Chapter 84: Exchange Match (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: Exchange Match (7)
Time passed, and the Exchange Match was just around the corner.
Today was the day before.
The class I was currently in was ‘Introduction to Ability Studies.’
It was a mandatory course for all Gaon first-years, with no option to skip.
The professor was a retired hero, formerly the exclusive trainer for the master of the number one guild, Aegis.
Though he had a wealth of practical experience, his style always emphasized the direction of one's growth over combat itself.
With a deadpan expression, he meticulously wrote three words on the blackboard.
Will, Experience, Choice.
Then, he set down the chalk and continued in a calm voice.
“…Therefore, a hero’s growth and the expansion of their Authority are not achieved simply through time or repeated battles.”
He slowly circled each of the words he had written.
“All such results ultimately depend on the path you choose for yourself. Not a path someone else dictates, but one you have chosen.
Depending on the direction of your training and your will, your Expanded Authority will respond to you in entirely different forms.”
A brief silence fell over the lecture hall.
Some students nodded slowly, while others paused their pens to mull over his words.
I was no different.
From my position of having to guide the growth of the main characters, this was excellent material.
And as someone who needed to unlock the second stage of the Fragment of Harmony, I had to take it to heart.
Even if it was something I already knew, hearing it like this gave it a new weight.
A damn good lecture.
‘What a strange feeling.’
To witness someone—an authority figure, no less—professionally explaining the very setting I had created and planned.
It was a rather interesting experience.
“That concludes today’s lecture.”
The professor’s final words shattered the silence.
In that instant, students began rising from their seats all at once.
But all this talk of Authority…
‘I wonder what they’re like now.’
I suddenly grew curious about the systems of the people around me.
Until now, I had only known what I knew, making educated guesses based on my expectations.
Yoon Chae-ha was the exception.
I’d had a chance to check hers directly not long ago.
Thinking back, that had been a pretty unusual event.
I had only blurted out the request because I was desperate and not thinking straight; my usual self would never have been so direct.
I was grateful that she had readily agreed.
Revealing one’s system to another person carries significant weight.
If it falls into someone else’s hands, it can become a weakness in itself and is dangerous in many ways.
It had even been covered on TV broadcasts.
Even hero couples in the top ranks avoided sharing their systems if possible.
The message was that even in a relationship built on love and trust, the system was an exception.
To put it another way, it was like showing your naked self as a hero.
It was that sensitive, that delicate of a matter.
So, after that day, I had taken the time to quietly apologize to Yoon Chae-ha.
Upon hearing my words, she had looked at me for a moment before turning her head away and saying:
—It’s fine…
I was lucky Yoon Chae-ha had such a cool personality.
Organizing my thoughts, I turned my head to the left.
“Haaah…”
Cheon Yeo-wool let out a long yawn as she stretched her body.
She looked like she had just woken up.
Shrugging her shoulders as she stretched, she met my eyes and gave a slight smile.
“Good morning.”
“‘Good morning’ my ass.”
I immediately delivered a punishing flick to her forehead.
Thwack!
“Oof!”
Cheon Yeo-wool squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead.
“If you don’t even listen to this lecture, what class are you going to listen to?”
Look at Kang A-rin and Yu Hana up front. They didn’t miss a single word the professor said throughout the entire class.
An honor student’s attitude is evident even in their daily classes.
She just giggled and rubbed her forehead.
Then, I turned my head to the right.
“……”
Yoon Chae-ha.
She was still slumped over her desk, not moving an inch.
I had definitely told both of them to at least listen to this instructor’s class.
“…”
Her eyes were closed, her breathing even.
Did she not know class was over, or did she just want to keep sleeping?
“What a blockhead,” Cheon Yeo-wool muttered coldly from beside me. But she was one to talk.
“Sigh.”
Well, whatever…
I suppose it’s fine since she’s already expanded everything she needs to for now.
Still, what’s annoying is annoying.
I picked up the iced coffee sitting in front of me.
The condensation on the cup’s surface chilled my fingertips.
And slowly…
Sshhh.
I gently placed my cold hand on the nape of Yoon Chae-ha’s neck.
“Gah!”
She shot up from her seat as if she’d been launched.
As she stared at me in surprise, I nonchalantly took a sip of my coffee.
“You up?”
“…Sheesh.”
Yoon Chae-ha rubbed the back of her neck, her face slightly scrunched up as if she were still half-asleep.
Her face, visible through her messy hair, was a mixture of bewilderment and slight irritation.
It was then.
“Let’s go, Hae-in.”
A cheerful voice called out from a distance.
Yu Hana approached, waving with a bright smile.
Since the Exchange Match was tomorrow, the group mission was being announced today.
Yoon Chae-ha and I got up and followed our team leader, Yu Hana, to the auditorium.
The path to the auditorium was much more crowded than usual.
Among Gaon’s blue emblems were uniforms of a different color, a vivid blend of red and gold.
They were the students from Carlos, who had arrived yesterday.
Though we would be clashing tomorrow, for now, it was just an awkward period of sizing each other up.
“There are so many people, huh?”
“It’s chaotic.”
Yu Hana muttered under her breath and turned her head, while Yoon Chae-ha grumbled.
Between them, the entrance to the auditorium came into view.
As we stepped inside, the projector on the ceiling activated with a grand display of lights.
We took our seats and waited for the briefing. The opposite side of the auditorium, usually empty, was now packed with Carlos students.
The professor holding the microphone gave a brief greeting and a few words of caution before getting straight to the point. Everyone’s attention was fixed on the large screen behind the stage.
“We will now announce the mission for the Exchange Match team battle, which will take place tomorrow.”
The screen changed, and a large title appeared.
[ Exchange Match Team Mission: Guardian of the Ancient Ruins ]
A crumbling ruin shrouded in blue mist appeared on the screen like a backdrop.
Below it, the key details of the mission began to appear in a concise summary.
The content was simple. Each team would be assigned a base point.
A total of ten waves would appear in sequence, and all teams would face the same enemies simultaneously.
The team that was first to completely annihilate a wave would earn points based on their rank.
It was a structure modeled after the monster incident I had stopped a year ago.
The key was how stably you could endure the ten waves while also finishing them as quickly as possible.
Feeling a persistent gaze from my side, I turned my head to see Yoon Sang-hyeok looking at me with a cheesy expression.
“I’m counting on you.”
“Ugh, you’re gross.”
I shot back with a dry laugh.
To be honest, it wasn’t a very difficult task.
The main event was the individual matches, anyway.
The professor tapped the microphone once, then looked at the screen again and spoke.
“And now, we will reveal the bracket for the Exchange Match individual matches.”
The screen went dark again, then a tournament bracket appeared.
Names began to fill it in one by one, and naturally, everyone’s eyes were drawn to it.
Yoon Chae-ha.
I could see her name.
‘Not bad.’
Her first-round match was easy. To put it bluntly, it would be harder for her to lose than to win.
I traced her path to the second and third rounds, but there were no threatening names.
However, on the opposite side of the bracket…
The same was true for Joo Seo-jun.
Barring any major upsets, Yoon Chae-ha and Joo Seo-jun would face each other in the finals.
I turned my head toward Yoon Chae-ha, who was sitting next to me.
“Someone wanted me to tell you something.”
“What?”
“That he’s changed a lot since the old days. He wanted you to know that.”
“Oh, really?”
Yoon Chae-ha stared blankly into space for a moment before turning her head toward me.
Then, the corners of her lips lifted slightly.
“The same goes for me.”
Her voice was calm, but it was filled with confidence.
Having confirmed the individual match bracket, we rose from our seats.
The eight members of Team Yu Hana gathered one by one in front of the auditorium.
“Anyway, let’s do our best tomorrow.”
Kim Dae-hyun, who was usually calm, said with a surprisingly excited face.
Everyone nodded in their own way in response.
Just then.
Diri-ring! Diri-diri-diri-ring!!
A frantic notification alarm suddenly erupted from Yu Hana’s watch.
“What is it…?”
She frowned and glanced at her watch screen.
Her eyes widened, and her lips trembled.
“Wait, I have to go first! Hae-in! See you tomorrow!”
The moment she finished speaking, Yu Hana took off running.
She didn’t even look back.
‘What was that?’
I wondered to myself.
What could have happened to make Yu Hana react like that…
“What the…?”
As one of us muttered to themselves, another, who had been checking their watch, suddenly shouted.
“Everyone, look at this!”
A crowd of gazes rushed to focus on the small watch screen.
There, a newly updated news alert was displayed.
[Breaking News] [‘Azure Cloud Sword Emperor’ Yu Mujin Ends Seclusion Training… Declares Return to the Front Lines After 5 Years.]
For a moment, our surroundings fell silent.
Ah, so that was it.
Yu Hana’s father.
The head of the Yu Family.
Yu Mujin had returned.
Only then could I understand why Yu Hana had been so shocked and had run off like that.
A return after a whole five years.
And he was her one and only family.
*
The Yu Family’s head residence, a place no one had been able to enter or leave.
Today, for the first time in a long while, many people passed through its gates with bright faces.
The head of the Yu Family, Yu Mujin.
It was the day his long, long years of seclusion training had finally come to an end.
“The Yu Family has nothing left to do but soar again…”
“The Cheongpung Sect will be… the best once more.”
The place was bustling with visitors.
Through the joyful crowd and the disciples of the Cheongpung Sect…
Yu Hana walked quietly, yet with a dignified stride.
“Congratulations, Young Miss!”
Yu Hana responded to the continuous stream of greetings with a smile.
Nodding and waving, she asked quietly,
“Where is the Family Head?”
A servant pointed a hand toward the largest tiled-roof house.
Yu Hana nodded silently again and walked toward its door.
Creeak.
She carefully opened the massive door.
A clear, serene energy filled the room.
A man sat in a formal posture with his back to her. An aura of dignity emanated from him even from behind.
“You’ve come.”
At Yu Mujin’s low, deep voice, Yu Hana drew in a sharp breath.
Something surged up from deep within her chest.
But she firmly suppressed it.
“It has been five years, my daughter.”
No.
For her, it hadn’t been just five years.
Yu Hana slowly knelt and bowed deeply.
Clinging to her trembling voice, she opened her mouth.
“The daughter of the Yu Family greets the Family Head. It has been… too long, my Lord.”
“…You’ve grown so much. My daughter.”
Yu Mujin slowly turned to face her, his expression complex.
Pride. Bitterness. Guilt.
All these emotions floated quietly on his face.
In his hands were photos of Yu Hana’s school life during his seclusion, along with a few newspaper clippings.
It was an already well-known fact.
He was a doting father.
To leave such a daughter behind and enter seclusion, as if locking the door on himself, must have been a decision made with heart-wrenching pain.
His gaze slowly swept over Yu Hana.
The aura she exuded was not simply that of the Yu Family’s swordsmanship.
An unfamiliar energy, yet one that harmoniously blended with the family’s style, had settled within her.
And at her side, she held a sword with a red scabbard.
Even at a glance, its aura was extraordinary.
She had already stepped out of the Yu Family’s shadow and was walking her own path.
Yu Mujin narrowed his eyes.
He was curious.
How had she grown so strong?
With whom had she walked this path?
However, Yu Mujin…
That was not what he, as a father, was most curious about right now.
“…Daughter.”
With a trembling hand, he held up a photo he was holding.
“But, who in the world is this boy?”
His quivering fingertip pointed to a handsome young man pictured with Yu Hana.
Looking at the photos, it was no exaggeration to say that he had been a part of half, no, most of his daughter’s school life.
The young man had melted so naturally into his daughter’s life.
Yu Hana followed her father’s finger and slightly raised her head.
As she looked at the photo, a soft smile bloomed on her lips.
But the smile was fleeting, and she once again bowed her head deeply.
In the suffocating silence, she spoke a name.
“Jung Hae-in.”
A breathy whisper.
And following it, a voice filled with conviction.
“He is the man I will take as my husband and serve for the rest of my life.”
The moment those words ended…
Yu Mujin’s breath caught in his throat.
