Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: International Exchange Conference (1)
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“What…?”
Han Yu-ah looked shocked when she heard I’d decided to follow Thunder Emperor to America to check out the International Exchange Conference.
She was someone who rarely showed her emotions, so I started worrying if there was some problem with my choice to tag along.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“Oh, it’s just…”
She trailed off at my question and quickly turned her head away.
Hey, you idiot! How can you not pick up on this? She wants to go with you!
“Huh?”
She wants to go with me?
Her face flushed red, confirming it hit the nail on the head—totally different from before.
She was denying it, of course, but it was obvious now even from the outside that she was lying.
If she wanted to go together, she could just say so. What was there to be embarrassed about…?
If Yu-ah comes along too, that’ll be two A-Rank Heroes stepping away. Is that okay?
I couldn’t help but worry about it.
I asked cautiously.
“But is it really okay if we both go? That means two A-Rank Heroes will be gone. Even an S-Rank Hero will be away…”
“What… It shouldn’t be a problem if we go together. There are other S-Rank Heroes, and plenty of A-Rank Heroes besides you two.”
“Well, then…”
If the Association Chairman said it was fine, there wasn’t much point in arguing further.
He’d make the distinction between public and private matters, so if he was telling us to go, it must really be okay.
He’d let us go together, no doubt.
“What? You’re going to the International Exchange Conference?”
“She asked me to come along.”
I figured it’d be better to let the people around me know, so I told Seo-yul and Seol-hwa as well.
Both of them reacted pretty much the same as Yu-ah.
“Wait… You’re not even participating directly. Why on earth are they asking you to come?”
“Beats me… They just said to come watch.”
There wasn’t any real reason to refuse, and for me, I wanted to go to America to see how the story was unfolding now—and make sure nothing crazy happened at the conference.
“If it’s like that, I wanna go too. Sounds fun.”
“M-Me too…”
“If you all come along, that really will be a problem…”
Four A-Rank Heroes, not just two…?
Considering that one S-Rank Hero always steps out for the conference, this showed just how many people would be gone this time.
Is this really okay?
“There are plenty of other A-Rank Heroes besides us, so it should be fine.”
“Hmm…”
I had a feeling it wouldn’t be.
One or two people might be okay, but losing one S-Rank Hero and four A-Rank Heroes would be a big deal for the nation. They’d have to check on it.
And obviously, they’d check with the Hero Association.
“I’ll ask about it later.”
“Ooh…”
“Yeah? If it’s not okay, I can sit it out.”
“Huh? You’re gonna back out?”
“I’d have to, for our Seo-yul’s sake.”
Seol-hwa smirked as she said it, and Seo-yul tilted her head like she had no idea what that meant.
“No need to tell her,” she added bluntly before rolling over in her hospital bed.
“Sleepy? How’s your body feeling?”
“Don’t worry about me. This is nothing.”
“How could I not worry?”
It was partly my fault, after all.
Sure, the hit I landed didn’t leave any major aftereffects, but the fact that I was the one who hit her didn’t change.
I couldn’t help but worry.
“…Whatever. Just take care of Seo-yul.”
“You’re the one who needs taking care of most.”
“Yeah… I’m all better now, so worry about yourself instead.”
Seo-yul said it like this was one thing she wouldn’t yield on.
Her injury looked worse than the time Seo-yul had gotten seriously hurt before, but she was getting treatment and said she was fine now, so no need to worry anymore.
Well… technically, there wasn’t much reason to worry about her either, if I really thought about it.
They get along so well.
Worrying about each other like that…
It was nice to see. Yeah.
In the end, we did get permission from the Hero Association.
To be precise, Seol-hwa couldn’t go, so it ended up just being me, Yu-ah, and Seo-yul.
Seol-hwa needed treatment anyway, and when the Association put a limit on numbers, she volunteered to step back.
She’d been the first one after Yu-ah to say she wanted to go, so I hadn’t expected her to hand the spot over to Seo-yul like this.
“Mm… Kinda feels off…”
Seo-yul didn’t look entirely thrilled either, now that Seol-hwa was out and she was the only one going.
“I’m excited, though.”
“Oh? For what part?”
“Grandpa said there are tons of strong superpowered folks in America, so I should go broaden my horizons.”
Ah, that angle.
“If it’s for tourism, I’ve been abroad plenty… But this is my first time going overseas as a hero for an exchange.”
Ironic. My reason for going abroad for the first time was the opposite—tourism instead of hero exchange.
…Well, not just exchange. There was definitely some tourism aspect for me.
Unlike Thunder Emperor, who was participating directly, I was just there to watch from the sidelines.
If anything, it was less about exchanging and more about scoping out America’s superpowered heroes.
Thinking of it that way made me start looking forward to it.
The homeland of superheroes…
I’d heard they actually felt more like real superheroes over there.
Unlike our country, their villain ecosystem and crime scale were on another level.
Our country had more crime than the original world, sure, but nothing compared to America.
Ours was the kind of place you could call one of the safest in the world.
For Thunder Emperor to find someone worth sparring with at the International Exchange Conference… that’s impressive.
Especially if it’s an American hero…
We arrived in America and checked into our lodging right away.
Thanks to my sponsor’s deep pockets, we got a top-tier hotel again.
Staying abroad like this feels totally different…
Wow…
Could I have ever imagined this before?
Walking right into one of these luxury hotels I’d only glimpsed from outside.
“So, rooms… individual ones each? Or…?”
Thunder Emperor grinned sleazily.
Yu-ah flinched at his shoulders, and Seo-yul tilted her head.
What kind of joke is this…?
[Oh, you haven’t made a reservation?]
[Huh? Oh, yeah, we have, but…]
I answered the English from the side without missing a beat.
More importantly, where’s his maid? Or his secretary? Doesn’t he usually bring one?
“Hmm…”
Seo-yul’s face paled as she listened to their conversation.
“What’s up?”
I had no clue what they were saying, so I had to ask.
“They said there’s only one room left…”
“Huh?”
“Apparently a ton of people flooded in for the International Exchange Conference…”
What the hell?
“Don’t people usually book ahead…?”
I shot Thunder Emperor a look.
He was standing there, sweating bullets.
“Dude, I’m really sorry… I didn’t think it’d be like this…”
“What happened? Why didn’t you?”
“I swear, I’m the victim here…! Last time I came, it wasn’t this packed. There were rooms to spare… I never imagined a hotel this pricey would fill up like this…”
Even so, not booking ahead was unforgivable.
Not that I could do anything about it.
“So, what now?”
“Well… We could all share a multi-room suite, or me and you might have to bow out.”
“I-I think it’d be okay if we shared a room…”
Seo-yul raised her hand slightly as she spoke.
Thunder Emperor lit up with an “Ooh” and grinned.
“What about you?”
“I don’t mind either. But…”
Her gaze flicked toward me for a second, then back to him.
Huh.
“…Sorry, but I don’t think Thunder Emperor can join.”
“Uh.”
His smile froze at her words, and he turned to me.
“…You’re popular, huh…”
“Suddenly?”
“Well… I kinda sensed it when you brought them along… But this is a bit much…”
Thunder Emperor pouted, handed us the keys, and told us to handle it.
What the…?
“Bro’s gonna head out. I’ll wire you some cash, so have a good time~”
Before I could even respond, he bolted from the hotel.
“Uh…”
I glanced around at them.
Both looked expectant.
Is this… okay?