Chapter 5: Unit (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5: Unit (2)
It was a time that might have been the future, or perhaps the past.
The war showed no signs of ending.
Jung Hae-in and Yu Hana were trapped within an enemy encirclement, the tide of foes endless.
To say they were surrounded was an understatement.
The moment an unknown chill brushed past her back, Yu Hana instinctively turned her head.
-Sshhk-!
A sharp blade sliced past her vision.
This is the end…
Yu Hana cursed herself for letting her guard down for even a moment.
But she was not its target.
-Thunk!-
A deep wound was pierced through the chest of Jung Hae-in, who had been cutting down enemies at the front. His body slid down, slumping against a wall.
“No!!”
Yu Hana's scream tore through the air.
Even as he fell, Jung Hae-in never lost sight of his surroundings for a single moment.
Even while sweeping away the enemies swarming from the front, he had been watching over his comrades at the rear.
“No matter how many times this happens, I never get used to it…”
Jung Hae-in’s voice trailed off as he coughed up blood.
Clutching the hole in his chest, he squeezed out words with a voice that wouldn't come.
“Please, please, please…”
With trembling hands, Yu Hana tried to stanch the flow of blood.
But the blood kept seeping through her fingers.
“Yu Hana…”
He lifted his head.
“I’ve thought about it a lot… and maybe I was wrong.”
“No, don’t say that… please.”
-Aargh!
-Aaaaaaaargh!
Screams followed as the heroes behind them fell. The swarming enemies, the crumbling defensive line.
With Jung Hae-in's fall, the tide of battle turned sharply against them.
He wasn't just in charge of breaking through the front lines.
He was the pillar who controlled every situation, sensed danger, and supported the entire team.
The moment he was gone, the battlefield descended into chaos.
Everyone had been hiding behind the shield that was him.
Yu Hana closed her eyes.
“I’ll… follow you.”
She gently kissed his forehead and rose to her feet.
Someone had to replace the fallen shield.
But Jung Hae-in shook his head.
“You won’t die. Never.”
His voice was weak, but resolute.
At the time, Yu Hana couldn't understand his words.
And this memory—
was just a tiny fraction, merely one of the countless memories of his death.
*
Going back in time, to the day of the entrance ceremony.
Yu Hana sat quietly in a corner of the entrance ceremony hall. Amidst the murmuring students, her gaze was fixed on one person.
There he is.
Neatly dressed, with delicate, well-defined features. Hae-in sat in his seat, showing no sign of trying to stand out.
But his expression was grim, his face lost in deep thought.
He's worrying all by himself again.
Looking at his pensive face, Yu Hana smiled faintly.
Because she had resolved not to leave him alone this time, not to let him struggle by himself.
It was then.
Cheon Yeo-wool approached Jung Hae-in.
With a natural smile, she spoke to him as if they were old acquaintances.
…That bitch.
Unconsciously, Yu Hana's fingers tensed.
He must already be overwhelmed, and that was the problem with bitches who called themselves Saintesses.
They always approach you with a benevolent act, as if they can solve everything.
Yu Hana took a quiet breath. It meant she would watch, for now.
But that feeling erupted during the weapon selection.
Cheon Yeo-wool's grating behavior continued during the weapon selection.
Jung Hae-in stood before a spear.
He seemed to hesitate, but his posture as he finally stopped before the spear looked like he was on the verge of a decision.
Pick it up!
Yu Hana cheered for his choice, shouting silently in her mind.
Yu Hana hoped he would choose the spear this time, too.
Because you were never wrong.
It was the rest of us who were wrong.
But Cheon Yeo-wool blocked his choice. She even tried to pressure him.
It wasn't that she didn't understand, but this was overstepping.
So, Yu Hana made her move.
After a brief war of nerves with Cheon Yeo-wool, she quietly backed off.
“I'll handle it myself.”
Jung Hae-in said only that and stuck to his choice. He probably would have done the same even if I hadn't stepped in.
Watching his resolve, Yu Hana felt a strange excitement rise from deep within her, and her heart began to pound like crazy.
The way he held the spear, the aura he exuded. His unwavering gaze, his resolute tone—it was all exactly the same.
He's the same…
He had never changed.
*
It wasn't me who revealed it, but Yu Hana.
“Hm? Answer me.”
Having boldly made her move, Yu Hana looked at me with a sly expression.
Her mischievous expression made me want to flick her on the forehead, but my instincts screamed at me not to.
Not that it matters.
I hadn't planned on hiding it anyway.
The Old Man never gave me a chance to hide it in the first place.
I figured some of the students would already know.
Well, for someone like Yu Hana, with her good family and excellent information network, it wasn't strange that she'd figure out who I was.
That would explain why we kept running into each other during the weapon selection and the morning run.
She's a child of the Yu Family.
Building connections with promising students here would be a natural course of action for her.
As for Cheon Yeo-wool's case… I'm not sure yet, but I guess it's probably something similar to Yu Hana's.
“Are you… are you really that ‘Mukgui’?”
Yoon Sang-hyeok's voice was still trembling. He still couldn't accept reality.
Mukgui.
It's a moniker I got for handling a Wave and then vanishing without a trace.
It was famous for a while, but the hype has died down a bit now.
In truth, I never vanished. I just sat and waited for the Association to arrive.
The next thing I knew, I was Mukgui.
A product of the commercialization of heroes, of the Hero Association's flawless image-making.
The Association recommended I enroll at Gaon, and I accepted. It was what I wanted.
Naturally, my enrollment was confidential.
And so, naturally, my rank was:
[Unmeasurable]
'Haha. How are we supposed to measure this?'
I remembered the face of the assessor, who had explained while sweating profusely.
The entrance test was already over, and the reason was that I had already far surpassed the average level of the incoming students.
'No, but is it really okay to admit him just like that? We don't know his background or his previous academy, do we?'
'Then why don't you, Vice Principal, grab a passing student and ask them to stop a Grade 5 Wave?'
'. . .'
And the look on the Vice Principal's face as he was struck speechless.
In any case, until the school's officially hosted exams begin, I have no rank.
“That's me.”
I answered calmly. There was no need to hide it anymore.
Now that the rumor was out, trying to deny it wouldn't change anything.
Yoon Sang-hyeok stared at me, at a loss for words.
I turned my gaze to Yu Hana, as if it were no big deal.
“And as for the team…”
Yu Hana was still looking at me.
She seemed to be waiting for my next words.
“Let's all go together. For some reason, it feels like we should.”
When I said that, Yu Hana gazed at me for a moment, then smiled.
“Okay, sounds good.”
She agreed surprisingly easily.
It seemed she didn't care much about the team composition in the first place.
“Dae-hyun, what do you think?”
“I'm… fine with it.”
Kim Dae-hyun answered with a bewildered expression.
Now, only two guys were left.
Yoon Sang-hyeok, who was watching my expression. And… what was his name again.
“What's your name?”
The male student who had been acting tough next to Yoon Sang-hyeok flinched and answered.
“L… Lee Sang-bong. I'm ranked 189th.”
“Ah, right. Sang-bong, Sang-hyeok. Want to join us?”
I casually placed my hands on their shoulders.
Then, I added with a slight smile.
“If you don't want to, you can go on your own.”
““We'll do it…””
The two of them answered, looking like they were about to die.
But this will be good for you guys, too.
Because this training ground itself is a test.
The instructor didn't just divide the students randomly.
It's a ratio of one top-ranker, two mid-to-high rankers, and two low-rankers.
A deliberate distribution.
The students who entered the world's best academy as high-rankers have egos that pierce the heavens. Therefore, they're prone to ignoring the opinions of the low-rankers or acting coercively.
This naturally leads to internal conflict and division within the team.
But it's not just the top-rankers who have pride.
The students labeled as low-rankers were also talented individuals who were treated with respect wherever they went before coming here.
The sudden drop in rank and the "low-ranker" label is a huge source of humiliation for them.
In the end, the team easily falls apart due to the coercive attitude of the high-rankers and the backlash from the low-rankers.
And that fierce clash of egos…
is exactly what the instructor is aiming for.
As if to reveal that intention, the dense thicket before us had several branching paths for entry.
-It seems the units have been formed. We will now begin the practical exercise in earnest.
-Break through the forest before you with the units you have formed.
A sharp voice echoed.
As the broadcast ended, the magical fence blocking the dense thicket was dispelled.
Finally, we're on track.
Now it feels like things are finally flowing as I know they should.
I looked back at my teammates.
“Let's go.”