Chapter 94
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 94
Maybe it was because, while theory was a lost cause, her instincts were a natural gift.
Even if it was only a simplified version, the subtleties of Samjaegong weren't something you could normally memorize with your body alone.
Cheon Seo-yoon's absorption was on the level of an octopus sucker, or a bone-dry sponge sucking up water in a single go.
After guiding the flow of her mana a few times, she picked it up right away.
She sometimes looked spaced out, but she was a genius on a different level from ordinary people, so with three or four more coaching sessions she'd probably be able to manage on her own.
"I'll buy you a meal again next time."
"Yeah. Just bring beef. I'm so drained I can't deal."
"B-beef?"
We packed up the leftover food and left the training ground.
We kept up idle chatter as we headed straight for the dormitory.
The chirping of insects was loud enough that I was newly realizing summer had arrived.
"......!"
But at some point, I sensed another person's presence.
One was to the right, at the ten o'clock position.
The other was behind us, toward the training ground.
Both had unusual auras, and they were even quite familiar.
There was no real need to check, but maybe it was because of the item I'd newly obtained.
When the urge to test it suddenly surged up, I pressed the right chronograph button on the watch Jeong Ae-ri had given me.
Whirrrr.
Then two flies — micro-drones — launched.
The objective was reconnaissance. When I commanded them with my will, Fly A and Fly B scattered toward their respective targets.
I put some distance between myself and Cheon Seo-yoon and checked the watch.
The screen split into two displays, sharing the drones' views in real time.
The first to arrive was the one at the ten o'clock position to the right.
I pulled the left chronograph button on the watch clean off and put it into one ear.
It was a device that stuck to the ear canal and functioned as an earpiece.
Once I was ready, long red hair like a blaze of flame revealed itself a moment later.
It was So Yi-hyeon.
She was staring this way with her arms crossed.
With a rather intrigued expression, as if to say, "You two are closer than I thought," and so on and so forth.
Reconnaissance this and that.
I could feel her deep interest directed at me.
Apparently I'd been included as a scouting target.
Unfortunately, I had no intention of joining Squad 8.
That place was too busy.
With battles every other day, there wouldn't be enough time to carry out quests.
Whirrrr. Whirrr.
I flew the drones around, getting a feel for them, then called them back.
I didn't have a hobby of peeping at other people without a purpose, after all.
Fly A's mission ended there. I withdrew my attention and focused on Fly B.
On the left screen, silver hair like the Milky Way was soon caught.
It was Reina.
Maybe she'd been at the same training ground, because she had just come out the entrance and was glancing around.
She paced as if looking for something, then turned her body this way — toward where Cheon Seo-yoon and I were.
"......Is she following me?"
It looked exactly like that, so the words slipped out before I knew it.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just some fly buzzing around."
Cheon Seo-yoon asked, but Fly A happened to be returning at that moment, so it made a convenient excuse.
"Want me to catch it?"
That wouldn't do.
Though even if I told her to catch it, she wouldn't be able to catch it easily.
I'd enhanced its flight capabilities, so it could lightly dodge most swats.
"Leave it alone."
I waved it off, then a certain hypothesis came to mind.
What if Reina thought Satan was targeting someone with the makings of a saint—
and she was acting this way to protect me from the imaginary enemy she'd created by misunderstanding Greed?
"Nah, no way......."
But I soon shook my head.
It was probably just a coincidence of place and time.
Still, she was a saintess, after all.
She was as much of a training fanatic as Baek Sa-young or Cheon Seo-yoon, and she had to replenish her Divine Power through prayer at a set time every day, so she was extremely busy.
She wasn't free enough to follow me around.
Whirrrr.
Anyway, once Fly B returned as well, the late-night test flight came to a smooth conclusion.
The results were satisfactory.
It meant I'd gained another pair of eyes — covert and useful.
"Anyway."
I set aside my musings and thought about tomorrow's schedule.
Not about who I'd meet, but what kind of training I'd do.
I was glad to have some time to focus on my own work for once.
Midterms had just ended, so there was a bit of breathing room until the next main episode.
"Oh, right. But aren't you coming to the club?"
Club?
"What club?"
Dodam had resumed activities, but I'd spoken to Jeong Ae-ri and was officially excused.
I knew the field trip club had gone on one or two more trips since the auction house, but I hadn't bothered to join.
What I needed to focus on was next week.
The trip to Italy, where all the protagonists would attend and set off together.
"The kendo club. Ildoyangdan."
But when Cheon Seo-yoon mentioned it directly, I remembered.
"Ahh......."
Right, I was a kendo club member.
I'd joined in advance because of an incident that would happen in the second semester, but I'd been too busy to pay attention to it.
Cheon Seo-yoon clicked her tongue, then continued with a rather grim expression.
"The club president is grinding his teeth. He says he'll kill you if you show up."
"That baldy? Why......."
"He says you're the first new member this insincere."
Gulp—
My Adam's apple bobbed without my realizing.
That senior was the type to actually follow through if he said he would.
"......Tell him I'll come by soon."
"I think it'd be better to just quit."
"No. I'll go. I have to go......."
I wasn't entirely free of anxiety, but I couldn't miss the quest that would happen in the second semester.
"Anyway, come prepared. I'm heading off."
I parted ways with Cheon Seo-yoon at the dormitory entrance.
It was about time fatigue started creeping in, but I still had things to do, so I headed to my desk.
As always, I gave blood to the flower bud.
You're pretty— You're cool— You're the best—
I fired off a three-hit praise combo in succession.
[.......]
Then the familiar dot-dot-dot message etched itself into the air.
For reference, Greed couldn't remember anything that had happened from the moment it entered the Akashic Record until it came out.
Well, 4885 probably excluded it deliberately.
Anyway, the flower bud's blooming period wasn't far off now.
I'd put in effort every day, so it was only natural to look forward to it.
So I was about to tend to it even more carefully, even wetting a handkerchief to wipe it down.......
Bzzzz.
Just then, a text arrived.
[Sender: Joo A-rin]
[Tomorrow at 6 p.m. Does that time work?]
But why six o'clock?
Since she asked about the time so out of the blue, I asked back instead.
[Why 6?]
The reply came after a brief pause.
[...You said to make you spaghetti.]
"Ah, spaghetti....... Huh?"
She was really going to make it?
It was an unexpected situation, so I was flustered.
It was basically an accident caused by SP.
I was grateful, but this didn't seem right.
So I asked.
[......Can you do it?]
I knew very well that Joo A-rin was someone with no connection to cooking.
That was actually how the setting went.
Like Park Ha-yul's "social maladjustment," the trait stamped right into her character profile was "Demon's Chef."
So it would be better for both of us to pretend it never happened.
Joo A-rin was busy as it was, so she wouldn't have her time taken away, and I wouldn't have to eat it.......
[Don't push yourself, let's just pretend it never happened. You've never even cooked before.]
I sent the text, thinking I was being considerate.
[......Push myself? That's a strange way to put it. Why would cooking be pushing myself?]
.......
But the reply that flew back like a knife was bristling with edges, as if it had an actual blade attached.
[That's not it. You're busy, so there's no need to go out of your way.......]
[I'm a bit taken aback. You're thinking I can't cook right now, aren't you? That's a clear miscalculation.]
It wasn't a miscalculation; it was a certainty.
[I didn't expect to say this, but look forward to it. This is the last time — there won't be a next one.]
Anyway, it seemed too late to take it back.
It also seemed like my clumsy attempt at refusal had wounded her pride.
[Fine, got it. Don't push yourself too....... No, don't try too hard.]
After reluctantly accepting, I opened the Time Shop first.
If I had to eat in front of Joo A-rin, that would be a crisis in a different sense.
Even if I couldn't manage a satisfied expression, I at least had to keep a blank face.
"Is there anything like a taste-numbing agent or a face-numbing agent?"
I hurriedly searched the shop.
* * *
Meanwhile, Joo A-rin, who had been staring intently at her phone, was burning with unseasonable motivation.
"......Push myself?"
Honestly, I'm speechless.
It was a word she'd never heard in her life, and a humiliation she'd never experienced.
She had lived busier and harder than anyone.
There are no set limits in this world. Nothing is impossible. That was what she always repeated to herself.
And yet, to hear something like that over mere cooking.
She hadn't planned to do it half-heartedly, but it also couldn't be too delicious, so she'd intended not to go all out.
"I'll do it properly."
Joo A-rin murmured as if making a vow, then opened a secret folder on social media.
[A Special Menu for a Special Day] Octopus Abalone Samgyetang Spaghetti, by Park Jong-won.
She even took out a notebook and pen and began reading intently.
.
.
But what was this?
What was sukhoe, and what were 60g of eomnamu bark, 15g of dang-gwi, and 60g of three-year-old hwanggi?
As words she'd never seen in her life popped up among the ingredients, Joo A-rin flinched for a moment and blinked her large eyes.
"Ahem."
Then, for now, retreat. She scrolled down and moved on to the next step.
But she was blocked again from the very start.
It said she needed a large pot for making broth and a steamer for steaming the octopus.......
"Steamer?"
A pot is a pot, but what's a steamer?
The only steamer I know is heat like a steamer.
In the end, Joo A-rin fled from the desk and headed to the kitchen.
For the first time in a while, she opened the cupboards one by one and checked the cooking tools.
The check was over in just three seconds.
"Nothing."
There was a lot missing.
There was only a pot big enough to boil one pack of ramyeon, its trivet, and a single rice bowl.
But even those had been provided by the school, not bought separately.
When she thought about it, it was only natural.
Joo A-rin basically had no appetite at all, so nearly every meal was salad and yogurt. Or a protein shake.
She was specialized purely in taking in nutrients.
"It's fine. That can happen."
Joo A-rin nodded lightly and took a step back.
Since the equipment was so lacking, she considered changing the menu.......
But when she thought of the other person, she realized she couldn't.
That person....... He didn't seem like he'd have an easy palate.
He was the son of a prestigious family, and he knew a lot about this and that, so he felt like a sharp critic.
Ordinary food wouldn't draw admiration from that person.
So what could she do?
She had no choice but to try, somehow.
"Hmm......."
Joo A-rin flicked her fingers as if deep in thought, then finally picked up her phone.
She admitted there was some lack.
If so, all she had to do was get help, and fortunately there was a decent cook nearby.
Having left the family home early, this person had six years of living alone under her belt, and she was known to be quick-handed enough to whip up most dishes in ten minutes.
If she sent an S.O.S. to that cook, received equipment support, and got some advice, she could get through this hurdle without much trouble.
After a few rings, an easygoing voice leaked through the receiver.
—What, you're not asleep?
Joo A-rin raised her voice in gladness.
"Seo-yoon, what are you doing right now?"