Chapter 37
Part 6. The Dragon’s Shadow (6)
Objectively speaking, Lee Sanghee was beautiful.
A slender, graceful neck, porcelain-white skin, and large eyes hidden beneath long eyelashes.
Though none of that was visible right now, since her head was lowered.
“I—I’ll start.”
Lee Sanghee’s trembling voice spread through the lecture hall. A faint light bloomed at her fingertips.
I felt a bit impressed.
‘So it really is a light-attribute barrier.’
Light attributes were broken abilities.
No matter what the skill was, simply being a light element already gave you an unfair advantage.
‘Come to think of it… wasn’t I light-type too?’
At that moment, Erich spoke in a drowsy voice.
You’re a divine attribute, if I recall. There’s no comparison.
‘Mm-hmm.’
Either way, Lee Sanghee’s magic was impressive.
At first, the light was small and weak, like a firefly. Then it gradually grew, gently wrapping around her body.
The light slowly took shape. A transparent, membrane-like structure formed in a circle around her.
A barrier.
A light-attribute defensive barrier.
“Ooooh!”
Exclamations erupted from all around. I found myself staring with my mouth slightly open as well.
Light-attribute barriers weren’t common skills. And Lee Sanghee’s barrier wasn’t just blocking physical attacks. It filled the inside with a soft glow that gave off a sense of calm and stability. There was something special about it.
“This is the skill ‘Sanctuary of Light’ that student Lee Sanghee awakened in the Moon Halo dungeon. It’s a D-rank barrier, but unusually, it also provides a buff that helps party members inside maintain their awakened state.”
Another wave of amazement followed the professor’s explanation.
A D-rank skill with a buff effect?
And not just any buff, but awakened-state maintenance, one of the most crucial effects in dungeon raids?
“Of course, the duration is still short at about thirty minutes, and the range is limited to a three-meter radius. However, it has extremely high growth potential. If Lee Sanghee continues training, it could develop into a B-rank or even an A-rank barrier.”
“That’s insane.”
Hyun Iseo muttered quietly beside me. I felt the same.
With a barrier like that, how valuable would she be in a party? No matter how timid her personality was, the hunter world welcomed anyone with real skill.
Lee Sanghee finished the demonstration and returned to her seat.
Her head was lowered again, face hidden behind her hair. But as she passed, students’ envious gazes followed her.
Watching her, I thought about the original story.
In the original, Lee Sanghee gradually gained confidence after joining Yoo Hanseong’s party. At the same time, her obsession with him also deepened.
She was still timid now, but perhaps the seed of that obsession was already growing inside her.
And judging by the way she disliked me, it seemed she already saw me as a rival heroine.
Honestly, this was exactly what I’d been worried about.
‘Especially because Lee Sanghee loses all rationality when it comes to Yoo Hanseong.’
I glanced toward the back of the classroom.
Yoo Hanseong was sitting by the window. He looked completely uninterested in both the professor’s explanation and Lee Sanghee’s demonstration, staring outside instead.
An expressionless face.
As always, that cold, detached look that revealed nothing.
In the original story, Lee Sanghee supposedly fell in love with him at first sight. I didn’t know the exact timing, but it was probably early in their academy days.
That feeling grew and grew, eventually turning into a pathological obsession.
‘How far along is it now?’
Surprisingly, Yoo Hanseong didn’t seem to show her any interest, unlike in the original.
Class ended, and break time began.
I organized my notes and prepared for the next class.
As an F-rank, I was still far from being able to maintain an awakened-state buff, but I believed understanding the theory would help someday.
That was when—
“Y-Yoo Hanseong.”
A small, trembling voice reached my ears.
I looked up. Lee Sanghee was standing near Yoo Hanseong’s seat.
She was holding two cans of drinks, her face flushed red.
“U-Um, th-this…”
With shaking hands, she offered one can to Yoo Hanseong.
He paused his reading and looked up at her, his face still expressionless.
“What is it?”
“E-earlier, d-during the d-demonstration… th-thank you for h-helping…”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Yoo Hanseong cut her off coldly.
Lee Sanghee’s face turned even redder. Her hand trembled faintly.
“S-Still… b-back in the Moon Halo dungeon. Y-you were n-next to me. S-so I could find the c-courage…”
Moon Halo dungeon.
I hadn’t been inside, so I didn’t know the details, but that must have been when she awakened her new skill.
And Yoo Hanseong had been there.
He stared at her without saying anything.
A few seconds of silence passed.
Lee Sanghee shrank back more and more, and nearby students’ attention slowly shifted toward them.
“…Fine.”
In the end, Yoo Hanseong accepted the drink.
His expression didn’t change. He didn’t say “thank you” or “sorry.” He simply took it.
“Th-thank you…!”
Lee Sanghee smiled brightly and hurried back to her seat.
Her back looked oddly happy. Though her head was lowered, her shoulders bounced slightly, clearly showing she was smiling.
‘She really does like Yoo Hanseong.’
Even without original-story knowledge, it was obvious.
This wasn’t just a mild crush. Her feelings already seemed quite deep.
I lowered my gaze back to my notebook.
I didn’t have the luxury of caring about someone else’s love life. My survival came first.
But then, I felt something strange.
A sensation of being watched.
I looked up and met Yoo Hanseong’s eyes.
He had placed the drink can on his desk and was looking at me.
More precisely, he was glancing at me.
Uncharacteristically so.
‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’
Should I ask what his problem was?
‘Is something bothering him?’
Ah. Right.
I had started developing new potions. In preparation for the Azure Dragon dungeon.
‘Is that it?’
Yoo Hanseong’s gaze shifted away. He looked back out the window.
As if nothing had happened.
I shook my head and tried to refocus on my notes.
But then, I felt another gaze.
This time, it was Lee Sanghee.
She was seated at her desk, looking at me.
No—more accurately, she had seen Yoo Hanseong glance at me, and now she was watching me.
Her eyes were different.
They were no longer timid or anxious.
They were sharp, cold, and wary. Like an animal that felt its territory had been invaded.
‘Oh no.’
A chill ran down my spine.
Lee Sanghee had definitely seen it. Yoo Hanseong is looking at me.
And she didn’t like it.
Her hand clenched tightly on her desk. Veins bulged faintly on the back of her hand.
But her head was still lowered, so no one else could see her expression.
Only me.
Only I saw that cold, dark gaze.
‘This is bad.’
Things were starting to get complicated.
Yoo Hanseong was paying attention to me, and Lee Sanghee had noticed.
Wasn’t this the most cliché setup ever?
I wasn’t even the heroine, but that didn’t seem to matter to Lee Sanghee.
In the original story, she gradually turned into a yandere due to her obsession with Yoo Hanseong.
Of course, she probably wasn’t that far gone yet.
But hadn’t the seed already sprouted?
And the thought that I might be the first target of that seed made my skin crawl.
‘I just want to lie low for a while.’
But life never goes the way you want it to.
The bell rang, and students poured out into the hallway.
I packed my bag and stood up as well.
That was when I saw Lee Sanghee walking in my direction.
No—more accurately, she was pretending to pass by while subtly scanning me.
Her gaze started at my face, moved to my bag and my shoes, then back to my face.
As if she were analyzing me.
Judging whether I was a threat.
