How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

I took out a D-grade potion that I had received from Na-yu-han in the past and put it into the Point Changer to test it out.

As soon as I did, the potion disappeared from my hand, and a system window showing the item’s price appeared.

[Item: Ordinary D-grade Potion]
[Value: 10 Points]
[Would you like to exchange it?]
[Yes/No]

I pressed “No” first. The D-grade potion reappeared in my hand.

This is interesting… It’s quite a good feature.

If I can secure enough good items, I might be able to free myself from the constraints of the event parts and reader reactions to some extent.

Well, I’ll still stick around Na-yu-han to take advantage of it.

I tried putting various items I had into the Point Changer, but it seemed that items that existed in the Metasystem shop could only be exchanged for the prices assigned in the shop.

Suddenly, curiosity struck me.

What about items that aren’t in the shop?

I took out the “Seventh Key” from my inventory.

As soon as I put it into the Point Changer, the system window displayed a crazy price.

[Item: Celestial Key]
[Value: 20,000,000 Points]
[Would you like to exchange it?]
[Yes/No]

Twenty million points?!

I had to stop myself from dropping my jaw in shock at the insane price.

At the same time, my resolve to protect this key grew even stronger.

Transfer the key? No way!!! How much is this worth!

I carefully held the key, worried it might get scratched, and placed it back in my inventory.

Just then, I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“Hey, sis, I need to use the bathroom!”

“Are you constipated?”

“No! I’ll be out soon!”

…Well, the orphanage has a bit of a shortage of personal space. It couldn’t be helped. I hurriedly finished tidying up and left the bathroom.

However, the kids already seemed convinced that I was constipated.

I awkwardly smiled as I returned my yogurt to Na-na, who had handed it to me earlier.

…I’ll probably be teased about this for a while.

***

Unlike the threat of immediate training after the pajama party, Yggdrasil allowed me to enjoy a bit of freedom, saying I needed to focus more on Kang-yu’s training.

I spent the remaining days of vacation enjoying a leisurely routine at the orphanage.

Kang-yu was still in intensive training with Yggdrasil for his transfer exam. He was fully engaged in training at the facility Yggdrasil prepared, leaving no time for even a quick face-to-face.

I spent my days worrying about whether he was doing well or if he was getting hurt.

“Hey, sis, Kang-yu oppa is coming back today.”

“Yeah. I hope he’s not hurt.”

Finally, the day arrived when Kang-yu was coming back.

I waited at the entrance of the orphanage for him. The kids who were especially close to Kang-yu were all standing around, eagerly looking out for him.

Before long, I could see his blue hair approaching in the distance.

The kids rushed out, clamoring around him.

“Welcome back!”

“Glad you’re here!”

“Hey, Kang-yu, are you hurt anywhere?”

The kids seemed amazed at how much Kang-yu had grown.

Even though I had shown them a few pictures, it didn’t diminish their excitement.

If this had been the old Kang-yu, he would have easily stumbled and fallen with so many kids clinging to him, but now he stood tall without any issue.

“You’ve grown so much!”

“You’re so strong now!”

Kang-yu lifted one of the kids up and smiled.

“Yeah! Did everyone do well? I’ve gotten really strong!”

Yggdrasil mentioned that there was no problem with Kang-yu’s power, so they focused on teaching him control. Thankfully, it seemed like the training had gone well.

“How was the training?”

As Kang-yu carefully detached each child from him, his body paused for a moment.

“Well… it was okay!”

“…Just okay? What kind of training did you do?”

That doesn’t sound right. I asked in shock, only to hear an even more ridiculous response.

“Well, we sparred from when I woke up until I went to bed… and we practiced sparring without magic while wearing the mana control device… then at the end, we sparred all night as if it were real?”

…That’s strange. That can’t possibly be okay.

…Wait, is my brother a training addict?

I couldn’t help but think of the unpleasant truth, but I quickly dismissed it. My brother couldn’t have gone a little crazy.

“I still need to practice more, but they say I’ll pass the transfer exam with this level. But if I don’t come in first, I’ll be in trouble… so I’ll work hard until the end!”

“You’ll do great. Let’s take a good rest today.”

“Okay!”

I carried his bag and chatted with him about everything we hadn’t had the chance to discuss yet.

It seemed that Kang-yu had a knack for training, as he appeared to have received plenty of affection from Yggdrasil.

What if he had undergone the ability removal surgery? Thank goodness he didn’t.

As I watched Kang-yu happily chattering away, I couldn’t help but suppress my rising smile.

Seeing Kang-yu in such good health made all the hardships and fatigue I’d faced melt away like snow.

I truly loved this place and the kids living here.

I reaffirmed my resolve to gather more Metapoints in order to protect the futures of our children.

***

The day of the transfer exam had arrived.

I set off to the transfer exam site with Kang-yu.

“Sis, do you think I can pass?”

Despite training hard all this time, Kang-yu seemed anxious. I handed him a Calm Mind Pill that I had prepared beforehand and patted his back.

“Don’t worry. You’re definitely going to pass. If you don’t, then the judges must be blind.”

Kang-yu swallowed the Calm Mind Pill in one go and dashed off when his number was called.

From the second semester of the first year at the academy, students from other academies or those recommended by trustworthy senior hunters are allowed to transfer. Of course, they all have to take the exam.

Additionally, all academies allow exchanges with foreign academies starting in the second semester.

So, from the second semester, you can see various new faces among the first-year students at the Guardian Academy.

This means a lot of new faces are about to show up.

I wondered if there would be any familiar faces described in the novels. I absentmindedly glanced around.

Kang-yu caught my eye and waved at me with a bright smile. I smiled back and waved my hand.

The moment Kang-yu turned to take the exam seriously, someone approached me.

“Haha. You two are still so close, huh?”

The voice was strangely familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Likewise, the person’s appearance was strangely familiar but also strange.

I turned around.

A young man was grinning mischievously at me. He was a fox-human hybrid with orange hair. His playful emerald eyes sparkled behind round glasses.

“…Who…?”

“Oh, I see you don’t remember me right away? It’s me, the fox. The one who went to Germany.”

As soon as I heard that, a flash of realization hit me.

Without realizing it, I pointed at him.

“You, you, you…!”

“Are you that happy to see me?”

“Why are you here… No, more importantly, you said you’d contact me, but you haven’t even sent a letter?! You ungrateful brat!”

“…I had my reasons. My family situation was pretty dire…”

“Reasons or whatever!!! Do you know how worried I was?!”

I grabbed the fox by the collar and shook him vigorously. He laughed heartily as I held him, flopping around like a paper doll.

Then, carefully taking my hand, he said with a serious expression.

“There was really a situation. I couldn’t expose my weaknesses. My weaknesses are you guys.”

“Weakness?”

I stared intently into the fox’s eyes. He smiled sweetly but maintained a direct gaze with his sparkling emerald eyes, not backing down.

Eventually, I let out a deep sigh and released him.

“If it was that difficult, why are you here at the Guardian Academy now?”

“The situation that had been troubling us for a long time has finally been somewhat resolved. And…”

He smiled slyly, lifting the corners of his mouth. It was a smile that gave off a strangely eerie vibe.

“Your Master is interested in you guys.”

“Us?”

“More precisely, in your group… Na-yu-han.”

“Who’s your Master?”

At my question, he put a finger to his lips and grinned mischievously.

“You’ll find out when the new semester starts.”

“What do you mean by that? Are you transferring to the academy or something?”

“Well, in a way. Oh, by the way, I’m your senior. I’ve transferred as a second-year student.”

“What?! Why?!”

“I accelerated my studies… I’m an international student? By the way, want to try calling me ‘senpai’?”

He grinned cheekily, provoking me. I smiled back and responded.

“As long as you don’t call me ‘noona,’ that’s not happening, little brother.”

No way, not a chance, you brat.

Still, as we talked, he seemed to be doing well and lively. I felt a bit relieved. He must have been welcomed by good people at the adoptive home.

While I thought this and continued chatting with the fox, he pulled out a pamphlet.

“Hey, sis, do you have any religion?”

“I don’t, senpai. Why?”

“How about this one?”

A religious solicitation?

They say when you meet an old friend after a long time, you either get a multi-level marketing offer, an insurance pitch, or a religious solicitation—looks like it’s finally my turn. I accepted the pamphlet he offered with a slightly uneasy feeling.

On the front page of the pamphlet was a tower and a fox-human with ten tails.

“It’s a religion called Towerism.”

“I’m not buying into any cult.”

This is definitely a cult.

I quickly returned the pamphlet, recalling the messages from Choi Soo-jung, Lee Ha-na, and Min Jae-yoon.

“Just take a look at it first?”

“If you keep insisting, I’ll just walk away.”

“Alright, alright.”

The fox, who had been grumbling, didn’t seem intent on pushing it any further and put the pamphlet away.

Could it be that the fox fell into a cult? What should I do? I can’t just tell him to stop right now.

For now, it seemed I needed to observe the situation.

While I was pondering this, Kang-yu’s transfer exam was nearing its end.

“Ha-ya!”

Kang-yu let out a distracted voice as he summoned an enormous number of spinning blades of water.

“Yikes…!”

The opponents in the sparring area were terrified as they faced the overwhelming number of spinning water blades, shooting blades of wind to attack Kang-yu.

However, Kang-yu effortlessly dodged all the attacks as if the wind were visible to him and swiftly rushed toward his opponent.

Boom—!

Kang-yu, with the spinning blades of water wrapped around his arms, jumped and struck down right next to his opponent.

“Will you surrender, hyung?”

The terrified opponent was surrounded by the rotating blades of water that Kang-yu had created.

Like being enveloped by countless flower petals, the opponent, caught in a whirlwind of water blades, shouted urgently.

“I-I surrender!”

“Thank you!”

With that, Kang-yu magnificently and overwhelmingly defeated his opponent in the final test of the sparring match.

As Kang-yu, savoring his victory, hopped over to me, he suddenly froze when he saw the fox next to me.

The fox, noticing Kang-yu’s reaction, grinned and said, “Wow, you’ve grown up well! How have you been?”

“Kang-yu, do you remember? This is the fox. He’s the hyung who was adopted a while back.”

“…! Ah!”

Only then did Kang-yu seem to recall the fox’s presence.

As soon as he recognized the fox from before, Kang-yu beamed and dashed over without hesitation.

“It’s been a while, fox hyung!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“It’s great to catch up, but he’s been trying to push religion on me. Just ignore him.”

“That’s too harsh.”

We spent a moment chatting about trivial things and reminiscing.

“Are you also an academy student?”

“Yep. From the second semester onwards.”

“He says he wants you to call him ‘senpai.’”

“Please do, big sister~”

“Yes, yes. Senpai.”

Honestly, it feels like unexpected things keep happening all the time.