Chapter 39: Make an Offer
Chapter 39: Make an Offer
“The people living in this Hall Plain can be broadly divided into two groups: the original Residents, and the Users who arrived via the angels. However, it would be a mistake to think all Users are the same.”
“Not all Users are the same?”
Park Hyunwoo nodded at Kim Hanbyul's question.
“There are Users who strive to return to Earth, and there are those who have simply settled down to live in the Hall Plain. In other words, they've essentially become residents of the Hall Plain. Hmm... 'become residents' sounds a bit strange. To put it simply, you can think of them as people who refuse to go back to Earth.”
He swallowed, as if his throat was dry, and continued. I found myself growing more and more curious about what he would say next.
“The members of the Golden Lion Clan, and all of you here, surely share the same desire to return to Earth. We are still working hard, gathering clues for our return. But the Users who have settled in the Hall Plain are different. They want to live here forever.”
“Then couldn't the Users who want to return just band together and leave the others behind?”
It was a sound argument, but unfortunately, reality wasn't so simple. Park Hyunwoo shook his head at Kim Hanbyul's question.
“Reality can't be divided so neatly. The Hall Plain isn't a game. It's a stark reality, a world in its own right. Various interests are complexly intertwined, leading to just as many conflicts. Those people do everything in their power to interfere with our plans, trying to prevent us from finding a way back to Earth at every turn.”
Was he talking about the Vagabonds? One example was the clan known as the Murder Brigade. It had not been founded yet, but it would become one of the representative clans formed by the sort of Users Park Hyunwoo was describing. It had only around ten members, yet every one of them was a psychopath who took pleasure in killing people. I remembered it being established sometime after the First Alliance War, which would break out before long.
As an aside, their end was quite spectacular. They continued their activities even after the Northern Continent crossed the Steel Mountains and entered Atlanta (though calling it an 'entry' might not be accurate), but they made the mistake of messing with a User from the Red Fang Clan, which owned a metropolis. Enraged, Woo Jungmin and Seon Yuun hunted them down until not a single one was left.
“For their goals, they don't hesitate to kill fellow Users. Of course, there are many who have settled down quietly, but I'm telling you that these dangerous types exist as well.”
A heavy silence fell over the plaza. It seemed most of them had thought of other humans as allies and had never considered the possibility that they could be enemies. Of course, there might have been some, like Park Donggeol, who wore indifferent expressions. Perhaps they had killed before, or had been forced to for some reason during the Rite of Passage...
“For now, they operate in the shadows, out of sight. But their power is by no means negligible. They're watching for any opening, any opportunity to burst out into the world. The User who just asked a question wanted to know the true purpose of the Academy, correct? This is our answer to that.”
He stared intently at Kim Hanbyul for a moment before continuing.
“Newly arrived Users are bound to become their targets. They can be turned into allies, or they can be used to satisfy their desires. The User Academy protects and teaches new Users like you from their clutches. It is the cornerstone for nurturing talented individuals who can join forces with us to stand against them. That's why the angels, and we, recommend entering it at the beginning. From the perspective of new Users, there is absolutely no downside.”
The gist of Park Hyunwoo's speech was that we should all help each other. The existing Users would protect the new ones from danger in the beginning and help them adapt to the Hall Plain. In turn, the new Users would grow based on that support and become capable enough to pull their own weight. Then, those grown Users would become precious assets to their city and their continent.
Kim Hanbyul sat down with a look of understanding. Judging by the agreement around her, everyone seemed persuaded by Park Hyunwoo’s explanation—everyone except me. Of course, everything he had said was true, and none of it was technically wrong. Entering the academy at the beginning was exactly what I wanted, so I had no complaint about that either. But he had not told them the whole truth.
If you looked for the cause of the First Alliance War, you'd find that his speech conveniently left out the most important part. It grated on my nerves to hear such words from a member of the Golden Lion Clan, the very clan that caused the start of the war.
He was beating around the bush, diligently badmouthing the Vagabonds who operated in the shadows. But Vagabonds were Vagabonds for a reason. The worst of them had wanted posters in every city and were treated like outcasts wherever they went. At least, that was the case here on the Northern Continent.
But weren’t you ultimately the same kind of bastards? I was not taking the Vagabonds’ side. Still, when it came to defending the power they already held or taking it from others, the established Users were not much different in my eyes.
During my first run, I had survived a life-or-death crisis, crossed the Steel Mountains, and helped capture Atlanta. Then a coalition of other clans, backed by support from another continent, exploited the opening and stabbed us in the back, taking the city we had fought to occupy. (We later steeled ourselves and reclaimed it in the Battle to Recapture Atlanta, regarded alongside the Ragnarok Siege as one of the worst battles in history.)
There was a saying in the Hall Plain: Users with common interests gathered to form a clan, and clans with a common enemy gathered to form an alliance. In other words, clans and Vagabonds were the same damn sort when it came to drawing their blades whenever necessity demanded it. Hearing Park Hyunwoo package the truth so cleverly made anger boil inside me. There was no need or reason to tell the new Users all of this now, but as someone who had lived through it, I found his speech too absurd for words.
By the time I managed to calm myself down, I saw that Kim Hanbyul had sat back down. It seemed she had accepted his words to some extent. It was unavoidable. Without having experienced which direction the Hall Plain would go, Park Hyunwoo's words were perfectly plausible. When I turned my gaze back to the central stage, he let out a sigh of relief, as if he hadn't expected such a question either.
“I didn't realize a few questions would take this long. I see some of you are looking tired... I think it would be best to end it here for today. For now, I recommend you get a good night's sleep. Training begins first thing tomorrow. Now, please follow the guides' instructions and move to your dormitories.”
After saying, “Yubin, cancel the Sound Amplification Magic,” he gave orders to the Users waiting nearby. Soon after, the Users who received his command began walking toward us, and Park Hyunwoo stepped down from the stage.
Just as he was about to descend the stairs, he turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the Users gathered there. It was only for a fleeting moment, but I saw Park Hyunwoo looking at Kim Hanbyul. His eyes held a deep interest in her. I quickly glanced at Kim Hanbyul and saw that she was meeting his gaze. For a moment, I felt a sense of unease.
Large, established clans had many Users hoping to join, but they also sometimes merged with smaller clans or preemptively recruited promising new Users. It was one of the privileges of a clan representing a metropolis, making it a difficult issue to touch.
I had a feeling that the interest in Park Hyunwoo's gaze stemmed from that. And I... for some reason I couldn't quite explain, I had a strong premonition that Kim Hanbyul would receive an offer from the Golden Lion Clan.
*
By the time we arrived at the dorms inside the academy, the sky had darkened from dusk to what could only be called night. The dorms were assigned based on the initial groupings, with eight people to a room. The quick-witted Ahn Hyun slipped out of line to squeeze in next to me, so he and I ended up in the same room.
The sleeping arrangements were nothing special, just a mattress and two blankets. In a way, it was so shabby you could call it pitiful. The first-timers grumbled, but the Users who looked like they'd served in the military went inside without a word and prepared for sleep. The User Academy's facilities were that similar to the army.
The Training Instructor said with a sly grin that we would have some freedom for the day. (The moment I heard that, I asked for a cigarette. He pulled out a few from his own pack without complaint.) Despite his words, everyone seemed exhausted, and all the Users except me were dead to the world in an instant.
Ahn Hyun was fast asleep, pressed right up against me, which honestly made me a little uncomfortable. As I stared at his face, I saw him smacking his lips as though dreaming about something. Was he dreaming about food? Thinking how carefree he was, I let out a quiet laugh.
The Northern Continent’s User Academy was infamous across all four continents for its brutal training. It contained numerous drills that went beyond anything one could imagine. The course lasted thirteen weeks, and the farther it progressed, the more the training defied common sense. I wondered whether the others would be able to endure it.
“......”
My chest felt tight. I had been letting out deep sighs for some time. When I considered why, I found one image filling my mind: Park Hyunwoo and Kim Hanbyul looking at each other.
The more I tried to shake it off and sleep, the more complicated my thoughts seemed to become. After tossing and turning for a while, I finally pushed myself up. I slipped my feet into a pair of slippers lying on the floor and opened the tightly shut door of the dorm. As I stepped into the pitch-black hallway, a cold chill seemed to cool my body. Savoring the cold air for a moment, I rummaged through my pocket, pulled out one of the cigarettes I'd gotten from the instructor, and placed it between my lips.
I scanned my surroundings and confirmed no one was there. I roused a faint amount of magic power and slowly sent it to my fingertips. Fwoosh. With the sound of a flickering flame, a spark ignited, lit the end of the cigarette, and vanished. I immediately took a deep drag.
“Hooo...”
The men’s and women’s dormitories were in separate buildings. Kim Hanbyul had unexpectedly been placed in the Magic-Talent category, though it made sense because Magic Power was her highest stat. The Clan Lord I had served before had belonged to the combat category. Without quite knowing why, I felt disappointed.
At first, I had treated Ahn Hyun's group merely as a means to an end. And even now, my ultimate goal hadn't changed. Only my way of thinking had. I acknowledged that there was something special about Kim Hanbyul, something different from a typical User, but honestly, even I hadn't expected to be this shaken.
Could I have grown attached to her? Or was it romantic feelings? Shaking my head at the ridiculous thought, I sent a shower of pale ash scattering into the air.
The person who knew me best was me. Given my detached nature, the idea that I could have grown attached to someone I had known for only a week was nonsense unworthy of a second thought. Then I realized something. Why had I felt disappointed when she was placed in the Magic-Talent category?
From our first meeting and throughout the Rite of Passage, every time I looked at Kim Hanbyul, I had been reminded of another woman—one of the Users I had sincerely followed during my first run. Perhaps I had been seeing Han Soyoung in Kim Hanbyul all along. Once I considered that, bitterness filled me. I found it ridiculous that I had been agonizing over something so trivial.
I dropped the cigarette and crushed it with my foot, then turned to leave. There was much to do and a mountain of things to think about. I had no desire to dwell on such unproductive worries any longer.
Sleep still wouldn't come. But I was determined to sleep, even if I had to force it. I was even prepared to knock myself out if necessary. I quietly opened the door and went back inside the room.