Chapter 51: The Director Nun
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 51: The Director Nun
A shabby, old studio apartment with yellowed, peeling wallpaper and no soundproofing whatsoever.
I was finally back.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to be back here.”
Even though I planned to move soon, a week in the Gate and three days in the hospital had been so grueling that I even missed this dump.
The Gate was one thing, but the endless tests from morning to night and the needles stuck in my arm as often as I ate meals were more than enough to shatter my hopes of a hotel-like stay.
The visit from Han Lael, the Tower Lord, was particularly shocking, a memory still vivid even after my discharge.
—I want to study you, Mr. Hyun-woo.
As if suddenly presenting a contract wasn’t enough, she’d wanted to study me, bringing eight bottles of expensive Holy Water as a bribe. I didn’t know much, but I was certain of one thing: the Tower Lord was an oddball.
Of course, thanks to that Holy Water, I was able to shorten my hospital stay to three days, so I was grateful where gratitude was due.
The effects of the Holy Water, said to be made by a bishop-level priest, were far beyond my imagination.
Just one bottle restored my body to better-than-normal condition, and even my supposedly tattered magic circuits healed stronger than before. I could feel that manipulating my magic had become significantly smoother.
Of course, the memory of Choi Hyena’s murderous glare when I was discharged earlier than planned still sent a shiver down my spine, but with a mountain of things to do, I couldn’t just lie in a hospital bed forever.
‘Come to think of it, Choi Hyena also made a strange offer, saying she wanted to study me.’
I still couldn’t forget that shocking first encounter.
—Let me study you. Loved by mana? That’s something that can’t be dismissed as mere talent. I’ll compensate you handsomely. A quick look tells me you’re quite the beggar. How about thirty million won for each time you cooperate with my research?
“...Thinking about it now, that was pretty damn cheap of her.”
The Tower Lord had offered to cooperate on research while bringing eight bottles of Holy Water, each likely worth well over thirty million won, as a bribe.
From what I knew, the Tower Lord’s family was also a prestigious magic family. Was Han Lael a pushover, or was Choi Hyena trying to play me for a fool?
‘Considering Choi Hyena’s personality back then, it was probably the latter.’
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t annoyed, but maybe I’d grown attached to her despite my annoyance, because it didn’t bother me much anymore.
Besides, I had already accepted the Tower Lord’s offer.
There was no reason to refuse, aside from the slightly strange look in her eyes. She had even included a clause stating I wouldn’t be held liable if her research yielded no results, and I’d already received an advance.
Moreover, getting to know the Tower Lord and maintaining a continuous relationship with her was a huge benefit in itself.
[S Bank]
[Deposit: 100,000,000 KRW]
“If I sell the magic stones I collected from the Gate, I should have a decent amount saved up.”
Just looking at the C-grade and C+-grade magic stones from magical beasts piled up in my inventory was satisfying, but my mind was still a mess.
Choi Young-ok, Choi Hyena, and Han Lael weren’t the only ones who had visited me during my hospital stay.
—A pleasure to meet you. I’m Yoo Seongbin, team leader of Special Gate Team 1.
A man from the Hunter Association had come and asked various questions about what had happened inside the Gate.
He asked the kind of questions you’d expect from an investigator—if there were any warning signs before getting caught in the isolation-type Gate, or if I had noticed anything unusual.
That part was fine, but the man named Team Leader Yoo Seongbin seemed to suspect me throughout our conversation.
I had no idea what he was suspicious of, but for a team leader to act that way was deeply unsettling.
It felt less like he was interviewing a victim and more like he was interrogating a suspect.
However, there was nothing to gain from antagonizing the Hunter Association, so I didn’t show my discomfort or voice any complaints.
“Tsk, if there’s a real problem, they’ll come find me again.”
Worrying too far ahead would only be poison.
Now was the time to quietly do what I had to do.
“First, I need to go to the department store.”
Besides, today was the day I was visiting the orphanage where I had lived for nearly fifteen years, so I wanted to think only happy thoughts.
*
The Director Nun was, to put it nicely, a kind person who knew how to give to others. But in another sense, she was someone who didn’t know how to doubt people.
She had been scammed once, and the orphanage almost lost its land entirely.
Fortunately, the scammer was caught by the police, so the orphanage wasn’t shut down.
If only she had worked as an official nun in a church, she wouldn’t have been scammed by such trash.
I didn’t know how she ended up running an orphanage in such a rundown neighborhood.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been on this hill.”
The path to the orphanage was much steeper than the one to my studio.
The incline was so severe that I wondered if a car driving up would just roll backward. The area was full of empty houses, the kind of place often called a daldongnae, a poor hillside shantytown.
When I was a kid, a fair number of people lived here, but now it seemed they had all left. I hadn’t seen a single person yet.
My heart ached, wondering how this place had become such a ghost town.
“...I need to make money quickly and move the orphanage to a better place.”
Even that wouldn’t be enough to repay the love and grace the nun had shown me as a child.
She was like a second mother to me, having cared for so many children back when I couldn’t even think of having a conscience.
“...”
But what was I seeing right now?
The orphanage, which I was visiting after a long time, was in a state so wretched I couldn’t put it into words.
[SCHEDULED FOR FORCED DEMOLITION]
The red letters scrawled across the main gate and walls caught my eye.
The half-open gate amplified my anxiety.
Crash!
—...!!
Just then, a voice from inside sent my body into motion. I kicked the gate open and rushed in.
The small playground the nuns had made, the old-fashioned restroom, and even the old graffiti I had drawn.
In this place where nothing had changed, there was an uninvited guest.
“Fuck, if you took the money, then get out!!”
“You expect us to leave with just that paltry sum? Where in the world are we supposed to go?!”
“Ha, like I give a shit? Huh? Do I look like I fucking care... Guhk?!”
BAM!!
I grabbed the temple of the man who was shouting in the Director Nun’s face and slammed him headfirst into the ground.
‘I’ll kill him.’
The force would have killed a normal person instantly, but he was tougher than he looked, still twitching on the ground.
“Guaaaah...!!”
The sight of him spitting blood in agony was disgusting. Just as I gathered my magic to crush his head...
“Hyun-woo!”
A familiar voice struck me like a blow to the head. After three seconds of deep contemplation, I lowered my hand.
Killing him would be easy, but I didn’t want to commit an irreversible act in front of my mother figure.
Fine wrinkles, hands covered in bandages from a life of hardship, and yet, her eyes were clear and deep.
It had been so long.
“...I’m home.”
·
·
·
Our reunion started on a bad note, but thankfully, the Director Nun said nothing and led me to her office, where she served me warm green tea.
Coffee was bad for the body, or so she said. She really never changed.
“Redevelopment?”
“At first, they politely requested that we vacate. After we refused a few times, rougher people started showing up.”
“So the red paint outside was also...?”
“...”
The Director Nun simply nodded, her eyes filled with exhaustion. My brow furrowed on its own, and my fists trembled with rage.
I exercised superhuman patience and remained seated.
If I lost control of my emotions for even a moment, I would have immediately chased down the ambulance that took that bastard away and killed him.
“Now, now, let’s stop talking about such gloomy things. Why don’t you tell me about yourself, Hyun-woo? I hear you’re a sophomore in college now. Are your classes going well?”
I had so many questions I wanted to ask.
Where were the other nuns? Why weren’t there any children around?
But seeing the nun deliberately trying to change the subject, I didn’t dare to ask.
“I dropped out of college.”
As I wondered how to explain that in that short time I had become a wizard and was now waiting to enter the Magic Tower, the nun suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.
“...Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
Her eyes were filled with worry.
It was a sincere concern I hadn’t received even once after entering society, before I got the app.
Seeing her, I wondered why I hadn’t visited for the past few years. The thought of her suffering at the hands of those thugs for months made my chest ache, and I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head.
“Oh, dear...”
Seeing my reaction, she must have misunderstood something else, because she quickly pulled me into an embrace. In that moment, I made a vow to myself.
I would find every single person involved in making the nun suffer and make them pay for their sins.
I didn't care if it was the president or anyone else.
“You can make a living without a college degree, so don’t you worry too much...”
“Director.”
I took out what I had prepared and placed it on the table.
“I became a wizard.”
It was the wizard registration card issued by the state and fifty million won in cash that I had just withdrawn.
“...A wizard?”
“That’s what happened.”
I had to spend a long time explaining to calm down the nun, who stared blankly at the registration card before jumping in surprise.
I explained as coherently as I could that I had started studying magic on my own, found I had a knack for it, and was lucky enough to become a wizard, now waiting for admission to the Magic Tower.
Of course, I left out the part about being trapped in the Gate. I didn’t want to worry her with unnecessary details.
“Oh my, what is all this?! Hyun-woo, a wizard!!”
Thankfully, the nun purely congratulated me on becoming a wizard without any suspicion.
Seeing her, who had been so weary, smile at my news made me feel better as well.
We spent a while talking about various things.
Mostly, we reminisced about my childhood.
Back then, I was hungry and life was hard, but I was never lonely.
If I hadn't gotten the Another World Dating App, I would probably still be spending my time alone in that studio, going through college by myself.
I wouldn't have met Iris or Cheon Yeo-hwa either.
‘I should go see Iris as soon as I’m done here.’
The thought of bringing Iris to Earth someday, if possible, briefly crossed my mind.
While I was lost in thought, the Director Nun gently pushed the envelope I had given her back toward me.
“Take this money back.”
“Director?”
“Even if you’re a wizard, it must be hard for you to earn this much money. Besides, I couldn’t do anything for you when you left the orphanage. I don’t deserve to receive this.”
The nun shook her head.
“No, why wouldn’t you be deserving?”
The memory was still so vivid.
“I still remember. You picked me up when I was dying on a cold winter market street. When everyone else turned away, you were the only one who helped me. If it weren’t for you, I would have died long ago. If you don’t take this money, who will?”
I forced the envelope into her hands.
“You’ll need a fair amount of money to run the orphanage from now on, whether you like it or not, so I hope you won’t refuse. If you’re really uncomfortable, please think of it as helping me relieve a small part of the debt I feel I owe you.”
“Hyun-woo...”
“And from now on, I’ll make sure those thugs from today never come near here again, so you don’t have to worry.”
I gave the teary-eyed nun a tight hug, then left the orphanage as she saw me off.
‘I should ask Choi Hyena for help with the orphanage problem.’
Of course, I could have asked her grandmother, Choi Young-ok. She did say she would do anything for me.
Arranging for bodyguards to stop the thugs, finding a better-equipped building for the orphanage, and finding out who was leading this redevelopment project—that seemed like a fair reward for saving Choi Hyena.
Of course, I’d have to give up on asking for magic equipment.
“...Ah, right. My equipment.”
Come to think of it, I still hadn’t gotten back the equipment I had given Choi Hyena to use in the Gate.
‘She asked me to visit her family home, so I can probably get it then, right?’
It wasn’t urgent, so I decided not to worry about it.
I had another place to be before I could go looking for it. My next destination was the Full Moon Sword Dojo.
The recent Gate incident had made me realize that my life wasn’t peaceful enough for me to just coast by, shooting magic from the back lines.
Even though I was a wizard, if I insisted on only using magic, I could die at any moment.
“So you came running in a suit, all out of breath?”
“I didn’t come running all out of breath.”
The wolf beast-girl I met after so long was still as small as ever.
“I can see right through you, you bastard.”
Smack!