Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Stage 10 (1)
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First, I disposed of the body.
I couldn't just leave it rotting in the underground parking lot. And these kinds of miscellaneous tasks always fell to the rookie.
But my recruits refused my help. They said they couldn't assign work to someone whose injuries they didn't know the extent of.
This made it crystal clear how much I was holding everyone back.
Tom and Hessi dragged the dead pig creature's carcass outside. While I was forcibly seated in the lobby chair with its side torn open, Lee Ho, Kal, and Angela wiped up the blood that had spilled from the body.
The two nameless senior Badgers seemed to be standing watch in front of the supply depot.
Only Yoon and Tvein weren't working. The first-generation pair of Black Badgers looked down at me sitting in the chair.
To be precise, Tvein had come over to watch while Yoon scanned my condition.
"Sword?"
The blond man crossed his arms and stared sullenly at me and my master before speaking.
"What era do you think this is? Making him use a sword?"
"He's suffered some internal injuries, but he's recovering."
Yoon ignored Tvein's words and gave his diagnosis.
He slipped the oval device into his combat suit pocket, then straightened his bent waist.
"When we get back to the Core, we'll schedule a visit to Samuel. Both your arm and your recovery status need a proper checkup."
"Yes."
"We'll take our time considering what kind of sword would suit you best."
"Yes, thank you."
"You mean that?"
Tvein let out a voice full of disbelief and dissatisfaction.
Finally, my master turned his head to meet Tvein's gaze. Yoon's eyes were as inscrutable and dry as ever.
Tvein grumbled at those rough eyes.
"What kind of sword in this day and age? You trying to get yourself killed showing off?"
"If you can use it properly, it's a great weapon for us. Just look at that pig right now."
"Using a sword as a sub-weapon and as your main weapon are the same?"
A cold wind from outside brushed past my back. Hessi and Tom, who had taken the body out, were coming back inside. The seniors who had cleaned up the blood were also climbing the ramp stairs back to the lobby.
It was almost midnight already.
The creature blood dried onto my body felt sticky. At least I'd roughly wiped off the blood that had splattered on my face.
I rubbed at the blood stuck near my neck with my sleeve.
Tvein's nitpicking continued.
"And this punk couldn't even properly fulfill his role as a Badger, so what close-range weapon?"
"If you hate swords so much, why not bitch equally at the guys who use them. I don't recall you bitching at Jonathan Kudo about his weapons."
"That katana?"
Tvein curled his lip at Yoon's point and let out a scoff.
"Would that stubborn ass listen to anyone?"
Who was Jonathan Kudo?
I looked at Yoon with puzzled eyes, and my master explained in a nonchalant voice.
"The tall guy next to Sordi in the auditorium."
Ah! That handsome one.
"No need to remember his name. You won't ever have a conversation with him."
He must have a real dogshit personality.
I'd have to steer clear of him diligently. The thought hit me right after hearing my master's explanation. There were already plenty of nasty personalities around with Yoon, Ricardo, and Tvein.
Tvein turned his head to look down at me.
"Why'd you practice swords?"
The sudden question left me speechless.
The people who had finished their tasks gathered around us one by one. People standing next to the two war heroes. There were more ears listening now, but I had no answer to give. I hadn't even known myself that I could wield a sword until a few days ago.
What should I make up?
As I stayed silent in thought, Tvein furrowed his brow.
"You're not one of those pathetic types who started swords after seeing Ye-hyeon's video, are you?"
"What's Ye-hyeon's video?"
Did the Supreme Commander film some public service announcement swinging a sword back in the day?
I asked lightly. But the reaction that came back was anything but light.
"Huh?"
Everyone except Yoon looked puzzled. Tvein especially raised his eyebrows like I'd spouted nonsense.
He had the face of someone wondering why I couldn't grasp something so obvious.
"Why don't you get it? That video where humans are all 'hero born in chaotic times' bullshit."
"…Uh, what?"
"You don't know the video of him killing a Stage 10 creature?"
A hint of irritation mixed into the man's voice.
"The video from the First Creature War?"
Ah.
Realization flashed through my mind. I got a sense of what video he was talking about. I remembered the comments I'd read while lounging on the beanbag. Ye-hyeon had become Supreme Commander by killing a Stage 10 creature, and the video evidence made it beyond doubt.
He must have used a sword back then.
Relieved to grasp the context of the conversation, I replied.
"I know what video you're talking about, but I've never actually seen it."
Clear shock appeared on everyone's faces.
I'd clearly given the wrong answer. Everyone around me had widened their eyes. Even Tvein's eyes were round. Seeing the guy who always looked irritated or obnoxious purely surprised felt weird.
Only Yoon, who knew my circumstances, kept his composure.
The silence of the night settled over the brightly lit lobby.
Hessi was the first to ask.
"You haven't seen it?"
No, I hadn't.
I nodded, trying to hide my embarrassment, and Tom blinked as he muttered.
"It's a super famous video."
"Sorry. I'm pretty clueless about worldly stuff. I've lived a reclusive life for so long."
"You lived reclusively? You don't look it. Were you crazy into games?"
"Hey, go watch it right now! You know how to use a sword but you've never seen that video?"
"Were you in prison or something?"
Tvein covered Tom and Hessi's puzzled and excited voices with his snarky tone.
I turned my gaze from my recruits back to Tvein. The senior who hated me just for being Yoon's mentee and had dumped the three rookies in the underground parking lot together.
That senior was looking down at me strangely, smiling in satisfaction.
Why was he suddenly looking at me like he was proud of something?
"You're a refreshingly decent rookie."
"…Me?"
"Get on the train already."
Yoon spoke in a sullen voice.
He stared at the ceiling with the expression of someone bored by the whole affair.
"If you have something to say, do it privately later. Aren't you going home?"
Everyone complied with Yoon's words.
We quickly exited the library. We thanked the two Badgers who had silently stood watch and headed to the train in a group.
The train at the station barely revealed its outline thanks to the streetlights.
People slipped inside one by one.
Exhausted, they vanished into their respective cars in an instant. I bumped fists wordlessly with my recruits and headed straight to the bathroom in my train car.
I turned on the water and washed off the blood dried onto my body.
After scrubbing for a while, I heard the train's engine revving up.
At least I'd made it through the day unscathed somehow.
My life was exhausting with too much information to process and too much to hide. But it wasn't unbearable. My gratitude toward the people who accepted me wasn't fading either.
I felt the rattling train depart toward Center Core. A faint vibration transmitted through my soles.
I stripped off my combat suit and plopped onto the bed.
I needed to get stronger so my recruits wouldn't have to worry about me like today.
I'd recall the sensation of holding the sword and resolve to do so. Taking in the blood-soaked combat suit and boots, and the lightless world outside the Core.
I whipped myself into sleep and slept dreamlessly.
A while later, I opened my eyes to find the train stopped. Badgers in casual clothes coming out into the train corridor.
We were back at Center Core again.
***
They say you get holidays after going out of the Core.
We got holidays too. Two days: the day we returned and the next.
The return day passed with nothing done.
As soon as I got to the dorm, I slept again. Around lunch, I woke up along with Tom and Hessi, who had slept like maniacs like me, and we ate tacos. In the afternoon, I played the game Hessi lent me, and in the evening, we ate rice noodles with my recruits again. Then bedtime.
On the second day, my mind cleared up a bit.
Morning. I got up with a much refreshed body and stepped out of my room.
"Hilde!"
It was Ami.
I was drinking water from the vending machine when I ran into the round-eyed senior in the third-floor corridor.
She got off the elevator and trotted over to me.
"Hi!"
"Hello, Ami. Good morning."
"Yeah! Good morning! You did well out there yesterday?"
The light and salt of my life approached and stopped in front of me before asking. I nodded vigorously, pouring my joy into it.
Ami smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Good. How's your body? I heard from Kal that you got hurt, so I came to check."
"Ah. Thank you. But I'm totally fine now. I slept the whole day yesterday, and it seems all better."
"That's great. Oppa didn't think it was too bad either, so he just sent you back to the dorm. Still, just in case, let's go see Samuel later."
I nodded readily.
But Ami craned her neck and scanned my condition once over. Only after confirming it really looked good did she meet my eyes again.
She looked straight into my eyes and smiled gently.
"How was it out there?"
"I realized just how much I'm lacking. From now on, no slacking—I'll practice hard."
"Aw~, they said you did great. I heard everything. Kal and Angela said this batch of rookies is good. Even Youngest Oppa said you're usable, Hilde."
"Youngest Oppa?"
Who was that? Choi Yoon?
Ami let out an "Ah" and nodded.
"Yeah. Yoon Oppa."
"Huh? There's another oppa? I thought you two were the only siblings."
"Ah, there are two more oppas. But Yoon Oppa is the only blood brother. The siblings were adopted together."
My mouth stayed agape.
Ami waved her hands hurriedly to reassure me.
"It's not like you said something wrong, so don't worry! I'll explain in detail later."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
"I heard that from Oppa too."
Ami skillfully steered the topic back.
She looked at my bewildered face and widened her smile.
"That you use a sword. Cool."
"Ah!"
That video!
My voice rose without me realizing.
Ami's eyes widened in surprise at my reaction. Unlike Yoon, her reactions were always so rich no matter when.
I reflexively smiled as I looked down at Ami.
"Sorry. I just remembered something I'd forgotten…. I was planning to find that video today for sure."
"Video? What video?"
"The one where Ye-hyeon kills a Stage 10 creature."
Understanding dawned in her round, dark eyes.
She bowed her head and quickly pulled out her phone from her cardigan pocket.
"You haven't seen it yet."
"No. I didn't know it was that famous…. I just said I hadn't seen it without thinking, and everyone thought it was weird."
"I'll show you."
She tapped the screen firmly with her finger.
Then she quickly flipped the phone toward me.
"This one."
Ruins.
A gray city. A bleak devastation utterly unlike the scenery enveloping the Library of Beginnings. The screen showed a city in ruins, cruelly collapsed.
And the screen soon captured two figures standing unbroken amid the ruins. Filmed from afar, the subjects were small. But the focus didn't waver, capturing them precisely in the center.
Two people.
No.
One person and one creature.
Ye-hyeon, and a creature with a form identical to a human's.