Chapter 140
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 140: How to Enjoy a Festival (2)
“I'm not. You know. That safe Gate.”
Na Yuhan said, as if grumbling.
“A safe Gate?”
“The Fixed-type Gate inside the Academy. The one I, Nahyun, and Sujeong-sunbae cleared. Its ownership belongs to our club.”
“Ah. But is it really okay?”
“We confirmed that there was nothing left after we cleared it. I heard they dismantled all the remaining traps in the maze during the investigation, but just in case, we'll just block access to the maze.”
“Then it might not be bad. If we add a few points to the empty, safe dungeon with our abilities or items…”
“Yeah! A real dungeon would feel more realistic. As long as it's not dangerous, I'm for it too.”
Having come to the conclusion that it was fine, we began to consult with the other club members. In the end, Shin Baran and Min Jaeyun, who had recently joined our club, as well as Kang Yu, the sunbaes, and Park Siwoo, all readily agreed. And so, our festivalbooth was decided: a dungeon exploration inside a Gate. Na Yuhan's claim that it was safe must have been true, as the school also readily gave permission. I overheard while getting permission that the reason for holding the festival, despite the attack this year, was to show that the Academy was still going strong. From that perspective, the 'Safe Dungeon Exploration' content seems to have been well-received, as it could show that the Academy managed everything so thoroughly that it could let outsiders into a dungeon.
I felt a strange sentiment as I watched Na Yuri bring over the promotional poster designs to discuss. If the events of the first semester had become a catastrophe, as in the novel, they wouldn't have been able to put on such a show of bravado like a festival.
“I'm glad nothing bad happened to the Academy.”
"Yes. Right? Why?"
“Oh, nothing. I think Design B is better.”
“Right? It's the design I made!”
Na Yuri looked at me as if asking why I was stating the obvious, so I changed the subject, but I felt a small, secret sense of pride. Maybe, because I was here, we were able to come to a slightly better path. Anyway, we spent our time re-checking the dungeon and discussing what kind of events to put in for the tourists during the adventure.
"We should probably take turns being the guide, right?"
“Yeah. Everyone will want to enjoy the festival, too.”
“You too, Yuhan?”
“...Yeah, well.”
I chuckled at Na Yuhan, who trailed off his answer. He acts like he's not interested and makes excuses, but it's obvious he's secretly looking forward to the festival.
"Then, we'll start at 10, and... should we close the booth after 4?"
“Yeah. That sounds good. 2-hour shifts! I wonder how many people will come?”
“Probably a lot. People are pretty interested in Awakened and Gates.”
“True.”
I nodded at Park Siwoo's words. To regular people, the world of Awakened was a kind of different world, a world of aspiration. Even just Kang Yu and our orphanage kids would perk up and focus whenever news about Awakened came on.
“Noona, I brought the event items!”
“We just need to place them and we're done~”
“Yeah. We decided on the locations, right?”
Kang Yu, who had brought the items, chatted excitedly with Choi Sujeong and Lee Hana. I glanced at the bustling group. It was a relief that Kang Yu seemed to be enjoying himself, too.
“Got permission to put up the posters!”
“We printed enough to post and hand out…!”
Shin Baran and Min Jaeyun, having also finished their tasks, opened the door and entered the club room. I looked at the poster, which featured impressive images from inside the dungeon with the words 'Safe Dungeon Exploration', and nodded.
“Can I take some of these? To give to my family. I think they'll all like it.”
“...! Nahyun, your family is coming?”
“Yeah. I called them a while ago, and they said they'd come visit.”
“Great! Here!”
I took a few posters from Min Jaeyun. Then I got up to stop Kang Yu and Choi Sujeong, who were over there playing with a jack-in-the-box, one of the event items. Well, one thing was for sure… this festival preparation was making me look forward to the coming days.
A few days later. After diligent preparations, we finished our festival setup by confirming all the safety checks. Even though we started early, time was tight, and we barely finished the day before the festival. Still, the quality was great, enough to make us look forward to people's reactions. The first day of the festival. The Academy grounds were packed with more people than I'd ever seen.
“Wow, so many people.”
“They said it's a dungeon exploration?”
“Looks fun!”
“The line forms this way, please!”
…Our booth hit the jackpot. Whether it was thanks to diligently handing out posters, or because the words 'Safe Gate Exploration' piqued people's interest, quite a few outsiders flocked to us, even though we were in a slightly out-of-the-way location. The members decided to work the booth in two shifts, 4 in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. I was scheduled to be off in the morning for my orphanage family who was coming to visit. But I couldn't just leave the busy members, so I helped out until my family arrived. While I was busy working, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. It was Teacher.
“Nahyun! Kang Yu!”
“It's Noona and Hyung!”
“It's Teacher! Hi, everyone!”
“Teacher! Kids! Welcome!”
The children, to their credit, were following Teacher quietly. But they were so full of curiosity that they kept peeking at the booth I was working at. I heard Lee Hana let out a small laugh, finding the kids, who were craning their necks like meerkats to look around, cute.
“Want to try?”
“Is it okay?”
“Yeah. Today's a day when it's okay.”
Our youngest, Nana, seemed to have taken a liking to Lee Hana, as she held her hand tightly and trotted after her. I wanted to introduce my family to everyone, but unfortunately, everyone seemed busy. What to do. I smiled as I watched the kids, who had already run off to get in line, and wondered what to do. As if sensing my dilemma, Park Siwoo, who had approached, greeted Teacher.
“Hello. My name is Park Siwoo.”
“Ah, Nahyun's friend?”
“Yes. I'm sorry we couldn't all greet you together. It's just so crowded…”
“No, no. You're busy! It's fine!”
“Are you planning to return in the evening?”
“I think so. I'm worried about the kids' stamina…”
“That's a shame.”
Park Siwoo was also on the afternoon shift, so he must have had a moment of free time. I felt more at ease, seeing the two of them talking. Kang Yu tugged on my sleeve.
“Noona.”
“What?”
“I like Siwoo-hyung as a brother-in-law.”
“...It's not like that….”
It seemed Kang Yu was misunderstanding something, so I quickly sent him off to look after the kids. They were so fascinated that they were running off into the distance, not even knowing their turn was coming up. The kids split into several groups and entered the dungeon.
“Ah, the line is this way! Tickets are over there!”
“Is this the dungeon experience?”
“Yes, it is! Please buy a ticket first, then get in line!”
I quickly guided the new person to the ticket booth. I saw Na Yuhan, who was in charge of the ticket booth. Thanks (?) to his trash stats, he couldn't go inside the dungeon and was assigned to work at the safe ticket booth. He was distractedly handing over tickets and helping with payments when he spotted me and greeted me.
“Hello. Oh, Nahyun, isn't your family here?”
“They are, but… it's so busy, I feel bad just leaving.”
“Go on. You were on the afternoon shift anyway. This much is fine.”
“Excuse me, are you selling tickets?”
“Yes, just a moment!”
Na Yuhan, who had been speaking seriously, quickly turned his head at the new customer's inquiry. He looked incredibly busy, so I hesitated, but Na Yuhan shooed me away with a firm wave. In the end, I decided to accept his kindness. The other club members, besides those currently acting as guides, were working as safety staff inside the dungeon, just in case. It seemed that if time passed and it seemed okay, they would leave only the event devices and pull everyone out to be guides.
“I flew so high! The view was amazing! That kid who uses wind is incredible.”
“A huge chunk of ice was moving around! They said it was a monster shape!”
They were only supposed to be acting as safety staff, but they must have gotten excited too, as they were putting on all sorts of surprise events inside the dungeon. For reference, inside the dungeon, we were giving them an experience like meeting a real monster by showing them monsterillusions. In addition to that, we rented sniper items that reacted to the monsterillusions, so they could even experience hunting monsters. The course was to go to the turning point inside the dungeon, the Temple of Beasts, and you would get a souvenir to commemorate clearing it. The setup must have been quite satisfactory, because my siblings, who came out after having a great time, chattered excitedly.
“Something amazing came poof out of a weird box!”
“I went hunting! This is my treasure!”
"It was fun! Noona! Let's go see other places!"
And so, I left the booth, led by my excited siblings. After that, as promised, I took my family and wandered around the Academy grounds where the festival was being held. At the kids' request to be shown around, I lightly showed them the dormitory buildings, the main hall, and the training grounds, then guided them to the rows of festivalbooths. In the area where the booths were concentrated, Teacher, myself, and Kang Hun (the oldest after me), and Kang Yu (who had Academy experience) split the kids and moved around. The festivalbooths were very diverse. There were normal themed cafes, and many unique ones, like a haunted house that used Awakened abilities.
"Noona! Let's go to the haunted house over there!"
"No! Let's go see the giant robot, Unni!"
"Let's go one by one, in order…"
Maybe that's why they were all so excited and wanted to see every booth, to the point where we were running out of time. For reference, on the way to see the giant robot, all hell broke loose because Park Yul-ah and Kim Kang-ha, who were just as excited, moved the robot.
"It's moving!!!"
"Woah!!! A beam! Shoot a beam!"
"You brats!"
"Ah, just let it slide!"
"Gun-x! A girl's romance!"
…Well, it was a relief nothing major happened. It seemed they had a last shred of conscience, as they had put up a shield nearby. After spending the whole morning exploring booths with my family, it was already lunchtime.
"Will you be okay?"
“Yeah. We'll eat lunch, stay a little longer, and then go, so it's fine. Go on. They're waiting for you.”
I was worried about Teacher, who looked very haggard from the kids running wild all day, but Teacher gestured for me to go.
"Can't we play more?"
“No.”
I took Kang Yu, who was pouting, having gotten more excited than anyone, and returned to the club booth. At lunchtime, it seemed some of the crowd had thinned out, at least. I quickly sent the very worn-out and tired morning shift on their way and took over. And I took a breath.
"Four people here!"
“Yes! This way, please!”
The real tourist rush was beginning.
The afternoon passed in an instant as we served the flood of people. Around 2 PM, I was at the point where I really wanted to say "just kill me…", but I somehow endured.
“Everyone, hang in there!”
“Thanks.”
I barely managed to raise the corners of my mouth as I handed out ice water I'd kept in an icebox. Park Siwoo and Choi Sujeong, who took them, had dead eyes.
“I'm dying…”
“This way, please!”
The only one who was fine was Kang Yu. Is this… youth?No, snap out of it! I slapped my cheeks and smiled brightly again. My cheeks ached. It was already 3 PM, and it was getting time to close the booth.
"Are you not selling any more tickets?"
"No. I'm sorry. It's time to wrap up… The ticket that person in the hood just bought was the last one."
"Aw, man."
When I explained politely, they all understood and left. The crowd had thinned considerably, and only the last two groups were left. One group was just normal people, but the other was just one person in a peculiar outfit, so he stood out.
"What? Why is he covered up like that?"
“Suspicious…”
A person, presumed to be male, wearing a black hood and a mask, who had bought a ticket from me without a word. He just stood there silently, as if he couldn't hear the murmuring around him. I watched Park Siwoo take the group ahead, and then approached the lone person.
"Hello, are you here alone?"
“……”
I tried to make small talk, thinking he might be bored, but he just looked at me for a moment, nodded silently, and remained quiet. Um… I guess he doesn't want to talk. I read the room and stood next to him. He was quite large, tall enough that I had to look up at him.
“They'll be out soon.”
He just nodded silently again at my words. I looked at my watch. It seemed if I went in with him after the last team came out, it would be exactly 4 o'clock. I passed the time in silence, occasionally stealing glances at the quiet last customer. And I tilted my head at the strange feeling of déjà vu. Strange.
"Um, sir…"
"?"
“No, it's nothing. Sorry.”
For some reason, I felt like I'd seen him somewhere before. Is it just my imagination?Is he a Beastkin or a Beastkin-hybrid? The silhouette of his ears, covered by the hood, looked similar to that guy I'd seen before. And the way he's so thoroughly hidden… Um, no. I heard that in the case of true Beastkin—those who look literally like walking animals—they are sometimes reluctant to show their faces, afraid of being despised by humans. It could be a case like that. Besides, it's not even certain he is a Beastkin.
“Ah, they're out.”
There's no way that Tiger bastard would be crazy enough to invade the Academy again. Especially on the festival day.The Academy's security can't be that lax. Thinking that, I tried to dismiss the strange feeling of déjà vu. Just then, I saw Park Siwoo and the last team come out of the Gate, having cleared the event. It was my turn.
"Let's go, sir."
I said to the last customer. He nodded readily and followed me. And so, we entered the dungeon inside the Gate, the Temple of Beasts.