Haerin was the complete opposite of Carissa and Serena.
Through the first weeks of school, her and Leo's desk had become the gathering spot for my classmates.
She was sociable, easy-going, and usually not arrogant, making her the perfect figure for everyone to flock to.
"...so?"
Jumping backward at the sudden sound in my ear, I looked up and saw Haerin now standing right in front of me.
My perception is this low...?
Before I could even say anything, she confusedly pointed at the big gaping hole in the bookshelf and questioned.
"What's this?"
Taking a deep breath, I casually stood up and said.
"My secret...study spot."
Alternating glances between my face and the hole with her eyebrows raised, she narrowed her eyes and asked.
"Does the librarian know about this?"
"..? Would it be a secret if she did?"
Leaning forward and peering her head into the hole, which just led downward into a black-void like a waterslide, she muttered.
"Well, you must be doing something right."
Waving my hands, I forced a smile and said.
"I'll help you study; let's go back to your desk."
Turning her head around, still in the hole, she suddenly said, a hint of anger visible in her voice.
"Help? When did I ask for your help!?"
Letting out a dry cough, I corrected.
"I mean, study together."
However, at that moment, as she retracted her face from the hole, the top of her head suddenly hit something.
Her legs instantly buckled, and without anything to hold her back, she slipped right into the hole headfirst, vanishing from sight.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"..."
Why can't I have anything!?
Now standing before the hole in the empty library, I groaned and unsheathed my sword before leaping into the hole, sliding down feet-first.
As I came down, I screamed out.
"MOVE!"
Thankfully, she heeded my instructions, and a moment later, I felt a soft surface, like a pillow, break my fall instead of a body.
Before me now lay a massive room, the size of our classroom, with faintly lit torches on the side, lighting up the empty area: just dirt ground and walls.
Surrounded by massive walls, colored an Earthly brown, I slowly stood up and glanced to my left, where Haerin...was eagerly skipping around with her sword while muttering.
"Ah, I was so bored, finally!"
Seeing me behind her, she immediatly readied her sword and pointed it at me, prompting countless blue lines to appear and cover my body.
"What is this place!? Let me guess. You're a djinn, and this is your hideout! I knew something was off about you."
Letting out a sigh, I simply continued walking and headed straight toward the opposite side of the room.
The holographic lines followed me, but I didn't mind.
Haerin was a good character; she wouldn't kill anyone unless she knew for certain they were evil.
Reaching the massive wooden double doors on the opposite side, I glanced up, spotting a timer imprinted in the wall above, counting down from 30 minutes.
Of course, I knew how to enter this place without enabling the timer, but it seemed the World was just against me having wealth.
Pissed off, I opened the doors and sprinted into the next room, which was the same as the last except for a stone-brick platform in the middle.
We had skipped all the steps of the treasure hunt and were now on the last challenge.
*DRIP~DROP*
The sound of water leaking down into the room sounded, prompting me to look up to see four massive pipes slowly leaking droplets into the room at an increasingly fast rate.
In the previous room, a voice also echoed.
"Why...is there water? Is that...a timer!?
Before I could even respond, the final challenge materialized before me on the stone platform.
When I initially wrote these scenes, it was exam time at my school, which left me rushed for time.
Thus, this challenge was fairly simple: there were no shortcuts or even a need for one.
10 rounds.
Dozens of fairies, the size of small children, levitated in the air before me, colored a malicious dark purple instead of pure green.
Their wings, eyes, and even attire were a devilish mix of red and purple.
Demonic beasts.
In the next moment, the sound of footsteps echoed behind me, and a familiar figure paused beside me.
It was ironic: she had been here in the original, just with Leo and not me.
Perhaps, coming to a conclusion that I wasn't her enemy or just being excited to fight, she yelled out while sprinting forward.
"Cover my back!"
Dozens of dark-purple orbs appeared in the fairies' hands, charging forward at Haerin.
Thousands of holographic lines covered my vision, making the scene before me feel more like a light show than a fight.
As a dark-purple orb rushed at Haerin's back, I rushed forward and sliced through it with my sword, watching it disperse into countless pieces.
Simultaneously, Haerin cut through two fairies and glanced backward with her sword ready, watching me cut through every orb that even came close to her.
I had one job.
Protect her.
Orb trajectories that weren't aimed at her were ignored, and those that were, I sliced instantly.
At some point, perhaps after the sixth fairy, she stopped looking back after killing and instead moved on to the next, assuming I would be there.
Because I was.
Dancing in between fairy attacks and orbs was as easy as walking for me.
I had spent countless hours practicing my footwork in the painting at this point; dodging 12 simultaneous attacks of Rank F-fairies was easy.
Ducking downward, as an orb shot at me from a fairy that was not being targeted by Haerin, I dived while kneeling, watching as another purple ball right below me, and jabbed my sword forward, piercing through a ball about to hit her legs.
Rolling on the ground, I dodged two direct fairies who attempted to claw at me before performing a kip up, jumping back onto my feet with extraordinary core strength, and slicing through two more orbs.