After being accepted to Geumgang Academy,
I made every effort to spend time with my family.
Since I’d soon be leaving Seoul to live in the Academy City, I knew it would be hard to see them for quite a while.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt this way—my family also tried to stay home as much as possible.
“Is there anything you want to eat? Your dad said he’ll be home early today. Should we eat out tonight?”
“Oppa! Let’s take Mongsun for a walk after I get back from the fencing gym!”
“I’m home! I took some vacation next week—where should we go?”
Aside from going to her Pilates classes, Mom avoided making other plans.
Yeeun always came home straight after fencing to hang out with me.
Even Dad, who usually came home late from overwork, started returning earlier.
Thanks to all that, we shared dinners together, played games, and even went on trips—precious memories I would carry with me.
[Go Eun-bi]: Hey guys! Are you all doing okay? I miss you already! (≧◡≦)
[Ddolmani Gold]: (Photo of triplets each with a whole chicken)
[Ddolmani Silver]: We’re eating chicken!
[Ddolmani Bronze]: Enjoy your dinner too, everyone lol
[Go Eun-bi]: Whoa, what!? Are you really each eating a whole chicken by yourself?
[Me]: If a Hunter can’t even eat a whole chicken, how are they going to survive? One whole per person is the minimum!
[Go Eun-bi]: You’re going to get fat like that.
[Me]: And I won’t train to burn it off?
[Go Eun-bi]: ^^;
[Me]: Don’t just play—make sure you’re training too.
[Go Eun-bi]: Yeah… Honestly, I think I’ve gained some weight. I’m trying to slim down…
[Me]: Want me to make you a training plan?
[Go Eun-bi]: Huh? Really? That would be amazing! Is it from the Shingeom Dojo?
[Me]: It’s a customized version of their program. I’ll DM it to you.
[Ddolmani Gold]: Bro please
[Ddolmani Silver]: Do not
[Ddolmani Bronze]: Cross that river… 😭
[Me]: Sssup
[Ddolmani Gold]: Respect!
[Ddolmani Silver]: Loyalty!
[Ddolmani Bronze]: Obedience!
[Yeon Ha-neul]: I think I’ve gained weight too, trying to cut back on eating TnT
[Go Eun-bi]: Oh, my sister in suffering!
[Me]: You? Gaining weight? Eat more.
[Yeon Ha-neul]: No, seriously, I’ve put on weight.
[Me]: Doesn’t look like it to me.
[Yeon Ha-neul]: Really? You mean it? Don’t call my face puffy when you see me tomorrow!
[Go Eun-bi]: Uh, Gyeon-woo? You’re kind of treating Ha-neul and me very differently??
[Me]: Ha-neul knows how to take care of herself, even if I don’t say anything.
[Go Eun-bi]: That’s so mean, sob sob.
[Go Eun-bi]: By the way, Ha-neul, what chicken part do you like?
[Yeon Ha-neul]: Chicken legs!
[Me]: Chicken breast for me.
[Yong Hae-rang]: Do Gyeon-woo! Finally, someone who understands! Dry meat is the true warrior’s choice!
[Lisa]: Sorry, just saw the messages. I want chicken too…
Even Ha-neul and the triplets, along with others I’d grown close to during the entrance exams, were spending their time in similar ways.
Before I knew it, the day came when we had to head to Academy City, just a few days before the entrance ceremony.
“Take care of yourselves. Call when you arrive.”
“Don’t skip meals. If you’re sick, don’t hold it in—go see a doctor.”
“Oppa! Unni! Come back safe!”
It was a chilly morning in late February.
Our family gathered outside to see me and Yeon Ha-neul off.
We waved goodbye and began the walk toward the station, where the triplets were waiting.
Unlike the entrance exam trip, we had much more luggage with us.
“Here, let me take your suitcase.”
“It’s fine. You’ve got your own stuff. I can carry mine.”
“The snow made everything slippery—are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, you too, Gyeon-woo.”
“Maybe we should’ve accepted Dad’s offer to drive us…”
“Why did you refuse then? Didn’t want to trouble him?”
“Not exactly… I just wanted to take one last walk around the neighborhood.”
“I get it. We’ll miss it. Once we start living in Academy City, we won’t be back for a while.”
“Well, we’ll return for breaks, at least.”
Our breath puffed visibly in the cold air as we chatted quietly while walking.
“There they are!”
“Yaaaah! Do Gyeon-woooo!”
“Late again!”
“You got a problem with that?”
“No, we just mean…”
“It snowed a ton yesterday!”
“We’re just saying you could’ve walked slower on the slippery roads! Ahaha…”
We regrouped with the triplets in front of the station and used the Warp Gate to travel instantly to Academy City.
* * *
Geumgang Academy students are required to live in the dormitories.
Unless there’s a special exception, getting a place off-campus isn’t allowed.
Which meant, for the duration of our studies, we’d be living within the academy grounds.
That’s why we arrived days before the entrance ceremony—
—to move into the dorms and unpack.
Once the term begins, there won’t be time to settle in.
Dragging suitcases and wearing our backpacks, we made our way to the dormitory area.
“I thought it the first time I came here, but this place is huge.”
“Right? Even just getting around will be a workout. No wonder upperclassmen in admin ride bikes or scooters and hardly ever leave the grounds.”
The campus was large enough that walking was almost a form of exercise.
The dorms were located deep within the grounds, so it was a bit of a trek.
For us in the Combat Department, it wasn’t too hard.
But as Ha-neul mentioned, students from less physically intensive departments might find this distance exhausting.
‘I should’ve come through the back gate… Next time, I will.’
I silently regretted it too late.
We were gradually getting closer, though.
More students with suitcases were heading in the same direction.
Soon, the dormitory area came into view.
“Whoa… That’s the dorm? It looks like an apartment complex.”
“I mean, I heard there are over ten thousand Combat students, but this is huge.”
“That’s our new home, huh…”
The triplets looked up at the buildings, impressed.
They weren’t alone.
“Wow…”
Yeon Ha-neul also stopped in her tracks, eyes fixed on the towering structures.
Her bunny ears twitched as if bouncing with excitement.
I understood how she felt.
‘This must be her first time having a room of her own.’
Having grown up in an orphanage, Ha-neul never had a space to herself.
She always shared a room with other girls her age.
Even after the orphanage was expanded with help from the Seven-Colored Witch, Hong Ye-na, and support from the Shingeom Dojo, things hadn’t changed much—
—fewer people per room was the best it got.
She could have had her own room if she wanted, but she never asked for it.
“Don’t you get your own room?”
“The director offered, saying the expansion happened thanks to me. But I don’t want any special treatment.”
To Ha-neul, the people at the orphanage were her precious family.
She didn’t want that bond to be strained by any sign of favoritism.
So she declined, without hesitation.
“I used to want my own room. But now? Not really. I’ll become a Hunter someday, right? Once I earn money, I can get my own place.”
“Then why not buy a house instead of just a room?”
“Oh, I like that! A house with a garden would be perfect.”
“And you could let rabbits roam free in it.”
“…I’m not planning to keep rabbits.”
“Well, I am.”
“Huh? But it’s my house?”
“Why? Can’t I keep them at your place?”
“No, I mean… it’s not that…”
I still remembered the conversation we once had.
That’s why I understood Yeon Ha-neul’s longing for her own room better than most.
“Let’s go find our dorm rooms. Didn’t you say you wanted to decorate yours?”
“Oh! Yeah!”
She blinked, startled out of her daze, then beamed warmly and dashed over to me.
We resumed our walk through the Academy grounds.
* * *
Including the Combat Department,
Geumgang Academy houses over ten thousand students.
Naturally, it has twelve dormitories to accommodate them all:
Diamond Hall, Sapphire Hall, Ruby Hall, Peridot Hall, Topaz Hall, Garnet Hall,
Jade Hall, Emerald Hall, Amethyst Hall, Olivine Hall, Opal Hall, and Malachite Hall.
Each dormitory bears a unique name, and their services and facilities vary by tier—starting from Diamond Hall downward.
As this implies, students can’t simply choose their dormitory.
Assignments are determined strictly by academic performance from the previous semester.
“Is that Emerald Hall? They’ve got an actual emerald on the nameplate!”
“I think… that gem probably has some kind of protective magic on it.”
“So the other dorms have enchanted gems too?”
“Yeah, but I heard the effects differ from dorm to dorm.”
“Even the magical protections are based on rank? This world really is meritocratic.”
“In the world of Hunters, it’s all about skill. Nothing strange about it. C’mon—let’s head inside.”
Since we hadn’t attended even the entrance ceremony yet, none of us had previous semester grades.
Instead, incoming students were evaluated based on their middle school GPA and entrance exam scores.
Still, freshmen were restricted to the bottom five dormitories:
Emerald Hall, Amethyst Hall, Olivine Hall, Opal Hall, and Malachite Hall.
If you wanted to move into a higher-tier dorm, the message was simple: don’t get complacent—level up.
‘They probably assume we can’t compare to the second and third-years yet.’
Thanks to our high entrance scores, both Yeon Ha-neul and I were assigned to Emerald Hall, the top dorm among the five.
Same went for the triplets, Go Eun-bi, Lisa, and Yong Hae-rang, all of whom had scored in the top 20%.
I figured Min Ah-rin, Nam Yu-ri, and Cha Eun-sol, though I hadn’t heard from them, would be placed here too.
“Students Do Gyeon-woo, Yeon Ha-neul, and the Woo triplets—Woo Geum-dong, Woo Eun-dong, and Woo Dong-dong—you may take your keycards.”
We arrived at Emerald Hall and completed check-in at the front desk.
With keycards in hand, we headed toward the elevators.
To use the elevator, we had to scan our keycards at a panel by the doors.
“So anyone can access the first floor, but from the second floor up, you need your keycard.”
“Makes sense for security. Ha-neul, which floor?”
“Fourteenth, please.”
“We’re on the seventh!”
“I can’t believe we’re still sharing a room even here…”
“All three of us, in the same room…”
Dormitory floors were divided by gender—boys on odd-numbered floors, girls on even.
My room was on the fifteenth floor.
I pressed the elevator buttons according to what they said.
Having confirmed that they’d be sharing a room, the triplets wore sour expressions.
“We’re in the top 20%, too…”
“Why didn’t we get single rooms?”
“This system is so unfair.”
“Even in the same dorm, they’re sorting by rank again.”
“Damn this meritocracy…”
“If we’d aimed for Amethyst Hall instead, maybe we’d have gotten single rooms…”
“Right, we could’ve sandbagged.”
“I’d think you guys would be comfortable sharing a room. Haven’t you been together since the womb?”
“That’s why we need single rooms.”
“Do Gyeon-woo, you don’t get us at all.”
“We need personal space too, okay?”
“Then maybe you should’ve asked your mom not to give birth to triplets.”
“Wow… Gyeon-woo, that was low.”
“Did he just insult our mom?”
“Hey! I didn’t insult your mom! Now get off—this is your floor.”
The elevator dinged at the seventh floor.
I ushered the grumbling triplets out with a wave, then hit the button to close the doors.
Soon, the elevator stopped again—fourteenth floor.
“Wow… Even the hallway here feels different. The triplets’ floor looked plain.”
“Right? The walls and lighting are pretty. I’ll head out now.”
“Text me later.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Yeon Ha-neul stepped out, scanned her keycard at the hallway gate, and disappeared through the doors.
Watching her vanish down the corridor, I let out a quiet sigh.
‘So the hallway gates require authentication too. I guess I could go to the guys’ floors… but not the girls’. So much for hanging out in Ha-neul’s room or mooching her cooking.’
A little disappointed, I turned away just as the doors closed.
[Fifteenth floor.]
The elevator chimed again.
Just like Ha-neul, I scanned my card at the hallway terminal and stepped out.
“Let’s see… my room is…”
It was the last room at the very end.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
The first thing I noticed was the package waiting in the entryway.
“Glad it made it safely.”
It was a delivery from home, timed to arrive just as I moved in.
I glanced at the name on each of the three boxes and carried them inside.
After dropping off my luggage, I looked around the room.
“Not bad at all.”
It was smaller than my room at home, but perfectly comfortable for one person.
It had a bed, a bathroom, a fridge, and even a tiny kitchen.
‘Not like I’ll actually cook anything… I’ll probably just use the microwave. Or boil cup noodles in the kettle.’
Still, it was better to have it than not.
I wasn’t a bad cook, so who knew—I might use it from time to time.
I turned the kitchen faucet to check the water, then walked over to where the sunlight streamed in.
Pulling the curtains aside, I opened the door to the balcony.
“…I like this.”
The lighting was perfect, and the view was even better.
From fifteen floors up, I could see the Academy grounds bathed in sunlight.
The crisp breeze brushing against my face made me feel sharp and clear-headed.
Not bad at all.
I stood there for a moment, simply enjoying the view.
This was where I’d be living, at least until the semester ended.
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