Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Rising Suspicions
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At that moment, Lee Seo-jun, who had been on a phone call somewhere, approached us.
“The Association’s investigators are on their way now.”
“Yeah?”
I glanced at Park Jin-su.
He had been stronger than expected.
His wizard rank was at least B-Grade, if not higher.
Choi Seo-yoon’s combat ability had exceeded my expectations, allowing us to take him down before Heart of Great Nature ended.
Of course, if we’d taken the mana elixir together, we could have beaten him easily, but reviewing the situation, his attacks had been relentless, leaving no opening to drink it.
“Hmm.”
The story had diverged a bit from the original, but we’d taken down the villain and resolved the incident, so I was satisfied.
The only thing nagging at me was whether my involvement had caused Lee Seo-jun to lose a strong ally in Choi Seo-yoon.
I hoped we wouldn’t end up in a situation where Lee Seo-jun had to bear the burden alone that should have been shared with an ally, leading to his death.
Maybe I was overthinking it.
What to do with the remaining time? As I pondered alone, I confirmed the results from the recent battle.
[Defeated B-Grade Villain, Park Jin-su.]
[Causality increases by 0.8.]
[Defeated villain jointly with a major character.]
[Gain additional 0.2 Causality.]
[Character ‘Choi Seo-yoon’ feels gratitude toward you.]
[Reward: Acquire 1,000 points.]
[Character ‘Lee Seo-jun’ feels strong suspicion toward you.]
[Reward: Acquire 1,000 points.]
1 Causality and 2,000 points.
The points were a bit lacking, but I’d gained a full 1 Causality.
The odd part was getting a whole 1 Causality from an opponent who wasn’t that strong. It was 0.2 more than when I’d soloed Jo Sung-hoon.
A question arose. What exactly were the criteria for Causality?
It varied based on intervention level and story changes, but did that mean this incident had caused a major shift in the story?
“Um, Sunbae-nim.”
As I was lost in thought, Choi Seo-yoon’s voice called out to me.
“Hm?”
“I got help again this time. Thank you.”
“...Yeah, sure.”
At my response, Choi Seo-yoon gave a faint smile. Then she stared intently at my face for a long while before speaking again.
“No injuries anywhere?”
“Nope. You?”
“I’m fine too. My ankle twisted a little, maybe.”
Instead of answering, I nodded.
“Sorry. You got dragged into all this trouble because of me.”
“No. Why are you apologizing?”
Choi Seo-yoon wasn’t at fault in this incident. To be precise, she’d just gotten caught up in her father Choi Jae-hyung’s affairs.
“No, it’s not nothing. We almost both lost our lives.”
It had been dangerous. I hadn’t expected him to attack so suddenly like that.
Buying the Killing Intent Detection trait had been the right call.
It had saved my life multiple times now.
-Nyaang.
Then, a cat’s meow sounded.
I glanced over, and the pure white cat the client had been looking for was slowly approaching us. It must have hidden somewhere safely during the brutal fight.
“So pretty.”
Choi Seo-yoon scooped the cat into her arms. It took to human touch better than expected, closing its eyes and nestling into her embrace.
9:30 PM.
We finished the Association’s investigation and stepped outside.
The investigation had dragged on longer than expected.
The Association had been suspicious that Choi Seo-yoon and I had taken down B-Grade wizard Park Jin-su without a single injury.
But after a long interrogation, we wrapped everything up and left the investigation room with a 10 million won bounty.
“Whew.”
The cold night air hit us as we exited. Choi Seo-yoon checked a message on her smart student notebook and muttered.
“They said the mercenary request went well. The client’s thrilled.”
Good to hear it resolved smoothly.
I nodded and walked along the long sidewalk stretching ahead.
“It’s late.”
“Yeah. Why’d the investigation take so damn long?”
“Who cares. We got 10 million won out of it.”
“True. Hehe.”
Our destination was a hotel not far from the Black Flame Mercenaries’ headquarters.
The mercenary experience lasted three days, so we’d be staying there for two nights.
Lee Seo-jun and Lee Hyun-joo were probably waiting there.
“Sunbae-nim.”
“Yeah.”
“I have a question. Why is your school ranking like that?”
Choi Seo-yoon looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
She must have felt the gap between my skills today and my school ranking.
“Why do you think? I bombed the exams.”
“Come on, your mana control was way too good for someone who did that poorly.”
“Shut up. I don’t know either, so don’t ask.”
“...I’ve felt it before, but you’ve got so many secrets.”
Choi Seo-yoon grumbled.
Then her smart student notebook chimed with an alarm. She checked the message, and her expression hardened.
“What? Something wrong?”
At my question, Choi Seo-yoon looked at me with a tense face.
“Dad’s here...”
“Seo-yoon.”
We turned at the male voice from behind.
A tall, handsome man in his forties was watching us.
Choi Jae-hyung, head of the Choi family, one of the Five Great Noble Houses.
“D-Dad?”
“Are you okay? Not hurt anywhere?”
Choi Jae-hyung approached Choi Seo-yoon with a face full of worry. She glanced at me awkwardly, embarrassed by the situation.
“I’m fine.”
“...I see. That’s a relief.”
Choi Jae-hyung let out a deep sigh of relief. I could sense his guilt over whether his mistakes had harmed his daughter.
As I watched them, Choi Jae-hyung’s gaze turned to me.
“...And the student?”
“I’m 2nd Year Kim Sun-woo.”
I bowed my head politely.
“Kim Sun-woo?”
Choi Jae-hyung repeated my name, thinking to himself. He soon tilted his head.
“Hmm... Doesn’t ring a bell. What’s your student ranking, by the way?”
“72nd place.”
“Hm...”
Choi Jae-hyung nodded. He didn’t show it outwardly, but he seemed inwardly disappointed.
Whatever, it didn’t matter much.
“Anyway, I heard the student helped keep my daughter from getting seriously hurt. Thank you.”
Unlike his stern image, Choi Jae-hyung’s tone was soft and polite.
Of course, that was just the surface; his true nature was ruthless.
“No problem.”
At my reply, Choi Jae-hyung nodded and looked at me. He hesitated, as if wanting to say something. I picked up on it and told him.
“Should I give you two some space?”
He smiled faintly at that.
After parting with Choi Seo-yoon, I arrived at the hotel the school had arranged. They hadn’t provided much support money for the experience, so I ended up sharing a room with Lee Seo-jun.
“Kim Sun-woo. You’re back?”
Lee Seo-jun greeted me as I opened the door. I responded casually and looked around the room.
It was a decent size, with two large beds.
“Not bad.”
“It’s a wizard-exclusive hotel, after all.”
I went inside and flopped onto the bed. The day’s events had left me exhausted. Lee Seo-jun’s hair was damp; he’d already showered.
“Guess I should wash up...”
“Go ahead.”
“Yeah.”
He couldn’t stand feeling grimy, so he headed straight to the shower.
After a quick rinse, I came back out. Lee Seo-jun was reading something on his smart student notebook.
“What’re you looking at?”
“Internet articles. Says magical crimes are spiking lately.”
“They have surged in the last few weeks.”
Magical crimes would keep rising.
Even without self-awakened or demons, villains like today’s Park Jin-su or Jo Sung-hoon from the Incheon terror incident last time were still hiding out there.
“...But you.”
Lee Seo-jun, staring at his notebook, turned his gaze to me.
“Where’d you learn magic?”
“Magic?”
Why ask that? Because of the fight today?
“Where else? At school.”
“No separate mentor?”
Some students at the Wizard Academy have private mentors outside of school classes.
Lee Seo-jun was no exception. His mentor was none other than Kim Jin-cheol, chairman and the world’s strongest wizard.
“Nope, none.”
“...Really?”
“Why?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
Lee Seo-jun lay back halfway on the bed.
Then he muttered so quietly it was almost inaudible.
“Raw talent, huh...”
What’d he say?
I stared at him for a moment before lying back on my bed too.
I gazed blankly at the internet screen on my smart student notebook, lost in thought.
What’ll happen tomorrow...
Will today’s events trigger another butterfly effect...
“Kim Sun-woo.”
Lee Seo-jun’s call snapped me out of it.
“Yeah, what?”
“This is really bugging me, so can I ask something?”
“What?”
He looked at me with serious eyes and spoke.
“Why do you pretend to have low mana usually?”
“What?”
I squinted at the unexpected question.
“What’re you talking about?”
“I suspected it since the last dungeon raid, but seeing your fight today confirmed it.”
“Confirmed what?”
“That you’re hiding your real strength.”
“...What?”
I wasn’t hiding anything. My innate mana was genuinely low, so I often had to show a weak side.
If I could, I’d climb the ranks and suck up all those points.
“Deny it all you want... You’ve got plenty of mana but act like you don’t at school.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“Anyway, misunderstanding.”
Lee Seo-jun paused.
“...Kim Jin-woo.”
“Yeah.”
“Kim Jin-woo?”
“Ah, what? ...Wait, no.”
I froze and looked at Lee Seo-jun. His eyes were wide as he stared back.
“What the hell? Why’d you answer to Kim Jin-woo?”
“Uh...? Names are similar. Got confused for a sec.”
Lee Seo-jun narrowed his eyes. He stared blankly at me, deep in thought. Soon, he shook his head as if he’d sorted it out.
“...Nah, no way.”
Why’s he being so scary? Why’d Kim Jin-woo come up out of nowhere?
“But do you really not know a Kim Jin-woo?”
“Nope.”
“For real?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Seo-jun peered into my eyes. Then he nodded.
“...Okay.”
Seemingly out of questions, he lay flat on the bed.
“Time to sleep. Gotta head out early tomorrow.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.”
“Night.”
“You too.”
I lay down and pulled the covers over.
Beep.
The lights went out. Pitch darkness filled the room.
I stared blankly at the dark ceiling. Just as I was about to close my eyes slowly.
[Character ‘Lee Seo-jun’ feels slight rivalry toward you.]
[Reward: Acquire 2,000 points.]
[Character ‘Lee Seo-jun’’s interest level in you rises.]
[Character ‘Lee Seo-jun’’s interest level in you: Lv 2]
[Reward: Acquire 2,000 points.]
The bright message window popped up before my eyes.
I stared at it, my mind going blank for a moment.
‘Lee Seo-jun feels rivalry toward me?’
Rivalry.
The desire to beat someone else. It’s one of the common emotions anyone can feel easily.
But to me, who knew Lee Seo-jun well from reading the original work, it sounded different.
Lee Seo-jun was a character who had almost never felt rivalry throughout the story.