The dormitories of Valhalla Academy were divided by tier.
There were the General Dormitories used by standard students who entered the academy.
Then there were the Advanced Dormitories, reserved for the children of those who donated significant sums to Valhalla.
One might shout, "Does it make sense to create such a disparity in an academy where everyone should be equal?" but Valhalla did not bend its policy.
It was inevitable. 'Donations' accounted for a significant portion of Valhalla's maintenance.
Of course, operating the academy was possible without them, but donations elevated the quality of education. Thus, Valhalla provided various benefits to donors in one way or another.
Although they were merciless regarding grades.
In that regard, Lokdil Ventric, who had donated an enormous sum to enter as a special exchange student, was using a very spacious room even by Advanced Dormitory standards.
The room was filled with so many luxury items that it was hard to see it as a mere dormitory.
High-end sofas and display cabinets lined the walls—furniture that made one wonder if a regular student truly needed such opulence.
Of course, Valhalla hadn't provided them. Lokdil Ventric had brought them himself.
"Damn it!!"
[Crash!!]
Lokdil Ventric stood frowning, breathing heavily. He had just smashed a chair worth millions of won with his bare hands, sending the debris flying.
"Dare to treat me like that?"
Lokdil recalled the scene from earlier, feeling his insides churn.
The image of Kim Joohyuk humiliating him, using unfamiliar curses he had never heard even among the family's direct line.
"A lowly orphan bastard...!"
[Thud! Craaaack!]
A piece of the broken chair flew across the room and splendidly smashed a desk worth millions, but he didn't care. He was only replaying that scene in his head.
"Eeeek...!"
The more he replayed it, the more anger welled up.
It would have been better if he had experienced even a fraction of such insults in his life. Regrettably, Lokdil Ventric had carried the family name since birth. No one had ever spoken to him like this.
In short, Lokdil Ventric was blinded by rage.
He was so consumed by fury that he couldn't even judge how foolish his next thoughts were.
"Yuria."
"...."
At Lokdil's call, Yuria stood silently next to the broken desk.
Lokdil approached her, irritated by her silence—
"Ugh!"
He grabbed her hair and glared.
"Answer me, huh? You seem to still think you are the eldest daughter of the Palace Family? Huh? Should I kick you out of the family right now?"
"...No."
Momentarily, venomous eyes flashed toward Lokdil, but Yuria lowered her gaze and answered quickly.
Lokdil looked at her with disgust, then shoved her away, releasing her hair.
"Contact Disera. Tell him I have a guy for him to handle."
"...Understood."
"And, there's a brat from the Sunrise Family in the second year, right? Contact them as well. Tell them Ventric asked to see them."
"Understood."
"Don't just answer, get lost! Move!"
"...."
Yuria quietly left the room of smashed furniture. Lokdil Ventric clicked his tongue at her retreating back.
For making me feel such absurd humiliation, I will make you regret it.
He smiled, wearing his characteristic despicable grin.
❋ ❋ ❋
Valhalla's grounds boasted a massive size, easily exceeding 3km in diameter.
The academic buildings were located centrally, surrounded by stadiums and specialized training facilities.
However, despite the number of buildings, there were significantly more empty lots than built-up spaces.
Accurately speaking, it wasn't just empty lots; there was an entire mountain located within Valhalla's grounds.
It was a mountain left untouched because developing it would cost too much, and the academy wasn't lacking land anyway.
"Will I be able to find it?"
Kim Joohyuk had business in that place, a wild zone even Valhalla's Chairman ignored.
[100,000,000 won has been refunded.]
[Remaining Balance: 301,300 won]
He had business—
[100,000,000 won has been deposited.]
[Remaining Balance: 100,301,300 won]
"...."
[100,000,000 won has been refunded.]
[Remaining Balance: 301,300 won]
"Phew...."
[Ding]
[100,000,000 won has been deposited.]
[Remaining Balance: 100,301,300 won]
"...Is she really a psycho?"
Kim Joohyuk let out a hollow laugh in disbelief, looking at the total of over 40 new messages on his smartphone.
Honestly speaking, Kim Joohyuk didn't like tricking others. When he demanded ten million won from Choi Ah-rin, it was strictly to detach her, not to scam her.
Therefore, he refunded it.
He even kindly added affectionate curses telling her never to send it again.
However, the only response was a notification that another 100 million won had been deposited.
After a few rounds, he briefly thought, 'Should I just take it and pretend not to know?' but...
[Choi Ah-rin: Please teach me.]
[Choi Ah-rin: (Emoticon of a cute rabbit looking with 'No...?')]
Kim Joohyuk continued this absurd refund war because he knew that if he took the money and did nothing, the situation would become far more annoying later.
[Kim Joohyuk: Please piss off!]
[100,000,000 won has been refunded.]
[Remaining Balance: 301,300 won]
"Phew...."
Honestly, if Kim Joohyuk were desperate for cash, this situation wouldn't have been bad. But he wasn't 'scheduled' to be short on money.
Above all.
Annoying.
It was annoying.
How annoying?
Just very annoying.
Of course, this was also due to his personality; he never did things half-heartedly once he started. Taking in a disciple and teaching them was a task that required far more effort than people realized.
[Vzzzt-]
The smartphone vibrated terrifyingly the moment he sent the money back.
Kim Joohyuk ignored the phone, closed his eyes, and decided to focus on the task at hand.
The reason he climbed this dark, undeveloped mountain in the middle of the night was because he had work to do.
"Phew...."
He turned off the vibrating phone completely, sighed calmly, and began to move the mana inside his body.
Compared to his original body, this mana amounted to less than a tear.
Others would say nothing could be done with such a microscopic amount, but Kim Joohyuk was different.
It is possible even with a trace.
He swallowed the thought that the control required was excruciatingly difficult and began to spread his mana as widely as possible.
A faint blue wave rose around Kim Joohyuk.
It rippled through the mountain air and sank into the ground.
Inside the earth, Kim Joohyuk kept his eyes closed, straining to feel something.
Zing.
"!"
Soon, he felt a snag in his mana web. He smiled and began to move toward the signal.
He climbed for another 5 minutes.
"It's here."
Kim Joohyuk looked at a patch of ground between the dense trees, looking quite satisfied.
"Then, shall we start?"
He began to dig diligently with the shovel he brought.
The reason Kim Joohyuk was digging.
That was precisely because of the Secret Vault Kim Joohyuk... no, Kim Hyeonoh hid 300 years ago.
Yes. A Secret Vault.
Three hundred years ago, when Kim Joohyuk lived, the world was in a dire state. The end was shimmering right before their eyes.
In such a situation, he had to climb the Tower of Destruction while leading disciples. Naturally, he needed someone to manage the resources he collected.
But as everyone knew, the world was racing toward destruction. There was no one he could trust to manage his wealth.
So, he chose to create a Secret Vault to store everything he had gathered.
And not just in one place. He built multiple Vaults, dividing his assets like a diversified investment.
Just in case someone discovered a Vault by chance and robbed it.
Honestly, I wondered if there would be any left....
After reincarnating as Kim Joohyuk, the first thing he did, after grasping his situation, was to investigate whether the Vaults he made still remained.
Someone might ask, "How on earth could you find them after 300 years?" but investigating the Vaults was easier than expected.
Kim Joohyuk had thoroughly memorized the locations of his Vaults using maps, latitude, and longitude. As a result, he could easily track them down.
Regrettably, there were few remaining Vaults.
Maybe 3 that might remain. And 1 uncertain....
Among them, the one most certain to remain was precisely this one, the Secret Vault buried in the mountain located within Valhalla.
All other locations had developed over the last 300 years, becoming completely unrecognizable. But this mountain remained largely untouched, even if the surroundings had changed.
Moreover, when Kim Joohyuk sensed the area with the mana he could barely handle, the specific mana bead he had set as a trigger responded.
He intuitively knew: his Secret Vault was buried intact beneath this ground.
Kim Joohyuk dug with expectation.
One hour later.
"Huff, huff.... This fucking... damn weak body.... Shit...."
Kim Joohyuk realized his body was absurdly weak.
"Ha... Shit, I should have made it in a slightly shallower place...."
Realizing he had buried the Vault too deep, he threw the shovel aside with a disillusioned expression and went back to the dorms.
And the next night.
"Shit...."
The day after that.
"Shiiiiit...!"
And the day after that.
"Shiiiiiiitttt!!"
Only after the fourth day.
[Clang!]
"Aaaaaah Fuuuuuck!!!"
Kim Joohyuk finally found the door of the Secret Vault he buried only after digging close to 10 meters into the ground.
(End of Chapter 7)
Read more on "novelshub.org"
Thank you for reading!
If you enjoyed the chapter, please take a moment to rate it on NU (Novel Updates), your support means a lot!