Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Soaked Through
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"Are you okay?"
Han Ye-seo asked me again.
I bowed my head and looked down at my body.
The pajamas she had lent me were completely soaked through with my sweat.
"...Sorry."
"No, clothes can just be washed. More importantly, are you okay?"
I glanced down at the floor below the bed, where Ja-an was sleeping in his sleeping bag.
There was no sign of him waking up yet.
Ja-an was always the picture of perfect discipline.
There was no way he would oversleep.
Which meant we were the ones who had woken up early.
'If it's because of me, I feel a little bad...'
I sneaked a peek at Han Ye-seo.
Fortunately, she didn't look angry.
"...I'm fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
She eyed me suspiciously.
To be fair, the sight of me bolting upright with sweat pouring off my entire body was pretty far from "fine."
It probably didn't look convincing at all.
"I don't buy it."
Just as I thought... she doesn't believe me.
"I've been having a lot of nightmares lately."
"Nightmares?"
"I don't really know. Every day... with no context at all..."
"Every day?!"
Han Ye-seo let out a shriek.
It was so loud my ears felt like they were bleeding.
Ja-an blinked his eyes open from inside his sleeping bag.
He opened his mouth.
"...What was that noise just now?"
Instead of answering, I pointed at Han Ye-seo with my finger.
"It was a situation that called for it!"
"...What kind of situation?"
"Look at her body!"
Han Ye-seo pointed right back at me.
I hurriedly pulled the blanket up to cover myself.
But Han Ye-seo immediately snatched it away from my hands.
With Strength F, I couldn't even resist.
Powerless.
Having lost the blanket, I had no choice but to expose my sweat-soaked body fully to Ja-an.
It was mortifying and embarrassing; my face flushed bright red.
Shame?
No, I'm not some girl, so I don't feel shame.
It's just guys seeing each other's bodies.
Right. What I'm really mad about is Han Ye-seo stealing the blanket from my hands.
I decided on my next move right away.
"That's my blanket."
"This is my house! My blanket! More importantly, explain yourself!"
"Give it back!"
I lunged straight at Han Ye-seo, but in an instant, she turned into black ink and vanished into the bed.
You coward!
Ja-an turned his head away and covered his eyes with one hand.
His face was a little flushed too.
'...Ah.'
My head throbbed.
He opened his mouth.
"F-First of all... what happened? Why are you so soaked?"
"I had a nightmare."
[Mention.]
[Success Probability: 100%]
Bubbles rose from the puddle of black ink on the floor, and Han Ye-seo's mouth emerged.
It looked like she had selectively regenerated just part of her body.
An impressive use of her ability, but the sight was a bit grotesque—I hoped she wouldn't do it again.
A voice came from Han Ye-seo's lips floating above the black ink.
"It's not something you can just brush off with 'I had a nightmare'! You said every day!"
"...Every day?"
Ja-an approached me with a serious expression.
Han Ye-seo was petite and wore clothes made from her own hair or body parts.
In other words, the pajamas on me right now were part of her—and extremely thin.
Clinging to my wet skin, they revealed the silhouette of my body in stark detail.
But Ja-an seemed completely oblivious to my appearance now.
He strode toward me without a care.
Soon, he stopped right in front of the bed.
"You have nightmares every day, and you didn't say anything?"
"Just...?"
"We're friends, aren't we?"
"Do friends really need to share their nightmares too?"
"Well..."
Ja-an hesitated for a moment.
"You don't have to, but I think that's what friends are for—if something's weighing on you, you can open up about it."
It was straight out of a textbook.
Hard to argue against.
There was only one way to break through head-on.
"Sorry."
Apologize.
"...Huh?"
"This is my first time making friends, so I guess that's why. Sorry."
"No, you don't even need to apologize..."
"I have this aversion to spilling my guts to anyone. Sorry about that."
Ja-an scratched his head.
Han Ye-seo had regenerated her full body by now and was sneaking peeks at me.
Success—I'd shifted the mood.
Now just change the subject, and it'd be perfect.
"Isn't class about to start? Shouldn't we all get ready to head out?"
"...Ah!"
Ja-an checked the time on his phone and hurriedly dove back into his sleeping bag.
Han Ye-seo stared at him in bewilderment.
"Why are you going into the sleeping bag?"
"So you two can change clothes comfortably."
"Oh... right..."
She closed the sleeping bag.
It was a little less embarrassing than last night.
Time to return to normal life.
A sharp scream jolted me awake.
"Every day?!"
It was Han Ye-seo's voice.
I reflexively shot up and scanned my surroundings.
A habit drilled into me on the front lines.
A scream meant an enemy raid—an imminent crisis for our allies.
To save even one more life, speed was essential.
I scrambled out of the sleeping bag, rubbed my eyes, and took stock of the situation.
On the bed, Han Ye-seo was shouting with a shocked expression, while across from her sat Ivy, huddled up tightly.
"...What was that noise just now?"
In response to my question, Ivy pointed at Han Ye-seo instead of answering, and Han Ye-seo pointed back at Ivy.
"Look at her body!"
My gaze naturally shifted to Ivy.
And I froze, holding my breath.
She was soaked.
Far too much to be just sweat from the heat.
'And it's not even hot weather.'
She looked like a drowned rat, but the slender curves of her body were laid bare, making my face heat up.
"That's my blanket."
"This is my house! My blanket! More importantly, explain!"
Ivy tried to cover herself with the blanket, but Han Ye-seo roughly yanked it away.
That only made Ivy's body stand out even more clearly.
Pale skin, faintly trembling hands, dilated pupils without focus, the distinctive sour smell of sweat.
[Mention.]
[Success Probability: 100%]
I hesitated over whether to select the option.
'...Drugs? PTSD?'
Having absorbed countless beasts on the front lines and built up mana in my body, my stats were far higher than a typical cadet's.
My heightened senses were screaming that something was wrong with her.
I quickly turned my head away and covered my eyes.
I'd seen my classmate's body.
But right now, something far more important had caught my attention.
It was familiar.
The groans leaking from tents at night, the soldiers convulsing in nightmares of severed limbs.
Classic symptoms.
'But it's weird.'
A sense of wrongness.
Ivy knew nothing about the front lines and had never been there.
She was clueless about relic usage, basic mana control, the atmosphere there.
There was no way she'd suffer from PTSD.
Only those who had endured hell got PTSD.
Only they had nightmares.
A suspicion crept in.
I wanted to confirm it.
'If I'm barking up the wrong tree, that'll be a relief...'
Exhale.
I took a deep breath.
What could have given a girl who had just become an adult eyes like that? What caused the nightmares?
One possibility came to mind.
'Ability User Basic Training Facility.'
All ability users shared traits: no parents, appearing out of nowhere alone.
So before entering the academy or working in society, they stayed in facilities for basic education.
A sort of orphanage.
That's what was publicly known.
But I'd heard rumors of illegal experiments inside or brutal training regimens.
'No way...?'
Ivy's arms and legs were excessively thin, her strength and stamina below average.
Signs of malnutrition, and she was short.
She was wary of kindness from others and had said just a few weeks ago that this was her first time making friends.
Nightmares, waking up drenched in sweat.
The puzzle pieces were falling into place.
My stomach churned.
"It's not something you can just brush off with 'I had a nightmare'! You said every day!"
Han Ye-seo shouted.
'Not just once—every day.'
I clenched my fists and approached Ivy.
"You have nightmares every day, and you didn't say anything?"
"Just...?"
"We're friends, aren't we?"
She froze at my words for a moment.
Then she apologized clumsily, saying it was her first time having friends.
That awkward apology only fueled my anger more.
Her first time.
No one to lean on, so she never learned how.
She was used to bottling up all her emotions.
Forcing my expression to relax, I slipped into the sleeping bag.
With the flimsy excuse that it was to give them time to change clothes.
I didn't want them seeing my face.
Han Ye-seo closed the sleeping bag.
I quietly pulled out my phone.
'I need to look into this.'
I'm too nosy.
I want to save as many people as I can.
It started for the money, but now...
I want to shine.
Like all those heroes I saw on the front lines, saving others.
I want to save everyone within my reach.
There has to be something in Ivy's past, her facility records—something causing the nightmares.
Grind.
I ground my teeth hard.