73 – Amusement Park

“Let’s go! For your first time at an amusement park, the Viking is the classic choice.”

Jin Na-yeon, the most sociable of the three, led the way.

This amusement park was a huge place, famous not only in our country but also among foreigners.

Ha-yeon, being an outsider, didn’t know the layout well, but Nayeon seemed to have been here quite a few times, as she didn’t get lost and quickly walked towards the rides that looked fun.

The first place they headed to was the Viking.

It was nearby, and everyone agreed that it was a classic, so they all got on the Viking without complaint.

But honestly, Ha-yeon didn’t know if it would be fun.

Even though it was a Viking ride specifically for Awakened, she had been through so much that she wondered if this level of thrill would even scare her.

“….”

As if her thoughts were right, even though it swung back and forth quickly, it wasn’t that fun.

I’m the one who has fallen from a much higher place with no safety equipment.

It would be strange if I were scared by such a ride.

I’m an S-class.

“Aaaaaah!!!”

But Nayeon and Choha, who were sitting in the front seats, seemed to be enjoying it, screaming and yelling.

Ha-yeon chuckled at the sight and looked at Ha-jeong, who was sitting next to her.

Her hair was flying wildly in the wind, making it hard to see her face, but Ha-yeon grabbed her hair tightly and said,

“Is it fun?”

“No.”

As expected, Ha-yeon raised both hands in the air and screamed.

“Aaaaaah!!”

It’s not because she’s scared. There’s a saying that you don’t laugh because it’s fun, but it’s fun because you laugh.

She’s just yelling it out.

A refreshing scream disguised as a cheer.

“Puhaha!”

Ha-jeong, who was next to her, laughed loudly once because it was funny, and then screamed along with her.

Or maybe she was just copying Ha-yeon.

After a while, the Viking reached its peak and started to come down again, and Ha-yeon tidied up her hair, which had been messed up by the wind.

It took her a while to fix her hair, which was a complete mess.

“Sister, is it fun?”

“Of course. Well, it’s not fun because it’s thrilling, but it’s fun to hang out together, right?”

Ha-yeon was taken aback by her sister’s brief display of sociability, but she just let it go and got off the stopped Viking, starting to look for the next place to go.

“Do you want to try this?”

After Ha-yeon hesitated for a moment, Nayeon, who had been watching quietly from the side, pointed to a part of the map with her finger.

The ride there was none other than ‘Tower of Extreme’, a course-style ride.

It was a ride made specifically for Awakened, where you had to quickly break through several sections.

You go up and reach the top to finish.

The use of mana is basically prohibited.

“The person who comes in last here buys dinner later.”

If they used mana, Baek Choha would be overwhelmingly disadvantaged, but if they didn’t use mana, there wouldn’t be much difference between an A-class and an S-class.

As a result of everyone’s unanimous agreement, the four of them headed to the starting point of the Tower of Extreme course.

The starting point looked like an ordinary entrance, but the tower that stretched upwards was eye-catching.

It was indeed worthy of being the largest amusement park.

“Okay.”

Since none of the four had ever been there before, the conditions were the same.

After getting confirmation from the staff and entering, they could see the course.

“Who wants to go first?”

Since they didn’t know anything, none of the four raised their hands, so they decided to play rock-paper-scissors.

Despite there being four people, the result was surprisingly quick, and Jin Nayeon was the first to go.

The second was Baek Ha-yeon, the third was Baek Choha, and the last was Jin Ha-jeong.

“Ah…. I’m screwed.”

It’s almost impossible to come in first when you go first.

So, she seemed to give up on first place and stretched her arms as she headed to the starting point of the course.

With the staff member’s words, “Start!” the stopwatch started moving, and she began to climb the tower.

Perhaps because there were many people challenging the Tower of Extreme, the inside was clearly visible.

Nayeon grabbed a nearby pole and started climbing quickly.

She skillfully found the points and passed through the area without hesitation.

After passing through the initial wooden stick section, the next thing she encountered was a thin platform.

She jumped up the slanted platforms that were spaced out without much difficulty.

She almost slipped on the oiled parts in the middle, but quickly regained her balance and climbed up.

“Is this really your first time?”

Ha-yeon watched with a dumbfounded expression at her skillful movements, which didn’t seem like it was her first time.

“Do you think you’ll do worse than that?”

Ha-jeong asked, and Ha-yeon naturally said no, analyzing where she should climb next since she was the next one to go.

Nayeon, who was climbing like that, had already passed the halfway point and entered the next section.

That was about 20 seconds.

Judging from the reactions of the other people, it seemed like she was overwhelmingly faster than ordinary Awakened.

That’s because she’s an S-class, and an ordinary S-class wouldn’t come to a place like this.

It’s even less likely that three of them would come together like this.

Thud.

Before long, Jin Nayeon reached the top.

The time stopped at 58 seconds.

She broke the previous record of 1 minute and 34 seconds and took first place.

“At this rate… I might not be last?”

Nayeon said as she came down.

Jin Ha-jeong wasn’t the athletic type, and Baek Choha also preferred close combat, so she probably wouldn’t be last.

“Then is it me.”

Ha-yeon, the next runner, followed Jin Nayeon into the tower.

Unlike how it looked from the outside, the tower that stretched upwards seemed daunting when she became the runner.

After roughly finishing her stretches, Ha-yeon started moving with the staff member’s voice.

She started climbing faster than Nayeon, following the route she had seen earlier.

This was because there was a slight difference in basic physical abilities, and Ha-yeon had a higher ability to grasp the situation, move her body, and use her skills.

She climbed straight up without making a single mistake, breaking through the halfway point in just 17 seconds.

‘Here, here, turn around here and jump.’

Her feet moved quickly.

She wondered if it was right to concentrate so much on something so trivial, but an unknown competitive spirit was burning within her.

In the middle of it, she lost her footing at the end of the course.

“Ah!”

Fortunately, she grabbed a protruding rock nearby and didn’t fall, but she lost time.

So, she climbed even faster. The time when she arrived was 55 seconds.

It was a close time difference of only 3 seconds from Nayeon.

If she hadn’t made that mistake earlier, wouldn’t the difference have been much greater?

She thought regretfully as she came down.

After that, Baek Choha and Jin Ha-jeong took the course one after another.

Both of them had decent results, but as a result, Jin Ha-jeong, who had nothing to do with close combat, ended up in last place.

Having taken 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place in the amusement park, they left the place leisurely and moved to eat.

There was still a lot of time left, but they were all hungry, so they decided to eat.

Since they had come late in the first place, it wasn’t that bright when they arrived.

Anyway, they headed to the most ordinary hamburger restaurant inside the amusement park.

“What are you guys going to eat?”

“Hmm… I’ll have a chicken burger.”

“Garlic.”

“Original!”

Ha-yeon chose a chicken burger, Nayeon chose garlic, and Choha chose the original, and Ha-jeong followed Ha-yeon and ordered a chicken burger.

After a while, the burgers came out, and the three of them packed up the hot burgers and headed to a quiet place.

It was a place with a good view and no people, so it was perfect for us to eat.

As they took out their respective burgers and put them in their mouths, they felt the familiar taste of instant food.

“So delicious.”

“Chicken is the best for burgers too.”

“Do you want to eat chicken even in a burger…”

“Of course.”

Like a chicken fanatic, she savored the taste, feeling the juice coming out of the chicken patty.

Choha, who was watching her, thinking, ‘You’re so you,’ also started eating her burger.

The three of them ate in silence, watching the sun gradually set even though it was early.

“When are you going to Thunderclap Palace?”

When Ha-yeon mentioned it, Choha, who only knew that she was going to Thunderclap Palace, asked, and Ha-yeon said nonchalantly.

“In three days, I’m going to play for two days.”

“This time…. you’re not going to get hurt, are you?”

For the past few years.

It’s natural for Choha to worry because she always gets hurt whenever she goes somewhere.

Even though they act like just close friends on the outside, they are life partners who cherish each other more than anyone else on the inside.

No matter how strong she is, she can’t help but worry about her when she gets hurt.

Ha-yeon smiled bitterly at her and replied.

“There’s nothing much this time, I’m just stopping by because of Seo-ah’s wish.”

Of course, that’s not all there is to it.

She doesn’t know the exact situation yet, but she can’t tell Choha the truth.

She doesn’t know what dangers are lurking in Thunderclap Palace.

It might really be just for the purpose of the invitation, but seeing Seo-ah carefully choosing a place to use for several years, she can easily tell that it’s not.

But she has to reassure her, so she said that, and Choha didn’t say anything more and backed down.

Silence resumed.

“Don’t worry too much.”

With those words, the amusement park party played at the amusement park until the sky was completely dark for several hours before disbanding.

What do you call this again….

Right.

It was the calm before the storm.