Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game

Before Union Academy’s morning assembly, the students were abuzz discussing their favorite celebrities, the latest movies, and the upcoming midterm exams. The classroom was filled with the vibrant white noise of chattering students, as if affirming that this was how student life should be. Under normal circumstances, Jin Soyeon would have been gossiping with her classmates until the teacher arrived. However, for some reason, she was silently frowning at her phone screen, paying close attention to it. This was because her childhood friend had not yet arrived at school.

“He’s quite late today. What’s up with him?”

Jin Soyeon shook her head slightly, wondering why he hadn’t shown up yet. She glanced at the time.

“Oh, has it gotten this late already?”

“There’s less than five minutes until assembly…”

The homeroom teacher would likely be here soon. If he didn’t hurry, he might be late for school. Considering her childhood friend had never missed a day of middle school, receiving perfect attendance awards, it was particularly puzzling why he was so late today.

“He’s not reading my messages, and he’s not answering my calls. What in the world is he doing?”

Despite her attempts to reach out, there was no response. It wasn’t like Lee Jinhyuk to oversleep. All Jin Soyeon could do was float question marks above her head.

“…Everyone, take your seats.”

The teacher had arrived in the classroom. Hong Daye, who usually had a drowsy look in her eyes, yawned once then casually scanned the faces of her students.

“Attendance check… Ah, what a bother.”

Seemingly annoyed by the tedious task of calling out attendance numbers, Hong Daye muttered to herself before lazily asking the students.

“Is anyone absent or late today?”

“Teacher, I think Lee Jinhyuk and Yoo Seolhyun are both absent.”

At a male student’s response, Jin Soyeon swiftly turned her head.

What? Not just Lee Jinhyuk, but Yoo Seolhyun too?

Both of them late at the same time? What’s going on?

“Ah, those two…”

Hong Daye hesitated for a moment, as if she had heard something from the two students beforehand.

Should she tell them? Wait.

Was there any need to explain? Let’s just gloss over it.

“…They’re absent due to personal reasons.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes, yes.”

Hong Daye was dismissive, it was clear she didn’t want to deal with a barrage of questions.

“Those two are absent? What happened?”

“What? Lee Jinhyuk is absent? He’s never been late since middle school…”

“Yoo Seolhyun? Today?”

The students murmured and buzzed with curiosity.

“Ah, wait.”

Was it then?

“I saw those two at a cafe yesterday?”

“Really? For real?”

One of the students who had gone to karaoke with Jin Soyeon the day before added fuel to the fire. The other students’ eyes lit up with interest.

A young man and woman from the Academy meeting outside of school could imply many things. And since it involved Yoo Seolhyun, one of the beauties of Class 1-1, and a rich young lady, their curiosity was piqued.

“Those two, why? Could it be a date?”

“Look at Lee Jinhyuk doing well for himself.”

“Nah, that’s nonsense. Why would Yoo Seolhyun meet Lee Jinhyuk?”

“Both absent today… suspicious, huh? Hehe.”

“Boys always think of strange things.”

While the students were discussing this and that…

“…”.

Jin Soyeon remained silent.

She had no choice but to be quiet.

She was lost in a swamp of thoughts.

‘Absent? Lee Jinhyuk and Yoo Seolhyun?’

Their simultaneous absence was quite unexpected.

And so, she suspected.

‘Is it merely a coincidence?’

No. It couldn’t just be a coincidence.

The timing was too odd.

Yesterday, for some reason, the two of them had a secret(?) meeting…

And now they were both absent the next day. It would be strange not to be suspicious.

“Ah, really. Why can’t he contact me at a time like this?”

She blamed the silent phone.

If only he had contacted her, she wouldn’t feel so uneasy.

Aside from the absence, it was strange that there was no contact at all.

Could something have happened?

Or was he intentionally avoiding contact?

Ah. What am I thinking?

Jin Soyeon shook her head abruptly.

It was impossible for Lee Jinhyuk to deliberately ignore her calls.

There was no reason for him to do so. And if he had intended to avoid her, he would have simply turned off his phone…

Maybe he just hasn’t seen my text…

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Jin Soyeon’s train of thought was interrupted.

“Wait a minute?”

Because strange puzzle pieces were coming together in her mind.

“Wait, hold on.”

An affection that might be blooming.

Meeting at a cafe after school.

The next day’s absenteeism of the two.

Not responding to contact.

…What could all these imply?

Puzzle pieces began to fit together, rushing toward one conclusion.

The more she tried not to think about it, the clearer the picture became, gradually revealing itself to Jin Soyeon.

But then.

– Ding. Ding.

“Uh…!”

Startled by the sudden text tone, Jin Soyeon’s shoulders twitched and she shivered.

What, what? You startled me.

Looking at the standby screen, it seemed to be Lee Jinhyuk.

Sneaking a look at the homeroom teacher, Jin Soyeon peeked under her desk to check the message.

Then, Lee Jinhyuk’s concise message casually entered her view.

– Yeah? Why did you call?

An infuriatingly flat sentence.

Why call? Does he really not know?

– Aren’t you coming to the Academy?

– Lol, I’m sick. Gtg.

Sick? Is he ill?

He seemed fine yesterday. Jin Soyeon blinked in slight confusion but continued to text.

– What’s with the sickness? You used to come even with the flu in middle school.

– I did it for the record back then.

At Lee Jinhyuk’s response, Jin Soyeon couldn’t help but smirk wryly.

He used to care a lot about his record. For entering Union Academy.

– Anyway, I’m gonna take some medicine and sleep. Bye.

– What? Wait a minute.

– See you tomorrow.

– Hey!

She sent another message, but it was met with silence.

There was more she wanted to ask.

Really, doing whatever he pleases!

“Ah, really, he’s ignoring me again.”

“That’s tough.”

A shadow loomed over Jin Soyeon’s head. When she slowly raised her head, she met eyes with Hong Daye, who had approached quite close. Ahaha. Erm. Jin Soyeon laughed awkwardly.

It seemed that she was caught using her phone secretly.

“Who are you texting so eagerly? Are you in a relationship?”

“No, teacher.”

“Fine. Put your phone away and pay attention. You understand?”

“…Yes.”

Jin Soyeon nodded slightly, and Hong Daye walked back to the podium, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She wasn’t the type to be so proactive as to confiscate phones.

“Well. That’s it for the assembly. Everyone get ready for the next class.”

Hong Daye waved her hand, signaling the end of the assembly, and Jin Soyeon watched her before sighing deeply.

“Sick, huh… That can happen. It’s possible.”

There was no way to know whether Lee Jinhyuk was genuinely ill or not.

But Jin Soyeon decided to trust her childhood friend.

The likelihood that he was absent because of Yoo Seolhyun was lower than the possibility that he was not.

So now, she decided to stop these pointless thoughts and focus on her studies.

Shamefully, she had allowed herself a bit of a foolish fantasy, but she knew well enough that the Lee Jinhyuk she knew would never do such a thing.

Right. Surely that’s the case.

Maybe she should just prepare for the next class?

The next class involved physical training at the practice field. It would be tough. She didn’t like the idea of sweating first thing in the morning…

“…”.

Why?

Why is it still bothering me?

Is it a woman’s intuition?

Something unsettling and uncomfortable was slowly simmering inside her, causing Jin Soyeon’s heart to be in turmoil, leaving her feeling restless and annoyed.

Why, though?

It was an illogical feeling that she couldn’t articulate, and she hated it intensely.

Because it made her feel bad.

Really bad.

***

Inside the Gaon Nuri Clan’s headquarters.

Lee Jinhyuk was fiddling with his phone.

He hadn’t noticed because it was on silent, but there were texts and a missed call from Jin Soyeon.

Why so many texts?

Maybe because he didn’t go to the Academy today?

“Lee Jinhyuk.”

“Huh? What?”

“What are you doing?”

“Just got a text from Soyeon.”

“Euh?”

“I guess because I skipped school today.”

After sending a few more messages, Lee Jinhyuk put his phone away.

He certainly couldn’t just blurt out, “Actually, I’m going to conquer the dungeon with Yoo Seolhyun. So I can’t go to the Academy. Haha.”

Eventually, the truth would naturally come to light, but saying it now would only invite more questioning.

So Lee Jinhyuk had casually claimed to be sick.

“So, are you done with your business?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

Following behind Yoo Seolhyun, he walked forward.

Stomp, stomp.

How long had they walked?

They arrived at a room that resembled a conference space.

“…Hm?”

“Oh, you’re here.”

“Ah, is that the guy who got the commendation?”

Five heroes were sitting in chairs, murmuring amongst themselves.

It was a mixed team comprised of three men and two women.

They were the team members who would join him in the dungeon exploration and rescue mission.

‘Meeting these people in person feels strange.’

Characters he’d encountered quite a lot in the game.

They were essentially NPCs, extras if you must say.

However, they were decently capable NPC allies when it came to conquering the Youngdeung Mountain Dungeon.

Their levels were also quite high.

And when leveling up, he had relied on them as a sort of bus…

“You’re the guy who’s supposed to come today, right?”

While he was lost in thought, a woman with a clear voice addressed him first. Lee Jinhyuk naturally turned his head toward her.

She appeared to be in her late twenties, with shoulder-length hair. Let’s see…

Her name was Han Seowoo, right?

“Lee Jinhyuk, let me introduce you. This is Han Seowoo, the hero who will lead the Youngdeung Mountain rescue team.”

“Hello?”

With a brief introduction from Yoo Seolhyun, Han Seowoo raised her hand in greeting.

“Hello, my name is Lee Jinhyuk. Nice to meet you.”

“Ah, yes. Lee Jinhyuk. I heard about you yesterday. Top of the class in theory, right? You must’ve studied hard?”

Han Seowoo greeted him warmly, nodding, but Lee Jinhyuk knew well that the current arrangement wasn’t to her liking.

After all, they had selected suitable heroes from those available only to have a Union Academy trainee unexpectedly added to the mix.

It must have seemed ridiculous to Han Seowoo, but she had reluctantly accepted him at the request of Yoo Seolhyun, who was in charge of managing the team.

‘In the end, she’s just a field manager who has to follow orders from above.’

Just one of the many members of the Gaon Nuri Clan.

She might hold the title of team leader, but it was granted by Yoo Seolhyun, and she couldn’t easily refuse the words of Yoo Seolhyun, who would one day be a higher-up.

“This is Park Sangcheol, the hero, and he’s the vanguard… meaning the tank of the team.”

“Hello, Mr. Lee Jinhyuk. I’ve heard a lot about you. You were recognized for your merit in monster subjugation and received a commendation, right? Please take good care of us today.”

Park Sangcheol, in his early thirties, approached Lee Jinhyuk with a friendly manner, even using honorifics due to his gentle personality and amiable looks, making him quite popular among the Gaon Nuri Clan members.

“Yes, hero Park Sangcheol. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Ahaha, hero? You can just call me ‘uncle’ if you want.”

And then Yoo Seolhyun introduced the other team members, one by one.

Oh Jeongnam, the header; Baek San, the damage dealer; and Erina, the magic supporter, among others.

He was introduced to all five team members.

You might call them semi-elite.

They were quite the capable group.

No matter where they went, they were people who would do at least their share of work.

“I know I’ve already explained to you yesterday, but there might be some who still don’t understand why a trainee has joined the rescue team.”

Some looked indifferent, but Han Seowoo had a somewhat sullen expression.

“Let me say this once more: the documents related to the dungeon that I distributed to you yesterday include information and footage of the dungeon’s terrain, features, environment, monsters, traps, scale, and so on, which Lee Jinhyuk has analyzed like this…”

Yoo Seolhyun explained once again why Lee Jinhyuk was participating and how he could be of help.

She needed to reinforce this to the team members before entering the dungeon.

After all, it was to ensure a minimum ‘plausibility’ for Lee Jinhyuk’s future actions.

Of course, no matter what, she couldn’t entirely avoid their suspicions.

“…That’s why we’ve accepted Lee Jinhyuk as a team member.”

“Okay, we’ve heard enough, you can stop now.”

Han Seowoo responded somewhat gruffly.

Honestly, she was displeased.

Bringing an amateur to a site fraught with variables was dangerous.

Especially a hero hopeful with no real combat experience would surely freeze up under the formidable aura of a monster.

One wrong move and it could lead to disaster.

‘Right, he’s the one who fought the monkey monster, right?’

It was hard to believe.

The Black Hand Long-Armed Monkey was a formidable monster.

Han Seowoo herself wouldn’t be confident in winning a one-on-one battle with it.

The children’s victory over the monkey monster must have been due to the help of High Ranker Hong Daye and a series of fortunate incidents.

The media may claim that the kids worked together to defeat it, but one couldn’t take such words at face value.

Surely, this Lee Jinhyuk kid must have just gotten lucky by catching a ride on the bus. Even so, surviving a fight with the Long-Armed Monkey was respectable.

‘Having faced the monkey monster in combat, he shouldn’t freeze up from its deadly aura…’

Yes. That was enough.

Initially, Han Seowoo had no expectations of him.

She just hoped he wouldn’t cause any trouble or do anything rash.

“Okay. Let’s briefly go over the dungeon exploration plan and then do a final check of our equipment.”

“Sure.”

However, less than two hours after entering the dungeon, Han Seowoo had to change her opinion.

Because…

‘…What? What on earth is this kid?’

What Lee Jinhyuk showed was beyond imagination.