Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: Part 2 Chapter 11
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The Association President arrived with medical supplies loaded in his car.
I familiarly pulled out disinfectant and gauze, wiping away the dirt embedded in my wounds.
I was thrilled.
My body ached, but it was worth it.
Forcing down my twitching lips, I dumped all the materials I'd diligently gathered over time in front of the Association President.
It was time to settle up for my hard work.
“……So this is Yeouhui’s stuff, and this is material that could be useful if some group attacking the Abyss itself starts making noise, and this is……”
I spilled out all the materials I’d painstakingly collected in front of Lee Yoo-hyun.
For some reason, Byun Woo-jin seemed pissed at me and grabbed my arm, realigning the dislocated bone and starting treatment.
His anger seemed to fade quickly. What a simple guy.
Lee Yoo-hyun, the Association President, looked pretty flustered seeing my flashy achievements and material-gathering skills—his expression darkened like Byun Woo-jin’s.
Honestly, I’d expected him to be thrilled with a big grin.
Seeing his expression wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, I worried if it was still not enough, but I decided to think he was just awestruck by my abilities.
“What’s the situation?”
Ah, so his expression wasn’t great just because my explanation was lacking.
To let Lee Yoo-hyun handle the on-site arrests when he had time, I’d only sent reservation texts with locations, no situation details.
I’d debated calling him but figured Yeouhui couldn’t cry evidence tampering if he did the arrests himself, so despite the hassle, I’d texted him to come.
Byun Woo-jin and the others probably showed up suddenly because Lee Yoo-hyun called them.
Sorry for the inconvenience, but I figured dragging him here would be worth it.
Yeouhui’s crew needed to get pinned down to start listening. It was one way to curb their influence.
I thought this would make Moon Se-rim and Yeouhui bow their heads like criminals in front of Lee Yoo-hyun for a while, but it was a shame he’d arrived late to the scene.
“So, here’s what happened…… Ow, that stings……”
I started to explain but flinched as my lip split further.
With a sigh, Byun Woo-jin whispered the situation to Lee Yoo-hyun.
“So, Saebyeok got caught by the kids Yeouhui had messed with before, but his face was covered, so they didn’t know who he was and tormented him like they did the others?”
“It tickled. It was nothing to me.”
I plugged my nosebleed with tissue and kept up my tough act. My shoulders shook. I figured I’d earned the right to act cool after all this.
“With his arms and legs bound, face covered……”
Lee Yoo-hyun muttered with an even darker expression, then turned off the video I’d shown him.
As a proper civilian, he probably couldn’t stomach the brutality. I’d have to explain it wasn’t brutal at all.
It was all voluntary buildup, so maybe it wouldn’t feel as cruel.
“That game was actually something I induced! I wanted to show them their actions would eventually threaten me. Explaining it verbally sounded lame, but anyway, it worked.”
So I’d fanned the flames to maximize the surrounding developments.
Lee Yoo-hyun’s expression soured uncontrollably.
Getting anxious, I replayed the video and zoomed in on the kids’ faces.
I had to prove this method had definitely worked.
“Look at their faces. See? They’re shocked. I thought making Yeouhui’s crew behave would let Lee Kyung-seop’s group shine with their goodwill…… Then those kids could have a good school life too, no conflicts……”
As his expression hardened more with every word, I switched back to polite speech, slipping in the casual bits I’d dropped.
Just in case. Maybe the informal tone bothered him. It could.
“Um…… Anyway, from here on out, it’s all easy stuff—problem solved, happy ending…… Damn it.”
Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair, smearing blood on my forehead.
My reflection in the window looked far from neat, so I wiped the blood off with my collar.
Maybe my disheveled state was souring his mood. He didn’t seem the type to nitpick that.
Suddenly feeling aggrieved, I blurted out.
“I did all this to ease your worries, Association President—no, I mean!”
“……”
He seemed to be thinking hard, but not knowing what made it frustrating.
“To do that…… I deliberately ate in the bathroom, spoke all weakly on purpose……”
I poked Byun Woo-jin’s side, who’d seemed less mad earlier. I needed an ally.
“Byun Woo-jin, come on. Say something. You get why I seemed suspicious now, right? I worked my ass off.”
“……”
“Why’s everyone’s face so rotten? I thought you’d praise me……”
Standing on tiptoes while seated made my legs tremble. Scared by Lee Yoo-hyun’s unchanging expression, I bowed my head.
“Why…… why are you like this? Can’t you just praise me like last time……? Honestly, provoking Awakeners and taking hits isn’t easy even for me. As a non-Awakener, it’s burdensome…… Damn it, what more do I have to do…… For a weakling like me, this is my best……”
Maybe I’d overpracticed crying earlier—my voice cracked for real, nearly bringing tears.
Embarrassed by the genuine tremble, I fiddled with the window switch. The window opened and closed noisily.
Suddenly, Byun Woo-jin grabbed my hand messing with the switch.
“What, too noisy?”
“……”
Then Byun Woo-jin suddenly stretched out his arm and hugged me.
“What the hell, suddenly.”
What, affection-starved all of a sudden?
I patted his back.
Not in the mood to comfort a guy, but as a sign of reconciliation, I hugged back.
The silent guy was hard to read sometimes.
“……You don’t have to do anything. And this doesn’t mean Saebyeok is incompetent.”
“How’s that not what it means……”
My words came out a bit curt. I’d racked my brains and set up the whole play, but now I felt deflated.
If what I did wasn’t helpful, wasn’t he saying to do nothing? A closer look would show it helped.
Or was I wrong about it helping?
“It hurts my heart when Saebyeok gets hurt.”
Ah, so it did help.
He just couldn’t express his appreciation openly out of guilt.
Sigh, fragile civilian. Definitely the type who can’t handle brutal movies.
“You see me come back hurt from gates all the time. This is just a tickle, I told you?”
“I hate that method!”
Lee Yoo-hyun shouted, face twisted. His eyes were red-rimmed.
Had I accidentally triggered him? Tears were streaming down. It flustered me.
“Why…… why are you crying…… Don’t cry……. I’m sorry……. Okay? Don’t cry……. Sorry……”
Desperate to stop his tears, I apologized, and he gripped his hair, head dropping.
“What am I supposed to do with this kid……”
His tearful mutter made my heart sink.
Was doing nothing better than this? I’d meant to spare him emotional labor.
For some reason, he looked deeply hurt. What did I do wrong?
I reached out and patted Lee Yoo-hyun’s shoulder to soothe him.
Trying to stop negative thoughts, my mind churned with all sorts of worries.
“……Don’t apologize. Saebyeok did nothing wrong.”
“Then why……?”
Lee Yoo-hyun, who’d been quietly burying his face in his hands, spoke up.
“If I came back mangled saying it was for Saebyeok’s sake, would you be happy?”
“……”
I’d never considered that scenario; my brain froze.
The Association President coming back hurt for my sake……
Honestly, I couldn’t imagine creating such a situation.
“It’d be a huge burden. Sorry.”
Still, his mood would suck, so I apologized.
No praise and now apologizing. Deep down, I wanted to hear “you’re the best.”
Since no praise, I’d nail down one thing.
It helped, but the brutality in the process bothered him.
Still, since it helped, he could at least say that much.
“Then promise from now on, no matter how much we worry you, you won’t leave.”
Lee Yoo-hyun looked at me, stunned.
“No way…… You did all this because you were anxious I’d leave……?”
“?”
Anxious about what? What’s there to be anxious about?
His probing gaze made me look away. My bloodied, messy reflection stared back in the window.
Calling Lee Yoo-hyun here probably wasn’t the best plan.
I regretted not just tossing the cool results his way.
As I stewed in regret, Lee Yoo-hyun, who’d been silent with his head down gripping the wheel, finally spoke slowly.
“I won’t leave even if Saebyeok doesn’t try so hard. I’d stake my life or soul if needed. If that’s too vague to believe, you can ask Do-yoon to grab some weakness to hold me with.”
“……”
His serious expression felt reliable. I took his word he wouldn’t leave and relaxed a bit.
Still, he wouldn’t say it so firmly without thought.
My efforts weren’t entirely useless.
“……No need to go that far……”
My tangled thoughts suddenly cleared. My headache from earlier eased up.
Praise here would make it even better.
“Praise me too. I worked hard.”
“Thanks for worrying about what I should’ve handled myself. That’s where my gratitude ends.”
“Why? I’ll handle the rest without a scratch. Only easy stuff left.”
No brutality over age 15 in front of the Association President from now on. I’d heal up fully before coming.
“You don’t have to……”
Lee Yoo-hyun started to say more but clamped his mouth shut.
“Please find a way where Saebyeok doesn’t get hurt.”
“Yes, sir.”
Finally trusting me a bit.
I grinned brightly.
His gaze hardened again. Just give me a thumbs up already.
“But I won’t leave even if you don’t try, and I’ll value Saebyeok without you proving your worth through effort.”
“Yes.”
It felt oddly alien, hard to grasp, but damn good to hear.
Still, expecting anything without doing something was impossible.
I wasn’t some powerhouse Awakener with massive mana. I’d blown all my cash on the gate bot this time—dead broke.
“Caring about you is enough for me.”
“……”
So sweet it逆に made me anxious.
I knew mere care wouldn’t change anything, so I let it slide.
I’d been patting Byun Woo-jin, but drained, my hand went limp—he ended up patting me instead.
Having shown real weakness, I brushed his hand off.
But separately, my mood lifted a little.
* * *
Back at the dorm, chaos erupted.
“Saebyeok…… I was too oblivious. You had it the worst……”
As Woo Ji-yoon hugged and cried over me, I pulled out my phone with my other hand to secretly check the video I’d saved.
I noted down every face from the video in my memo app.
Including the Tumbler crew, all the nasty kids who’d tormented me were there.
Jackpot. Alright, everyone down to the abyss together.
Part of it was to reform Yeouhui’s group, but those Tumbler bastards who framed me were such assholes too.
“Saebyeok, what’ve you been typing on your phone since earlier?”
“Huh……? Uh…… Waaah.”
Instead of answering, I fake-cried into Woo Ji-yoon’s shoulder.
She patted my back and started babbling.
Explaining to Woo Ji-yoon would complicate things, so I kept fake-crying to change the subject.
I turned back to my phone, checking the Awakener list only Association staff could access.
Everyone there was an Awakener, so their info would be in the database.
I dug through for a while, pulling up their names and checking Awakening details one by one.
‘Nice~’
Most there, including the Tumbler crew, were rookies without second job changes.
Properly Awakened, these punks would cause headaches.
I wanted to hold their futures hostage.
“Ji-yoon, gotta call my counselor quick.”
“Huh? Oh…… Okay, hurry back.”
Up on the rooftop, I dialed Seol Do-yoon’s number, the one I used for the HappyNPC Min-woo role.
I’d chipped in on raising HappyNPC, so I had decent shares and say.
The ringtone dragged, then connected.
“Yeah, Min-woo. Got a favor.”
《What.》
Whatever happened, his prickliness was doubled.
“I’m gonna send you something soon……”
The call cut off.
“What the— damn bastard.”
Thinking he wouldn’t help, a text came with an attachment.
Second job refusal player list. Basically a blacklist shared with guild NPCs.
Once on it, NPCs refused job quests—and it had everyone I wanted.
He’d prepared ahead, knowing I’d pester.
‘Helpful after all.’
He nails exactly what’s needed.
I disliked ninety-eight things about Seol Do-yoon, but one of my two likes was his work speed.
The other: his face suits my taste.
His temper’s worsening, but good work forgives anything.
Whistling, I saved the file.
On the way down, I soothed Lee Kyung-seop last, then crashed in my room and passed out.
Quite an intense day.