Is This a School or an Asylum? (1)

"I was wrong! Please forgive me!"

Bang! KWAANG—!

I was briefly stunned by the sight of the girl offering a deep apology while repeatedly slamming her head down.

It was an unexpected reaction.

Her expression had seemed like she could explode at any moment, but it turned out she'd prepared it all for this. That alone was surprising.

It was a fresh shock, especially since I'd predicted she would have a fiery personality.

'Was she always like this?'

Her name was Kwon Sang-ah.

She was my age.

A Mutamit based on a dragon.

That's about all I knew.

And there was the fact that, in exchange for becoming stronger, she would lose her reason.

Bang! Bang—!

Kwon Sang-ah continued headbutting the floor violently even as she apologized.

Cracks formed on the floor, and it felt like enough impact to make her bleed from her head.

"How about you stop and lift your head?"

"Uh, um...? Okay."

Kwon Sang-ah, flustered by my words, quickly stood up with a timid look.

Sure enough, as befitted an extraordinary awakened one, her forehead showed only a slight flush despite the hard impact.

Although she was a dragon Mutamit, her actions reminded me more of a pachycephalosaurus.

"Um... so, the thing is..."

"...?"

"I'm really sorry about what happened before. When I lost my wallet, I got so emotional without realizing it..."

Kwon Sang-ah started explaining at length why she'd lost control.

That surge of emotion had triggered her rampaging trait, and her fighting spirit, which had been relatively calm, exploded to the extreme so she couldn't see anything around her.

"I'm really sorry! I know it sounds like an excuse, but what I did was unforgivable!"

Once again, Kwon Sang-ah bowed and apologized, her head bent at a right angle.

Her face flushed with embarrassment and she looked completely mortified.

It seemed like the memories of her rampage lingered in her mind.

It reminded me of the self-loathing one feels the morning after getting drunk and causing a ruckus—when your blanked-out memories start replaying.

Since I had a vague idea about her traits, it wasn't hard to understand her reaction.

And since she was apologizing so earnestly, there was no need to berate her any further.

"Alright, so lift your head now."

"Okay."

She immediately followed my words, raising her head like a well-trained puppy waiting for its owner's hand.

Compared to her fierce look during her rampage, her face now was completely innocent.

That wild side had just been the effect of her losing control; maybe this was her true nature.

If you look closely, she's really not much like a dragon at all.

The dragons I know don't cower like this.

"I understand, so there's no need to be so scared."

"But it was only because you stopped me that things ended up okay. If you hadn't, I'm sure you would have...!"

Kwon Sang-ah started trembling again as she imagined the worst-case scenario.

Her hair and eyes were as red as boiling lava, but her face had turned pale.

The contrast was hard to get used to.

"A-and if you hadn't stopped me... I probably would've caused a scene. It was the day of enrollment, so there would have been a lot of parents there too, right? If it weren't for you... just imagining it... eep!"

Such a worrier.

Still, if it hadn't been for me, there might have been a scene straight out of a monster movie—with a dragon rampaging through the city, breathing fire.

She's not wrong.

"Thank you so much! You're my lifesaver—you saved me!"

"No, rather than a lifesaver... didn't I just beat you up?"

"Ah... then what should I call you?"

I don't know. Calling myself a tamer felt dehumanizing for her, so I didn't like that, either.

Kwon Sang-ah stood there, fidgeting and nervously clasping her hands together, waiting for my answer.

Sweat trickled down her head as she fidgeted restlessly.

Anyone could tell she was timid by nature, even without being a psychologist.

Hard to believe she's the same person who'd raged like a wild beast just a moment ago.

"And thanks for returning my wallet."

"Just don't assume anything. I didn't take any bills out."

"Oh, that's okay. Money wasn't the important thing, anyway."

Isn't it normal to worry about money when you lose your wallet?

If it were me, I'd have gone crazy worrying about the important cards in it.

Not to mention having to report missing cards and having no transportation card to get home.

"What's more important than money?"

"This..."

Kwon Sang-ah pulled something out of her wallet to show me.

It wasn't a card or cash—just a simple photo.

I recognized it from when I'd peeked inside after picking up her wallet before.

"What's that...?"

"It's my only family photo."

It was a photo of Kwon Sang-ah—who looked like a kindergartener—and what seemed to be her mother.

The mother and daughter in the photo embraced each other with bright smiles.

The nervous look vanished from Kwon Sang-ah's face at the sight of the undamaged photo.

"Is that your mother?"

"Yeah. She's unconscious and has been lying in the hospital all this time."

That meant even if you visited, you wouldn't be able to talk to her.

Knowing that, I could understand why the photo was more important than money.

"What about your father or other family?"

Kwon Sang-ah had said it was her 'only' family photo.

Did that mean she had other photos with her other family members?

I wondered as I asked.

"They're not family."

Suddenly, a chill entered her voice.

An indescribable, fierce emotion flashed in her eyes.

That emotion, ready to erupt like a volcano, was the same anger I'd sensed from her onstage.

"..."

It felt like I'd disturbed a beehive.

Considering she was the daughter of the Guildmaster of Volcano, it left me with a strange feeling.

Despite the fame of being one of the four major guilds in Korea, the inside probably wasn't so clean.

"Anyway, thank you so much for returning my wallet. If you ever need help, I'll be sure to help you."

"Yeah, thanks."

"And since this is Hand, you can't let your guard down! There are students here with even more troublesome traits than mine."

I'd heard the rumors.

An awakened one's talent is determined by their trait, and the higher their trait grade, the more their personality tends to become unique or extreme.

Such students often form circles that roam the back alleys of Hand.

And since Hand only accepts students with high talent, it's clear that it's not just about being elite.

"W-well, take care... ow!"

Like that girl who said her goodbyes and then tripped and fell as she dashed away from me.

****

"Did I come too late?"

The entrance ceremony and the class assignments were both finished.

Starting today, I was officially recognized as a student and could make the most of Hand's privileges.

Most important among them was the dormitory.

The middle school dorm put five students in a single room.

It already felt more like military life than a school dorm, and that made me anxious.

'And the building is separated by gender, too...'

I walked down the boys' dormitory corridor looking for my room.

There were plenty of students looking for their rooms just like me, and the upperclassmen stood around laughing as they watched us.

It felt like they were sneering, as if welcoming us to hell.

"A-10, huh...."

"Huh? Are you A-10 too?"

At that moment, a senior came up and looked at the room number tag in my hand.

He smiled and said kindly,

"Nice to meet you. I'm in that room too."

"Oh, pleased to meet you."

"Hm! Same here."

He had a sturdy, muscular body for a middle schooler.

On top of that, he was good-looking—the kind of guy who would leave a good impression on anyone.

"I'm Choi Sangbaek, second-year, class one. You?"

"First-year, class ten, Ma Seongjin. You must be really popular."

"Tsk, I don't know about that. People say I'm handsome, but nobody wants to hang out with me."

"I find that hard to believe. Maybe the other students don't know what they're missing."

"Do you think so? Ha ha ha!"

His laughter was genuinely cheerful.

You could feel a natural charisma drawing people to him.

I'd already started thinking he must have lots of friends.

If I was sharing a room with someone like this, that would be perfect.

"But I'm not joking. For some reason, the other students don't like me."

"Huh...?"

It sounded odd, but he seemed dead serious.

One student even flinched and turned away as soon as he saw Choi Sangbaek coming up the stairs, and another whispered meaningfully while glancing at me.

It was as if I was a pitiful butterfly caught in a spider's web.

"Anyway, do you know what you need to watch out for as a new Hand student?"

"Fights break out a lot?"

"Exactly. I've lost my temper and sparred with other students plenty of times myself."

So even someone who looked this nice could be scary when angry.

Maybe that's why people avoided him—because of sparring matches.

"But that only applies to students with attitude problems, or the ones obsessed with their grades who want to raise their win rate. You weren't planning to challenge everyone for your record, were you?"

"No, not at all."

Sparring win rate was also officially counted as a grade.

There were rankings based on it, and the higher your rank, the better privileges awaited you in the high school division.

"I mean, those benefits sound tempting, but a comfortable life is more my thing."

"Ha ha ha! That's wise. Once you fight, everyone else will flock to you—whether you win or lose."

If you won, you'd attract the attention of the most prideful strong students; if you lost, you'd get picked on by bullies who targeted the weak.

According to my father, most juvenile delinquents he'd dealt with fit that pattern.

"That's why you should never neglect your training. Otherwise, you won't be able to get into the high school division."

Hand's middle school division was basically overflowing with students.So spots for the high school division were limited.

Those with poor grades and low sparring win rates were the first to be cut.

"So, there's no way to avoid it."

"That's why there are plenty of kids who challenge anyone who makes eye contact, just like NPCs in a Pokémon game. You really have to watch yourself."

"Wait, you know Pokémon? Isn't that an old game for boomers?"

"It's still popular. It's tons of fun."

Turns out we had similar gaming tastes.

I started feeling convinced I'd met the best senior in the middle school division.

Finally, the room labeled A-10 came into view.

Thud—

"Ah, sorry."

A student from the next room bumped into me and dropped something.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

I picked up the thing he dropped—it was a photo of an idol group.

It was a group that had debuted quite a while ago.

"Aren't these Unity Girls?"

"Yeah, that's right! They're a super famous girl group. Are you a fan too?"

The student leaned in with sparkling eyes.

He was coming on so strong, I answered a bit bluntly.

"Popular or not, they're washed-up now. Nothing much left to dig up, is there?"

They were the girl group that dominated TV back in elementary school.

But now they were struggling, with tons of competitors rising up.

Given how the entertainment industry kept seeing newcomers make it big, they really were past their prime.

"What did you just say?"

"Eh?"

The student's face instantly darkened.

It was as if he'd just heard the one thing he'd never wanted to hear—his eyes shaking in shock.

"Did you just say... that Unity Girls are washed up?"

Jeez. Making a fuss over an idol group.

"I mean, not totally washed up, just a little past their prime."

As I delivered the final blow, the student's breathing became ragged. His reaction was definitely strange.

He immediately dashed off somewhere as if fleeing the scene.

What was with that guy?

"Senior, this is our room, right?"

Ignoring the strange student, I grabbed the door handle.

As I swung the door open, I glanced back at Choi Sangbaek.

All I had to do now was go inside...

"Did you say all that just now?"

"Yes?"

The atmosphere suddenly turned ice cold.

Choi Sangbaek's face twisted ferociously, his previous kindness vanished without a trace.

His expression had transformed in an instant.

Creeeeak—

When I pushed open the door, it made an odd sound as it swung all the way open.

Inside, there were five beds, lockers, and a TV.

I happened to spot one particular locker, and for some reason, it made me uneasy.

"Come to the training hall, you bastard."

One locker was labeled with the name tag 'Choi Sangbaek'.

It was plastered, top to bottom, with Unity Girls photos and merchandise.

Like a shrine for a fanatic.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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