Chapter 232: Baek Hangyul and Kim Hanbyul
Chapter 232: Baek Hangyul and Kim Hanbyul
The branches that stem from the trunk can diverge. But the source never changes. The wayward branches eventually return to their origin, merging back into a single, great current. I wouldn’t blindly believe in this idea, but thinking back now, it seemed I had been too complacent when the future first began to twist.
In any case, the situation I now faced was clear: I was running out of time, and I could no longer afford to just watch from the sidelines. I had waited long enough. It was time to start moving with the flow. However, I had to leave myself room to pull out at any moment.
By the 13th week, the conflict between the clans had escalated to a point where it could no longer be called a simple dispute. After the Eastern clans began to respond, the Southern clans immediately supported their position. Of course, it didn't end with mere support.
They joined forces with the Eastern clans to continuously criticize the Golden Lion Clan's overreach. They used members who had already left the clan to secretly contact those who remained. And as soon as new members defected, they would denounce the Golden Lion Clan in their respective cities, a tactic used to sway public opinion.
Although they flatly denied Shin Tae-seung’s corruption exposé, the Golden Lion Clan surprisingly took a lukewarm stance on the departing members. Their only response was to double down on playing the victim. A closer look at the defectors revealed they were mostly low-ranking members, which made it seem as if the clan was simply letting those who wanted to leave, leave.
Instead, the Golden Lion Clan focused its efforts on framing the Southeast clans for the Matriarch’s murder, which they had brought to light in the first place. At the same time, they began to gradually reclaim the initiative they had lost. The User Academy was central to this effort, and as the days passed, instructors from the Southeast clans were being put on probation with increasing frequency. As a result, the newly opened positions were, of course, quickly filled by members of the Northwest clans.
Watching them both neglect defense and focus solely on attacking each other felt, as someone had put it, like watching a dogfight in the mud. I suddenly felt I could understand why Ko Yeonju had wanted to leave Barbara. Seeing them fail to genuinely mourn the Matriarch’s death while scrambling to protect their own interests was enough to make anyone lose what little affection they had for them.
Interestingly, the tide of this fight began to turn slightly in the Southeast clans’ favor due to a single incident: one of the female Users who had left the Golden Lion Clan exposed a sexual bribery scandal. And that woman was someone I knew—her name was Seo Jiyoon.
To be more specific, she was one of the five who had received an offer from the Golden Lion Clan among those who had completed the Academy with me. Seo Jiyoon revealed that after joining, she had been forced into a sexual relationship by a scout and had been continuously harassed through despicable means thereafter.
This incident immediately caused an uproar. No matter how open the Hall Plain was about sex, it was only acceptable when the feelings were mutual; rape and sexual assault were not tolerated. Moreover, the Golden Lion Clan had always prided itself on maintaining strict discipline. The shock among ordinary Users was indescribable when they heard that such a thing had happened within the clan itself.
The Golden Lion Clan, finding it difficult to remain silent, once again issued an official statement. They claimed that Seo Jiyoon and the scout had been in a consensual relationship and that she was a coward who was using the difficult situation as an excuse to leave. However, public opinion, which had been favorable to the Golden Lion Clan, began to level out again after Seo Jiyoon’s tearful appeal.
After that, the number of people leaving the Golden Lion Clan, though mostly low-ranking members, began to show a slight upward trend. Starting with the initial 17, the total number of defectors soon surpassed 30 and was approaching 40. This was equivalent to one-tenth of the Golden Lion Clan’s remaining members.
Of course, some must have felt disillusioned with the Golden Lion Clan’s future due to the failure of the Steel Mountains expedition, the absence of their Clan Lord, and the murder of the Matriarch. But considering that more than half of the defectors were women, it was a testament to just how corrupt the clan had become internally.
While the outside world was changing by the day, the User Academy was quiet. No, it was merely feigning quiet. As the days passed, the internal audits of the Northwest clans concluded that they were cleared of any suspicion, and they were promptly reinstated at the Academy. However, the Southeast clans, who still refused the audit, remained on probation, and further disciplinary actions were being taken against them.
The Southeast clans seemed to be enduring the probation rather well at first, but eventually, the hot-tempered Kim Deokpil caused a scene. He exploded at the Golden Lion Clan’s high-handed attitude, protesting why they had to undergo an internal audit. The Reverse Clan wasn't a representative clan of a city, but they had been included in the audit because they had been vocally critical of the Golden Lion Clan.
However, against a Golden Lion Clan that just kept repeating the same thing, Kim Deokpil couldn't avoid probation either. In the end, with a string of curses, he led all the Reverse Clan members who had entered the Academy and stormed out.
The Golden Lion Clan didn't stop them as they headed for the Warp Gate. Instead, they seized the opportunity to launch a large-scale condemnation of the Reverse Clan, highlighting them with claims like, “They have something to hide,” or “They were never qualified to be instructors in the first place.”
Despite this, the Golden Lion Clan did not stop issuing probations. Eventually, the number of Training Instructor positions held by the Southeast clans, which had once been nearly 70 percent, dwindled to just three. The only ones left were two of the Ten Strong, Seo Jinwoo and Yeon Hyerim, and the Han Clan Lord, Sung Hyunmin. However, rumors were circulating that these three would also be placed on probation soon. And indeed, their appearances as Training Instructors were gradually becoming less frequent.
As the situation grew more urgent, I felt the need to secure Baek Hangyul as my top priority. I had already spoken to him about joining Mercenary, but his relationship with Cha Yuna hadn't been cleanly resolved yet. And since he was the type to be easily swayed, there was a chance he had been influenced by his girlfriend’s words in my absence.
Honestly, I had been thinking about it, but with all the chaos around me, it was true that I hadn't been able to pay him as much attention as before. Since I was scheduled to meet him during control support for a class that day, I decided to talk to him after it was over.
However, despite entering the Magic Talent training session, I couldn't find Baek Hangyul anywhere. I wondered what on earth had happened. After the class ended, I stopped a new User who was leaving the classroom, laughing with his friends. When I asked about Baek Hangyul, I received an unexpected answer.
“Ah. That loser?”
“Loser?”
“Heh. Yeah. He’s pretty famous. I heard he waits in front of the women’s dorm every day, but his girlfriend won’t see him, so he’s become a total wreck. What a pathetic sight.”
“His girlfriend? Did something happen between them?”
“Hmm. I don’t really know. I’ve seen them argue a few times, but he’s not really the type to stand out in the first place. Honestly, everyone’s already given up on him. I wonder what he’s going to do after the Academy ends… Tsk, tsk.”
“…Alright, I understand.”
The new User clicked his tongue and immediately left the classroom. It felt like just yesterday that I’d heard him say he would never give up, but now I was hearing he had become a wreck. I instinctively knew that something had happened while I wasn't paying attention.
It was then that I felt a tap on my shoulder as I stood there blankly for a moment.
“Well, well. Mercenary Lord. You’ve come out for control support again today. Thank you so much. Hahaha.”
“Ah, yes.”
Snapping back to my senses, I turned to see Jang Yunho smiling cheerfully. Unlike before, his face was beaming. After walking on eggshells for so long, he seemed to be enjoying life now that the Southeast instructors were on probation and out of sight.
“This was my last class, so I’ll be off for three days. I don’t have any more classes scheduled after today. How about you, Mercenary Lord?”
“I still have one more Mental Training session left.”
“Oh dear. That’s a shame. The Northern clan members were planning to get together for a big round of drinks tonight. Since the 13th week of training ends today and the weekend is here, it looks like everyone’s planning to go all night.”
“The regular training will be over, yes. But as I understand it, additional training sessions are scheduled for the weekends starting from the 13th week.”
“Ah, that’s right. My mistake. Hahaha. But it’s fine. The weekend training is being handled by the Golden Lion and Western clan members, so it doesn’t apply to us. Oh, by the way, will you have some time this weekend? A lot of my colleagues are curious about you, Mercenary Lord… What do you say? Let’s have a drink together.”
Jang Yunho clearly wanted me to join them. But I wasn't the least bit interested, so I replied, “I have support duty scheduled for the weekend as well.” (In fact, my Saturday was packed with morning and afternoon sessions.) At my polite refusal, Jang Yunho looked disappointed and said he hoped for another chance.
I should go check on him right after my weekend support duty ends.
What was important now wasn't attending some gathering. As Jang Yunho said, the 13th week of regular training would end today. In that case, it would be best to check on Baek Hangyul right after I finished my afternoon additional training support scheduled for the weekend. There had to be an unspoken reason why he had become a wreck. Hoping that the reason was what I suspected, I let out a long sigh and left the classroom.
*
There was one thing all the clans in the User Academy agreed on: the intensity of the training had dropped significantly compared to before. Of course, they had no one to blame but themselves for what they’d done, but it was too difficult to bring back sparring now. So, additional training was introduced to replace the special training. The stated purpose was to restore the new Users’ skill levels, but honestly, to my eyes, it just looked like a desperate struggle to somehow stick to the training schedule.
After finishing my packed morning and afternoon control support sessions, I immediately headed to the men’s dormitory with the dinner I had bought beforehand. When I arrived, the inside of the dorm was deserted, as if everyone had gone to eat. I recalled my time as a Lifestyle Instructor and climbed the stairs to the second floor.
When I finally reached the room where Baek Hangyul was staying, only a quiet silence greeted me. Wondering if he wasn't there, I opened the door and peered inside. In a corner, I saw a rounded sleeping bag huddled. I instinctively knew that Baek Hangyul was inside it.
“Hangyul.”
“……”
“Hangyul? Hangyul!”
“……”
My hand on the sleeping bag could clearly feel a heavy weight, but no matter how much I shook it, there was no response. With urgent movements, I pulled the sleeping bag away and saw Baek Hangyul lying there, his eyes squeezed shut.
Those crazy bastards. How could they let him get into this state?
Cursing inwardly, I immediately pulled Hangyul out of the sleeping bag. His face was haggard, as if he hadn't eaten properly, and I couldn't get the image out of my mind. What’s more, seeing the tear stains here and there made my anger surge even higher. The 〈Aegis〉 I had worked so hard to find…
I placed a hand near his nose. Thankfully, he was still breathing, albeit faintly. I immediately placed my hand on his heart and slowly infused it with magic power. As I soothed his weakened insides, a puzzling feeling came over me. What on earth had he gone through to receive a shock so great that he lost consciousness?
Did Cha Yuna really betray him?
As I tended to his internal state for a while, Baek Hangyul’s eyelids began to tremble slightly. I took the opportunity to pour in more magic power to revitalize him, constantly calling his name. My swift intervention seemed to be effective, as Baek Hangyul soon managed to laboriously lift his eyelids.
When he finally opened his eyes, he stared into the air with a confused expression. Then, as if he had confirmed my presence beside him, he opened his parched lips.
“Hyung…?”
“Yeah. I’m here, Hangyul.”
“Hyung…? Hyung…?”
“Yes, yes. It’s me. Hyung’s sorry. I should’ve paid more attention…”
“Hyung…! Hyuuung, Hyuuuung, waaaaaah…”
At first, Baek Hangyul called out to me in a hoarse voice. Then, after blinking once or twice and fully recognizing me, he began to cry, calling out to me desperately. His former bright-eyed, cute appearance was gone, replaced only by dry sobs that echoed mournfully throughout the room. For some reason, the sight of him was incredibly sorrowful.
I immediately pulled him into an embrace and patted his back. Baek Hangyul buried his face in my chest and simply shed endless tears.