Let You Down (3)

Back at the orphanage.

I set the pendant down on the table. The moment the director saw it, his eyes welled with tears. His hands trembled as he buried his face in them.

"When Loha first came here... this pendant was fastened around her ankle."

His voice trembled as he traced the past of a child who was already gone.

The director was a good man.

Even if he wasn't a real human.

"Perhaps... those young children who left Loha here intended to return for her one day. They must have thought that if they saw this pendant... they would know she was theirs."

The desperate hope of a mother or father, wishing to return to their child one day. But it had caught the eye of an evil man, and the child had left this world forever.

"I don't need the backstory."

"Ah, yes. I apologize. My mind is..."

The orphanage director pulled an envelope from beneath the drawer and held it out. It contained ten bills.

"No. I don't want the money."

I had no intention of taking his money in the first place. Instead, I added my own money to his. It was half of the stack of bills I had seized from the culprit's hideout.

"Wait, why..."

"Black tea."

"...Pardon?"

The director's eyes widened.

I looked at him and said, "I want to buy as many of those black tea leaves you said you grew in your hometown as possible."

A Rare-grade black tea. This was the first item I would take with me from this world.

Of course, the spectrum of Rare items was incredibly broad, and many were worse than Common ones. However, someone who could cultivate tea of a Rare grade was hard to come by.

Furthermore, Sequence was a power that severely ravaged the physical body, and Refinement was a training method that tore one's mana circuits apart. This black tea had the potential to become a side-effect-free remedy for me.

"Ah... Yes. I understand." The director nodded with a warm, gratified smile. "I will gather as much as I can for you. The garden is quite spacious, after all."

Time flowed slowly after the broadcast of Episode 3. During that period, Lee Si-ah spent her days uploading posts about the show all over the internet. Most of them were about Seol Ha-woon.

In truth, Seol Ha-woon hadn't actually received that much screen time in Episode 3. It was just that his impact had been overwhelming. Because of this, Lee Si-ah meticulously picked out split-second details that flashed by in certain scenes.

Seol Ha-woon chuckling as he watched a squirrel from a tree branch; his playful side as he idly held a leaf up to his nose out of boredom; the scenic shot of him sitting high up in the canopy, feeling the breeze—she captured these tiny details, lasting barely one to three seconds, and turned them into GIFs to spread across the web.

And then, finally, the day of Episode 4's broadcast arrived. Lee Si-ah sat before her television once again, her posture almost reverent.

┌── Labyrinth Exploration NaN ──┐

After a brief recap of the previous episode, the broadcast jumped straight to the distribution of the cargo labyrinth's spoils.

"I... I'll go last," Yun Hwa-rim said on screen. "To be honest, I'm even a bit embarrassed to receive a share..."

Yun Hwa-rim had chosen to claim her conscience instead ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the loot.

"What do you all think about letting Seol Ha-woon choose first?" Kang Hyun suggested.

He was recommending that Ha-woon get priority. It was only natural.

"I'll take this," Seol Ha-woon said.

Yet, the item he chose was nothing more than a tiny feather.

"Why?" Lee Si-ah tilted her head in confusion. The reactions of other viewers were no different.

Is that it? Talk about over-interpreting, Si-ah thought.

At any rate, once all the teams finished distributing their loot, it was time for the mentors' evaluations. First up was Lee Jun-ho's team.

"Warrior Lee Jun-ho," Kim Yoon-jun said. "I understand your desire to show off your personal performance. However, it is also important to adjust your pace so your teammates can keep up."

"Well, I don't think it's Warrior Lee Jun-ho's fault if the others can't keep up with his speed..." DK countered.

A brief clash of opinions occurred between DK and Kim Yoon-jun.

Next was Kang Hyun's team.

"Hmm..." Mentor Kim Yoon-jun smiled the moment they stepped onto the stage.

"We had an unexpected performance from a spellcaster," Kim Yoon-jun said. "Sniping an Orc Shaman from such a long distance... Was that a Cognitive Image you came up with during your military service?"

"Yes. That is correct," Seol Ha-woon replied.

"You have the talent of an archer..." Kim Ji-an remarked.

"But still," DK interjected, "I can't help but think you had it pretty easy."

"What is he even saying?" Lee Si-ah frowned. DK, people are already saying you try way too hard to look cool lately.

"Well, I suppose it's better than being dead weight down below," DK continued. "And you did provide decisive support from above. That smoke bomb was quite amusing. Even if it was a rather shallow trick..."

Still, Seol Ha-woon, Kang Hyun, and the others received various compliments.

"Spellcaster Yun Hwa-rim?" Kim Yoon-jun called out.

This was where the highlight began.

Lee Si-ah swallowed hard. The live chat sped up, and tweets began popping up in rapid succession.

"You put your team in grave danger by dozing off at the wheel."

"I'm sorry..." Yun Hwa-rim hung her head, her expression heavy with guilt.

"This isn't something that can be resolved with a simple apology."

"If you weren't a team, this is the kind of situation where you'd end up killing each other," DK added.

Lee Si-ah glanced at her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠laptop screen.

On screen, Yu Ji-in picked up her microphone.

"What does the escort team think?" Perhaps out of consideration for Yun Hwa-rim, she shifted the focus.

"It was difficult, but I believe it was an ordeal we were fully ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠capable of overcoming!" Im Hae-jun's response was as energetic as ever. He's actually pretty cute.

"What about Spellcaster Seol Ha-woon?" Yu Yul suddenly asked. Lee Si-ah perked up her ears.

"I didn't have any particular thoughts about it," Seol Ha-woon replied.

No particular thoughts. It was a neutral answer. His expression barely shifted.

"No thoughts?" DK scoffed, his brow furrowing. "There's a limit to how much you can lie. She completely ruined the operation. Soldiers are usually sensitive to that kind of thing."

DK was indeed acting tough. Unfortunately, he had the skills to back it up. He was a high-ranking warrior recognized even in the martial arts world. He played the classic role of the harsh, sharp-tongued judge found in every audition show, and most contestants naturally shrank before him.

But not Seol Ha-woon.

"No. It is actually the opposite," Seol Ha-woon said.

"If a variable arises, we simply adapt to it."

He showed no signs of intimidation or fear, even in front of DK. He met DK's sunglasses with a steady, unyielding gaze. He didn't flinch, nor did he back down. He simply responded according to his principles.

"Hah. Aren't you trying a bit too hard to look like the good guy?" DK glared at him. Even through the screen, his gaze was fierce, but Seol Ha-woon remained unfazed. He didn't even twitch.

"Did you not feel any resentment?" Kim Yoon-jun asked.

"Exactly," Kim Ji-an chimed in. "You were right on the verge of succeeding."

The mentors, led by DK, seemed determined to pry some negative emotion out of him.

"Why would I resent my team?" Seol Ha-woon replied, looking genuinely puzzled. To him, there was simply no logical justification for resentment in the first place.

At that moment, an interview cut was spliced in.

"Spellcaster Yun Hwa-rim is an elite. You can tell just by looking at the spells she uses."

It was a scene of Seol Ha-woon sharing his thoughts on Yun Hwa-rim.

"Those who don't understand magic might not realize it, but I do. I know how delicate and excellent her spellcraft is. Her abilities as a spellcaster are far superior to mine."

Seol Ha-woon's voice was low and calm.

"Driving the cart is a task that demands an immense amount of mana. It might look easy to an onlooker, but that is an illusion."

He wasn't blindly defending her or offering mindless excuses. He was genuinely acknowledging his teammate's worth.

"If Yun Hwa-rim was the driver, the rest of the team was sitting in the passenger seats."

He explained how difficult her task had been, and how they should have supported her. Seol Ha-woon continued calmly.

"Yet, none of us fulfilled our role as passengers. We failed to ease her burden. I am simply stating a very obvious fact."

Lee Si-ah smiled without realizing it. In her mind, the image of Seol Ha-woon was now firmly established.

"No operation can succeed because of one person, and no operation can fail because of one person."

Seol Ha-woon didn't blame others. He didn't insult anyone. He simply executed his given mission and fulfilled his responsibilities. It was the ideal soldier's mindset. It was incredibly cool.

Lee Si-ah touched her burning cheeks. The reaction in the chat was much the same.

The broadcast cut back from the interview to the evaluation stage. Seol Ha-woon looked at each of the mentors as he spoke.

"To say it was solely her fault ignores the fact that there were three other people on that cart."

The mentors reacted in various ways. Warrior Kim Yoon-jun smiled, DK let out a soft sigh, and Yu Ji-in looked somewhat indifferent.

"If even one of the four—no, one of the five, including myself watching from above—had stayed alert, we could have corrected it immediately. Therefore, it is everyone's fault."

And then...

"Ah, seriously!"

Another commercial. Lee Si-ah scowled, but the crispy, crunchy chicken on screen looked incredibly delicious. Come to think of it, she hadn't eaten dinner yet.

"..."

She quietly reached for her smartphone.