Early Morning.
Holding a gift and humming, I entered the classroom and saw Jin Dallae sitting in her seat.
"Excuse me."
Her gaze held a trace of disdain.
From her voice alone, I knew she was seriously annoyed.
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Uh… Surprise?"
"..."
At my lackluster response, a flustered Jin Dallae pulled out a large box from her bag.
Snap. It was full of chocolates.
"Take it. You won't like what will happen if you don't."
Her warning was cold, like midwinter snow, and contained myriad emotions.
Did I make some mistake?
I racked my brains but found no answer.
'Did I overdo it?'
After all, every available space was crammed with chocolates, enough to irritate anyone.
"I understand."
"…Take it quickly."
Jin Dallae, with widened eyes, as if she didn't expect compliance, recovered her expression and snapped at me.
The box was considerably heavy.
I could tell how many snacks I had gifted her over time.
I thought as I took the box.
'Does she think I will stop this? No way. I should send it by courier at lunchtime.'
Lee Shiheon's gift strategy was not over yet.
10 per box, 30 boxes, so 300 in total. Enough for ten months.
The students started coming in as I sat in my seat with the box beside me.
Guseul opened the classroom door and, seeing me, approached, waving gently.
"Siha~ It means hi, Shiheon!"
"When did that start."
"Hmm? Don't you know it's trendy?"
Very naturally, Guseul, who sat beside me, noticed the box of chocolates.
"What's this? Is it Valentine's Day today? One for me."
"It's not for you."
"Who then? Don't tell me… Dallae?"
Closing my mouth made Guseul's lips curl up mischievously, and she giggled, covering her mouth with one hand.
"You like her?"
"Hmm?"
"There's a rumor you like Dallae."
Guseul's eyes sparkled like a galaxy, as if she found something fun.
I scoffed, denying it.
"Liking her, my foot."
"Come on~ Don't be shy."
Guseul, who was poking my shoulder and laughing, didn't know I would die without friends.
What I was doing was a business.
Mixing personal feelings in professional matters was nonsense. My relationship with Jin Dallae should stay just there.
'Why would I like Jin Dallae?'
Liking someone who never showed kindness, let alone being pretty, was impossible.
I approached Jin Dallae only because she was the closest to being a friend.
'The more I think about it, it's annoying.'
I looked at Guseul with suspicious eyes.
If this girl, Guseul, thought of me as a friend, this wouldn't have happened.
"Pffft."
Guseul, laughing weirdly, sneakily reached for the chocolate box.
I slapped her playful hand away.
"Hey, it's not for you."
"Aw, just one."
"I'll buy you one later."
In my life, had I ever struggled this hard to make a friend?
Therefore, those chocolates contained my earnest efforts. If even one was missing, their value plummeted.
Guseul grinned as I glared at her sternly.
"No choice then. I'll sleep. Wake me up when the teacher comes?"
"Will do."
Guseul, burying her face in the desk, fell asleep in less than 10 seconds.
She indeed fell asleep ridiculously fast.
Using the awakened mana brought more pleasure than I imagined.
'Oh, Oooh?'
To me, mana was like a toy, more fascinating than the dinosaur robot I had seen in my childhood.
I didn't expect the mana studies class I took just in case to be this helpful.
During a practical exercise testing mana manipulation, I immersed myself in mana's peculiar power.
I transfer the mana drawn from my heart to my arms or manipulate it finely to the tips of my toes.
Using mana towards the marshmallow in my hand, the marshmallow became squished as if pressed by a hydraulic press.
This was mana, and this was another world.
[Your mana increases by 1 due to the high-level mana operation.]
Even if the system didn't inform me, I already knew that.
The more I manipulated the mana within me, the more I could feel my capacity expanding.
My mana level had already reached 3.
'The average of the elite students who train all day and consume elixirs is 5.'
Among them, Sansuyu, who was number one in mana, was estimated to be around 7 or 8. That level was rare, even among heroes.
Anyway, just by sitting and training like this, I had already accumulated quite a bit of mana.
It might take some time to catch up to the others, but looking at the growth graph, it wasn't impossible.
'More importantly, the fact that I've stepped into the world of mana is significant.'
Those who were born with a capacity for it tended to have rigid and standardized growth that took time.
However, a being that didn't have mana and then gained it had a flexible and smooth form until it completely settled in the body.
In other words, there was a boost in growth for a few days after awakening mana.
And then…
"Wind."
A clean wind from my right hand pleasantly brushed past my ear.
It was just a basic, mass-produced spell, but now I could easily use magic.
Whether it was thanks to my aptitude or because magic was simply easy.
It seemed daunting at first, but it wasn't much different from math or science once I understood the principles.
If I had to compare, it was close to programming.
I benefited from K-Education, and initially, I had more aptitude for magic than the sword.
Unlike the sword, the magic aptitude was D-rank.
In fact, beyond that, overflowing potential continuously granted me insights irrelevant to aptitude.
"Okay, that's it for today's class~"
I was focused on mana; before I knew it, the afternoon class was over.
Watching students rushing out, I concentrated a bit more on magic, and then I sauntered out to the corridor.
I had to hurry and feed Shiba.
With that thought, I quickened my steps when I heard a voice from behind.
"Excuse me."
A soft yet somewhat fierce voice. It was Jin Dallae.
Did she find out I sneakily sent a package to her dorm room during lunch?
As I was calculating furiously in my head, a man approached from behind Jin Dallae.
"Are you Lee Shiheon? I've been waiting!"
A well-featured middle-aged man of handsome appearance. He looked like he would make a good politician.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, my apologies, I haven't introduced myself. I am Dallae's father."
"Ah… Dallae's father?"
I sneaked a glance at Jin Dallae. Her face was frozen, much colder than before.
Seeing that, I thought.
'What's going on?'
I turned my gaze from Jin Dallae to the so-called father. He was smiling kindly.
A smile close to courtesy.
'Come to think of it, he said he was waiting for me?'
I cleared my throat, and he discreetly handed me a business card.
Jinmok Group. Lee Seonghan. A gigantic corporation.
"The surnames are different?"
"Haha…"
At my remark, Seonghan gave a bitter laugh. Dallae's face twisted, looking at Seonghan. He must be her stepfather.
I could also infer what Dallae thought of her stepfather.
It was complicated. There were circumstances.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you too, father."
"I was waiting to hear that. I want to have a personal conversation with you right now. What do you think, Shiheon?"
Seonghan subtly exerted pressure with his gesture.
This was troublesome.
I intended to probe his intentions, but asking right away would be unnatural. Let's see how this goes.
"Let's meet tomorrow at this time. I have other plans today."
"Oh, alright, I was the one suggesting the meeting, so I can adjust the time. Keep your schedule free tomorrow."
Since he was the one suggesting, it was also his duty to adjust the time.
Let's think about it for now.
"Let's go back, Dallae."
"I'm fine."
"This child really…"
Dallae, who sharply hit his arm, stared at Seonghan with a cold expression.
Given the situation, Seonghan scratched his chin awkwardly instead of getting angry.
What was this situation, really?
"Then have a good time with Dallae."
"Take care."
I politely bowed my head in response.
When I raised my head, Dallae was glaring at me, looking irritated.
"So, what is it?"
"… It's nothing."
"What do you mean it's nothing? Tell me everything you know."
That man wanted something from me.
Anyone could see that, and that information was known to someone close to him.
Dallae, furrowing her brows, suppressed her voice and spat out a word.
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
....
"Alright."
I said nothing more.
She must have her own reasons.
And I knew very well that it was in her nature not to blabber about it.
Trudging along, I heard a reluctant explanation from behind.
"To you…."
"Yes?"
"To you, it will be a good thing. Because he doesn't spare investments for his people."
Her words sounded like it wasn't a good thing for her.
From what she said, this man, Lee Seonghan, seemed to want me.
Why would he want me? I didn't think about that. There was no need to cling to the unknown.
And Dallae despised her stepfather terribly.
So, she must also hate me getting close to her father.
Judging by her reaction, she probably knew very well that her father was targeting me.
'If she didn't want me to join Lee Seonghan, she would have persuaded me. But she didn't do that.'
What psychological operation was there?
I contemplated, but speculating any further would be delusional, not deductive.
The sure thing was that this situation wasn't something to be easily overlooked.
I will find out more about everything tomorrow.
I left the building without saying anything more to Dallae.
The sun was blazing, and the wind was blowing well.
It was still spring. It hadn't been long since I enrolled.
-Step, step.
I headed to someone's office.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door three times.
-Come in.
I decided to do something that I eventually had to do with ease.
That father of Dallae's wanted me for some reason.
And I knew my own values, too.
The crucial part was, how did that man recognize my value?
-Creak.
"Teacher."
"…Did Shiheon come?"
Seyeong, who was tapping on the keyboard, saw me and blushed slightly.
I broke that atmosphere and spoke.
"Can I ask for a favor? Can you help me?"
At the sound of my serious voice, a slightly surprised Seyeong opened her eyes wide and examined my complexion.
"Hey."
"Yes, teacher."
"What is it?"
She asked, straight to the point.
"Without any reason, can you help me?"
"I have to hear what it is before deciding whether to help or not. Hey, and asking for help suddenly… Is this something the guy who raped me the day before yesterday says?"
"What are you saying? You agreed to have sex."
"That, that was in the heat of the moment-"
"Do you hate it?"
Seyeong lowered her head, blushing crimson.
"Fine..."
"Leaving that aside,"
"Leaving that aside? This bastard… Okay, what is it?"
I said nothing.
Seeing my serious gaze, Seyeong closed her mouth, pondered, and eventually sighed as if she had resigned.
"Sigh… I'll help."
"Alright, then I'll consider you as my backer."
"Hey, what does that-"
"Teacher."
At some point, I had to bring up the thing that I should have done.
I needed someone to watch my back.
And being the husband of the World Tree in this process would be a big help.
"I am also a candidate for the husband of the World Tree."