Chapter 32
Translator - Zofu
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* * *
The sun sets slowly, the sky submerged in sunset.
I step out of the empty classroom. As I walk down the hallway, two figures wave at me from afar. Wait... that's not one person?
Gray and blue.
Han Seol-ah and Lee Ah-rin were waiting for me at the end of the hall. Lee Ah-rin, slightly fidgeting and blushing as she waited, flinches and turns her head away when our eyes meet. What's with her?
Trudge, trudge. As I approach, Han Seol-ah, who had been waving slowly, comes right up to me.
"Let's go now...."
Han Seol-ah gives me a faint smile. Lee Ah-rin... for some reason starts walking with me but keeps her distance. Wait, why? I turn my head to meet Lee Ah-rin's gaze. She avoids my eyes again.
"Why are you avoiding me?"
"H-huh!? No I'm not! I'm not avoiding you!?"
Lee Ah-rin blushes, opening her palms and waving them around embarrassedly. Then she covers her eyes with her hands, peeking at me through her fingers.
What the...?
"Arin-ah...."
Han Seol-ah looks at Lee Ah-rin with sleepy eyes. Han Seol-ah steps away from me and grabs Lee Ah-rin's wrist.
"Eek!?"
She pulls Lee Ah-rin toward me.
Not her usual slow, languid movements, but big, wide strides. I'm on the right, Han Seol-ah in the middle, Lee Ah-rin on the left. Our positions set. Han Seol-ah lets go of the hand she was holding.
"Now... let's go... wanna eat ddeokbokki...."
Han Seol-ah grabs my hand and Lee Ah-rin's hand.
Then she starts pulling us along. Han Seol-ah meets my eyes.
"I... really... really like ddeokbokki...."
With a somehow slightly excited expression. She swings her arms back and forth, holding onto me and Lee Ah-rin, walking quickly.
I turn my head to look at Lee Ah-rin. She's still embarrassed, but her face has calmed down a bit. Lee Ah-rin gives me an awkward smile. She turns her gaze to Han Seol-ah.
"Seol-ah, you like ddeokbokki?"
Han Seol-ah slows her pace. She meets Lee Ah-rin's eyes.
"Rea-really! I love it... without ddeokbokki... I'd die...."
Again, Han Seol-ah speeds up. She looks at me.
Her face slightly flushed with excitement. Han Seol-ah grips my hand tighter.
"Q-quickly... let's go eat...."
Her pace quickens even more.
Han Seol-ah looks a bit impatient. Walking almost running like that, I see a snack shop in the distance. A bit shabby-looking, an ordinary snack shop. Han Seol-ah opens the door.
Han Seol-ah roughly greets the shop owner. The owner nods familiarly, and Han Seol-ah leads us to a seat.
"This place... is the most delicious...."
Han Seol-ah already happily taps the table with her hand. I grab the menu next to me and open it.
"What are you gonna eat?"
The calmed-down Lee Ah-rin looks at me. What am I gonna eat? I point at the menu with my finger.
"Fried food."
"You like fried food?"
As soon as I finish speaking, Lee Ah-rin snatches the menu.
"Who doesn't?"
"Fair enough."
Lee Ah-rin also points at the menu with her hand. It's ddeokbokki. Lee Ah-rin looks at Han Seol-ah.
"I like ddeokbokki too.... Want to share?"
"Uh-huh...."
Han Seol-ah nods. She wriggles with joy. Lee Ah-rin smiles.
"Then let's get cheese ddeokbokki...."
"Wait."
Suddenly, Han Seol-ah cuts in.
A slightly cold voice. The smiling face from before is gone, replaced by slight irritation. Wh-what?
"Cheese is absolutely not allowed."
Her drawling tone is dead. Han Seol-ah speaks to Lee Ah-rin, enunciating clearly. Her eyes sharpen.
"Huh... why? Isn't cheese the most delicious?"
Lee Ah-rin laughs awkwardly. Han Seol-ah starts huffing angrily, like she's blowing steam. It feels like touching something you shouldn't touch. Han Seol-ah nervously taps the table. This feeling is like...
"I... absolutely, no matter what, even if I die! I cannot tolerate 'cheese' in ddeokbokki!"
It feels like touching a reverse scale.
Lee Ah-rin and I are flustered. Wait, th-that's just adding cheese, why react like this?
"U-um, why can't we add it?"
Lee Ah-rin asks, sweating nervously.
"Well... if you add cheese...."
The broth gets cloudy.
That's what she says. Hmm... I see.
Wait, she gets this angry and steamed up over just that?
"But, adding it makes it more delicious—"
"No!! Not at all!!"
Before I can even finish, Han Seol-ah bangs on the table, objecting.
The Han Seol-ah who used to be shy, slow, living like flowing water. Now, she's done a 180. She looks at me, burning like fire.
"Tae-ho. I'll... tell you."
Why you can't add cheese to ddeokbokki.
Han Seol-ah looks at me seriously. Aah... those eyes show 'sincerity'. Here, I can intuitively tell.
Han Seol-ah is... suspiciously 'sincere' about ddeokbokki. No.
She's crazy about ddeokbokki.
"Listen... adding 'cheese' goes against the 'fundamentals' of ddeokbokki."
Han Seol-ah begins.
And then, she starts preaching her bullshit philosophy to us.
Wait... can't we just eat whatever? The gist is... the 1000-won ddeokbokki you used to buy from street vendors is the fundamental, and adding all sorts of weird stuff like cheese or soy sauce makes you lose 'tradition'. The old taste is the best, but people keep trying to change it. She gets all steamed up angry.
"Umm... thanks for telling us, Seol-ah."
Lee Ah-rin nods.
About 30 minutes of this bullshit. Lee Ah-rin's cheeks are slightly hollowed in, looking hungry. Fuck, when are we eating? We need to order soon...
"Still...."
Wait. Still? Sweat trickles down my forehead.
"Isn't adding 'cheese' still the most delicious?"
Lee Ah-rin looks at Han Seol-ah. Straight-up confrontation. If this keeps up for a moment...
"What did you say...?"
Han Seol-ah sharply looks at Lee Ah-rin. Sparks fly between them.
A heavy feeling wells up from my chest, and I smack my forehead with my hand.
"I'll. tell you. again."
Fuck, when are you ordering that damn ddeokbokki!
I'm hungry. Guys, stop fighting and just order food—
"No, you don't need to tell me again."
Lee Ah-rin looks at Han Seol-ah seriously.
"What?"
Lee Ah-rin takes a breath. Then meets Han Seol-ah's eyes.
"The fundamentals aren't in the ddeokbokki."
The fundamentals are in cheese.
She takes a breath.
I can tell instinctively. Lee Ah-rin is—
'Crazy' about cheese.
Like water and oil. A difference in taste that absolutely cannot mix.
So when is the ddeokbokki...
Sigh.
Like that. Did they fight for another 20 minutes?
Unable to watch anymore, the shop owner intervenes and barely... stops the fight.
The ddeokbokki... isn't ordered.
On the table. Fried foods sit alone.
Only the fried food is ordered.
"But... hey."
"Huh?"
Now that the fight has stopped, both of them look calmed down. Lee Ah-rin looks at me.
"What's a food you like?"
After stopping the fight. They asked each other various things.
Han Seol-ah... ddeokbokki. She only said ddeokbokki. Lee Ah-rin mostly preferred foods where 'cheese' is either the main or a side ingredient. What about me?
"Chicken breast."
I like chicken breast.
"Uhh...?"
"Why?"
The reason is simple.
"I eat it when I work out."
Truthfully, chicken breast is my staple food.
Since I love working out so much, and exercising like breathing is my daily routine to get into the academy. Chicken breast and I have an inseparable relationship.
"No, not when you work out... but normally."
Lee Ah-rin looks at me, a bit flustered. No, this is what I normally eat?
"I told you."
"Huh?"
Lee Ah-rin tilts her head. I meet Lee Ah-rin's eyes.
"Chicken breast."
"..."
Lee Ah-rin and Han Seol-ah look at me like I'm crazy.
Wait... why?
Having eaten something delicious and feeling better, Lee Ah-rin links arms with me and Han Seol-ah, walking toward the limousine up ahead.
"Let's go there for round two!"
Lee Ah-rin points at a billboard in the distance, smiling brightly. Where... is that?
"Where's that?"
Lee Ah-rin looks at me. Still smiling brightly, not erasing the smile from her lips, she opens her mouth.
"It's a ping pong arena!"
Lee Ah-rin bounces up and down in place, feeling good. Hurry, let's go! She says, leading us both onto the limousine.
We've arrived at the ping pong arena.
"What the...?"
"It's huge, right? It's fucking huge!"
This... is a ping pong arena?
Somehow you can see the billboard even from far away, but this isn't a ping pong arena... it's like looking at some department store. Really, it's fucking huge.
"Hurry, hurry, let's go in!"
Linking arms with me and Han Seol-ah, we go inside the department store. No, the ping pong arena.
Inside, there's a crazy number of people. Buzzing voices come from all directions.
I thought a ping pong arena would only have ping pong... but there are many different sports. Volleyball, basketball, soccer, dodgeball, badminton. And so on. Anyway, there's a ton of stuff. And among them, the one that takes up the biggest proportion is...
Ping pong, of course.
This department store. No, this ping pong arena has a multi-level structure with a total of 6 floors. Among them, the 3rd floor... is filled only with 'ping pong tables' for ping pong lovers. It's known as a representative famous spot in Korea that any ping pong lover would want to visit at least once.
What, there is a building like this in Korea?
It's my first time hearing about a place like this while living in Korea. All these people gathered together only to 'exercise'... this is totally...
Heaven, right?
My face gradually begins to flush red. The muscles in my arms and legs twitch, reacting to the competition. But I notice one strange thing. 1st floor. As I go up to the 2nd floor, I see through the elevator window.
The people exercising are somehow... all using magic and superpowers.
We arrive at the 3rd floor. Walk up to a ping pong table. Right in the center of the building.
Around us, hundreds and thousands of people make irregular, cheerful sounds as ping pong balls fly back and forth. Looking around, I see heavy-looking cameras here and there, probably from broadcast stations. People who seem to be internet streaming, constantly filming something... are everywhere. Really, there are way too many people.
"So, who wants to play with me?"
Lee Ah-rin confidently looks back and forth between me and Han Seol-ah. Han Seol-ah shakes her head side to side. Then...
"..."
I go to the opposite side of Lee Ah-rin. I grab the racket with my right hand. Lee Ah-rin smiles at me.
"Didn't you feel something on the way here?"
"What?"
"Weirdly... the people here. Aren't they using 'abilities'?"
I look around once more. Definitely... people are using 'magic' or 'superpowers' or whatever you call abilities. And they're doing it while playing ping pong.
"This is one of the state-approved 'places where you can use abilities'."
Lee Ah-rin begins.
"Since you can't use abilities in sports because of fairness, tired people come here to blow off steam... it's a representative place for that."
Lee Ah-rin meets my eyes.
"You roughly get what I'm saying, right?"
Lee Ah-rin grins.
"Use 'magic'."
I nod. And then—
A ping pong ball frozen pure white.
Bang—
grazes my cheek.
"Bring it."
Lee Ah-rin looks at me, smiling with her eyes.
"It's a total 11-point match. Let's do 3 sets. Since we're going to karaoke later, the loser pays for everything. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Good, then...."
The first round is a practice round.
Lee Ah-rin shoots the frozen ping pong ball at me like before. I won't fall for it twice. I quickly hit the ball with a racket reinforced with mana.
The ping pong ball frantically bounces back and forth across the table, going through racket after racket.
Ping—
And.
Pong—
Not.
Bang—
And.
Thwack—
A creepy sound torments the ping pong table.
"Haah—!"
A mistake. The ball bounces high. Lee Ah-rin focuses on the high-flying ball with a kiai. Then—
Crunch crack, she hits the ping pong ball strongly with a racket filled with cold energy. Wait—
Crash—, the edge of the ping pong table dents. Then breaks.
"Yes!"
Lee Ah-rin cheers. Wait, how do you block that? I end up giving away 1 point.
"One point...."
Han Seol-ah slowly raises her left hand. A signal that Lee Ah-rin wins.
Even though it's just 1 point, my heart pounds at the fact that I lose. No. Focus.
I'll win no matter what.
The right hand holding the racket.
Grips tightly, strongly.
Thump smash thwack bang—
This is Seoul Public Gymnasium. A dream destination that any ping pong lover who loves ping pong would want to visit at least once.
Bang thwack thump thwack—
3rd floor. The main floor where everyone gathers to play ping pong. Normally, everyone would be playing ping pong... but today is different.
Thwack thump bang smash—
A creepy sound echoing from the center of the ping pong arena. Everyone stops playing and looks toward the source of the sound.
"What is that sound...."
"Hey, hold up... what the hell is that...."
"Who is it?"
"Lee Ah-rin...?"
There, a young man with charred black skin and spiky blond hair.
And a woman with sharp eyes and blue short hair.
An endless set.
The sound of the ping pong table denting and bending devours the surroundings. All eyes of everyone playing ping pong focus on the two people.
People gradually start gathering around.
Set 1.
"Nooo!"
Set 1, the young man loses. The reason—
"The racket is fucking weak! Hey! You can't do this!"
The racket breaks from the firmly frozen ping pong ball.
The woman makes an annoyed smile at the screaming young man.
"Should've reinforced it properly. Hehehe. Hey! Does this look like ping pong? This is fucking—"
An ability battle!
At those words, the people around are amazed.
Right, that can't be real 'ping pong'. If that is truly 'ping pong'—then what becomes of the ping pong we've been playing until now?
It gets downgraded to ball games played by little kids.
"One point.... set over...."
The gray-clad girl in the middle raises her left hand. At the same time.
"Yesss!"
"Hey! I said I scored!"
"Nooo!"
Just 1 set. From just that 1 set, people have split into two sides, cheering each other on.
A thorough fight of the strong.
People start gathering.
Footsteps from the lower floor grow closer.
Set 2.
"You, fucking, son of a bitch!"
Set 2, the woman loses. The reason—
"Why did you use explosion magic there!"
The young man shoots the ping pong ball like a bullet with explosion magic and destroys the table.
The young man makes a nasty smile at the screaming woman.
"Hey, you said ability battle? So I used abilities? Hehehe. Should've fucking dealt with it properly!"
Before I know it, the gathered people form a cloud-like crowd.
People filling one-third of the wide, spacious ping pong arena. Looking at the young man and woman. Heated passion, yet silence. Everyone looks at the small girl.
The gray-clad girl. Raises her right hand.
"One point... set over...."
At the same time, the hundreds and thousands of people gathered on the right side all at once—
"We believed in you!"
"You won! You won! You won! You won!"
"Woooaaah!"
They cheer.
Everyone becomes of one mind and one heart, cheering for the young man. Over the young man's racket, poof poof. Smoke rises.
Rumble rumble, something. Approaches the young man and woman.
"Hey, what is that...?"
At one man's words, people turn their heads simultaneously.
A camera.
There is a camera there. The camera attached above watches the young man and woman. At the same time—
Heavy cameras push through the crowd of people and come forward.
People holding camcorders also approach. By the looks of it, broadcast stations. And internet streams.
A woman drenched in sweat holds a mic and approaches the young man.
"Hahh hahh... excuse me, but your name...."
The young man doesn't notice someone comes up to him.
The two of them... disregarding people's gazes. Simply, trying to continue playing ping pong. Crazy concentration. Right now, between the two of them, there is only the ping pong table, the racket. And the ping pong ball. Only when the woman with the mic touches the young man.
"Whoa, wha, what... yes?"
The young man reacts.
"Sorry, but an interview...."
Only then does the young man look around.
People. People. People. Nothing but people. Looking up, there's even a camera.
The young man is flustered.
"Wait... this... what kind of..."
...situation is this?
The young man's mouth hangs open stupidly. He isn't the only one reacting like this.
"What are all these people...."
The woman also reacts the same way. Then the two of them simultaneously look at one girl.
"Um... Seol-ah...."
"Uh-huh...?"
"That, hat... why are you wearing it?"
The gray-clad girl is now wearing.
A bright red hat.
Cool sunglasses.
A silver whistle.
A black suit.
A red tie.
She's equipped with the perfect appearance of a referee.
"A weird... man gave it to me...."
The gray-clad girl awkwardly fiddles with the hat.
"Really...?"
The woman flusters, touching her cheek. Then she looks at the young man. The young man is currently.
"Anyway, I will win."
Doing an interview. After finishing everything, the woman with the mic approaches the woman with the camera.
"Is an interview okay?"
Interview? The woman's face makes an awkward smile. The woman thinks for a while, then nods.
"First, your name...."
"Lee Ah-rin."
"...Yes?"
The name 'Ije' comes out of the woman's mouth. The murmuring around grows louder.
"Lee Ah-rin?"
"Now I get it."
"Now I understand, it's Ije so she's strong."
"Holy shit, Ije?"
"What? Lee Ah-rin?"
"I knew I saw that face somewhere, it's Lee Ah-rin?"
Afterward, after briefly finishing the interview. Again, the woman. No, Lee Ah-rin grabs the ping pong ball.
'I will win no matter what.'
Lee Ah-rin says. Now, the final set. With this match—
'That way, I won't have to pay for karaoke.'
Because it will decide who spends money at karaoke.
The young man and woman gulp. Swallowing their saliva.
The two exchange glances. At the same time.
Beep—!
The gray-clad girl blows the whistle.
Bang—.
A creepy sound comes from the woman's racket. The frozen ping pong ball. In fact, an ice ball. The young man skillfully hits the ball away.
Thump smash thump smash—
A stable rally. The basics of exchanging offense and defense.
Gradually, the ball starts speeding up.
With the strong rally going back and forth, the already once-changed ping pong table begins to shake.
Both of them. Not even the slightest gap. Overwhelming skill that makes you sweat. The spectators can tell instinctively.
Even the smallest mistake. Will decide the match.
Like walking a tightrope. Thump smash thump smash— the ping pong ball that has been keeping rhythm gradually starts changing irregularly. Then—
Ping—
The young man makes a mistake and misses the ping pong ball.
"Yessss!"
The gain or loss of 1 point is decided. The woman cheers.
The gray-clad girl raises her left hand.
"One point...."
At the same time, people start cheering.
"Woooaaah!"
"Yeah! That's how you do it, Ije!"
"You won! You won!"
The young man's expression hardens.
"It's fine! It's still just 1 point!"
"Don't get scared over just 1 point!"
"Don't give up! You don't want to spend money at karaoke!"
"Win! You can win!"
Then, people from behind cheer on the young man. The racket held by the young man. Trembles.
Just, 1 point.
He can win.
The young man steels his resolve.
1:1
"I won!"
The young man cheers. Joy that he can do it, stomping his feet.
1:2
"Yesss!"
The woman cheers. Joy that she scored again, she smiles.
2:2
2:3
2:4
3:4
4:4
.
.
.
11:10
The end is near.
The ping pong ball held in the woman's hand trembles, holding cold energy. If the woman loses this time.
She'll have to pay for everything at karaoke.
The woman grips her racket tightly. She must win no matter what. The woman's head is filled with only that thought.
Thwack—
The rally begins.
Shh shh crunch. The sound of ice hitting the ping pong table is heard. As the ping pong ball hits the young man's racket.
Bang—. An explosion sound is heard. The same strategy as before. The woman's eyes flash open.
Suck—. She puts strength into her body and hits the incoming ping pong ball instantly. At the same speed, the ping pong ball coming toward the young man barely hits the young man's racket. And.
The ball floats in the air, high. A long floating time.
The young man looks at the woman. Then.
Straining, veins start popping out of the young man's body.
The young man uses acceleration magic.
"...Fuck!"
Clearly if he hits and sends the ball, it's certain defeat. He uses acceleration magic, so there's no reason he can't hit the ball.
But if he doesn't hit the ball. It's also certain defeat. The score is 11:10. If he misses, he loses.
A question arises in the woman's head.
Why does he use acceleration magic only now?
The woman meets the young man's eyes.
Red, bloodshot eyes.
Ah.
Because of his vision... is that it?
In that state, surely, it would be hard to see properly.
Until the end, he is keeping a trick up his sleeve.
There's no choice.
He hits the descending ping pong ball with his racket.
Thwack— the flying ping pong ball leaves the woman's hand and flies toward the young man. At the same time—
Crash—.
The ping pong ball that hits the young man's racket makes a fearsome sound.
And pierces the floor.
The gray-clad girl raises her right hand.
"One point... set over...."
At the same time, a cheer like thunder.
Fills the ping pong arena.
Same time.
Internet community.
[General] Today's Seoul Public Gymnasium
(video)
You guys seen this?
Those fuckers, not sure if they're human;
User (119.194) I saw it live in person. In my opinion, they're not human.
User (119.248) There are people who haven't seen it?
User (211.177) I haven't seen it
User (177.241) What the fuck is this
User (119.873) Link please
[General] You fucker, that's Lee Ah-rin lololol
She's fucking good at ping pong lolol but who is the guy with her?
User (188.772) I don't really know either
User (201.331) Only know he's an academy student
If you watch Ije's interview, she gives the name. Talking about karaoke, seems like a friend?
User (155.702) So what's the name?
[General] What the fuck can't see the ping pong ball;;;
Have to watch frame by frame;
User (231.222) If you insert a person in the middle, you can totally make a highlight reel lol
User (119.031) Real lolololololol
User (122.451) Fucker lololololololol
User (314.221) lolol
User (123.541) Highlight reel for real lolololololol
User (112.331) How do you even return that;
[General] The little kid's identity next to them lolol
It's Han Seol-ah...
User (199.221) Bullshit
User (311.205) Real though;;
User (233.023) Who is Han Seol-ah??
User (311.205) Are you retarded? Or a spy?
User (199.221) Even a spy would know this
User (233.023) So who is it fuck;
User (311.205) News? The kid who shot a volcano at the academy
User (233.023) Aah now I get it thx
User (199.221) Korea's future is bright
[General] Who is Lee Ah-rin?
Lee So-cheon's daughter?
User (119.223) Already pregnant lol
User (432.631) Sister, retard
User (111.065) Sister
User (134.443) You know? I saw Lee So-cheon there lololol
User (119.552) Bullshit
User (134.443) It's real though...
User (556.993) So Lee So-cheon is pregnant??
User (345.223) Retard
* * *