episode_0130

Winter.

The beginning of the winter season is Ip-dong, which means it starts on November 8th.

But looking at how chilly the weather is and how the snow is piled up, it feels like it’s already December or January…

“I died in the summer, and now I wake up to winter, unbelievable.”

Muttering to myself, I carefully looked around.

I am in the mountains.

And it’s in front of a grave.

There are a few more makeshift graves a little further away.

It was a cemetery of a quite familiar form.

Could it be…?

“Is this where my parents are buried?”

In fact, our family inherited a small mountain for generations.

Located in a very rural area, we erected my parents’ gravestones there.

It seems like I was buried near my parents’ mountain after I died.

“…”

For a moment, I gazed at my parents’ graves.

I don’t know.

It feels a bit strange.

To die and then wake up and look at my parents’ graves like this.

…My heart feels strangely unsettled.

Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I visited my parents’ mountain?

I’ve been maintaining it regularly, but…

“I’ll come back again.”

After giving a slow greeting to my parents, I started to walk away with reluctant steps.

I wanted to stay a little longer at my parents’ mountain, but unfortunately, the sun was setting.

It was already quite cold, and if I stayed until nightfall, it would be quite troublesome.

Not only could I catch a cold, but I could also lose my way.

I couldn’t waste any more time in the mountains.

I hurriedly descended the mountain.

Having not moved for a long time, my body felt a bit stiff, but I managed to finish the hike with some effort.

As I walked down the mountain path, I eventually reached the village.

Would you call it a typical rural village?

Old and shabby houses, crooked stone walls, unpaved roads, and so on.

Truly a rural village, indeed.

“Phew, it’s cold.”

I wandered around the village for a while and suddenly found several men’s clothes hanging outside a laundry.

There were some warm-looking clothes right in front of me.

It’s not easy to walk around in a well-ventilated gown on such a cold day. And people might find it strange, too.

Feeling guilty, I quickly grabbed some clothes.

I’m sorry for stealing the clothes.

I’ll repay tenfold later, so please forgive me.

Apologizing in my heart, I changed into the clothes.

Ah, I feel a bit warmer now.

The gown was too cold.

“…But how do I get back to Seoul?”

Suddenly, I felt worried.

There wouldn’t be any trains or terminals, of course.

Buses or taxis… Oh, wait.

I’m practically penniless right now, aren’t I?

I don’t even have a wallet, let alone a phone, so it was quite a dilemma.

It would be getting dark soon, and I couldn’t think of any good solutions.

As I pondered over it…

“Don’t do this!”

“Damn it! Can’t you just stay still?!”

From a little distance away, the voices of a strange woman and man echoed loudly.

What’s going on?

Frowning, I cautiously took a step towards the source of the voices.

Soon, I arrived at a gloomy alley.

There, a woman in her early twenties seemed to be drunk, struggling with a young man who was half holding her.

The woman had her lower lip bitten, trying to resist, but she couldn’t break free from the man’s tight grip on her wrist.

“Are you ignoring me too? Just because I’m stuck in this rural place!”

“Ugh!”

“Damn it! They treat me like a fool just because I got expelled from the academy!”

A man, holding a bottle of soju in one hand, venting his unknown anger.

His face was flushed red, and his eyes seemed half-closed, indicating that he was quite drunk.

He might end up causing a big accident if he continues like this.

If he was just an ordinary person drunk on alcohol, it would be one thing, but judging by his complaints about being expelled from the academy, he seemed to be a former hero trainee.

There were quite a few cases where people, intoxicated and unable to control their strength, caused a big mess.

The power of a hero trainee was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

‘What should I do?’

I pondered slightly.

Should I intervene in this situation?

It might not be a good idea to meddle without knowing exactly what’s going on.

It could escalate into a fight.

Moreover, my current physical condition is not great.

If I were to get into a fight, it would be quite difficult.

“Sigh.”

After hesitating for a moment, I let out a deep sigh.

“This is troublesome.”

Muttering to myself, I scratched the back of my neck.

“I’m also a hero trainee after all…”

Even though I am a Union student, it wouldn’t be right to leave a citizen in danger.

Moreover, I can’t just stand by quietly when I once dreamed of being the greatest hero with Soyeon.

“Well, the other person doesn’t seem that strong anyway.”

If he was a vicious criminal, he would have asked for help from someone else, but he’s just a guy who got expelled from the hero training academy.

Despite being considered a mediocre student, I proudly (?) passed the entrance exam to Korea’s top hero training institution.

Furthermore, I possess relics that absorb and emit magic.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that a drunk expelled student would be a match for me if he tries to harass a woman.

“Hey, police! I’m going to call the police! So stop this nonsense!”

“Haha. Go ahead, call them, scream louder! But will there be anyone here to help you…”

“Is there someone here?”

I picked up a wooden stick lying nearby and calmly approached them.

The man’s face twisted in surprise at my sudden appearance.

Seems like I ruined his good time.

“Hey, what are you doing here again?”

“Well, who am I?”

“Haha. How foolish. Are you trying to act like a hero…”

The man sneered as if he felt sorry for me.

“…You picked the wrong opponent.”

He seems quite confident.

Well, that’s understandable.

If he’s a former hero trainee, he could easily knock down an ignorant civilian with one hand.

But I’m not just an ordinary person.

I am one of the hero trainees.

But why is he so convinced that I’m just a regular person?

There’s always a possibility, isn’t there?

Oh, maybe he didn’t expect there to be hero trainees in this rural area?

Well, whatever.

Shall I start to show my teeth now?

“What’s wrong with a hero acting like a hero?”

“What…?”

Suddenly, with a loud crash, the old wall-like thing next to the man collapsed.

It was me who knocked it down.

Hmm, the stick works well too.

Indeed, the relic is the best of the best.

“Wh-what, the wall?”

The man was slightly shocked.

“I’ll let you go, so why don’t you just leave?”

I casually waved the flimsy wooden stick, exuding a relaxed demeanor.

It was a deliberate action and performance.

To make the other person mistakenly believe that I am truly a hero.

If he’s a former hero trainee, he should recognize the value of the relic.

It was understandable that the man was skilled in the use of the sword, as it was an advanced technique that not many people could use, even among professional heroes.

Of course, I didn’t exactly look like a professional hero, dressed in casual clothes, and my opponent was quite drunk.

It wouldn’t be strange for him to mistake me for a hero.

“Hey, a hero… Why, why, would a hero be in this backwater place…”

The man muttered in confusion.

If he had a clear head, he wouldn’t dare challenge a professional hero.

Even if he had been expelled from the academy, he would know better than anyone the gap between himself and a professional hero.

‘I hope he just backs off quietly.’

In truth, I was quite exhausted.

Having used up almost all of my magic to escape from the tomb, and using the sword technique with what little strength I had left.

So, I hoped my bluff would work.

“Do you… Do you also find me amusing?”

“Huh?”

“A hero… A hero, you say? So what?”

Was it because he was drunk?

It seemed like he wasn’t thinking straight.

And my relaxed demeanor and the mention of being a hero seemed to have provoked him more than necessary.

Did he have a complex about heroes, having been expelled from the academy?

Why is he suddenly like this?

“Get lost!”

“Hmm.”

Oh, really.

The man came at me excitedly.

Though he staggered due to not being able to overcome the effects of the alcohol, his expression was filled with inferiority and anger.

Judging by the magic infused in his fist, he seemed genuinely prepared to attack.

‘This is why people don’t like drunk people. They don’t listen.’

I sighed inwardly and gripped the wooden stick tighter.

He was running towards me, but I didn’t feel any sense of danger.

Because compared to the fight I had with Baek Yurin during the ranking match, his movements were so dull and sluggish that it was almost comical.

No, he was even worse than Baek Yurin, and most Union Academy students, in terms of skill.

…Well, he seemed slightly better than me, at least.

But no matter how much better he was, I was confident I could easily dodge a drunken punch.

So, I stared at him directly, ready to dodge his punch and counter.

But then.

– Jinhak, do you know that?

A conversation about ideals that Soyeon and I had in our childhood.

– Everyone has their own ideals, right?

Isn’t that something that floats to the surface of your mind?

– Jinhak, you may think of yourself as a weak and powerless person, but I know.

Why now? I thought.

– Deep down in your heart, there lies a greater ideal than anyone else’s.

Suddenly, the man’s fist was right in front of my face.

– I’ll help you too.

Instinctively, I reached out to block the punch.

But I felt a bit late to use the magic-absorbing artifact or to block the punch.

So, I bit my lip in preparation for the impending impact.

Compared to the Union Academy students, my punch was quite pathetic, but as an inferior student, it was somewhat threatening.

But wait?

What?

“Oops?”

“Argh!”

The man’s fist was blocked by my hand.

Quite easily.

I didn’t even feel the impact in my palm.