A Stubborn Bond #2
Han Sae-ah's most vivid memory was a stream of colorful, brilliant stardust painting her vision—and her burning home, surrounded by the corpses of her family.
"Ah...?"
She had approached and shaken them, but her family did not move.
The people who had whispered words of love and promised to always be by her side had all left her behind. A sudden, "beautiful" magic explosion had taken them away while she was still so young.
This tragedy was not unique to her. At the time, bizarre mana anomalies were erupting all across South Korea.
Simply being alive to draw breath might have made her one of the lucky ones.
"Eat something."
During those childhood days when she was slowly rotting from the inside out, a young boy had approached her, chatting away with easy banter.
He was just as unfortunate as she was, having lost his entire family too. Yet, he pretended to be happy, acting as bright as the sun just to show off. To the young Han Sae-ah, nothing could have been more grating or annoying.
"What is wrong with you?"
The cold words had slipped out naturally. Their thin, stubborn bond had begun right then and there.
"I said, eat. You're going to starve to death."
"I'd rather starve."
"Well, I can't let you do that."
"...What?"
Mmph...!
Shoving food into her mouth out of nowhere was an act of pure eccentricity. Faced with such genuine madness, Han Sae-ah had no choice but to yield.
"Let's survive first, then think."
Through her tear-stained vision, a calm yet warm voice had washed over her.
"A whole lot of shit happened."
"...Did you... awaken?"
"Yeah."
Crunching on chicken skin, I gave her a brief rundown of what had happened. I beat the absolute shit out of some goblins, cleared the stage, met hunters from other dimensions, and so on. A lot of things had happened, but since I made it back alive, what could be better?
"What were you doing?"
"What was I doing...?"
Sae-ah's gaze locked onto me. It looked like she was about to unleash a torrent of words, so I quickly cut her off.
"Actually, don't tell me."
"?"
"You need to stop worrying so much, kid. What about your job?"
"Does my job even matter right now?!"
"Of course it does. Do you think an S-class guild is some common goblin's name?"
Especially for people like us who have no backing, we have to seize every opportunity that comes our way.
"People are watching you."
"Even in a situation like this, you..."
Sae-ah let out a dumbfounded sigh. And then...
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
She downed an entire can of beer in one go to cool her burning frustration.
Good grief, what am I going to do with that temper of hers?
"So, here's the thing, Sae-ah."
"..."
"I'm in a bit of a tight spot. I'm an Awakened now, and when I checked my phone earlier, it seemed like everyone was making a huge fuss about me."
"...And?"
"I want to keep a low profile for a while."
"What..."
Sae-ah's face went blank, a departure from her usual expression. It meant her brain was working at maximum capacity.
I keep telling her to control her facial expressions.
Only I can read her like this. Anyone else would think she's a cold, emotionless ice queen. In reality, there's no one softer on the inside than her.
"I have no intention of running around bragging that I awakened."
I especially wanted to avoid any media exposure.
"So... so what do you want to do about it?"
"Be my temporary guardian. Someone of your status should easily be able to shield a commoner like me, right?"
"Well, yes, but... what are you planning to do after that?"
Sae-ah shot me a suspicious look.
"Once that's settled? I'll quietly head to the Association and take the registration exam."
"Hmm..."
Sae-ah seemed to finally grasp my intention. She looked me dead in the eye.
"Woojin."
"Well? Isn't it a killer plan?"
"Are you insane?"
"..."
Was that not it?
Hunters are legally required to report to the Association. Since I had just returned from the Tower, I was obligated to register my status. If I didn't?
Wee-woo, wee-woo.
I'd probably get flagged by the state-of-the-art mana detectors patrolling the city and end up arrested.
"But I'm right, aren't I?"
"..."
Sae-ah didn't reply, but she no longer voiced any objections to my logic.
I get it, though.
I understand why she called me insane. To someone who just barely survived a life-or-death situation, talking about living quietly and taking registration exams must sound utterly ridiculous. A normal person would struggle to keep their sanity after being dragged into the Tower and back.
But then again, who was I? I was confident I wouldn't break, no matter what hardships and trials came my way. The mental fortitude I had built up since childhood was serving me well.
'Let go! *Sob*... I said let go! Who do you think you are, interfering with whether I live or die?!'
If I fell apart, there was a girl right next to me who would throw a fit about wanting to die. I had no choice but to pull myself together and keep living.
"...What?"
"Nothing. Just thinking about the past."
Sae-ah flinched slightly under my gaze, but I brushed it off.
"Sae-ah."
"What?"
"You weren't supposed to leave your guild right now, were you?"
"...I'll take care of that. You just—"
"Hey. How can I just ignore it? Not between us."
Just as Sae-ah was worrying about me, I was worrying about her. Why? Because we were childhood friends who had survived that absolute shitstorm together.
Sae-ah's stock was currently through the roof. She was the rising star of an S-class guild, constantly proving her worth through various advertisements and promotions. For someone like her to suddenly declare a hiatus? It would undoubtedly deal a massive blow to both her public image and her career.
"So, I'll handle my own business. Don't go out of your way to push yourself."
"How can I...!"
Slam!
Sae-ah slammed her hand on the table and glared at me with resentful eyes.
"How can I just leave you alone?! If you... if I suddenly awakened, would you—"
"You're already a hunter."
Awakening only happened to ordinary people without a single drop of mana. Whether they lived or died in the Tower afterward was purely a matter of luck.
"Don't talk back to me!"
"Look at you, talking to your older brother like that."
After our emotional outburst subsided, a calmer Sae-ah asked me, "...Anyway, you're going to the Association first thing tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I have to."
If you don't register as a hunter in a timely manner, you get fined.
And...
Clack.
I felt the texture of the mana stone I had received as a tutorial reward in my pocket.
I need to get rid of this too.
To be honest, I didn't even know how to dispose of it. I had to figure it out from now on. And the place where all that information gathered was, naturally, the Hunter Association.
"You're done eating, right? Go home now. I'll call you in the morning."
"Why should I?"
"Huh?"
I froze as her question shattered my peace just as I was about to wrap things up and head to bed.
"Go home."
"No."
"Are you saying you're sleeping here?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Are you out of your mind? My place is tiny. Where are you even going to sleep?"
"Right here."
"You have a massive apartment! Why are you being so stubborn?!"
"Ha! You're allowed to be stubborn, but I'm not?"
"When was I stubborn?"
"You keep insisting you're fine! Until just recently... until just recently..."
Until recently, I really had lived a life completely unrelated to hunters. I had worked at mana leak sites, but that was strictly within the bounds of an ordinary civilian.
She doesn't need to worry this much.
But there was no need for her to get so deeply involved. Even if I told her, she wouldn't believe me, but I had cleared the stage safely thanks to my cheat skill.
"Wasn't all that training we did supposed to be used for times like this?"
Whenever she had free time, Sae-ah would always seek me out and drag me into basic combat training. Back then, I had nothing better to do and figured it would be useful, so I tagged along a few times. Thanks to that, reading the goblins' attack patterns had been much easier.
"Thanks. Because of that, I didn't have a mental breakdown in actual combat."
"...Hmph."
"Right, right. Shall we wrap this up on a heartwarming note?"
"I'm still sleeping here."
"For fuck's sake."
In the end, unable to overcome my friend's stubbornness, I was forced into an uncomfortable sleepover.
"..."
"..."
"You look incredibly refreshed."
Seeing my friend looking significantly less fatigued compared to yesterday, a sense of injustice welled up inside me.
"Did you not sleep well, Woojin?"
"Do you think I could?"
"Why?"
"Forget it, just forget it."
"Why couldn't you sleep?"
"I said forget it. Let's just go."
Thoroughly annoyed by her asking again, I headed to the Association, accompanied by my reliable shield.
Vroom...!
"Huh?"
The moment we stepped out of the building, a luxury sedan pulled up in front of us as if it had been waiting.
"I called my manager. You said you wanted to go quietly."
"You call this quiet?"
"When you're out with me, this is as quiet as it gets."
"Oh... a celebrity."
"...Are you teasing me?"
"It's nice having celebrity acquaintances."
Bickering back and forth, we got into the car. My eyes met those of the beautiful woman behind the steering wheel.
"It's my first time seeing you in person! I've heard so much about you."
"You know me?"
"Of course! Sae-ah talks about you so—"
"Just drive, Sis."
"Oh my. You're scary, girl."
Is this the power of experience?
Even when glared at by a rising S-class star, the manager defused the tension effortlessly. I kind of wanted to learn that skill from her.
"Off we go~"
"Ah, yes."
As I blankly watched the city scenery drift past the sedan's window, we arrived in front of the Association in no time.
"I've already sorted everything out. You can take the exam as soon as you walk in."
"When did you sort it out?"
"While you were asleep."
...I slept so soundly that I didn't even notice her making a phone call right next to me? Even though I tossed and turned all night?
"Ah, Woojin."
"Yeah?"
"...It's the Academy's graduation season right now, so it's going to be a bit noisy. Just keep that in mind."
"Oh... the Academy. Our Sae-ah here was the valedictorian, wasn't she?"
"...Why are you bringing that up now?"
"Look at you getting all embarrassed. I'm off."
"I'll be waiting."
"Don't wait. Go catch up on your backlogged work. Manager, take her away."
"Will do~"
"Sis, let go of me! Let go!"
Watching the manager drag Sae-ah away with practiced ease, I turned and headed inside the Association to finally find out the true extent of the potential slumbering within me.