NOVEL NEXT chapter 23
Chapter 23. Transparency
‘Could it be…?’
There was only one reason for a fresh ‘Arc’ student combat uniform to be tucked away in a corner of this examination hall.
An ‘Arc’ student had taken off their uniform and stashed it here.
But who, and why, would strip off their combat gear and leave it behind?
There was only one answer to that.
‘Karla Arlen.’
Kim Do-jin was certain that this uniform belonged to Karla Arlen, and as he unfolded the neatly folded set of combat attire, a pale pink piece of fabric revealed itself.
“…….”
He picked up the fabric, wanting to confirm, and indeed, it was lingerie.
‘Just as I thought.’
It was now clear.
Karla Arlen was hiding somewhere in this mansion, completely invisible.
‘But was Karla the type to have such tastes?’
The cute rabbit print on the panties caught his attention for a fleeting moment, but now was not the time for such distractions.
—
‘I must quietly slip away before I’m caught.’
With that thought, I attempted to return the panties to their rightful place.
But just at that moment.
– Bang!
Coincidentally, the study door swung open.
“……!”
Was it strange that I thought it more odd to hastily put them back in place?
Kim Do-jin froze, caught in the act, holding Carla Arlen’s underwear wide open before him.
“…….”
A suffocating silence enveloped the room.
Slowly, Kim Do-jin folded Carla Arlen’s panties and tucked them back between the sportswear.
Then, he closed the desk drawer with a clatter and, feigning nonchalance, trudged toward the door.
“…….”
The oppressive silence lingered as he finally reached the threshold of the study.
Just a few more steps, and he could slip away without a trace.
But.
– Thud!
Regrettably, that was not to be.
‘What the hell, damn it. Why… just let me go…….’
As if a sudden gust of wind had swept through, the study door slammed shut, and in the next moment, a chilling voice whispered in his ear.
“What were you doing?”
Could there be another scene from a horror film like this?
A shiver ran down Kim Do-jin’s spine, and only after swallowing hard did he manage to respond.
“Please, let me go.”
He couldn’t fathom why those words had escaped his lips.
It wasn’t a capital offense to have unfolded a pair of panties, was it?
“I was just curious, and the moment I opened them, you walked in. Really, truly….”
Kim Do-jin hurriedly added an explanation, but it seemed Carla Arlen’s misunderstanding remained unshaken.
“Mensonge!”
Suddenly, she spoke in an incomprehensible French, reaching out sharply behind Kim Do-jin.
—
It seems they are intent on venting their frustrations by eliminating the flag.
Yet, the wronged Kim Do-jin would not submit so easily.
— Blame!
With a swift motion, he knocked aside the arm of Carla Arlen, who was reaching for the flag, and flung the closed door open once more.
He attempted to flee in haste, but Carla Arlen clung to his arm with relentless determination.
“Ugh!”
Unable to shake her off with a kick, the struggle devolved into a fierce melee, a raw clash of bodies.
— Crash!
Time slipped by in a blur.
Finally, having subdued Carla Arlen without injury, he regained his senses… only to find their positions most peculiar.
“Ah….”
With one hand, he firmly grasped both of Carla Arlen’s wrists, pinning her hands above her chest, sitting atop her to keep her restrained.
“Haah, haah….”
As she gasped for breath, it seemed Carla Arlen gradually realized the strangeness of their situation, growing quieter by the moment.
“…….”
Though invisible to the eye, she was undoubtedly bare, not a thread to cover her.
Suddenly, Kim Do-jin felt the softness of her skin against his own, his face flushing slightly as he spoke.
“What you saw earlier is truly all there is. And I’ll be leaving as if I’ve seen nothing, so don’t follow me.”
Carla Arlen had the ability to concentrate her magic, rendering a small flag nearly invisible, as if it were part of her own body.
In other words, while it was unseen, he could still feel around and snatch the flag she possessed, disqualifying her.
But Kim Do-jin chose not to do so; he relaxed his grip on her and slowly rose to his feet.
“…….”
Fortunately, Carla Arlen did not lunge at him again, remaining still on the ground, and he cautiously backed away, exiting the study.
— Thud.
At last, he closed the study door behind him, releasing a sigh of relief.
“Haah….”
How had things spiraled into this chaos?
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Kim Do-jin hurriedly left the mansion.
* * *
A considerable time passed thereafter.
—
In the meantime, Kim Do-jin had unearthed two more treasures before rejoining the alliance, which was now locked in a fierce standoff with another coalition in the central square.
‘The end is finally in sight.’
Before long, only three alliances remained in the testing grounds.
There was the 25-member alliance to which Kim Do-jin belonged, another with 27 members, and the elite 9-member group led by the top student of Class 1-1, Lee Jin-ryul.
‘We’ve jointly wrapped up the hunt for participants lurking in the shadows, waiting to snatch victory. Now, it’s full-scale war.’
Any further alliances were meaningless.
As Kim Do-jin had anticipated, the chaotic clash among the three alliances erupted soon after.
“Ughhh!”
The sight of over sixty students brawling in the vast square was a spectacle to behold.
Not in a good way, but in a dreadful one.
‘It’s a complete mess.’
What kind of loyalty could there be in a temporary alliance destined to crumble?
Amidst the chaos, countless students scrambled to save themselves, and there were even instances of backstabbing, where former allies snatched flags from one another.
It was utter pandemonium.
And as for Kim Do-jin, was he playing fair? Not at all.
He too selfishly slipped away from the battlefield.
– Whoosh!
First, he concealed himself with his mana barrier ability.
– Thud! Thud! Thud!
Then, using his rock manipulation power, he ascended to the rooftop of a nearby five-story building.
– Snap!
Hiding his form, he observed the battlefield unfold below.
If he could just wait for the others to eliminate each other, the ranking would be his for the taking.
‘From now on, let them kill each other.’
Time passed in this manner.
The battle was a chaotic mess, yet one by one, participants fell, and soon only ten remained on the field.
‘Perhaps it’s time to make my move.’
As the ten students momentarily paused, seemingly preparing to shake hands, Kim Do-jin seized the moment and leaped into action.
– Thud!
He landed gracefully, revealing himself, and the ten survivors turned in unison to face him.
“Eh?”
Among the ten survivors, there was Yoon Yuna, who instinctively shrank back and tensed as she spotted Kim Dojin striding toward her.
Yet, Kim Dojin merely brushed past Yoon Yuna, launching a sudden assault on the other students.
“What the—!”
The battlefield erupted into chaos under Kim Dojin’s onslaught, and soon, more contestants began to fall.
– Thud!
Now, it had long ceased to be a coalition; it was a perfect free-for-all, with no regard for opponents other than Yoon Yuna.
Kim Dojin was methodically taking out the three closest students, one after another.
“I got you!”
But then, under the combined assault of Lee Jinryul and Dokgo Soo, he was forced to relinquish the flag strapped to his back.
‘What is this guy…? He’s more than I expected.’
Kim Dojin, ever mindful of Lee Jinryul’s extraordinary movements—truly the top of Class 1-1, or perhaps even more—retreated according to the rules.
“At last, is it time for our duel?”
Now, only two survivors remained on the battlefield: Lee Jinryul and Dokgo Soo.
“Ugh!”
As expected, Dokgo Soo was swiftly overwhelmed by Lee Jinryul, and the outcome was decided in an instant.
– Beep!
Soon, the notification sound rang out, updating the number of survivors.
[Current number of survivors – 2 / 100]
In this plaza, only Lee Jinryul stood as the sole survivor, yet the smartwatch displayed a count of two.
‘As expected, she’s still in the game.’
It was easy to guess that the other survivor was Carla Arlen.
And it was also clear that she would soon forfeit.
– Thud!
Before long, Carla Arlen reappeared on the rooftop of a nearby building, clad once more in her combat gear, and threw her own flag to the ground.
– Squeak!
Thus, the ‘Free-for-all’ exam for Class 1-1 came to a close.
* * *
Moments later, a ranking board appeared on the large screen beside the exam site.
[1st Place – Lee Jinryul]
[2nd – Kim Do-jin]
[3rd – Rahim Rashid]
[4th – Yoon Yu-na]
[5th – Dokgo Soo]
[6th – Karla Arlen]
.
.
.
[100th – Louis Ferran]
Gathered in the square, the students gazed upon him, each lost in their own mix of joy or disappointment at their ranks.
They exchanged glances of surprise at the standings of others, but none more so than at the unexpected rise of Kim Do-jin.
In the previous two tests, he had shown results that defied expectations, yet this time felt different—two was one thing, but three consecutive rankings could not simply be chalked up to luck.
“What is this, really?”
No one dared to question his skill, dismissing it as mere fortune.
“Has his ability truly surged so suddenly?”
“Or perhaps he was hiding his true talent all along…”
“Why?”
“…that’s a mystery.”
As whispers flitted around him, Kim Do-jin continued to scrutinize the rankings with keen eyes.
‘Indeed, the treasure hunt score has pushed me higher than my survival rank. But… Yoon Yu-na is quite impressive too.’
A twinge of guilt pricked at him for harboring lingering feelings for Yoon Yu-na, but for now, he was satisfied with his test results.
He stole a glance at Yoon Yu-na, only to find Lee Jin-ryul staring intently at him.
“…….”
With the final check of the rankings, the morning classes drew to a close.
Kim Do-jin made his way to the shower next to the exam hall, refreshing himself before heading to the dining hall for lunch.
Yet, in the midst of his thoughts.
“Excuse me…”
Suddenly, Lim So-hee rushed over, her voice breaking through his reverie.
“……?”
Kim Do-jin halted his steps, casting a questioning gaze downward, while Lim So-hee cautiously surveyed her surroundings before speaking.
“I have something to apologize for.”
At this, Kim Do-jin tilted his head, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
“Huh? Apologize? For what?”
Lim So-hee, her cheeks flushing with an unexpected shyness, spoke again, a soft glow emanating from her entire being.
“This morning, in the classroom, I accidentally… said you weren’t a bad person. I’m really sorry.”
In her mind, Lim So-hee believed that Kim Do-jin was not truly a delinquent, but rather was pretending to be one on purpose.
Though she couldn’t grasp the reason, she felt that Kim Do-jin was deliberately playing the part of a troublemaker, and to say otherwise was to undermine that act.
Thus, she found herself apologizing, and Kim Do-jin soon grasped the situation, responding with a light chuckle.
“Oh, was that what happened? I thought the atmosphere in the classroom felt a bit off this morning…”
He let out a soft laugh before continuing.
“It’s fine. No need to worry about that… It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”
His words were meant to convey that there was no need to maintain the facade of a delinquent, yet it seemed to touch Lim So-hee deeply.
“Thank you! I’ll be more careful from now on!”
“Sure.”
Kim Do-jin nodded once, preparing to move on.
But then, as if she still had something to say, Lim So-hee flinched and hurriedly spoke up.
“Um, you know…”
“…?”
When he looked down again, Lim So-hee shone even brighter, fumbling over her words.
“Well, if it’s okay… would you like to have lunch together?”
Lunch with Lim So-hee?
It was an unexpected proposal, yet he didn’t ponder it for long.
“Yeah, sure. We’re going to eat now, right? Let’s go.”
Kim Do-jin replied and took a step forward.
However.
“…?”
For some reason, Lim So-hee did not follow.
He turned slightly to look back at her.
“…….”
Surprisingly, Im So-hee had not failed to follow.
“…Where are you going?”
Im So-hee was floating up into the sky, as if she were some helium balloon, bobbing gently in the air.