Chapter 187: Return (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 187: Return (2)
Class, after being away for so long, was… well.
It was just okay.
Maybe it was because most of the theory classes switch to practical training starting in the second semester, but this morning's class was more about analyzing and reviewing footage from our last practical session.
“Have lunch, and I'll see you in Building A-3 today.”
Instructor Do Han-seong turned off the video, ending the review, and walked out of the classroom.
So I got up from my seat as well.
It seemed like practical training was starting up again in the afternoon.
I figured Cheon Yeo-wool and the others would all be going to the practical session.
Cheon Yeo-wool for her unit, and Kang A-rin and Yu Hana for their respective majors.
“Where are you going?”
Cheon Yeo-wool, who was sitting next to me, asked as soon as I stood up.
“The afternoon class is a bit awkward for me to attend.”
“Hmph… I want to skip too….”
She whined like a child, grabbing my arm.
“I'm not skipping, you know.”
I smiled and gently removed her hand.
“Are you going home?”
“No.”
I'd been thinking about what to do this afternoon during class, and something had come to mind.
At my words, Cheon Yeo-wool's lips jutted out in a pout.
I gave her head a pat and left the classroom.
And in the hallway, I ran into Kang A-rin, who happened to be walking in the opposite direction.
“Off to your major class?”
“Yeah. I'm exhausted.”
Dark circles shadowed Kang A-rin's eyes, too deep to be completely hidden by her light makeup.
She must have been tired, having come straight to class after handling Maengju business last night.
And her face was a little redder than usual.
I snatched the tumbler she was holding and took a sip.
“W-wait a second!”
Kang A-rin cried out, her voice uncharacteristically flustered.
“…?”
This wasn't coffee.
It was carbonated.
Carbonation, fine, but behind it was the distinct, savory taste of barley.
“A-rin.”
“……”
She avoided my gaze.
I gave her a look of disbelief.
“Isn't this beer?”
“Jusht a wittle bit….”
Kang A-rin clung to my arm, her words suddenly slurred.
I didn't even know where to begin with this situation.
Putting alcohol in a tumbler and drinking it during class.
The sub-guild master of the world's number one guild and Gaon's top student??
I was so stunned I couldn't speak.
“What in the world…”
“Heeing….”
Unlike her usual self, Kang A-rin whimpered like a puppy and pressed closer against me.
She seemed to have gotten a little softer, too.
She hung her head like a guilty cat.
It seemed she never expected to get caught.
“…Wouldn't it be better if you went home?”
When I spoke in a worried voice, Kang A-rin lifted her head.
And then she smiled faintly.
– Ssk.
She extended her slender fingers out in front of my eyes.
And soon, a clear liquid began to drip from her fingertips.
As the liquid fell, the redness in Kang A-rin's face gradually faded.
– Plip….
With the fall of the last drop.
“There. All better.”
Kang A-rin said.
Her voice was no longer slurred.
She was back to her usual, cool-headed self.
“What was that? How did you do that?”
“Detoxification is a bit difficult, so let's just call it… alcohol expulsion?”
Kang A-rin followed with a simple theoretical explanation.
Using mana control to forcibly condense the alcohol particles that had permeated her body into one spot, liquefy them, and then expel them….
Just hearing about it sounded like an incredibly tricky use of mana.
“I figured out I could pretty much do it just from attending class.”
Kang A-rin shrugged as if it were nothing.
…Should I take that class?
I found myself genuinely interested in whatever class Kang A-rin had taken.
“Well, I'm not drunk anymore, so I'm off to my practical session.”
She gave me a suggestive smile as she brushed past me.
– Tap.
And with a natural motion, she gave my ass a light squeeze before walking away.
I just laughed in disbelief and headed outside myself.
*
I used the Gaon Portal Checkpoint to head somewhere.
I had a debt on my conscience.
To Yu Serin's team.
Her comrades in Phantom.
The two heroes who had died so senselessly at Belial's hands that day.
I knew.
That there's no such thing as a war without casualties.
Moreover, from a strategic standpoint, killing the Apostle 3rd Seat, one of the Evil God's closest aides, at the cost of only two lives could be considered a tremendous achievement for humanity.
But only a psychopath would actually think that way.
It may have been 'only' two people.
But to someone, they were an entire life. To someone else, they were family, waiting for them to return home safely.
This wasn't the game world I had created. This was the real world, where you only have one life.
At the very least, I refused to think of it that way.
Their deaths were a debt that I had to bear.
I'd heard from Kang A-rin that their funerals were over and their remains had been enshrined at the Seoul National Cemetery.
There's a memorial park there that honors the heroes who lost their lives fighting the Mines.
The Former Hero and other famous heroes, whose names alone would be recognizable, were also laid to rest here.
The cool autumn breeze and the scent of earth and grass tickled my nose.
I walked slowly between the endless rows of black gravestones.
And, at the end of a row.
I found her standing before two headstones that looked to be the most recently erected.
A black long coat, and neat, black hair cut in a bob that just barely brushed her shoulders.
It was Yu Serin.
I slowly approached her.
“Serin.”
And then I spoke.
“Hae-in…?”
At the sound of my voice, she turned around with a start.
Her eyes widened, as if she'd never imagined I would be here, especially not now.
Yu Serin's complexion wasn't terrible, but she looked gaunt overall.
A stark contrast to her usual bubbly self.
I came to stand beside her.
And looked at the two headstones she had been gazing at.
The names of the two men I remembered were engraved there.
Casper and Raven.
I reached out to place the chrysanthemums I'd bought on the way here in front of the stones.
“I'm sorry.”
I said.
I didn't account for an Apostle.
That was my fatal mistake.
I believed the Evil God would never make a bad move.
In the game, he always made the most efficient, optimal moves.
But he broke that rule and dispatched an Apostle.
Solely to lure Yu Hana and me into a trap.
It was a clearly inefficient action.
That single act delayed his resurrection for a significant amount of time, and now, a complete revival is no longer guaranteed.
If I had considered even the slightest possibility of that, I never would have split up our forces.
Even if it took days… I would have taken the safest route with everyone together.
Then, Yu Serin spoke quietly.
“Why?”
She looked up at me, brushing back her black bob as it fluttered in the wind.
“Because I was the one with final responsibility for the entire operation.”
I answered calmly. Kang A-rin may have been the commander-in-chief, but I was the one on the ground who split the teams and ordered the search.
“I… don't think so.”
Yu Serin shook her head.
Her voice was calm.
“We've all known for a long time. That it wouldn't be strange for any of us to die, anytime, anywhere.”
She said, lightly tapping her chest.
“We were always close to the Shadow Division, always taking on dangerous missions. Every morning, we write our wills before heading out. At night, if we've survived, we congratulate each other and tear them up. We pray that we can live today just as we did yesterday.”
Her eyes were steeped in sadness, but held no trace of regret.
“They were my teammates. And as heroes, they completed their mission, right up to their final moments.”
Yu Serin looked up at me with sad eyes.
“So it's not your fault, Hae-in….”
I nodded.
I understood… their will.
They were heroes.
If I stand here pitying them and feeling sorry, their deaths become nothing more than a regrettable tragedy.
But if I respect their final moments and express my gratitude, their deaths become a noble sacrifice.
I knelt on one knee again before the two headstones and spoke.
“Thank you.”
As I said this, I placed the chrysanthemums I'd been holding in front of the stones.
Then I stood up.
And then.
“Hic… sob…”
Standing beside me, Yu Serin finally broke down.
She didn't cry out loud.
She choked back her sobs, trying desperately to hold them in.
I silently wrapped an arm around her slender, trembling shoulders.
As if she had been waiting for it, she buried herself in my embrace.
“Sob…”
I slowly patted Yu Serin's back.