desir lost his usual calm composure as one of his eyes

slightly widened . The lights of the dim, magical lamp flickered, dyeing

Romantica’s hair a bright red .

She blew out a breath . “If you were me, which party would you choose? One of

the largest Alpha Class parties where I’m guaranteed success, or a no-name

Beta Class party?”

Desir knew how sweet Doneta’s offer sounded to her . The Blue Moon party was

one of the few powerful guilds in the academy . Party activities were the main

focus of Hebrion Academy, making the offer even more charming .

She couldn’t decline . There was no reason to decline .

But Desir knew one more thing: choosing The Blue Moon party would be the

worst life decision she could possibly make .

“But you still haven’t decided yet, Romantica . ” Desir’s voice was certain .

35

“That’s because . . . I needed some time to think . But thinking about it now, I

made a bad call . Doneta was right . From the beginning, my answer was already

determined . I can’t think of a reason to decline his offer . ”

“Even if you have to date him?” he asked .

“It’s actually more beneficial for me to go out with the Hadun family’s child as

a condition to join the best party . ”

“That’s quite cold and calculating . ” Desir said .

Despite Desir’s sarcasm, Romantica’s decision did not change . Rather than

being shaken, it seemed like her conviction became stronger . “Since we’re done

talking, can you leave?”

‘I guess it can’t be helped . ’ Desir reached into his pocket, feeling as if he was

pulling out a knife, but his hand only held a slip of paper . A letter . Calmly,

Desir passed the letter to Romantica .

However, Romantica tried to get rid of the letter without reading it .

But then Desir spoke . “Best to dispose of that quickly . Though, you should be

more careful with it since it contains all of your secrets . ”

Startled by his sudden declaration, Romantica looked back and forth between

the letter and Desir, now unsure of what to do . Her previous haughty attitude

had vanished, and Romantica sat frozen in place .

Raising his eyebrows, Desir simply urged her on .