Ch.219Chapter 9. S-Class Reader (4)

After asking Ymir to train Yoon Yi-seon, I returned to my quarters and turned on the TV.

“…Ms. Yoon Yi-seon, who could be called the winner of this major sports festival, has issued a challenge. What do you think about this?”

“I believe anyone can issue a challenge. Whether that leads to victory, well… haha. I’d like to go easy on her since she’s older than me, but I am an S-class appraiser after all.”

“Ahem, I’m surprised you’d say that yourself.”

“I’m not particularly embarrassed about it. I just believe that ‘to be S-class, you need to be stronger than me.’ Anyone weaker than me is A-class. Having too many S-class heroes would be problematic, wouldn’t it? Hahaha.”

On TV, Armored Taejo was being interviewed on a talk show.

His attitude was incredibly arrogant, but I understood his mindset.

‘He thinks he’s the favorite.’

Armored Taejo’s probability of winning: 89.2%.

Considering Yoon Yi-seon’s probability of winning was merely 10.8%, essentially 9 out of 10 citizens were predicting Armored Taejo’s victory.

‘But what if Sister Yi-seon shows up?’

Sister Yoon Yi-seon.

A skilled fighter who completed her S-class awakening and received training from me.

She might lose to other S-class heroes due to lack of experience, but she can definitely defeat Armored Taejo.

Even if she would lose to every other S-class hero in the world, right now she can absolutely win against Armored Taejo.

Because I’ve taught her specifically how to counter him.

If people knew about Sister Yi-seon’s existence and that the Goblin had trained her?

And that Platinum Sun had even supported her, teaching her S-class magic control?

‘Then Yi-seon would be the favorite.’

Many would predict Yoon Yi-seon’s victory.

If that information leaked, my odds would definitely drop, so I decided to keep my mouth firmly shut.

The 1 billion won in my account would multiply by 10 times if I win, no, the multiplication rate is getting even higher.

‘I’m definitely winning this time.’

All of the Goblin’s assets are essentially like cryptocurrency.

No matter how many hundreds of billions or trillions in Syndicate coins the Goblin might have in the future, since Syndicate coins aren’t currently the standard currency, I have no choice but to use cash like won and dollars.

And for the past half year, I’ve been desperately accumulating cash through paper companies.

The 1 billion isn’t all my assets, but it’s 70% of the available cash that Do Ji-hwan possesses.

I’ll definitely win this match.

I deliberately didn’t tell Yoon Yi-seon “I bet 1 billion on you.”

I was afraid she might deliberately lose if she said, “So you just see me as a way to make money? I’m disappointed.”

As things stand now, Yoon Yi-seon will definitely win.

Even now, Ymir is sparring with her in a style similar to Armored Taejo’s, so if she applies that experience, she can’t lose.

As long as there’s no external pressure from somewhere else.

Beep beep.

“…?”

I was checking the odds screen after returning to my room when my Taegeuk Watch rang.

“Ah, yes. Seol-hee. It feels like it’s been a while since we talked.”

[It really has been a while. I haven’t had the timing to call directly. And when you called, I often couldn’t answer.]

It was Baek Seol-hee.

[Where are you right now? Ulleungdo? If so…]

“I’m on Sejong Island. In my quarters.”

[…I’m actually on Sejong Island too.]

“How ironic. We’re on the same island, yet it’s harder to meet than when we were on Ulleungdo.”

Sejong Island has many watchful eyes, making it difficult to meet freely.

[Is Ymir there?]

“No. I’m alone right now. She’s night training with a friend.”

[Ymir has a friend… Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean anything strange by that.]

“I understand.”

It’s true that she didn’t have friends, and only barely made one after two months, and that was only through the demon incident and practical training.

“It’s a bit awkward for me to go out right now. Would you like to come over?”

[…I’ll be right there. Since there are CCTVs at the entrance, I’ll come through the balcony. Open the door for me.]

“Alright.”

The call ended.

I quickly organized the materials I had been researching about Armored Taejo, then opened the door so Baek Seol-hee could enter.

‘Is she just going to barge in?’

Being “Snow White,” white is quite visible at night no matter how much she tries to hide.

It would be fine if she just ran at the speed of light, but people with good motion vision might see Baek Seol-hee jumping through a man’s window.

Well, if she gets caught, she’ll take responsibility herself.

‘Is she coming by spatial movement?’

I wondered if Baek Seol-hee had learned spatial movement like Ymir.

Ymir herself said she never taught Baek Seol-hee the principles of spatial movement, so if she was using it, she must have figured out the principles herself.

If that’s the case, she’d be a true S-class—

Whoosh.

“…?”

It started raining from the sky.

The weather forecast had only predicted a 10% chance of precipitation, but the raindrops were surprisingly heavy, a proper downpour.

“Could this be—”

Splash.

A figure wearing something like a poncho appeared in front of the window.

If I hadn’t been mentally prepared, I might have been startled, but fortunately, the person in the matte black raincoat was someone I knew.

“Did you prepare that in advance?”

“Yes.”

Baek Seol-hee immediately entered through the balcony window.

I closed the window and pulled the blackout curtains, while Baek Seol-hee, dripping water, extended her hand downward.

“Gather.”

At Baek Seol-hee’s quiet command, all the water droplets clinging to her raincoat and those that had fallen to the floor began to gather in her hand.

“Is anyone else here?”

“No. Unless Ymir suddenly appears, it’s just you today.”

“…That’s good then.”

Baek Seol-hee immediately smiled comfortably, threw the water droplets into the sink, took off her raincoat, and then—

“Haaa.”

She threw herself onto the bed.

Wearing a white shirt and formal skirt, she looked quite tired today as well.

“What did those bald old men say this time?”

“…Mmm.”

As I approached and placed my hand on her thigh, Baek Seol-hee pouted.

“Hey, you know.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know much about dating, I’ve only seen it in dramas. So…”

“Is this what you want?”

I moved behind Baek Seol-hee as she lay face down and embraced her from behind.

“Feeling a bit better now?”

“…Not just a bit, I feel comfortable. So much that I want to fall asleep like this.”

“You can sleep.”

“What if I don’t mean that kind of sleeping?”

“That’s fine too.”

“…That, maybe a little later.”

Baek Seol-hee held up the hero badge hanging around her neck.

“I might get even busier soon.”

“Why?”

“I think I’ll be called to more S-class government events. After the university department lectures end, I might have to stay in Busan during the break and attend diplomatic functions with foreigners.”

“Because you’re S-class rank 2?”

“…Yes.”

Baek Seol-hee grasped my hands that were wrapped around her waist.

“Will you keep working here?”

“For now?”

“What do you mean ‘for now’? Where else would you go? Are you planning to follow me to Busan?”

“I could. I’d just need to find a monthly rental in Busan. Terribly expensive, though.”

“…Should I get us a pension?”

“If you get a pension, they’ll install CCTVs all around it. They might not be able to film inside your house, but they’ll investigate the types of cars and license plates coming and going, trying to dig into your surroundings.”

“Then…I could teleport from Busan to here.”

Suddenly, I felt a chill down my spine.

I was embracing her from behind, but it felt like Baek Seol-hee was embracing me from behind—

“…!”

I felt something behind my back.

A hand was creeping inside my shirt, sending a chill up my spine.

Not just a feeling of déjà vu, not a sensation felt through magical power, but a real cold sensation.

Like someone pushing a hand frozen in winter against my back.

“…What is this?”

“New skill.”

“Two Baek Seol-hees?”

“Ta-da.”

The Baek Seol-hee who had her hand on my back giggled and hugged me from behind.

“Which one is real?”

“The one I’m holding.”

“What? How can you be so sure? You’re just guessing, right?”

“The Baek Seol-hee pressing her chest against my back from behind just feels like a chest, but the Baek Seol-hee I’m holding, I can feel her heartbeat.”

“…What are you saying? Have you been reading too many romance novels?”

“But I’m right, aren’t I?”

“…Tch.”

Baek Seol-hee puffed her cheeks and turned toward me.

Suddenly I found myself lying on my side right next to Baek Seol-hee, who was lying flat on her back, but she didn’t seem to mind my hand on her stomach as she stretched her hand to the side.

“It would be nice if I could teleport, but Ymir refused to teach me that until the end. Well, I understand. We’re kind of rivals.”

“……”

“So I thought of another method. This.”

The doppelgänger of Baek Seol-hee who rose from the bed looked exactly like her.

She wore the same clothes as Baek Seol-hee, but had a more expressionless, doll-like appearance.

A cold ice doll.

“Return to normal.”

Crack!

As Baek Seol-hee snapped her fingers, the doppelgänger immediately turned into a chunk of ice.

“I can make it move like me using magical power. And I can also do this. For example…”

Pssst.

The Baek Seol-hee I was holding suddenly dispersed like dry ice.

The white mist quickly entered Baek Seol-hee’s doll, and soon the frozen doll of Baek Seol-hee began to come to life.

Crack!

As the ice crystals shattered, Baek Seol-hee emerged from within.

“…Wow.”

I couldn’t help but be amazed at this ability I’d never seen before.

It was amazing enough that a human could turn into something like dry ice, but to then inhabit a prepared ice doll and appear there.

“Is this, perhaps?”

“That’s right. I can do something similar to spatial movement now. As long as I have this ice doll.”

“…That’s incredible. How did you come up with this?”

“Well.”

Baek Seol-hee approached the bed again, threw herself on top of me as I awkwardly sat up, and buried her face in my shoulder.

“I wanted to see you secretly without anyone knowing.”

“……”

“What do you think? Now I can sneak into your room too.”

“That’s… an amazing technique.”

Squeeze.

“Why? Worried about your privacy being invaded?”

Baek Seol-hee’s eyes curved into half-moons.

“It’s okay. I’m not like someone who enters other people’s rooms without warning. I’ll only come in when you allow me. But in exchange.”

Baek Seol-hee’s face slowly rose to my cheek.

“I’d like to have one of my dolls by your side. So I can come to you anytime.”