46. Footsteps Announcing the Beginning. Time in Motion.
46. Footsteps Announcing the Beginning. Time in Motion.
After spending time with Ban Ha-na in the dormitory, I sent Yu Ha-yeon a text.
—Are you doing evening training? I'm heading there too.
The message was just a one-sided heads-up that I was joining her. Yu Ha-yeon had already gone straight to training, so she probably wouldn't see it.
'Better get going and get some practice in.'
I finished my preparations to head to the training grounds and was about to step outside.
Ban Ha-na grabbed my sleeve and looked up at me with anxious eyes.
"Si-jun. If I wait, you'll give me a reward. Right?"
"Have you ever seen me lie? I'll be back."
With those reassuring words and a pat on the head, Ban Ha-na's unease vanished.
The level of dependence made me think she was thoroughly addicted to the reward.
I started to worry.
'Isn't there any way to replace the reward with something else...'
A warped reward born from a warped relationship.
I'm human too, so guilt is inevitable.
I keep kissing Ban Ha-na as a reward, and I kiss other women just to survive?
That definitely nagged at my conscience.
'Still, I have to survive. Is there really no other way?'
The contract tied to my past existence.
And the lifespan that vanished.
I left the dormitory with those worries in tow.
***
Hero Academy is equipped with excellent facilities so students can train their abilities even during personal time.
For students honing melee weapons: holographic combat modeled after D-rank to S-rank heroes.
For students honing ranged weapons: target practice with targets that move according to difficulty level.
For students with exceptional unique abilities: an unrestricted space where they can freely manifest their power to increase their mana.
If the students are determined and put in the effort, even lower-ranked students can graduate with strong grades.
The training ground facilities were top-tier.
'Looks like I came a bit late after all.'
And because those facilities were top-tier, the training grounds were bustling with students.
What I needed to train was marksmanship with a gun.
As I walked toward that section, the holographic arena for melee weapon practice caught my eye.
Inside, facing off against a hologram, was my childhood friend Yu Ha-yeon.
Without using her ability, she was sparring against a hero at B-rank difficulty.
'What...? When did her skills improve that much?'
Was this really the same Yu Ha-yeon who used to clumsily swing a tree branch side to side as a kid?
When she first enrolled, her swordsmanship relied entirely on brute force.
But now, her technique was efficient—using minimal effort to land lethal blows.
Weapon proficiency was something determined by talent: you either built it fast or built it slow.
Had about three weeks really been enough for Yu Ha-yeon to build her proficiency to a level I almost couldn't recognize?
From what I could see, her proficiency seemed to be sitting at a fairly high number.
'This is exactly why I can't stand talent monsters.'
But if that talent monster happens to be my childhood friend, it's a different story.
If I ever end up in danger, she'll use that talent to protect me, won't she?
I'd watched Yu Ha-yeon's talent at work for so long that—maybe in the past, but not now—I didn't feel a single shred of inferiority.
I just do what I can.
Standing on the same line as Yu Ha-yeon in the future. Working toward that was the only path available to me.
Just as I finished watching Yu Ha-yeon and was about to leave—
a familiar shade of deep navy hair caught my eye.
She was watching Yu Ha-yeon train, her lips pressed tight together.
"That fucking bitch..."
Lee Seol-ha.
The girl who had been handed the top seat by Yu Ha-yeon was snarling in her direction.
Her deep blue eyes burned with a jealousy that looked submerged at the bottom of a dark sea.
And in Lee Seol-ha's eyes, I felt an odd sense of familiarity.
'Those eyes—I know them best.'
In the past, people constantly compared me to Yu Ha-yeon, and it left scars.
Whenever that happened, I'd secretly compare myself to her inside my head, envy her talent, and then look in the mirror.
That was the ugly, jealousy-ridden face I used to see.
'Well, not anymore.'
Now I just accept that I'm weak and keep working at it.
I didn't feel a trace of jealousy toward Yu Ha-yeon.
She and I are a pair.
Whatever good things happen to her is good news for me too.
Having once been someone who envied Yu Ha-yeon, I found myself thinking that Lee Seol-ha now looked a lot like my past self.
Maybe she sensed my gaze, because Lee Seol-ha whipped her head around and stared at me.
Her tone was sharp.
"What? You got something to say to me?"
"No. You were just looking at my childhood friend, so I wondered what was going on."
"Childhood friend...?"
The moment Lee Seol-ha heard the words childhood friend, she fixed me with an even warier stare, like she now knew exactly who I was.
Proud as she was, she obviously saw Yu Ha-yeon as an enemy, and by extension, she was starting to view me as one too.
"Get lost. I have nothing to say to you."
Lee Seol-ha scowled and put distance between us.
It made sense that she'd avoid even talking to me.
She was someone with an extreme revulsion to a man's body so much as touching her.
It was obvious she'd hate even having a conversation with me.
'A misandrist.'
Lee Seol-ha was a main-cast character in V. AGE, so her backstory was laid out in detail.
Immense talent, but grew up in an abusive household.
She had a serious fixation on money and was too proud to ever lean on anyone else.
Maybe because of the father who used violence at home,
she instinctively could never forgive a man's body making contact with her.
'Wish I could talk to her more. That's a shame.'
I knew the method for her treatment, so I felt a pang of regret about her role in Episode 2.
I decided to do as she said and disappear.
Leaving just one parting remark.
"You kind of remind me of myself."
"What...?"
"Nothing. Just saying."
Lee Seol-ha answered like she thought I was an idiot.
The look seemed to say, 'What would you know about me?'
If you'd played V. AGE, not knowing about Lee Seol-ha was impossible.
I gave her a brief goodbye and started walking toward the training section for raising ranged-weapon proficiency.
'If I'm going to try and win someone over, Lee Seol-ha wouldn't be a bad choice. No bad ending either.'
Thoughts tied directly to my own survival, of course.
***
Target practice is simple.
You pull the trigger on the target you see, and that's it.
It's a training method that boosts agility—raising your dynamic visual acuity and reaction speed—and ultimately increases your firearm proficiency.
Easy to describe, but doing it for real demanded a hellish degree of concentration.
"Green Stone."
The act of converting the Magic Stone Golem's power into agility to raise my body's speed.
Because of it, my pupils were glowing green.
My vision was sharper than usual.
I could see the flow of moving objects, and it let me get a better feel for the timing of each trigger pull.
BANG!
With the gunshot, circular objects popped out from the side.
Hit the center for a high score.
Hit the edge for a low score.
A training system where you hit the targets within the time limit and your score determines your skill level.
I focused every ounce of effort into my eyes and kept pulling the trigger.
BANG!
BANG!
Maybe because using the Green Stone had boosted my agility by 3,
the bullets weren't flying off in weird directions like back when I sparred with Na Yu-na.
A little regret seeped through my thoughts.
'If only I could infuse the bullets with magic power, that'd be even better. A real shame.'
The Magic Stone Golem's core can't use two attributes at once.
Since I was using the Green Stone for agility, I couldn't fire bullets charged with magic power.
That fact was a pretty critical weakness, so it was genuinely disappointing.
'The best option would be gaining Fenrir's power, but...'
If, as Fenrir said, I could go beyond four and expand to five or six,
I'd obtain the power of an S-rank Magic Beast, and my chances of clearing V. AGE would skyrocket.
The ability demonstrated by Fenrir's original master—an S-rank hero—carried that kind of weight.
'But how the hell would that even work?'
A cohabitation arrangement with Ban Ha-na.
And romantic practice with my childhood friend Yu Ha-yeon.
Even mixing just those two is an immense juggling act.
And you want to add a fourth? A fifth?
'That's pure insanity.'
If it came to that, I'd really have to abandon any sense of guilt over two-timing.
I'd have to shamelessly throw away all pretense.
Could I actually do that?
'Maybe I could...?'
I'm not sure if it's ego talking, but to be honest, I kind of felt like I could.
Should I just go for it?
"First, let's just train. I've still got two years left on my lifespan."
There's still time left.
All I have to do is keep training until the school trip arrives and Episode 2 begins.
I used the Green Stone to sharpen my dynamic vision and kept pulling the trigger.
BANG!
BANG!
Every day, the sound of my gunfire echoed through the training grounds.
***
Days passed, with gunshots ringing out as I practiced my weapon proficiency.
Ban Ha-na started spending more time out in the academy, and it was safe to say she'd almost fully adjusted to school life.
Days that were normal, peaceful, yet quietly tense passed by.
And then came the day of the school trip.
I finished packing my bags and was about to leave the dormitory.
Ban Ha-na cried out.
"I... I want to go too! Si-jun!"
"Ha-na. I told you yesterday. You can't go."
She grabbed my sleeve and gazed at me pitifully.
But there was no way I could just drag Ban Ha-na along on a whim.
To the outside world, Ban Ha-na was still someone who needed to be protected from Black Dawn.
Unlike me, she wasn't in a position to leave the academy.
I stroked Ban Ha-na's hair and reassured her.
"But Shin Si-hwa is staying behind to look after you. You won't be lonely."
"..."
Ban Ha-na sat on the bed without a word.
She knew, too, that nothing she said would change things.
So all Ban Ha-na could do was make a promise for the future.
"Then, once you're back, a reward. Give me more! You keep giving me! Until Ha-na's heart is totally full!"
"I-I can manage that long! Because Ha-na's a good girl!"
Ban Ha-na shouted that out, declaring she'd behave while I was gone.
She's growing, Ban Ha-na.
Unlike when I first saw her, she was equipping herself with patience.
I had no choice but to promise her I would.
"Got it. I'll be back safe."
"Buy me a present! A present!"
I pressed my lips to Ban Ha-na's forehead.
Then I stepped out of the dormitory.
'Will I be able to pull this off?'
No.
I have to pull this off.
And I'm confident.
Episode 2.
The point marking the true beginning of V. AGE.
The A-rank Gate that opens during the academy school trip.
I recalled the strategy for that gate as I took the first step toward clearing this world.