Episode 19
Yu Jin.
South Korea’s superhuman, its youngest knight, and the first SS-class superhuman.
One of only three national-level powerhouses in the world.
He was known by another name as well: the hope of Korea.
Yes, exactly that. Korea’s hope. Yu Jin was called hope.
With the exception of special cases like Russia, the frequency of superhuman emergence tended to rise in proportion to population, and a nation’s strength was determined by the rank of its superhumans.
From that perspective, Korea had long been lagging far behind.
It did have a fair number of S-class superhumans, but that only meant “more than average.” Compared to neighboring Japan and China, it was barely a drop in the bucket. A small country with too few superhumans to count for much at all—just ten years ago, Korea had been treated like a weak state in every sense of the word.
...Now, though.
Korea’s standing had changed completely. Not only was it counted among the great powers, people even said it had climbed into the top five.
Could there have been greater growth than that? In just a few short years, Korea had risen to an absurdly high position.
All of it.
Because of this guy.
The youth standing before me, sculpted like a statue.
Because of Yu Jin.
“Long time no see, Jinwoo.”
“...Yeah. Long time no see.”
We shook hands. Yu Jin wore that same bright smile even as he grasped my awkwardly extended hand.
“I didn’t expect to see you like this. Why didn’t you answer my calls...!”
“...Haha.”
My embarrassed laugh was in stark contrast to the reaction around us, which was intense enough to scorch the air.
“What’s going on? Why is Yu Jin here?”
“...What’s his connection to Lee Jinwoo?”
The very best in Korea was acting friendly toward me. That scene snagged the reporters’ attention instantly.
Then—
Swish. Yu Jin rested a hand on my shoulder.
“Ah, we’re old schoolmates.”
“Schoolmates?”
“The two of you?”
“Yu Jin’s school... then he must have gone to a superhuman training academy?”
Camera flashes exploded like madness. Ah, my eyes.
When I shielded my eyes for a moment, Yu Jin looked at the reporters and said,
“I happened to hear my dear friend was being celebrated today for doing something remarkable, so I came to congratulate him in person. He’s a truly amazing friend, so please give him your support.”
Friend.
At those words, the reporters locked in.
...Friend, huh.
I felt the hand on my shoulder grow oddly heavy.
* * *
There was a great deal I could say about Yu Jin, but if I had to reduce him to a single word, it would be this:
Genius.
That one word said everything. Yu Jin was a genius.
Even as a child, before he’d awakened any memories of his previous life, he’d been the kind of kid who excelled at everything in school.
He was the sort who stood out by being good at both studying and sports, at everything he touched.
That had been true back when I was a child attending a superhuman training academy as well.
He’d awakened early, too.
By the time he was seventeen and old enough to be considered grown, Yu Jin had already awakened his past life and was operating as a knight under the title of Korea’s first SS-class superhuman.
The idol of everyone. The superhuman the school focused on and the world watched.
That was Yu Jin.
“You met Yu Jin, huh?”
My old home, visited after a long time. The instant I stepped inside and saw that familiar face and heard that familiar voice, I frowned.
“...Why are you here?”
It was Gyeongbeom. He was sprawled casually on my mattress, looking at me as he spoke.
Anyone watching would think I’d invited him.
“How’d you get the password?”
“How do you think, you idiot? I told you not to set it to your birthday, so why the hell would you make it 0000? Are you stupid?”
“...”
“Honestly, you’re so simple.”
Gyeongbeom sprang to his feet and stared at me.
“I was going to ask whether you got back okay, but your face says everything.”
He chuckled as he spoke. I wanted to grab that smirking corner of his mouth and pull it right off.
“Nothing happened.”
“You say the least funny things. The newspaper photo already made your face look like rotten fish. You should’ve smiled a little.”
He held up a picture of me on his phone. It was a shot of Yu Jin’s arm slung around my shoulders, forcing a smile out of me.
I couldn’t really say anything, because even to my own eyes it did look like a forced smile.
“New knight Lee Jinwoo. On friendly terms with Korea’s hope, Yu Jin. The headline alone is hilarious. Right?”
“...You here just to tease me?”
“What else would I be here for? The whole world is talking about you now. Ah, or should I say it’s talking about Irene and Yu Jin?”
[Korea’s strongest, Yu Jin. Welcome to the American, Irene.]
[The founding of a new knight corps. Yu Jin also supports it.]
[The commander of the new knight corps is, astonishingly, Hale Irene. What will America’s position be...?]
Yu Jin’s appearance and the news that the knight corps would be placed under Irene’s command.
Those stories were causing a sensation in Korea at the moment.
I thought my own name had been pushed cleanly out of the spotlight, but—
“There are a few.”
There were some articles tucked lower down.
[The young hero of Yeouido, Lee Jinwoo. Joins Hale Irene’s knight corps as a knight. Is this truly acceptable?]
[How will the world react to a superhuman who has not met the qualifications...?]
Just looking at it, it was obviously about me being parachuted in.
“Bother you?”
“Not really.”
I didn’t care much. I’d expected as much. At my nonchalant answer, Gyeongbeom snorted.
“When you say ‘not really,’ that means the other stuff does bother you.”
“...”
Sharp bastard.
He caught my slip instantly.
When I made an uncomfortable face, Gyeongbeom looked at me closely and asked,
“Still uncomfortable?”
At that, I gave an awkward smile.
“What’s there to be uncomfortable about? I’m fine.”
I spoke a lie that might as well have been the truth.
I had to be fine.
-Jinwoo.
The words still circling in my skull curled at the tip of my tongue.
-...You have no talent. Quit.
The clammy, filthy feeling of that day crawled over my skin like damp weather and made my flesh prickle. I had to erase it.
“Tch. What a pathetic bastard.”
“...If you’re done talking, get out.”
“I was already planning to. I came by because I was worried and wanted to see your face, but looking at you now, you’ll survive.”
“Hah, haha.”
“You’re laughing? That wasn’t supposed to be funny. Tsk.”
Clicking his tongue, Gyeongbeom brushed past me.
“Anyway, handle things yourself. But be careful around that old man, the Association president. He already dragged Yu Jin in to stir things up, so it’s pretty obvious what he’s up to.”
Hearing that, I smiled bitterly.
“So he called him on purpose?”
“Probably.”
Yu Jin’s appearance in that situation had almost certainly been orchestrated by the Association president. He’d wanted to make the whole thing more dramatic.
“If that wasn’t the case, why else would he drag in a guy who’s been touring the world and raking in foreign currency? He thought it through from the start.”
“...”
“But it was the kind of thing worth stirring people up over. I was surprised too. Damn, Hale Irene, seriously.”
Gyeongbeom said it with a look of genuine alarm.
“I never expected them to bring in that monster from America... She’s the kind of person who gives you a fright every time you see her.”
“What do you mean every time you see her? You’ve never even seen her in person.”
“Ah... right. Yeah.”
Gyeongbeom stiffened slightly, then nodded.
“She just looks like that, you know? Pretty, sure, but with a face that says she’s a pain in the ass. And her personality looks weird too.”
“...That’s a prejudice.”
I couldn’t quite say he was wrong. Her personality really was strange.
But when I said that, Gyeongbeom reacted in a way that struck me as a little odd.
“What? You already defending your commander? What, do you think she’s that pretty?”
At his sly question, I frowned. Pretty? I thought about it for a moment.
“She was pretty, yeah. Definitely.”
White skin and golden eyes. She looked so unlike everyone else that she almost seemed like someone from another world.
Seeing her like that, she really was beautiful.
Just as I said what I’d been thinking—
“...Ah. Really? So she’s pretty, huh.”
Gyeongbeom replied in a somewhat mocking tone.
“What? You asked me first. You asked if she was pretty.”
“Forget it. What’s there to say to a face-crazed idiot? I’m going home.”
He stormed out, sounding oddly irritated. What was that about? He did that sometimes, but honestly, he looked like a lunatic.
As I watched his back, I remembered something I’d almost forgotten.
“Ah, right.”
Gyeongbeom froze at my voice and stopped walking.
“How’s your sister doing?”
“...”
At my question, Gyeongbeom gave a small shiver.
Seeing that reaction, I scratched my cheek.
“No, I mean, I was just wondering how things have been lately.”
“She’s doing fine. So don’t worry about it.”
His tone had turned somewhat cold.
I knew better than to push on this one.
“Got it.”
“I’m leaving.”
Gyeongbeom gave a small wave and went out.
Click. Only after the door shut did silence finally settle in.
“Phew.”
At last finding some quiet, I collapsed into a chair.
My head hurt.
“Ah.”
I flopped backward onto the bed.
...Everything happened so fast.
I’d suddenly become a knight. Irene had become the commander of the knight corps.
...I ran into Yu Jin, too.
And then there was—
Musin.
My life, which had been without an answer as the reincarnation of a past life called the God of War, had suddenly begun to be flooded with something.
So much that I couldn’t even feel it properly.
Is this a dream...?
Even after sleeping and waking several times, it still didn’t feel real.
That was what had happened to me.
“...”
I covered my eyes with my arm. In the darkness that settled quietly over me, my insides finally calmed down a little.
...Tomorrow.
What was I supposed to do tomorrow?
Ah, right. I’d been told to go back to the Association headquarters.
A car was supposed to come in the morning.
I’d ride that and go.
...Get my rank measured properly again.
I also had to hear the explanation about the knight corps again.
So I really am a knight now?
It still didn’t feel real, happening so suddenly like this.
I didn’t even know what was going on anymore.
“...”
I slowly opened my eyes. Beyond the tired blur of my vision, I flexed my fingers.
Connecting to the Reincarnation Network.
Please be mindful of the time limit.
Before I knew it, I’d turned on the network. Inside, a flood of heated posts was already pouring in.
...
The network was also full of talk about Irene taking up a knight’s post in Korea.
The chatter about Musin had died down somewhat, too.
There’s nothing about me.
There was nothing about Lee Jinwoo—not the Musin version of me, not the other side of me. Well, from their perspective, I was just Yeouido’s hero or whatever; they probably didn’t care.
Only the talk about Musin had become a little thinner. I was just beginning to feel a kind of uneasy relief when—
Ping!
“Huh?”
An alert appeared on the network.
A Gate has appeared.
“What?”
My eyes widened. Another one, already?
The network erupted into chaos.
It’s not time yet...
This wasn’t the right day. There should still have been several days left, so why was it happening again already?
No way.
“...Whoa, crazy.”
I shot to my feet. A Gate had appeared, and suddenly at that? Even more so—
“It’s not even nighttime yet?”
The fact that a Gate that usually opened at night had appeared in broad daylight left me stunned for a moment.
Then—
“...Huh?”
Something even more shocking appeared before my eyes.
⊳ This Gate will not affect the Contamination Rate.
⊳ May this be a joyful festival.
An S-class Gate.
At that absurdly impossible name, everyone fell silent.
---