Ch.181Episode 36. New Year (End)

“How did you get in here?”

“When I spoke to Chancellor Yoon Kyungbin, he let me right in. Being an S-rank does have its advantages, doesn’t it?”

“…So what is it you want to say?”

“I already told you. I can help track down Akcheon’s executives.”

I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out his intentions. His sudden appearance and claim about tracking executives made no sense.

“How exactly?”

“Among my abilities, I have one that’s excellent for location tracking. When they move, I’ll inform you of their position. I can’t just stand by and watch civilians being slaughtered. This isn’t some fictional story, after all.”

“…”

My brow furrowed at Forest’s strange insinuation. If he had such an ability, why hadn’t he used it before?

“Then why not tell me right now? If you told me now, we could send them all to prison immediately.”

“I can’t do that now. There are specific conditions.”

“Ah, is that so? Somehow to my ears, it sounds like you’re in league with Akcheon.”

“…I’m not on Akcheon’s side. Rather, at this point, I’m hoping for Akcheon’s downfall.”

At this point?

His entire way of speaking was irritating from start to finish. There were too many loaded implications, and each exchange made me more annoyed.

“So before, you were hoping they wouldn’t fall?”

“Rather than hoping they wouldn’t fall… it would be more accurate to say the time wasn’t right.”

“Time…?”

“Well, anyway, I can contact you when Akcheon starts to move. Wouldn’t that ease your concerns somewhat?”

“…Why tell me this? Why not the Association President?”

If the Association knew when Akcheon was moving, they could not only get support from numerous heroes but also come up with many countermeasures.

There were still too many Akcheon villains for me to handle alone.

“Don’t worry, I’ll inform the Association too. I’m just telling you first.”

“Why?”

Forest and I weren’t close, nor were we in a position to share information. There was no reason.

“Just… don’t we need to settle things?”

“Settle things? There’s no particular reason why I need to settle anything with Akcheon, is there?”

“I know you’ve been hunting Akcheon relentlessly until now. I’m just trying to help you put a period at the end of that sentence.”

“…You must have done some background research on me.”

The Association President wouldn’t have mentioned it, and only a portion of my achievements were publicly known, so few people knew about my fixation on Akcheon.

“Not exactly background research. I just made an educated guess since you always seem to be involved whenever Akcheon is mentioned.”

I couldn’t trust him at all. From our first meeting until now, I found it impossible to believe anything about this person.

“Setting aside my persistence in catching Akcheon, why would Forest… no, Lim Surim, want to help put that period?”

“I want to see it with my own eyes.”

“See what? Me fighting Akcheon’s executives?”

He nodded.

“What meaning does that have for you?”

“Who knows? Whether it has meaning or not will become clear when the time comes. What’s certain is that right now, I want to help you. That much is my genuine, pure intention.”

“…I don’t know if I can trust you, but I understand for now.”

I don’t trust Forest, who abandoned Anrakgyo. But if he could be helpful, I would thoroughly use that help.

“I’m glad we understand each other. Would you mind entering your number here?”

I entered my number into the mobile phone Forest held out and handed it back.

“Then I’ll go meet with the Chancellor.”

“Ah, go ahead.”

As Forest turned to leave, Bin Yooni quickly bowed. He waved at her and left the laboratory.

“That’s a relief at least. He’ll contact us when the executives move.”

“I’m not so sure. Even if he does alert us when they move, if we respond poorly, the situation could become very serious.”

Setting aside whether his words were true, the threat of the eX potion hadn’t disappeared, so I couldn’t let my guard down.

“Anyway, Yooni, please work on creating an antidote for the eX potion.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Then I’ll be going. Thanks for your hard work today.”

I patted Bin Yooni’s shoulder and turned to leave.

“Um, Instructor.”

“Yes?”

I stopped and looked back at her.

“After I make the antidote for the eX potion… let’s hang out again.”

“Sure.”

I smiled at Yooni’s shy request. Would I get a definitive answer on our next date?

Somehow, I felt like I would.

* * *

“So… what? I have to memorize all of this?”

In the instructor and professor lounge.

I gaped at the textbook Lee Bangsil showed me. It was a whopping 600 pages.

“You already have a license, so why are you acting surprised?”

Lee Bangsil snorted dismissively. With her chin held high and arms crossed, she looked quite annoying.

But I couldn’t answer her.

After all, I got my license without taking any exams because the Association President backed me.

“You always talk like that. Yet you take such good care of the people around you.”

“Shut up!”

Isn’t taking good care of people a compliment? Why is she getting so upset?

“So there’s a written and practical test, and for the written part I need to memorize this thick book, and the practical includes combat against people, disaster site rescue, and first aid, right?”

“That’s right.”

The license exam is tougher than I thought. Though I suppose no license is easy to obtain.

“Do you have any information about questions that commonly appear on the written test?”

“I don’t remember well enough to tell you, but you can find expected questions if you take online lectures. Just invest a little money.”

“Tsk. You’re no help.”

“What?! You made a busy person come all the way to Seoul just to ask such trivial questions?!”

Lee Bangsil pointed at my face and shouted. An instructor who had been resting in the lounge looked at us strangely before leaving.

“Sigh. I’ll buy you mint chocolate ice cream, so stop whining.”

“Who said I wanted mint chocolate ice cream?”

“So you don’t want me to buy it?”

“Now you’re selling your conscience too? I’m an S-rank hero. S-rank. No one can use me without giving something in return.”

If she wants mint chocolate ice cream, she should just say so. Why beat around the bush? Is that a tsundere trait?

“By the way, did you pass the license exam on your first try?”

“Of course I did. Why would I take it two or three times?”

“Sheesh. You don’t have friends, do you?”

“What…?”

“Your way of talking makes it obvious you don’t have friends. Want me to be your friend?”

“Do you want to die?”

It seemed I had pressed Bangsil’s trigger button. A haze rose around her. But usually, people who react this sensitively are actually like that.

What a pitiful child.

“What’s wrong with becoming friends?”

“I wouldn’t be friends with someone like you even if a truckload came!”

“That’s a bit harsh. Anyway, you said you had business at the Academy?”

“…Yeah. Since there’s a high probability that Akcheon will target Academy students with the eX potion, I’m planning to set coordinates to create spatial distortions in advance if the situation occurs.”

Even though they hadn’t developed an antidote for the eX potion yet, it seemed she was thoroughly preparing. That was somewhat reassuring.

“After work, we’re going for mint chocolate ice cream, so don’t run away, okay?”

“Just go and come back.”

Afterward, I went with Lee Bangsil to an ice cream shop, and I had to express my amazement as she devoured three whole servings.

* * *

“You’re out here again today.”

Even though I hadn’t called them, the special class students were already at the training ground doing stretches, perhaps out of habit.

It had only been four days since the new year, yet they were quite diligent.

“Hello, Instructor!”

Following Gu Yeonhwa’s energetic greeting, the other students also greeted me.

Each of them exuded a weightier presence compared to when they first trained. It meant they had grown well.

“Yes. You could be resting during the break, but here you are.”

“If we want to catch up to you, Instructor, we need to work harder every day!”

“Right, right. Then let’s see how much you’ve grown in the meantime, shall we?”

When I said this with a smile, their expressions, which had been focused on preparation, stiffened. They already seemed to be anticipating another day of having their stamina wrung out.

“Ah, before that… Yeon Muhui, Yu Ari.”

I called the two of them.

They stopped stretching and walked over to me.

“Starting next week, prepare to study for the license written exam in March.”

“Yes.”

“Ugh. I hate studying…”

Yu Ari had a certain tenacity, so studying wouldn’t be a problem for her, but the key concern was Yeon Muhui.

I’d never seen her study. How did she even get into the Academy?

“We’ll train in the afternoon, so come to my room in the morning to study. Of course, after training, you’ll need to study in your own rooms too. There’s quite a lot of material. I’ve also signed you up for online lectures for reference.”

“I wonder if we can pass on the first try…”

“You have to pass on the first try. That’s how you’ll prove yourself to your father.”

“…That’s right.”

For Muhui, who needed to prove herself to Yeonhwa-ryong, failing the license exam would be like buttoning the first button wrong.

“Well… that’s all I have to say. Shall we start sparring?”

Crack!

Sparks flew as I hit my palm with my fist.