As a country’s royalty, Rachel puts in the effort to maintain a certain level of elegance and dignity. She wants to become the perfect Hero in both theory and combat. And then write a textbook for the English Royal Hero Academy.
Naturally, the citizens of England are fanatical when it comes to Rachel. They are proud to say that it is finally time for a Master Rank Hero to come out of England.
‘Master’ Rank Hero refers to the top 70 of the world’s most brilliant Heroes. Currently, 33 of these 70 are Korean, while 18 are American and 9 are Chinese. Only 2 are from England, but even that is arguable as they long already have been Korean citizens 15 years ago. The wide disparity of Heroes makes Korea a top superpower.
To respond to her subjects’ expectations, Rachel barely sleeps more than 2 hours a day. But the ‘record’ she maintains through all this effort is broken today.
Rachel is not sad, only apprehensive and apologetic. If she is angry, then she can only be angry at herself. Of course, the result of a single written exam is unlikely to spread to England, but ‘Phenomenon Realm Analysis’ is a difficult topic even for her. The gap between her and the first place will likely not change for a while.
“…”
At that moment, Rachel feels a gaze looking at her. It is from an above-average handsome guy will a dull presence. She doesn’t know his name, but she feels the gazes of other cadets converging on this man. Immediately, Rachel realizes that this man is Kim Hajin. The man turns his back to face the front of the class, but Rachel remembers his face.
Rachel begins to covet the notebook Hajin has in front of him.
***
There is a slight uproar at the fact that Hajin gets first place on the ‘Phenomenon Realm Analysis’ written exam as it is a topic widely notorious for its difficulty even with the standards of Cube cadets.
That is already within my expectations.
After the professor gives Hajin his praises, he gives me a special mention and tells me I will have to suffer detention until next week in any subjects he teaches in his class. Well, it is his loss… His classes will never be as fun without my nonsense questions.
Sheesh… I am a lost cause.
I recall last night. The plan to convince Hajin through Nayun to join us is a gamble. But it is the safest method to make him willingly work with us. If I do the recruitment, there will be only dangerous suspicion that will make our work more difficult.
Despite being friends with Hajin, I come to believe that he will still trust the characters more than me. The reason is simple. It is because Hajin knows these characters— Nayun, Suho, Yoenha, Jonghak, and Rachel very well.
Among them, Nayun has the best persuasive power. The trump card here is Chae Nayun’s regression. If Hajin manages to catch a whiff of it, then it is almost certain he will join our quest.
While mulling on my own thoughts, I arrive at the Detention Center. It is not a sanctioned detention by the Cube AI, so there is really no need for me to be here. I have my reasons though. I enter the room where cadets rarely go.
Delinquents don’t even exist here in Cube, and if there are, they are smart enough to avoid detention. Cases like mine are very unique.
“Hhhow may I help you?”
I smile at the familiar electronic buzzing.
Cube doesn’t have a principal or a headmaster. A single AI controls the enrollment, hiring, and operations of the whole Cube. It has autonomous judgment that will make the most efficient and effective decisions with only one goal in mind— to foster the future generation of Heroes.
The Cube AI is not explored in the novel, thus my curiosity about it.
“I just came to learn. My brain is terrible, and I don’t want to fail Cube.”
“Ttthis center serves to offer psychological counsel. Sadly, I won’t be able to help you with studying. However, I can recommend several books for you to start over."
What should be detention has become a make-up class for me. Not bad. I console myself.
After long several hours of studying, the Detention Center finally lets me go. It says it won’t help me study, yet that is exactly what it did. I have to answer a ten-question essay after reading three different books I don’t even know where it comes from.
Still, I think, the make-up class is helping. I think I might go back to study more. Ugh… When I start thinking I am already past that age of studying, here comes Cube biting me in my ass like it doesn’t mean anything.
It is time I go for my next appointment.
Waiting for me in a café inside Cube is Hajin. It is he who chooses this place, and I cannot understand his attachment to coffee. “Man, it is high noon. LUNCH! And you are having a coffee. Just great…”
“So what is this private deal you want to talk about?” He asks me curiously. He is getting more and more accustomed to my playful comments.
I show him two different daggers. The first one is the same dagger that I receive from Yoo Sihyuk. The second one is a dagger I bought from the museum at a discount. I am able to buy it at a cheaper price, and while it is not any better than Sihyuk’s dagger, it is enough for my needs. Both of them have the same shape. It is nice, but I feel that they are insufficient.
“I am not sure of your Gift, but I have suspicions that you have the ability to reinforce items maybe like guns and bullets. I am thinking, maybe you can reinforce my daggers…”
“Sorry, but—”
I cut him off rudely, as I won’t be taking a no for an answer. “Think about it after you talk with Nayun.” I stand up from my seat leaving my double daggers to him, and pass by Nayun who just enters through the door. “I leave this to you,” I whisper to her.
***
Kim Hajin is feeling tense at the moment. It is because of the notification of the laptop which is only visible to him.
[A change in setting has been detected.]
The alert in the laptop is easy to misunderstand.
[Chae Nayun— painfully in love with Kim Hajin.]
This is a true conundrum. Of course, he knows. He keeps receiving signals from her. He is not so dumb, he cannot catch the way Nayun is looking at him, but why? Hajin doesn’t understand. He did not do something so noteworthy that will earn affection from her.
Moreover, Hajin is a 27-year-old dude on the inside. And what is Nayun? She is 17 years old!
[A change in setting has been detected.]
Hajin gazes at the new alert. These alerts of ‘change in settings’ is only possible if the character has an appearance from his novel, Returnee Hero. Kim Hosup and Hyon Hyung do not appear in Hajin's novel, which is why he does not receive change-in-settings alarms from them. It is a reason why he can be so relaxed around those two.
[Chae Nayun— real age is 25 years old.]
Hajin chokes on his own spit.
“Kuch~” He is suffering, and Nayun immediately comes to his rescue. She helps him by punching him in the gut. Hajin faints into unconsciousness.
***
“W-what happened?” The owner of the café panics at the fainted customer. “Why did you punch him?”
“He looks like he is choking. I thought if I take my time and go around him, to help him spit it out, he might be dead already. I thought the most efficient way is to hit him from where I sit.” Chae Nayun reasonably explains, and the owner is in a daze.
“Look,” Nayun points at the liquid from Hajin’s mouth. “He must be choking on his spit, and I helped him!”
Another customer comments, while gulping. “I think, he is just frothing from his mouth due to the pain."
“I am sorry, I panicked.” Nayun defends herself with a small voice.
***
Kim Hajin has a short dream. There are rainbows, and then unicorns with legs for horns and a horn for a leg. When he wakes up, he sees Nayun worriedly looking at him. He fixes himself on the chair as if nothing happened. He has to thank his much stronger stats to endure that.
“So, what are we talking about again?” He forgets why Nayun is even here.
[A change in setting has been detected.]
Hajin wipes out the little drool from his mouth, the very spit that almost kills him. He subtly glances at his invisible laptop.
[Chae Nayun— she is bout to confess something very important.]
Before Nayun can even open her mouth, Hajin starts before her. He maturely tells her what he feels so that it will not cause trouble in the future. “I am sorry, but I am not interested in dating… moreover dating younger girls…”
“Huh?” Nayun has to pick her ear with her pinky finger because she thinks she might be mishearing it.
As a country’s royalty, Rachel puts in the effort to maintain a certain level of elegance and dignity. She wants to become the perfect Hero in both theory and combat. And then write a textbook for the English Royal Hero Academy.
Naturally, the citizens of England are fanatical when it comes to Rachel. They are proud to say that it is finally time for a Master Rank Hero to come out of England.
‘Master’ Rank Hero refers to the top 70 of the world’s most brilliant Heroes. Currently, 33 of these 70 are Korean, while 18 are American and 9 are Chinese. Only 2 are from England, but even that is arguable as they long already have been Korean citizens 15 years ago. The wide disparity of Heroes makes Korea a top superpower.
To respond to her subjects’ expectations, Rachel barely sleeps more than 2 hours a day. But the ‘record’ she maintains through all this effort is broken today.
Rachel is not sad, only apprehensive and apologetic. If she is angry, then she can only be angry at herself. Of course, the result of a single written exam is unlikely to spread to England, but ‘Phenomenon Realm Analysis’ is a difficult topic even for her. The gap between her and the first place will likely not change for a while.
“…”
At that moment, Rachel feels a gaze looking at her. It is from an above-average handsome guy will a dull presence. She doesn’t know his name, but she feels the gazes of other cadets converging on this man. Immediately, Rachel realizes that this man is Kim Hajin. The man turns his back to face the front of the class, but Rachel remembers his face.
Rachel begins to covet the notebook Hajin has in front of him.
***
There is a slight uproar at the fact that Hajin gets first place on the ‘Phenomenon Realm Analysis’ written exam as it is a topic widely notorious for its difficulty even with the standards of Cube cadets.
That is already within my expectations.
After the professor gives Hajin his praises, he gives me a special mention and tells me I will have to suffer detention until next week in any subjects he teaches in his class. Well, it is his loss… His classes will never be as fun without my nonsense questions.
Sheesh… I am a lost cause.
I recall last night. The plan to convince Hajin through Nayun to join us is a gamble. But it is the safest method to make him willingly work with us. If I do the recruitment, there will be only dangerous suspicion that will make our work more difficult.
Despite being friends with Hajin, I come to believe that he will still trust the characters more than me. The reason is simple. It is because Hajin knows these characters— Nayun, Suho, Yoenha, Jonghak, and Rachel very well.
Among them, Nayun has the best persuasive power. The trump card here is Chae Nayun’s regression. If Hajin manages to catch a whiff of it, then it is almost certain he will join our quest.
While mulling on my own thoughts, I arrive at the Detention Center. It is not a sanctioned detention by the Cube AI, so there is really no need for me to be here. I have my reasons though. I enter the room where cadets rarely go.
Delinquents don’t even exist here in Cube, and if there are, they are smart enough to avoid detention. Cases like mine are very unique.
“Hhhow may I help you?”
I smile at the familiar electronic buzzing.
Cube doesn’t have a principal or a headmaster. A single AI controls the enrollment, hiring, and operations of the whole Cube. It has autonomous judgment that will make the most efficient and effective decisions with only one goal in mind— to foster the future generation of Heroes.
The Cube AI is not explored in the novel, thus my curiosity about it.
“I just came to learn. My brain is terrible, and I don’t want to fail Cube.”
“Ttthis center serves to offer psychological counsel. Sadly, I won’t be able to help you with studying. However, I can recommend several books for you to start over."
What should be detention has become a make-up class for me. Not bad. I console myself.
After long several hours of studying, the Detention Center finally lets me go. It says it won’t help me study, yet that is exactly what it did. I have to answer a ten-question essay after reading three different books I don’t even know where it comes from.
Still, I think, the make-up class is helping. I think I might go back to study more. Ugh… When I start thinking I am already past that age of studying, here comes Cube biting me in my ass like it doesn’t mean anything.
It is time I go for my next appointment.
Waiting for me in a café inside Cube is Hajin. It is he who chooses this place, and I cannot understand his attachment to coffee. “Man, it is high noon. LUNCH! And you are having a coffee. Just great…”
“So what is this private deal you want to talk about?” He asks me curiously. He is getting more and more accustomed to my playful comments.
I show him two different daggers. The first one is the same dagger that I receive from Yoo Sihyuk. The second one is a dagger I bought from the museum at a discount. I am able to buy it at a cheaper price, and while it is not any better than Sihyuk’s dagger, it is enough for my needs. Both of them have the same shape. It is nice, but I feel that they are insufficient.
“I am not sure of your Gift, but I have suspicions that you have the ability to reinforce items maybe like guns and bullets. I am thinking, maybe you can reinforce my daggers…”
“Sorry, but—”
I cut him off rudely, as I won’t be taking a no for an answer. “Think about it after you talk with Nayun.” I stand up from my seat leaving my double daggers to him, and pass by Nayun who just enters through the door. “I leave this to you,” I whisper to her.
***
Kim Hajin is feeling tense at the moment. It is because of the notification of the laptop which is only visible to him.
[A change in setting has been detected.]
The alert in the laptop is easy to misunderstand.
[Chae Nayun— painfully in love with Kim Hajin.]
This is a true conundrum. Of course, he knows. He keeps receiving signals from her. He is not so dumb, he cannot catch the way Nayun is looking at him, but why? Hajin doesn’t understand. He did not do something so noteworthy that will earn affection from her.
Moreover, Hajin is a 27-year-old dude on the inside. And what is Nayun? She is 17 years old!
[A change in setting has been detected.]
Hajin gazes at the new alert. These alerts of ‘change in settings’ is only possible if the character has an appearance from his novel, Returnee Hero. Kim Hosup and Hyon Hyung do not appear in Hajin's novel, which is why he does not receive change-in-settings alarms from them. It is a reason why he can be so relaxed around those two.
[Chae Nayun— real age is 25 years old.]
Hajin chokes on his own spit.
“Kuch~” He is suffering, and Nayun immediately comes to his rescue. She helps him by punching him in the gut. Hajin faints into unconsciousness.
***
“W-what happened?” The owner of the café panics at the fainted customer. “Why did you punch him?”
“He looks like he is choking. I thought if I take my time and go around him, to help him spit it out, he might be dead already. I thought the most efficient way is to hit him from where I sit.” Chae Nayun reasonably explains, and the owner is in a daze.
“Look,” Nayun points at the liquid from Hajin’s mouth. “He must be choking on his spit, and I helped him!”
Another customer comments, while gulping. “I think, he is just frothing from his mouth due to the pain."
“I am sorry, I panicked.” Nayun defends herself with a small voice.
***
Kim Hajin has a short dream. There are rainbows, and then unicorns with legs for horns and a horn for a leg. When he wakes up, he sees Nayun worriedly looking at him. He fixes himself on the chair as if nothing happened. He has to thank his much stronger stats to endure that.
“So, what are we talking about again?” He forgets why Nayun is even here.
[A change in setting has been detected.]
Hajin wipes out the little drool from his mouth, the very spit that almost kills him. He subtly glances at his invisible laptop.
[Chae Nayun— she is bout to confess something very important.]
Before Nayun can even open her mouth, Hajin starts before her. He maturely tells her what he feels so that it will not cause trouble in the future. “I am sorry, but I am not interested in dating… moreover dating younger girls…”
“Huh?” Nayun has to pick her ear with her pinky finger because she thinks she might be mishearing it.
