If You Lose, Leave the Unit
"Then when we switch over to the sortie team—"
"Nah? That wouldn't be any fun. The interest would die right there."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Just tag along for a bit on the next sortie, right?"
"Then there's no point in dividing the roles in the first place."
"Scared?"
At Han Jihye's words, Ji Yuna bit down on her lower lip.
"I'm not scared."
"Then just go, yeah? If our Yuna's actually a human being, after getting wrecked by a junior and even benched from the roster... there's no way she'd be slacking off without building her skills, right?
Right? Why do you think I left you alone back then in the first place? Because I hoped you'd feel something and grow a little. You know that too, don't you?"
Everyone knew. They had all pretended not to mention it and looked the other way, but everyone knew Ji Yuna had simply been lying around killing time.
Yet because of her childish pride, she accepted Han Jihye's proposal.
Or maybe she had thought, She's resting without moving either.
If things continued like this, it would become a situation where she dumped everything on Han Jihye and washed her hands of it, so she hurriedly raised her hand.
"Superhuman Seo Harang, I have something I'd like to say."
"What is it?"
"...I don't think this is something Hero Han Jihye needs to step in for. In the end this happened because of me, so I think it would be right for me to compete with her again."
Even though I had prepared a reason, Han Jihye's expression did not look particularly good. The face that had been smiling brightly until just now was gone; she was looking at me expressionlessly. I felt like I was going to piss myself. For real.
"Hey."
"Superhuman Seo Harang...! I-I'm sorry for butting in unnecessarily—"
"How many times do I have to say it? Don't attach that loser title like 'Hero'."
"Ah, that."
"Jihye unnie. Try it."
In this situation?
Sudden title correction. Clearly the atmosphere hadn't been like that at all.
"Ji-Jihye unnie..."
"Yeah, that sounds better now. So? What did you say? That since this happened because of you, you'll go head-to-head with Ji Yuna again?"
"Ah! Yes, that's right. You might feel like I butted in—"
"Then the three of us—you, me, and her—can tag along. Perfect, hey."
Han Jihye clapped her hands once. Gathering everyone's attention back to herself, she dropped something shocking.
"But you know? Like I said earlier, if our Yuna loses again, there's no hope left, right? So I think it would be good to set one condition so our Yuna can get motivated. How about it?"
Taking the lack of response as affirmation, Han Jihye continued right away. It seemed she had thought of it in advance.
"Ji Yuna, if you lose, leave this unit."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Leave. Our unit."
There were no other words. Honestly, there was no need for other words. It was literally that.
And those words were a sentence. A sentence of Don't even think about setting foot here again.
"...You're not thinking of boringly refusing after coming this far, right? Even if you hold out like a transparent human, it'll only be hard on you, you know? Even if you cling on somehow for the money, I won't stay still."
There was only one choice.
Confirming that Ji Yuna had closed her mouth, Han Jihye smiled an inscrutable smile again.
"None of you have any objections, right? I'll take it as none and end this talk here. Yuna, me, and Harang won't be around for the next sortie, so don't look for us!"
"Superhuman Jeong Seung-a."
"Oh! Our Seung-a!"
"I also want to go..."
"No."
A firm denial.
At Han Jihye's words, Jeong Seung-a lowered her hand dejectedly.
And as if aiming for that exact moment, the sound of someone tapping a microphone came through.
— Ah, roll call is over. Try not to stay up too late so you're ready for tomorrow's duties. And those who haven't signed the Guard Duty Manual, please sign it quickly. That is all.
The broadcast cut off abruptly, but the atmosphere in the living quarters remained heavy and depressed.
Even a rotten fish is still a fish—someone who had spent a long time here was about to be kicked out by a rolling stone, and that seemed to be weighing on everyone.
I couldn't keep my gaze fixed in one place. Part of it was that things had blown up because of me, and part of it was that I felt like I had created an unpleasant situation.
And Gates and monsters were not merciful enough to care about those restless feelings.
"Ugh..."
Someone shook my shoulder. It felt like I had only just managed to fall asleep after tossing and turning in the heavy atmosphere.
What? Who? Since the chance it was a senior was over ninety-nine percent, I quickly got up from my spot.
"Let's go."
"Hero Han Ji—"
"What?"
"Jihye, unnie."
"Yeah."
Han Jihye patted my shoulder. Freshly woken, my vision was still dark, so I didn't know what expression she was making.
"Monsters appeared, you know? Grab some gear appropriately and come out in front of the barracks."
I could tell her tone was a bit softer than usual. Maybe it was just because I was hearing it half-asleep.
I hadn't really thought about the fact that monsters didn't only appear during the day, so the timing was a little unexpected. Still, it was fine.
I quickly put on clothes and equipment and came out in front of the barracks. Han Jihye in casual clothes and Ji Yuna already geared up were waiting.
"Ready? I've already finished talking. We're going to squeeze in among the sortie team kids."
"Understood."
Following Han Jihye's call, I joined the seniors from the other living quarters. We boarded a two-and-a-half-ton truck.
There was no conversation. Whether they knew what I had done, or simply because it was a midnight sortie, I couldn't tell.
Feeling like I was sitting on a bed of thorns and shrinking into myself, Han Jihye next to me draped an arm over my shoulder.
"Hey."
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"Scared?"
"...I'm scared."
"Scared of what? Of her? She's trash, you know."
Han Jihye pointed at Ji Yuna, who was tightly shutting her mouth and staring at the floor. That wasn't what I was scared of.
"...I'm scared that the other seniors will be uncomfortable because of me."
It must have been because it was night. Because we had been woken from sleep.
My beast heart had gone somewhere, and my weakened mental state freely put my anxiety into words.
"What are you talking about?"
"Aren't they unit members who held their positions even before I came? But for a rolling stone like me to try to kick that out..."
"Why do you care about that? It's right for talentless bitches to get weeded out."
"Still, there's affection built up over time, isn't there? Especially when she's already treated as a washout—if something happens..."
"You were thinking that? Hey, Seo Harang."
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"With a face that looks like you'll chew up the whole world, you're always thinking that? Hey, you're not a washout."
"I get told off every day. For not adapting."
"That was your worry? Hey, Harang."
The hand on my shoulder climbed up to my head.
Then it squeezed.
...Squeezed?
"Ah! Aaah!!! Aaaah!!! It hurts if you squeeze!!!"
"Aren't you going to state your rank and name? A senior just touched you."
"Superhuman! Superhuman Seo Harang! My head's going to split! It's becoming like a rice-cake ball! Ah!"
"Heh heh... That's how it is, you idiot."
"What's how it is... That if I make whining noises you'll turn me into rice-cake soup?"
"No. That you're not a washout."
The value of those words was enough to make me forget the pain from the headlock.
At Han Jihye's recognition—she who had always been poking and prodding at me—I couldn't help but space out.
"I guarantee it. You're better than Ji Yuna. Enough to pull out a stuck stone."
"Ah..."
"And the other bitches don't care that much about it. Look for yourself."
She whispered that right into my ear.
If you change your mindset, what you see also changes.
Hearing Han Jihye's words and looking at the seniors, I really did see something different from earlier.
"They look really annoyed."
"Of course they'd be annoyed. Sortieing at night. They won't have any other thoughts, and when we become the sortie team we'll be the same as them, so take a good look."
At the base of those words lay the conviction that Ji Yuna will lose and leave the unit.
She believed in me. Of course, I might not fight directly and Han Jihye might step in instead.
Either way, thanks to that, the tension eased.
The two-and-a-half-ton stopped at the site where the monsters had appeared, and the sortie team members poured out in a rush.
Last of all, the three of us climbed down and each loosened up.
"...Shall we do it right away?"
"Sure. First, I'll give you a choice. Who do you want to face? Me? Or her?"
Unlike before, Ji Yuna's voice held calm resolve. Han Jihye went straight to the point as if no other words were needed.
Ji Yuna slowly closed and opened her eyes, then pointed at me. It seemed she had already decided.
"Really no fun, Yuna. That's why you ended up like this."
"What do you mean ended up like this... Even if this bitch Seo Harang was in my place, she would have made the same choice."
"Whatever."
With Han Jihye's words—for whom Ji Yuna's answer had never been important from the start—our business began.
Lighting was streetlights.
The arena was a half-destroyed road.
The audience was just Han Jihye alone.
Background music was the monsters' cries.
Inside that, the first to take action was Ji Yuna. As if to make up for her previous powerlessness, she kicked off the ground and flew at me.
But she was slow. Seriously.
I thought saying things like Superhuman Kim Heejin was faster and stronger...!—the kind of line you'd only write in a webtoon—was for amateurs. But what could I do when it really felt that way?
Dull and heavy.
Of course she was faster than a normal person. Maybe if I hadn't awakened, I might not even have been able to react.
But I had now surpassed the category of a normal person.
The extended fist didn't even graze my hair, let alone my face.
Flutter—my long hair followed the movement belatedly.
"You bitch...!!"
As if she had been aiming for that from the start, Ji Yuna tried to snatch the spreading long hair.
I was the same. No—rather, I had aimed for this.
In the first place, what benefit would I get from coming out without tying up this bothersome fluttering hair!
Before that grip could reach my head, I used one foot as an axis and swung my leg.
—Crack!
The leg swung like a whip made a sound that didn't match it at all. An attack that properly sank into the ribs.
"Gahk...! Hrk, kngh...! You fucking bitch...! If it weren't for you...!"
"If it weren't for me? In the first place, the one who started it was Superhuman Ji Yuna, wasn't it."
"You started with the washout behavior first! You fucking bitch!"
She charged again.
Even knowing there was a difference in reach from the start, the same movement.
"The other seniors didn't stop it either, and Superhuman Ji Yuna was doing the same thing, wasn't she. If you had done it yourself, fine—why are you only catching me when you weren't doing it yourself?"
"How long are you going to talk back? You know talking back to a senior means death! You bastard!"
"Senior my ass. Do you not know your current situation? The reality is you don't even get treated as a person."
—Thwack!
I extended my foot and shoved. Ji Yuna, who slid back with a screech, smiled bitterly.
"Missed one thing? My ability."
Creak—the foot I used as an axis was dragged.
My center was disrupted. It was Ji Yuna's ability.
Ji Yuna smiled a vile smile as if she had been aiming only for this, but unfortunately it seemed too small a chance to smile a victory smile.
After shaking off whatever was dragging my foot, I steadied the shaken center.
"...You broke it? But so what?"
But that wasn't enough.
Lack of experience.
I lacked the perfect finishing blow to end the situation. Even when I attacked, it vaguely missed, so I started getting impatient too.
"Nothing more to show now?"
Ji Yuna spat. There was blood mixed in.
But unlike being pushed like that, her eyes and body condition looked perfectly fine.
Rather, it seemed like it would get harder than before—a situation where I might be the one pushed.
If I didn't end it next, it would go into a long fight, and then the probability would shift to Ji Yuna, who had been through thick and thin.
So I decided on the best attack. Though as far as martial arts went, being self-taught, there was only one thing I could do.
After a minimal run-up to heat up, I even used my waist strength to extend my leg straight.
Since I had awakened physical abilities, the power contained also increased exponentially. If this attack that plunged in a straight line worked, I could definitely end the situation.
Of course, that was if it worked.
"What are you—"
Ji Yuna snickered at the honest trajectory. In that moment she was deliberately delaying a bit as if leisurely,
Clang!
The streetlight shattered and darkness engulfed the surroundings.
"Wha—"
Before I could even grasp what this situation was, the already extended kick exploded.
The thing that flew at a speed beyond expectation, and the streetlight that burst out of nowhere, were Ji Yuna's defeat factors.
I thought I vaguely saw Han Jihye extending her index finger between the fallen Ji Yuna and the dark lighting.
Whether there was help or whatever, the important thing was that Ji Yuna had lost again.
"You're not going to go back on the promise, right?"
Ji Yuna didn't answer Han Jihye's words.
Though she showed an attitude of grinding her teeth throughout, she still seemed to follow the already decided matter. She was holding a backpack with all the luggage from the locker stuffed inside.
"This bi— khehk, heuk, heuk...!"
Ji Yuna, who stopped mid-sentence, painfully clutched her chest. It was because of the wound from yesterday's fight.
"...What are you gawking at? All of you get lost."
Leaving one last word, Ji Yuna bumped Han Jihye's shoulder with a thud and left. What remained was one completely empty locker.
"Um..."
"Hm?"
"Why did you help me?"
"Hm?"
"I'm curious why you helped me."
"Hm? I can't hear well? What? Who are you calling?"
"...Jihye unnie."
"Ah! You called me! Why did I help?"
She heard it all! Doing this just to hear "unnie"!
...But I didn't hate it. Because she was the person who had helped me in a situation that could have been dangerous.
"Did you see?"
"I saw it vaguely."
That pose of holding up her index finger in that darkness. It hadn't fit the situation at all.
"Embarrassing. You were watching that again?"
She admitted it more readily than expected—that she had taken my side rather than Ji Yuna, who had been in the living quarter much longer than me.
"Why you helped..."
"Huh? Because Harang, you're more fun than her?"
A smile.
Value of that degree.
The reason that she had given enjoyment to a strong person ranked high even among all Awakeners, not just the unit.
On one hand I was inwardly disappointed by Han Jihye's heartless words, but on the other hand I was relieved by her same-as-always appearance.