Ch.187. Security Dispatch Mission (1)

I wanted to ask her that question myself. But I answered anyway.

“Isn’t it normal for me to be in my own home?”

“That’s not what I mean… Shouldn’t you be at the fitness center right now, Sunbae?”

I glanced at the time. 3 PM. As Arin said, I usually went to the fitness center near my studio apartment on weekend afternoons.

I had worked hard on rehabilitation even while in the hospital. But lying in a hospital bed for so long had significantly weakened my physical strength.

So I had been diligently going to the fitness center, but…

‘It’s about time regular equipment and exercises stop being effective.’

Though I couldn’t properly use mana, my body remained that of an Awakened due to the Red Jade residing within me.

Conveniently, Flame headquarters had fitness facilities specifically designed for Awakened individuals. So when I didn’t have missions, it seemed better to use those facilities, which is why I quit the fitness center near my home.

“So now I’m planning to work out at headquarters.”

“Oh no! How stupid of me not to think of that. I should have been more thorough!”

Arin looked disappointed as she carefully set down the bags she was carrying.

‘At least she doesn’t seem to have installed hidden cameras in my room. Should I consider that fortunate?’

When I was in the hospital, Arin had been cautiously responsive to my every move. I noticed her taking out her smartphone and typing something.

I caught a glimpse of what looked like “Min-su Sunbae’s daily schedule” which sent a chill down my spine.

“But Sunbae, why didn’t you reply to my messages when you were home?”

“Well… it’s the weekend, so I was taking a break.”

“How could you? I sent over a hundred messages and you didn’t reply to a single one.”

Come to think of it, messages from Arin had been piling up. She always sent a lot of messages.

I’d gotten into the habit of letting them accumulate and checking them all at once, so I hadn’t looked at them in advance.

“Hmm. If they were messages from Yuri unni or Soso unni, you would have checked them first, right?”

Arin approached me and tried to peek at my smartphone screen. I quickly covered it.

“That’s not true. I just… don’t check my phone much.”

Arin picked up a framed photo of the student council and placed stickers over Yuri and Soso’s faces.

“That’s so cruel. For the past two years… after using my body as much as you wanted, now you’re going back to your old girlfriends? After I’ve shown you everything about me, both good and bad…”

Arin made a tearful expression. But she had it backwards. I was actually the one who had shown all the embarrassing sides of myself.

‘Since Arin took care of almost everything when I was unconscious and during rehabilitation…’

Right after regaining consciousness, I couldn’t even control my own body. Arin stayed by my side during that time.

Of course, during those two years, Arin never once showed that she found it difficult or unpleasant. That’s why I always felt sorry toward her.

Noticing my serious expression, she quickly changed the mood with a playful tone.

“It’s cold outside, and a room with just a man living alone is so gloomy! It really needs a woman’s touch.”

Saying that, she began taking items out of the bags she’d brought. Numerous side dishes. And household items needed for a studio apartment.

Wearing an apron over her white nun’s habit, Arin began busily moving around my room.

‘This makes Arin seem like my mother.’

Actually, there was a more appropriate term. Girlfriend. During my rehabilitation period, Arin had stuck by my side most of the time when she wasn’t at Eins.

Arin was devoted to me, and I was aware of her feelings. At first, I thought she was chasing after the images of her deceased childhood friends, Si-woo and Min-a, in me. But that wasn’t it.

According to Professor Sung Chae-rin, Arin had liked me since she entered Eins, when I was a third-year senior.

And now, Arin is also someone precious to me.

Plus, Arin is pretty, so there were many times when my heart wavered. But I had drawn a clear line.

‘I don’t want to make mistakes like I did at Eins.’

Not only that, but I’m living on borrowed time. No, not just borrowed time—I’m someone who shouldn’t exist in this world in the first place.

‘So this is the right thing to do.’

I couldn’t be cold to her, but I had repeatedly promised myself not to cross the line beyond being friendly seniors.

And Arin knows how I feel, but…

And even though Professor Sung Chae-rin is keeping the secret, so Arin might not know exactly that I’m living on borrowed time, she probably knows something about my physical condition.

Yet Arin was always consistent, just like now. Sometimes it was painful to look at her because her feelings seemed to expose my vulnerabilities.

“Sunbae! I couldn’t buy anything because you didn’t reply to my messages. What do you want to eat today? Anything is possible.”

“Just… whatever you make.”

“Come on. Women hate that kind of answer the most.”

But Arin obediently started cooking. Soon, good smells filled the studio apartment, making me feel hungry even though I hadn’t been before.

A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I asked her:

“By the way, how did you know the passcode to my apartment?”

Arin replied nonchalantly:

“I prayed to the Lord all night, and He told me. I said I really needed to get into Sunbae’s home.”

I was speechless.

***

Dinner was luxurious.

Since I usually ate instant or delivery food, my taste buds were treated well by the dinner Arin had prepared with such effort.

‘But even so…’

Arin didn’t leave even after dinner. And it seemed like she had come up with excuses not to leave anytime soon.

She had planned to meet me before going home anyway, even if I had returned from the fitness center. In fact, she didn’t seem embarrassed at all about being caught sneaking into my room.

As if she were my roommate, Arin, rolling around on my bed, said:

“Sunbae, could you teach me how to use this thing I got as compensation for the last business trip? I read the manual but I don’t understand it.”

The reward from the Association was a portable MCI oscilloscope. About the size of a smartphone, it was a device that displayed the ambient MCI levels in visual graphs.

‘Well, this is definitely something Arin wouldn’t be familiar with.’

Instead, it’s something that information team members or operators like me would go crazy for. If MCI is the index that measures the influence of magi—the magical energy emanating from Gates, dungeons, and magical beasts—on people…

There are also devices that measure that pure magi itself. There’s a separate academic term for that magi, but it’s simply called ambient MCI.

‘Usually these ambient MCI measuring devices are used to predict the appearance of Gates or dungeons.’

Of course, the equipment used for those measurements is much larger. They’re typically installed in radar base-sized facilities across various locations.

This reward was a miniaturized version of that equipment. A prototype newly created by the Hunter Association’s research center. Although its measurement precision was limited due to its portable nature…

Above all, its ability to respond to the magi of nearby villains was a significant advantage.

“Professor Sung Chae-rin would know about this well if you asked her. Why are you asking me specifically?”

“Unni explains things too complicatedly. It’s better to ask you, Sunbae.”

I finished giving her a simple explanation.

Of course, rather than focusing on the explanation, Arin pressed her body close to mine and kept staring at my face.

In truth, this device wasn’t particularly necessary for her as a nun of the White Cross Society. She had holy incantations, after all.

‘This is definitely more useful for me.’

Back when I attended Eins, with my originally sensitive perception and the help of the Red Jade, I would have been fine without such equipment.

But now, with my mana usage restricted, those senses are also limited. So the help of items like this was essential.

‘Even if Flame Guild is pursuing the Red Lake…’

Although Flame’s goal is the same as mine, as a Hunter Association certified guild, Flame inevitably faces restrictions in its movements.

‘I intend to do what I can in my own way.’

Even though it’s been derailed, I’m the only one in this world who knows the content of Part 3 of Aka Hunter, the original work.

Even that discontinued novel could provide useful information in tracking the Red Lake, whose existence is more elusive than a ghost.

‘That’s why I can’t openly share that information with the people of Flame.’

I know that carelessly interfering with the original content can cause a butterfly effect.

Of course, if it’s to eliminate the Red Lake, I’m prepared to accept some butterfly effect to a certain extent. But this time, I was determined to be cautious.

With an oscilloscope like this, I could move more carefully. It was a very useful reward for me.

‘If there’s something Flame can’t do, I must do it. So that the remaining people can continue the things Si-woo did in Part 3.’

Thinking that, I wanted to fiddle with this oscilloscope more. Before I knew it, time had passed as I focused on the device.

‘What? It’s already 10 PM?’

And Arin was still lying on my bed.

“Aren’t you going home? It’s already night.”

“Oh my. You’re right. It’s already night, Sunbae.”

“Hurry and go home. I’ll call you a taxi.”

Arin turned over on the bed with a strangely excited expression.

“But the night is dangerous. I might encounter magical beasts that jumped out of Gates, or villains.”

“I’ll call you a safe taxi, so hurry…”

“Oh, there’s no need for that. This bed seems big enough for two people, doesn’t it?”

“Stop joking around. Think about the professor.”

“I already told unni I’d be staying out. When I said I was going to Sunbae’s place, she didn’t say anything.”

I tried for a long time to send Arin home, but failed.

“I’ve already put my toothbrush in your bathroom. I brought all the clothes I need to wear to work tomorrow too.”

“Fine. Do as you please.”

Seeing that Arin was determined, I didn’t try to dissuade her anymore. Without separate bedding, both of us ended up lying on the bed.

“You won’t pounce on me, will you, Sunbae?”

Her tone was deliberately sticky and suggestive, making it clear she was joking.

“That will never happen, even if I die. Don’t worry.”

“…Don’t talk about dying.”

“Okay. It was just a joke.”

Then I thoughtlessly asked Arin:

“Should I… turn off the light?”

Arin was silent for a moment. Then she answered:

“It’s okay. Let’s sleep with the lights on.”

“You’ll be uncomfortable.”

“Oh, what does it matter? It’s not like this is the first time.”

Arin knew well that I couldn’t sleep with the lights off. As I turned away from her, she placed her hand on my back.

Soon, I could feel her pink bob haircut touching my back.

“Do you… still have that problem?”

“No. I’m fine. You can turn off the lights.”

“Don’t act tough. I know.”

I remained silent. As she said, when I close my eyes to sleep, the victims of Eins still appear from beyond that darkness.

Those ghosts’ screams and their figures crying out in resentment toward me become more vivid when the lights are off.

Arin embraced me from behind. Though I didn’t show it, the warmth of her body against mine was comforting.

On nights in the hospital when I couldn’t fall asleep and was in pain, Arin would always calm me down like this.

“Good night, Sunbae.”

I fell asleep quickly. And that night, I didn’t have the graduation ceremony nightmare that I usually had.

***

The intern program continued into the new week.

The only change was that the person in charge of the interns had been replaced. Soso had rejoined the raid team.

“Wait. The Guild Leader personally instructing the interns… that’s a bit burdensome.”

Mr. Dong-hyuk was right. Of course, Team Leader Seo Du-ho was also participating, just like during the previous mission.

And Team Leader Seo, who informed us of this, said:

“It seems the Guild Leader has high expectations for all of you. And well, it’s not strange. After all, Flame is still a small to medium-sized guild. The Guild Leader probably wants to personally instruct you all, who will eventually become members of the raid party, even though you’re interns now.”

He also explained that since this mission was a security dispatch mission—a mission carried out in civilian areas—Yuri, with her meticulous personality, was paying more attention to it.

‘A security dispatch mission.’

I understood the explanation because such missions are extremely important for Association-certified guilds like Flame.

It’s a mission where we might have to deal with villains, who are as threatening as Gates and dungeons.

A moment later, Yuri entered the raid team’s waiting room.