Briefing Before Deployment
Aaaah, deployment. Everyone, get ready to head out.
The broadcast countdown was ticking down rapidly, but it was the officers speaking now, not the unit members. I couldn't complain.
“You’re way too fired up.”
“Time for a management check?”
Maybe not.
Kim Heejin and Han Jihye had stepped up together to call out the officers’ attitudes.
It was a good thing the officer wasn’t here right now. If he had heard them… well, he probably would have straightened up his behavior. Especially since these two were already hard to handle normally.
“If Heejin-hyung just gave him one glare, he’d probably piss himself. Right?”
“You’re hitting him with the same old line again? Sometimes you should just step in yourself.”
“Aigoo. It’s more effective when it’s you, not me. You’re saying that too, right?”
“You’re right about that.”
I was dressing into my gear while the seniors chatted casually. I listened in, putting on my own equipment.
From the context, it was clear we were assigned to the deployment living quarters.
As we stepped outside still in our gear, I felt the seniors’ gazes on us. I had been like that once. What were they thinking back then?
“Run laps~”
“This is the right kind of unit.”
“It sucks we can’t earn money. Don’t you feel a bit sorry?”
“You’re right about that.”
I hadn’t been thinking anything like that. Looking back, there hadn’t been any deep thoughts at all.
“Ready? Double-check that you didn’t leave anything behind. I won’t cover any losses if you end up forgetting something later.”
Han Jihye’s words made me check our gear. Nothing out of place.
“Anything missing?”
“None.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
Leading the way, Han Jihye took us out on deployment.
…
Even though the whole living quarter was bustling with the big words “deployment,” it wasn’t actually that busy or difficult.
Basically, everyone had their own assigned positions and roles. For example, Kim Heejin, who fought the monsters head-on, or Jeong Seung-ah, who handled injured civilians from the rear.
And my role was to rescue civilians who couldn’t evacuate. In other words, there wasn’t really anything to do in most cases.
The citizens’ heightened alertness after facing so many gates and monsters was at its peak. If they couldn’t run, it was almost never an issue.
“P-please, help me…!”
Of course, there were cases where I had to step in. If the person couldn’t move because of their body or the path was blocked. And those rare situations were exactly when I had to act!
I moved my legs to respond to the rescue calls.
After one fall and my legs strengthened, the results of my training with Kim Heejin after the break. Those two things combined let my body move exactly as I wanted.
I sprinted toward the source of the sweet, angelic voice asking for help and saved the person.
“Ah… thank you.”
“It’s dangerous, so head to the other side and take shelter together.”
“Yes!”
The survivor’s voice grew louder with relief from being saved.
It was fortunate I could save them quickly. I could spot visible people easily.
“Are you an Awakener?”
“Eh? Does it look like that? Hehe… I’m not an Awakener.”
“Is that so? Your hair color stood out, so I got the wrong idea. Still, good thing. Thanks to you, I found them quickly.”
“Hey! Harang!”
“Superhuman Seo Harang?”
“Trash!”
Kim Heejin muttered a single word urgently.
She was calling me Harang? I hadn’t made such a rookie mistake. The shadow cast over me told me exactly what she had said.
“Kyah!”
I grabbed the survivor who had tightly shut their eyes and curled up, and ran toward the opposite side of the falling debris.
I brushed aside the pink hair at their forehead and moved quickly. With their delicate body and light weight, carrying them wasn’t difficult.
—Kweeeer!!
Kwong…
The monster collapsed without any special complications. Kim Heejin, who had taken down the huge beast, shook her hands and approached me.
“You worked hard.”
“Uh, thanks.”
Kim Heejin responded to the seniors’ greetings. In the meantime, I slipped in my own greeting.
“You worked hard.”
At that, Kim Heejin turned her head sharply toward me and started striding over. It was clear something had rubbed her the wrong way. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have approached so aggressively!
Waaah! She laughed! She really laughed! It wasn’t that soft, hidden smile she usually gave! She was laughing like she was actually scary!
“Seo Harang!”
“Superhuman Seo Harang! I’m sorry!”
“Eh? What?”
“You seem angry…”
“What’s there to be angry about? Does it look like I’m mad like unnie? It’s a bright, cheerful smile.”
“It looked like a smile about to destroy the world.”
“…Is that so?”
At Han Jihye’s words, Kim Heejin touched her own lips. But even if she touched them, she wouldn’t know what expression she had made. For now, Kim Heejin, who had pulled back the fierce smile, gently patted my back.
“Anyway, you did well. I was watching the whole thing. The rescue.”
“You saw it? While we were fighting and taking hits?”
“Of course. When it’s your job, the view opens up even if you don’t want it. I saw you carrying the pink-haired person.”
A surge of pride filled me at Kim Heejin’s praise.
Well done, well done. Don’t do it again next time. Thanks to Kim Heejin’s straightforward personality, the pride rising felt a few levels higher than usual.
“Fifteen minutes? That’s vague.”
“Fifteen minutes is twice as fast as the other living quarters, right?”
“Heejin is just too picky from the start. She has to hit her own standards to be satisfied.”
“It’s not really like that.”
As we boarded the return vehicle one by one and chatted, a single person approached from the evacuation shelter.
“What’s up?”
“Not just any hair color… what is this? An Awakener?”
“Isn’t this the person Harang saved earlier? They’re coming over here?”
“Isn’t the number being called? Harang?”
“She doesn’t care about gender, does she?”
“That’s not true!”
The pink-haired citizen approached without caring about the noisy atmosphere. Since the monster had died and the danger was gone, no one was blocking her return. We had to return anyway, but it wasn’t worth taking hours for a simple greeting.
“Hey! I’m truly sorry and thank you! Thanks to you, I was saved!”
As I felt earlier, her voice was really pleasant to hear.
It had a kind frequency that would make you fall asleep easily before bed. Was this the frequency or whatever it was?
“Eh? This person, maybe?”
“Do you know the Hero Han Jihye? Her hair is a bit special, though.”
“Aren’t you a musical actor?”
“Ah… yeah.”
“Musical?”
A unfamiliar word. I had only seen movies, after all. I had never actually gone to a play or musical before.
“Does the Hero Han Jihye like musicals? Her hobby sounds quite refined.”
“What do you mean by that? Should we share a refined conversation? Us?”
“Sorry!”
“Sorry, and the life of an Awakener ends?”
Han Jihye grabbed one senior’s head and climbed onto the vehicle. Then she told the pink-haired citizen, “You should watch YouTube a lot!”
Was she an internet broadcaster? A musical actor? Were they doing both?
“Anyway… you don’t have to thank me especially. Just be careful from now on.”
I climbed into the vehicle while saying the usual line about being careful with your body.
The pink-haired person’s gaze remained fixed on me until the end. It was really a noticeable color.
…
As I was sorting through my gear after returning, the words Han Jihye had said earlier came to mind.
Musical actor, right? She seemed to be doing internet broadcasting too.
Still, since I had faced her face, it didn’t seem bad to look her up once.
So, what kind of broadcast was it? What was her name and stage name?
“Jihye unnie.”
If you didn’t know, just ask. I called out to Han Jihye, who seemed to know about the person.
“Hm?”
“That person just now. The one with pink hair.”
“Why are you asking about her?”
“I want to know where she broadcasts from.”
“You want to know where she broadcasts?”
“Yes.”
She probably would have demanded payment if she had known I was interested. But Han Jihye just gave me the address without any fuss. I guess I was overthinking it.
On the contrary, the unexpected person who countered me was Jeong Seung-ah.
“…Harang.”
“Superhuman Seo Harang?”
“Why are you asking about her broadcast? Is it just curiosity?”
Jeong Seung-ah was the one who asked with the intent of the question clear, without hiding the slight disappointment.
Curiosity? What kind of curiosity? Some broadcast concept? I didn’t even know what kind of broadcast she did yet, so how could I talk about taste? Or was it appearance or personality?
No, that couldn’t be it. Feeling jealous and bringing up such emotions toward a junior of the same gender? It didn’t happen even in the worst dramas.
“I just wondered. I’ve never seen anyone like musical actors or broadcasters.”
“True. Our unit originally prohibits personal broadcasting activities.”
Right. External activities were forbidden. If they had been allowed, unit secrets would have been exposed long ago.
“Interested? Like you have a crush or something?”
“Aigoo, I don’t feel any crush toward someone I haven’t even properly talked to. Not me.”
“Still… okay, I’ll believe you.”
Kind Jeong Seung-ah trusted her junior. After she quelled the small unease about why I had come, I searched for the name Han Jihye had given.
“Yu I-seol… eh? A new article just dropped.”
“Article? She isn’t that famous, right? A university musical actor? What article?”
“Just one. Um… ‘Decided to take a short break period for a new beginning and heart refresh’…”
“Ah, is that so?”
“You don’t seem to have much interest.”
“No thoughts?”
Why did I ask in the first place! Then!
I set aside Han Jihye’s arbitrary reaction and watched Yu I-seol’s broadcast clips.
It was pretty fun. She was a lively, energetic person. If someone like this became a junior, wouldn’t we live together happily?
Well, no matter who became a junior, I would work hard to become a kind, reliable senior.
It was a day spent imagining things about the junior whose outline hadn’t even formed yet.