After the first gate opened, new laws were created in the United States almost daily.

Among them, many laws were made by awakened ones in Connecticut, and the newly created law this time was about ‘dungeon entry’.

‘One must close more than 20 D-rank dungeons to be granted permission to enter C-rank dungeons.’

‘Minors cannot enter dungeons alone, and cannot enter dungeons of a higher rank than themselves.’

As they’re relying on the hands of people who were civilians just days ago, not soldiers, the country is probably setting up minimal legal safeguards to reduce casualties.

It was also announced that college admission points for awakened ones would be given differentially according to the dungeon’s rank.

After calculating, closing an A-rank dungeon once was more efficient in terms of additional points than closing D-rank multiple times.

‘Still, because of the law, we have to fill the number of D-rank dungeon closures first.’

In Connecticut, although not a monster wave, gates open about once per state. Each time, Adrian, Victor, Teacher Gina, Benjamin, and I close them.

Since we haven’t closed 20 D-rank gates yet, C-rank and higher gates in Connecticut are being closed by the U.S. military.

We’ve already closed 6 D-rank dungeons.

‘If we keep this up for about 2 years, the additional points should be pretty good.’

Although we had an especially hard time on our first outing in the amethyst golem dungeon, we’ve been handling the subsequent D-rank dungeons smoothly.

It would be nice if we could gradually close dungeons like this and be able to handle higher-ranked ones…

But lately, something’s been bothering me.

‘What on earth is this text message?’

It was a message from Alan.

It came after I returned from closing a D-rank slime dungeon with the U.S. military unit following the school broadcast.

I knew I had left my phone on the desk, but I had to go straight home because of the slime fluid I was covered in while beating the slimes.

By the time I finished showering for over an hour because of the fluid, it was already midnight. I had no choice but to go to bed early, planning to retrieve my phone the next day.

Was it because of the fluid? Though it’s said not to be harmful to humans, even after washing thoroughly, a pungent smell lingered until the next day.

I paused reading the text messages and sniffed, burying my nose in my clothes.

“Ugh, I feel like a human pancake… It seems the smell is still there.”

Of all times, why did I have to be under the slime when it burst?

Victor laughed heartily seeing me covered in green fluid, and Adrian got himself damp trying to wipe the fluid off me.

‘It’s a dark history. Let’s not think about it anymore.’

Anyway, with the D-rank slime dungeon we closed yesterday, the number of dungeons we’ve closed is now 6.

And Alan contacted me again after almost 10 years.

After not replying for a full day, should I say the timing to reply has passed?

As much as I’d like to, I can’t just pretend I didn’t see it and ignore it.

I started to overthink.

‘Should I just not contact him? Pretend my phone number changed. If I send a message and he asks to meet again, it would be troublesome.’

Although I’ve been living well without anyone discovering my identity after being possessed in this high teen story, I’m still a fake wearing Juno’s shell. Maybe a childhood friend I haven’t seen in a long time might notice my true identity.

‘If even my family doesn’t know, I doubt Alan would notice.’

Still, there’s no need to meet Alan deliberately. Let’s not contact him. That would be the wisest approach.

Having finished my thoughts, I shoved my phone into my pocket.

And just as I was about to pass by the side of the playground, a red disc flew towards me.

“Watch out!”

It seems they were having a PE class, playing disc throwing.

If it were the usual me, with my awful nerd physique, I would have been hit in the head by the disc without even turning my head.

But I’m not just a nerd anymore.

I’m a nerd with improved basic physical abilities!

I dodged the flying disc by taking half a step back.

And just as I was about to sneer, a small stone rolled under my foot.

“Huh?”

Oh, this is an unexpected development.

As I stepped back, my foot slipped on the stone. My feet crossed, and my steps got tangled.

I tried to avoid getting hit in the forehead by the disc, but now I was about to fall and split my head open.

“Aah!”

My body tilted backwards like in a slapstick comedy.

I frantically waved my hands, but there was nothing to grab onto in the middle of the playground.

Before my head could crack open embarrassingly, I tightly closed my eyes.

And someone supported my back with their hand.

“Are you alright, Juno?”

With the familiar voice, I opened my tightly shut eyes.

I looked at Adrian, gasping for breath.

Adrian was also in PE attire, wearing green striped gym clothes.

“Th-thanks.”

I stammered, startled.

With the sun behind him, a faint shadow fell across Adrian’s face. And Adrian’s face was strangely close to mine.

‘What is this sudden high teen development?’

A scene where someone catches a falling person in their arms, even though I’m not the female lead.

Just as I was stiffening up from this cringeworthy development, Adrian carefully grabbed my arm and pulled me. With his help, I stood firmly on the playground ground.

“That was close. Be careful, Juno.”

“Yeah, thanks. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve cracked my head open and been taken away in an ambulance.”

I said with an embarrassed face.

Adrian shrugged as if it were nothing.

‘Somehow I feel like I’m always receiving help from Adrian.’

Like when he helped me before I hit my head on the gym wall. And last time, didn’t he catch me when I was about to fall in front of the theater?

‘At this rate, he’ll think I’m a clumsy kid.’

At the very least, I don’t want to be remembered as a girl who’s always falling and tripping.

I cleared my throat unnecessarily and said,

“You might misunderstand, Adrian. I’m not usually this clumsy. It’s because those kids throwing discs over there are careless. I’m actually very meticulous. I hope you don’t misunderstand by seeing just a part of me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m saying this in advance because I think you might mistake me for a clumsy girl.”

When I said this quite seriously while pushing up my glasses, Adrian smiled slightly.

“I won’t misunderstand. I know well that Juno is a calm and static person.”

“Really? You know well?”

“Yes. I’ve always seen you reading books or quietly lost in thought. Watching that, I used to think to myself that you were a very quiet and calm child.”

“…Is that so?”

While I’m grateful for such a positive view…

I fidgeted a bit, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the unexpected compliment.

Feeling somewhat shy, I rolled my eyes around and turned my gaze towards the guys doing disc throwing at the edge of the playground.

Then I heard a chuckle from beside me.

“…?”

Laughing?

Surprised, I turned my head to see Adrian with the tips of his ears red, trying hard to hold back his laughter.

Yet, giggles were still escaping.

“Why, why are you laughing?”

When I asked in confusion, Adrian covered his mouth with his fist and said,

“It’s the first time I’ve seen Juno being shy… I just thought you’re cuter than I expected.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know, but Juno is the type who’s weak to compliments, huh.”

At Adrian’s words, my brain temporarily stopped thinking. Then I immediately responded seriously.

“I’m not particularly weak to compliments, you know? I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been called cute in my life! And I’ve never done anything that would make me look cute! Are you feeling alright?”

Actually, more than Adrian calling me cute, it’s more embarrassing that he figured out I’m weak to compliments. That’s why my voice came out louder than usual.

Adrian seemed surprised and held back his laughter until his cheeks turned red at my flustered reaction.

…He should just laugh out loud and tease me like Victor would!

It seems he’s trying to hold back his laughter for my sake, but that makes me even more embarrassed.

Adrian wiped the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes and looked at me.

“I didn’t know Juno was such a fun person.”

“…Really?”

“If I had known you were like this, I would have tried talking to you earlier.”

Huh?

Adrian seemed to have calmed down a bit now, pressing the corners of his eyes and chuckling.

I tilted my head at Adrian’s words.

‘Does that mean he knew me from before?’

Come to think of it, even when we met and talked in the gym after becoming awakened, he already knew me. Me, whom even the teachers and classmates find difficult to remember.

After pondering for a moment, I took half a step closer to Adrian.

“Adrian, since when have you been watching…”

And before I could finish my sentence, this time an orange disc flew by, cleaving the space between us.

“Ah!”

When I quickly turned my head towards where the disc came from, the guys who had been playing disc nearby whistled.

“Looking good, Adrian and awakened nerd!”

“Are you two dating in our sacred school? Woo-hoo!”

From a glance, they seemed to be classmates in the same grade as Adrian.

No, I was trying to have an important conversation, and these guys…

As I raised my fist in anger, Adrian stepped forward and said,

“Like before, could you stop intentionally throwing discs where people are? Someone could really end up in the hospital. It’s causing harm to others.”

“Oh, so scary, so scary. An awakened one’s threat. Well, what are you going to do if I keep doing it? Are you going to retaliate? Is an awakened one trying to intimidate non-awakened ones?”

“That’s not what I…”

When they brought up the fact that he was an awakened one, Adrian trailed off.

Since freezing Thompson’s entire house, Adrian hadn’t used his skills once outside of dungeons and training grounds.

It’s such a formidable power that could be threatening to ordinary people, so he must have felt cautious about using it even once.

‘It seems those guys have noticed that fact.’

The disc-throwing guys laughed at Adrian, who had suddenly gone quiet, then went back to the center of the playground to play among themselves.

Adrian was silent for a moment.

I stared at him for a while, then quietly stood beside him.

And waiting until Adrian’s gaze fell on me, I cautiously asked.

“Adrian. Shall we get revenge?”