Chapter 140: 140
After that, the first-year students quietly returned to the Academy on the non-combat airship.
After returning, the students held a drinking session with their close friends to soothe their tired minds and bodies from the mid-term evaluation.
"Kkeuh-This is what alcohol is! This is the taste of the secular world! Ahh. It's so nice to see you guys! I've been eating bamboo shoots all the time. It's so nice to see you guys!"
The student with yellow hair, braided into two strands, exaggeratedly placed beer mugs on both palms.
"...…Why isn't this bitch human even after eating bamboo shoots for two weeks?"
"Even a bear needs to eat for a hundred days to become human, but two weeks was too short for this bitch to become human..."
"...…And you guys were acting like beasts just a while ago."
These were the general students who were usually close to Min-young.
"Finally, you're tasting the true flavor of civilization! Now that the mid-term evaluation is over, it's almost summer vacation, right?"
"Yeah, it's a week-long break for maintenance."
"Ha- It was really tough. Mid-term evaluation. Mid-term evaluation. I've only heard about it, I didn't know it would be this hard."
The two-braided hair student nodded in agreement.
"...…But wasn't this test a bit strange?"
The sudden interjection of the bespectacled female student.
"Huh? What?"
"This mid-term evaluation. The appearance of the Demons... No matter how much we trusted them, weren't we really in danger?"
"Hmm, is that so?"
The two-braided hair student tilted her head.
"If Emperor-nim had known about the Demons hiding here in advance, shouldn't she have canceled the test or dealt with it herself before coming here?"
"...…Hmm, yeah? We were actually in a pretty dangerous situation."
"But no one died! What, isn't everything fine now?"
"Min-young, what do you think about this test?"
The bespectacled student turned to Min-young and asked.
'As Se-hee-nim said...'
Min-young had become an intern for the Utopia Party during this test, but it was planned that her name would be officially added to the party later.
This was because she remained a general supporter, managing the image of the Utopia Party.
'...…She's terrifying, I can't even compare to her.'
On the last day of the mid-term evaluation, Jin Yuha's speech in the square was impressive enough to shock everyone, but there was a hole in his logic.
So at the time, they just nodded their heads, bewitched by his looks and voice.
'Oh, that's what it was? Chairman... You trusted us...'
But when I thought about it for a moment, I ended up tilting my head in confusion!
And Se-hee, who had predicted this situation, called Min-young aside on the non-combat airship returning to the Academy.
"Min-young, how did you feel about Jin Yuha's speech?"
"Oh, well... I thought it was convincing."
"Convincing?"
"Yes, first of all, this incident will be quite impressive to the public. It's a choice between saving civilians and students."
"That's right."
"Mage-nim will appear to have trusted the students and prioritized rescuing civilians over dealing with the Demons herself, even though she knew about their presence."
"But why did you say it was 'convincing'?"
Se-hee's piercing gaze made Min-young swallow hard.
"...…You couldn't answer the doubts of the students who actually experienced the test."
Se-hee nodded slowly, satisfied with Min-young's answer.
"That's right. Of course, Jin Yuha intended to create an outward image, but we have to worry about more than just the general public. We also have to worry about the students."
"But isn't it okay to leave it like this? Even if there are doubts, with no casualties, it will naturally fade away as time passes..."
"No. We're going to make Jin Yuha's statement completely true. I'm the type who doesn't leave even a tiny spark."
Se-hee grabbed Min-young's shoulder and brought her face close to her ear.
"So, you have a job to do now."
.
.
"Hey, guys. Have you seen this video?"
Min-young held out her phone to the students who had come to drink with her, her eyes sparkling.
The students who took the phone from her gaped in amazement.
On the screen was Jin Yuha, swinging his sword.
He was fighting a bald Demon with burn marks all over her body, a hideous sight.
The video was professionally shot, with flashy visuals.
And Jin Yuha, who was already striking, looked like a movie star fighting his enemy.
The students were so engrossed in the video that they sweated in their palms.
One by one, wounds accumulated on Jin Yuha's body.
But instead of tension or worry, exclamations of admiration escaped their lips.
After all, Jin Yuha was dominating the fight against the Demon.
Thud.
And finally, Rebecca fell to the ground, ending the video.
"Huh...?"
"What the hell is this!?"
"What's with the cinematography..."
"Is that really Jin Yuha? Isn't he crazy?"
The students looked up with bewildered faces.
"...…Hey, isn't this Demon Rebecca? The bald one with burn marks. I remember her because she was so memorable..."
"Hmm... I think it's her. AA-grade Demon, Rebecca."
"Did this Demon come to our mid-term evaluation site too? We almost died..."
"But Jin Yuha just wiped the floor with her."
...
An AA-grade Demon, when wanted, is a monster that even professional Hunters fear.
Jin Yuha had defeated that Demon. And he had done so overwhelmingly.
No matter how you looked at it, it was a bizarre situation.
Even the students who had witnessed Jin Yuha slaughtering the Demons in front of their eyes couldn't help but feel a sense of cognitive dissonance.
After giving them enough time to process the situation.
Min-young spoke up.
"That's why the Chairman judged that 'even with the Demons, it's not dangerous.'"
"...…Huh?"
"Think about it. If a student can show such overwhelming prowess against an AA-grade Demon, wouldn't the other Demons have worried about hurting the students?"
"Hmm..."
The two-braided hair student sighed.
"But the Chairman still bowed her head and apologized to us."
"...…So she said, 'I'm sorry I didn't know you were this weak...'?"
The bespectacled student asked with a look of disbelief.
Min-young nodded deeply, feeling indignant herself.
"Yeah, since Jin Yuha, a fellow student, can fight an AA-grade Demon like that, the Chairman judged that we should be able to hold our own to some extent."
"And if you think about it, Fighting Dog did catch a Demon..."
"Yeah, but compared to Utopia, we were too weak."
At Min-young's words, the students bit their lips.
They too had become Hunters to protect people.
They were proud Hunters who had built their reputation and passed the hellish test to enter Velvet Academy, with their own sense of pride.
No matter how exceptional Utopia was, they hadn't given up.
They were students who had been training their bones, hoping to one day be called heroes in front of the public, like Fighting Dog.
The two-braided hair student closed her eyes.
"...…We didn't live up to the Chairman's expectations."
"Yeah, but the Chairman thought that her own mistaken judgment had put us in danger, and she bowed her head to apologize."
Min-young's voice, as she spoke to the students, gradually gained persuasiveness.
"The Chairman's instruction to 'hold out until the instructors arrive' was directed at us, not Jin Yuha."
Although she was lying in what she was saying now, her inner thoughts were sincere.
"We're Hunters. We're the ones who put our lives on the line to fight Demons and protect civilians from Monsters. But blaming Lina for the unexpected appearance of Demons that were stronger than expected... Is that really the right thing to do?"
Min-young looked around at the students.
Then. The two-braided hair student brought the beer in his hand to his mouth and chugged it down.
Gulp, gulp-
"Kya-! Whoa! Sorry, but I'm out for today."
"...…Huh? Why?"
Tap.
The two-braided hair student put down his beer mug with a clatter and said, "I need to go train."
And one by one, the students who had been exchanging glances, chugged down the beer in front of them and got up from their seats.
"Me, me too! Let's go together!"
"Me too!"
And so the students left.
Haa-
Min-young breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the students' backs.
'...…Was this first mission... a success? Then, next, the influential students...'
.
.
.
A few days later.
Velvet Hunter Academy was in an uproar inside and out.
The story of Velvet Hunter Academy, which had always been kept secret, had leaked to the public.
Moreover, it was about the mid-term evaluation, so people's interest was immense.
『 [Official] Velvet Hunter Academy, Chairman Lina's Test. 』
『 Today's Hot Issue! Utopia's Jin Yuha, [AA-grade Demon Rebecca] Disposal Video. 』
『 [Exclusive!] Humanity's No.1 Guardian! Cutie Emperor? S-grade Gate Explosion Site Straight Shot! 』
『 Flower on a Cliff, Jin Yuha. His Skills Were No Bubble! 』
Wow, what's going on? This is the first time Academy internal materials have been leaked to the outside world, isn't it?
Kya!!! Ha, Mage-nim is too cute. Is this our country's NO.1 cutenessㅋㅋㅋ Who saw this straight shot?
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Thanks, kid.
Not a kid.
Thanks, are you an Academy student?
Not a student.
You're amazing even though you're young.
...…
Hey, has anyone here seen the Jin Yuha video? Hey, who are you? Where did all the bastards who said Jin Yuha's skills were all bluff go? Are they in hiding?
ㄹㅇㅋㅋ He's just a GOAT. Just a light.
Jin Yuha proves his skills with his real abilities, it's so refreshing. It's like watching a movie.
All the bastards who gritted their teeth and denied Jin Yuha's skills, shut their mouths as soon as his skills were revealedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Sign right now!
...…Ugh, Jin Yuha isn't Utopia's face...
...…Ugh, Jin Yuha is stronger than Kang Do-hee... Puppy, who made you so delicious!!!ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ It's cheating to be so good-looking when you fight!
Yeah, catch the fighting dog.
Wow, the Velvet Academy test is no joke. They're making the students catch an AA-grade Demon...
But, isn't this too dangerous?
Yeah, but they caught it, didn't they? AA-grade Demon, cut!
No matter how much it's an Academy test, telling first-year students to catch a Demon...
Bullshit. So you mean all the time and money you've invested in training Hunters, and when the Demons show up, they're supposed to run away? It's not like they're just bringing in untrained civilians and spoon-feeding them, it's about bringing in already trained Hunters and raising them.
No, what I mean is that it's just a safety blind spot. And the video is too cruel...
Are you a Demon, you bastard? You're suspiciously empathetic to the Demon. Your ideology is very suspicious.
It was summer.
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