Chapter 190

Chapter 190

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 190“Eugene, aren't you running?”

Choi Yeon tilted her head and asked as she looked at me still standing there.

“I'm worried you'll actually go all out.”

“Hm? I'm not supposed to go all out?”

Seeing her repeatedly tilt her head as though wondering what the problem was, apparently she'd really intended to do it properly.

I sighed.

“If an Awakened goes all out against seven-year-olds, would that even be a contest? You're just supposed to play with them. Like you're about to catch them, but barely miss.”

“Ah.”

Only after I explained it that thoroughly did she finally nod as though she'd understood.

“Got it. Slowly. Without catching them. Right?”

“Yeah. You can do that, right?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing her nod firmly, I relaxed and moved away too.

“Ah, Eugene.”

“What?”

“When I'm trying to catch you, do I have to go easy too?”

“Me?”

For a moment, I wanted to tell her to come at me with everything she had if she thought she could catch me, but then I remembered once again that we were at the Blue House and nodded.

“Only enough that you don't damage the grass around us.”

“That's enough?”

“Yeah.”

Even we might get scolded if we ruined this garden.

“Close your eyes and count to ten before starting.”

“Got it. Ten... nine...”

Avoiding her as she slowly began counting, I casually looked around.

There were only a few places to hide in the wide-open clearing.

Looking at the kind of spots only small children could barely hide in, I sighed.‘So I'm the only one who's actually going to be chased in the end.’“Zero... I'm coming.”

The moment she finished counting and opened her eyes, wind swept through the garden.

“Hey...!”

Even though I'd told her not to go all out, she started chasing me at tremendous speed from the very beginning.

“If you run like that, you'll ruin the grass!”

“No. I'm being careful.”

“What?!”

I dodged her attacks as she rushed toward me and looked at the grass beneath her feet.

She had wrapped a thin layer of aura around herself, minimizing the impact transferred to the ground.

If she used a method like that, it would indeed prevent the ground from being gouged out whenever she stepped or accelerated sharply.

“So that's how you're going to play it?”

I also concentrated aura at the tips of my feet and kept it as soft as possible.

The area beneath my feet felt springy, almost like I'd become a cat.

It was a minor change, but the result was dramatic.

Because I could move much more freely thanks to the improved responsiveness I felt at every moment.

“How are you copying it immediately?”

“Did you forget who I am?! I'm still the successor of Aura Style!”

Making aura soft was something I'd already learned from Kwak Chun-sik.

Applying it like this was child's play.

Then what I needed to do now wasn't run away, but evade.

While diligently retreating and dodging Choi Yeon's hand as it constantly reached for my openings.

“Aah! Big Sis and Big Bro are the only ones playing!”

“That's unfair! Unfair!”

The two children who had been hiding behind the bushes walked out with puffed-up cheeks, glared at us, and sharply turned their heads away.

“Ji-yoon! Let's just play by ourselves!”

“Okay, Yeon-ah!”

Maybe they'd gotten close while hiding in the bushes, because they were already casually talking to each other as they looked at us.

But for kids saying they'd play by themselves, they were strangely motionless.

I subtly signaled Choi Yeon with my eyes and quietly said.‘...

Go catch the kids already.’‘Now?’‘They're signaling for you to chase them! Don't run as fast as before. Slowly! Like you're about to catch them but barely miss!’‘Yeah.’Eventually, Choi Yeon turned away from me and ran toward the children.

The kids, who had been pretending to sulk until now, screamed, “Kyaaa!” and started running across the grass.

“Choi Yeon! At least threaten them by saying you'll catch them!”

Following kids around without saying anything just makes you look like a creep!

Thankfully, after hearing my shout, she looked at the kids again and opened her mouth.

“Yeah... I'm going to catch you all?”

“She says she'll catch us! Yeon-ah, run!”

“Kyaaa~!”

As expected, this way looked much easier for her to play with the children.

Watching the three of them run around excitedly, I carefully began moving backward.

Good. If I quietly slip away like this, they'll run around until they get tired, right?

With that thought, I watched the kids run for about ten minutes.

“Caught you.”

In the end, tag came to an end when Choi Yeon hugged both children at once.

“Hehehe...”

“That was fun...”

The kids were drenched in sweat from running around so excitedly, yet they were still grinning happily.

While watching the scene and being surprised by the new realization that Choi Yeon was actually pretty good at playing with children despite not knowing how.

“Eugene. I think this is training. Speed control. I feel like I'm starting to get a sense of it.”

Seeing a genius gain new insight even while playing tag with seven-year-old children, I couldn't help letting out a hollow laugh.

What the hell do you have to do to gain new insight while playing with seven-year-olds?

As expected, ‘monster’ was definitely the kind of nickname that belonged to someone like her.

That was when.

“Oh, looks like you're playing an interesting game?”

Hiccup.

A familiar voice came with the sound of a hiccup.

When I turned around, Kwak Chun-sik was standing there with a face redder than usual, accompanied by Choi Seon-ho and the President, both with their heads lowered.

“...

Elder?”

“Yeah.”

How much did this man drink?

“Can't you just use aura to clear the alcohol from your system? Get a grip.”

“Brat! Why drink alcohol at all if you're going to do that! Hiccup! Isn't that right, Brother Choi.”

“Yeahyeah. Right, right. The President is drinking too, so how could we use such wicked techniques-.”

“Hehehe. Hehehe.”

How long had we even been away for the three of them to become almost completely drunk?

“...

Grandpa?”

“Hmm? Ahh. My pretty granddaughter. Choi Yeon. Yeon. Isn't that Yeon.”

“...

Did you drink a lot?”

“Juuust a little! A veeeery little!”

Why is it that when people who are all major figures outside gather together, every single one of them ends up dead drunk?

I'd heard the last drinking party had turned into chaos too, and now I felt like I understood why.

These men simply had fun playing around like this.

“That game just now. It looked fun... hiccup! Why don't we join?”

Kwak Chun-sik suddenly made a strange proposal toward us.

“You want us to play tag with you, Elder? How is that supposed to work?”

“I'm doing it! Me too!”

Choi Seon-ho suddenly raised his hand high and applied to join.

“Hey. Little Brother President. Are you joining too?”

But perhaps his alcohol tolerance was weaker than the other two, because Kang Sang-rok shook his head vigorously, stepped backward, and dropped to the ground.

“Tsk... tch. Still so young... fine! The two of us will do it!”

With the President declaring he wouldn't participate, tag ended up being played with only those two.

“Then you two have fun. We'll rest a little.”

Playing tag against the drunk strongest old men in the world?

Was there a better method of suicide than that?

Choi Yeon also shook her head as though uninterested.

Watching us, Choi Seon-ho grinned.

“What a shame. I was going to give you a gift if you survived the game of tag.”

“...

A gift?”

A gift Choi Seon-ho was confidently wagering like that?

“That's right. Not just anyone's gift, but a gift from the Sword Saint. Interested now, child of Calione?”

If he went that far, how could I not be interested?

“If the Sword Saint says that much, there's no way it's ordinary. I'll accept the bet.”

“Eugene, you're really going to play tag with Grandpa?”

“It's a good opportunity.”

Not the usual cold Sword Saint, but a Sword Saint completely drunk.

In that case, there was enough chance of winning.‘For me, at least.’“...

If Eugene is doing it, I'll do it too.”

“You're joining?”

“Yeah. If Eugene looks confident, that means there's a chance.”

Seriously, she was sharp in situations like this.

“Good! Since two people are participating, let's set the rules right away. Chun-sik and I will only move on one leg. If either of us touches the ground with our other foot, or if we fail to catch you within ten minutes, we lose. Conversely, if we catch you within that time, we win.”

Hiccup.

As though coordinating their movements, the two hiccupping men each lifted one leg at the same time.

“Are you─.”

“Ready─?”

Drunk old men hopping toward us on one leg.

It sounded like something out of a horror movie, but reality was even scarier.

One was an Aura Master.

The other was a man called the Immortal of the Sword.

“Choi Yeon.”

“Yeah.”

“If either of us is in danger, we help each other.”

“Yeah.”

At some point, the President had moved far away while carrying the children so they wouldn't get caught up in things, then raised his hand toward the sky.

“Staaart!”──Bang!

With the sound of them kicking off the air, the two disappeared.

“Split up!”

If we stayed together, we'd only get pincered by the two old men.

As expected, when we immediately split up, each old man attached himself to one of us.

“Hahahaha! I've always been curious! Just how skilled are you, the boy Calione boasts about so much!”

It was supposed to be a game of tag, yet for some reason, Choi Seon-ho clenched his fist and threw a straight punch at me.

“Why are you punching me!”

“I'm controlling my strength, aren't I! Hahahaha!”

“That's not the important part──.”

Just as he said, the punch had been properly restrained, but when his fist grazed past my cheek, I heard the air burst at the tip.

“If that hit me, I'd have been knocked unconscious at minimum!”

“Then you'd lose!”

Has this crazy old man lost his restraints because he's drunk?

“Now! What will you do! At this rate, I'll catch you!”

A second straight punch swings toward me.

“If you're going to play like this, I have methods too!”

The only rules they had established were that we couldn't be caught by the taggers for ten minutes, and that both of their feet couldn't touch the ground.

In other words.───Booooom!!

Using weapons was allowed!

“Kuhahahaha! Fiery!”

Even though I'd fired the shotgun from point-blank range, the Sword Saint blocked it with a smile as though it were laughable.

His physical ability truly was monstrous enough to match his reputation.

But the important thing was that his body had been pushed backward by the shotgun's impact.

I fired the second shell at the knee of the leg he was still holding up.

“You intend to force my foot to the ground with the impact? Do you think that will work?!”

But after blocking the barrage with his knee, he looked at me mockingly.

So what?

I was already fleeing far into the distance.

“...

You're using the recoil generated when firing the bullet to escape? Ha, what an astonishing use.”

There wasn't any technique that would work on that monster immediately anyway.

The best method was to run as much as possible and look for an opening.

I put away the shotgun, pulled out the Tommy Gun, and blindly poured bullets at him to buy time.

But the Sword Saint simply took every bullet with his bare body as though they were annoying and hopped toward me.

It was truly terrifying.

“If this is all you're going to use to stop me, I'm disappointed...”

“Then be disappointed by yourself.”

I'd already closed enough distance to ‘that.’

“Choi Yeon!”

“I'm ready!”

At my shout, she extended both hands forward, preparing to face Kwak Chun-sik.

He let out a hollow laugh as though dumbfounded by the bizarre sight of someone who should have been running instead preparing to fight.

“What, have you given up... hm?”

But.

“Grandpaaa~!”

The moment what I'd picked up touched Kwak Chun-sik's back, his body froze.

“Yeon-ah?”

“Ugh! Grandpa smells like alcohol! I hate it!”

He looked flustered at Yeon-ah clinging to his back with a frown.

At the same time, Choi Yeon grabbed Kwak Chun-sik's leg like a baseball player sliding into base and pulled it downward with all her strength.

“W-wait!”─Tap.

Kwak Chun-sik.

One of his feet finally touched the ground as he stared blankly in despair.