Chapter 37
Regret washed over him like a tide. Yeonwoo collapsed onto the desk and sighed deeply. Why did I do that? I shouldn’t have cared whether Chahun burst the mana ball or caused a flood with a water ball.
“Hyung?”
Hyung, he says. Hyung, he says. You didn’t even know my name before.
Realizing that he had not only changed Chahun’s future but also intervened significantly, Yeonwoo pulled at his hair. After witnessing the boomerangs that hit people who approached the book’s protagonists while standing beside Yeonhwa, why on earth did you approach Kang Chahun, Han Yeonwoo?
After breathing deeply for a long time, Yeonwoo slowly smoothed his hair. Regretting won’t make what happened disappear. What matters is what to do from now on.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“No.”
Nothing now, but things will happen from here on. What kind of boomerang would he face? Seeing how his ability was fluctuating, the boomerang would likely come in the form of losing his ability. But to attribute it to the boomerang—his ability had been fluctuating even before meeting Chahun. Pressing his throbbing head, Yeonwoo glared at the thinned diary.
The protagonists of the book had such long life threads that even Yeonhwa’s foresight often couldn’t see their ends. Chahun was certainly one of them. What was the reason for saving Chahun, whose future was guaranteed? Was there a reason Kang Chahun needed to stay alive? The hypothesis that he had invested his life believing Chahun’s presence would make a difference seemed highly probable.
Probably…
Biting his lip, Yeonwoo picked up his diary and stood. Dungeon sickness might be hitting him belatedly, as the headache made it difficult to keep his eyes open.
“By the way, what are you doing here?”
“Again.”
Chahun, who was opening the door for him, frowned deeply.
“People can run into each other—”
“But it’s training time now.”
Though Yeonwoo’s training might have ended early, what about Chahun? There were still thirty minutes until lunch—why was he wandering around in a different zone?
“What about you?”
“I finished early. What about Esper Kang Chahun?”
“Well, I was just at the treatment room, and I felt your mana…”
“The treatment room?”
“I got injured during training.”
Chahun rubbed the back of his neck, checking if blood was seeping through. Fortunately, his dark training uniform concealed any blood that might have soaked in. Still, concerned that Yeonwoo might be alarmed by blood, Chahun shifted his posture. His eyes lit up at the mention of finishing early.
“Has that issue been resolved?”
“Did you do sparring training?”
Chahun nodded at the simultaneously asked questions, while Yeonwoo shook his head. Pondering Chahun’s answer briefly, Yeonwoo headed toward the training area. With Chahun following behind asking where he was going, Yeonwoo found the training instructor and got straight to the point.
“Due to certain circumstances, would it be alright if I train with Esper Kang Chahun?”
The training instructor, who was reviewing virtual dungeon training results, leaned back in his chair. The prohibition on training between Espers from different zones was to prepare for any potential overloads. An S-rank could withstand a C-rank’s overload, but not vice versa. As the instructor in charge of Han Yeonwoo, he wanted to refuse, but with orders to keep an eye on the two, he could only swallow a sigh and nod.
“I don’t mind, but you know you need to be careful, right?”
Watching Chahun’s retreating figure as he excitedly gestured, Yeonwoo swallowed dryly. With the future already changed, Yeonwoo’s anxieties wouldn’t make the coming boomerang disappear.
“Hyung, what about lunch? Should we eat first?”
Food… Though he knew eating would give him strength, he was so tired he had no appetite. More than food, he wanted to sleep. Unless he exhausted his body through exercise and then fell unconscious, he would only drift into shallow sleep before waking up with nightmares. No, not nightmares.
Yeonwoo stared at Chahun, who was heading toward the cafeteria.
“Kang Chahun!”
If dying that way was his future, and if maybe… another future was prepared… Since he’d face the boomerang of causality anyway, couldn’t he change the future a bit more? All roads lead to Rome—as long as Kang Chahun becomes the Center Director, right?
Nodding, Yeonwoo walked over to Chahun, who was motioning to him.
Having died once, the second time should be easier.
* * *
Entering the A-zone training hall, Yeonwoo followed Chahun and sighed deeply. Though he had set a goal, he had no idea where to start. To keep Chahun at the Center, he would need to change the attitude of A-zone first.
But how?
Yeonwoo was in the Spatial division, and Chahun was in the Attack division. He could teach the basics, but beyond that, there were limitations based on their divisions.
Sighing repeatedly, Yeonwoo was about to enter the training hall when he looked around. One side wall of the training hall was decorated with ice roses.
“What is… all this?”
“They’re roses.”
Chahun replied flatly, extending his hand to snap off an ice flower and offer it to Yeonwoo. Receiving the flower without thinking, Yeonwoo softly exclaimed in admiration at the delicate ice flower with its detailed thorns.
“You keep giving me cookie cutters even when I ask for something else. I remembered when you told me to practice with flowers last time, so I’ve been making these lately.”
Chahun pointed to the flower as if it were nothing special, but until recently, he had been producing cookie dough rather than cookies. When did his skills improve so much?
“I’ve got the hang of this now, but sparring training…”
Chahun’s voice trailed off as he touched his neck. The deep wound that had soaked through his towel and left blood on his training uniform had been cleanly healed by a healing division’s gesture. Yeonwoo frowned as he watched Chahun let out a small sigh.
Seems like he got hurt during sparring training again.
Clicking his tongue, Yeonwoo examined the weapons rack on one side of the wall. From one end to the other, various bows from crossbows to longbows were arranged, but there were no short-range weapons at all.
While ranged weapons are good for attacking magic beasts, there should be at least one close-range weapon for sparring between Espers. “You’re more comfortable with a bow, right?” It was obvious without seeing that they had filled the weapons rack with bows only, pretending to accommodate Chahun.
For the safety of Espers, training daggers were made of soft rubber, but daggers wrapped in mana were more powerful than anything else. He probably got hurt by one of those.
As Yeonwoo deduced the atrocities of A-zone, he sighed again. If he were Chahun, he would have left the Center too, finding it unfair and dirty. He would receive better treatment by joining any passing guild.
Not to mention the sociable Round Guild Master or the Muyeong Guild Master who procures anything needed. Yeonwoo closed the weapons rack and motioned to Chahun.
“Did they explain sparring training to you?”
After considering briefly, Chahun shook his head. They probably didn’t explain properly. Yeonwoo pressed his throbbing forehead and pulled out a training dagger from his thigh belt. He gestured for Chahun to take his out, but Chahun’s thigh belt was empty.
“Where are your weapons?”
“They said they’d confiscate them temporarily during training. Since I need to be in a team to coordinate attacks, they told me to only defend.”
These… these… Muttering numerous curses inwardly, Yeonwoo buried his face in his hands. Ah, if he weren’t the book’s protagonist, Yeonwoo would have immediately told him to pack up and leave. But since Chahun was the protagonist, he needed to stay at the Center until the end and become the Center Director.
“Is that a lie too?”
As if he didn’t even have the energy to be angry, Chahun flicked ice crystals with his fingertips and smiled bitterly. Seeing this, Yeonwoo handed the dagger to Chahun.
“Afternoon training isn’t over yet, right?”
“Huh? Yes. I think so. I slipped out to get treatment.”
“Then look at this now and try to make one.”
As Chahun used his ability while looking at the dagger in his hand, a sparkling ice dagger appeared. Chahun raised his chin as if asking how his skills were, but Yeonwoo firmly shook his head.
“The handle is too short. When you hold a dagger, there should be this much room.”
After the dagger went back and forth several times between Chahun, whose enthusiasm had diminished, and Yeonwoo, who was meticulous, the shape of the dagger became increasingly convincing. Chahun, who was feeling proud, was confused when Yeonwoo pushed him outside.
“Where do you do sparring training? The group training hall?”
“Yes, but where are we going now?”
“To the group training hall.”
At those words, Chahun, who had been docilely following Yeonwoo’s lead, frowned.
“Wait, why should I go there?”
“To train.”
“You want to send me there? To a place where they beat me up?”
Chahun quickly examined his body. Having just received treatment, his smooth body without a single wound had no evidence of being hit. I can’t even show the blood on my training uniform to someone who’s afraid of blood by saying those bastards cut me with a knife!
“Why are you just taking the beating? If someone hits you, hit back. If they attack from a distance, trap them in ice; if they come close, slash them with the dagger; if there’s no time to make one, punch them hard.”
Punch them hard? Chahun’s mouth fell open at those words.
“Is that allowed? They’re seniors.”
This is ridiculous. Don’t tell me he planned to keep taking the hits?
Both the Center and all places where ability users worked operated based on skill. It was natural for a junior with a higher rank to become the team leader. Even if someone was an incredibly young awakener, if they had better abilities than him, one should step back and treat them with respect. There was no need to give seniors any leeway.
“What’s not allowed? Seniors or whatever, they see you as a punching bag because you just stand there, so hit them back at least once, somehow.”
He thought it strange—the Center itself had no concept of seniors or superiors—but this was Chahun. Having lived as an ordinary person, Chahun would have thought he should call them seniors because they joined first, and those guys would have used that to push him down, acting like they were his superiors.
“If they protest, just say your fist moved without you realizing it. No, just throw the dagger. What can they do if you say your defense mechanism activated?”
Chahun nodded at Yeonwoo’s words, then looked down at his hands with a complicated expression.
“If I go, what about you?”
Recalling the empty training hall and the deserted dormitory, Chahun subtly pushed Yeonwoo inside. Should I freeze the door so he can’t get out? Chahun was momentarily seized by the impulse but remembered Yeonwoo was a spatial movement Esper and pouted.
“Me? I’ll be here, so go ahead.”
At Yeonwoo’s words, Chahun curled up the corners of his mouth and pushed the door closed. Unaware that the doorknob had frozen, Yeonwoo looked around Chahun’s personal training hall.
The first goal was to make the A-zone ability users clearly recognize Chahun’s abilities. Judging by the Center Director’s attitude, they were probably—no, definitely—condoning the bullying, and Lee Sangwon was likely leading it.
Unless people change in an instant, Lee Sangwon, who had prided himself on being the best, wouldn’t welcome the suddenly appeared Chahun.
He needed to instill in the A-zone ability users, who were running wild believing in Lee Sangwon, the recognition that their leader could change. Yeonwoo pulled up his training uniform and organized the training hall.
If nothing else, he was confident he could teach sparring.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
