Chapter 58
Chapter 58
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Return and Change (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Veterans swarmed me, peppering me with questions.
Even Aki knew about Jin Silver. They scrambled up from the subway and bombarded me before darting off.
Lee Ho and Walker—who didn’t know Jin Silver—were left by my side. The other four (Green, Tvein, Aki, Ami) vanished into the subway to search.
Three of us remained on the empty road.
Lee Ho tore his gaze from the seniors vanishing from view and looked at me.
“Hilde.”
“Yes.”
Why?
I lifted my head and met the eyes of Lee Ho as he approached. He walked over with a grim expression and plopped down beside me.
The man draped his arms casually and looked me over.
“Sorry.”
“Yes?”
Why apologize all of a sudden?
Oh, same context as with Ami?
I scrutinized his face, trying to grasp the exact meaning behind his words.
The man, looking as weary as ever today, didn’t avert his eyes.
“I snapped at you.”
“…Did you?”
“Yeah, when your secret came out.”
Oh, he meant the safe point incident.
It felt like ancient history. No, I’d even forgotten it happened. I shook my head, barely lifting my drooping eyelids.
“That was a natural reaction.”
“Wasn’t your fault.”
“You were mad I hid it, right? I’d have been mad too if I were you.”
“You just didn’t wanna talk about it.”
Lee Ho sighed and rubbed his neck.
“Couldn’t, probably.”
I shut my mouth, unsure how to respond.
Walker, now beside Lee Ho, stood with arms crossed, listening quietly. I stared at the seniors, recalling the safe point events.
The horde of creatures that ambushed the military truck. The encircled safe point. The massive two-story-tall creature that doggedly trailed me.
I’d have been pissed too.
They didn’t know my situation. It wasn’t some trivial secret—it was life-or-death. Not something you just brush off.
I was about to say it was a natural reaction when Lee Ho waved me off.
“It was my fault, so just accept the apology. Hell, you even brought it up to Ami first when you decided to reveal it, right?”
“Not saying anything would make you a hopeless screw-up, wouldn’t it?”
“See? I was narrow-minded all around.”
Lee Ho said that and let out a long breath.
No more sounds came from the cratered ground. Was it the biting wind? A strange chill set in. Cold. Sleepy. Nothing would beat crawling under the covers in the Center Core dorms.
My eyes blinked heavily, but Lee Ho spoke again.
“And hey.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t do it again.”
“Yes?”
Do what?
I widened my eyes, and Lee Ho’s brow furrowed.
“You fell instead of me.”
Oh.
Right. I’d forgotten that too. The cliff incident felt as distant as my spar with Yoon.
Besides, I hadn’t fallen in his place. The creature had targeted me, not him.
Too tired for a full explanation, I nearly said, “It was my mess, so of course.”
But I swallowed the words at the look in his eyes.
I met Lee Ho’s troubled gaze and nodded.
“I’ll try.”
“Yeah. Please try. Heard you do that a lot.”
“Huh?”
When?
I made a baffled face, and Lee Ho heaved a heavy sigh.
What’s with that reaction—like he has a lot to say but is holding back?
Even Walker, who’d been listening silently, let out a small snort.
Why?
I’m not some reckless rookie charging into danger, am I? Since leaving the Core, I’ve been pretty obedient, following orders meekly. Super meekly.
Feeling wronged, I protested.
“I love myself a lot, sir.”
“Oh, sure you do.”
“…I mean it.”
“You cut that pillar in the subway?”
Walker, who’d been listening, suddenly cut in.
I forced my drooping eyelids open and glanced at the ruined road. Then slowly nodded. I didn’t want to sleep until the seniors returned from the subway. Grateful they kept talking to me. Without it, I’d have passed out already.
My whole body reeked of blood, it seemed.
I replied sluggishly.
“Yes. Misjudged my strength.”
“Who taught you the sword?”
“My master.”
“Doubt it.”
I couldn’t parse the blunt assertion.
I rolled my eyes, meeting Walker’s gaze as he looked down at me. Eyes sharp as ever, contrasting his bulky frame.
The man, whose mere presence was overwhelming, pointed out.
“Yoon doesn’t use a heavy sword like yours. He prefers practical stuff. He could handle yours and give feedback, but you didn’t learn your full style from him.”
“…Very astute observation.”
“Who taught you? If self-taught, how?”
I don’t remember.
Because even meeting the creature screaming traitor, recalling Kyle’s name and face, learning I wasn’t human—my memories hadn’t fully returned. The hole-filled past couldn’t be patched with any lie. An inexplicable void.
Lying’s getting hard now.
I stared at the open horizon, silently apologizing to Ye-hyeon in my mind.
“I don’t remember.”
“What?”
“I have almost no memories before becoming a Black Badger.”
I felt Lee Ho and Walker staring hard.
Avoiding their eyes, I muttered like to myself.
“Just my name.”
“…For real? What’s wrong? You saw a doctor, right?”
“Yes. No special brain issues found.”
“So not that you didn’t get your license—you just can’t remember if you did.”
Walker nailed it keenly.
Smart guy all around. Barely spoke, but every word hit the mark. No wonder he was a fixer in the underworld.
I nodded in lieu of answering.
Commander. How am I supposed to keep an unkeepable secret with this sharp guy around? No room to complain after spilling some already.
Getting colder, though. Feels worse by the minute.
While the seniors mulled my words, I huddled against the chill.
Lee Ho’s voice came.
“What’s wrong?”
I hugged my knees and turned to him.
“Cold.”
“Cold?”
Lee Ho’s eyes widened.
“You’re cold? Now?”
“Yeah.”
Am I the only one?
Apparently. Lee Ho and Walker’s faces hardened as they rushed over. I dazedly watched them check my pulse out of nowhere, then scan Ami’s treated body.
They said something, but I couldn’t make it out.
No, too sleepy. Constant tension?
Hard to keep eyes open…. Couldn’t understand them.
Gotta sleep. Just a bit.
Five minutes….
***
A white ceiling came into view.
“Hilde~….”
A hand pressed down as I bolted up.
“Gotta check the hospital after every mission to feel satisfied, huh~?”
“You awake?”
A low, dry voice reached my ears.
“Still clinging to life. Good work.”
“Oppa! Don’t talk to Hilde like that!”
“Was complimenting her. What’s the problem?”
“Your way with words hasn’t changed in decades~.”
“Samuel! Patient’s awake!”
Chaos.
Sensations flooded in. Dizziness from the onslaught. Light stung my eyelids. Blurry shapes in hazy vision. Shadows bustling about.
I blinked repeatedly to focus.
Murmuring voices droned. IV stand wheels rumbled. Hospital antiseptic stung the air.
Only after absorbing it all did I register the people around me.
They crowded the bed, peering down.
Richard Green, Ami, Lee Ho-chang. The familiar faces from before I blacked out. They stood at the foot, looking at me. Squinting, their features sharpened.
Two more familiar faces. Ricardo grinning fiercely with sharp green eyes. Choi Yoon eyeing me coldly like a reptile.
Their piercing gazes burned.
Overwhelmed, I sucked in a breath.
Mid-breath, I said.
“Kinda intense.”
“Deal with it.”
Lee Ho replied tiredly.
“At least Command Staff and HR Director aren’t here.”
Scary thing to say.
I propped up on my elbows.
View widened. Took in surroundings. Base hospital. Black Badger HQ, forcibly evacuated due to the re-emergence. Where memories began, full of tough bosses and eccentric scientists.
Finally.
Back where I can buy food made by others.
I eyed the modern gadgets everywhere and sighed.
“Back to civilization….”
“Uh… head injury?”
“Snap out of it. You’re not discharged yet.”
Ricardo questioned my IQ while Yoon added.
The ever-cold, expressionless man tacked on.
“No set discharge date anyway. Just abandon hope.”
“Thanks for the blood-and-guts advice today, Master.”
“Sure.”
Yoon took it shamelessly.
“Good you didn’t get even dumber than feared.”
“Thrilled you think I had IQ to lose.”
People laughed.
I blinked at the seniors’ smiles. Lee Ho flashed neat teeth. Ricardo wore his signature fierce, sly grin. Didn’t know their exact reasons, but those two smiling wasn’t odd.
Richard Green chuckling was surprising.
The iron-tough man’s smile was brief.
He sobered quickly and looked straight at me.
“Hildebert.”
“Yes.”
Meeting his gaze steadily, the gray-haired man eyed me with burning intensity.
“Good work.”
Thank you.
No idea what for. All I recalled was causing trouble and barely surviving thanks to seniors.
Still, I bowed my head at the stern senior’s encouragement. Glad to receive it. Back at base, whatever happened. Passed out, so comfy return trip.
Memories partially back, forgotten swordsmanship recalled.
Dunno why I fainted, but no major pain now. Caused huge hassle, but
Not the worst outcome….
Oh.
Wait.
“Senior.”
I looked up and called to Ami.
She met my eyes quietly.
Staring into her firm gaze, I whispered.
“Jin Silver…?”