57. If You Cheat, You Die?
57. If You Cheat, You Die?
57. If You Cheat, You Die?
Making a hundred Magic Beasts vanish right before your eyes—
the cost must have been just as steep.
It seems the old me paid with those memories and a chunk of my own lifespan.
A lifespan with a story behind it.
I couldn't say I was happy about it.
'What's the point if you can't remember it...'
Burning up your own lifespan to slaughter Magic Beasts and protect people—
that's an incredible act.
But I can't remember a thing, and almost no one remembers what I did.
The memories would at least make it feel a little less unfair.
Being told your lifespan's gone when you don't even know what it paid for is just infuriating.
I asked Shin Hae-young.
"Then, the reason I was able to enroll in this school..."
"...was not through any fraudulent means."
A frail kid with zero mana like me getting into the academy—
Shin Hae-young, who knew my past, must have helped me.
In a certain light, it was a fraudulent admission.
The lucky part, I suppose, was that I kept proving myself.
No one suspected I'd gotten in through anything but legitimate means, and I was deeply thankful for that.
I looked at Shin Hae-young.
'...She told me about my past. The next part's the issue...'
Shin Hae-young.
She holds no fondness for the Hero Association.
Should I trust her and tell her that the Association has a target on my back?
The answer was already decided.
"Chairwoman."
"Yes, Han Si-jun."
"Aren't you curious why Black Dawn kidnapped me?"
"Wasn't it because you lack a mana core and therefore bypass their mana detection system...?"
Publicly, the reason for my kidnapping by Black Dawn was that I didn't trigger the mana detection system.
In reality, Black Dawn had been contracted by the Hero Association to eliminate me.
Shin Hae-young had shared the truth of my past.
In return, I would tell her the full story of the incident.
Shin Hae-young was someone who had resolved to destroy both Black Dawn and the Hero Association.
She would definitely deliver the outcome I wanted.
"The truth is..."
As the full account of the incident left my lips,
Shin Hae-young's wrinkled hands trembled with visible anger.
"The Association... those bastards..."
"I suspect they were targeting Ha-yeon."
There was no reason for the Hero Association to come after me besides Yu Ha-yeon.
When I added that speculation, Shin Hae-young seemed to accept it to some degree.
"That would be just like the Association. I've seen dozens of students broken by them."
The chairwoman was venting her resentment toward the Association.
If anyone could take this information and handle it, she could.
'First, I need to deal with the rats.'
When Han Yu-wol kidnapped me,
how did Black Dawn know the location of the mock gate exam?
Because of a rat hiding inside Hero Academy.
In V. AGE, there was an event to catch the academy's spy.
Clearing that event reduced how often the Hero Association threatened the students.
'I'll send a warning first.'
Catching the spy was something I could do anytime, but getting a meeting with the chairwoman required results I could show her.
This was the perfect opportunity.
"Chairwoman. Can you trust what I'm about to tell you?"
"...I can't promise to trust you unconditionally. I'll listen and then decide."
Sensing my serious tone, Shin Hae-young answered just as seriously.
"If I said there's a spy in Hero Academy, would you believe me?"
"...That depends entirely on who it is."
A matter of people.
Shin Hae-young probably already harbored her own suspicions.
She must have known that Hero Academy's information was leaking elsewhere.
But it was clear she only had guesses—she didn't know exactly who was siphoning the information.
I decided to give her a lead on potential suspects.
"I can't give exact details either. All I know is that it's one of the female teachers in her thirties."
"What's the source of this information?"
"...Black Dawn. I overheard it."
Shin Hae-young can't exactly have a conversation with Black Dawn to confirm it.
Since I couldn't just say 'I saw it in a game,' I threw Black Dawn under the bus.
In V. AGE, the spy was randomly assigned as one of the female teachers in her thirties.
So Shin Hae-young would investigate by questioning everyone matching that description, one suspect at a time.
To bring down the Association, you had to handle things like clearing away fog, slowly and methodically.
Shin Hae-young spoke to me.
"...I'll think over what you've told me."
"Yes, please take your time. I might have misheard, after all."
Shin Hae-young was already nearly convinced there was a spy.
She would definitely investigate the people matching that description.
My work for today was effectively done.
Shin Hae-young looked lost in thought and I had nothing more to discuss, so I rose from my seat.
"Well, if you have more to discuss later, please call for me. I hate the Association too."
"Understood. Until next time, Han Si-jun."
I stood up and headed for the door.
Glancing back for a moment, I saw Shin Hae-young's eyes were clouded with deep worry.
'Finding out there's a spy among the people she personally trusted must be hard to stomach.'
It was only natural she didn't immediately believe me.
If some student just walked up and said, 'There's a spy in your organization,' who would believe them?
Shin Hae-young's reaction was completely normal.
I opened the door and stepped out of the chairwoman's office.
***
Yu Ha-yeon was waiting for me outside, seated in a chair with her legs crossed.
I gave her a bright look to show I was happy she'd waited.
"Did you wait long?"
"You're late. Idiot."
Yu Ha-yeon answered curtly and uncrossed her legs.
She stood and walked over to me.
"What did you talk about?"
"Just... world events and stuff. Right, Ha-yeon, do you remember when I was hospitalized as a kid?"
After the incident where I wiped out the Magic Beasts, I spent my elementary school years in a hospital.
I wondered how Yu Ha-yeon remembered that version of me.
Curious, I asked her.
"I remember. A car accident put strain on your heart. They said you'd hurt your head too, back then."
"...Right. That's what happened."
Yu Ha-yeon remembered it as a car accident.
She didn't know the cost of my ability or what I'd done.
I was immensely grateful she had no idea how little of my lifespan remained.
Yu Ha-yeon spoke in a serious tone.
"Personally, I think the car accident made you stupid."
"Why am I stupid?"
"You just are. You're an idiot."
Yu Ha-yeon, denouncing me as an idiot for no reason at all.
I'd done too many things behind her back, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Fine, I'll be the idiot today."
"...What's gotten into you? Did you eat something weird?"
Yu Ha-yeon gave me a dubious look.
'She calls me an idiot, but when I play along, she acts like that's the real problem.'
Walking down the hallway, I asked Yu Ha-yeon a question.
"Ha-yeon. If I really did cheat on you... what would you do to me?"
"...Are you cheating?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying."
Yu Ha-yeon's question was sharp.
But I had zero intention of being found out, so I deceived her with a flawless performance.
"Then why ask?"
"I'm just curious. Couples sometimes talk about hypotheticals and set rules, you know...
'What would you do if your partner cheated on you!' wasn't that the kind of topic couples discussed in those videos?"
At that explanation, Yu Ha-yeon's expression shifted to something like acceptance.
"If Han Si-jun cheated on me... Hmm..."
She tilted her head, apparently deep in thought.
Then, having decided what she'd do, she spoke.
"First, I'd punish the person you cheated with. No, I'd kill them."
"R-Really...? Isn't killing them a bit extreme?"
"I'd say killing them isn't enough..."
So Ban Ha-na and Lee Seol-ha would die.
But those two weren't the type to die easily.
Yu Ha-yeon's answer, though laced with a trace of sincerity, was mostly a joke.
She continued.
"And Han Si-jun... you, I won't kill."
"That's a relief. You won't kill me."
I guess she couldn't bring herself to kill me, since she said she'd guarantee my life.
However, that guarantee came with a condition.
"Instead of killing you, I'll lock you up so you can never cheat again."
"..."
Yu Ha-yeon declared she would lock me up.
Up until a moment ago, there'd been a hint of a joke. This time, it was one hundred percent sincere.
She looked like she already had a concrete plan for it.
I gathered my courage.
"Isn't locking me up a bit too far...? That seems about the same as dying..."
"In what world are those two things similar? Han Si-jun, are you cheating?"
"...No."
The moment I opened my mouth about the punishment,
Yu Ha-yeon started treating me like a cheater.
Maybe I shouldn't have brought up this topic.
I could not gain the upper hand in this conversation.
"So."
Yu Ha-yeon squeezed my hand, which somehow felt smaller.
"If you cheat, you die...?"
Every word Yu Ha-yeon spoke came from a place of pure sincerity.
I had no choice but to answer her with a lie.
"...Of course. Why would I ever cheat?"
It was a lie.
Seeing the satisfied smile spreading across Yu Ha-yeon's face as she looked at me,
I resolved, with absolute certainty, that I could never let her find out.