"This is more serious than I thought. Are ghosts really going to pop out?"
"T-Teacher! Why would you say something like that?"
"Haha, Ji-han. You're a guy, and you're scared of ghosts?"
"I-I'm not scared of ghosts or anything."
I took the lead and started walking.
There was a simple security checkpoint, so I had to authenticate with my teaching assistant ID.
By the way, this place really feels like it's ripe for ghost stories.
It's a valley in the dead of night, so not only is there no sign of human presence, but there's no sound of wild animals either. What's even more strange is that I can't even hear the sound of the wind.
The only sounds are our footsteps and the sound of water falling in the valley.
"It's really eerie. Yura, do you know how much farther we have to go to reach the rumored spot?"
I asked Noh Yura about the distance.
As expected of a girl her age who's active on social media, Yura answered smoothly.
"Between the canyon and the valley? It'll take about 20 more minutes to get there."
"You know it well. You must be interested in the academy's geography."
"Well, if you take photos of unique places like this and post them on SNS, you can get a lot of attention."
"...Ah, I see."
It was hard to relate to Yura's words.
Perhaps it's because I've lived on battlefields far removed from modern civilization.
I don't understand people who use social media.
I still don't know why they waste their time on it.
"What's with that lukewarm reaction?"
"I just realized once again that I'm getting old."
"You're still young, Teacher! If you'd said that in front of my dad, you might've gotten smacked."
I half-heartedly agreed with Yura and looked straight ahead.
We were gradually passing through the valley, and the canyon was coming into view.
We were almost at the high ground.
Since we were nearly there, I tried to pick up the pace and heighten my senses, but...
What is this strange feeling?
'A presence? No, it's too faint for that.'
I felt traces of a living being nearby.
It wasn't the students, but it didn't feel like a human either.
It was too faint to be a human presence.
Not even an assassin would be this faint.
It felt more like a shadow.
Here, 'shadow' isn't slang for an assassin or a specific group or person. I mean it literally, like a shadow.
'Like a shadow that naturally follows a person, blending seamlessly into the surroundings.'
Just in case, I opened my mouth.
In a low, serious tone, I murmured.
"Everyone, stop."
"Why are we stopping all of a sudden…?"
"If the teacher says to stop, there's a reason. Just stay still."
"...But why are we stopping?"
At my words, everyone stopped walking.
Lee Ji-han was puzzled by the sudden command, but he kept his mouth shut at Noh Yura's words. The other students spread their senses using their heightened awareness or magic.
But there was no significant gain.
I narrowed my eyes sharply and told them to keep moving.
However, as we walked, the faint traces continued to be felt, and the group stopped several times. Being thorough is good, but with no real threat in sight, the students started to complain about the repeated stops.
Especially Lee Ji-han.
"Teacher, aren't you being too sensitive? How many times is this now?"
"...This is strange. This shouldn't be happening."
"There's no way ghosts exist. Maybe monsters, but ghosts? What kind of ridiculous ghost story is this?"
Lee Ji-han, who had just been startled by leaves and branches brushing against his neck, now crossed his arms and acted tough. It would be funny if a ghost actually showed up.
Right then, Noh Yura pointed behind Lee Ji-han.
"Huh? The branches over there are shaking."
"Ha, you think I'll fall for that again?"
"Hmm, just look behind you for real this time."
At Isis's words, who had a cold expression as chilling as the cold air on her skin, Lee Ji-han turned around again, thinking he'd been fooled once more. But the branches were indeed shaking.
And at an unnatural speed.
Although the chilly early spring wind felt stronger today, it wasn't strong enough to shake the branches like that.
I couldn't suspect someone was using magic within the grounds.
Because we were the only ones here.
As I blinked, my red pupils turned purple, and I observed the world in black and white. No artificial flow of magic was visible.
This meant the shaking of the branches wasn't caused by a skill or magic, but happened naturally.
Does that even make sense?
Right at that moment.
—Thud!
Something fell from above to the ground.
It wasn't a loud sound, but Lee Ji-han, who was already on edge, jumped in fright.
"W-What was that…?!"
"...Teacher, there's no way there's really a ghost, right?"
"Wow, I've never seen a ghost before! I need to take a photo!"
At this point, it was reasonable to suspect that the mysterious ghost stories might be true. I let out a hollow laugh and murmured.
"...Maybe the mysteries are real after all."
I've thought about the term 'mystery' before.
Why does Seven Stars, with its perfectionist tendencies, tolerate vague terms like 'mystery' or 'strange and bizarre'?
I've only been here as a teaching assistant for a month, but that was enough time to understand the general tendencies of the people here.
Professors, teaching assistants, security guards. Even the janitors.
Everyone at Seven Stars takes pride in working and belonging to Seven Stars.
Why is that?
Is it because of the prestige of being one of the world's top five academies? Or the sense of mission to lead Korea's hunter industry?
If not that, then…
'Is it because the world's basic setting is structured that way?'
There was no clear answer.
But if I had to pick one answer, it would be this.
Seven Stars is a world-class educational institution, both subjectively and objectively.
Who else would invest this much in students' education?
That's why the pride of those affiliated with Seven Stars is so strong.
It's like watching nobles pledge loyalty to royalty.
Anyway, Seven Stars's professors, who are like nobles, would never tolerate ambiguous situations.
It goes against their perfectionist tendencies.
The same goes for Seven Star's seven mysteries.
Since the rumors started with 'Seven Stars,' the perfection-sensitive professors wouldn't just sit back.
They would have done everything to uncover the mysteries.
Yet, the mysteries have been passed down from seniors to freshmen by word of mouth.
Now, it's not even easy to trace the origin of these rumors.
'In other words, it means that even Seven Stars's professors haven't uncovered anything in all that time.'
Maybe the rumors are just baseless ghost stories that no one cares about. But based on my intuition, that doesn't seem to be the case.
If they were truly worthless, Nam Hwa-yeon wouldn't have known about them.
She wouldn't bother remembering something as trivial as a mystery that's already been debunked.
There must be something to it.
"...There's something here."
Right at that moment.
An unnatural feeling that only those with heightened senses could detect.
I was the first to catch it, and as I murmured softly, the students behind me also sharpened their senses.
"T-Teacher, you're not just messing with me, are you?"
"Hey, do you think the teacher would say something like that just to mess with you? And don't you feel this strange sensation?"
"W-What strange sensation?"
"Shh... Yura, be quiet..."
But not everyone could feel it just by sharpening their senses.
No matter how much Lee Ji-han honed his senses with magic, he couldn't feel anything and asked if we were messing with him.
At his words, Noh Yura narrowed her eyes sharply.
Putting aside the fact that he dared to doubt the teacher's words, she was quite disappointed that he couldn't feel the faint sense of unease.
Most students who enroll at Seven Stars are elites from around the world.
So, it was hard to understand how he couldn't sense this unease.
It wasn't that she was looking down on Lee Ji-han.
She genuinely couldn't understand.
Even she, along with the other students, the mage Isabelle, and Isis, had noticed it.
Noh Yura was about to say something, but she closed her mouth at Seo Yerin's words.
There was no need to ask why she had been called.
She realized it immediately.
Our dependable teacher, leading the way.
His red eyes sparkled like gemstones.
The amethyst-like glow, reflecting the light, quietly illuminated the area beyond the bushes.
His sharp gaze seemed to pierce through the bushes and the surrounding terrain.
Noh Yura blushed and stared blankly at him.
Right at that moment.
—Rustle, rustle!
The bushes shook, and the sound of branches being stepped on was heard.
The tense group immediately drew their weapons.
Isis enveloped her hands in cold air, Seo Yerin reached for the spear on her back.
Sung Yeon-hwa swiftly drew the sword at her waist like lightning, and Isabelle, with a displeased expression, surrounded herself with a tricolor light.
Lee Ji-han, trembling in fear, held his hand axe with shaking hands.
Everyone was armed.
Only Noh Yura didn't reach for her weapon.
Her gaze was still fixed on her first love.
There was some selfish desire to keep looking at his serious face, but she wasn't foolish enough to lose her rationality purely out of infatuation.
However, the teacher's expression was somewhat strange.
He wasn't preparing to fight.
There was no trace of tension or fear.
He just had a blank expression, as if wondering why something like that was here.
Right after that.
—Snap!
Something burst out of the bushes.
As soon as it appeared, the group prepared for battle, and Lee Ji-han screamed.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
A high-pitched scream that was hard to believe came from a man.
Noh Yura wasn't pleased with Lee Ji-han.
He was the only guy in the group, and while the girls were all staying calm, he was the one screaming.
Well, given his petite build, I didn't expect much from him in that regard.
But it was still disappointing.
However, what truly disappointed Noh Yura was what Lee Ji-han did next.
Rustle, rustle—!
The thing that emerged from the bushes revealed itself.
Lee Ji-han reflexively threw himself backward, and the group, whose eyes had adjusted to the darkness, looked down at the creature in the bushes.
It was a truly unexpected creature.
"...A squirrel?"
"Oh my, how cute. Was it running around looking for food?"
"So the branches were shaking because of the squirrel…?"
A squirrel the size of a palm.
That was the creature that had been rustling in the bushes.
The moment they confirmed it, the tension that had been stretched like a rubber band snapped.
The group relaxed their guard slightly and scanned the surroundings.
There was nothing else to be felt besides the squirrel.
Instead, they witnessed a scene as shocking as a ghost.
"T-Teacher, is the ghost gone?"
"...Hey, what are you doing?!"
Lee Ji-han, who had thrown himself backward, trembled and asked.
Seo Yerin raised her voice at the sight of him.
Of course she did. The moment she saw Lee Ji-han in Baek Seung-woo's arms, her brow furrowed.
She was smiling, but it wasn't a real smile.
Lee Ji-han was still clinging to him like a baby kangaroo, and Baek Seung-woo, alternating his gaze between the squirrel and Lee Ji-han, spoke.
"...Get down, kid."
I'm so annoyed.
***
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