Chapter 145: Race (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 145: Race (4)
I was in a corner of my room at the Vanquisher lodgings, packing my things. It was about time I returned to the Gaon Dormitory.
Leaning against the doorframe, the Old Man watched me and clicked his tongue in disapproval.
“Tsk. A shame. If only the break were a little longer.”
Hearing that, I offered a silent thank you to whichever nameless staff member had planned Gaon’s academic calendar.
Any longer, and there might have been an unfortunate accident.
Definitely.
“Thank you for all your help during my stay.”
Of course, I only thought that to myself. I made sure to express my gratitude properly.
And I was, in fact, truly grateful.
His methods were hellishly difficult, but they were undeniably effective.
We explored various paths together… and I’d more or less found my direction.
My sincere thanks seemed to catch the Old Man off guard for a moment.
He cleared his throat with a gruff ‘Hmph’ and left the room.
But in that brief moment as he turned and closed the door behind him, I definitely saw it: the satisfied smile playing on his lips, the one he tried but failed to hide.
Once I’d finished packing, I sank into the living room sofa at the Vanquisher lodgings.
“Huh?”
My finger, which had been casually swiping through the hologram news, paused.
[Rank 2 Guild, Lotus, Announces Mass Departure of Core Force ‘Frontline’.]
[Sub-Guild Master Yu Serin, Where to Next? Free Agent Market in an Uproar]
[Two Successors? The Truth Behind Yoon Chae-ha and Jung Hae-in’s Relationship?]
I casually ignored the last headline and tapped on the first article.
That’s old news, why is it still…
The article was simple. The core elite team of Lotus, led by Sub-Guild Master Yu Serin, had officially declared their independence and withdrawal from the guild.
In other words, news of their escape.
A smile crept onto my face before I knew it.
This was good news.
“Nice.”
Just as I thought. Poking at Yu Serin at that party… seems to have been a good call.
She’s smart, and ambitious. A strategist who knows when to abandon a sinking ship.
She grasped the heart of the matter after just a short conversation.
And she even brought Team Frontline with her.
Of course, Lotus isn’t going to collapse overnight. Its prestige and benefits are still top-tier in South Korea.
But they’ll surely realize it later.
Getting out of Lotus is the smart move.
Now freed from the shackles of Lotus, Yu Serin and her team… would become a very important variable.
A good one, of course.
Smiling in satisfaction, I went to turn off the hologram news…
No, more accurately, I was about to.
“……?”
At the very bottom of the screen, a new headline popped up.
[Saintess Cheon Yeo-wool and Bulgaram’s Successor Jung Hae-in on Secret Pilgrimage… Spotted in the Vatican!]
What is this?
How on earth did they find out?
We went in complete secrecy, even using The Cult’s top-secret portal…
I quickly checked the article’s source.
[Ariel Today]
“……”
That’s an Arcadia media company.
The Cult’s own press outlet, the one that represents their official stance.
In that case, this wasn’t an external leak.
It means they leaked it themselves.
I opened the SNS on my watch, ready to confront Cheon Yeo-wool immediately.
Just then, a small red dot next to her profile caught my eye.
It meant she’d made a new post.
As if possessed, I tapped on the post.
A single photo filled the screen.
There, with the ruins of the Vatican as a backdrop, was Cheon Yeo-wool, taking a radiant selfie.
Her face was practically glowing.
Beneath it was an innocent-looking caption.
[Good times! (Fire emoji) (Fire emoji)]
[#Vatican]
“So it was you.”
The post went up at the perfect time for the article to drop.
This was some real dedication.
I let out a hollow laugh and quietly turned off my watch. Any desire to confront her had completely vanished.
What was the point of arguing? It was already too late.
Cheon Yeo-wool was a global celebrity. The number of red hearts on her post was already climbing at a frightening rate.
– Ting.
Just then, a message arrived.
[1000_y]: ♥
She must have seen I was online, sending a triumphant heart.
I stared at my watch for a moment before replying. It was awkward to get angry, and praising her was out of the question.
[belief_]: Forehead.
The reply came back almost instantly.
[1000_y]: Really??
[1000_y]: (Photo)
A single photo filled the screen.
I wondered what it was.
She was looking up at the camera—at me—and had used one hand to push back her bangs, completely revealing her smooth forehead.
Her eyes were filled with anticipation.
[1000_y]: ♥♥♥♥♥
In the past, I would have shut it off immediately, but…
I found myself staring blankly at the photo.
I must be losing my mind.
Without replying, I turned off the watch.
The way these distracting thoughts kept clouding my mind, it seemed it was time to train.
“Get a grip.”
I headed for the training ground.
The Old Man was right.
What I needed now was hellish training.
*
The break, which had been nearly a month and a half, was now truly coming to an end.
I can confidently say… I spent it well.
The only problem was, I was so focused on my own development that I hadn’t been able to look after the others, which weighed on my mind a little…
But that, too, was more or less under control.
They were all moving forward in their own ways.
I’d heard Kang A-rin was busy with her succession lessons.
Considering her ambition, there was no way she’d have wasted that time.
A few days ago, Yu Hana contacted me to say she’d finished her seclusion training.
The result… was a success. She said she’d been acknowledged by Yu Mujin as the next Sword Empress.
Cheon Yeo-wool was the same.
After returning from the Vatican, I heard she was engrossed in training her Fragment.
Excluding, of course, the suggestive messages she sent almost daily.
Right. And our genius mage, Miss Yoon Chae-ha, must also be…
“…”
Wait a minute.
A strange feeling came over me, and I picked up my watch.
Something felt… off.
Then, as if possessed, I started scrolling frantically through my recent DM history.
[Cheon Yeo-wool - 1 hour ago]
[Ha Sion - 1 day ago]
[Kang A-rin - 2 days ago]
[Yu Hana - 2 days ago]
.
.
.
[Park Gwang-cheol - 1 week ago]
.
.
.
I didn’t stop scrolling.
I kept swiping down, feeling my finger grow cold.
And finally, at the very bottom, I found a familiar name.
[Yoon Chae-ha - 4 weeks ago]
“…Ah?”
The moment I saw that message thread, I realized what it was I felt I’d forgotten.
Four weeks. A full four weeks ago.
The last time was the day I helped her with her training, right before I left for Bulgaram’s Workshop.
We hadn’t contacted each other once since then.
I had forgotten, too.
Honestly, I’d been so busy, getting beaten to a pulp by the Old Man, that my life had been nothing but a cycle of waking up and training.
And since I kept seeing her name in the news, I must have mistakenly thought we were still in touch.
I’m an idiot.
“This is driving me crazy.”
My basic motto is self-study.
After awakening a certain sense in them, I let the characters explore on their own.
But there’s a limit to that.
It doesn’t mean I should completely neglect a kid who trusts me absolutely and sees me as her mentor… for nearly a month without a single word.
Goosebumps broke out all over my body.
I cautiously tapped my watch to check her current status.
It was red.
She was busy with something else.
I picked up the watch, put it down, and repeated the motion several times.
What am I supposed to say?
Sorry?
I was busy?
I missed you?
None of the options felt right.
Still, I couldn’t just leave it like this.
Finally, I swallowed dryly and typed out a short message.
[belief_]: Chae-ha
I was about to turn the watch off. I figured she might not reply, or if she did, it would take a while.
But.
– Ting.
Before my finger could even move to turn it off.
A message arrived in what felt like a single second.
It was as if she had been waiting for that exact moment.
I froze and stared down at the screen.
[summer]: Yes
A chill ran down my spine.
“……”
My instincts are rarely wrong.
And this time was no different.
My senses were sounding an alarm.
My mind started racing.
Cheon Yeo-wool.
Kang A-rin.
Ha Sion.
Their actions after the board game were obvious.
They wanted me romantically, as a man.
So, Yoon Chae-ha… maybe.
Could she be the same?
Normally, I’d have chided myself for being conceited, but right now, I couldn’t ignore this gut feeling.
So, to confirm it, I made a risky move. It was too late for regrets.
[belief_]: I missed you
Of course, it wasn’t a lie.
Immediately, the read receipt appeared.
– Vrrrring.
My watch vibrated as a call came in.
The name on the screen was [Yoon Chae-ha].
I immediately pressed the call button.
“……”
There was no sound from the other end.
– Sniffle.
No, I could hear a very faint sound—her sniffling.
At that small sound, I quickly began my confession.
“I’m so sorry. I was incredibly busy. With training, and I had to go to the Vatican unexpectedly… I was so out of it I couldn’t contact you. I’m sorry, Chae-ha.”
The apology came out in a rapid-fire burst.
– Hic, sniffle.
I could hear her take a deep, shuddering breath over the line.
And a moment later, a small, trembling voice trickled out.
– Yeah…
“……”
– I… I missed you, too… but you didn’t call… and I thought you were busy so I couldn’t call… but then the articles said you went on a trip….
– I didn’t want to bother you… hic… I thought I did something wrong… hic, so I just kept… by myself…..
Finally, the sobs she had been holding back burst out.
The tears of a genius girl who had suppressed her emotions for a whole month.
This was 100% my fault.
So I was the one who made her cry.
Because I hadn’t contacted her, it seemed Yoon Chae-ha had assumed she’d made some mistake.
A cute case of the genius girl digging a hole for herself.
– I mi-missed you….
Her mumbled words reached me.
I gave a bitter smile and answered softly.
“Me too.”
This time, I was unequivocally the guilty one.