It was 2 A.M. in Korea, but 7 P.M. in Norway. The two countries were in different time zones, but their skies were equally dark.
Darkness descending on the snowy mountain marked the end of hunting club's event.
Chae Nayun and I obtained the first place and fourth place flags. The first place flag rewarded a piece of paper with Yun Seung-Ah's one-time help coupon, and the fourth place flag rewarded a VR gaming set worth 3 million won. All the prizes were fantastic as expected of gifts from active Heroes.
Chae Nayun and I returned to the cabin, where a warm barbeque party was waiting. Other club members who just came back greeted us with smiles.
"Wow, you got the first place flag!? I'm jealous!"
The club leader saw the flag in my hand and exclaimed. Other club members also sent looks of envy, to which I made a bitter smile.
"Now, let's eat."
The barbeque party started. Club members put meat on the grill. The sizzling sound was pleasant to hear, to say the least, but these kids were terrible at grilling. Realizing that they were just teenagers, I stepped up.
"I'll handle the grilling. You guys can rest."
When it came to cooking meat, it was a matter of pride for me. Because my aunt ran a Korean BBQ restaurant, I was quite confident in my grilling technique.
"...You're different than what the rumors say, huh."
A male senior gave me a look of surprise as he handed me the tongs he was holding.
Without talking, I focused on grilling. Knowing when to flip was the most important thing in cooking meat, and it was best to delay cutting them until the end. Of course, even as I devoted my attention to grilling, I kept my ears open. The seniors began to give their juniors valuable advice.
"I know your finals are coming up. Be careful. Finals will be more rigorous than any of the previous exams. Don't trust anyone, especially during the finals."
"Is it that difficult?"
"It's difficult, but more importantly, I've seen friendships dissolve because of it. Because it's directly connected to the cadet rankings, everyone will be on the edge. Also, you guys know that there's a separate class for people being held back, right?"
"Ah, yes."
"There are about 200 of them per year. You have to be especially careful of those guys. They won't stop at anything to pass since they'll be expelled if they don't pass this time."
Cadets held back from the previous year, they would be the source of trouble during the finals. Of the 200 repeaters, close to 20% were contracted to Djinns or were part of high profile organizations. There could be even more if the co-author manipulated the numbers.
"Hey, um... Haejin?"
"It's Hajin. Kim Hajin."
"Ah, Kim Hajin. You're a great griller! But you should eat some too."
"I've been eating while grilling, so I'm full."
"Really?"
The barbeque party continued for 20 minutes. Because I did a great job on the grilling duty, everyone was seeing me more favorably.
"The original plan was to go out for a night hunt... but let's just rest since we're full."
The club leader made his decision.
"Team 1 will use Cabin A. Team 2 will use Cabin B."
The 18 club members split into two separate cabins. Chae Nayun and I were assigned to Cabin A.
YOU ARE READING
The Novel's Extra (0-100)
ActionOFFLINE PURPOSES ONLY! I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! Waking up, Kim Hajin finds himself in a familiar world but an unfamiliar body. A world he created himself and a story he wrote, yet never finished. He had become his novel's extra, a filler character wi...
