Ch.121Turbulent World – 3
by fnovelpia
From S-rank, the highest level of power, to D-rank, barely meeting the standards of a superpower user.
Everyone fought with all their might against the monsters and succeeded in closing the gate.
But unless one is a god, no one can save everyone safely.
Where there are survivors, there are also victims. That’s the inevitable result of tragedy.
And on Friday evening, people were gathering at the hastily arranged memorial.
– Joint Memorial for Gate Incident Victims –
Some were unfortunately caught directly in the gate.
Others were a bit farther away but eventually caught by monsters.
And some could have escaped but died while evacuating others.
For various reasons, countless people met their end.
Their genders and ages varied, but each death was a tragedy.
People came to shudder at the misery, leaving a flower before departing.
And among those people was Seojin Baek.
“…”
He wore glasses and a mask to avoid getting involved in unnecessary trouble.
He kept watching his surroundings, worried that Sujin Hyun might appear again.
Otherwise, he was concerned that Rina Lee might suddenly show up.
It might have been better not to come at all.
Nevertheless, the reason Seojin Baek came all the way here
was because someone who should never have been here was present.
“Jinhyuk Ryu… Jinhyuk Ryu. If this is the person you’re looking for, it’s probably him. Magic Class superpower user, twenty years old. Recently returned from studying abroad. Expected to join the Academy mid-second semester.”
“Oh. That’s accurate. Thank you, Chairman. Thanks to you…”
“Let me finish. This young man you were looking for. He died in yesterday’s gate incident.”
“…What?”
“He was killed by a boss monster while helping civilians during the gate incident. Our people confirmed he’s listed in the fallen database. I’ve already verified it with the Association myself.”
When Seojin heard Minseong Kang’s words, he almost cried out without realizing it.
That it couldn’t be. That it shouldn’t be. Why did that guy have to die!
Jinhyuk Ryu. Originally meant to join in the second semester to provide additional firepower support for Hyunwoo Lee’s party.
While Hana Kang excelled in support and environmental manipulation with ice magic,
Jinhyuk Ryu was supposed to be the “one-shot damage dealer” with fire magic—high damage but long “cooldown”—a necessary role for the team.
Unlike others who were already at the Academy, his appearance time was predetermined.
That’s why Seojin hadn’t looked for him immediately and deliberately waited until the second semester.
He never imagined losing him so meaninglessly before he could do anything!
“…”
Seojin silently stared at the photo displayed at the joint memorial.
It was definitely Jinhyuk Ryu. His appearance confirmed it.
A superpower user he had planned to add to the team later, with a decent personality and above-average skills.
Of course, he wasn’t a complete character and needed more growth.
But he had a good foundation, which is why Seojin had put him aside for now.
‘Damn it. I was too careless. Things were going too well…’
Should he have kept him close from the beginning? Forced him into the Academy?
But that would have been nearly impossible since he had just returned from abroad.
Despite his own connections being impressive, the Academy was still the Academy.
He couldn’t just insert a student mid-semester without any tests.
So the plan was to wait until the second semester transfer exam, but things went wrong.
Swish—
He silently placed the flower he was holding at the memorial and prayed for the departed’s peace.
Though they had never met, let alone spoken, he still felt sorry.
Knowing the situation was flowing differently, he could have taken preventive measures.
If he had paid just a little more attention, he might have prevented such a pointless end.
Though it wasn’t his fault, the bitterness was unavoidable.
“…How annoying.”
On his way home from the memorial, Seojin looked around at the surroundings.
The world that was so noisy just days ago is now too quiet.
Though still filled with loud noises, something is clearly different from before.
Fear and dread from a future no one can be certain of.
Yes, these were weighing heavily on every corner of the world.
Buzz!— Buzz buzz!—
As if unwilling to leave Seojin alone,
his phone vibrated vigorously from his pocket.
After briefly looking at the screen, Seojin smiled slightly.
Then he pressed the call button and parted his lips.
“Yes, Soohyun. Yeah. I had something to take care of… Here? Why suddenly? Yeah. Yeah… You have something to say? Can’t you just say it now… You need to say it in person? Um… okay. This Arbiter will be there.”
What’s with her all of a sudden? Did something happen?
After ending the call, Seojin stared at his phone briefly and then shrugged.
It was always nice to see Soohyun gradually changing.
*
“I’ve prepared everything as you asked, Soohyun. But are you sure? Given Arbiter Baek’s personality, I’m worried he won’t agree to rest in the current situation.”
Grandfather’s concern was valid. Given the circumstances, the Arbiter might refuse.
He might say that moving forward is more important than resting right now.
If he says that, I won’t have the confidence to persuade him further…
…No. I still need to convince him. It’s necessary for both the Arbiter and myself.
There have certainly been difficult and devastating events, but we can’t carry them forever.
The Arbiter said so himself. If things get too hard, try resting a bit.
By doing so, you can regain the strength to move forward again!
“…You’re going to persuade him? Alright. I understand. My granddaughter will handle it well. This old man always supports you. Don’t lose to Rina. Fighting, my granddaughter!”
Right. For the sake of grandfather’s trust and hard work, I must succeed.
You can do it, Soohyun Kim. If you truly care for the Arbiter,
you should sometimes be able to make him change his mind!
“Soohyun.”
I turned my head to see the Arbiter waving and approaching.
It’s a bit late, and I requested this meeting quite suddenly.
Yet the Arbiter came all the way here without showing any displeasure.
“You said you had something to tell me. What is it? Did something happen?”
The Arbiter is always like this. Always worried something might have happened to me.
When in fact, he’s the one who fights more and gets hurt more than I do.
The one who should be worried about isn’t me but the Arbiter.
That’s why I want to carry out this resolution even more.
Because he’s fought a lot and been hurt a lot, so he must be very tired.
Because I want to give him that brief rest he talked about.
“Um… Arbiter. This weekend. That is, from tomorrow until the day after.”
“Yes? What about it?”
“Well… Arbiter. This weekend…”
Argh! Why do I keep stopping when it’s not even difficult to say?
Say it confidently, Soohyun Kim! It’s neither embarrassing nor wrong.
This is for the Arbiter’s sake. So say it boldly!
“How about… taking a rest! W-what do you think?!”
I-I said it! I did it! Thank goodness. Yes, finally…
“Of course I should rest. After all the hard work these past few days. I’m planning to stay home without taking a single step outside. Were you worried I might work on the weekend too?”
“Eh?”
W-what? This isn’t what I meant. What I wanted was…
“Did Hyunwoo Lee—no, that guy—say something strange? Like you have to be evaluated on weekends too, or since they train on weekends, it makes sense to have evaluations then too?”
“What? Well, that happened a couple of times…”
“I knew it. This crazy guy, really. Why on earth would he want people to work on weekends?”
The Arbiter is ranting about his Bronze comrade, Hyunwoo Lee.
Saying he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t given up since his civil servant days.
Weekends are for resting, so why make others tired too!
And I found myself agreeing, saying “That’s right, that’s right.”
But this isn’t it. What I wanted to say wasn’t this…
“A-Arbiter! Rest! The weekend! My grandfather has prepared a villa! How about quietly resting there this weekend?!”
“Huh? A villa?”
You’re doing well, Soohyun Kim! Keep pushing forward!
“Yes! It’s… really quiet! A place where there’s no one. Lately, Arbiter, you’ve had so many things going on! You look tired. So I asked my grandfather. To find a place where you could rest for two days without any disturbance!”
Haa, haa… I’m out of breath. It’s been a while since I’ve spoken so many words so quickly.
Did I miss anything? Could anything be misunderstood? No, I conveyed everything.
“A villa. This weekend.”
“Yes, yes! Rest. Let’s take a good rest!”
“Hmm…”
“Your house suddenly collapsed recently, which was really chaotic. Then that woman, Rina, practically kidnapped you and made you stay uncomfortably at her place! And two days ago, you fought intensely again. You’ve probably accumulated fatigue without even realizing it!”
Did he find my words reasonable? The Arbiter is nodding.
This is a good sign. Yes, I need to keep pushing.
I can’t keep following that woman, Rina, forever.
I’m going to take the initiative. I want to be by the Arbiter’s side!
“You’re right, Soohyun. Indeed, things have been quite busy lately.”
“Right?! Then, since I’ve already prepared everything, you just need to come…”
“Wouldn’t it be odd if it’s just us? We all fought together after all.”
“…Eh?”
A-Arbiter? What are you saying right now?!
“Let’s take Hana Kang, Dasom Yoo, and Hyunwoo Lee too. We’re going to move as a team from now on, so it would be good to get closer through this opportunity.”
…Hiiiiing?!?
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