Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 144: 144-Be A Darling, Would You?

Read chapter 144 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

Merlin plopped down on the couch in his dorm’s living room. His heart was still beating as fast as it had in the auditorium, during the reveal of the list of those set to participate in the tournament, but for a different reason at this moment. “Ugh… I was hoping to escape. How did I manage to get dragged into this?” Hakyun grumbled as he sliced Blue’s meal in bite-sized chunks while the dragon stared patiently, his wings twitching as he watched. They had left Blue in the room out of fear that he might lose his cool for whatever reason in the auditorium and expose himself. Merlin had never been scared of such happening before, but Hakyun, in particular, was on another level of paranoid. And since they had spent quite some time in the auditorium, it wasn’t surprising that Blue was very hungry. Perhaps he ought to teach the dragon how to open the fridge and take his meal himself, Merlin wondered. “Why do you have to complain about everything?” Chima clicked his tongue at Hakyun, sitting down on a cushion close to the window and breathing in the summer air as he relaxed. Hakyun slammed his knife on the chop board and bared his teeth at Chima. “How come you are fine with everything that happens, brute?” he voiced. “Sometimes I wonder if you’re human.” Chima scoffed. “You would be surprised.” Merlin smiled. His mood was a lot brighter than it had been these past few days, and it was because Prestige Academy had given him what he’d wanted the most ever since the start of the term. A chance to participate in the tournament. And it wasn’t only him. Chima and Hakyun too, and even Nora. The others were Lee Jaehyun, Kim Yiseo, Park Yuri, Hwang Man-Shik, Oh Jihye, and… Choi Sangook. Merlin’s mood plummeted in an instant. Choi Sangook being amongst those chosen to participate in the tournament gave him mixed feelings. And it became more pronounced at this moment as he let himself linger on his thoughts a little longer than he had in the auditorium. The first stage was a stage that required teamwork. Choi Sangook never did well when it came to teamwork. At least, that Merlin knew of. He had overhead the boy’s teammates grumble a few times whenever they were seated in class about how he liked to act on his own and force them to change their strategies to accommodate him. And it might even be worse now that he was on the same team as Lee Jaehyun, the son of his father’s rival. In fact, maybe Merlin shouldn’t subtract himself from the equation. He had quite the brief history with Choi Sangook as well. And then there was Hakyun. He glanced at the boy, and he could see a shadow of unease lying underneath the playful facade he displayed as a means to highlight his displeasure with competing in the tournament. Hakyun had mentioned not wanting to compete even before the Tower raid, but he hadn’t felt so strongly about it like now. Merlin could guess why. “Will it be all right?” Merlin blurted his thoughts with a sigh, and his roommates turned his way. “Of course it won’t!” Hakyun voiced, thinking that Merlin was in support of his complaints. “How can it? I’m not motivated. Someone else should take my place. I’m thinking about meeting with Professor Jung and asking her to swap me with someone else. That will be the best.” “I’m not letting you do that,” Chima argued. “Not on my watch.” “What is wrong with you? It’s my call to make.” “If you make that call, I’ll no longer be friends with you,” Chima groused, visibly annoyed as he shifted on the cushion he was seated on. “I don’t want to be friends with someone who gives up when the going gets tough. You have been given the opportunity to represent the academy. This is the first true test we’ve been handed as Mages. The academy trusts you to do well; your results up till now are proof of that. If you throw them into the mud, I’m really gonna stop being your friend.” Hakyun’s brows loosened. He jerked back slightly, opened his mouth to say something, and closed it once again. Then he lowered his gaze, c