Chapter 63

Shin Jae-heon shook his head slightly.

He wrote that below, and Shin Jae-heon slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.

He glanced back at me before rummaging through my pencil case and pulling out another mechanical pencil.

He pondered while tapping the tip of the pencil, then gave a disappointingly lame answer considering how long he’d thought about it.

Really? I shot him a quick glance.

You look like you’ve got a ton to say. That can’t be it, right?

“……”

I jutted my chin as if to say, Spit it out.

But Shin Jae-heon just shook his head.

―Swish.

Then, out of nowhere, he snatched my notebook.

―Scribble, scribble.

And started doodling on it with the pencil.

“?”

While occasionally glancing out the window.

What had begun as a mere doodle rapidly expanded into a picture of us.

Me first, then Shin Jae-heon, followed by Joo Yian up front and even So Yeri the hunter.

At the very forefront was Shin Jae-heon’s reflection in the window.

‘Oh.’

I knew he could draw well, but I hadn’t realized he was this good.

Better than back in high school, even. Did he find time to practice?

Dozens of minutes passed. As the doodle gained more depth and weight, the system window popped up.

Wasn’t fourth period over? I was twitching my eyebrow when it happened.

Having finished the drawing, Shin Jae-heon abruptly scrawled a note right on top of it.

“Promise?”

I blurted it out without thinking. My voice was loud enough to make the two in front and the students around us turn their heads.

Fortunately, the PE teacher had already wandered off into dreamland by then.

I waved dismissively at the puzzled faces of Joo Yian and So Yeri the hunter.

Then I mouthed the question back at Shin Jae-heon.

‘Promise?’

Shin Jae-heon gave a light nod in response.

‘We promised, remember? When the chance comes, I’ll die before you do.’

His words suddenly sprang to mind. It wasn’t just my imagination.

No way—that one?

Thinking about dying might actually make it happen! I clenched my fist tight, and Shin Jae-heon smiled without a sound.

‘Hand it over.’

Then he lifted the notebook, pointing at Joo Yian the hunter.

‘?’

He pulled a random book from his own drawer and scribbled on it.

Well, Joo Yian does tend to get lonely.

Even after finishing a gate raid and getting personal time, he almost never went out.

His room always had that photo of the four of us in a sparkling frame.

To my note, Shin Jae-heon replied half-heartedly.

The guy who cheated death has nothing to say?

You want this?

―Thud!

I slammed his book shut and aimed the corner at the top of his head.

Shin Jae-heon dodged swiftly and raised both hands.

‘Surrender.’

He didn’t forget to mouth it, either.

Ugh, this jerk!

I glared at Shin Jae-heon before stashing the notebook in my inventory.

Ah, but first I tore off the last note. No need for him to see the bit about getting lonely.

Can I even take this out of here?

Thankfully, it wasn’t one of those non-portable items—it went into my inventory without issue.

That’s when the system window appeared again.

Is lunch time just about eating? Like those bonus reward phases sometimes at the end of RP dungeons?

But is the school cafeteria food even good?

I was musing over the system window when it suddenly flared bright red, as if to say fat chance.

What? Huh?

Through the gaps in the system windows, I could see the students already sticking one leg out from under their desks.

Wait—were they prepping to bolt?

―♬♪♩~

Clatter! With the bell, the students abruptly leaped from their seats.

Our eyes met.

Even if the four of us snag first through fourth, that’s 1+2+3+4=10th place combined!

This is insane!

But there was no time to complain—a new system window popped up right beside us.

Staying put means we’re toast!

“Let’s run for now!”

Even with Joo Yian’s heal skill, Shin Jae-heon and I were still in mid-to-severe condition.

Run like this? Is lunch really worth it?

…The situation was too urgent to even ask.

“Let’s run for now!”

I swallowed the pain and bolted from my desk. I felt the other three charging after me.

So Yeri the hunter—who hadn’t set foot in high school for twenty years—was still out of it when Joo Yian’s chat popped up.

It’d hurt like hell if I ran too long, sure!

As I grimaced, Shin Jae-heon’s chat came in.

He grasped the situation fast—soon he surged ahead of me. As expected from the guy who’d always beaten me to the cafeteria.

Is that jerk even hurting?

Even Joo Yian, who’d never run for lunch before, seemed to catch on that arriving late to the cafeteria spelled trouble.

His pace picked up.

Meanwhile, So Yeri the hunter started getting lost.

Well, this was our high school—Shin Jae-heon and mine—so it made sense she didn’t know the way.

“This way is…”

We were on the fifth floor.

Cafeteria on the second.

I vaguely recalled the high school’s layout. Even after ten years, the map was crystal clear in my mind.

Did I simulate the cafeteria sprint that much back in school?

Anyway, it was a good thing now.

“Straight down the central stairs this—”

I started to say, then flinched.

Wait—floors three and four got wrecked by Shin Jae-heon. No, the math teacher.

I whipped around sharply.

The two hunters—who had no clue the lower floors were trashed—looked baffled, but Shin Jae-heon and I spun around sharply.

Never having sprinted for lunch before, Joo Yian looked utterly confused.

But So Yeri the hunter—who’d done it a bit—reacted differently.

In the meantime, the hallway’s end window was drawing near.

To Joo Yian, it made sense for us to run with our heads on the line, but he couldn’t fathom why the other students were risking their lives too.

It’s what gets you through school!

The moment we veered off the main path, the system window appeared. Our rankings plummeted instantly.

With the genius trio hogging the top spots, I flung the window wide open.

―Bang!

Our four bodies immediately floated up into the air.

Physical stats restricted, but skills apparently weren’t.

We slipped out the window and, following So Yeri the hunter’s movements, dove straight into a second-floor window.

Our rankings flipped in an instant.

At this rate, 1+2+4+6=13th combined—we’d still be over the limit and die.

“The cafeteria is at the end of the second-floor hallway!”

At my words, the whole team shot forward like slingshots.