Chapter 24
“Hmm…”
Park Seohyun swallowed and looked around. The training director was acting as usual after pushing aside the group of red-faced ability users, but the way he looked at Yeonwoo was different.
His evaluating gaze wasn’t limited to Yeonwoo alone; sometimes it turned toward the team members as well. Even Park Seohyun felt intimidated by his expression that seemed to say “what’s so special about them?”
“S-sorry.”
Bae Jaeyoung, who caught Choi Dongwon as he was about to trip over his own feet while trying to avoid the tentacle-type magical beast’s octopus legs, furrowed her eyebrows and met Park Seohyun’s eyes. Choi Dongwon was also glancing around while picking up his weapon, as if sensing it wasn’t just her.
“Are you okay?”
Only Yeonwoo had a calm expression. Park Seohyun nearly clicked her tongue, thinking he was utterly oblivious if not for his apology earlier. Jo Heeseo, who was glaring at Yeonwoo as he maintained a composed face despite all the attention, snapped without hiding her irritation.
“What is all this because of you?”
Yeonwoo, who was gathering the magical beast’s tentacles that Bae Jaeyoung had frozen and Park Seohyun had cut off, bit his lip and lowered his eyes. Seeing Yeonwoo’s dejected appearance, Choi Dongwon, who was treating his injured knee, limped over and stood in front of Yeonwoo.
“Hey, this isn’t Esper Han Yeonwoo’s fault.”
“That’s right. Han Yeonwoo was just cleaning up, and thanks to him, we’ve secured exclusive access to good weapons. We also get to do virtual dungeon training now.”
Choi Dongwon agreed with Park Seohyun’s words. Still, Jo Heeseo’s intensity didn’t subside. Even when Bae Jaeyoung tried to block the stares by raising an ice wall, something came flying with a “bang” and demolished it.
“Sorry~”
The team members’ mana was growing increasingly sharp at the attitude that wasn’t sorry at all.
“Maybe it’s better to practice separately…”
At Bae Jaeyoung’s muttering, Park Seohyun raised her head. When asked if there was a place to practice separately, Bae Jaeyoung, after pondering briefly, ran to the training director. As Bae Jaeyoung explained while pointing toward them, the training director looked around briefly and then gestured for them to proceed.
“The more mana you put into the hologram device, the stronger the magical beast that appears. Deal with the magical beasts in order by level, and if the training ground is too narrow or you’re concerned about nearby Espers, you can move to a different zone.”
At the training director’s words, Park Seohyun stood up and started packing. Their destination was the communal zone training ground.
“Wow…”
It was on a completely different level from Zone C’s training ground, which was simply a wide field. Choi Dongwon, who was blankly staring at the hologram device that could recreate a dungeon-like environment, looked at Yeonwoo with a pitiful expression. If not for Bae Jaeyoung, they would have lived without knowing such a place existed. Yeonwoo patted Choi Dongwon’s shoulder and ran over at Bae Jaeyoung’s gesture.
“It would be better to train normally and then change the background to match the magical beast, right?”
Agreeing that would be better, Yeonwoo hesitated and backed away when he saw the cave-type option among the background choices.
“Hmm? Should we go with the cave?”
“Ah, no. Since it was an octopus beast, how about the coastal type?”
Nodding that it would be a good idea, Bae Jaeyoung changed the training ground’s scenery as Yeonwoo answered while wiping away the cold sweat pooled in his hands. Yeonwoo, who had been admiring the sandy beach where his feet sank deeply, grasped his dagger following Park Seohyun’s gesture.
* * *
“Shall we go one more time?”
“No.”
Bae Jaeyoung burst into laughter at Choi Dongwon’s firm answer and retrieved the magical beast bead. As the hologram device turned off, the deafening sound of waves quieted down, and the gray ceiling appeared.
“Hey, Esper Choi Dongwon. About earlier…”
Yeonwoo, who had been listening to Bae Jaeyoung’s advice to Choi Dongwon like background music, cleaned up the training ground. Despite rolling around in the sand just moments ago, his training uniform was spotless without a speck of dust.
“What about me?”
“Hmm? I didn’t see Guide Jo Heeseo do anything.”
She needs to do something for there to be advice to give. Jo Heeseo had been trying to guide Bae Jaeyoung at every opportunity while standing behind Park Seohyun and Choi Dongwon. Why did she even bring a gun if she’s going to act like this? Biting the tip of his tongue, Yeonwoo smiled brightly at Bae Jaeyoung, who gave him a thumbs up saying he did well.
“Now, it’s guiding time.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to rest a bit first?”
Jo Heeseo, who had hidden her hands behind her back, laughed sheepishly, but Bae Jaeyoung gestured to Park Seohyun.
“The more tired my body is, the more I need to use my ability. That’s how I can know my limits.”
At those words, Jo Heeseo couldn’t hide her disgruntled expression as she looked at Choi Dongwon and Yeonwoo. Jo Heeseo’s guiding, which was as minimal as touching with the tip of her fingernail, was simply unpleasant, suggesting she really didn’t want to provide guiding.
Choi Dongwon, who had been lying down letting out languid breaths next to Yeonwoo as he flicked his fingertips, jumped up when the training end bell rang.
“May I go to the fitness training area?”
“Oh. If I’d known you had energy left, we should have trained more.”
At Bae Jaeyoung’s menacing words, Choi Dongwon gave Yeonwoo a look asking for help, but how could an auxiliary-type understand the psychology of a defensive-type who was obsessed with muscles?
“So, are we training here tomorrow too?”
“Since we’re allowed to practice in different zones… should I ask the training director for an access pass when we arrive tomorrow?”
At Bae Jaeyoung’s suggestion, Jo Heeseo reached out to Park Seohyun with an excited face. Park Seohyun, who received guiding, stretched and gathered her belongings.
“So Esper Choi Dongwon will go after strength training, and Esper Han Yeonwoo? You’re heading straight back, right? Well, good work today.”
At Park Seohyun’s farewell, Yeonwoo weakly bent and straightened his back. He didn’t even have the energy to say goodbye. He felt like he would pass out before he could even shower. As he trudged along, Yeonwoo turned to look at Park Seohyun, who wasn’t following.
“Ah, I’m going to practice a bit more before leaving.”
At Bae Jaeyoung’s words as she created ice flowers in the air, Jo Heeseo also sat down saying she would too. Catching Yeonwoo’s eyes, Park Seohyun let out a laugh at the sight. Jo Heeseo had never provided guiding even once while Yeonwoo was training by himself.
It was laughable—she would shed tears, complaining about being discriminated against for being in Zone C, but naturally discriminated based on rank herself.
“Then I’ll practice a bit more too.”
Park Seohyun, who had put down her bag, sat next to Bae Jaeyoung, saying it would be lonely to train alone. After confirming that Jo Heeseo’s face had turned sullen, Park Seohyun turned her head to look for Yeonwoo.
“What about Esper Han Yeonwoo?”
Is there a chance I’d be carried out while training… Weakly shaking his head, Yeonwoo focused on moving his legs, which kept bending in different directions, and left the communal zone.
I can’t walk anymore. Should I just take a penalty and fold space…? As Yeonwoo was drawing mana from his mana core while staring into the void with drooping eyes, he heard a voice.
“Hyung?”
“Esper Kang Chahun?”
Yeonwoo, who had been drawing a pattern, waved his hand to disperse the mana. While established Espers could just say “oops, didn’t see you” and move on in such situations, it felt wrong to commit an illegal act in front of Chahun, who was just learning the Center’s rules one by one.
“What brings you here, hyung…”
Chahun, who had been running over with a happy face, froze his expression as the distance between them shortened.
“Did something happen?”
At the question, Yeonwoo looked down at himself. He didn’t even have the strength to lift his head. After steadying his breath and barely raising his head, he saw Chahun examining him with a deeply distorted face.
“Wait. I get what you’re thinking, but I really just trained.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Chahun’s brow relax. But at his look that asked why Yeonwoo was in such a state, Yeonwoo desperately craved a shower. He didn’t even have the strength to go home. After a refreshing shower, even the cot in the rest area would feel like a heavenly cloud. Walking with no energy, Yeonwoo looked up at Chahun, who was sticking close to him.
“What brings Esper Kang Chahun here?”
“That’s my dor—why?”
A bland voice interrupted as Yeonwoo looked where Chahun was pointing. Chahun, who made an equally bland expression at the voice, was pouting at Yeonwoo.
“We live in the same Center, so we could run into each other from time to time, but every time we meet, you ask ‘What brings Esper Kang Chahun here?’ like that.”
Is he… mimicking me right now? Yeonwoo couldn’t even laugh at the gentle voice coming from Kang Chahun’s face. Looking up at Chahun, who was frowning, Yeonwoo surveyed the surroundings.
Though Chahun had lumped it together as the “same Center,” the Center was no ordinary place in terms of size. They said that when digging the land to build the Center, enough soil to make two mountains was excavated. Even Zone C alone took half a day to explore to know what was where, so how much larger would the other zones be? Well… I guess we could run into each other coming and going.
Even though Yeonwoo showed an expression of understanding, Chahun continued to point to one corner with a sullen face. Following his hand, Yeonwoo saw faint mana rippling.
“A portal?”
“Yes. That’s the way to my dormitory.”
At Chahun’s expression that seemed to ask if he was satisfied now, Yeonwoo weakly nodded. As Chahun stared down at such a Yeonwoo, he suddenly unzipped his jacket.
“Zip it up.”
“No.”
“Even if it’s uncomfortable, you need to get used to it, so keep it zipped up.”
Despite Yeonwoo’s words, Chahun, who didn’t zip up his jacket, subtly pushed out his chest. What is he trying to do? Yeonwoo, exhausted beyond measure, didn’t have the energy to play spot the difference.
“What happened to you?”
“I took a test today.”
When Chahun said he took a test to fill mana balls, Yeonwoo briefly furrowed his brow. Bringing in an S-class and giving such a test. It showed how much Zone A was disregarding Chahun. It was a test usually taken during military academy days, and even then, only when freshly awakened.
The common point between Yeonwoo back then and Chahun now was that they had both recently awakened, so it made sense they would take such a test. They must have had their reasons for administering such a test. Correcting his thoughts that kept flowing negatively, Yeonwoo patted Chahun’s arm. His voice came out delayed, intoxicated by fatigue.
“Good job.”
“It’s all thanks to you, hyung.”
Yeonwoo’s ears heated up at the calm voice. Fellow Espers can teach each other, why is he being so… Seeing Yeonwoo’s embarrassment, Chahun presented the key hanging around his neck.
“A key?”
“Yes. Hyung, have you eaten? What are you doing next?”
Though he clearly remembered answering that he wasn’t going to eat and was going to sleep, Chahun was opening the Zone A portal.
“I passed the test and got a personal training ground. Want to come see it?”
No?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
