Lion's Roar Training #9
Lion's Roar Training #9
"Huh?"
I opened my eyes and saw a white ceiling. The standard-issue bug pattern. A ceiling covered in those little wavy marks and dot patterns. I saw that design constantly back in school... What the hell is going on?
What happened to me?
"Why am I here? Ah."
The moment I tried to remember.
"Right...! That happened!"
I clutched my head!
"That voice! That song! Aaagh!"
Flashback.
While tearing at my hair, the memory of that agony resurfaced, and I reflexively slapped both hands over my ears to block it out. But something felt weird.
"What the?"
I checked and saw bandages wrapped around my ears!
"What is this?!"
What the hell happened to me?!
The Chairwoman had definitely started singing some bizarre song that young people might like while unleashing that outrageous Brutal Spear Art, and my memory cut out completely right at that moment.
Of course it cut out!
That kind of song was already bad enough, but she mixed the Lion's Roar into it! I never imagined she could infuse mana into growling and screaming...! I never dreamed Chairwoman was into deathcore!
"I thought I was dead!"
Anyway, the fact that I was moved to a hospital means I'm apparently alive. Grateful for that, I looked around and found a letter on the side table next to my things.
Was it a letter from Chairwoman?
—Slide.
I checked it right away.
[Chairwoman's mistake! I'm sorry! They said your health is fine, so rest up and come back!]
[ㅜㅜ!!!]
Next to the apology was a hand-drawn emoji of someone crying their eyes out.
"No, did she really draw this herself... ahem."
Well, she didn't really need to apologize. It was a terrible accident, but wasn't this exactly the kind of risk I'd accepted when I started the training? Danger comes with every form of training.
Besides, Chairwoman had taught me out of sheer goodwill.
So it's no big deal. In fact, haven't I just gained the valuable intel that even a strong guy like me can lose consciousness from a mere Lion's Roar?
That's a win.
Anyway, since my health seems to be fine, I should head back.
Thinking that, I grabbed my phone and saw a message waiting for me. I checked, and it was from Leona.
[Kim Geun-cheol?]
[How was training?]
[Did you learn some Lion's Roar?]
[>o< : Aaaagh!]
"Gahak!"
What's with all the emojis today?!
That last emoji is so unbearably cute. Should I throw one back? I immediately sent a reply to Leona.
[I'm in the hospital]
[x_x]
The moment the message was sent.
—Ring!
The phone rang.
"Huh? Leona?"
A call from Leona.
Why's she reacting this fast?
—Ring.
"Uh, Leo—"
"What do you mean by that?!!"
My eardrum nearly exploded.
"Kim Geun-cheol, where are you?! Tell me immediately!"
"Le, Leona! Hang on! Calm down a sec—"
"Where are you?!!"
"Where is this? Wait... Ah, it's written over there. Mekkum Donas Emergency Center Room 702... the hell? What's with this name?"
"Wait right there!!!"
"Your voice is way too loud!"
—Click.
The call cut off the second she got what she needed.
"No, hold on."
Wait right here?
She's coming here right now?
"What're you coming here for, Leona?! I'm about to leave!"
I shouted that and tried to call her back, but it wouldn't connect! She might already be sprinting all the way here!
"What the?!"
Rushing over the instant she heard I was in the hospital—she really is an angel. But she's kind of overdoing it today! There's no need for her to come...!
Some time passed.
—Boom!
"Kim Geun-cheol!"
Leona shoved the door open hard and burst into my hospital room.
"Leona!"
And she was even holding a fruit basket!
"What's with the fruit basket?!"
"A visit present! No, more importantly! Good heavens! What is this?!"
Leona set the fruit basket down, stomped over, and yelled while grabbing my wrist.
"Look at you in a hospital gown! What in the world happened?! How does a guy who said he was going to train the Lion's Roar end up in a hospital room?! And you've got bandages wrapped around your head!"
"Rapid-fire, rapid-fire, Leona...! Calm down! I'll tell you!"
"Just tell me quickly!"
"Well, you see. So, earlier, during the training, the Chairwoman gave a Lion's Roar demonstration, right?"
For the sake of Chairwoman's honor, I decided to omit the part about how she suddenly got carried away and burst into some incomprehensible song with Brutal Spear Art like a kid.
"But while I was listening to it, my ears suddenly started to hurt, and I blacked out."
"What...!"
Hearing the rough explanation, Leona craned her whole head forward and spoke, one eye opened wide like Mad-Eye Moody.
"How does something so ridiculous happen?! No, I mean! To faint during a Lion's Roar demonstration!"
"I guess you'd call it an unforeseen accident."
"What about the earplugs I gave you?! You made sure to bring them along, so why didn't you use them?!"
That voice sounded genuinely regretful, but Leona.
Your earplugs... couldn't handle Chairwoman's voice for even a single second.
"Earplugs?"
"Yes! Earplugs!"
"Ahh, you mean these?"
"What? Gasp?!"
When I pulled out the ruptured earplugs and showed her, Leona covered her mouth with both hands and gasped.
"They ruptured."
"Why are they ruptured?!"
"I dunno... They burst like a holy relic exposed to a wicked force. Leona, when I first heard that sound, the first thought I had was this: thank god I was alive. But these had already burst before I could even pull them out of my pocket!"
"Does that make any sense?! What is this, the occult?!"
It's a world where the occult has become reality.
"Oh! Poor thing!"
Leona placed the earplugs on her palm, said that, and stroked them pitifully. A holy sight, but that wasn't going to restore a ruptured object.
"Sigh... Honestly. When you said hospital, I was terrified. So. Are your ears injured?"
"Nah. They said my health is fine? From the looks of it, they saw me collapse and just went overboard with the bandages."
"That sounds like something Chairwoman would do, seeing how much she cares for her students. Seriously, what's this about? You went off in a good mood to learn a technique and nearly became a corpse. You corpse, Kim Geun-cheol."
"Corpse, Kim Geun-cheol? Ah, but I told you, you didn't have to come. You just hung up on me like that."
"How could I not? If you, Kim Geun-cheol, are in the hospital—of course I'm going to come."
"Leona, please stop being so damn radiant! I'm going to go blind!"
"Cut the crap, seriously."
—Slide.
Leona picked up the knife and started peeling an apple.
"Want me to cut you some fruit?"
"When are you discharged?"
"I could probably do it right now."
"Then, since I bought all this, let's finish it before we go. You're hungry, right?"
"Hehehe, how'd you know I was hungry? Thanks, Leona."
"Here."
Leona sliced the apple in an instant and held out a piece. I took it in my mouth and crunched on it. Damn, this is sweet.
"So sweet."
"Hehe, it must be a good apple. But a private room? The Chairwoman must've been pretty shocked too, huh?"
"Well... I was unconscious, so I don't really know. Check this out."
"This? Ah. A note from Chairwoman? Wow, would you look at those exclamation marks. It's a perfect match for you, Kim Geun-cheol, a perfect match."
"No way."
I've got a long way to go before I can match Chairwoman.
—Slide.
So I ate the apples and pears Leona cut for me while we talked.
"Whew, really. Not a day goes by without some kind of accident. What on earth is this? In your whole life, the only person who'd get hauled off to the hospital like this is probably you, Kim Geun-cheol."
"Hey. You really think so? I heard this kind of thing happened pretty often in the old days."
"What do you mean?"
I told her a bit of what Chairwoman had shared with me. Tacking on the guess that with all her Lion's Roar practice, her comrades back then probably had a tough time.
"Hehehe, how utterly absurd. Still, I can imagine it was pretty hard on the people around her who had to hear the Lion's Roar."
"Reveille-level, I'm telling you."
"Here, have one more of these. Say ah."
"Ah."
She was just straight-up feeding me. Like a baby bird getting fed by its mother, I swallowed the Shine Muscat grape Leona gave me.
"Hey. Hey. Enough feeding me. I've got hands."
"Are you unaware of the concept of absolute bed rest? Anyway, you didn't have any complaints while you were chomping it all down, and now you're saying that?"
"No, it was nice at first, but when you keep doing it, I feel bad."
"What's there to feel bad about? The next time I'm sick in bed, you can just do the same."
Though I've no idea if Leona would ever end up hospitalized.
"Anyway. Did you make any progress with the Lion's Roar?"
"I did. It definitely helped. Up until I passed out."
"Well, that's a relief."
I did pass out, but everything I learned before that is still in my head. Whatever the case, I'll just train exactly as I was taught. The power was enough to knock out a powerhouse like me in one shot.
If I can use it well, I could probably eat most bastards alive.
"Ah, now that I think about it."
"Hm?"
"Woo Yu-ri looked kind of out of it today. Did something happen yesterday? She definitely went back after training with you, Kim Geun-cheol, right?"
—Plunk.
Leona set down the knife and asked that.
"Yu-ri looked out of it? Ah, well, she did feel a bit subdued today. But that's not that weird."
People have off days and good days, don't they?
"That's true. I was just wondering if she wasn't feeling well."
"No way she wouldn't be feeling well."
"Huh?"
It's impossible for her to feel bad.
That's because yesterday, Yu-ri got the supreme Kim Geun-cheol massage. After getting that, she'd be feeling great, not the opposite.
"What do you mean?"
"No, so, yesterday. Because Yu-ri lied to me about... you know that thing. That thing."
"You mean the Andomin Incident."
"Yeah. So I gave her a massage to apologize, you know? Her shoulder muscles were all knotted up, so I worked 'em all out."
"Huhhh... really?"
Leona tilted her head as she listened.
"Wait a sec."
She looked me dead in the eye.
"What did you say? You did what?"
"What? I just gave her a massage?"
"A massage?! You gave her a massage?!"
Yeah.
I did.
What's the big deal?
"Ughk...!"
"Leona?"
Leona's fists trembled as she shouted.
"Why didn't you give me one?!!"
What?!