054. Jin Yu-ha's Secret?
054. Jin Yu-ha's Secret?
After the Live Gate Training ended.
Choi A-ram returned to her room.
CRASH-BANG─!!!
Her face contorted like a vengeful ghost, she hurled her belongings across the room.
Objects clattered and rolled noisily across the floor.
Haaah─
Haaah─
"Fuck, stop fucking with me─!!!!"
Unable to contain the fury boiling up inside, she screamed at the top of her lungs.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
─ Hey, you crazy bitch! Shut the hell up!! You really wanna fucking die!?
A rough voice came through the wall, pounding from the room next door.
"Hk!"
She instantly swallowed her breath and killed her presence.
Even after being held back, she was still in the second-year Hall of Valor.
Because of that, she was at the absolute bottom of the pecking order there.
Choi A-ram bit her lip hard.
'......This is so fucked.'
It really was so fucked.
It was like garbage.
It was miserable.
Her own situation, where even letting out a single feeling inside meant she had to watch everyone around her.
So much so that she wanted to curse the entire world.
'......I've been working my ass off this whole time, too.'
But what had that gotten her?
While all her peers advanced to their second year, she alone was held back.
She had to spend another year alongside the first-years.
Of course, if she hated that, dropping out to become a Porter was an option.
But Choi A-ram had no desire to do such lowly work.
She intended to keep on as a Damage Dealer.
A life where she was ignored by everyone and treated with contempt wherever she went.
In that situation, the one person who helped her endure.
That was Im Ga-eul.
It was her.
'......She was a bitch worse off than me.'
She was dead last among Supports, far worse than Choi A-ram—who was dead last among Damage Dealers.
She was even treated with contempt as a bitch worse than a man.
Im Ga-eul, the lowest in the entire hierarchy, was the only refuge Choi A-ram had.
A girl who, despite being dead last, was always grinning and acting like a fool.
Choi A-ram had privately thought Im Ga-eul would be held back with her,
but she'd scraped by on theory-class scores and luckily avoided it.
'......And then, I went looking for her today.'
Choi A-ram simply could not accept that she had been held back alone.
It was a second-year matter anyway—what could a bunch of fresh first-year brats possibly do?
The ones joining Im Ga-eul's group would all be losers, so she figured it would be fine. That's what she'd thought.
But of all things, some strange guy and a girl joined her group today.
And on top of that, they turned out to be unbelievably strong.
Fine, even that was okay.
All she'd have to do was harass them a little from behind the scenes.
"......But, that pathetic piece of shit......."
What she absolutely could not stand.
It was that Im Ga-eul—who had shared her same circumstances, no, who had been worse off than her—
was trying to fly away on her own.
As if she'd never been trash like Choi A-ram.
Not knowing what to do with the rage bursting out from within, Choi A-ram trembled violently.
"Fuck......."
It was then.
Knock-knock─.
"Delivery for you."
* * *
After finishing training, Im Ga-eul returned to her room.
Despite the session ending earlier than usual, her body felt heavy.
She figured it was because this was the first time she'd actively participated in combat like that.
Her body had always been so pathetic, worn out after just using her skills a few times.
Flop─
She sprawled out on her bed and stared vacantly at the ceiling.
She pulled the Magic Stone glowing with deep-blue Mana from her pocket and toyed with it before her eyes.
A Magic Stone she'd basically been pushed into buying on the spot.
"To pay this back, I'll have to take what I've saved and then pay it off for a few more years. Well, he won't charge interest, right?"
But she didn't feel like it was overpriced.
This was the price of hope—the price of discovering that an ability she'd thought worthless all along was anything but.
Honestly, she still couldn't shake the dazed feeling.
The day had been that astonishing.
That's why she'd spent the whole day being pushed around by him.
But, back in her room thinking it over, it was all too strange.
"Jin Yu-ha. Just what is that kid......?"
'Handing over this highest-grade Magic Stone like it's nothing is one thing....... But how on earth did that kid know a secret that even I didn't?'
The 《Receptivity》 written on her status window.
Putting aside how he knew it was on her status window in the first place,
the idea that it was a trait for directly converting and using a Magic Stone's Mana—she'd never even guessed that.
She'd just assumed it was a result reflecting her own personality.
"......Mmm, I really don't get it."
Even after pondering it alone for a long while, she couldn't find an answer at all.
Normally, she wasn't the type to seek someone out first,
but she felt like this welling-up question would keep her from sleeping unless she resolved it.
Im Ga-eul picked up her phone.
Then she found a number that had been forcibly saved into it today.
* * *
The Tanks' dormitory.
The Hall of Perseverance.
Specifically, the first-year dorm.
In front of it, Im Ga-eul looked at the girl standing before her.
Black hair, a confident bearing, and a mature aura.
But a kid who, at some point, had oddly started being warm toward her.
She had called out Lee Yu-ri.
"What is it, unni?"
Lee Yu-ri, who had come out after the sudden call, wore a puzzled expression.
"I'm really sorry for calling you out when you were probably resting. I just had something I wanted to ask you for a moment."
"Ah, it's okay. We finished early today anyway, so I didn't have anything to do."
Im Ga-eul stared straight at Lee Yu-ri, then set her face with resolve.
"......Then, I'll get right to the point. Jin Yu-ha. Just what kind of person is that kid?"
At that, Lee Yu-ri, who had looked surprised, let out a contemplative hum.
Mmm─
"It's a little tricky to talk about it without Jin Yu-ha here......."
She muttered to herself with a serious face.
"Mmm, judging by today, it's probably because she's someone who'll end up in the party anyway......? That guy tends to ease up once he considers someone a party member.... This idiot."
She gave Im Ga-eul a once-over as if sizing her up.
Then she nodded and opened her mouth.
"Well, first off, I get why you're suspicious. Since he acted like he suddenly knew your own ability better than you did."
"......Yeah. Yeah."
"A guy who already stands out—every time he casually blurts out things only he knows like it's obvious, it's honestly baffling."
Lee Yu-ri heaved a deep sigh as she spoke.
As if scratching exactly where it itched, Lee Yu-ri zeroed right in on that point.
"He was the same before, when he recommended a party to me."
"......There were other times like this?"
"Yes, during the group sparring in basic training. I asked if there were any useful people for our group, and he just rattled off info on this girl and that girl like he was reciting it, you know? But they all said they didn't know Jin Yu-ha."
"Ah......."
"So, I more or less reached a conclusion, but, mm. I still don't know a lot about him myself, so I'm not certain."
Though she said that, Lee Yu-ri somehow seemed oddly certain.
"Hoo, you have no idea how much searching I did to figure this out."
She let out a deep sigh.
"First off, he was briefly suspected of being a Demonized Human, but that was cleared up right away. So don't worry."
"Ah, okay."
"My guess is, probably...... Jin Yu-ha is someone who used to work as a Black Hunter."
"A-A Black Hunter......!?"
Im Ga-eul's eyes flew wide open in shock as she asked again.
Black Hunter.
What kind of people were they?
A group surrounded only by rumors.
People who handle anything as long as you pay them.
Mercenaries or private investigators, basically.
She'd heard they took jobs regardless of good or evil and demanded an exorbitant price in return.
But their skills were the real deal in kind.
So much so that even the Hunter Management Bureau considers them a headache.
'That young kid....... Came from a Black Hunter background?'
"In the first place, it's weird that a guy that strong with a male body has no reputation at all, right?"
"Well, that's true......."
"And when it comes to Black Hunters, I've heard their information networks are insanely good."
Im Ga-eul swallowed audibly, her face tense.
"For him to be that ridiculously skilled from that age, maybe he's the type who was raised in that world from when he was really young......."
Lee Yu-ri scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"Well, I don't actually know much about the hunter world either. It's just the conclusion I reached by digging around blindly."
"A person that dangerous, and you......."
At that, Lee Yu-ri smirked.
"Well, I've got my own reasons. I owe that guy a debt to repay, and I feel a sense of responsibility."
"But among those people, there are some with bad character......."
"Unni."
Lee Yu-ri cut her off.
"He might be one of those people, but he might not be, too. And in the end, that's also just speculation, right?"
Lee Yu-ri locked eyes with Im Ga-eul and stared at her squarely.
For a moment, Im Ga-eul felt as if she was being overwhelmed by someone younger than her.
"I only believe what I see with my own two eyes, and I only judge by what I hear with my own two ears."
"......But. Wh-What if his past really is bad?"
"Then I'd grab that guy by the collar and drag him around to apologize, I guess."
Lee Yu-ri said it like it was no big deal.
"So when it comes to Jin Yu-ha hiding his past, I'm going to wait until he tells me himself."
"......."
"I'm telling you this now because it seemed like you might get some weird ideas, Ga-eul unni."
"So, from what you've seen, unni, does Jin Yu-ha really seem like that bad of a person?"
"......Honestly, no."
Im Ga-eul shook her head.
Heh─
As if she'd known she'd say that, Lee Yu-ri let out a little laugh.
"Right? He's the type who pays attention and looks out for other people like that. And once you spend time with him, that thought will fade even more, you know?"
It was then.
Ding─♪
Suddenly, a ringtone sounded from Lee Yu-ri's pocket.
She pulled out her phone and checked.
"Huh? Party activity right now......?"
Then her brow furrowed sharply.
"......Tutorial boss fight? That guy's spouting stuff only he knows again."
Then Lee Yu-ri raised her head.
"Hey, unni. Do you want to come along now? He said to bring sunbae if we can......?"