Chapter 16
Wondering what to say that would sound natural, Yeonwoo rolled his eyes when a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a laugh burst from beside him.
“Seems like there are a lot of gossipers here too.”
As he said this, Chahun stared at Yeonwoo before turning his gaze to glare at the mana ball. Even when Yeonwoo offered explanations to his questions, Chahun just fiddled with the mana ball without answering.
Around Chahun, an ice nest was rising with sharp, jagged points. Looking at the pointed ice tips, Yeonwoo rubbed the back of his neck.
Hmm… so he ran here to escape all the gossiping, but now he’s irritated because people are gossiping here too?
Observing Chahun’s profile, Yeonwoo rolled his eyes. Seriously, is there anyone in the world who doesn’t know Kang Chahun was an archer? If he thought that freezing that vast archery field in one go would be quietly overlooked, he was greatly mistaken.
How much of a stir did Chahun’s awakening cause in South Korea? The Archery Association lamented losing a great star, while the Esper Association and all kinds of guilds created a commotion by showing up at Kang Chahun’s home. Not just ability users but ordinary people too would know when, where, and how Kang Chahun awakened.
Well, if someone doesn’t want to be famous but others gossip about them, it would be upsetting. Easily understanding this, Yeonwoo tilted his head as he watched Chahun burst mana balls.
“Really? Looking at your physique, I thought you’d been training consistently.”
Watching the silent Chahun, Yeonwoo picked up a mana ball. The coordinates: inside Chahun’s nest. Using his ability, mana balls rapidly piled up inside the nest.
It works so well now… Rubbing his palms together, Yeonwoo smiled brightly at Chahun, who was giving him a “what is this?” expression.
“Next time when you’re free, there’s a fitness center right next door. It’s where defensive-types work out. Go there and answer their questions. They’re really curious about what kind of exercise you do.”
At those words, Chahun’s eyes, which had been sharply raised toward the sky, drooped slightly.
The world isn’t as interested in you as you think. He seemed to want to hear something like that, but having awakened as S-class, that would be difficult. Wherever he went, he would attract people’s attention.
By the way, how can he wear clothes like that on a body like that and not expect attention?
Looking at the seams of the training uniform that seemed ready to burst at any moment, Yeonwoo grabbed one of the ice spikes forming the nest. After moving the nest to a corner of the training ground, Yeonwoo patted Chahun’s shoulder.
“That’s enough. Get up.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you know? Your mana core seems to be overloading.”
As an Esper, he should have realized just by seeing abilities spurting out uncontrollably, but this was Chahun. A completely clueless chick. Reminding himself of this, Yeonwoo lifted Chahun, who was frowning.
“So what?”
This wasn’t a “what should I do about it” question. Suppressing his rising anger, Yeonwoo organized the mana balls.
“You need to rest. Sleeping a bit or eating something is good. The most important thing is not to use your ability for a while.”
Somehow, he was sitting in exactly the same position as last night. It seemed he had been practicing all night since those people left after doing their sham cleaning.
“Do you remember what it felt like when you awakened?”
Chahun, who had been looking at the mana ball with disappointment, touched around his heart.
“Like my heart was being squeezed?”
“Yes.”
“That’s when a mana core formed around your heart. Close your eyes and focus on your heartbeat.”
Chahun closed his eyes with his hand on his chest. Yeonwoo, observing his eye area shadowed by long eyelashes, explained gently.
“Practice is good, but check how much mana is left in your core as you go. If you’re not careful, you might have a seizure.”
Watching Chahun nod, Yeonwoo bit his tongue. It was absurd. How poorly must they have trained him for an S-class—the amazing S-class—to overload just from filling mana balls?
While he was clicking his tongue internally, Chahun, realizing there was a problem with his mana core, opened his eyes with a displeased expression.
Crouching beside Chahun and tidying up the rising nest, Yeonwoo checked the time.
“Do you have plans later? I mean, before morning training starts.”
There was still about an hour to spare. At the question, Chahun tilted his head to the side. Seeing this, Yeonwoo briefly closed and opened his eyes, trying to calm himself.
It seemed like a “why are you asking” gesture, but Yeonwoo’s mood soured at Chahun’s habit of just tilting his head instead of asking verbally.
“Is that your clothing preference?”
He kept wanting to point it out.
At Yeonwoo’s gesture, Chahun looked down at his clothes. The thigh area of his cross-legged position was taut. It seemed like it might burst at any moment. If wearing tight clothes was his preference, Yeonwoo would respect that, but…
Training uniforms made from dungeon byproducts had defense options that could easily block C-class attacks. The standard was to zip it up to the neck to protect vital points. Walking around with the zipper down, exposing the chest, was practically like walking around without a training uniform.
When Yeonwoo pointed this out, Chahun made a blank face and zipped it all the way up.
Then he pointed at the zipper that immediately slid back down.
“It’s too tight.”
“If it’s small, wear a different size.”
If it’s not your preference, why are you wearing something so small?
“They said this was the largest size.”
The largest size? Yeonwoo blinked, looking Chahun up and down.
While attack-types varied greatly in size, defense-types, whose bodies hardened over time, often included people over 2 meters tall. Chahun was tall, but he didn’t seem to exceed 190cm, so how could those clothes be too small? The moment this thought crossed his mind, a derisive laugh escaped.
Wow, these guys are playing really dirty.
Since the book was from Kang Chahun’s perspective, the exact reason why Zone A ability users ostracized him was unclear, but Yeonwoo could make educated guesses.
The Center Director probably recruited Chahun to develop a counterbalance against Lee Sangwon. Rather than clearing gates and conquering dungeons, the Center’s role was to prevent danger zones from expanding. The subjugation team was sufficient with Lee Sangwon’s team, so recruiting Chahun, who didn’t complement them, meant creating a new subjugation team to check Lee Sangwon. This would mean Sangwon would have to share not only his monopolized dungeon conquest rights but also the byproducts with Chahun.
Lee Sangwon wouldn’t stand for that. The Zone A Espers, who rarely participated in dungeon subjugations for profit, would feel the same. If Chahun formed a team, the income they could earn by volunteering for the subjugation team would disappear entirely. Since there was no guarantee they would be part of Chahun’s team, they desperately tried to prevent Chahun from forming one.
So they neglected Chahun like this because of a fight over resources.
But providing a proper training uniform shouldn’t be an issue, right? It’s a matter of life and death!
This wasn’t an exaggeration; it was really true. The reason why charging-type attackers staked their lives on the durability of their training uniforms was literally because their lives depended on it.
Ah… was that why he almost died during the virtual dungeon training? Because he entered wearing that uniform?
Clicking his tongue, Yeonwoo got up and left the training ground. Without even asking where they were going, Chahun followed him to their destination: the supply store.
“Why are we here?”
“I’m here to change Esper Kang Chahun’s training uniform.”
“What?”
Chahun, who had been following obediently, stopped abruptly. Leaving Chahun behind, who was examining his uniform with a “what’s wrong with it” look, Yeonwoo walked ahead and knocked on the supply store door.
“Wait a minute. I haven’t received any settlement yet—”
“What are you talking about?”
“I can’t be in debt to the Center.”
Isn’t that something everyone should avoid?
Just as Chahun grabbed Yeonwoo with an urgent hand, the supply store door opened.
“What do you need?”
“Can Zone A Esper training uniforms be exchanged too?”
“Pardon? Yes. What size should I give you?”
“Oh, not for me, for that person.”
Stepping back from the employee who was looking at his ID badge curiously, Yeonwoo pointed at Chahun. At Yeonwoo’s gesture, the employee leaned out to examine Chahun up and down.
“Just a moment.”
As the employee went inside, Chahun pulled Yeonwoo. Being dragged weakly, Yeonwoo was about to say that one shouldn’t pull people like this, but he blinked when he saw Chahun’s anxious face.
What’s this? Did he grow attached to the uniform in the meantime?
“Here you go.”
Yeonwoo took the uniform from Chahun’s unmoving hand and received a bag from the employee. It was quite bulky, clearly indicating the clothes inside were large, but Yeonwoo deliberately opened the bag to check the size.
“The changing room is over there. Try it on, and if it’s small, come back to exchange it. You can return that uniform.”
“Yes. Thank you for your help.”
After greeting the employee, Yeonwoo gestured to Chahun. Approaching hesitantly, Chahun looked back and forth between the supply store and Yeonwoo with a confused expression.
“What about payment? Did you pay for it, hyung?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, they said these are made from dungeon byproducts so supplies are limited, and we only get one uniform. If it gets dirty or torn, we have to buy a new one ourselves…”
Chahun’s face gradually contorted as he spoke.
“Ah.”
With his head lowered, looking down at his uniform, Chahun roughly pushed his hair up.
“It was a lie, wasn’t it?”
The moment their black eyes met, ice rose from beneath Chahun’s feet. Watching the ice that instantly rose to Chahun’s waist, Yeonwoo drew his blade and struck the middle of the ice pillar. While the Center building itself was made from dungeon byproducts and wouldn’t collapse from something like this, if someone discovered it, it would certainly cause a commotion. They’d say the S-class couldn’t even control his ability, and so on.
“Ah… it didn’t make sense…”
While Chahun muttered, Yeonwoo continued to strike down the rising ice pillars before setting coordinates. After transferring the ice to a corner of the training ground, Yeonwoo clutched his chest from sudden pain.
“Wow, they promised to give me anything I wanted if I just came to the Center. But once I’m here, I have to buy my own training uniform? That doesn’t make sense. Right?”
Yeonwoo couldn’t even answer the question. His entire body was reacting sensitively to Chahun’s mana, tingling all the way to the tips of his ears.
“And it was all a lie.”
Chahun murmured like a sigh, his body languidly stretched. It was a quiet anger. His mana, sympathizing with his anger, was raging enough to make Yeonwoo’s skin tingle. Just standing beside him, Yeonwoo could barely breathe. Whether it was resonating with the S-class mana or not, Yeonwoo’s heart was also beating wildly.
Ah, so this is why Yeonhwa never got angry in front of me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
