Chapter 26
To confirm the facts first, I groped my chest. Soft and plump, with fantastic elasticity to boot—breasts so full that they were just barely too much for one hand to handle. Comparing the tactile feedback from my palms to the sensations radiating from my chest, I reconfirmed that this body was still undeniably female.
Ha, I'd gotten a little excited at the thought it might be some cliché plot where I died in the possessed body and returned to my original one. Guess that's not happening.
But if that's the case... did I actually survive that hopeless situation? There didn't seem to be any injuries...
"...Wh-what the hell... I get that you're at that age where frustrations build up and all, but... once you've confirmed you're in a hospital, shouldn't you show a little restraint?"
"Huh?"
Instructor Sonya?!
When the hell did you get there? I hadn't sensed a thing!
"I've been here since the beginning. I kept my presence faint so I wouldn't disturb your rest, but then I ended up witnessing that bizarre scene. Is that it? That thing where people on the brink of death get a surge of reproductive urges? Didn't happen to me, but I guess it's case by case."
"No, don't misunderstand. It's not like that at all."
It'd be hard to explain, but anyway, it's not.
"...Tch. Whatever. Let's put aside the trivial stuff. You're alive, and that's what matters. Right?"
No. Not even close to sufficient.
"What about Yujin? And Ayumi? Are they safe? They didn't... die, did they?"
If those two had died—or ended up in comas from which they'd never recover—I couldn't even imagine how bleak things would be. And beyond that cold calculus, I just wanted solid confirmation that my friends were okay.
Sonya seemed pleased by my reaction, smiling as she replied.
"Don't worry. Both of them are just as healthy as you—maybe healthier. You were the last of the three to wake up."
Ah, really? That didn't quite add up. I'm the strongest, so shouldn't I have woken first?
...Well, whatever. At least they're safe. If someone I knew had died or gotten hurt, that emotional scar would've been hard to heal.
"...And the others? Like... anyone who got eaten by that monster."
"......"
Sonya fell silent here. I bit my lower lip.
Figures.
"The civilians in the safety zone that sank are mostly unharmed. The barrier held up properly, thank goodness. But some cadets and Hero Candidates were killed by the monsters... And among them, some might've been murdered by humans."
Sonya scratched her head irritably.
"Even after you warned us and all. We couldn't protect everyone perfectly. Should've pushed harder and coordinated with the police to wipe out those sewer rats."
I see. Regrettable news, for sure. No one should've had to die.
But inside a Gate, it's an extreme situation where anything can happen. No matter how hard you try to respond, accidents are inevitable. No one's fault.
...Scratch that. It's those damn sewer rat bastards' fault. I'd grind them to dust.
"And the civilians eaten by the worm? No bodies recovered. Probably reduced to qi and absorbed into the monster in that short time."
"...I see."
The bad news just kept coming. How panicked and terrified must those people have been?
"Don't make that face. You're still just a cadet—an amateur. No matter how hard you struggle, some things are impossible. Face reality head-on and accept it as it is."
"...Yes, ma'am."
"...And by the way. You three..."
Sonya trailed off, unable to finish. The hospital room door opened, revealing my visitors.
"Excuse meee~ No one's he—...!! Oh, Hyowon! You're awake!"
"For real?!"
The visitors were Ayumi and Hwa Yujin. Ayumi rushed over the moment she spotted me, eyes sparkling with joyful tears.
"Thank goodness! I was so worried you'd... you'd die or something—s-sob!"
"Hey, hey, easy there. You're making Hyowon uncomfortable."
Yujin appropriately held back Ayumi as she lunged for a full-body hug. Thanks. I had no idea how to handle a girl clinging to me like that.
No matter how much time had passed in reality, to my senses, it felt like only minutes since I'd last seen them. But in those few minutes, the bond between us had deepened like never before.
Is this what true camaraderie feels like, untainted by any distortion? Like in the army, where after a face-to-face with a senior and grinding through one training session together, you naturally become buddies.
"...Hmph. Looks like I'm the odd one out here. We'll talk later—plenty of time for that."
With that, Instructor Sonya opened the door and left. She'd seemed tougher in the original story... Guess you have to experience people firsthand.
Whatever. Not important right now.
"Glad you're all alive."
Right now, I just wanted to rejoice in this reunion with them, no thoughts otherwise.
Unable to put her indescribable despair into words upon spotting the massive worm-like monster, Sonya plunged into action. The beast itself was something she could handle effortlessly. Had she been on-site, she'd have sliced it apart without issue.
But the location was the worst. It had burst right into the center of the gathered safe zone for civilians—far beyond what the surrounding Hero Candidates or cadets could handle.
The moment she sensed its qi, Sonya shot toward it like a bullet. She could arrive in exactly one minute, no more, no less.
But how many casualties would pile up in that single minute? Sonya didn't even want to think about it. She sensed the worst-case scenario—total annihilation of the civilians she had to protect—but shoved it to the edges of her mind.
Dwelling on that would cripple her ability to fight. Surely someone she needed to protect was still alive. She deceived herself with hopeful assumptions and charged into battle.
"...What the...?"
And her expectations were shattered either way. Someone—one person—was fighting.
Squeezing every ounce of qi from her body, sucking in ambient qi like mad, even using foreign qi that wasn't her own—it was reckless. Qi exceeding her body's capacity would burden it heavily.
Yet the girl ignored such trivialities.
...Yes, a girl. Nominally an adult, but still shedding the last traces of girlhood.
Joo Hyowon. Sonya's disciple.
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!!!!!"
Her throat-tearing roar suggested her actions were driven more by instinct than reason. But perhaps because of that primal state, her movements were more perfect than ever.
Fluid, almost graceful arcs from her katana swings. Gather Qi and Emit Qi efficiency far surpassing a typical academy cadet.
The matchup sucked. Vast size difference. Swinging that blade might block attacks, but landing meaningful hits? Impossible.
But that didn't matter. She just needed to hold out until Sonya arrived!
"Way beyond expectations, Vivian! How the hell did you raise such a monster!?"
Despair flipped to hope in her chest. Good, perfect—this was enough. Amazing job!
But even Sonya's joy hadn't reached its peak. She never imagined it'd go further.
Light gathered. A brilliance so intense it might blind you to look directly at it, coalescing on Hyowon's katana...
This was a Unique Ability manifestation!
"A first-year manifesting their Unique Ability?!"
No time to be shocked. Hyowon swung her katana fully charged with her maximum power, from above downward.
A slash of light that would've bisected any ordinary monster. But the beast wasn't weak enough to die to an immature Hyowon.
Her strike merely gouged a massive scar into its hide.
"Ngh...!"
With a groan, Hyowon collapsed. That slash had wrung out her last reserves.
Indeed, that final blaze wasn't enough to repel it. But it wasn't meaningless. It had bought time for Sonya to arrive.
"You're incredible. I couldn't pull this off at your age."
Unable to hold back her admiration, Sonya hefted her greatsword. Slightly longer than Hyowon's, but vastly thicker and broader—like a slab of iron more than a blade.
"Kaaaaaaaah!!!!"
Sensing a real threat, the monster roared. Sonya sighed in disbelief.
Things without basic biological functions still had instincts like that?
No need for long speeches. In one breath, she surged her qi explosively, loading the principle of 'Severance' into her greatsword, then swung horizontally.
That was the monster's end.
"Haa, damn it. This is bad. All three are in critical condition."
Coincidentally, the two collapsed alongside Hyowon were cadets from Sonya's class. None were unscathed.
The Gate's qi-rich environment kept them alive for now, but once it collapsed and normal laws returned, they'd all die.
She resented her own Unique Ability, 'Severance,' anew. It didn't lend itself to saving lives.
"......"
With her qi mastery, she could prolong things temporarily. Hold their disintegrating life forces until a healer arrived—maybe.
But only one could survive that way. These three little heroes had thrown themselves into the fray for humanity.
Yet only one lives, the other two die?
"......"
No time for agonizing. That would doom them all. Sonya resolved to bear two lives and grasped Hyowon's hand.
That instant—
"Ugh! Qi already?!"
Qi emanated from Ayumi. Had it started breaking down already?
But the next moment, Sonya realized otherwise.
Ayumi's qi wasn't dispersing into the world. Quite the opposite—it was manifesting its true nature.
Sonya knew all her cadets' Unique Abilities. Ayumi's was undoubtedly—
"Healing?!"
A first-year manifesting already? Hyowon's case made sense—she was the acknowledged exception.
But another exception here?
"......!"
No time for trivia! Sonya grabbed Ayumi's hand.
First-year manifestation or not, efficiency would be poor. Left alone, they'd linger in agony before dying.
Guiding rookies, showing the path—that's what instructors did.
"Please... don't die, all three of you...!"