Chapter 45
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 45
The strange current soon spread across the entire training ground.
"What? Why are they acting like that again?"
"No idea. Park Ha-yul said something, and then they suddenly got like that."
"Did he pick a fight or something?"
The students tilted their heads, then soon fixed their attention this way with interested expressions.
"Stop running your mouth and come at me."
Cheon Seo-yoon pulled a training sword from the corner of the training ground and leveled it at me.
The half-dead corpse from before was gone. In its place stood a formidable swordswoman radiating a menacing aura.
I wiped the smile off my face as well and faced her with a serious attitude.
I had succeeded in dragging her back out, but if I went down without a fight now, the whole thing would turn into a pointless X—mess.
At the very least, I had to give Cheon Seo-yoon enough of a jolt to shake her.
Because a person who lives bound to the past cannot properly live today.
Through this match, I had to make her realize that it was not yet time to stop.
.......
That way, Cheon Seo-yoon would shine in the next episode.
I thought for a moment, then trudged over to where the training swords were planted.
"What? Why a sword?"
"Come on, he's not actually going to draw one. He's just striking a pose."
A pose?
Pose, my ass.
Undeterred by the whispering around me, I drew the sword with the shortest blade.
"What are you trying to do right now?"
At that, Cheon Seo-yoon's face twisted into something fit for a murderous fiend.
But I was serious.
Serious enough that I had even resolved to reveal the skills I had been hiding, to some extent.
The match would be short anyway, so I needed one move with real impact.
I unwound the Cheonjam Thread wrapped around my right bracelet and coiled it around the sword's grip.
Then I slowly leveled the sword toward Cheon Seo-yoon.
"Ha. Crazy bastard."
And so, an atmosphere heavier than any silence settled between the two of us.
Just when the tension felt like a balloon inflated to its limit, about to burst—
"Hey, stop!"
Baek Sa-young realized what was happening too late and threw himself between us.
But it was already too late.
Cheon Seo-yoon kicked off the ground, and I pushed off as well.
With Baek Sa-young caught in the middle, we surged toward each other.
Whoosh—
Cheon Seo-yoon's movements were indeed swift, as befitting someone who rivaled the top of the Superhuman Track.
But the situation was strangely convenient.
The scene in front of me suddenly overlapped with yesterday's training.
The scarecrows lined up in a row, and Cheon Seo-yoon behind Baek Sa-young.
This was a repetition of a pattern I had practiced dozens of times.
Even without intending to, my body moved first.
First, the Cheonjam Thread in my left hand coiled around Baek Sa-young's waist and contracted in an instant.
"What—"
Baek Sa-young braced himself. Using his resistance as leverage, I shot upward.
I closed what was by no means a short distance in one breath and flew up, grazing past Baek Sa-young.
Whoosh—
Then the target came into view. No—Cheon Seo-yoon.
I reached out my right hand toward Cheon Seo-yoon, who had stopped in momentary bewilderment.
Fwish—
The sword shot forward.
The speed at which the Cheonjam Thread extended was nearly instantaneous, so it came down almost like a bolt of lightning.
"What the—"
Cheon Seo-yoon hurriedly raised her sword into a defensive stance.
CLANG—!
An explosive crack split the air as sword met sword.
The result was.......
"......Ha."
For the moment, Cheon Seo-yoon had won.
The sword I had thrown was sent flying far away, and Cheon Seo-yoon did not let go of hers.
"......."
But Cheon Seo-yoon's expression was colored not just with surprise, but with shame.
Being pushed back was one thing, but the bluish energy faintly reflected on her sword was none other than mana.
She had drawn up mana against an ordinary sword, so her pride could not help but crack.
The entire training ground went deathly still before murmurs finally began to spread.
"Both of you, back off!"
That was the moment the professor in charge appeared.
The professor swept a sharp glare across the grounds and shouted angrily.
But I was relieved.
The intervention had come exactly when I expected it to.
It had only been one move, but I had done everything I could with a sword.
"I'm sorry. I was the one who started the fight."
I walked over and bowed my head.
There were threats about penalty points and the like, and I had no excuse to offer.
It was my fault, with no room for excuses.
Still, I had rekindled a dying ember, so I had no regrets.
* * *
The situation concluded with me receiving two penalty points.
The already stern-looking professor left with a deep frown.
Cheon Seo-yoon, who had been glaring at me with complicated feelings, seemed quite shocked and turned away without any particular retort.
But I sensed it.
That we would face each other again before long.......
Her shoulders trembling faintly with pent-up resentment were proof of that.
For a while, she would use that anger as a stepping stone to move forward again.
I could no longer ignore that resentment and fierce resolve.
But if we had a rematch, could I win?
When my thoughts suddenly reached that point, I shook my head.
Unless I was willing to use my Armaments as though it were a fight to the death.......
It probably wouldn't be easy.
After all, the match had unfolded under conditions favorable to me.
In that short time, I had laid out every card I had without holding back, while Cheon Seo-yoon had not even gotten to use her greatest strength, her immense mana.
If the match had continued, I would have been the one to collapse.
So in the end, the answer was the same as yesterday.
For the next match, I needed to raise my proficiency with the Cheonjam Thread and my physical stats.
I finished my thoughts and walked again.
I returned to the center of the training ground, looking no different from usual.
"Um. Park Ha-yul."
But then, someone hesitantly approached and spoke to me.
It was a fairly familiar face, I thought.
Who was it again.......
"It's me, Cheol-soo. Kim Cheol-soo from the Sorcery Track."
"Ah. Right, Cheol-soo."
A talent specializing in information retrieval and hacking.
We hadn't really spoken since the first day of the elective, so we weren't particularly close.
I soon found out why he had gone out of his way to speak to me.
"Today's sparring will be conducted within the same tracks. Please take your assigned sector. We begin in ten minutes."
There were only two Sorcery Track students among the fifty students in Class A.
"We're in Sector 20."
"Oh, okay."
I walked over with Cheol-soo.
Maybe that little display had done some good; despite the sharp looks coming from all around, nobody tried to pick a fight.
No one actually picked a fight.
Anyway, just as we arrived at the sector and I was putting on protective gear—
Bzzzz.
My phone rang, and my gaze naturally dropped.
[This is Jeong Ae-ri, the president of 'Dodam.' Would you like to meet briefly before today's orientation?]
But why Jeong Ae-ri?
* * *
The painting club 'Dodam' was a storied club that Taehak was proud of.
It boasted a history so long that it would not be an exaggeration to say it began with the founding of Taehak, and having endured for so many years, it exerted tremendous influence over the association and society at large as the root, or orthodoxy, of Korean art.
......Or so Jeong Ae-ri believed.
That was why she was all the more passionate.
To cultivate the discernment and skill befitting the position of club president.......
She was confident that she had already achieved that goal.
Regardless of her age, her eye for judging a work's value was already recognized as one of the sharpest in South Korea.
Whatever work she singled out always shone, and whatever work she rejected always failed to see the light.
This was not boasting; it was actually true.
It was a fact that could be proven just by looking at the performance of the art gallery she currently operated.
Was that why?
Maybe it was complacency after success, or perhaps a side effect of her increasingly refined eye.
Lately, Jeong Ae-ri had begun to worry that she was falling into a rut.
Honestly, most works of art no longer satisfied her.
She could barely remember when simply looking at a piece had been enjoyable.
But.
"The more I look at it, the more captivating it gets."
That Jeong Ae-ri was now gazing at a single work, with the pure expression of an audience member.
It was truly amazing.
It had already been two weeks since she began coming to admire it whenever she had a spare moment, yet she did not grow tired of it; rather, she seemed to grow more captivated.
The schoolgirl in the painting was clearly seated demurely, shyly raising her head.
Yet the lines were daring and provocative, as though they were tracing the girl's inner self.
Bold and uninhibited, they created a clear sense of contrast.
At times, they were rough enough to make her heart drop, like downing strong espressos one after another.
Had there been another work like this recently?
Shaking her head, Jeong Ae-ri checked the artist's name engraved in the lower right corner out of habit.
"D. H....... No, Park Ha-yul."
It had taken some time to find him, but it had not been a bother.
He had now become a student she absolutely had to recruit to her art gallery....... No, an artist.
All preparations were complete.
She had prepared contract terms so unconventional that the industry would be turned upside down.
The fact that she had not contacted him separately until now was also an extension of that process.
He was someone she absolutely could not afford to lose—someone she had to approach only after every preparation was complete.
And today was D-day.
Knock, knock, knock.
As if putting a period on the long wait, the door opened and he entered.
"Hmm~"
Would you look at that.
He was every bit as striking as his work.
A rich, decadent allure beneath his refined features suddenly reminded her of the Italian painter Modigliani.
In this day and age, when factors outside the work itself were becoming important selling points, he could not be more perfect.
"Nice to meet you, Park Ha-yul. This way."
But she did not show it outwardly.
Despite her excitement, Jeong Ae-ri greeted Park Ha-yul with the composed demeanor of a consummate negotiator.
She smiled leisurely, guided him to his seat, and served tea she had carefully prepared.
"But why did you want to meet separately......."
Park Ha-yul trailed off with a wary expression.
He had no choice but to feel that way, since she had asked to meet out of the blue.
There was no need to rush, but she had no intention of beating around the bush either.
Jeong Ae-ri took a small sip of tea, then went straight to the point.
"I'm sorry if contacting you out of the blue made you uncomfortable. I had something important to discuss with you about your work."
"...My work?"
"Yes. Portrait of a Girl. It's only a working title I chose myself, but take that as a sign of how fond I am of the piece."
Jeong Ae-ri smiled brightly and pointed to a painting placed on one side of the club president's office.
At that, Park Ha-yul's gaze moved along with hers.
"...Huh?"
But his reaction was strange.
He blinked rapidly for a moment, then began rubbing his eyes.
"What is this...."
* * *
"Is something wrong?"
Jeong Ae-ri asked, but I could not answer easily and paused for a moment.
......The painting had changed.
The difference was so subtle that an ordinary person would have thought nothing had changed, but I could see it.
That tiny difference had dramatically raised the work's caliber and refinement.
Darker lines, stronger contrast, unnecessary details stripped away.
These revisions came together to reveal more clearly the emotions and intentions I had failed to capture.
Honestly, I was confident I could hold my own with anyone when it came to painting.
But this felt as though an Impressionist master like Van Gogh or Manet had personally critiqued and corrected my work.
Who on earth, and with what intention.......
Just as I was frowning over the question I could not make sense of—
Suddenly, the view ahead wavered.
[The spectrum of Manifestation has expanded.]
[You have stepped into the domain of 'Enhancement'.]
[A new achievement has been unlocked.]
[As a reward, a new function has been added to Manifestation.]
So that was Enhancement.......
No, wait—a painting I drew?