Chapter 85: Ambiguous (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 85: Ambiguous (1)
Numerous teams exist within the Seoul Branch of the Earth Defense Union. Team Hunter Killer, boasting the best record in name and reality and having never lost a single match since its current members were assembled, is unanimously called the best team today.
However, there was one team that held a record just as high as Team Hunter Killer and was called a representative of the Seoul Branch alongside them.
Team Special Force. Their current roster had been together longer than Team Hunter Killer’s. While their win rate wasn't quite as high as Hunter Killer's, they maintained a respectably high performance level, and each individual member was evaluated as having outstanding abilities.
"White said that?"
As a veteran who had been active as a Superhuman longer than any other member of Hunter Killer, Blue was reasonably close with the members of Special Force. Of course, it wasn't that the other members were completely ignorant of other teams.
It was just that until recently, the atmosphere within Team Hunter Killer had been far from good. They hadn't had the luxury of being interested in other teams, maintaining a distance where they only recognized faces but lacked any particular interest.
Blue had her own friendships, which was why it bothered her that a rumor was circulating about something she hadn't even mentioned publicly yet.
"Yeah. Is it true?"
"No. I just started living on my own. Marriage? Not a chance."
It wasn't that she hadn't thought about a married life with A. However, they had only recently become a couple, and she felt it was far too early to think about marriage. She couldn't help but be flustered the moment she heard such a rumor was going around.
"But did White really say that?"
The White that Blue knew wasn't the type of person to talk lightly about others or spread groundless rumors. That was why she double-checked with the woman in front of her to see if White was truly the source.
"No. White only said she saw you coming out of a furniture store with a man. And that the atmosphere between you two looked good."
It seemed the "marriage" part had cropped up as the story got blown out of proportion through word of mouth. However, since she had no desire for sudden marriage rumors to spread, Blue asked her to keep it quiet.
"I'm not getting married, so don't spread weird rumors."
"I won't. It's not like I've told everyone; it just came up while we were talking among ourselves."
As the woman said, it hadn't reached the scale of a proper rumor yet. If she had been questioned by someone completely unrelated to White, the source of the story, it would have truly become a rumor, but for now, she had only heard it from one of White's teammates. Still, since rumors have a way of growing whenever and wherever, Blue requested that she keep it under wraps for now.
"You're on your way back from a duel, right?"
"Yeah. We won today, too."
"Your members must be waiting."
"Right. Get back safely."
"Got it."
After Blue stepped off the elevator and the doors closed, the woman inside headed to the upper floors. Having confirmed that there was no immediate issue, Blue headed to the locker room, thinking she should have a proper talk with White later.
*
Spacetro Team 3 met their usual defeat. Naturally, losing didn't feel great, but having grown as accustomed to it as one could be, they had long since passed the stage of lingering over a loss.
More than anything, there was something else weighing on our minds today besides the outcome of the duel. During the fight, seeing the Hunter Killer members reminded me of our encounter during training, but after returning, my focus shifted back to that more pressing matter.
"How did it go?"
Forgetting to even change our clothes after returning, my colleagues and I headed straight to Luche's office, still in our suits with only our helmets removed.
"Hold on."
Since we had dueled before the training results were released, we had gone into the match without knowing the outcome, and Luche, our Team Leader, hadn't been able to check the results yet either. Trying her best to calm us down as we stood there full of anticipation, she sat down and fixed her eyes on the monitor, operating the mouse.
It was about time for the results to be out. Luche was checking them, and we watched her with bated breath. Eventually, Luche stopped clicking and stared intently at the monitor before turning the screen toward us.
Gathering in front of the monitor in an instant, we checked the results, and—
"YES!!!"
Everyone cheered simultaneously. Out of well over a thousand teams, our team had placed in the top 3%. If there were, say, a thousand teams, it proved that we were among the top 30 in terms of training results.
"I see you've already checked."
At the low voice coming from behind us as we jumped for joy, we turned our heads. Instantly dropping our excitement, we saluted the woman who had entered Luche's office.
"Good day, Branch Manager!"
The person who had come to the office was none other than the Branch Manager of the Spacetro Seoul Branch. She was the highest-ranking person in this building and the one with the longest career.
"Is something the matter?"
Even Luche, who almost never used formal speech with others, stood up and spoke politely to the Branch Manager. The Branch Manager gave a benevolent smile and gestured for her to be at ease. Just as I was wondering if it would be better to lower my saluting hand and leave the office, the Branch Manager's gaze turned toward us.
"It's fine for you to stay. This is something you'll all be glad to hear."
The Branch Manager sat on the sofa, and we stood before her, waiting for her to speak. What on earth could she have to say that brought her personally to a Team Leader's office, a place she rarely visited?
"The results this time were so good that some support funds are going to be allocated."
"Really?!"
The one most delighted by the mention of support was Luche. Since we lost every time we dueled, including today, the news that support of any kind was coming to our team was excellent. Perhaps we could finally break the streak of losses that had lasted for years.
"It's not a huge amount. And, A."
When the Branch Manager called my name, my colleagues parted to the left and right, leaving me, who had been standing in the back, face-to-face with her. I answered loudly in a stiff, upright posture.
"Yes!"
I couldn't remember the last time I'd taken such a disciplined stance. Looking at me now, one might think I found the Branch Manager uncomfortable, but our team was full of veterans with long careers who had experience meeting many people and executives.
And the Branch Manager, with her benevolent and gentle personality, was one of the superiors we felt most comfortable with. But perhaps it was because it was right after a duel. Or because the Branch Manager, who rarely visited other offices, had come in person. Or maybe it was because we had just checked the training results...
I couldn't say exactly why, but we were all a bit more tense than usual when dealing with her.
"The evaluation from headquarters came back very positive this time. They said the reports you communicated over the radio will be used as teaching materials for the next batch of new recruits."
"Ooh!"
My colleagues around me made more of a fuss than I did, as I stood there not knowing how to react to such high praise.
From my perspective, I just thought I was lucky. I figured field control literally meant controlling the field, so I had made sure to grasp the geography and stay aware of the training objectives. The tension of running into the Hunter Killer members mid-training had also kept me sharp.
"If the evaluation is that good, is there perhaps anything else coming our way?"
I didn't say it because I actually expected something. It was just a joke made in the good atmosphere, but the Branch Manager gave a meaningful smile and pulled a card from her inner pocket.
"Dinner funds have been released."
At those words, everyone began chanting my name. Voices shouting "A! A!" echoed through the office, and Luche quietly whispered, "Those idiots." I also felt good seeing my colleagues so happy because of me, and the Branch Manager wore the same benevolent smile she always had when looking at us.
"What's the limit?"
"It's generous, so drink as much as you want. But you have to be careful about what needs to be careful, okay?"
"Of course."
Even for a simple team dinner, we had many restrictions. Given our position, we had to minimize contact with Earthlings when acting as a group. Furthermore, since we weren't training or dueling, we wouldn't be wearing our suits, so we had to be even more meticulous about preventing personal information leaks.
However, as a team that prided itself on being composed of veterans, we were confident in following the basic rules. In fact, our team was made up of people who had invaded various planets and experienced many things without ever causing a significant incident.
"Don't you dare try to back out today!"
"That's right. The one who earned the dinner funds can't skip out."
"I'm going, I'm going. And did the funds really come out just because of me? It's because everyone did well. I didn't even step inside the training grounds."
The Branch Manager had made it sound like the dinner funds were released because my report was good, but I thought it was a matter of sequence. It wasn't that the funds were released because my report was good and the team's results were high; rather, because the team's results were high, my report was evaluated as having been done well, and thus the funds were released.
My colleagues were talking me up quite a bit, but I wasn't that great of a person.
Since I usually didn't participate in team dinners, my colleagues, thinking I would try to skip today as well, repeatedly warned me not to run away. Kruger, in particular, who had been on the same team as me several times and knew me well, was looking at me with eyes that were practically an assault.
"Hey. You're going to burn a hole in my head."
"Do you have any idea how many times you've said you wouldn't run away and then bailed on a dinner?"
Honestly, I had no rebuttal for that. Preferring the indoors to the outdoors and liking my alone time more than hanging out with a crowd, I had indeed skipped out on many dinners I'd promised to attend, just as Kruger said.
For the past few years, my colleagues had given up on even inviting me, but now that I was essentially the reason for the dinner, the complaints that had been building up were exploding everywhere.
"You ran away from the year-end dinner saying you had urgent business!"
"And you bailed on the winter training dinner because you said it was too cold!"
"I said I'm going!"
No matter how much I said I was going, they wouldn't believe me easily. This was the treatment I deserved for my past actions, so I took it in stride. Honestly, it wasn't like I hadn't felt a bit guilty while running away from those dinners.
Amidst the barrage of complaints from my colleagues, I kept insisting I would go. After changing clothes, we dispersed with plans to meet at the restaurant in the evening. Since it was a celebratory occasion, I didn't head straight home but stayed at headquarters to gather some data.
After reading a few recent articles about Superhumans, I sent a text to Yubin, who would be waiting at home, telling her I'd be late because of a team dinner. It was our first time meeting since coming back from the trip, but perhaps because I'd seen her for two out of the three days of the trip, I didn't feel like it had been a long time.
"Aren't you going, Luche?"
"Do you think I would?"
"I just asked just in case."
If there were a ranking for members who didn't attend dinners, I would surely be second on our team. Then who was first? There was no need to hide it. The person who skipped dinners even more than I did was Luche.
However, our reasons were a bit different. I was a fellow regular soldier of the same gender who skipped because I didn't want to be in a social setting where everyone was on equal footing. Luche, on the other hand, couldn't handle her alcohol well to begin with, and unlike me, she was a superior. Thinking it wasn't great for a boss to be at a team dinner, she intentionally avoided attending.
Apparently, in the past, my colleagues had coaxed her into going, thinking she might actually want to attend, but she had passed out after only a few drinks.
Considering these points, while we both rarely went, my "crime" was much heavier if skipping was considered a sin.
Before I knew it, the sun had set. Seeing that the meeting time was approaching, I shut down my computer.
"Have fun, and don't drink too much."
"Yes. Good work today, Team Leader."
It was true that I didn't view Luche entirely as a superior. There was a side of me that treated her more lightly than other Team Leaders, but I still clearly recognized her ability and effort. Though she was younger than me and had a shorter career, I knew she always worked hard as a Team Leader.
They were short, formal words of "good work," but they contained sincerity, and Luche, perhaps sensing that sincerity for once, showed a smile.
"Yeah. You worked hard too, A."
After receiving a farewell from Luche, who seemed to have suddenly cheered up, I left headquarters and slowly made my way to the restaurant. I thought I had arrived on time, but all my colleagues were already there and had already set up the tables. Just how much had these guys wanted a team dinner?
"Hey! He's here!"
My excited colleagues had made a spot for me and filled a glass. Was it because someone who usually didn't show up was there? Or was their tension always this high during dinners? Seeing my colleagues in even higher spirits than usual, I thought to myself that this dinner was going to be exhausting in many ways.
"Honestly, my heart sank a bit when you said you might skip."
"I was thinking we'd have to do it without you this time, too."
"Don't make a fuss. Is one person like me really going to make a difference?"
They said things like the training wouldn't have gone smoothly because I was out doing field control, or that the results wouldn't have been as good. I corrected their obviously exaggerated flattery—now that I was being treated like the one who secured the funds—and brought my drunken colleagues back to reality.
"Still, there's a power that comes from seniority."
"There are plenty of people with more seniority than me."
"This bastard, you give him a compliment and he still talks shit!"
Eventually, we filled our glasses while exchanging the usual rough language. I responded to my colleagues with equally rough words and drank after a toast.
I didn't particularly like team dinners and preferred being at home to playing like this, but I felt that having a dinner like this once in a while wasn't so bad.
"You fucking pieces of shit!"
Just as I was drinking happily and thinking about having even more fun, the sound of emotional, aggressive swearing from nearby made us fall silent in an instant. Hearing swearing in a bar was a common occurrence, but we felt certain that the target of that swearing was us.
Turning my head, I saw a group of men sitting there. Among them, a man with deep blue hair was glaring in our direction.
"Did you rent this whole place? You're being loud as fuck."
The man, who openly expressed his anger toward us, kicked back his chair and stood up. None of the companions around him tried to stop him.
Sensing that the situation was taking a turn for the worse, I checked on my colleagues. My colleagues, who had been getting drunk, instantly returned to cold, calm expressions and were scanning the surroundings.
And the moment I looked at the man's face to gauge his reaction, I felt a strange sense of dissonance.
Where have I seen him?
I tried to remember if I had seen that somewhat familiar face somewhere before, but the man's subsequent actions gave me no time to think.
"I asked if you rented the whole place, you bastards!"
The man, who had approached our table where about a dozen men were sitting, kicked the table. With a loud crash, the food on the table spilled onto the floor. One by one, eyes turned toward us, and with the loud noise, the attention of everyone in the shop was focused on us.
I've stepped in deep shit.