Even Today, the Ranker Dreams of Retirement

The dramatic encounter between Fides and Hyun Habin!

…didn’t materialize on the first day.

“Ah, why should I care if Fides becomes the principal or not?”

[…?]

“I’m going to play hooky instead of going to the auditorium. Why would I bother going all the way there just to see some masked magician?”

Habin rolled back onto her bed with an indifferent attitude. If Hyun Siwoo had known, he would have been relieved. At least their first meeting wouldn’t happen without mental preparation.

And so, Hyun Habin coolly skipped the principal’s introduction ceremony.

After that, she frequently missed school.

“Oh, tomorrow there’s a webtoon appreciation lecture I should attend. And on Thursday, there’s a cooking class where we’ll make homemade burgers and shabu-shabu, so I’ve got to go to that!”

She attended classes purely based on her personal preferences.

However, she never once missed lunchtime.

“Hah… Why does the cafeteria food never disappoint me? This must be someone’s plot to make me come to school.”

“Today’s cheese dakgalbi was absolutely delicious! I should pack some and take it to Libe.”

Moreover, the dormitory facilities were surprisingly cozy and nice, so Habin gave up on commuting and set up her living quarters in the dorm.

‘It’s sweet to be just a 1-minute walk from school.’

At this rate, she might actually grow fond of the school?

The robot vacuum cleaner does all the cleaning, the food is delicious, the dorm is fantastic, and the classes she attends are all easy electives.

“This is truly worth attending. I should have come earlier!”

It seemed that, just this once, the adults’ saying “School days are the best days of your life!” might actually be true.

[That’s only because you’re not studying!]

“Nah, Jaljal. I do study.”

[What kind of studying? If you’re going to make excuses like breathing studies, life studies, or drama studies again, I absolutely won’t accept it!]

“Oh? Kim Jaljal. You’ve grown a lot, haven’t you? How did you know what I was going to say in advance? Is this the power of a constellation?”

[A-ahem, have you finally realized my greatness… No, that’s not it! Make your excuses! What exactly have you done since coming to this school?]

“I’ve eaten well and slept well. They say the most important thing for a student is to grow up healthy!”

[What about academics? A warrior should never neglect efforts to grow!]

“Oh, Jaljal? Didn’t you cry while watching Sky Castle?”

Habin chided him in a disappointed voice. Ahezar responded, his voice tinged with guilt.

[I-I didn’t cry! And what does that have to do with Sky Castle?!]

Habin replied in a solemn voice.

“…Kim Jaljal. Think about it carefully. How did all those tragedies in Sky Castle happen?”

Sky Castle.

That drama Habin recommended to Ahezar was a cruel youth drama that dealt with Korea’s twisted educational fever, college admission corruption, and overheated competition.

For reference, it features children struggling with not achieving desired grades and parents excessively pushing their children to get high scores.

“You cried watching that drama, but now you’re demanding good grades from me? Huh? Nagging me to get good scores? Huh? Entrance exam stress?”

[Ah, no… that’s not… I mean…]

“So Kim Jaljal has been swept up in the Daechi-dong [an area known for its intense focus on education] flow too? Even a constellation couldn’t resist Korea’s educational fever?”

[N-no! That’s not what I meant, I…!]

Ahezar, backed into a corner, couldn’t string together a response. Habin nodded with an understanding expression.

“Okay! If not, then that’s fine. I’ll continue with my self-imposed holiday!”

She was already planning to return to the dorm, humming a tune.

This is all for the sake of a healthy and vibrant body and mind!

◆◇◆◇◆

However.

There was another person who looked at Habin’s behavior with bewilderment.

‘Um… Why is Habin-unni attending our school?’

It was Yeo Seoyun, who shared the same dorm room.

She had been curled up under her blanket, contacting her parents before Habin came in.

Ding.

Not long after, a reply came.

Mom♡

How’s school, sweetie?

Have you made friends?

Are you having any difficulties?

“Mom…”

With reddened eyes, she tapped out a reply.

I’m doing well.

No difficulties!

‘On the entrance ceremony day, unni took care of everything.’

She wasn’t sure if she should mention this. Seoyun hesitated, starting to write “I met a nice unni…” but unsure how to describe Habin.

At first, she thought she was a same-age friend from F-class.

But it turned out she was a former A-rank Hunter.

‘I, I was a bit scared.’

When she said “Crawl on all fours,” when she lectured Jehui, and when she skillfully rode a motorcycle, Seoyun couldn’t help but feel tense.

‘She was a bit scary.’

It perfectly matched the image of the “scary Hunter senior” she had imagined.

‘Somehow, it felt like if she didn’t like something, she might secretly threaten people… That kind of feeling…’

She was really, really grateful that Habin took her side, but somehow, she couldn’t help but feel cautious around her…

“But when I actually started living in the dorm with her, it was completely different.”

From the morning after the entrance ceremony, Seoyun encountered bewildering situations.

“U-unni! Aren’t you going to school?”

“Nope. Not going today.”

“…?”

‘Does she have some urgent business?’

However, this phenomenon continued the next day.

“Um… aren’t you going to school?”

“Nope! Not going. Have a good day, Seoyun! It’d be nice if you could come pick me up at lunchtime!”

“…?”

‘W-what’s going on?’

Hyun Habin skipped classes as regularly as she ate meals. Seoyun couldn’t help but ask Habin about her schedule.

“Unni… how did you arrange your timetable?”

“Me? Like this.”

“O-only electives?”

There wasn’t even time to be surprised that she had only chosen electives. That night, Seoyun overheard Habin muttering seriously in bed.

“Hmm… Let’s see, if I want to repeat a year while not getting expelled according to school rules, I can afford to be absent this many times…”

The sound of her diligently taking notes on her phone followed.

‘Sh-she’s calculating the number of absences in advance?!’

And this was at the start of the semester?

Seoyun murmured quietly while looking at her KakaoTalk chat.

“S-scary after all, Mom.”

A scary unni in many ways. An unni who considers dropping out from the moment of enrollment and calculates possible absence days from the start.

“…But she’s also a good unni.”

It wasn’t just that she took Seoyun’s side in the hallway on the first day.

‘Seoyun-ah! Want some snacks?’

‘Wanna watch a drama together?’

When she returned to the dorm in the evening, Habin often took care of her in some way. Whether it was sharing snacks or interesting content. She would share a bit of whatever she was eating or watching.

-Beep

‘Huh? Unni has a pet?’

‘Say hello, this is Libe. She likes meat.’

‘It… won’t bite, right? Those teeth look sharp…’

‘Hm? Don’t you know? Libe, do you bite people?’

-Beep?

‘Eek…’

‘Nah. Our baby doesn’t bite.’

‘……’

“…A-anyway, I think she’s a good person.”

Although she seems strangely sincere about playing hooky. Seoyun nodded and pulled the blanket back over herself.

◆◇◆◇◆

And so, a few days passed.

Habin’s happy academy life, which she thought would be all sweetness, crumbled in less than a week.

“Hmm…?”

It started when Habin accidentally encountered Fides in the hallway.

“Masked magician?”

[Hmm?]

Habin squinted at the figure barely visible at the end of the corridor.

That’s Fides.

The reactions of the people around were unmistakable.

“Eek! It’s Fides-nim!”

“Idiot! He’s our school principal now!”

“Hah… Is this for real? Fides-nim is at our school? Gosh, it makes me want to come to school every day.”

“Teacher!”

“I’ve been a fan! Please, just shake my hand once!”

“Aah!”

‘What a commotion.’

On the day of enrollment, right after lunch, when it was announced that Fides would become the principal, the students went wild.

‘This is insane! I chose this school so well!’

‘I need to post this on social media right away!’

‘The kids who went to other schools are already writhing in envy. Haha, I’m getting messages already.’

‘To think that I’d get to see Fides-nim in person in my lifetime! And at school, no less!’

‘He’s not just dropping by, right? Is he really becoming our principal?’

‘Yeah. He can’t stay full-time because he’s busy, but he’ll come often.’

‘This is crazy. This isn’t a dream, right?’

While it was extremely good news for the students…

For Hyun Habin…

“Hah, Fides again?”

She was still not pleased.

“Masked magician. How is it that I never like anything about you!”

Fides was going to draw more attention to the school again. It wasn’t just attending a Hunter school anymore, but ‘Hunter school life with none other than Fides’.

Now, when people hear that someone attends Ullim International High School, eight or nine out of ten will probably ask:

‘Did you see Fides-nim?! Did you?’

She’d hear that question countless times. Or if Fides’ fans block the school gates or if reporters swarm and cause trouble…

“That’s grounds for immediate dropout, you know?”

She’d keep an eye on the situation for now, though.

‘…Anyway! I finally get to see the masked magician in person!’

She had always joked about taking off his mask, but could she really do it this time?

If she got closer, she might find out.

As she started to stride towards Fides at the end of the hallway…

Flinch!

Fides, far away, startled.

“…?”

Tap tap tap.

And immediately turned around, heading for the stairs.

“Huh? Fides-nim?”

“Where are you going?”

“Eh?”

Habin tilted her head.

‘What’s going on? Was it my imagination?’

Did Fides just… avoid me?

[Come on, how could that be? Fides wouldn’t know you.]

‘Hmm?’

Habin decided to properly confirm this strange feeling.

‘Let’s see how much he tries to avoid me!’

Stride stride.

Tap tap tap.

Stride.

Tap tap.

However, even after that, whenever she went to places where Fides might be, he would quickly disappear, and if she got close enough to almost see him, he would immediately turn around and vanish from afar.

“Huh? This is getting annoying.”

This doesn’t seem to be just her imagination anymore.

Finally, Habin immediately turned her steps and headed straight here.

[Y-you’re going straight to the principal’s office like this?]

“Well, no matter how much he tries to avoid it, he’s the principal in name, so he’ll have to come to the office at least once.”

If all else fails, she could pretend to be a debt collector, banging on the door. “Bang bang bang! Hey, F! Open up! Bang bang! I know you’re in there!”

[What kind of student would do that to a principal?!]

“Ah, right! I’m a student.”

She almost got carried away with the debt collector concept after chasing him around so much. Habin, regaining her composure, looked at the door of the principal’s office.

“This won’t do after all…”

She scanned the area in front of the principal’s office with a troubled expression. There was a problem here.

Namely…

“When will Fides-nim come?”

“I heard he was just seen in the annex corridor!”

“Ah, should we have waited there instead?”

Students gathered in clusters in front of the principal’s office.

That’s right. This was the problem.

Hyun Habin wasn’t the only one waiting for Fides in the principal’s office.

‘As always, masked magician, you’re unnecessarily popular.’

Should she give up on this method?

Just as Habin was making a sullen face…

“Hyun Habin?”

A small whisper was heard behind her.

“…?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Habin turned around. Then, bright golden hair shimmering due to skill effects entered her view.

“How is it? Is school life manageable?”

It was Chae Jiseok.