The 'Phantasm Selection Ceremony,' which in the original was held in the second week.
In this era it seemed to be held from the very first day. Though I am curious why on earth it gets pushed to the second week fifteen years later.
"One. Follow the instructor's directions. Two. From the moment you enter, absolutely do not speak names, especially your own name. Three......"
In any case, four o'clock, after the afternoon academic classes ended.
We had come to conduct the Selection Ceremony as Instructor Choe Ye-na had announced. The instructor accompanying us was our homeroom instructor, Seo Ha-shin.
"Now, has everyone memorized that?"
"Yes, sir!!"
"The answer is small. Have you really memorized it?"
"Yes, sir!!!"
The cautions were long but on the whole concise. So memorizing them was not difficult.
The instructor, hearing our answer, grinned as though satisfied.
"Then First Squad enters first."
At Instructor Seo Ha-shin's gesture, the soldier guarding the building opened the door. It must have been a double door, because the inside was not immediately visible.
The inner door opened only after all of us in First Squad had come in and the outer door had closed.
My field of view was dyed green in an instant.
"We begin with plant-type Phantasms. Wait until the other kids come in."
The interior was full of vegetation. Thanks to the fences dividing the territories, it even felt like coming out to an arboretum.
'They're not withering or curling up their leaves like last time...... are they. Fortunately.'
That day soldiers with bamboo rank insignia had come swarming in and done something to me, a seal or whatever. At the time I received it I did not feel anything had changed, so I wondered whether it had worked at all.
Still, it seemed to have had some effect. The Phantasms no longer took fright at the sight of me.
"Now, from here you move gathered by squad."
Meanwhile one escort and two guards were attached per squad. Instructor Seo Ha-shin's role seemed to be a structure of going back and forth between the squads and supervising.
The three squads moved separately.
"Stretch out your hand like this."
We stretched our hands toward a tree the way the escort demonstrated. But nothing at all happened.
The escort immediately ordered us to withdraw our hands.
"Next."
The next one and the one after were the same. We repeated the same act until there was no subject we had not stretched a hand toward.
"Waaaah!"
But unlike our squad, where nothing happened until the end, somewhere something did happen.
Snap!
Pyo Do-seok of Second Squad was wrapped up once by a tree. It was a sight that conveyed the word 'Selection Ceremony' beyond explanation, to the point of excess.
"You have received the choice of a man-eating tree."
"Hmm. A man-eating tree...... splendid."
You would think being wrapped up by a man-eating tree would be enough to frighten someone, but Pyo Do-seok was not. The fellow calmly examined the man-eating tree that had chosen him, then took out a die.
A white die crossed the air and settled in Pyo Do-seok's palm.
"Even. I will contract."
"Will you be all right without looking around elsewhere?"
"Yes. I had made up my mind to contract if an even number came up."
The face smiling suavely as he said it was somehow without warmth.
The expression of Kim To-eun, who was near me, went a bit sour.
"......He's the worst."
"Agreed."
You too? Me too? At the end of exchanging opinions by small voices and glances, my fist bumped Kim To-eun's fist.
"Hm. About time we moved on. Headquarters, this location, Pavilion S. First Platoon's plant-type Selection Ceremony is finished. Over."
「Confirmed. Move to the human-type room.」
Meanwhile the plant-type Selection Ceremony wrapped up. Next was human-type.
The format was similar to before, but there was even less to do. Because all we had to do was stand in front of the human-type Phantasms, and they looked us over as if appraising us.
『七十生子非吾子家産傳之女壻他人勿犯. How would you interpret it?』
Among them were also Phantasms that spoke to us. I realized half a beat later that it was classical Chinese.
"......I think the meaning of that will change depending on whose position you interpret it from."
Meanwhile a cadet answered whose brown hair, green eyes, hairstyle braided down on both sides, and round glasses made her look like the very model of a literary girl.
Sa Seo-yeon. She was in my squad.
"First, if the son-in-law interprets it, he will break it at 七十生子 and 非吾子. Then it becomes 'at seventy he bore a son, but he is not my son,' so naturally what follows......"
At Sa Seo-yeon's fluent recitation the Phantasm laughed with pleasure. From the position of someone who does not know classical Chinese, it looked like they were communicating in an alien language.
I exchanged a glance with Kim To-eun.
"Seo-yeon is incredibly smart, isn't she?"
"My point exactly. I can't interpret it without a dictionary."
"......Hey, hey, it's a bit strange that you could interpret it even with a dictionary, you know? I'm suddenly starting to feel a distance?"
But that was the end of it. In our squad, Sa Seo-yeon was the only one to receive the choice of a human-type Phantasm.
"Wow, that one's insane."
"How many choices did they get?"
In another squad a cadet seemed to have received more designations than Sa Seo-yeon...... well, not our squad, so it does not matter.
"This is the beast-type room. Take care not to provoke some of the Phantas——"
Woof woof woof!
Arf!
Shashashak.
The third place we went was the beast-type room, and here the anomaly occurred fastest and largest.
"Cadet Seong-gwon, are you all right?"
"I am all right, sir."
The moment she entered, Seong-gwon was pounced on by Phantasms. The dangerous individuals were being held by soldiers, but the small-animal sorts were not blocked, which was the cause.
Covered in balls of fur, she looked for all the world like a giant lump of cotton.
Not only our squad but the other squads too concentrated their gazes over there.
"I will take this one."
In the middle of it Seong-gwon's choice was fast too.
She stood up with the cotton balls hanging off her, walked over briskly, and picked out one particular Phantasm.
Grrr.
The chosen tiger cried out happily. The subject of the selection seemed to have been reversed, but for now it was a thing to congratulate.
"Congratulations. But is where you fell earlier all right?"
"......Yeah. It's fine. Thanks."
Seong-gwon answered me while scratching the scruff of the tiger's neck vigorously. The tiger Phantasm went into raptures, and the other Phantasms made eyes of dying envy.
"Well now, our Cadet Seong-gwon. Popular, aren't you? But if this keeps up the other cadets will be inconvenienced, so shall we step outside for a moment?"
"Yes, sir."
And so Instructor Seo Ha-shin had Seong-gwon step out for a while. Driving off the Phantasms that tried to follow Seong-gwon was also Instructor Seo Ha-shin's part.
Even with the eye mask on, his skill at capturing them without missing so much as a single small bird was quite something.
"All right. It should be fine now. If there is an individual you like among the Phantasms that approach, hold out your hand. If the Phantasm touches your hand or climbs onto it, you have been selected."
"Yes, sir!"
Once Seong-gwon went out the venue settled a little. Each Phantasm scattered off to find the person it liked.
"Ah! Look at this! It's so cute!"
"A rabbit."
Kim To-eun was selected by a rabbit with very fluffy fur among them.
"I'll go with this one!"
"Mm. You won't regret it? It doesn't look like an individual that can help in actual combat."
"There's no way I'd make something this cute fight!"
I feel like you'll regret it.......
"Well, it's your choice. And it's not as if you can only have one."
"Right? Hehe. When I get back I'll have to give it a name. Mm. It's okay to give it one, right? Since all I mustn't do is tell it my name."
"If it's an individual that originally has no name it shouldn't matter."
More to the point, Kim To-eun had picked a partner too. Now the ones left in our squad were me, Pyo Do-hyeok, and Yi Hoe-uk.
"Whoa."
"That one's a jackpot too......"
"How did that even......"
Let me correct myself. Yi Hoe-uk also looked about to contract soon. Being surrounded solely by insect-form Phantasms, it would be a bit of a problem if he disliked insects.
'So the ones left are me and Pyo Do-hyeok?'
An odd coincidence, but the only ones who had not received the choice of even a single individual of any kind so far were Pyo Do-hyeok and me.
While the other kids received at least one designation, only the two of us boasted empty surroundings. It was a position I did not particularly want to share.
'Even Pyo Do-seok is getting designations steadily......!'
Had Pyo Do-seok been quietly watching me too? When our eyes met earlier he sneered.
Of course, that bastard sneering made no difference. But thinking that I could not receive a choice that even he received, that was a bit unfair. What am I worse at than him!
'At this point, isn't something wrong with the sealing?'
In fact this hypothesis looked fairly plausible.
Because Pyo Do-hyeok at least received glances from the Phantasms, while I was not getting so much as a look.
It was as if the Phantasms were collectively treating me as 'not there.' Meaning it went beyond simply avoiding or shunning.
"Strange. It isn't that they're avoiding him...... could it be they cannot perceive him as a contract subject at all?"
Instructor Seo Ha-shin seemed to have had thoughts similar to mine.
The instructor, having driven Seong-gwon out, took a look at my sorry state. It was a whimper.
"Perhaps the 'measures' you received last time are the problem. I will report it, so you should look to a later date."
If there was one saving grace, it was the fact that Instructor Seo Ha-shin did not end at looking. Even if that did not improve my immediate position.
'Well, this isn't the only chance.'
Platoon membership was generally only changed at the end of a semester anyway. Meaning that not receiving a selection today would not get me sent to another platoon, nor incur any other penalty.
'And gaining a new partner when I can't even control the Twin Dragon Swords would be greed.'
Of course, there was a slight misstatement in that.
Strictly speaking, it is not that I cannot control the Twin Dragon Swords; it is closer to say that I have not yet even been given a chance to control them.
Before enrollment I was of civilian status so I was not allowed to handle them, and during provisional enrollment there was no time to spare, so there was nothing to be done. And trying it on my own, I was too worried about the aftermath if I made a mistake.
'And if I don't get selected to the very end, well. I'll just pick from the object-types.'
Object-type was the only class for which you did not have to receive a selection. Since they generally do not pick their owners, meaning I could choose one-sidedly from my side.
Only, how much output the one chosen that way produces is what determines aptitude.
"About time we moved to the next room."
Thinking of the original Ya-hwi, my object-type aptitude did not seem likely to be low. So it should be fine.
I gazed at Instructor Seo Ha-shin, who had drawn the students' attention with a clap.
"Next is the object-type room. Amorphous-type and phenomenon-type are not provided at the Selection Ceremony in the first semester of first year, so we will skip them."
Amorphous-type and phenomenon-type being omitted was probably because those two are so rare. We moved straight to the object-type room.
'Firepower should be plenty with the Twin Dragon Swords, so shall I look in another direction?'
A Phantasm that could supplement regeneration, protection, physical enhancement, or mobility would be good. Such Phantasms are generally on the precious side, so as a first-year now it would be hard to obtain one.
"Object-types almost never select first, so choose freely. Do not forget your Total Contract Capacity."
Fortunately my Total Contract Capacity was ample. Despite having the Twin Dragon Swords, I had not yet seen a single one where I thought my capacity was insufficient to contract.
'Still, picking too many makes them hard to carry around, so shall I take just two or three.'
What is called summoning and desummoning was possible only after a Binding Contract. With a Temporary Contract you have to carry everything around, no exceptions.
So filling up your Total Contract Capacity just because it is ample was a bad move.
I slowly checked the list. It was the list of object-type Phantasms stocked by the academy with brief introductions, handed out before entering the object-type room.
"May I ask a question?"
"That depends on the kind of question."
"......I would like to find a Phantasm of the ...... sort."
Just then Pyo Do-hyeok passed by my side and spoke to the soldier serving as escort.
Since his voice was so small I could not hear it properly. But I could tell that the voice making the request to the soldier was extremely firm.
Having received no selection in the earlier ceremonies, it would not be strange for him to be dispirited, and I wondered whether he was a cadet of considerably solid resolve.
'What's more, he doesn't even have a dependable safety device like the Twin Dragon Swords the way I do.......'
If not for the uncomfortable looks he threw at me, I might have wanted to get a bit closer to him. In the current situation, with his twin Pyo Do-seok being so hostile to me and he himself seeming to hold antipathy toward me, it would be impossible, though.
'......Which is not the time to be sunk in these thoughts.'
I flicked through the list while checking the Phantasms around me out of the corner of my eye. It was in case there happened to be an individual that had appeared in the original.
But wait a moment.
Why is that. Now. Here?
"Cadet Ya-hwi, do not run."
"I am sorry, sir."
Even as I spat out words of contrition, I could not easily calm my hurried steps. There was no helping it.
"Hm. Did you read the introduction before choosing? If not, reading it properly would be——"
"No."
At a glance, an utterly ordinary pair of leather shoes.
"I will take this one."
But these were absolutely not ordinary shoes.
These were the Phantasm the original Ya-hwi used, 'Shadow-Stepping.'
"......Will you come with me?"
I carefully lifted the worn shoes. In that moment I had the feeling that somewhere that had been empty all along was being filled.
Hello. An emotion that could not become a sound heated my eyes achingly, and the shoes caught in my hand melted and ran soft.
"......!"
"What on——"
If you ask whether a problem had occurred, no. Because Shadow-Stepping's essence did not lie in the 'shoe form.'
"Yes...... hello."
The black fluid that ran down between my fingers reached the floor. And so it soaked into my shadow.
What remained in that place was now only a phantasm that had shed its shell, and myself, connected to that phantasm.
Tab 16