episode_0077

Me, Shine, Amy, and Lane.

The four of us sat around a table.

“What kind of team are you going to make?”

“Well… .”

Although she said that, Amy didn’t seem to have thought much about the team and was reluctant to offer her opinion.

“What would be a good name?”

Amy began to scribble several short words on the note, muttering softly.

Jeff, Amy, Lane, Shine, and Victor.

Write down the abilities that each person has and write down words that can be associated with them.

“How about a raincoat?”

No one listened to Rain’s opinion.

As if resentful of being ignored, Lane puffed out her cheeks.

“How about Jeff?”

“Me… ?”

“Yeah. I’m thinking of naming the team Jeff.”

Shine asked me as if it was a good idea.

I looked dumbfounded at her words.

Do you really think it’s a good idea to name your team after me?

“I don’t like it a little bit… .”

“I think it’s good.”

Shine’s gaze turns to me.

After a brief silence, it was Shine who gave up.

“If you don’t like Jeff, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

She spoke as if she was genuinely sorry.

If I hadn’t declined, it seemed like they were going to push for the team name to be Jeff.

I breathed a sigh of relief at Shine’s words.

“Can you name your team whatever you want?”

“Yeah. That’s how it’s usually done.”

“It’s somewhat autonomous.”

“Our basic motto is freedom.”

I nodded to Amy’s words.

Many people have encountered Amy over the years, but few have bowed their heads to her.

Amy’s position seems quite high.

I heard that he was an executive, so I should be treated accordingly, but most people treated him like an ordinary friend or fellow employee.

There may be a hierarchical relationship, but it is not mandatory.

It was an unfamiliar sight to me, who was accustomed to a vertical organizational culture.

“Good.”

I spoke softly and shook my legs.

It felt unfamiliar, but I didn’t hate it.

In the lab….

Research center?

“Jeff.”

The moment I was about to fall into deep thought, Shine’s voice flew in.

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear?”

“What?”

“Amy asked to make a team mark.”

“… Weren’t you thinking of a name?”

“I think I’ll leave that to Victor later.”

Shine said that and handed me a sketchbook.

Before I knew it, the desk was filled with things like colored pencils and crayons.

When did you bring it?

After a moment of puzzlement, I felt a strange impulse as I looked at the blank piece of paper handed to me.

And I want to.

I want to draw a work of art filled with my artistic soul on that blank sheet of paper.

Come to think of it, I haven’t been able to draw at all lately.

“Okay!”

I spoke forcefully and stretched out my hands.

Lane was already drawing a large chick on top of his sketchbook.

I couldn’t lose to Lane.

I started moving my hand over the sketchbook.

Green and brown. And gold.

The long, flowing lines depict a slender body, and the gold lines accentuate the body’s elegance.

Sharp, white fingernails.

And even the golden horns that rise from its head.

“Gasp… .”

I was amazed at the half-finished painting.

This is a masterpiece.

Even after watching it again, I couldn’t help but think that it was a masterpiece.

I looked at the picture and my mouth watered.

I also remembered the team name.

I think this is a name that Amy, Shine, and Rain would all be satisfied with.

I, who was feeling salty, moved my hand once again.

Fill in the missing colors and draw a simple background.

Kwaaang!

It seemed as if a rough roar was being heard.

“Done!”

Inside the sketchbook, a large dinosaur was roaring.

This is the coolest looking dinosaur I can imagine.

“Amy! I’m done!”

I pushed the sketchbook towards Amy.

“Where should I look?”

Amy, who received the sketchbook from me, begins to admire the drawings.

“I even thought of a team name! Dinos!”

I think that’s a really good idea.

I looked at Amy with a confident expression.

Amy, who had been looking at the painting for a while, nodded silently.

“…It’s okay… .”

There was no good talk.

Where is the problem?

Amy’s right eyebrow twitches and trembles.

“Not really… ?”

“Hmm… . A little… ?”

Amy spoke carefully and handed me the sketchbook.

Kwaang!

A dinosaur standing majestically in the sketchbook I was handed.

The rough roar was vivid in my ears, but it was not chosen by Amy.

I let out a small sigh and put down the crayon I was holding.

“I did it all too!”

A drawing of Rain that was completed a little later than mine.

The chick drawn in her sketchbook was wearing armor.

“How is it?”

Lane spoke, pushing his sketchbook toward the center of the table.

The drawing is cute, but it seems a bit problematic to use as a team mark.

I kept my mouth shut, looking at Amy’s expression.

“Rejected.”

“Why?!”

Amy shook her head firmly as she looked at Lane’s drawing.

Lane’s eyes widen at her reaction.

He probably didn’t know that his painting would be rejected.

“It’s really cute!”

Lane spoke, fluttering his sketchbook.

I also agree with what Rain said.

It’s cute though.

That’s all.

“Rain. What were you thinking when you drew that picture?”

“I drew this thinking of our team! Aren’t chicks cute? Then it must mean me.”

Rain’s words sound quite plausible.

Amy nodded as if to say more.

“The armor belongs to Victor and Amy! They are so capable that they can protect us!”

“Are you only thinking of receiving protection?”

“No! Look here carefully!”

Lane handed Amy her sketchbook again.

The direction that Rain’s little finger is pointing.

It was the chick’s waist.

The chick was wearing twin swords on its waist.

“This is Jeff and Shine. Shine has the same abilities as Jeff, right? That means Shine can use powerful lightning abilities like Jeff, so he can be responsible for our team’s firepower.”

If you just listen to Rain’s explanation, it sounds like a pretty plausible story.

But Amy sighed softly and shook her head.

“Do you really think so? Do you like this kind of mark?”

“Yeah!”

Lane nodded at Amy’s words.

I nodded cautiously as well.

Who would have thought that a picture that I just thought was cute had such hidden meaning in it.

I secretly covered the dinosaur I drew on my sketchbook.

“Absolutely not.”

Amy’s firm refusal.

Rain collapsed on the table, seemingly shocked.

“Black… .”

“I did it all too.”

At that moment, Shine, who had been quietly drawing, handed over her sketchbook.

I was amazed when I saw Shine’s painting.

A simple yet intuitive drawing.

A lion’s head painted in black.

Water droplets swirling around it.

And even the little lightning bolt connecting the water drop and the lion.

I felt a deep sense of defeat as I looked at Shine’s picture.

It was the same for Rain, who hid his painting behind his back.

“Is it good?”

Amy was amazed at Shine’s drawing.

It was the first time that praise had come out of Amy’s mouth.

Amy took out a white piece of A4 paper next to Shine’s drawing and started drawing with a ballpoint pen.

The drawing, which was drawn more neatly and angularly than Shine’s, gave off a more sleek feel than Shine’s drawing.

In the end, the team mark was chosen based on a drawing by Shine.

Shine nodded as he heard that the drawing was revised slightly as a draft and officially used as the team mark.

The team name was decided by Victor.

My, Shine’s, and Rain’s naming sense was the worst.

“Are you forming a team right now?”

“No, I can’t make it that fast. I have to go through several procedures and finally get permission from Jinhan.”

Amy’s words brought to mind the image of Gene chewing hay.

Because he didn’t seem very trustworthy, I forgot Jin’s rank.

“So when will we officially become a team?”

I asked with shining eyes.

Amy, Shine Lane, and even Victor.

I couldn’t stop getting excited at the thought of being in a group with people I liked.

It felt different from being part of a resistance group.

It felt like we had something a little smaller, something of our own.

“As soon as next month?”

“So from then on, you’ll go on missions with Amy?”

“No.”

“Yes… ?”

I asked again, just in case I had misheard.

“Shine and Jeff can’t go on a mission.”

“Why…?”

Suddenly, my heart sank at Amy’s words.

It was such a shocking thing to hear that we couldn’t be together.

“They’re both too young.”

“Uh… . You’re not young.”

“You’re still too young to do that.”

Amy said that and patted my head.

I gave her a look full of discontent.

“I’m not young.”

Amy, who was stroking my head, smiled playfully and stroked my cheek here and there.

“Sorry. I misspoke. Jeff is not young.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I nodded.

Amy’s hands moved the ball here and there, distorting her gaze.

“So we can go on a mission together.”

“No. Not yet.”

Amy shook her head and took her hand back.

The cheeks, which had been rubbed hard, turned red.

“If you pass all the training stages, I will allow you to go on a mission together.”

“Training stage… ?”

“If you can get through it.”

Amy’s words were strangely laced with humor.

I nodded to her words.

There was nothing he couldn’t do.

If being able to go on a mission involves passing the training stage that Amy mentioned, then it means that Lane has also passed.

Rain did it too, so there’s no way I can’t do it.

I looked back at Lane with that thought in mind.

Rain was drawing a new picture, perhaps inspired by Shine’s drawing.

I can do it too.

I’m going on a mission with Amy.

“You can do it!”

I shouted loudly.

Perhaps because I raised my voice quite loudly, Shine, who was drawing, jumped up in surprise.

The crayon she was holding fell to the floor.