Class 1-8
That morning, the students of Class 1-8, including Yeon-ha-neul and Go-eun-bi, found themselves thrown into a lesson like no other: Cops and Robbers.
But this was no playground game, no childish chase with shouts and laughter echoing down the halls.
No, this was a trial by fire, a rehearsal for a life where being hunted was sometimes the norm.
“Split up! If we stick together, we’re only giving them an easy target! Scatter and pull them in every direction!”
“Don’t forget! As long as more of us make it through, we still have a chance!”
The rules remained deceptively simple.
The ‘cops’ hunted the ‘robbers’ down and dragged them to a prison cell.
The ‘robbers’ ran, fought, and survived.
But these were not ordinary students; they were future Hunters. And so, they were allowed to wield every ounce of their physical strength.
Martial arts were fair game. A punch, a throw, a desperate grapple, anything to slip free.
Yet, no one could use their devices.
No spells. No elemental power to burn through their pursuers.
Just their bodies. Their breath. Their will.
And their pursuers were not human.
[Beep. You are under arrest. You have no right to remain silent. You will be detained indefinitely, no matter the excuse.]
“Damn it… Don’t worry about me! Get out of here, all of you!”
They were facing mechanical dolls, cold, unblinking sentinels, crafted by the combined genius of the Alchemy House Namga and the Magecraft House Minga.
Every hour, roles were swapped.
Student and doll, hunter and prey.
To excel was to earn precious points, and survival meant everything.
Now, with the clock ticking, the ‘robbers’ were scattered like deer in a forest aflame, the dolls giving chase without rest or mercy.
[Beep. This is the end of your escape. Hands behind your head. Turn around slowly. Cooperate, and no further harm will come to you. The prison food is better than you’d expect.]
“Is this it…?”
“Who’s the lunatic who programmed these lines…?”
[Beep. Sorry, we do not serve beef soup or radish kimchi. We have no information to extract from you anyway.]
They should have had the advantage in numbers.
But these doll creations of Namga’s artifice and Minga’s arcane craft shattered that fragile hope.
Every clash made them smarter, faster, deadlier.
And the students, stripped of their devices, were left to rely on raw muscles, something many had yet to master.
One by one, they fell.
One by one, the prison filled.
‘I have to get them out… somehow.’
It was a losing game.
Unless they broke the cycle, unless someone forced the bars open, they’d all be caught before the hour was up.
Go-eun-bi’s heart hammered in her chest.
If no one else would do it, then she would.
[Beep. Requesting reinforcements. Heinous criminal Yeon-ha-neul, twenty-three counts of assault, eleven of harassment. Surround and contain.]
[Beep. Encirclement initiated. Rubber bullets authorized.]
[Beep. Firing rubber bullets.]
Now this was the moment.
The dolls had all swarmed Yeon-ha-neul.
Unable to wield magic, without even a hammer in hand, she fought like a wraith slipping past blows, her kicks and fists whirling through metal and steam.
[Beep. You have nowhere left to run…]
Crack! Thud! Whoosh!
They moved to close the trap.
But Yeon-ha-neul didn’t freeze.
Before the circle could close, she hurled herself at the nearest doll, boots planting against its metal chest. She launched herself upward, her body curling in midair.
A single somersault carried her over the tightening ring of steel.
She hit the ground running, the dolls crashing after her like a silver tide.
The prison yard was blessedly empty.
‘Thank you, Ha-neul.’
Go-eun-bi couldn’t waste what Yeon-ha-neul had given her.
She dropped into a crouch, weaving between shadows, every footstep careful not to give her away.
No one inside called out.
They knew better.
Instead, the trapped students pressed close to the iron bars, eyes wide, scanning her blind spots so she wouldn’t have to look back.
Creak. Clang.
“Everyone, let’s go! Time to get our ace back!”
The gate swung open.
Their whispers turned to cheers, the sound of hope reborn.
They burst out, a flood of footsteps and laughter, a wild rush for freedom.
[Beep. Prison break detected.]
[Beep. All criminals have escaped.]
The mechanical dolls, realizing too late, whirled back in pursuit.
The balance shifted, if only just.
But with so little time left, a single spark was enough.
‘We did it… They’re all out.’
Go-eun-bi’s chest filled with pride.
She’d done it. She’d bought them another chance.
She turned to slip away before the dolls could return.
But
[Beep.]
A cold hand landed on her shoulder.
The chill of it spread down her spine.
[Got you.]
She stood frozen.
The mechanical voice hummed like a lullaby with no warmth.
[Go-eun-bi. Your crimes warrant the death penalty, but we lack the authority. You will instead be bound and held in confinement forever.]
“N-no… please…!”
From the shadows, another doll wheeled out an Iron Maiden, a coffin lined with padded dark cloth. Inside: a blindfold, a gag, polished cuffs waiting like vultures.
Go-eun-bi’s breath caught in her throat.
Tears welled up as she struggled, but the hand on her shoulder didn’t so much as tremble.
[Submit.]
[Submission will ease your pain.]
[This is your crime.]
[Pay for your sins.]
The dolls produced the restraints one by one, the cold metal catching the dim light.
Go-eun-bi’s head shook wildly, no, no, no, someone, anyone, please.
“I… I don’t want to die. I want to live!”
[We will let you live.]
“Take me with you, Ha-neul! Please…!”
But her plea never reached the one it was meant for.
Student Escape Operation: +5 points
On-site Capture: –1 point
Iron Maiden Confinement: –3 points
Restraints Applied: –2 points
And so ended Go-eun-bi’s score.
When I thought back to how things would unfold after finishing course registration, it all played out just like the game.
By now, Kang-han-byeol was probably locked in a fierce struggle, trying to wrest the ball away from Instructor Su-ho-guk.
‘In the game, if you defeat Su-ho-guk, the next cutscene shows you taking the ball…’
Of course, he wouldn’t be able to fight exactly as he did in the game.
Still, knowing him, he’d be throwing everything he had at the challenge.
I felt a flicker of unease. Would he manage to impress Su-ho-guk enough to earn extra points?
But in the end, I didn’t need to worry too much.
With Kang-han-byeol’s skill, he’d find a way, one way or another.
And besides, Lisa and Park-sa-gun were with him.
‘It was basically an episode designed to teach players the mechanics of party play…’
If the story stuck to the original flow, Kang-han-byeol would struggle on his own at first, then team up with Lisa and Park-sa-gun to finally grab the ball.
So I let myself believe everything would be fine.
Even if Kang-han-byeol failed, the world wouldn’t end, and the story wouldn’t collapse.
Nothing catastrophic would happen.
What I really needed to worry about was myself.
‘My feet are getting raw…’
Walking through this desert was a nightmare.
I had to focus on every part of my body, even the spots I’d never consciously infused with mana before, between my fingers, my toes, the soles of my feet.
Keeping the flow even was its own kind of torture.
And it wasn’t just about standing still.
I had to account for every shift in my center of gravity as I walked, making sure my mana balanced each step.
One slip in focus and
“…Shit.”
The sand beneath my feet gave way with a soft roar.
An antlion pit is a sudden sinkhole.
My body pitched forward, and I fell in before I could stop myself.
I’d learned the hard way that fighting back just made you sink faster.
So I let my body go limp, letting the sand pull me deeper until it finally settled.
How far had I fallen this time?
‘Even my Gift isn’t much help right now…’
Apparently, my survival instinct didn’t deem this life-threatening enough.
It only kicked in just enough to keep my body loose so the sand could swallow me gently.
No miracle rescue.
No dramatic burst of power.
If I wanted out, I had to climb out myself.
‘Wait… isn’t my survival instinct technically still my own power?’
A stray thought, but I didn’t dwell on it.
Once the pit stopped caving in, I slowly sat up, focusing my mind.
I drew mana evenly through my whole body, moving each hand and foot with care.
The sand was so fine that it would crumble away if I grabbed it wrong.
“Haa…”
By the time I emerged, my entire body was caked in grit.
Sand even found its way into my uniform, and worse, my underwear, leaving an itch that made my eye twitch.
But I didn’t have the luxury of brushing it off.
A single lapse in focus, and I’d be right back where I started.
I took a deep breath, steeling myself.
Step by step, I pressed my soles carefully into the shifting ground.
‘Rely on the feel of the sand. Keep the balance. Don’t let it sweep me away…’
The desert’s softness spread beneath my feet.
Grains of sand puffed up between my toes.
Bit by bit, I moved forward, feeling every minute shift in the ground.
Since I’d rounded the halfway point, I’d grown more familiar with consciously controlling parts of myself I usually ignored.
That’s when I saw Min-a-rin ahead of me, just in time to see her vanish into her own sinkhole.
‘That’s… pretty deep.’
It didn’t take a genius to see hers was worse than mine.
I gave it a wide berth, careful not to get sucked in too.
Soon enough, I spotted her down in the pit.
“Bread, bread, bread…!”
There she was, her fiery red hair half-buried in sand.
She hunched in the center, smacking the ground with her palms over and over like a child throwing a tantrum.
Her voice wavered, raw with frustration, and curses spilled out between sniffles, half-sobbed and barely coherent.
I stopped at the edge, looking down at her.
“Need a hand?”
“You….”
Min-a-rin lifted her head at my voice.
Her golden eyes shimmered with unshed tears, her lips trembling.
A hint of something softer flickered across her face, hesitation? Pride? Shame?
But she was still Min-a-rin.
“Forget it. I don’t need your help. Just go ahead. This is my mess to fix.”
“Alright. If you say so.”
She turned her head away with an indignant huff.
I didn’t push her.
No good would come from bruising her pride any further.
Instead, I cupped my hands around my mouth.
“You’ve got this, Min-a-rin! I know you can climb out!”
“Hmph, like I don’t know that myself?”
She whipped her head back, glaring at me, but her watery eyes betrayed her.
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
And then I turned back to the shifting sands.
The starting line was within sight now.
‘Just a bit further…’
A place to rest, if only for a moment.
But as my excitement rose, my mana trembled.
“…!”
The flow wavered.
A spiral formed under my feet and twisted into a whirlpool.
And I was helpless to resist.
‘Calm down. Calm down. Calm down…’
My survival instinct stirred again.
I surrendered to it, letting my body go slack as I lay sprawled on the dunes, staring up at the sky.
Waiting for the sand to stop devouring me.
How much time passed like that, I couldn’t say.
Eventually, the sand stilled.
I brushed what grit I could from the back of my head and crawled out of the pit.
It wasn’t as deep as Min-a-rin’s, but I still felt it in my arms and legs.
Nothing I couldn’t handle, though not for someone who trained with a blade every day.
I climbed free, breathing hard.
“Ah, my head…”
At last, I made it back to the starting line.
I’d crossed the desert, back and forth.
As soon as my feet touched the stone pavers, I let myself collapse, staring up at the sun.
My skull throbbed.
My brain felt like it was shriveling inside my head.
I’d wrung every last drop of focus out of myself.
That’s when the message flickered before my eyes.
[Your body has surpassed its limits.]
[Magic Power +1]
It had been ages since training actually boosted my magic stat.
Now it was up to 51.
With the Ring of Clarity’s effect added in, that made it 55.
A dry chuckle slipped out.
All that effort, the sand in my mouth, the pounding in my head, it hadn’t been for nothing.
But before I could savor it for long, something blocked out the sun.
“Congratulations on making it back first. I knew you’d be number one, Gyeon-woo. Here, your reward.”
Yu-no-eul leaned over me, her smile casting a shade over my face.
Then, with that same bright smile, she pressed something gently to my lips.
Her fingertip brushed my tongue for a second, then sweetness bloomed across my taste buds.
A scorched rice candy.
“You have to replenish your sugar after overworking your brain like that.”
“Is this… scorched rice flavor? I’d rather have chocolate, honestly…”
“Sorry, but I’m not a fan of anything too sweet. Want another one?”
“…Yes.”
She popped another candy into my mouth.
I stared up at her, rolling the taste across my tongue while she clapped her hands together, eyes gleaming.
“Alright! Now that you’ve got your sugar back, shall we continue the lesson?”
“…I’m sorry, what?”
“There’s still class time left. It’d be a waste to rest now, don’t you think? Who knows when you’ll get another chance, so let’s push through while we can!”
….
Ah.
This was it.
That scene from the game where Kang-han-byeol, after a training session, would get dragged back in for ‘extra lessons.’
Back then, I’d always hit the ‘Yes’ button for maximum efficiency.
But in real life?
There was no ‘No’ button.
Especially if I wanted to keep my relationship with Yu-no-eul on good terms.
‘Well… I guess now that I’ve done it once, I’ll be quicker next time.’
As if reading my mind, Yu-no-eul beamed and said something that made my soul shrivel.
“You made it across and back on your own, so this time… let’s drag a tire behind you!”
“…Sorry, what?”
“Just think of the tire as an extension of your body. Make sure to channel your mana evenly through it, too!”
….
Yu-no-eul grinned like a child offering candy to a cat.
I found myself speechless.
“If you make it back and forth again, I’ll give you another tasty candy as a reward. So fighting!”
…Could I trade the candy for the sweet relief of doing absolutely nothing instead?
Right now, all I want is to spit the candy back out.
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