Chapter 38: To the Hall Plain!
Chapter 38: To the Hall Plain!
After reactivating the Sound Amplification Magic, Park Hyunwoo raised his head and looked over the new Users again. When he had switched it off a moment earlier, no one but the intended people could have heard him. In sharp contrast to how he had treated Park Donggeol, his dry expression was now free of killing intent as he quietly began to speak.
“I understand you've heard a fair bit from the angels. Of course, I also know you must have many other questions. However, if we were to try and answer all of your questions right here and now, a full week of working day and night wouldn't be enough.”
Well, obviously. Wanting to get into the User Academy as quickly as possible, I strongly agreed in my head. As if he'd read my mind, Park Hyunwoo continued to say all the right things.
“Also, since you've all just passed the Rite of Passage, you must be quite exhausted. Since I've already secured everyone's agreement, I will briefly explain our plans moving forward.”
He cleared his throat for a moment and immediately began speaking.
“In the metropolis of Barbara, there is a building called the User Academy. Are there any new Users among you who heard even a brief explanation from the Helper Angels?”
He emphasized the word 'Helper'. Hearing Park Hyunwoo's words, the Users exchanged glances before, one by one, they began to raise their hands. There was a bit of murmuring, but the number of raised hands steadily grew.
Even at a glance, it seemed like more than half the people had raised their hands. No, almost everyone except for a few had. That meant the angels also held the User Academy in high regard. Judging that enough people had raised their hands, Park Hyunwoo signaled for them to lower them and continued speaking.
“Good. This might be a rerun for some of you, but it's very important, and it seems some of you haven't heard, so I'll explain it again. The User Academy is, just as it sounds, a type of training institution that helps new Users adapt more easily and survive in the Hall Plain. And its effectiveness has been so recognized that it's become an official mission, the first of its kind established by Users to be granted the authority to award points.”
I didn't know who created it, but I had to admit, that one point was certainly commendable. It was extremely rare for a system arbitrarily set up by Users, rather than one by the angels, to be officially recognized.
Park Hyunwoo began by explaining the history and founding purpose of the User Academy. He then went on to detail the benefits of receiving the training and graduating. If I were to summarize the important points…
The User Academy's training course takes three months. In the beginning, a User's stats tend to rise quickly. The User Academy has efficient training programs tailored to an individual's stats and class. Therefore, one can expect a much higher rate of stat growth than through haphazard training. All trainees receive a weekly stipend of 20 silver. Users who complete the entire three-month course receive a mission completion reward of 4 stat points. That was the gist of it.
Honestly, I was only in it for the 4 reward points, but there were plenty of other things that would sound very appealing to the other Users. It was dressed up nicely, but it boiled down to them feeding you, housing you, training you, and even paying you. It was like killing four birds with one stone.
After explaining for a while, Park Hyunwoo finally mentioned that each User has a cap on how high their stats can go. Raising stats depended on one's own effort, but how high they could go differed from person to person. He concluded his explanation of the User Academy by advising that the points earned as rewards were one of the few ways to raise a stat that had reached its limit, so it was best to save them for now.
“With that, the basic explanation is finished. Originally, I planned to head directly to the dormitories inside the academy after this, but it seems some of you still have lingering questions, so I'll take three or four.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a female User from the area where the ranged combat Users were gathered quickly raised her hand. The urgent way she moved her hand made me very curious about what she was going to ask. When Park Hyunwoo nodded, the woman stood up and spoke in a cautious voice.
“Um... c-can we... ever go back... alive?”
The question was a huge letdown. To think that was all she could come up with. I clicked my tongue at the woman's foolishness and checked Park Hyunwoo's expression. As expected, he was looking at her with a deeply annoyed expression.
Her question was as if she'd taken his entire explanation and thrown it in the trash. Park Hyunwoo let out a visibly deep sigh and answered in a dry voice.
“I made it clear at the beginning that we are not the ones who will send you back home. If I knew how, do you think I'd still be here? That's something you new Users will have to figure out together as you live your lives in the Hall Plain.”
Perhaps sensing Park Hyunwoo's pitying gaze, the woman's cheeks flushed red as she quietly sat back down. A brief silence followed, but soon, a man from the magic-talented group raised his hand. He was a male User with a neat buzz cut and an intelligent look. When Park Hyunwoo nodded, he also stood up.
“I understand that this world is called the Hall Plain, and that ordinary people are called Users. And it seems this city is called the metropolis of Barbara. Are people like us, the so-called Users, living only in this city?”
Park Hyunwoo immediately shook his head at the man's question and replied.
“No. As you may have heard from the angels, the Hall Plain is divided into a total of four continents. And Barbara is the only metropolis on the Northern Continent. Besides this one, there are four general cities and eight small cities on the Northern Continent. Users like us are spread out among those places as well. We haven't completely secured the safety of the entire Northern Continent yet, but it's safe to say that the areas around the cities are under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Korea's Users.”
“You said Users from the Republic of Korea... does that mean there are Users of other nationalities as well...?”
“Yes. The Users in the Hall Plain are not only from the Republic of Korea. The Eastern Continent is under the jurisdiction of Japanese Users, the Western Continent is under American Users, and the Southern Continent is under British Users. Of course, there is some degree of interaction between the continents. But in broad strokes, that's how it's divided.”
This question, at least, wasn't completely useless. As the male User bowed his head deeply and sat down, Park Hyunwoo stared at the new Users with an indifferent expression. Since he'd said he would take three or four questions, the next one would likely be the last.
The others seemed to know this too, as no one dared to step forward rashly. Just then, Park Hyunwoo pointed to someone. Turning my head in that direction, I saw a female User who had tentatively raised her hand.
When the female User stood up and I could see her face, I let out a silent exclamation. The last woman to stand was none other than Kim Hanbyul. She was staring at Park Hyunwoo with her usual calm, cold expression. I was well aware of her sharp mind, so a fierce curiosity arose as to what she would ask. The boredom I'd felt until now seemed to vanish in an instant.
Soon, her fine lips parted slightly, and a beautiful voice flowed out from between them.
“I heard that everyone here is scheduled to train at the place called the User Academy. If so, what is the real purpose of us receiving training there?”
The moment she finished speaking, a stir went through the crowd. Most people seemed to think she'd asked a pointless question, their faces scrunching up in frowns. Those were the people who failed to grasp the intent behind her question. Only the few who understood the underlying meaning of her words had their eyes light up with a look of realization.
I, too, felt a sense of admiration for Kim Hanbyul's sharp question. Park Hyunwoo was also quick on the uptake, as his expression was completely different from when he'd heard the first woman's question. He kept moistening his lips, looking quite flustered.
Kim Hanbyul's question was that highly calculated. Reason and purpose are different things, and purpose and real purpose can also be seen differently depending on one's perspective. Her question wasn't simply, "Why do we have to train?" It was a question that cut to the core, simultaneously asking about the real purpose for training us there and, beyond that, the purpose for which the User Academy itself was being utilized.
Park Hyunwoo opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, his attitude hesitant and unlike before. It was a stark contrast to the man who had been answering so fluently until now. The new Users must have sensed his strange demeanor, as the murmuring crowd instantly fell silent. Finally, he began to speak in a slightly uncomfortable tone.
“...I have already explained the utility of the User Academy sufficiently. Does the User who just asked have some complaint about receiving the training?”
“I'm not trying to voice a complaint. And I also agree with going to the academy. What I want to hear isn't about the justification for the academy. Is it really a training facility with the sole purpose of helping new Users adapt?”
I could see Park Hyunwoo shut his mouth. Suddenly, what she had said to me back at the cabin in the Hall Plain popped into my head.
〈There you go again. That might work on Hyun-oppa or Yoojung-unni, but please don’t try it with me. Don’t try to change the subject so cleverly.〉
He, too, had tried to subtly change the subject, but Kim Hanbyul's blunt follow-up question seemed to leave him speechless.
After chewing on his lip in silence for a while, a bitter smile spread across his face. It was the first genuine display of emotion I had seen from him since entering the Hall Plain. Had Kim Hanbyul’s question really struck him that deeply?
“Either way... these are things you'll naturally come to understand after a little more time passes. Whether you like it or not.”
Park Hyunwoo moistened his parched lips for a moment, then continued in a low voice.