TRPM 428

chapter 428

To get straight to the point, we didn’t go to the class running the maid café.

Part of it was that we didn’t want to see guys in maid outfits, and another big reason was that even if we didn’t go, there were plenty of people who would record those guys’ embarrassing moments anyway.

So, skipping the maid café, the first booth we headed to was…

Thunk!

“Oh… that’s a solid 10 points.”

“Hey, Geonwoo. How do you do that?”

“I guess you just have to practice a lot.”

It was the knife-throwing booth.

As the name suggests, you throw knives at a target. Since it would be dangerous if someone walked in, the door on the side with the target was locked.

“Still, can you believe the school actually allowed a booth like this? It’s not just Awakening students; civilians come too.”

“Maybe they figured it’s fine since the knives aren’t sharp?”

I lightly threw a knife at the target as I spoke. Ryu Amin shook her head as she looked at the knife sticking into the target.

“Even if the knives aren’t sharp, seeing them stick properly into the target seems pretty dangerous to me.”

Ah, she didn’t notice?

As I thought this, Elliot spoke in a disdainful tone.

“That target may look wooden, but it’s made of cotton. If there’s no force or the blade doesn’t hit properly, it bounces off. But if it hits with some force, it goes right in.”

“Oh, you know a lot about this?”

“Ah… now that you mention it, the sound…”

The student managing the booth seemed impressed by Elliot’s explanation, and Ryu Amin finally realized that the knives didn’t make a loud noise when hitting the target.

“The knives themselves may look metal, but… see, they’re rubber.”

I demonstrated the blade bending.

“…Huh? The handle says it’s for monster dissection practice, and it’s rubber?”

“Yes. Even in dissection practice, they wouldn’t have you actually kill monsters. You just practice cutting models with these rubber knives.”

Usually, schools don’t hand real swords to high school students for monster dissection. Some schools make students practice in actual dungeons, but that’s rare. Typically, Awakening-specialized high schools without full sets of monster models do that. Our school wasn’t one of them.

“I see. So it’s a bit different from working a monster dissection part-time job, huh?”

“Of course. What the school teaches is just the basics.”

I answered that way to I Doomin’s comment. Then I noticed something odd about what he said earlier.

“Wait. Doomin, you do monster dissection part-time jobs or something?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, with your skills, you could probably clear most dungeons yourself. Why bother with that kind of part-time job?”

“That’s true, but besides what you learn at school, the tips you pick up from active Awakeners while doing dissection work can be surprisingly useful.”

… Not wrong. If the active Awakeners are skilled.

Sometimes there are Awakeners who brag about wrong knowledge to younger students, even forcing them into bad habits.

‘… But Doomin is skilled and smart, so he’ll filter out any wrong info.’

Thinking that, I threw a knife at the target.

Thunk!

Another hit.

Knife throwing is a surprisingly useful skill, so I had already mastered it. Before my regression, I used to aim for monsters’ eyes. Of course, it was usually more efficient to increase my sword energy and cut them rather than just blind them first.

Bang!

“Ah, dang it.”

Just then, Jin Cheonha’s knife grazed the target and hit the board behind it.

“It’s fine. That board won’t break from a rubber knife, and even if it does, we can replace it.”

“Sorry about that.”

“…I’ve heard the rumors, but does he really talk like that all the time?”

The student in charge of the booth looked at Jin Cheonha as if he were a strange creature. Well, our class was used to this, but other classes would find it unusual.

While we casually threw knives and chatted, Elliot said:

“Hey, people are starting to gather here. Let’s go.”

Apparently, people who saw us through the classroom window had gotten interested in the knife-throwing booth. Since it would be a nuisance to keep throwing knives, we finished and left the classroom.

“Knife throwing is harder than I thought.”

“It’s definitely different from throwing a ball or darts.”

“If we had made a bet, Geonwoo would’ve won everything.”

“No matter what the bet is, I feel like I’d lose to Geonwoo.”

We chatted like that while looking through the pamphlet to decide which booth to go to next.

“Guys, wait a minute.”

Ryu Amin noticed something strange and looked around.

“…Where’s Jin Cheonha?”

“?”

“…What? Where did he go?”

“He was wearing such a noticeable hanbok… how is he not here?”

Jin Cheonha, who had been with us moments ago, had disappeared.

“Shall we look for him?”

“Hmm… do we have to? He’s not a kid.”

Even though I thought all of them were basically kids, high schoolers can take care of themselves.

“But if we don’t, he might sulk pretending he’s not upset.”

“Maybe?”

“I’m curious what he’d do if he sulked.”

… I can’t even imagine how a self-proclaimed Taoist would act when sulking.

“Hmm? Hey, there’s Jin Cheonha.”

Elliot spotted him. He was outside the window, actually on the schoolyard. Why was he there?

“Wait. Isn’t that girl dragging Jin Cheonha somewhere?”

I Doomin looked closely and said that.

A girl in a school uniform—likely a student—was leading him to a relatively secluded spot.

“…She’s not going to confess to him, right?”

“Eh… no way.”

“To Jin Cheonha?”

The others looked through the window, skeptical. What’s wrong with Jin Cheonha? Good-looking, good personality, decent guy if he stays calm… though that’s the catch.

“…What’s he doing?”

“Picking up trash, apparently.”

He was following the girl’s instructions and cleaning up.

“Seems she just needed someone to pick up trash.”

“Why is Jin Cheonha following her to do it?”

“Maybe she’s someone he knows?”

Could be.

“Hmm… boring. It would’ve been fun if she confessed.”

Elliot muttered that as he looked ahead.

“…Hey, there’s no line here?”

“Huh? Oh, really. I thought this place would be crowded.”

In front of us were two classrooms covered with black sheets. A haunted house made by third-year seniors.

“Ahhh!”

“Eek!”

Before I could finish thinking, screams came from inside. Moments later, a couple ran out the opposite door.

“Huff… huff… Hey! You tried to push me and run away!”

“No… I wasn’t trying to!”

…Seems like a couple having a near-breakup moment.

“Wow, that senior’s supposed to be tough. She pushed her own girlfriend to get away?”

“Well, the classrooms aren’t that big…”

The senior in front of the classrooms said to us:

“Curious? Go in and see for yourself. Alone, if you want the full experience.”

Elliot and I Doomin nodded.

“Of course, alone!”

“Can we go in now?”

They entered one by one under the senior’s guidance.

Then…

“Ughhh!”

“Eek! Hii!”

The screams of those who went in sounded weird and unnerving.

“Ha… those scared that easily? Never seen that before.”

“…Hey, Geonwoo. Can we go in together?”

Ryu Amin, losing confidence after hearing the screams, suggested it.

“Sure.”

I didn’t mind. No matter how much the third-year seniors planned the haunted house…

‘Can it really be scarier than what I experienced before?’

Of course not. I followed Ryu Amin into the classroom.

“…Oh?”

I was a little impressed. The lighting gave off a creepy vibe, eerie music played, and most surprisingly…

‘Sticky magic in the air… and this scent… some sort of drug to dull the senses. Looks like they sprayed it to obstruct Awakeners who detect surroundings.’

They even accounted for perceptive Awakeners. Otherwise, Elliot and I Doomin would have immediately noticed the seniors hiding everywhere.

Of course…

‘Spraying enough drug for the whole classroom must’ve cost a fortune.’

Not my problem, though. I followed the path inside the classroom.

“Hey! Geonwoo! Come with me!”

“Oh, right.”

I remembered I wasn’t alone. I caught Ryu Amin and moved forward.

“Ughhh!”

“Hii!”

‘…Oof.’

When we faced the ghost, Ryu Amin clung to me in terror. The costume was convincing, but come on—give me some space.