Stimulus and Growth (2)
Stimulus and Growth (2)
November 3, 2029.
A year and five months had passed since Baek Ha-na awakened her ability.
"Guhh...!!"
"You're overexcited again."
Baek Ha-na, who had trained her body with Claire every single day without fail, began receiving supervised sparring instruction from her starting this year.
"You are the one in control, Miss Ha-na. You must always remain aware so the ability does not drive you, and you must steady your mind to keep from growing overexcited."
"......That's the part I can't do...."
Baek Ha-na, who had been knocked flat by a blow to the stomach from Claire, swayed as she got back to her feet.
"You must train precisely because you cannot do it yet."
"......Okay."
She was firm.
Yet as soft as me.
"Miss Ha-na."
"......."
Maybe the spot she'd been struck was throbbing. Baek Ha-na raised her head with a slight grimace.
"There is no need to be impatient. It hasn't even been two years since your awakening, yet being able to wield a transformation-type ability across your whole body proves you have a talent for it."
"......You think so?"
"Yes. You are already performing remarkably well."
As soon as Claire finished speaking, Baek Ha-na's expression brightened noticeably, and the air around her grew lighter.
"However, please remember that what I said earlier is indeed something you must be mindful of and work on."
"......I'll remember."
Baek Ha-na nodded, putting strength into her eyes.
A few years ago, those eyes had looked vacant and careless, but now they had settled properly and could send a chill through anyone watching.
Her gaze was naturally cold, and now that she focused and hardened it, she was starting to look rather like a wild beast.
"Come at me once you are ready."
"......Hoo."
Dropping her stance as low as it would go, she let out a short breath and concentrated strength into both legs. From the floor beneath her feet came the sound of her shoes grinding against it.
Sharp claws emerged from the tips of her slightly curled fingers.
She lunged at Claire.
The distance between them collapsed in an instant.
She had set up as though she would swing her hand at Claire, but predictable in her straightforwardness, Baek Ha-na aimed for Claire's leg and slashed diagonally upward.
"I am certain I told you to mind your gaze."
As if simply taking a walk, Claire swatted away the hand coming for her left shin with the top of her foot.
"Hup!!"
Using the momentum of her deflected hand, Baek Ha-na planted it on the floor and lifted her body, snapping her now rather long leg toward Claire's head.
"Good. When a strike is blocked, you must not falter—keep moving."
Claire praised her while slipping the attack simply by tilting her head back slightly.
With that, I closed the study window and sank into my chair.
'She's smart, so she grows fast.'
When you taught Ha-na something, she had an exceptional mind that let her figure out at least five applications on her own—maybe even ten.
Occasionally she showed a lack of comprehension in odd areas, but that hardly counted as a flaw.
"She'll pass the exam easily."
I had nothing proper to compare against, but the amount of mana in Baek Ha-na's body now exceeded that of Kang Han-na, the character I first encountered in the maze. Her sensory talent for handling mana was outstanding too.
As Claire had said, her command of her ability improved at an astonishing pace, and she could manifest it freely.
When other transformation-type Awakened manifested their abilities, it wasn't unusual to see beast fur sprout or their skeletal structure twist. But Baek Ha-na could precisely transform only the parts she wanted, and she could even draw out a fraction of their power without transforming at all.
If word got out that she'd accomplished all this within half a year of awakening, a swarm of annoying pests would surely latch onto her.
A professor urging her to join a particular guild, or the heirs to those particular guilds.
I had no intention of stopping them.
I was going to respect Baek Ha-na's wishes as much as possible. Though I would thoroughly root through their insides first.
I planned to deal with the ones who might actually become problems before it came to that anyway. That's exactly why I intended to start that bothersome professor work next year.
Kugung—!!
A heavy sound rattled the furniture in the study for a brief moment.
It was the noise that signaled the end of a sparring session. It was also time to fix the garden that had been turned into a mess.
**
"You finished early today."
"Yes. I know it's probably not needed, but I was thinking I'd look after the other children a bit as well...."
I nodded at her answer while smoothing the cratered garden flat.
"You must be short on rest as it is. You should head back quickly."
"It's still all right."
"......?"
After leveling the ground and turning around, I could see her sneaking glances at me while her lips twitched, like a child with something to say.
Experience had taught me that waiting quietly was more likely to get an answer out of her than pushing, so I held still until she spoke—and as experience said, before long her struggling throat produced sound.
"...If it would be acceptable to you, Professor, I would like you to recommend me as an associate professor."
"......And the temple?"
"I have already received Lord Vuar's permission."
I kept my mouth shut for a moment at her firm reply.
'For annoying tasks, I can just shove them onto that bastard Kim Seong-won anyway.'
I wasn't going to need to prepare anything like a real lecture, so I had absolutely no use for an associate professor or an assistant professor.
'......No.'
I intended to eliminate as many problematic elements in advance as possible, but there was no telling when, where, or in what form an incident might occur—and people called that a variable, or inevitability.
The one person I could trust with Baek Ha-na.
If she handled the lectures in my place, I could focus on my work with a little more peace of mind.
Once I'd finished my thoughts, I gave her my answer.
"If that is what you want, I'll make it happen."
"......Thank you."
For a single instant, a soft halo bloomed around her face before vanishing. It was a phenomenon that lasted only the briefest moment.
"Then... I'll take my leave."
"Go on."
She bent at the waist a little deeper than usual and departed with a slightly quickened step.
Left in the garden after Claire's departure were me and Baek Ha-na, sprawled out unconscious.
Seeing the bump that had risen near the crown of her head, she'd clearly taken a knuckle to the skull again today.
If someone only saw Baek Ha-na stretched out flat, they might think Claire was tormenting her, but this was just one more thing done for Ha-na's sake.
I wasn't sure if she'd noticed herself, but Claire was gradually increasing the force she used on Baek Ha-na. In other words, the threshold of force needed to knock the kid unconscious was slowly rising.
Humans were creatures of adaptation, and superior Awakened adapted at a ridiculous speed. Getting hit as much as possible and experiencing as much as possible—that became her blood and flesh.
'Blood and flesh, huh.'
I looked down at the bulging crown of the kid lying facedown as if dead, then bent my knees slightly.
In every route, this kid was always the only Awakened to reach the final boss, Void.
She would have put in bloody effort, and she would have poured all the time she was deprived of freedom into nothing but growing stronger.
And once she had grown that strong, she didn't use that power to reclaim her freedom—she used it for the handful of people who gave her the smallest help.
This kid's real power.
'Sure-Kill.'
A preposterous ability that could kill not only gods, but absolutely any target she set her mind to kill.
Yet an ability that no one could call unfair once they knew the details.
The cost of Sure-Kill was the user's life.
An ability that guaranteed death the moment it was used. So who could call that unreasonable?
And she couldn't just use it casually, either.
She had to sink the fangs of a beast filled with intense killing intent directly into the target's body.
And the kid who survived all the way to the final chapter pulled off that nearly impossible feat.
And paid the price.
"Mmmnn......."
When I gently stroked the bumped part of her head, she made a strange groaning noise, something between pained and pleased.
Watching that, the corners of my mouth tried to lift for no good reason.
This body kept going soft for this kid as time passed. It really was a goddamn nuisance of a flesh vessel.
'I'll carry all the burdens.'
I just hoped she would keep growing like this.
After stroking the bumped spot for a while, I moved to stand—
"Puhhkk—!!"
Without the faintest warning, dead energy mixed into my blood and erupted out with a cough.
Fortunately, the amount wasn't large, so I could stop it with just my palm and keep it from splashing near Baek Ha-na.
"Tsk......."
I didn't mind that my body felt refreshed and lighter after vomiting blood, but the way it happened so suddenly with no regard for place or time remained a grating annoyance.
I flicked the clots pooled in my mouth and hand into the air and burned them, tidying the area.
"She'll probably wake before sunset."
I left Baek Ha-na behind and went inside to start preparing dinner early.
**
Hwiiiik—
A cold wind swept over Baek Ha-na's body.
Baek Ha-na, who had been lying facedown as if dead, slowly pushed herself up and sat on the grass.
The sky, once vivid blue, was already tinting into a bright golden sunset.
"......."
Still seated, Baek Ha-na rubbed her stinging crown with a rustling sound and blinked.
-Puhhkk—!!
A rough coughing sound.
After it, a terrible stench and a sharp scent of blood spread.
Baek Ha-na, knocked out briefly by Claire, had regained consciousness the moment Baek Woo-jin touched her bump, but she'd kept pretending to be unconscious to feel his touch a little longer.
And then she heard Baek Woo-jin's cough and smelled that horrible odor.
'He coughed up blood.......'
She had smelled the scent of blood enough times to know there was no mistaking it. It was definitely blood.
He coughed up blood.
He.......
Clack—
A sound came from beside her. Baek Ha-na jerked her head around, startled.
There stood Baek Woo-jin, having opened the study window and now staring straight at her.
"What are you sitting around looking dumb for? If you're awake, come in and wash up."
"Ah......."
Baek Ha-na had been about to say something, then fell silent. She wanted to ask if he'd coughed up blood, but couldn't.
Because he never lied to her.
Because she was afraid she might hear a truth she didn't want to know.
That terrified her.
Frightened her.
"......Baek Ha—"
"Woo-jin!!"
Cutting off his words, Baek Ha-na sprang to her feet and leaped for the wide-open window.
Thump—
A dull sound. Then the warmth of his body, chasing the chill from her skin. The scent drifting from him eased her heart.
"......You'll be an adult next year."
"I know."
"......Haa."
The sound of his small sigh right by her ear.
She liked it.
He always tried to push her away as if she were a bother and a nuisance, but she knew that his real feelings showed in the occasional smile and those gentle touches.
Right now, he could peel her off without lifting a finger if he really wanted to, yet he still held her.
"Woo-jin."
"......What."
"You're going to stay with me forever, right?"
"......."
No answer came right away. But she waited. Waited and waited again.
Only after a very long pause did Baek Woo-jin open his mouth.
"...You're not about to tell me you want me to sleep in your dorm room with you."
"......So I... can't sleep here...?"
It wasn't the answer she wanted, but Baek Woo-jin's reply was shocking in its own way, so Baek Ha-na squeezed him tighter and mumbled.
"......Get down before you get hit."
"No!! Aaagh!! This is my home, why would I have to sleep in a dorm?!"
"...Haa."
Holding the squirming Baek Ha-na in his arms, Baek Woo-jin quietly shut the window. Then he turned to dump the filthy Baek Ha-na into the bathroom.
Only then did she calm down a little, sneakily pulling her face away from the crook of his neck to look him in the eye.
"...Now what."
At his question, Baek Ha-na stared intently at his opaque glasses for a long moment, then broke into a soft grin and called his name.
"Woo-jin."
"......What."
"I like you."
"......."
"Do you like me to— Kyaahk?!"
Baek Ha-na, who had been clinging to him, flew through the air as though yanked by an invisible hand. She landed precisely in the laundry basket.
"Stop spouting nonsense, wash up, and come out. I'll have dinner ready."
Baek Woo-jin disappeared into the kitchen, leaving her behind. Only a few seconds after he vanished did Baek Ha-na stealthily emerge from the laundry basket.
"Hmph...."
Baek Ha-na stuck her tongue out slightly toward the kitchen where Baek Woo-jin had disappeared, then turned toward the bathroom.
To make sure Baek Woo-jin didn't catch the flush rising on the back of her neck.