Chapter 38
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Practice (3)
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‘What the hell is she talking about...?’
Bang Han-na's sudden invitation had left me momentarily stunned, but I quickly pulled myself together, maintaining my composure as I gently scolded her.
"Han-na. No matter how tough things get, you can't just say stuff like that carelessly..."
But then.
"Come on in...! You're tired too, oppa...!"
"O, oppa...?"
Now she was even changing how she addressed me on her own and throwing a full-on tantrum.
"Don't you like it when I call you oppa...?"
Bang Han-na grabbed my arm with both hands, pouting her lips as she asked cautiously.
Was it the alcohol?
She seemed especially cute, making my heart skip a beat just a little.
"I-It's not that I hate it..."
"Reaaally.... So from now on, when it's just the two of us, can I call you oppa...?"
"...Huh?"
It was truly a mountain beyond a mountain.
Bang Han-na looked full of eager anticipation, her eyes sparkling as she demanded the new title.
‘Should I go along with this...?’
Normally, building personal relationships was something to be cautious about.
Personal friendships or emotions could inevitably lead to problems.
The reason Queens had run smoothly so far was because I'd kept a similar distance from everyone.
But...
This was a special case.
‘...She won't even remember anyway...’
Convinced that Bang Han-na's memory had blacked out, I figured she wouldn't remember this either and nodded.
"Sure! If you wanna call me oppa, go right ahead!"
"Waaah!"
"So, listen to oppa and..."
At that moment.
Gwoooosh───
Taking advantage of my brief lapse in guard, she started dragging me toward the motel entrance.
"Hey, hey!"
Startled, I tensed up and tried to resist, but...
‘What the—why is she so strong!?’
She displayed unexpected superhuman strength, dragging my body along like a ragdoll.
"...H-Han-na! Wait...!"
Ignoring the size difference, I was pulled all the way to the motel entrance,
"Bang Han-na!"
I had no choice but to flick her on the head hard, forcing her to stop.
"Ow.... Oppa hit me..."
She clutched her head, looking wronged and on the verge of tears.
At the sight of her, I was momentarily speechless and began scolding her, ignoring the gathering stares.
"What do you think you're doing right now! Dragging someone who said no?"
"Nooo.... I just... I'm tired..."
"If you're tired, rest at home! You're not a little kid who doesn't know better—what if I had bad intentions and went along?"
"......"
Bang Han-na clamped her mouth shut and stared at the ground.
She looked just like a kid who knew she was wrong but didn't want to admit it.
"...Haa..."
Feeling a twinge of doubt from the stinging gazes and her dazed stance, I let out a short sigh, grabbed her hand, and said,
"Let's go home. I'll take you. I was gonna let you go alone, but... seeing this, no way."
"......"
"Come on."
"...Okay..."
Bang Han-na stumbled along but kept glancing back at the motel entrance with lingering regret.
Watching her, I wondered if she had some special feelings for me, but...
"...Oppa... Are you... really mad...?"
"Yeah. Super mad."
"Eek.... I'm sorry... I just... wanted to get closer to you..."
I soon realized it was my misunderstanding.
Thinking about it, Bang Han-na, living alone far from home, didn't have many people to lean on.
Just a handful of college friends at best...
Even those she barely saw anymore since starting at the team.
So she had no choice but to rely on me, someone nearby.
‘Kinda pitiful.’
Actually, this would sort itself out once she got closer to Jin Seo-won or Kim Na-rae.
Though those two weren't the warmest personalities, so it'd take some effort...
Until then, I just needed to look out for her a bit.
"...Bang Han-na."
While waiting for a taxi, I placed her in front of me, met her eyes, lowered my voice, and gave her a stern warning.
"You gonna do it again?"
"Huh...?"
"You gonna do it again?"
Her face looked a bit more sober now, like the alcohol was wearing off...
"...N-No, I won't!"
"For real?"
"Yes...! Really!"
"You want me to trust you?"
"Please trust me...!"
"...Then pinky promise. No more of this, okay?"
"...Yes, yep...!"
That was pretty cute too, so I forgave her before we even got home.
Same time.
Seol Ju-hee, who had gone to bed earlier than usual, was tormented by a horrific nightmare.
"Seol Ju-hee...! How could you do such a thing...!"
"Ju-hee... W-What about us...? What are we supposed to do...?"
"...I had no choice."
It was a dream where, after revealing she was dating Do Ji-hyeok, she was scolded by Hong Yu-ra and Im A-rin.
"You promised...! W-We were all gonna get married together...! All of us...!"
"...A-rin. I explained already. It's to make sure Ji-hyeok can't run away—we marry first. You know better than anyone how many women are after him."
"Seol Ju-hee. Is that what you call an excuse?!"
"Don't raise your voice, Yu-ra. I'm not doing this because I want to...! I had to because of the baby..."
"Seol Ju-hee!!!"
The dream was a nightmare through and through.
Seol Ju-hee had become a trashy cheater who got pregnant behind her friends' backs, and they treated her like a sleazy betrayer.
"You two can just get pregnant by Ji-hyeok too!!!"
"Shut up! You coward... After deceiving us like that, what do you have to say?"
"Sob.... I... Hic..."
Im A-rin collapsed to the floor, weeping bitterly, while the other two argued fiercely.
"...Everything you've done. I'm telling it all to Ji-hyeok."
"Hong Yu-ra. Enough...!"
"You think I didn't know you slipped him something...?"
"...What?"
"Fun playing around with Ji-hyeok while making us miserable, huh? ...Now you try it."
"Hong Yu-ra, stop right there. Hong Yu-ra!!!"
Just as Seol Ju-hee chased after Hong Yu-ra, leaving Im A-rin behind...
"!"
Seol Ju-hee jolted awake, sitting up and frantically looking around.
‘A d-dream...?’
It felt so real, just like it had actually happened moments ago.
‘W-What kind of crazy dream is this...’
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and placed a hand on her pounding chest, letting out a heavy sigh...
"Haa..."
For some reason, the conversations from the dream kept swirling in her mind.
As if...
Warning her.
A few days later.
The usual training session continued.
"Seo-won. Lower your hips more, twist further when you punch."
"...Like this?"
I was teaching Jin Seo-won some forms related to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Whoosh─
"Too much power in your fist. Lighter. Like a tap."
"...Lighter..."
Like Seol Ju-hee, Jin Seo-won had decided to learn fist-based forms.
There were sword techniques too, but we chose fists to maximize the overwhelming destructive power and efficiency of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
"Hmm... This won't do. Let me adjust your stance."
I approached Jin Seo-won closely, pressing gently on her waist and holding her elbow as I explained.
"Like this—your hips need to turn more. Got it?"
"...Yes."
Jin Seo-won seemed awkward at first but followed along well. Probably riding on her innate talent—what they call genius vibes.
"...Um... I need to step out for a bit..."
"Ah. Go ahead."
One curious thing: like when teaching Seol Ju-hee, she went to the bathroom 3 or 4 times a day.
At first I thought it was just her metabolism being active...
"...Back."
"...You okay?"
"...Pardon?"
"Your face is super flushed... And you're breathing hard."
"...I'm fine."
Every time she came back from the bathroom, she looked flushed like she'd just done something major, so I realized it was the same symptoms as Seol Ju-hee.
‘Is there some internal art effect like that?’
"Anyway... Let's start again."
"...Yes."
And so training continued.
‘Time to move to team drills?’
After lunch at the training hall cafeteria, checking the team members' levels, I decided to try simple team training in the afternoon.
"Team training...?"
"Team means... all together?"
"Right. Can't do solo forever."
Team training is similar to solo, but everyone enters the booth together to fight dummy robots.
"Just sync up your breathing for now. No orders from me—you handle it."
I shoved the three into one booth and activated the dummies for D-rank.
Kiiing───
As the robots beeped and faced them, the three inside roughly formed up as they'd practiced individually.
"Everyone behind me!"
Lead was tanker Bang Han-na.
Shield raised, she faced the dummy head-on. It recognized her and charged with a signal.
Kiiing────!
Bam──!
It was D-rank level attack, but after repeated training, it barely fazed Bang Han-na,
"Na-rae unnie!"
"Here goes...!"
As the blocked dummy staggered, Kim Na-rae summoned a spirit and fired a fireball on cue.
Fwooooosh── Bang──!
Kiiiiiing────
The dummy flailed, engulfed in flames.
"Seo-won!"
Bang Han-na, drawing its attention forward, immediately called Jin Seo-won.
Tat──!
Jin Seo-won darted to its side, unleashing an inner energy-infused punch,
Bang───!
Beep───
With the whoosh of air, the defeat beep sounded.
They'd cleanly taken down a D-rank training robot on the first try.
"Uh... Did we get it...?"
"I think so...?"
The girls inside peeked at me, unsure of what they'd done,
‘Whoever trained them did a damn good job.’
I smirked at their better-than-expected performance.