Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Fireworks and Fifth Place
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“Aren’t you thirsty? Should I get you something to drink?”
Something to drink. It gave me vibes like being at a Han River festival, so beer was tempting, but in my position, that wasn’t an option. I shook my head.
“No. I’m good.”
“Hmm. Got it.”
And so we sat in silence again.
Pointless time passed. Something kept tickling deep in my chest.
The cool night air.
The faint scent of grass.
The lively music sounds.
Even the friendly anticipation of the fireworks.
It felt like a scene from a youth drama. It only made the ticklish feeling worse, and my mood stranger.
“You saw a ghost today.”
That was when Choi Seo-yoon spoke first.
“I’ve felt it for a while, but it seems like each of you seniors has some unique past.”
She suddenly brought up the past. Curious what she meant, I looked at Choi Seo-yoon.
“Sometimes when I overhear you seniors talking, I have no idea what you’re saying. Like when I see you and Yoo Ah-ra senior talking.”
I opened my closed mouth.
“You’ve been misunderstanding something since last time. There’s nothing between me and her. And why are you so curious about that?”
At my response, Choi Seo-yoon glanced at me.
“Why? I can be curious. We’re close enough to watch fireworks together like this.”
Choi Seo-yoon gave a small smile and hugged her knees.
“That makes me feel a bit left out sometimes. But thinking about it, it makes sense. You seniors spent a whole year together, unlike with me.”
Then she added plainly in a straightforward voice.
“Just that.”
And she mumbled in a small voice.
“I wish I’d been born a year earlier.”
Pew-
The sound of fireworks launching echoed through the sky. Soon, with a bang, dazzling lights brightly lit up the night sky.
Choi Seo-yoon and I silently admired the fireworks. The light show filling the night sky carried mana, making it more moving than regular fireworks.
I turned my head to look at Choi Seo-yoon. She was gazing at the night sky with a faint smile.
There was something I wanted to say to her just now, but it vanished from my mind along with the fading fireworks.
Opening the dorm door, Gretel came running to me on her short legs. I grabbed her body and lifted her up.
“Gretel. Were you waiting?”
Gretel nodded brightly with a smile.
“Did you see the fireworks festival earlier? It was awesome.”
“Ngah.”
I didn’t know what she said, but her lively tone meant she saw it, so that was fine.
“Oh, right. I got you something tasty, Gretel.”
I pulled out street foods sold during the festival.
Chicken skewers, tteokbokki, stir-fried squid, and such.
Gretel’s eyes widened round, and she excitedly grabbed a chicken skewer with gestures.
Then she immediately put it in her mouth.
Munch munch. Gretel’s eyes went wide.
“Tasty?”
“Ngah!”
Her enthusiastic reply brought a natural smile to my face.
Leaving Gretel engrossed in her meal, I threw myself onto the sofa.
As I spaced out lost in thought alone, my pocket smartphone vibrated.
[Jin-woo, what’re you up to?]
It was Han Se-yeon.
She called yesterday, and today a message came right on time. She always contacts around this hour lately, so I was used to it.
[Resting..]
After I replied, a message arrived in less than 10 seconds.
[The .. at the end, what’s with the two dots? It’s kinda wistful, doesn’t suit you..]
[I meant one dot but accidentally pressed another.]
[Yeah yeah, got it hehe. Anyway, got something quick to say. Can I call?]
“Call?”
Whatever. No issue. I didn’t feel the need to reply, so I called her first.
Before the ringtone even finished, Han Se-yeon’s lively voice came through.
[Ah, I was about to call, but you beat me to it.]
“What’s up?”
[No, just checking if you’re free next Saturday.]
“Next Saturday? What’s the occasion?”
[Nothing specific, just about time we met up.]
A meeting for no reason.
Fine by me. I enjoyed talking with Han Se-yeon anyway. Especially when drinking; our conversations flowed surprisingly well.
Honestly, it was pretty fun.
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
[Oh, by the way, it’s a party.]
“Party?”
[Yeah. Not a big social event like Pioneer’s Night. Just a casual get-together. Not like only big shots are coming, so no pressure.]
What? Why take me somewhere like that?
“Hmm. I’ll have to think about it.”
[…If not, no biggie. It’s one of the few days I can legally have fun, so I thought I’d ask. You know I’m busy.]
Her sulky voice came through the speaker.
She said it like that, so my resolve weakened. I decided.
“Alright, let’s meet. Where is it?”
A small villa somewhere in Gangwon Province.
Fifteen mercenaries gathered again, centered around Han Se-jin.
They had undergone simple skill tests yesterday and today.
Testing their magic ability levels and espionage prowess, etc.
For reference, the tests involved raiding actual criminal organizations.
The result: total annihilation of the enemy group.
“Good work on the tests, everyone. All passed.”
Han Se-jin’s executive secretary, Kwak Byung-jin, said in a calm voice.
“And here are the scores divided up. Top scorer is Elin.”
“…Who’s Elin?”
S-Rank mercenary Jeong Kyung-won looked around and said. Then his gaze turned to the hooded woman.
“Oh, you? Unexpected name.”
“Shut up.”
The hooded woman, Elin, snapped irritably.
And continued.
“And please, for the love of god, stop paying attention to me.”
“…You got some issue?”
Kwak Byung-jin, who had been quietly watching the exchange, spoke.
“Elin, please follow me for a moment.”
Elin nodded and stood, following Kwak Byung-jin.
They passed the villa’s long hallway and arrived at a room.
Opening the door revealed a man in a black suit gazing out the window at nature.
“Vice Chairman, I’ve brought her.”
“Thank you.”
The man in the black suit, Han Se-jin, smiled and said. Kwak Byung-jin bowed and left the room.
Now only Han Se-jin and Elin remained.
Elin stared at Han Se-jin’s face for a moment before speaking.
“You the boss?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Yeah? You look more normal than expected.”
At Elin’s words, Han Se-jin tilted his head.
“Have we not met before?”
“First time.”
“Hmm. You must not watch news at all. I’m pretty famous, you know.”
“I only watch terror-related news.”
“Well, not important. I have a personal mission for you.”
Han Se-jin nodded.
“Yes, your first one. Simple: next week’s social gathering, bodyguard me. Heard some crazy bastard’s targeting me lately.”
At Han Se-jin’s words, Elin nodded.
“Yeah, that’s easy enough.”
The final day, day 3 of the Taehwi Festival.
I did nothing that day.
Eleven events remained, but I skipped them all.
Naturally, my ranking dropped to 6th. But I wasn’t disappointed. My goal was 5th anyway.
I waited for the right moment.
For the last event.
Time passed, and the final event, ‘Stage Escape,’ began.
Confident in it, I dominated and took 1st.
The host and audience all stared at me in shock.
I’d splendidly closed out the Taehwi Festival’s final event.
Ultimately, I secured my goal of 5th. Mine/Won-hyeok got 6th.
……Time flew, and the closing ceremony began.
Students gathered in the auditorium again.
Like the opening, Choi Seo-yoon hosted, smoothly progressing flawlessly.
Finally, Choi Seo-yoon bowed and stepped down from the podium.
“Now, we’ll proceed with the awards.”
Lee Hee-young went up and said.
“I’ll call 1st through 5th place students.”
1st: Lee Seo-jun
2nd: Yoo Ah-ra
3rd: Choi Seo-yoon
4th: Shin Young-jun
5th: Kim Sun-woo
[You’ve achieved ‘Taehwi Festival 5th Place.’]
[Reward: 2,000 points acquired.]
Excluding me, identical to the original rankings—a very satisfying result.
For reference, no 3rd years in top ranks due to low participation.
They’d enjoyed everything over the past 3 years, so they yielded top spots to juniors.
“Please come up to the podium when called.”
As I went up, students’ murmurs reached me.
“Kim Sun-woo 5th? What? Thought at least 2nd. He placed top 2 in every event he did.”
“Kim Sun-woo only did 7 events. And got 5th.”
“Only 7? Crazy.”
We received the Taehwi Festival trophy bracelet item, ‘Soul’s Sanctuary.’
Wearing it cleared my mind. Choi Seo-yoon beside me was delighted, saying it was pretty.
I glanced at the bracelet on my wrist. The embedded blue gem was nice, but not my taste.
Then Han Se-yeon came up.
Meeting Kim Sun-woo’s form again brought an odd tension.
Han Se-yeon gave us Hanseong Pharma special elixirs.
We also got scholarships and other prizes, like ‘Training Room’ tickets.
Then handshake time.
One by one, my turn came.
Han Se-yeon smiled and extended her hand. I took it.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
With that, top ranks awards ended. Descending, I felt Won-hyeok’s resentful gaze from afar.
Well, what can you do. If he wanted the bracelet that bad, he should’ve safely held 4th.
［Character ‘Won-hyeok.’ Feels mild anger toward you.］
［Reward: 500 points acquired.］
Time flew.
It was Wednesday.
Finally, the practical guidance I’d awaited. One-on-one with Choi Il-hyeon.
Opening the private training room door, Choi Il-hyeon looked at me.
“You’re here.”
“Yes.”
I bowed slightly, and Choi Il-hyeon said.
“Hmm. No need for intros. Don’t know your level exactly, so let’s spar once.”
Straight to sparring.
Classic Choi Il-hyeon, making me chuckle. True, better than pointless talk.
“Hmm. Should I attack right away?”
“Yeah. Come at me 100%.”
I planned 100% anyway.
Choi Il-hyeon’s true skill far exceeded public knowledge.
Only Kim Jin-cheol Chairman came to mind as stronger.
Sparring such a powerhouse wasn’t common.
How long could I last at full power?
Perfect chance to find out.
Of course, no electric attributes or rune bindings, so not full 100%. Maybe 85%?
I stretched and yawned.
“Going in. Oh, and seriously, don’t counter full force by mistake. I’ll die.”
Not a joke, dead serious. If Choi Il-hyeon went even a bit serious, I’d be done.
For real.
“I know that much. Come when ready.”
“Got it.”
As I replied, a message appeared.
[‘Intimidating Presence’ activates!]
[All stats +10%.]
I exhaled once and manifested orbs, rapid-firing.
Bang-!
Half-timing faster than most wizards could dodge.
But Choi Il-hyeon casually twisted, evading. As expected, I kept rapid-firing without surprise.
Against a wizard like him, compression was pointless.
He’d dodge anyway, so maximize release speed to land hits somehow.
“Focusing on release over manifestation is good. You’ve got instincts.”
Choi Il-hyeon muttered lowly, then kicked off the floor toward me.
Flash!
I retreated simultaneously. But he closed in fast, catching up quickly.
Whoosh!
His fist swung at me. I ducked, barely evading. Then a kick flew as if waiting.
Thud!
“Gah!”
My body floated, rolling on the floor.
He controlled power, so no major pain. But this overwhelming pressure after so long made my fingertips tremble slightly.
“And for a manifestation wizard, decent durability.”