Chapter 102
Around 10 o’clock, the homeroom teacher came into the classroom. I heard the elementary homeroom teachers were just ordinary subject teachers, and sure enough, she didn’t really feel like an Awakened. It seemed the regular staff hadn’t even been given a special introduction during the opening ceremony either.
That’s what Ddaengdaeng, who had been watching the opening ceremony for me, told me.
ㅡcreak….
“Now, everyone~ Your teacher has come in~”
Of course, most of the kids here had already spent third grade at this school last year, so they knew the teacher to some extent. On the teacher’s side, though, there were so many little kids that she was busy teaching the ones under her care, so she didn’t really know things like that.
ㅡtap, tap-tap-tap!
Three neatly written characters for a name. A female teacher with long brown hair parted at the forehead and black round glasses. She looked kind just from her face.
“My name is Kim Hyunji. I teach math, and I’ll be spending this year with all of you in Class 3, Grade 4. Okay~”
-“Yeeees.”-
At the kids’ characteristically drawn-out chorus response, Teacher Kim Hyunji nodded. Glancing at the attendance sheet tucked under her arm, she swept her eyes over the class and started calling names.
“Kim Hajun?”
“Yes.”
“Oh Harin?”
“Yeees~”
“Kang Jiho?”
“….”
“Jiho? Didn’t Jiho come?”
“Oh, me, teacher.”
“Mm-hmm~ Shin Minjae?”
“Yep.”
As more and more names were called, the end of the attendance sheet was drawing near. The order didn’t seem alphabetical; it was pretty random, and our class had 27 students, but my name still hadn’t been called even as she got close to the end.
“And... Yoo Choa?”
“Here-!”
“Mm, Choa, you’ll be taking Hunter classes from now on, then?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Maybe the Awakened students were all bunched in the back; Yoo Choa was called as the twenty-sixth name. She sat right behind me, and her voice was so loud that she was kind of noisy.
“Wow, I’m jealous~”
“I want to Awaken too so I can coast through life.”
“What are you saying? Being an Awakened is hard too, you know?”
I didn’t know what an elementary school kid could possibly do that was so hard, but anyway, that was Yoo Choa’s stance. In truth, Awakened people both coast through life and have it hard, so it depends on the job. If you really want the true easy life, you’d have to awaken as a heal-dragonkin.
“And... Eve?”
“Oh, yes!”
“Mm~ Eve. Got it. Eve is an Awakened too, then?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
The homeroom teacher nodded along, then sat down at the computer desk and decided to introduce herself.
“Since it’s the first day, you’re mixing with classmates from other homerooms... some faces are familiar and some aren’t, right? So let’s take some time to introduce ourselves to each other~”
“Teacher, can’t we just have recess? We already know each other more or less anyway.”
“Nope. Can’t do that. Jiho, you come up first and introduce yourself~”
The homeroom teacher firmly cut off the slightly delinquent-looking kid’s words. Most of the kids complained, “Teacher, this is so boring, boo,” and hated it, but in the end, the introductions began.
“I hit Diamond in Valorant-….”
“I’ve won a piano competition-….”
“My mom runs a cafe and sells duzzonkku-….”
And so on, with all sorts of introductions going back and forth, until it was Yoo Choa’s turn to introduce herself.
“Boo, Yoo Choa.”
“Boo.”
The moment she stood up, boos echoed through the entire classroom. Of course, they weren’t sincere boos, just the kind popular kids always get.
“Ahem! Hey, quiet down.”
ㅡtap-tap-tap....
Yoo Choa wrote her own name on the board in handwriting that was pretty neat for a kid, then turned around and introduced herself.
“You all probably know this already, but I’m Yoo Choa. I’m an Awakened, so I’m super strong. If you mess with me, I’ll beat you to a pulp.”
“Choa?”
“Ah, sorry, teacher. And you know the Union Guild, right? Yoo Seonyeong, the healer on its No. 1 raid team, is my mom. If you pay, she’ll heal you, so deposit ten million won each.”
“Ch-Choa?”
“I’m kidding, teacher. For now I’m B-rank, but you know? Awakening at our age is super rare. If I become S-rank later, I’ll give each of you a spot, so line up.”
“Choa....”
“Can you save me a seat in the National Assembly or something?”
“Of course.”
I had no idea what kids these days were watching to grow up like this, but Yoo Choa definitely seemed like a weird one. Still, the overall atmosphere wasn’t that bad. Maybe there wasn’t actually any bullying or anything like I’d thought.
“And... Eve? Since Eve is a transfer student, nobody really knows you. Why don’t you come up and introduce yourself?”
“Ah, yes....”
The instant my name was called, every kid in the class turned to look at me. Honestly, I don’t really have anything to say... It’s embarrassing when you all stare at me like that.
What am I even supposed to explain? What do I even like..? Mmm....
“H-hello. I’m Eve.”
ㅡbeep-beep!!
“Ah, and... this is Ddaengdaeng. It’s the golem I made. For now, it’s an A-rank Awakened, I guess..?”
“Wow.”
“An A-rank? Then you’re higher than Yoo Choa.”
“Aren’t there only a few A-ranks?”
“My uncle is A-rank too.”
The moment I introduced myself as A-rank, the looks in the class’ eyes changed completely. They all went, “Whoa, awesome,” and realized how impressive I was, so I instantly became an object of admiration.
“Holy crap. You’re A-rank?”
“Ahem, who said ‘crap’ just now?”
“It was Jang Junu, teacher.”
“Junu, if you use profanity you get a demerit. Be careful next time.”
“Ah, Lee Sooyeon, what the heck? Why are you tattling?”
“Junu needs a demerit.”
“Ah, no, teacher.”
“All right, quiet down. Eve is introducing herself.”
“W-well....”
These damn peanut-brained little brats, seriously. I’m Super-Ultimate Eve the Princess, and I’m in the middle of introducing myself, but they keep talking....
“A-and... I’m ten years old....”
“We’re all ten years old.”
“Oh, right..? Mm, I did a little Hunter work before coming here.”
“Oh, I see? The other kids must have lots of questions for Eve. Anyone want to ask Eve something?”
No, the other kids just gave their introductions and that was it, so why do I get a separate question session? This has to be teacher-led bullying. I knew it..!
“I have a question.”
Before I could even say I wasn’t taking questions, one came in while I was still babbling. The questioner was Yoo Choa, one of only two Awakened students in Class 3, Grade 4.
“Wow, Yoo Choa’s getting competitive.”
“What are you talking about? I just heard you say you’re an A-rank Awakened. What’s your Awakening class? Since you made a golem, are you a golem mage?”
“Ah, um....”
Actually, my status window says things like Princess of the Fallen Nation and so on, but the visible traits of my skills are mostly somewhat similar to a golem mage.
The difference is that all the annoying work you’d normally have to do—molding the metal, fitting the joints together, and typing in the prompts—can all be done with just a single word..?
“F-For now, I guess I’m a golem mage..?”
“That must cost a lot of money. Is that all the golems you have?”
“No... I have about four more....”
“You’ve made more than I expected. Can you show us now?”
“That might be a little difficult right now....”
“Wow, look at Yoo Choa getting all fierce over this. She got out-ranked and turned vicious.”
“Teacher! Please tell Junu to be quiet.”
“Junu, that’s enough now~”
“Yes.”
“But are you a foreigner? Why is your Korean so good?”
“Ah, I’m Korean, it’s just that my name is Eve....”
“Can that happen? Where are you from, then?”
“I’m not really sure....”
I didn’t really know either. If anything, I was even more curious about it myself. I couldn’t help it—it says Eve in my status window. After that, I got asked several more questions, but every single one was about Hunters.
“Are you strong? Could you beat an S-rank in a fight?”
“I’ve never tried, so I don’t know.”
“Who’s your favorite Hunter?”
“Camila Torres.”
“Who?”
“No idea, sounds like a nobody.”
These stupid peanut-brained elementary school brats are calling Maxi a nobody right now..! They don’t even know her that well..!
“C-Camila Torres is famous....”
“Do you know Hunter Yoo Chaerin?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
I didn’t know why Chaerin unnie’s name suddenly came up, but maybe it was because she was an S-rank Hunter who worked in public. The moment I said I knew Chaerin unnie, the kids’ expressions changed again.
“No way, seriously? I was just asking.”
“How do you know her? Are you close?”
“Maybe..?”
“Wow, that’s awesome. Better than Yoo Choa.”
“Ahaha....”
And as I got asked this and that, before I knew it, it was 11 o’clock and the bell went ding ding ding. Standing in front of so many kids was making my head spin, and I didn’t have the energy to think anymore.
“Then everyone, take it easy and rest up. I’ll come back for the next class~”
-“Yeees~”-
But during the 15-minute break, I didn’t get to rest at all. I got surrounded by the other kids and had to answer a barrage of more questions.
“Wow, your white hair is insanely pretty. I don’t even need Awakening—I just wish my hair color would change.”
“Ahaha... thanks.”
“How tall are you? You’re super cute.”
“O-One-thirty....”
“Let’s measure your hand size.”
“Ah, here....”
“Do you have a boyfriend? Not interested in girls?”
“I-I don’t have a boyfriend.... As for dating, not really....”
“Do you like sweets? Want to go to the cafeteria together?”
“Is there even such a thing..?”
“Can’t we live in the dorms? I want to share a room with you.”
“That’s a bit.... My home is in Seoul....”
“If you’re an Awakened, are you super strong too?”
“Ah, I’m not really the strong type or anything.”
“Yeah. You don’t seem like it.”
“U-uh-huh.... I see.”
“Are you rich? Does your mom give you a lot of allowance?”
“Just about average..?”
“Want to make a TikTok with me? I feel like it’d get tons of views.”
“I don’t think that’ll work....”
“Ugh, what a shame.”
“Do you go to cram school too? Are you good at studying?”
“Not really... I’m bad at studying....”
“It’s okay. Eve, you can be bad at studying for the rest of your life.”
“Whyyy..?”
“With a face like that, anyone could make a living off it.”
“I-I guess so....”
“Are you on SNS? Do you have a lot of followers? I run a slime-slicing account, you know. I’ve got 8,000 followers.”
“Ah, I do use it, but....”
“Really? Want to follow each other?”
“A mutual follow might be a little hard....”
“Is your mom really strict?”
“Mom..? Hmm.... I think she just lets me play.”
“Wow, I’m jealous. Right, you said you don’t study.”
“What do your parents do?”
“Probably at a company....”
“A company worker? A big company?”
“S-something like business?”
“Whoa, are they the boss?”
“I’m not sure....”
At this rate, they’ll be asking for my resident registration number and bank account password next. After being asked about 500 questions, someone suddenly thrust a phone out from behind me.
“Is this you, Eve?”
“Huh..?”
On the screen was my social media account, with 1.21 million followers. It had photos I’d taken and uploaded before, and the kids surrounding me all gasped the moment they saw the phone screen.
“Holy crap. This is you? 1.21 million followers? That’s insane.”
“Ahaha....”
And the owner of that phone was none other than....
“You’re mutuals with Hunter Yoo Chaerin. You’re kind of a big shot, huh?”
Yoo Choa, the class’s behind-the-scenes power broker and the only other Awakened besides me.
“That’s great, Eve.”
“W-what’s great about it..?”
Yoo Choa looked at me and gave a sly smile.
“I’m really glad you’re here. It’s time to end our war.”
“War? What war..?”
At the word “war,” the kids around us all sucked in a sharp breath. In an instant, the air in the classroom grew heavy, and Yoo Choa dragged her chair over with a rattle and sat right down beside me, saying:
“You know there’s a sixth-grade senior who doesn’t get along with us, right? She always acts all high and mighty, bragging that she has 20,000 TikTok followers. Go over there and put her in her place.”
“Ah....”
“Ah, what the hell are these damn little kids? Please let me go already.”