Fortunately, the magic stone was quite valuable.

Small magic stones obtained from defeating mobs were worth 1 million won, large ones 5 million won. Apparently, the larger and rarer magic stones from higher-level dungeons are even more expensive.

Benjamin gladly accepted when I said I wanted to sell the magic stones, and told me to bring them anytime it was convenient.

I decided to hold onto them until I needed quick cash or there were price fluctuations. For now, I’ve secured about 20 million won in assets.

Though it hasn’t been deposited yet, my heart feels warm and I feel like all my stress has been washed away even without the title effect.

Still, that’s only about 1/5 of a year’s tuition.

‘But I’ll keep earning more by going into dungeons.’

I thought just getting into college with bonus points would be everything, but now I need to save money for 4 years of tuition and independence too.

At this rate, I might end up with the title “Money Freak” in addition to “Study Slave”.

The good thing is that my teammates Adrian and Victor have zero interest in academics and money.

Well, those two are the main characters of a teen drama, so of course they’ll go to prestigious universities.

Adrian is from a wealthy prestigious family, and from what I’ve heard, Victor is the only son of a famous Hollywood actor couple.

‘No wonder where that handsome face came from.’

And since Teacher Gina is a school teacher, I end up monopolizing the dungeon rewards, though not quite monopolizing.

I really lucked out with this team.

* * *

It was truly a refreshing morning.

I safely closed the first D-rank dungeon I entered, and at least 20 million won will be added to my bank account soon. After that, I’ll steadily accumulate bonus points and money, eventually enrolling in a prestigious university.

It feels so fulfilling to pave my own way to success.

The day after conquering the dungeon, I came downstairs for school and found my parents having breakfast.

I swallowed hard looking at the warm omelet set out for me.

“Oh my, Juno. You look in a good mood today.”

“Do I?”

“Of course. Our daughter is all smiles. A mother knows these things.”

Well, I just pulled up the corners of my mouth a little.

But it’s true that I’m in a good mood for various reasons. As my parents, they notice even the slightest changes in my emotions.

I neither denied nor confirmed it as I devoured the omelet. My parents watched me fondly as they sipped their coffee.

I was thinking about how I shouldn’t just spend the big money I earned on myself, but also use some for my parents and buy something nice for my teammates.

“Oh right, Juno. Let’s have dinner out tonight. We have some good news too.”

“Good news?”

“Yes! You must attend. It’s a welcome party.”

A welcome party?

“Okay, sure. I have a week off from training anyway. Let’s eat out together.”

Since we closed the D-rank dungeon, we were given a week off to recover our condition.

It worked out well since I did push myself for a few days.

I finished my meal and left home, trying hard to keep the corners of my mouth from rising.

As I walked out the front gate, I saw a blue Ford sports car.

Hmm, could it be…

I nodded a greeting to the car’s owner and said:

“Are you really trying to be my chauffeur, Queen? Coming every day?”

“I just stopped by on my way.”

For just stopping by, I feel like I saw that blue color over the wall even before breakfast.

I pretended not to notice and got into the passenger seat. Victor raised an eyebrow when I got in the car without protest.

“What’s this, getting in right away without putting up a fight?”

“I realized it’s a waste of time anyway. And I’m in a good mood today.”

You have no idea how much fuller my wallet has gotten. My heart is as vast as the ocean right now.

I hummed happily as I buckled my seatbelt. Victor stared at me in bewilderment.

“Did the sun rise in the west in Squirrel Town…?”

Victor narrowed his eyes at me before starting the car and driving off.

The car glided smoothly down the road towards school.

After arriving at school, I parked the car on the path and quickly entered the school building.

I heard Victor saying something about betrayal behind me, but even in a good mood, I’ll pass on entering the school building together.

As usual, I opened my locker to organize my textbooks. Was first period science lab today?

“…?”

But something felt off.

I couldn’t say exactly what was strange, but…

I was flipping through my textbook when I turned around. There were many other students in the hallway. The scene looked no different than usual.

But something was definitely different.

‘What is it? Am I imagining things?’

As I was about to turn back to my locker, the gazes of the students in the hallway subtly shifted towards me as my head tilted.

Then when I quickly turned back to the hallway, they hurriedly averted their eyes.

As if they desperately wanted to pretend I didn’t exist.

Unfortunately, acting like that makes it even more obvious.

‘Ah, so they were all looking at me…’

The news article probably came out this morning. Connecticut Rowing High School team conquered the state university gate. And among them was the nerdy, clumsy glasses-wearing Juno.

They probably already knew a bit about my existence from me heading off somewhere with the popular guys after school for training and such.

But no one had approached me to talk.

It seemed to be because of the fact that I had an ability…

‘This might be for the best. As long as people don’t bother me, I don’t care if they know about me or not…’

“Hello, Juno.”

“Ah!”

As I was closing my locker door while holding my textbooks, some girl was standing right there.

I yelped in surprise, and the strange girl bumped her head on the locker door and raised her eyebrows slyly.

“Nice to meet you.”

She had a pale face with dark eyeshadow on her eyelids and piercings in her nose and thin lips. Her tightly tied black hair had streaks of purple dye here and there.

And she had a haggard face like she hadn’t slept for days.

I swallowed the expletive that almost came out and took two cautious steps back from her.

“Um… Who are you?”

“My name is Alex. Full name’s Alexandra, but that’s an old-fashioned name my great-grandmother gave me, so just call me Alex, Juno.”

“Uh, okay. But Alex or Alexandra, I’ve never heard that name before? Which class are you in?”

Alex smirked with her purple lipstick-covered lips.

The sight made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, like something out of a horror movie.

“Right. I’m in Class B. And I’m in the occult club. I’m the club president. I do some music activities on the side too.”

“I see. Occult and music… So what business does the occult club president have with me?”

“I’m trying to make an occult magazine, and I thought it would be great to have an interview with you. Would you cooperate?”

Now I understood.

This girl was the “occult otaku” that occasionally appears in teen movies.

Sometimes they have a similar appearance but love heavy rock instead of the occult.

I asked her abruptly:

“Do you like rock? Is the music activity you mentioned heavy metal or hard rock?”

“You’re quite random.”

“Ah… You just look like you’d like rock. Sorry if I’m wrong.”

“To think you’d even sense my musical inclinations, you’re definitely the girl I’ve been looking for. A truly spiritual girl.”

“What?”

Alex looked at me lovingly even though I was spouting nonsense.

“Juno, you’re on our school’s dungeon team, right? That means you’re an awakened too, right? I’m researching the spiritual connections of awakened abilities. You’re exactly who I’ve been looking for! Please do an interview for our club!”

“Ah, sorry. My ability has nothing to do with anything spiritual. I’ll be going now.”

I fled to the science lab in the middle of Alex’s words.

I had a feeling I’d be in deep trouble if I got caught.

***

Alex was quite persistent.

She lingered outside my classroom during breaks and even lunchtime, desperate to say even one more word to me.

It’s not that I dislike characters like Alex, but what could I possibly say in an occult club interview? My ability has nothing to do with the spiritual.

But I was too lazy to explain all this to Alex, so I desperately avoided her as well.

The situation was exactly the same as when I was being chased by Victor.

But as they say, you meet your nemesis on a single-log bridge – I ran right into Alex as she was peering around looking for me from the opposite end of the hallway.

It was when I was returning to the classroom after going to the bathroom.

She seems like she’d be a good friend, but she’s so persistent.

I quickly surveyed my surroundings before Alex could spot me.

Fortunately, Alex was busy checking if I was in the classroom or not, and I saw a boy walking towards me from the back of the hallway.

Someone approaching with a thick stack of reports piled up to head height, probably collecting class assignments.

I quickly went up to him and snatched half the reports.

“Let me help you!”

Half the reports came up exactly to my forehead. Good. I could naturally hide my face and escape Alex’s sight like this.

Just then, as I snatched away half the mountain of reports, my eyes met the boy’s pretty blue eyes.

“Juno?”

It was none other than Adrian.