Chapter 346

[Student Counseling Basic Data]

[Name: Cheon Saetbyeol]

[Date of Birth: April 9, 2036]

[Career and Profession: Entertainer (Self-Desired) / Same (Parents’ Desire)]

[Hobbies and Special Skills: Music Appreciation / Virtual Reality Games]

“Hmmm, no matter how I think about it, it feels like a bomb has just dropped in here…”

The head teacher of the first-year class at GuRyong High School sighed.

“You shouldn’t evaluate a student without even meeting them first! You don’t know their character.”

“I’m just saying this because I’m worried about Eun-jung. According to big data, students like this disrupt the learning environment. Now that I see it, it seems like they’ve all been through the high school equivalency exam.”

“Each one must have their reasons. Maybe they had health issues or something.”

GuRyong High School falls under the Gangnam 8th District.

The self-proclaimed entrance exam expert, the head teacher, was not pleased with the new student’s career path.

“Kids who love to play and have their heads in the clouds write down entertainer as their dream. Do they think becoming an entertainer is easy nowadays?”

In general high schools, the college entrance exam scores of each top-ranking student are extremely important.

However, if a single troublemaker enters the mix and disturbs the whole pond, it could affect even the students who were doing well.

“And besides, it seems like she’s mixed-race.”

“Head teacher, now you’ve gone too far, even crossing the line into racism!”

“No, what I mean is that a good-looking student would attract a lot of attention from the boys. I understand why she chose to become an entertainer.”

“Since she’s in our class, can I take a look too?”

“I’ll show you after I see all of them first.”

As she turned the page, the head of the year suddenly widened her eyes.

She even put on her glasses, which she rarely used because they made her uncomfortable, to read the text.

[Family Relations]

– Father: Cheon Kyujin / 57 years / University Professor

– Younger Sibling: No NaMe / 8 years / Elementary Student

[What I Hope for in High School Life: I want to have a fun school life!]

“Eun-jung, is there another person in our country named No NaMe besides her?”

“No NaMe? That’s such a unique name; I doubt there are any others.”

“Right, if she’s 8 years old and has that name, it’s pretty certain… Look at this.”

“Why are you… Ugh!”

The two teachers couldn’t say anything after checking the new student’s personal relations for a while.

“Does No NaMe have an older sister?”

—

If you were to ask people which period of youth they wished to go back to, high school days would never be left out.

Even though they were bound by the chains of entrance exams, the memories built with fellow inmates in the same situation would be romanticized throughout life.

However, the individuals involved were showing signs of fatigue from the repetitive exam preparations.

In the first period on Monday, during math class, the students fell into despair early on.

Fortunately, due to the math teacher’s sick leave, the class was replaced with self-study.

The first-year students seemed to have made a promise among themselves to enjoy the refreshing spring breeze that was gently blowing through the window, drifting into a honeyed sleep.

Only a few students, whose will had not yet been broken before the mid-term exams, diligently moved their pens.

Just before the bell rang, a male student who had just returned from the bathroom hurriedly sat down and spoke to his friends.

“Guys, big news! According to the info teacher, a new student is coming today!”

At that news, the students who had been in a shallow sleep rubbed their sleepy eyes and looked up.

“Ah, it’s you again? I thought it was real.”

“It’s not a lie; it’s true. The new student is in the teacher’s office right now.”

“What if it’s not?”

“If it’s not, I’ll buy you guys snacks worth 500,000 won.”

Only then did a serious listening atmosphere start to form.

“Is she pretty?”

“What’s she like? Is she handsome?”

To interpret their unique language, they were asking whether the new student was male or female.

“I only heard it passing by, so I haven’t seen her. They say she’s a girl?”

“Nice!”

“We have 23 people in our class; isn’t it a bit short with one less? Of course, she’ll come to our class!”

“Isn’t another girl who looks like Kim Hee-jung coming in? That would be a disappointment…”

“Do you want to die? What does someone who looks like me have to do with anything?”

Even during break time, the buzz didn’t die down.

If the school were a community, every post would be about the new student.

A fortunate student who was able to go in and out of the teacher’s office brought back new information.

“It’s a bit embarrassing for me to say this…”

“Stop messing around and just tell us!”

“Confirmed as a top-ranked beauty in the province. Her head is really small, her skin is super white, and I’m not sure, but she looks like a foreigner.”

“Oooooooh!”

Both boys and girls cheered.

Most of the girls exclaimed as well, as it turned out that girls tend to appreciate pretty girls more than boys do.

While for boys, only one can enjoy possessing that beauty, girls can share it like a public resource.

Pinching cheeks, holding hands, or hugging waists was culturally sanctioned among high school girls in Korea.

Even when the bell rang to announce the start of the second period, not everyone returned to their seats.

The students were busy gathering in groups to release the energy they had saved up during the first period.

Just then, the classroom front door opened and the Korean language teacher, Lee Eun-jung, who was the homeroom teacher for first-year class 3, entered and quieted down the commotion.

A female student following her shadow caught their attention.

The calm brown hair gently brushed against her shoulders as she walked.

Her skin was as white as snow, without a single blemish.

Students sitting in the front row could see the woman’s prominent nose and her long eyelashes, which were longer than average.

Even though her height was close to average, her hips were positioned much higher than others, making her legs appear exceptionally long.

‘Is she really a foreigner? Can she speak Korean?’

‘Is she really wearing the same uniform as us?’

‘Her proportions are insane…’

‘She’s pretty and handsome! Handsome but pretty! How can a person be like this?’

As the new student scanned the classroom with a serious expression, all the students whose gazes met hers hurriedly looked away.

At this moment, awkwardness prevailed rather than a sense of familiarity.

“There’s a new transfer student in our class, and since it’s her first time attending school, please don’t tease or point her out if she’s acting awkwardly. And since we’re both Koreans, let’s refrain from discrimination based on appearance.”

Telling them not to discriminate based on appearance was unrealistic.

Rather, the students felt that if she was that pretty, they should treat her better.

“Well, why don’t you sit in that empty seat? Your textbooks will be shown to you by your partner, Dahui.”

Adella flinched for a moment but then grabbed her bag and moved to the back row.

“Teacher, how about a self-introduction!”

“You skipped the self-introduction!”

Wasn’t there a procedure that had been skipped for quite a while?

The students’ questions were indeed valid.

However, Lee Eun-jung turned on the board and counter-questioned instead.

“Those are things you should do during break time; right now it’s class time.”

“Ahhhh, Teacher!”

The questioning left hanging, the 50 minutes of class continued.

—

“Now, the next line. As for the content, I will underline the background, which states that it respects humans, values reality, and aims for a nature-friendly life; underline and circle number 3.”

Adella listened to the Korean class with proper posture.

‘What the heck are they talking about…?!’

What’s Hyangchal? What’s Hyanggan?

Every time unfamiliar words popped up, her consciousness would sink deeper into a quagmire.

Tap-tap—

The female student sitting next to her scribbled something on a yellow Post-It note.

[What’s your name?]

With a bright smile, Adella wrote neatly next to it.

[Cheon Saetbyeol.]

[Wow, that’s pretty 🙂 ]

Surprised at the beautiful pure Korean name, the female student rounded her mouth.

She then passed the note to the student in front.

The student at the front hid his hand behind his back and gave a thumbs-up.

‘Oh, this method works… Not bad!’

[Where are you from?]

[Korea.]

This time, she didn’t pass the note forward.

She probably didn’t get the answer she wanted.

[Were you born in Korea?]

[Maybe ㅇㅇ.]

[Then are you mixed-race?]

[I’m not quite sure. Poland? Ukraine? Korea? Japan?]

[?]

Bae Dahui squinted her eyes in disbelief.

It meant she was questioning how she could not know that.

‘Aha!’

Understanding the telepathy precisely, Adella nodded and picked up her pencil again.

[I’m an orphan! Both of my biological parents have passed away, and I was adopted!]

“…!!!”

It was as if she had opened a Pandora’s box that shouldn’t have been opened.

Dahui bowed her head in guilt, sobbing quietly.

After a little time passed, Dahui, having barely regained her composure, sniffled and continued questioning.

[What does Saetbyeol like?]

[I like listening to rock music and also enjoy games.]

[What kind of games?]

[Right now, I’m playing Animal Crossing and WWE2K.]

Just then, the last note was returned from a male student.

[└ Ask what tier they are in.]

A poorly written question.

[└└ Master.]

As that note passed forward, a ruckus broke out among the male students.

“Hey, let’s turn off the local broadcast. Here, the 10th line of Hyanggan follows the three-tiered award structure, and the last is on the falling…”

The teacher’s comment temporarily interrupted the flow of Post-Its.

Dahui and Saetbyeol crouched down carefully, keeping a lookout.

[Minji asked what kind of cosmetics she uses.]

Questioning notes flew in from all directions like paper airplanes.

Other transfer students had not received such attention, but Cheon Saetbyeol was definitely different.

Students urged her for the next answer with sharp gazes.

[Sunscreen?]

[No, BB cream or powder.]

[I haven’t applied anything.]

[???]

Dahui’s eyebrows arched in disbelief.

A slight expression of betrayal also slipped out.

[Do you have a boyfriend?]

[I’m still a virgin.]

[What’s your ideal type?]

Adella bit her pencil and slowly contemplated.

‘When pushed to the limit, NaeMe’s WWE2K avatar is definitely my type…’

She couldn’t help but think of her beauty as being the most aesthetically perfect person regardless of gender.

Having raised her standards so high, Adella brushed off this question with “not really.”

The number of questions she had answered in total was very few.

It had progressed so slowly, always teetering on the edge of being caught by the homeroom teacher, and now second period was coming to an end.

Dahui finally posed the question she was eager to ask.

[You said it’s your first time going to school today, right?]

[Yep, yep.]

[Was there a reason you couldn’t attend school before? If it’s a sensitive question, you don’t have to answer it, Saetbyeol!]

[Ah, it’s nothing special.]

Adella smiled, indicating that there was no problem.

‘It must not be a big deal; that’s a relief!’

Dahui, having believed her words, looked down at the response.

[Actually, I couldn’t move freely for a long time. I’ve recently been receiving magical treatment, and now I can finally enjoy everyday life.]

—

“I’m back from school!”

“Oh, Adella, how was your first school experience? Nothing happened, right?”

“Come on, sister, you worry too much. Everyone was really nice. They even carried my lunch tray for me.”

“Did they really make you carry the lunch tray? I warned you that if I hear you’re bullying other friends, you’ll be in trouble!”

[The Great Schism: Demon Lord’s Horn]

NaeMe’s eyes glinted menacingly.

In her long memories, high school was akin to a wilderness.

It was unimaginable what kind of force might accompany those prideful kids to subdue them in just one day.

There must have been a tremendous clash between them.

“It wasn’t my idea! They just wanted to help each other out…!”

“Don’t make excuses, Adella. Did I teach you to use your aura like that? Huh?”

“I’m really so wronged! This is so unfair!”

Adella pounded her chest pleading her case, but NaeMe didn’t even consider listening.

In the living room, a storm of mana pressed down terrifyingly upon them, and Adella instinctively revealed her cat ears.

“Ah, not putting away your aura? Now you’re getting rebellious?”

“Lord, help me! Father!”

“Dad is judging a dissertation today and will come home late. You’re in trouble now.”

From NaeMe’s back, a bloody aura boiled up and grew into a monstrous hand.

It was the Demon Lord’s hand that had been showcased in the Academy Competition.

A demon can only be caught by another demon.

The giant claws snapped at the quivering cat ears.

“Ahhh! My ears! It hurts! Why does it hurt?”

“It’s just phantom pain, so stop whining and follow me to my room.”

“Nyahhh! This psycho little brat is really!”

Thud—

The sound of the sound-insulating door closing brought silence back to Cheon Kyujin’s home.