I Miss Those Days
When he first awakened his mana, it had felt as though he possessed the entire world.
He had believed himself the center of everything, certain that he could achieve anything he set his mind to.
The result of that arrogance had been a miserable death.
"Gah…"
Who could have known?
That he would meet his end so helplessly in a place like this—not even he himself had seen it coming.
—KRAAAGH!
The adult ogre bellowed straight at him. His body shrank back on instinct. Even so, the man bared his hostility with desperate, stubborn grit.
"That bastard… cough!"
He had lost so much blood that his mind was fogging over. The man clung desperately to consciousness and glared at the ogre.
"Focus. If you die too, what am I supposed to do?"
Beside him, Baek Ye-rin was gasping for breath. Even in this hopeless situation where death was all but certain, she remained not only lucid but calm. Remarkable grit for a teenage girl.
"It's all my fault… As the raid leader, I should have…"
"I said focus! You wanna die too?"
At her words, the man turned his head. Countless corpses filled his vision. Colleagues who had been laughing and chatting just moments ago now lay as cold, lifeless bodies.
"Don't look. There's nothing good about looking."
"I'm sorry. I was a fool. I…"
"Don't apologize to me—apologize to the comrades who left first. You'll be seeing them soon enough anyway."
"Yeah…"
Their conversation did not last long. Ogres were not particularly patient monsters.
—BOOM—
The ogre slammed the ground as if venting its frustration. An earthquake rippled outward, and a savage roar stabbed at their eardrums.
"Look at it throwing a tantrum all by itself. Showing off its strength, or what?"
"Aren't you… scared?"
"I've already accepted I'm gonna die. Why bother being scared? That's just a waste of emotion."
Heh. A laugh slipped out on its own. Was he catching it from Baek Ye-rin? It wasn't a bad feeling.
The man glanced at her with a small smile—and then he saw it. Her entire body was trembling, ever so slightly.
"…So you don't want to die either."
"Is there anyone in this world who wants to die? As long as you're still breathing, you want to cling to life, right?"
"The problem is it's not as easy as it sounds."
"It's fine. Even if I die, I'm taking one of that bastard's arms with me. That's enough. So you thrash around for all you're worth too."
"Alright. Then I'll take the right arm. You take the left."
"Pfft. Finally speaking my language."
The corner of Baek Ye-rin's mouth lifted. Even that smile carried a faint tremor. Age really couldn't be faked. What a remarkable kid. And what was he, a grown adult, doing? A wave of shame washed over him anew.
Right. Even if I die, I'll thrash around as hard as I can.
Even a worm wriggles when stepped on. He would crawl until the very end.
The man labored for breath and poured mana into his sword. Baek Ye-rin likewise steeled herself for battle, mana boiling through her entire body.
—Grrrr…
Something strange happened. Unlike the two of them, the ogre was slowly backing away—as if it had been frightened by something.
"What's it doing? Hey! If you're gonna attack, hurry up and come at us!"
"…?"
If the ogre retreated, he and Baek Ye-rin might just survive. But he could not simply celebrate that fact.
Why?
Even mindless monsters possessed survival instincts. No—because they lacked intelligence, they were all the more faithful to those instincts. In short, there was only one explanation for why the ogre had abandoned the fight.
"Ye-rin."
"Don't talk to me. I've got a score to settle with that green bastard today."
"Run."
"…What?"
"I'll buy time. Run. Now."
The ogre that had so thoroughly demolished his raid party. He could not begin to fathom how powerful something would have to be to make a creature like that feel fear. Still, that unknown presence had drawn the ogre's attention. This was an opportunity—and the man intended to use it to get Baek Ye-rin out of there.
"What are you talking about? If I run, what about you?"
"Don't ask questions—just run!"
His chest heaved. Like the ogre across from them, his own survival instinct was screaming.
I'm just a liability if I live.
His heart was screaming at him to flee, but he had no intention of doing so. If his rotten life could buy this girl's survival, that was enough.
"I said go!"
The man barked at Baek Ye-rin again. But his voice did not seem to reach her. She was staring blankly—not at him. No, she wasn't looking at him at all. The man followed her gaze and looked behind himself.
"Wh-who are you?!"
A young man was standing there. Every raid member except Baek Ye-rin and himself should have been dead. So who was this man, and why was he here?
Facing the ogre head-on, the young man was utterly composed. There wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes. And strangest of all, he seemed interested only in the man's sword.
Is he insane…?
The rows of corpses and that monstrous ogre might as well not have existed to him. He could only think the stranger was a lunatic.
"Give me that sword."
"What?"
At first he was merely confused. But a moment later, the man's brow furrowed hard.
"You little punk, have you lost your mind? Do you even understand the situation we're in—!"
"I told you to give me the sword."
The only striking thing about him was his refined, handsome face. And yet somehow, he gave off an untouchable aura. The sudden explosion of his mana made the man's body flinch.
"H-here…"
The man swallowed hard and obeyed. The young man who received the sword began appraising it.
"A fine blade. Its only flaw is that it met the wrong master."
A clear provocation. Yet the man could offer no rebuttal.
N-now I understand.
The predator that would devour that ogre was this very man. Having carefully examined the sword, the stranger turned his gaze and looked him over—from toe to crown. Then he withdrew his eyes and spoke.
"Not entirely beyond use. Your name."
"Y-yes?"
"I asked for your name."
"Ah, yes. It's Sparkles."
"…Sparkles?"
"I-it sparkles, so… Sparkles…"
Had he been asking for the sword's name? Well, who names an object, really. He had spent a fortune on it and poured a great deal of affection into it, that was all.
"I asked for your name."
A crack appeared in the indifferent man's expression. The man jolted in shock and answered reflexively.
"M-Ma Seong-yong!"
"Ma Seong-yong."
The man was silent for a brief moment. Then he asked shortly:
"You. Have you any interest in learning the sword under me?"
Ma Seong-yong.
It was the moment that would become the greatest turning point of his life.
"I miss those days."
"Are you crazy? You miss nearly dying? Ugh… You're not normal either, old man."
"Haha. But thanks to that, we met an extraordinary fate, didn't we?"
"Nngh… That's true."
Even now, recalling their first meeting with him was filled with things hard to believe. With a single stroke, Cheon Hae-beom had severed the ogre's neck and saved both his and Baek Ye-rin's lives. A lifetime of trying to repay that debt would never be enough. Rather than repaying anything, he had only ever received help. His salvation—and even rising to this high position—all of it was thanks to his master.
"So Master showed interest in your academy?"
Ma Seong-yong looked at the woman seated across from him—Baek Ye-rin. Time was truly merciless. Back then she had been a very young high school girl, and now she had become a mature woman. Of course, even after ten years, her trademark attitude was as intact as ever.
"This is ridiculous. Why would Master bother with some academy like that?"
"That's harsh."
"But I'm right, aren't I? What could Master possibly be lacking that he'd volunteer as some mere instructor?! It's frustrating."
"I don't know. Perhaps curiosity struck him after a long time."
"Curiosity? What curiosity?"
"Similar to the curiosity he had toward us back then. This time, the object of his curiosity is the academy students."
"……"
Suddenly Baek Ye-rin's energy deflated. When the woman who had been chattering brightly fell silent, the conversation naturally ended.
"So he's done caring about people like us…"
Baek Ye-rin muttered in a gloomy tone. Then, wiping the emotion away, she returned to her usual energy.
"Ugh, so annoying~ Master rejected my guild invitation a hundred, a thousand times, and now he's interested in some instructor position?"
Ma Seong-yong was puzzled as well. Why had Master made such a choice?
"Aaaagh! The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get! Whoever those students are, just wait till I get my hands on them. I'll pulverize them."
"Good grief…"
How had Master managed to tame a woman like this? It was a mystery no matter how many times he thought about it.
"Old man! So how did you manage to win him over? Tell me too."
"I already told you I don't know."
"Tch. You're no help at all. And you're ugly, so there's not even anything nice to look at."
"Ahem. I'd say I'm—"
"Think about Master's face. My standards got raised because of Master."
"……"
They had received the same teachings under the same master—why was this one so rotten? Suddenly he found himself resenting Master a little.
"Anyway, I've got to go. Guild business has me busy left and right."
Dawn—one of Korea's top five guilds. As its master, Baek Ye-rin was hardly idle either. She had carved out time she didn't have for this private talk with Ma Seong-yong, and the subject of that talk had been their master.
"If anything happens to Master, contact me immediately."
"Nothing will. Whose master do you think he is?"
"I know that, but just pass along even trivial news. You're too dense, old man."
"…Understood."
The way her tone flipped so completely—she was a fox through and through. Ma Seong-yong also rose and left the reception room.
"Byeee~ Hang in there, old man. Or our guild might catch up to you."
Ma Seong-yong nodded at her farewell.
"We'll meet again next time."
"Eek. I'd rather not—unless Master comes too, then I'll think about it."
"Very well."
"Ah. No, wait. I don't want Master to hate me."
Baek Ye-rin smiled brightly. It was a cheerful yet captivating smile.
"Tell him I'll be coming to see him soon. It'd be too shameless for a disciple to make her master come and go."
With that, Baek Ye-rin turned and walked away. Watching her receding figure, Ma Seong-yong shook his head.
Master's going to have a rough time of it.
Suddenly, he found himself worried for his master's well-being.