Chapter 47: Place of Exchange (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 47: Place of Exchange (5)
“You don’t… need me?”
Yu Hana suddenly asked, her voice choked with emotion.
What’s with her?
She looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
Taken aback by her unexpected reaction, I quickly added that it was the training I no longer needed.
Her eyes widened, and she let out a soft sigh as if in relief. Still, she puffed out her cheeks in a slight pout.
“But why do you want to stop all of a sudden?”
I finally took a moment to explain calmly.
For one, she had improved so much that I thought it would be good for her to take some time to work on her swordsmanship by herself.
I also added that I had just been selected as a mentor for the Place of Exchange and probably wouldn’t have enough time.
“A mentor…?”
Her eyes narrowed for a moment.
After a few seconds of thought, she slowly closed her eyes.
“Okay.”
She nodded quietly, then added cautiously, “But… you still have to come to our morning workouts. Promise.”
I smiled lightly and nodded. I had planned to continue those anyway.
Unexpectedly, however, I had to make a solemn promise that I would ‘absolutely never skip.’
Finally looking somewhat satisfied, Yu Hana turned and left.
After seeing her off, I headed back to the dormitory myself.
On the way back to my dorm, the cool night air filled my lungs.
Suddenly, a strange thought crossed my mind.
…Wait a minute.
Yu Hana is a heroine.
And it wasn’t just her. Kang A-rin and Cheon Yeo-wool were, too.
In the original story, they were characters the protagonist could romance.
Of course, since it was a game, there was always the option not to pursue them, but they were generally the ones who ended up with the protagonist.
So, what now, with the protagonist gone?
I stopped in the middle of the path. A streetlight cast a long shadow behind me.
It was something I had never even considered, not for a second.
“…No way.”
Could it be that I, the one who was naturally closest to them and trying to replace Seong Si-woo, was becoming their new target?
My head throbbed.
Since he disappeared, I had been trying my best to get closer to them.
I felt I had to fill the void he left, one way or another.
And it was true that we had grown considerably closer lately.
I pictured their faces.
Yu Hana, Kang A-rin, Cheon Yeo-wool.
“Ah.”
A short sigh escaped my lips.
Am I just being full of myself?
For a moment, I’d forgotten about their Appearance Levels.
I wasn’t ugly, but I certainly didn’t possess the same overwhelming beauty they did.
And honestly.
Unlike the protagonist, I had no plans to actively express interest through dialogue choices or openly flirt with them.
I just wanted to—
Feed them well.
Help them when they needed it.
Save them when their lives were in danger, or better yet, prevent such situations from ever happening.
Guide them so they could grow stronger, and once I judged they’d grown enough, let them stand on their own.
That was the extent of my plan.
It would be stranger for them to feel anything more than simple human affection for me.
And even if, by some one-in-a-million chance, that did happen…
Accepting those feelings would not be easy.
It wasn’t that I wouldn’t like them.
It’s just the way this world is.
We’re still in the early stages. The story is progressing in a relatively peaceful manner for now, but…
Once the real raids and wars begin, once the Mine faction's true forces starts to move…
People will die in droves.
That’s the kind of world this is.
I’m not the protagonist. I don’t have the confidence to handle those kinds of emotions while also trying to kill the Evil God.
I’m different from the protagonist, whose happy ending was all but guaranteed.
I can only do my best.
This was the difference between me and the original protagonist.
I slowly started walking again.
Before long, the dormitory came into view.
*
The next day, ten minutes before 10 a.m.
Yoon Chae-ha headed for the auditorium.
In truth, she had already been there since 9 a.m.
She wasn’t sure what she had been thinking; it just happened.
She had been sitting in a corner of the auditorium since early that morning, spending the time alone.
She opened a book and read, took deep breaths, and fidgeted with her fingers.
Despite her efforts, a strange sense of excitement refused to subside.
Her heart was pounding.
Like a child waiting for a present.
She tried to analyze herself.
This is simple curiosity. It was hard to find anyone worth paying attention to at Carlos, so I’m just interested on that level. Nothing more, nothing less.
But—
The very fact that she felt the need to justify her reasoning was a contradiction in itself.
As time passed, Gaon students began to file into the auditorium one by one.
They were likely the students selected as mentors.
Yoon Chae-ha slowly scanned them, but the person she was looking for wasn’t there.
Then, at exactly 10 a.m.
The door opened, and he walked in.
Jung Hae-in naturally turned his head, scanning his surroundings.
Soon, his eyes met Yoon Chae-ha’s. The corners of his lips lifted slightly as he walked toward her.
His footsteps echoed on the auditorium floor.
A peculiar presence approached along with him.
—A saintly air.
What was it?
He exuded a strange feeling.
She hadn’t noticed it from a distance, but it became distinct as he drew closer.
“Hello.”
He spoke to her.
She knew she should respond instinctively, but for some reason, she couldn’t meet his eyes.
What’s wrong with me…
Yoon Chae-ha was flustered with herself.
It was an unfamiliar sensation, and she couldn’t understand why. Her mind tried to analyze it, but it came to no conclusion.
She had no way of knowing.
She couldn’t know that the Fragments he held and his All-Encompassing Perception formed a perfect synergy with her truth-seeking ‘A Priori.’
Jung Hae-in’s smile deepened. He held out his hand as if to offer a handshake.
She stared at his hand for a moment.
Slowly, so slowly.
She, too, raised her hand—
Thump.
“Ah.”
A short sound escaped her lips before she even realized it.
His hand had firmly, yet naturally, grasped hers.
He shook it up and down lightly.
…It’s huge.
That was the first thought that flashed through her mind.
A massive hand.
Deep calluses and rough scars covered his palm.
The traces of countless swings, of relentless training, of accumulated effort. The evidence of his struggle to surpass his limits remained etched into his skin.
The kind of hand a male mage could never have, not in a million years.
Why was it?
As she held his hand, she felt a strange sense of…
Security.
At this point, she had no idea what she was even thinking anymore.
*
The Hall of No-Self, a place with a panoramic view of Gaon.
It was an observatory students often visited, but today it was unusually quiet.
Two young women were sitting there.
A gentle breeze swept past.
“What did the others say?”
Cheon Yeo-wool spoke, her gaze fixed on a distant point.
Her eyes remained on the empty air.
Ha Sion slowly turned her head.
“Kang A-rin said she doesn’t care. And Yu Hana… is fully supportive, as always.”
“And you?” Cheon Yeo-wool asked again.
Ha Sion closed her eyes and thought for a moment.
Then, in a calm tone, she answered.
“I’d oppose anyone else.”
Cheon Yeo-wool looked at her.
Ha Sion remained silent for a moment.
“But… I think he might be a little different.”
If he were someone with no potential at all, she would have fought tooth and nail to stop it, but he wasn’t.
Cheon Yeo-wool slowly closed her eyes.
Then, in a low voice, as if trying to suppress her emotions, she said, “I… hate it.”
She quietly clenched her fists.
“I hate the idea of him sacrificing himself to take care of someone, to help them grow. I hate all of it.”
She took a deep breath.
“He’s done enough.”
All that time, over and over—
He had lived for others. What more did he have to do?
Cheon Yeo-wool bit her lip.
She tried to continue, but her throat tightened.
As if she couldn’t bear the pity she felt, she spoke through gritted teeth.
“From now on… even if all he did was receive, it wouldn’t be enough.”
With that, she stood up and left.
Clink.
Ha Sion stared blankly as the coffee can Yeo-wool had left behind tipped over, spilling the remaining liquid.
A cold air settled around her.
Where Cheon Yeo-wool had been, only a single, unfinished can of coffee remained.
She took a deep breath.
Then, she slowly lifted her head.
A scene flashed through her mind.
It wasn't the present.
It was a memory from a moment in the past.
But,
It was not Ha Sion’s memory.
It was simply someone else’s.
*
A grand conference room, engraved with brilliant magical inscriptions.
The center of the Magic Tower, where books floated in the air.
A woman sat across the table.
Yellow hair. Yoon Chae-ha.
She smiled brightly and extended her hand.
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Yoon Chae-ha, Master of the Magic Tower. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She offered her hand for a handshake.
But the man did not extend his. Instead, he gave a slight bow of his head. It was a polite gesture, but one that felt distant.
She faltered for a second before quietly withdrawing her hand and sitting down.
Then, she got straight to the point. Her eyes turned a shade of orange as she nodded.
“I’ll get right to it.”
She took a breath and continued calmly.
“I know. I know your Authority is Death Regression.”
She studied his expression.
She had expected him to be shaken.
But his expression didn’t change in the slightest.
No reaction. He remained consistently expressionless.
If he were to just crack a smile, he probably wouldn’t look half bad.
But he was completely dried up.
Suppressing a shiver at the desolate feeling he gave off, she continued.
“Therefore, the Magic Tower has prepared a strategy for you. It is…”
Yoon Chae-ha began her passionate explanation.
It was a clear, logically structured plan. A strategy that would convince anyone who heard it.
The survival of humanity was at stake, yet she spoke with the excitement of someone discussing fascinating research.
But the man, Jung Hae-in, remained impassive.
Even after she finished her explanation, he didn’t say a single word.
Yoon Chae-ha grew frustrated.
“So? Now that Seong Si-woo has betrayed us, are you interested in participating in my plan?”
Her eyes sparkled.
Her tone was that of someone who had never known failure. Confident.
Yoon Chae-ha looked at him with expectant eyes.
Jung Hae-in lifted his head slightly and spoke in a flat, clipped tone.
“So it’s no use after all.”
A pointless hope, he thought as he rose from his seat.
“…Excuse me?”
For an instant, Yoon Chae-ha’s expression wavered.
Jung Hae-in had thought, just maybe. If it was Yoon Chae-ha, with her eyes, perhaps things would be different. Perhaps she would notice eventually.
Telling her directly was impossible; the World’s Suppression Force was not something she could handle.
But it had been a futile hope after all.
He hoped this would be the last time he had to bother coming all the way here just because the Magic Tower summoned him.
Jung Hae-in turned his back without another word.
“…Hey!”
Yoon Chae-ha cried out hastily.
A sharp voice came from behind him.
“What do you think you’re…”
But he spoke first.
“Want to take a guess?”
In that instant, the air in the room froze.
The temperature hadn’t dropped, but a chill ran down her spine.
His voice was cold and dry.
“How many times do you think it’s been?”
He turned his head to look at the Master of the Magic Tower, Yoon Chae-ha.
“The Magic Tower summoning me, and you excitedly explaining that plan.”
His gaze seemed to pierce right through her.
“How many times do you think it’s been repeated?”
Yoon Chae-ha’s eyes widened.
She tried to say something, but no sound came out.
No way…
It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the possibility. It was just that her eyes had seen nothing…
But Jung Hae-in didn’t give her a chance to answer.
He stated flatly, “Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time. And it won’t be the last.”
“…”
“I hope you have a better plan next time.”
And with that, he walked out of the room.