56. I Did That?
56. I Did That?
56. I Did That?
"Han Si-jun. I'll wait outside."
"Go on ahead... No, see you in a bit."
After saying that, Yu Ha-yeon left the room.
The conversation with Shin Hae-young looked like it would drag on,
but I didn't bother telling her to go ahead. I had a feeling she'd wait no matter what I said.
I'd risen to leave, but I sat back down in front of Shin Hae-young.
'Face-to-face, she's intimidating.'
She wore a gentle grandmotherly smile,
yet this was a woman who had once been an S-rank Hero.
Though time had left its marks, Shin Hae-young's eyes still held a charisma that proved her past achievements were no lie.
I spoke carefully.
"So, what did you want to discuss with me?"
"It's nothing special. I simply wanted to see what kind of person took the lead in clearing the gate."
Chairwoman Shin Hae-young elegantly sipped her coffee.
Then she added one more remark.
"I also wanted to see how the Miracle Child from back then has grown up. You look exactly the same as you did back then, Han Si-jun."
"Miracle Child...?"
Miracle Child.
Shin Hae-il had definitely called me that.
But even I didn't really know why.
To clear up my curiosity, I placed my hands on the desk and asked her with a serious face.
"Could you explain what this 'Miracle Child' business is?"
"...? Are you saying you don't remember what happened that day?"
Shin Hae-young stared at me, utterly bewildered, as if she'd misheard.
'I'm the one who doesn't understand being called a Miracle Child...'
What the hell did I do in the past?
It was an incredibly awkward situation, having someone else know a past I didn't.
Perhaps reading my puzzled expression,
she spoke in a bewildered tone.
"Y-you really don't remember...?"
"No. What did I do back then? Why am I called the Miracle Child?"
"Hmm... It's a long story..."
Shin Hae-young looked troubled.
What exactly did I do to earn the title Miracle Child?
It was a truth like a thorn lodged in a corner of my heart.
I wanted to know that past I had no memory of.
Perhaps seeing my face, Shin Hae-young realized there was no help for it and began to explain.
"This is confidential, but I'll tell you because you are the one in question, Han Si-jun."
So it's classified, huh.
My past must have been far more remarkable than I'd thought.
Shin Hae-young snapped her fingers.
Tap!
At the sound, a strange magical energy began to drift through the room.
As I watched those motes of magic,
she told me what they were.
"They're wind spirits. I summoned them to block any sound."
"Ah..."
The Shin Hae-young I remembered from V. AGE had the unique ability to control spirits.
Spirits of the Four Great Elements.
Water, fire, earth, wind.
She commanded the spirits of three of those elements, and if you made her an ally, she was practically hailed as an all-purpose character.
Despite that overpowered ability, in V. AGE she met a rather early death.
The reason: she tried to resolve her grievances with the Hero Association all by herself.
As a former S-rank Hero, she was up against the Hero Association's countless heroes, and among them was one with the strongest one-on-one ability. Facing them alone is what killed her.
Still, one fortunate thing for her is that I'm here now.
I had no intention of letting Shin Hae-young die.
Because if I keep her alive, the odds of clearing V. AGE skyrocket.
The life of a former S-rank hero was incredibly important to me, trying to clear V. AGE for a comfortable future.
While I was thinking that,
Shin Hae-young began to explain as if every detail of the past had come back to her.
"It happened ten years ago."
She told me about my hidden memories.
***
Ten years ago.
Back then, society was in a highly unstable period due to the emergence of villains and gates.
But even in such a society, there were those striving to provide stability.
They were the Awakened, called heroes.
As usual, villains appeared and Magic Beasts emerged from gates, continuing the daily grind.
Shin Hae-young had founded an academy with the money she'd earned as an S-rank Hero,
and was enjoying a leisurely retirement as its chairwoman.
Then one day, she received a phone call.
"Who is it...?"
Drawn by the ring, she checked the caller.
It was the Hero Association, already rotting from within.
She didn't want to answer, but reluctantly swiped to answer.
"Hello?"
—It's an emergency! A villain has appeared on the outskirts of Seoul!! Please, can you help us just this once, for the people's sake!?
"...What?"
The Hero Association was suddenly calling out of the blue, begging for help.
She didn't quite grasp the situation, but she could tell it was urgent.
"Are people in danger?"
—Yes! Very much...! And today, of all days, the heroes are on vacation...
The villain group had attacked, deliberately choosing a time when the heroes were on vacation.
It was the work of an informant the villain group had planted within the Association.
Shin Hae-young sighed, thinking of that rotting Hero Association.
"Haa... What's the location?"
Shin Hae-young had no choice but to move, driven by a desire to protect people.
Because to her very core, she was someone with the heart of a hero.
She absolutely could not bear to see anyone get hurt.
—The location... is XX-dong...
In the end, Shin Hae-young headed to the reported location.
Why am I doing this even after retirement?
Having founded the academy to cultivate talent, she was deeply pained that no heroes were available.
Bearing such worries, Shin Hae-young arrived at the scene.
There, she encountered her own flesh and blood.
"Shin Hae-il...?"
He was two years older, but not someone she could call "brother."
He was nothing more than a criminal leading the villain group Black Dawn.
Before Shin Hae-il, a massive gate loomed, emitting an ominous red glow.
He was preparing something with his nearby comrades.
Shin Hae-il tossed a short remark at his little sister.
"Unfortunately, you're too late."
Too late for what?
Shin Hae-young understood those words ten seconds later.
Countless Magic Beasts between B- and A-rank were pouring out of the gate.
If those Magic Beasts spread into the city, South Korea's future would turn grim.
Judging that, rather than apprehending the worst criminal before her, Shin Hae-il,
she used her ability to stop the Magic Beasts flooding out of the gate.
"O spirit of earth, halt them."
She raised a wall to block the beasts' path.
Her next move was simply to sweep away those trapped beasts.
But her wish didn't come true.
"We won't be needing this. The beasts need to play. Like little children. Don't you think?"
A criminal with a pale face and red-glowing eyes demolished the wall she'd erected.
"N-no...!"
The contained Magic Beasts began scattering in all directions.
No other heroes came as reinforcements.
Shin Hae-young would later learn that the Hero Association had never actually reported the incident to the heroes.
The freed Magic Beasts immediately went hunting for prey.
Nearby, a young boy who hadn't managed to evacuate was left behind.
'I have to save him.'
With that thought, she moved to use her ability on the Magic Beast charging toward the boy.
But the disruptor wouldn't let Shin Hae-young go.
"Stay still, won't you? The beasts said they want to play."
Was she going to have to just stand by and watch the child die?
'I'm sorry, kid...'
The moment she directed that regret and apology at the boy,
the Magic Beast lunged to pounce on him,
and a miracle unfolded.
"I contract. The cost is..."
As the young boy muttered something,
the Magic Beasts before him lost their forms and crumbled away.
It was like a miracle.
A situation that could only be explained as a miracle.
"...Withdraw."
Shin Hae-il left the scene with a sour expression.
Tens of minutes later, heroes who detected the strange magical energy arrived and cleared the gate, wrapping up the incident.
'We apologize. We weren't told a thing.'
The Association made excuses, acting as though they'd never even made the request.
That became the trigger for Shin Hae-young's falling-out with the Hero Association.
And afterward, Han Si-jun, who had collapsed unconscious, came to be called
the Miracle Child among those in the know, and a person with prophetic powers later confirmed it as his definitive alias.
***
After listening to Shin Hae-young's explanation,
I couldn't make sense of what she was saying.
"I did that...?"
"Yes. Hundreds of Magic Beasts. All at once."
I
did that?
I don't remember it at all.
I wanted to shout that she was lying,
but the chairwoman's eyes spoke the truth.
If such a major incident really happened, why don't I remember it?
I tried to think for a moment, but my head was a mess from too much information.
One memory, though, flickered past.
'The fate cost for S-rank Childhood Friend was 15...'
A memory of the Character Creation Window flashed,
and I had no choice but to accept it.
The reason the cost was so high, and my past tied to it.
A past I'd lived through, but couldn't remember.
'Ah...'
I finally realized why my lifespan had been so short.