After returning to class, Yohan waited for Instructor Haru until first period began.
When the bell rang, Haru opened the front door of the classroom and appeared.
She swept her long brown hair back behind her robe.
Holding the textbook to her chest, Haru looked at Yohan and let out a sigh first.
"Student Yohan. You have caused trouble."
"I am quick when it comes to handling things."
"That is not what I meant."
"This was something that had to be done, Instructor. If not for this sparring match, the students would have always rebelled against me."
"I know. That is why I have nothing to say."
Haru stood before the lectern and looked at Yohan, the only student left.
The other seats were still covered in dust, as if no one had ever been there from the beginning.
"At this rate, I cannot proceed with class. Until the students recover, you may act freely...."
"I dislike that, Instructor. I should attend class."
"Why?"
"It was a sparring match they chose, and the result they produced. But Pluton delays class to accommodate the students' convenience? I do not think that is right."
Yohan's words had a point.
Because of that, Haru, unable to refute him, opened the textbook.
"Very well. We will begin class. However, today's class will proceed with me. The other instructors will not have time because they are dealing with the injured students."
"Good. Losers should have this kind of penalty."
Yohan also opened the textbook he had received and looked at Haru.
On the major unit of the textbook was written "The History of Gates and Hunters."
Haru placed the textbook on the lectern and began class.
"The place where the First Gate appeared was here, Seoul. At the time, many scientists studied the mysterious portal that had opened, but they could not uncover its true nature."
When Haru operated her device, the First Gate appeared on the blackboard.
"Now, this Gate has been raided and will never open again, but even so, the world changed greatly from this point onward."
‘Will never open again....’
Inwardly, Yohan recalled the First Gate and the Wish Vessel that would open again ten years later.
"God granted us the blessing called mana, and bestowed upon us the countermeasure known as Unique Abilities. As a result, science grew by leaps and bounds, and the world began resisting magic beasts."
Beep, beep.
When she pressed a button on her device, the screen changed to the next one.
"While facing magic beasts like the ones you see now, the world began joining forces. And war disappeared."
"Instructor. I have a question."
"What is it, Student Yohan?"
"In present-day Korea, the Twelve Families led by the Hangeom Family hold real power. I am curious how that came to be."
"That is a good question."
Haru thought it was merely a student's innocent question.
But Yohan wanted to use Haru's words to grasp how the Families were currently perceived.
"Ego Weapons. The proof of the Awakened. Student Yohan, you should have one as well."
"That is correct. I have one."
"When the First Gate opened, there was no concept of the Twelve Families. There were simply many Hunters acting individually."
Haru cleared her throat.
"However, it was too much to handle alone. Amid that, people who handled Ego Weapons exceptionally well began to appear. People admired and followed them, and Families were formed."
"And that was the first Family, the Hangeom Family...."
"That is correct. The Hangeom Family, Student Yohan's direct-line family, is the First Family. And the Twelve Families formed in that way became indispensable existences in raiding Gates."
"So those indispensable existences now control Korea."
"The expression ‘control’ is somewhat inappropriate, but it is similar. The nation is divided into twelve provinces, and each Family protects its own region."
Haru displayed the symbols of the Twelve Families.
The hateful sword symbol of the Hangeom Family appeared first.
"The Twelve Families have always been right, and they have always acted to protect citizens. They secured artifacts from Gates before other countries did, and everyone was able to live in abundance."
She knows nothing about the Families' underside.
"Instructor, are these same teachings given in other textbooks or Academies as well?"
"Yes. This is part of the curriculum. However, it is limited to Class F at Pluton and other Hunter Academies. Students in Pluton's other classes learn other things first, not history."
So this is the general perception of the Families....
But....
Yohan could not endure the gaze he felt from outside the window.
"Um... Instructor?"
"Yes. Do you have another question?"
"Not that. I think someone is watching from outside."
"Pardon?"
Haru saw Mi-yeong staring in as if she would kill someone and was startled.
"M-Mi-yeong! What are you doing here?"
Haru approached the window Mi-yeong was pressed against and opened it.
Mi-yeong, who had her hands on the window and was peeking in with only her eyes visible, shouted as soon as the window opened.
"Spar!"
"Get lost!"
Hearing Mi-yeong's sudden shout, Yohan answered immediately.
"Student Mi-yeong! What about your class? Why are you here?"
Mi-yeong did not answer Haru's question and looked only at Yohan.
"Spar with me!"
"Do you not hear me telling you to get back to your class?"
Yohan stood before Mi-yeong, who kept shouting for a sparring match instead of returning to her class.
"Will you do it?"
Her eyes sparkled as if she thought he was finally responding.
Yohan stood before her, smiled, and grabbed the window.
"No."
BANG—!
Then he closed the window just like that.
"Instructor, please leave that deficient girl alone and continue class."
"Yes... understood."
While class continued, Mi-yeong did not leave.
Before long, Seo-yun's voice came from outside.
"Hey! Bakma Mi-yeong!"
At that sound, Yohan, Haru, and Mi-yeong all turned their gazes to Seo-yun.
Mi-yeong looked at Seo-yun, then immediately looked back at Yohan as if she had no interest.
"Are you not attending class? In Class S right now, we are doing mana sphere creation using mana for the first lesson! Do you have any idea how important this is for mana control?"
After looking at Seo-yun for a moment, Mi-yeong raised her palm toward the sky to chest height.
WHIRR.
Mi-yeong's mana began gathering in her palm, and cracks formed in the window from the swirling mana.
"Take it to them."
Mi-yeong handed the mana sphere she had made to Seo-yun, then looked at Yohan in the same posture as before.
"What other people struggle to do even if they try for a hundred days and nights... You really are.... You're the same now as you were back then!"
Seo-yun received the mana sphere, looked at Yohan once, then turned sharply and returned to her class.
Even when break time came, Mi-yeong continued following Yohan around.
The hallway, the faculty office, the stairs, even the bathroom.
Thinking this really could not continue, Yohan decided to go into the forest on the Academy grounds during lunch.
"She won't be able to follow me here."
After running quickly and reaching the center of the forest, Yohan was finally able to catch his breath.
But even after he had avoided her like that, the presence did not disappear.
However, this time, it was a presence different from Mi-yeong's.
"Who is it this time?"
Rustle.
"As expected, you are impressive, Yohan of First-Year Class F."
The one who emerged from the bushes was a student with pink hair and a green ribbon.
Judging by the fact that even her necktie was green, she was a second year.
Yohan looked at her as if he was sick of this.
"What... business do you have with me?"
Holding a camera, she removed a leaf stuck to her hair.
Then she took a business card from inside her clothes and held it out to Yohan.
"I am Yoo Ha-na, president of Pluton Academy's Broadcasting Club."
Pluton Academy's Broadcasting Club was connected to K Channel, Korea's leading broadcasting station.
As a Hunter who could cover the inside of Gates, Ha-na was a promising figure in broadcasting who had even received a scouting offer from K Channel.
"So?"
"Hm?"
"What is your business?"
Yohan spoke without accepting her business card.
"I am covering the first years who entered this year, and since you, Yohan, became famous for sparring as soon as you entered, I came to cover you first."
"I see."
When Yohan reacted indifferently, Ha-na raised one eyebrow and asked a question.
"Information: Yohan, branch line of the Hangeom Family. Attended ordinary humanities-track elementary and middle schools. No previously known qualities as a Hunter, nor any outstanding achievements."
"That is correct. You know it well."
"But you see, they say a person like that hunted an S-grade Dullahan alone. Is that true?"
"It is true."
"And yet, why did you not enter Class S?"
"Because I want to learn everything from one to ten at Pluton Academy."
Yohan wore an artificial smile.
Ha-na took a picture of it with the camera she was holding.
"I see?"
She noticed that Yohan was not answering sincerely.
He was merely giving formal, plausible answers.
"You sparred as soon as you entered the Academy. What was the reason?"
"It is simple. To protect my position as class president."
"Your position as class president?"
"There was a student who was unhappy that I was class president, so I merely corrected that."
"And that was a reason worth breaking tradition?"
"Yes."
For that, it had been far too much like the scene of a brutal massacre.
It was hard to see it as something he had done simply to maintain his position as class president.
Especially because she had personally watched Yohan's sparring match after catching the scent of a scoop, Ha-na thought that way.
‘That sparring match was a warning not to touch him. But why is he not revealing that?’
Ha-na wore a fake smile and began taking notes in her notepad.
Yohan looked at Ha-na and thought.
‘The president of the Broadcasting Club, huh....’
Even if this had not happened, Yohan had wanted to create his own intelligence department inside the Academy.
An advantage in information always led to victory, and at the very least, it guided one toward survival.
That was why information was the most important thing, and why he had recruited Mi-suk first.
However, Mi-suk was only an informant in charge of the Hangeom Family's movements and matters outside the Academy.
What he needed now was someone who would deliver information inside the Academy, a closed space.
Yohan examined Ha-na.
‘A false expression and fabricated behavior. She still has not opened her heart. There is no need to show myself to someone like that.’
Even as Yohan thought that, he slowly began drawing up a plan to place Ha-na under him.
‘Even so, I need to toss her bait little by little.’
When Yohan had more or less finished thinking, Ha-na spoke to him.
"Understood. Then I will ask one final question. What is your goal in entering this Pluton Academy?"
"My goal...."
Yohan decided to throw her a little bait here.
"I will answer honestly. In exchange...."
"In exchange?"
"The next time we meet, I would like us to meet in a slightly more comfortable setting."
Ha-na understood what Yohan meant by the word "comfortable" and nodded as she spoke.
"Good. I look forward to it."
Ha-na offered Yohan her hand.
Yohan took that hand and smiled, this time without artifice.
"My goal is...."
Yohan paused once, then spoke.
"To create the strongest clan in this Academy."
Thinking she had caught a scoop at Yohan's words, Ha-na took notes with an irrepressible smile.