15. Shadow of the Hero Association
15. Shadow of the Hero Association
Given enough time, the two sets of memories merged, and my mind settled into a stable phase.
Han Si-jun inside the game and Han Si-jun of reality.
The dissonance and strange familiarity between them dissolved completely, leaving behind a single, more solid sense of self.
The synchronization process, as it's usually called.
If someone asked which of the two I was, I couldn't give a definitive answer.
But there is one thing I can say with certainty.
'I'm just Han Si-jun.'
The same person, the same family, to my childhood friend Yu Ha-yeon.
An immutable law.
My memories aren't false, and this place is real.
The fact that I'm inside the world of V. AGE.
That fact never changed.
"Hey! Han Si-jun!"
As I sat staring out the window with those thoughts, Yu Ha-yeon approached me.
"What are you doing, dummy? Skipping lunch?"
"...Has it already been that long?"
"Pay attention in class. How can the vice class rep act like that?"
Yu Ha-yeon stared at me, clearly unimpressed.
It was true I hadn't been listening, but to be honest, there was no reason for me to.
'They're explaining material I already know. Where's the entertainment in that...?'
Hero Academy classes covered combat methods and countermeasures against Magic Beasts.
But I had the remnants of countless V. AGE playthroughs in my head.
All of it was knowledge I already possessed.
Explanations that were, practically speaking, tutorial-level.
The lessons couldn't be anything but boring.
I stood and followed Yu Ha-yeon toward the cafeteria.
The path was crowded with students, and some looked exactly like the illustrations I'd seen in the game.
Reality—yet also the game world.
Yu Ha-yeon asked me playfully.
"So, any students catch your interest?"
"...Nope. I haven't even talked to many, in the first place."
"Huh? You haven't talked to them?"
Yu Ha-yeon's eyes went round with surprise.
Every time I saw her, she was chatting with the other female students, so my experience just didn't translate for her.
I decided to give her the uncomfortable truth.
"Nobody talks to me. They look away the moment our eyes meet."
"Oh... that..."
A complicated expression crossed her face, like she had a good idea what was going on.
Talk to enough students, and my circumstances would naturally come up.
Rumors spreading everywhere.
Since she was tangled up in those rumors too, she must've been aware of them.
Wearing a confident expression, she launched into an explanation.
"Ru... rumors are just rumors! If you talk it out, misunderstandings clear up fast! I've even been telling our classmates it's all lies! Right? I did pretty good, huh?"
"...Yeah. Thanks."
No snark today.
Even back when we were at a different school, Yu Ha-yeon had been my only friend, so she clearly paid attention to things like this.
Chatting about the rumor situation, we arrived at the Hero Academy cafeteria, where a savory aroma bloomed through the air.
Ever since I'd fallen into this other world, this had become my go-to spot—a place where every dish landed squarely at a perfectly middle-of-the-road flavor.
I ordered curry at the kiosk and waited for the food.
The cafeteria was always packed, with students from every year present.
'No Na Yu-na again today.'
Every time I came, I checked for her, but I had yet to see Na Yu-na in the cafeteria even once.
I should bring her here sometime to eat tteokbokki.
In V. AGE, the gift that raised Na Yu-na's affection was—ironically—the street food tteokbokki.
Her palate leaned more toward common-folk taste.
Ding.
The notification chimed that my curry was ready.
I grabbed the dish and settled into my seat.
"Curry again? Don't you get sick of it?"
"The curry here is good. Want a bite?"
"N... no way... it's spicy...!"
A spice wimp who can't handle anything hot.
Yu Ha-yeon, the ultimate spice coward, shook her head hard and refused the curry.
If something has the faintest hint of heat, she can't even put it in her mouth—what's wrong with her tongue?
The girl was practically a research subject when it came to spice intolerance.
Yu Ha-yeon ate seolleongtang instead, a white-broth soup with zero spiciness.
As I watched her, she felt my stare and shifted uncomfortably.
"Wh... what're you looking at? Don't you know even a dog gets left alone while it's eating?"
"Nothing. I was just curious."
Eating my curry had triggered a sudden question.
Her earlier question—whether there was a girl I was interested in.
Did that mean Yu Ha-yeon had a guy she was interested in?
From what I remembered of the game's depiction, Yu Ha-yeon was pretty much a lifelong single.
"Is there a guy you're interested in?"
"Pfft—!! C... cough..."
She was caught completely off guard by the sudden question.
Yu Ha-yeon had clearly choked on her food.
She answered in fragments between coughs.
"Ha... Han Si-jun...! You... that... cough...! Why would you suddenly ask...?!"
"Just curious."
Honestly, it was basically a teasing question, but I hadn't expected such an amusing reaction.
After about thirty seconds of catching her breath, Yu Ha-yeon steadied herself and answered.
"Same as you. I don't have anyone."
"Hmm..."
"...What's that reaction? Are you saying you wish I had one?"
No, that's not it.
I felt like I knew exactly why neither of us had anyone we were interested in.
"Tch. You're never getting married."
"What's with the random insult? Wanna die, Han Si-jun?"
Yu Ha-yeon clenched her fist and glared at me.
Hey—if you actually hit me with that, I'll die, you know?
Calm down. Calm.
There was just one reason neither of us took an interest in anyone else.
The time we'd grown up together had raised our standards for romance too high.
Because I'd gotten so used to Yu Ha-yeon's face, other girls didn't even register as pretty.
Yu Ha-yeon probably had the same reason.
If not, then whatever.
As I watched Yu Ha-yeon with that in mind, she got her counterattack in this time.
"You'll never get married either. Who'd put up with a personality like yours? There's probably nobody in this entire world. You idiot."
"...That's a low blow, hitting me with facts. Fine—if I can't get married, then you take me in."
"Wh... what are you saying..."
All that money the future S-rank Yu Ha-yeon would rake in.
Meanwhile, I'd be living happily at home with every terrible fate stacked on me.
Isn't that the dream life everyone imagines?
Yu Ha-yeon looked flustered by the sudden proposal.
"I-if you're going to put it like that... I'll think about it..."
"That was a joke."
"...I'm seriously going to kill you."
"Cut me some slack just this once."
Yu Ha-yeon's face had flushed bright red.
If I could manage to stay alive until then, I really would like her to take me in.
We kept trading trivial jokes like that as we continued eating.
Would these peaceful days keep unfolding endlessly before us?
With just a faint sliver of doubt lingering in my chest.
***
Whew.
An office inside the Hero Association.
A middle-aged man sat smoking a cigarette, shuffling through a stack of documents.
Without bothering to extinguish it, he flicked the ash into a tray and spoke, openly displeased.
"I don't like this."
He held one document from the pile.
The name written at the top was Yu Ha-yeon.
From a young age, she had possessed an exceptional unique ability, and now she was a student at Hero Academy, pulling in top marks.
He turned to his secretary standing before him.
"How long do you think it'll take—building up results, growing all the way to S-rank?"
"Given her current growth rate... roughly three years. Possibly four."
"...That's too slow."
He resented the waste of Yu Ha-yeon's talent.
She'd had outstanding potential since childhood, but so many obstacles had hindered her growth.
He had even tried removing those obstacles once.
But in the end, she'd found a new place to nest.
"Effort. Effort. Why, with a gift like hers, does she settle for the present and refuse to put in the effort?"
Manpower was already tight—how could anyone afford to wait three or four years?
The very idea was a waste of time.
He slid the document back into the stack and asked his secretary again.
"Isn't there a better way? I'd prefer her to reach S-rank within two years."
He knew perfectly well how to make Yu Ha-yeon put in effort.
He just didn't want the words coming out of his own mouth.
Once spoken, it would become his "responsibility," and he was exactly that sort of man.
His secretary hesitantly opened her mouth.
"...There is one method."
"Yes. Tell me."
The middle-aged man, sitting with his legs crossed, examined the document the secretary held out.
The photo showed a slim but decent-looking male student staring expressionlessly into the camera.
The name: Han Si-jun.
A Hero Academy student—and Yu Ha-yeon's childhood friend.
The secretary explained the "method" to the middle-aged man.
"If we were to eliminate this male student through a villain... it might prove quite effective."
A most precious childhood friend who lost his life to a villain.
Foster a hatred of villains and push Yu Ha-yeon to grow from it.
It was the Association's own method for cultivating heroes—watching over a sprout until it grew sturdy and tall.
Because no hero exists without a tragic past.
Heroes were always creatures that surged upward from the lowest depths.
"...This boy."
This student named Han Si-jun had lodged in a corner of the middle-aged man's memory.
Long ago, a child they had called the Miracle Boy.
A child who had solved an impossible case with his unique ability—then faded far into the past.
The student Han Si-jun, now classified as a Level-1 secret.
The middle-aged man's expression grew serious as he addressed his secretary again.
"I heard he lost his power."
"...We understand his body has grown very frail. He is currently enrolled at the academy."
He sank into thought for a moment.
According to the "prophecy," this child was meant to be a figure of salvation.
A prophecy calling him a hero who would illuminate the world.
But the middle-aged man was never one to believe in such things.
What. How. When. Where.
A string of vague promises. An utterly useless kind of language.
He was a man who valued only the present.
The middle-aged man handed the documents back to his secretary and murmured directly into her ear.
"I'm leaving this matter to you. Handle it at your discretion."
"...Understood. I'll place the commission."
At the secretary's reply, he rubbed his throbbing temple and let out a stream of cigarette smoke.
"...If it becomes a hindrance, remove it. We've done nothing but the right thing for this world."
Whew.
The smoke hung thickly throughout the office.
It flickered briefly in his vision, then lost its form and vanished.
The middle-aged man's goal was solitary: world peace. If something stood in the way, remove it.
The Hero Association.
They had slowly begun to reveal their true colors.