Ch.43Request, Demon Hunt (11)

“We decided to talk in a place where there were no people around. It made sense, since there were many awkward things to discuss that we couldn’t talk about in front of others.

Seriously, imagine telling people that there was a guy with a male mind staying in the women’s quarters—it would definitely cause an uproar.

So we had to walk quite a distance from the temporary base before we could finally chat freely.

“Anyway, it’s been a while. How have you been, senior?”

“I’ve been through absolute hell.”

“What on earth happened to you?”

“Did you notice anything about those people we were talking to earlier?”

“I thought they seemed completely insane.”

“Well, I’ve been living with those insane people.”

Suddenly, Ha-eun grabbed both my hands and said:

“Senior, no matter how hard life gets, you can’t give up. The world is still worth living in.”

“…It’s not quite that bad.”

“It’s okay to admit when you’re struggling. Keeping it all in only makes things worse.”

“No, really, I’m fine. And those people aren’t all that bad. Except for one of them.”

Leo and Rebecca had their circumstances, but Agath didn’t have any such excuse. So Agath could be considered purely evil.

But thinking about it more carefully, maybe she’s not that bad after all…

“Senior, are you really okay? You’re not being threatened or anything, right?”

“I’m definitely not experiencing anything like that, so don’t worry.”

Come to think of it, Ju-an had a similar reaction before. I guess people are all the same everywhere.

“Oh right, Ju-an is here too.”

“Senior Ju-an is here too?”

“Yeah, want me to put him on the phone?”

“Since the three of us probably have a lot to talk about, let’s use speaker phone.”

“Alright.”

I took out my phone and called Ju-an. I wondered if the signal would even reach here.

-Hello?

Fortunately, Ju-an’s voice came through clearly over the phone. Now we could just chat, the three of us.

“Hey, it’s me. Do you remember Ha-eun?”

-That junior from our club?

“Yeah, she says she’s come to this world too.”

-…What?

I heard Ju-an’s surprised voice through the phone. Then I gave Ha-eun a look.

“Hello, Senior Ju-an.”

A moment of silence followed. Who could have imagined the three of us would end up here together?

-It really is Ha-eun. I can tell from your voice.

“At least Senior Ju-an recognized me. Someone else couldn’t even recognize me after seeing my face.”

-That’s impossible. We spent at least two years together in the club—it would be weird not to recognize you, right?

“Isn’t that right, senior?”

Ha-eun glared at me as she spoke. She was clearly still upset.

Honestly, I was in the wrong, but there was no way to excuse myself.

“…I’m sorry.”

-…You didn’t recognize her?

“Well… I’ve been under a lot of mental stress lately…”

-Still, that’s pretty harsh, isn’t it? She was a junior who followed you around for almost two years…

“I did NOT follow him around!”

Ha-eun’s face suddenly turned red as she cut off Ju-an’s words.

-Anyway, it’s pretty bad not to recognize someone you saw regularly for two years.

“Right? Did he fail to recognize you too, Senior Ju-an?”

-No, I recognized him immediately.

Ha-eun glared at me even more fiercely than before.

“Well… Ju-an and I have been friends for over 12 years, so it would be weird not to recognize him, right?”

“I spent two years with you too, you know?”

“I’ve been through a lot of mental stress lately. Ju-an would agree, right?”

-It’s true you’ve been under stress lately, but wrong is still wrong.

What a textbook response from him. Couldn’t he just take my side for once? Where did our 12 years of friendship go?

But he was right. I should stop making excuses and just apologize.

“…I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”

“…”

But Ha-eun was still glaring at me fiercely. How could I make this right?

“Sigh… Fine, I’ll forgive you now.”

Suddenly Ha-eun sighed, and her fierce gaze returned to normal.

“…Really?”

“What’s the point of staying angry? I won’t gain anything from it.”

“Thank you so much. I promise I’ll never make this mistake again!”

Thankfully, Ha-eun’s mood improved quickly. I’m glad she’s such a nice person.

She would have been perfect if she didn’t nag so much…

“But it’s still hard to get used to your changed body, senior.”

-Right, the gap between now and before is just too big.

Suddenly they both started saying strange things about me.

“Even if my body is in this state, I’m still the same as before, aren’t I?”

“What do you think was your most distinctive feature, senior?”

“Um… being stupid?”

“…It was your muscles.”

-Pfft…!

And then Ju-an’s laughter came through the phone before it suddenly went mute.

He was probably laughing hysterically on the other end. Just thinking about it made my face turn red.

“…Though being stupid might also be one of your characteristics.”

Ha-eun looked at me as if I was hopeless. My embarrassment multiplied.

If only I could keep my mouth shut… Why can’t I do something so simple? This is so embarrassing I could die…

“Anyway, your most distinctive feature—your muscles—is gone now.”

“But that’s not really a problem, is it? It’s just my appearance that changed.”

“How do you think it feels to see someone who was once strong and reliable suddenly return looking so fragile?”

“…I think I just got burned.”

“But now I’m probably much stronger than you, senior.”

“Want to arm wrestle then? I don’t think I’d lose to you at least.”

When we arm wrestled before, no matter how hard Ha-eun tried, I didn’t budge at all. That’s how weak she was.

So even with this body, I should easily be able to beat Ha-eun.

“…Don’t regret it later.”

And so our impromptu arm wrestling match was arranged.

We found a spot on the ground nearby and got ready to arm wrestle.

“I’ll count to three, then we start.”

Ha-eun looked at me with disapproval. She should have just admitted defeat from the start.

And the countdown began.

“One, two, three.”

I exerted all my strength from the start. As a result, Ha-eun’s arm should have fallen helplessly…

…For some reason, Ha-eun’s arm didn’t budge at all. I should have been dominating, but…

“Senior? When are you going to start using your strength?”

“…This is my full strength.”

“…This is really your full strength?”

“…”

She must be bluffing. In reality, Ha-eun must be struggling to hold on.

But contrary to my hopes, Ha-eun was calmly pushing my arm down with a composed expression.

I tried to resist with all my might, but I couldn’t move her arm at all.

And so I was helplessly defeated in arm wrestling.

“See? I told you I’m much stronger than you now.”

“…Can I have a moment alone?”

“I told you not to regret it later.”

“No… I didn’t realize I was this weak…”

I thought I was at least average, but it turns out I’m below average. No wonder even taking ingredients out of the refrigerator was difficult…

I really am pathetically weak. Can I really change fate with this body?

“Now do you understand how jarring your new appearance is?”

“…I’ve realized it painfully well.”

As an awkward atmosphere settled between us, Ju-an spoke up.

-I had to step away for a bit. Did anything happen while I was gone?

“Nothing happened…”

“Senior challenged me to arm wrestling and was overwhelmingly defeated.”

-Pfft…!

And just like before, Ju-an’s laughter came through before the call went mute again.

Remember, keeping your mouth shut gets you halfway there. Remember that, you blockhead! Keeping your mouth shut gets you halfway there!

How did I end up like this…

Anyway, the three of us continued chatting.

“But senior, your appearance really has changed to be quite pretty.”

-She’s definitely very beautiful.

“What’s the point when it’s still me inside?”

Most of our conversation was about me. I guess what happened to me was that shocking.

***

After talking outside for so long, I got terribly cold. Anyone would feel the same after being outside for over an hour in this weather.

Noticing my condition, Ha-eun suddenly tried to end the conversation.

“It was nice to hear your voice at least. I’ll contact you again later.”

-Alright, let’s meet face to face next time.

And so the call ended. Then Ha-eun looked at me with pity.

“You really have become fragile, senior.”

“But it’s not like I wanted to be this way…”

“Well, that’s true. Let’s head back quickly…”

Suddenly Ha-eun’s expression darkened dramatically. Wondering what was wrong, I looked around and saw that demon with the incredibly fast regeneration.

“Senior, I’ll buy you some time. You go quickly and get the others…”

I summoned my gun and fired a divine power bullet at the demon. The demon instantly turned to ash and disappeared.

It ended so anticlimactically that it was hard to believe I had struggled against this demon before.

“How could I leave my junior behind? I’m still your senior after all.”

And I immediately started acting like a proper senior. If not now, when else would I get to act like one?

“You talk a good game.”

“Even if I didn’t have a way to defeat that demon, I would have acted the same way.”

“Don’t lie just to look cool.”

“It’s true. Why would I run away and leave someone important behind?”

“…Someone important?”

“We spent two years together. Of course you’re important to me.”

Maybe not as much as Ju-an, but Ha-eun is definitely important to me. Even though her nagging can be annoying, it was always helpful in the end.

“So you couldn’t even remember the face of this important person?”

“…I’m really sorry about that. I never imagined you would come to this world too.”

“It’s okay. I guess it’s possible to forget the face of someone important.”

“I’m really sorry. It’s all because I’m stupid…”

Suddenly Ha-eun smiled and said:

“But you’re still you, senior.”

“Why do you say that all of a sudden?”

“Because even though your appearance has changed, you’re still stupid and still reliable.”

“…Could you leave out the ‘stupid’ part?”

“Never mind that. Let’s get back before another demon shows up.”

So we returned to the temporary base. Once back, I planned to get straight into bed and warm up.