There is a cafeteria on the first floor of every dormitory.
You might think running it as a single dining area would be easier to manage, but that would lead to students flocking at specific hours, making operations even more difficult, so they’ve apparently opted to keep it separate.
Clunk—
As I opened the door and stepped inside, the cafeteria was quiet, likely because it was early.
Many must have chosen to sleep a little longer rather than eat breakfast.
I navigated through the scattered male students sitting here and there, ordered the single menu for the day, and took a seat at an available table.
‘Come to think of it, eating alone is quite rare for me.’
Since leaving Sangam with Dokgorin, I had shared almost all my meals with her.
Of course, there were times during training when I ate separately, but in those cases, I usually dined with my master or Tang Sosu who came to watch.
‘Samajak seems like it will take a while…’
So today, it seemed I had no choice but to eat alone.
While waiting for my food to arrive, I rhythmically tapped my fingers on the wooden table.
Tap, tap, tap-tap.
It was oddly addictive and made for a decent way to kill time.
After all, there was an utterly inadequate amount of entertainment in this area compared to modern times.
As I drummed the table to stave off boredom, I fell into thought.
‘The more I think about it, this world seems strange.’
Simply saying it’s the world of the Heavenly Toxin Witch because of Dokgorin doesn’t account for the many mixed elements at play.
Originally, the Heavenly Toxin Witch is a serious revenge tale dressed in a comedic disguise.
Naturally, there were no goofy name puns using character names, and the existence of Cheonmu Academy wasn’t even mentioned.
Of course, if it existed solely as a background detail set by the author, that’s one thing, but the history and structure of the academy felt too legitimate for that.
What business does a proper martial arts academy have in a harebrained revenge story?
It’s like a completely different work has slipped in.
…Could it be?
‘What if the world of the Heavenly Toxin Witch is the same as the author’s previous or subsequent works?’
I couldn’t be sure, but it wasn’t entirely out of the question.
In the past, authors often shared worlds in various fantasy novels and martial arts stories.
Readers would commonly refer to such works as [Author’s Name] World.
I could think of several examples right off the bat.
‘Now that I think about it…’
Even within the buildings of Cheonmu Academy, there were quite a few facilities that would never appear in a traditional martial arts story.
Playgrounds, dormitories, and classrooms styled like university lecture halls.
It all felt so modern.
‘But I still can’t be certain.’
All of this remains speculation; there’s no real evidence.
Having an academy all of a sudden appear in a revenge story could just as easily be dismissed as “that’s just how it is.”
‘It would be nice to have some solid proof.’
Lost in my own worries, I suddenly remembered one thing.
‘Now that I think about it, I once read an early work by the Heavenly Toxin Witch’s author.’
But it was a debut piece, and the writing wasn’t very good, so I gave up halfway.
And if my memory serves, that piece was also martial arts-themed.
‘If the Heavenly Toxin Witch doesn’t have its own world and instead shares its universe with all the martial arts works of that author…’
Perhaps the protagonist from that early work I put down is somewhere in this world too?
Thinking this way made me feel that it was worth searching for information.
I happened to know that character’s name and title as well.
While I was lost in thought, giving off an aura of mystery, I was interrupted.
“Student, your food is ready!”
The chef called out from the entrance of the serving area.
It seems I had lost track of time while pondering.
“I’m coming!”
I quickly stood up and rushed to the serving area to grab my breakfast.
*
I said I’d be back soon, but Samajak didn’t arrive in the cafeteria until quite a bit later.
In other words, she came after I had finished my meal.
“What? You’re already done?”
Samajak exclaimed in surprise, looking at my empty bowl, but I shrugged and replied.
“It’s not that I’m fast; it’s that you’re late.”
Even if my mouth is twisted, I should speak the truth.
As I said this and shot her a mildly reproachful look, Samajak let out a small “Ugh—” sound.
Looks like she felt a bit guilty.
“Well, I’ll head out first, so take your time eating.”
I said this, lifted my tray of empty dishes, and stood to leave, but Samajak hurriedly grabbed my arm.
“Wait! Are you seriously leaving me alone?”
“Do you want me to wait until you finish?”
“I don’t want to eat alone! It looks like I don’t have any friends!”
Some of the students around who were eating shifted uncomfortably.
Samajak might have said it without thinking, but it probably hurt someone.
Ultimately softening, I let out a small sigh and sat back down.
“I’ll wait, so hurry up and eat. If you take too long, I will leave.”
“…Okay!”
She looked at me with an expression of gratitude and dashed to the serving area to order her breakfast.
Even though she’s my age, it feels like I’m looking at a younger sibling as I watch her go.
I resumed tapping my fingers on the table.
*
After finishing breakfast, we went straight to the academy.
Entering the class with Samajak, who chattered away like a sparrow beside me, I noticed the atmosphere among the students was much more relaxed compared to yesterday’s tense environment.
‘Younger kids have an easier time making friends.’
Once you become an adult, measuring various conditions makes it much harder to form friendships.
Thinking of that made me feel envious, and I waved at Dokgorin and Tang Sosu, who had arrived early to secure seats, and greeted them.
“Good morning.”
“Yeah, good morning.”
Dokgorin waved back, still wearing a black veil that covered half her face.
Next to her, Tang Sosu, looking sleepy, sat yawning and gave a half-hearted wave.
Seeing this made me ask, “Did you not sleep well last night? You look a bit tired.”
Tang Sosu waved her right hand and said, “Don’t even mention it. The girl I ended up sharing a room with is Hwangbo Se-ga’s daughter, and despite her pretty face, she snores like a chainsaw! I couldn’t sleep a wink and finally dozed off at dawn.”
“Haha….”
Though for entirely different reasons, I felt a sense of kinship since we both had our sleepless nights.
“But why did that kid end up in the same class as us?”
As Tang Sosu pointed at Samajak, who’d already taken her seat, I responded.
“As it turns out, she was the one sharing a room with me.”
I shrugged as I said this, prompting Tang Sosu to exclaim, “Wow, that must have been super awkward! If you weren’t complete strangers, running into each other like that is bound to feel weird.”
Tang Sosu shuddered as if the thought alone disgusted her and pointed at Dokgorin.
“Speaking of which, did you know the person sharing a room with Dokgorin is Namgoong Ruby?”
“What? Is that true?”
I had no idea since they hadn’t shown any signs of it.
“Yep, it’s true.”
Dokgorin nodded, but seeing her eyes twitch slightly, it seemed she too hadn’t had a good night’s rest.
It must have been quite a challenging first night in the academy for her as well.
Especially if her roommate was the overly talkative Namgoong Ruby, it would have been quite a ordeal for her.
Dokgorin usually looked horrified whenever Namgoong Ruby’s name came up.
While we were exchanging this information, our homeroom teacher, Soyucheon, entered, and he began calling out the students’ names one by one from the attendance sheet.
“Tang Sosu.”
“Here.”
“Dokgorin.”
“Here.”
“Samajak.”
“Here.”
As the teacher called nearly all the names of the students in our class, finally, it was my turn.
“Ichilbok.”
“Here.”
“Well, it seems everyone is here except for Namgoong Ruby.”
Despite the class starting soon, Namgoong Ruby had still not arrived.
She probably overslept, but looking at Soyucheon’s calm expression, it seemed he was already anticipating this situation.
“Since everyone is here, let me just say, we will need a class representative and a deputy for this year. Is there anyone who wants to take on this role?”
The kids began to murmur.
Honestly, class positions like these are just a hassle and offer little merit, but it seemed the title of “class representative” was enticing.
“Me!”
“I’ll do it!”
It wasn’t exactly a desirable position, and it was surprising to see so many people expressing interest. I thought maybe two or three would raise their hands, but around ten of them shot their hands up at once. Soyucheon frowned in thought before proposing a solution.
“Given the circumstances, I don’t see any other way.”
“What do you mean?”
“In Cheonmu Academy, strength is justice, so how about making the strongest student the class representative?”
At this, the students began to look around at each other, gauging who was stronger than whom.
But, regardless, Soyucheon, looking as carefree as ever, continued to enjoy the spectacle with a grin on his face.
‘Ah, he’s a troublemaker.’
That was the first thought that came to mind when I saw him.
A teacher who seems to find joy in pitting students against each other.
