Not Hiding Spoilers (1)
Not Hiding Spoilers (1)
Ranked seventh among the S-ranks: Võ Chí Công.
The man who had made me go from zero to helpless laughter the instant he appeared in the game.
...Honestly, it was a completely ordinary name.
His family name was Võ, his middle name Chí, and his given name Công.
Taken separately, all three were common Vietnamese names.
His full name was rarely used, so most people simply called him Công.
No. Far from strange, it was a really good name.
Võ Chí Công was the name of a Vietnamese independence activist who had even served as the country’s president.
In Korean terms, it was the name of a great figure with the stature of Dosan Ahn Changho.
His father had given him the name in the hope that he, too, would grow into a great man like his namesake.
'Besides, he was a national hero in Vietnam.'
True to his name, his deeds were those of a great man.
The current Vietnamese government was in a state of collapse because of a Grade 0 Villain, the Necromancer.
He was the leader of the Vietnam Liberation Army, whose goal was to overthrow the Necromancer.
His frequent trips abroad, and the foreign currency he earned by clearing Gates in other countries—
it was all to restore peace to Vietnam.
In other words, he was a hero fighting for his country.
Even though I was from another country, I knew I shouldn't mock a man like him merely because his name sounded funny.
I knew I shouldn't, but...
"I'm Võ Chí Công. Please, just call me Công."
"———Pfft!!!!!"
'How was I supposed to hold that in? Seriously!!'
Seriously, how could anyone be named Võ Chí Công?
At first, I had thought the game developer hated Vietnam.
I was thrown off when I looked it up and found out people actually use that name.
That was why I ended up drawing blood because of him every time in the First Round.
We'd become friends because we were both S-rank and, at the time, the only two men among the S-ranks.
But no matter how accustomed I became, hearing his full name once was usually enough to make me burst out laughing.
He himself would laugh because he found my reaction amusing.
If I used hypnosis to get over it, he'd even taunt me with, ‘Boo, what a weak little man.’
That infuriated me, so I had tried everything to endure it without hypnosis...
It did not matter how hard I bit my lip until it bled or clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms.
That bastard’s very name had been optimized to assassinate me.
"Yu, Yujin...?! Are you okay!!?"
Alice’s worried gaze landed on me.
Since she was a foreigner, she didn't seem to understand the reason for my reaction yet.
On the other hand,
"......You idiot."
'I was sorry, Sia!!'
Sia, who had easily guessed what I was reacting to, only turned away with a flushed face.
Finally.
—Pfft.
"It does sound a little funny to Koreans, does it not? Haha."
'I was sorry, buddy!! I had tried to hold it in, but I couldn't!!'
Just as he always had in the First Round, Công himself laughed it off and said he understood.
He was such a nice guy that I felt twice as sorry.
'But seriously, how could anyone be named Võ Chí Công?'
"Pfft, hrk...!!"
"Yujin, are you hurt somewhere...? Should I get you a Pine-Needle Snow?"
"Leave that idiot alone, Alice. Honestly, he is not a kindergartener collapsing with laughter at the sound of a fart."
"Fa, fa, fa......!!!?"
"Don't get the wrong idea, you crazy perverted bitch!!!"
Thanks to that, the lecture had been chaotic from the very beginning.
* * *
Ranked seventh among the S-ranks: Võ Chí Công.
Throughout the lecture, he kept glancing at Yujin.
His gaze was full of goodwill.
'He laughed at my name. Maybe we had similar tastes?'
He had, after all, earned his awakener credentials in Korea.
He knew quite well that his full name sounded a little embarrassing to Koreans.
Nor did he particularly dislike that his name sounded that way to Koreans.
Hey, that's fun. When I make a male friend in Korea, I'll joke around with this.
That was how positively he viewed it.
But...
No such opportunity had ever come.
'Whether during my cadet days or now, I had never made a single male friend I could truly open up to.'
His cadet days?
The awakener gender ratio was one man to nine women. Women were everywhere.
During four years at the academy, he hadn't made a single friend with whom he could laugh over such lowbrow jokes.
After his awakener debut?
He'd worked himself ragged trying to restore his villain-ravaged homeland and found himself called S-rank before he knew it.
No one laughed at the name of the man ranked seventh among the S-ranks and revered as a hero.
In the end, his circle was full of female friends and female colleagues.
'Being surrounded by women was better than being surrounded by men, but... I still needed a friend I could open up to. Someone who would share a bowl of soup and a bottle of soju with me. That kind of friend.'
That was what he had always longed for:
for even one man on his level, with somewhat similar tastes, to appear;
for them to become friends who could speak openly with each other.
That was why he looked at Yujin with such warmth.
'They called him an up-and-coming S-rank, but he was still a cadet. Yet he laughed instead of shrinking from me? Yes, that was how a man should act.'
"It does sound a little funny to Koreans, does it not? Haha."
He even made the joke himself so the mood would not turn awkward.
After that, he conducted the lecture smoothly.
He praised Korea, shared stories the cadets would enjoy, and explained the situation of awakeners in several countries.
The lecture time allotted by the Chairwoman passed quickly.
"I'll end the lecture here. And... Cadet Seo Yujin? Could we speak for a moment?"
'I wanted to see whether we really clicked.'
Having finished the lecture, it was time to fulfill the real purpose of his visit to Korea.
He called for Yujin right away.
Without giving any thought to how that might look to others.
—Muttering.
"An active S-rank personally asked to meet him...?"
"Is this one of those ‘S-ranks recognize their own’ things?"
"Amazing...!!!"
Every cadet stared at Yujin.
Even some of the professors watched with envy.
Yujin himself had thought little of it.
"Sia, Alice, I'll be back in a moment."
"As expected, Yujin is amazing!! Go on!"
"Don't laugh like an idiot again. It's rude."
"......."
'I was not confident I could manage that.'
Leaving behind the women who had been his wives before regression, Yujin slowly walked forward.
As everyone's eyes were on the two men...
Công’s gaze suddenly darted toward someone.
'Hmm. We could have talked here, but...'
—Glance.
'If we did, I'd be beaten to death.'
"There are too many people watching here. Shall we go somewhere else?"
"Yeah."
Because Công was conscious of someone’s gaze, the conversation between the current S-rank and the future S-rank would take place in private.
Leaving the auditorium’s disappointed sighs behind, the two men headed smoothly to the faculty office.
In the end, three people entered the empty faculty office.
Công and Yujin. And,
—Squeak.
"......?"
'Who was she? A secretary? Had he been the type to keep one around?'
For some reason, a woman wearing an obviously suspicious robe accompanied him.
Her face was almost completely hidden, but Yujin paid little attention.
He dismissed the concern. Công would not bring a suspicious stranger, would he? She was probably a secretary or an adjutant.
Yujin, at ease, flopped onto the sofa.
As casually as if he were meeting a friend.
—Flump.
"I heard from the Chairwoman that you were interested in my ability."
'He was this relaxed even in a private meeting? Hoh. I liked that confidence.'
"Yes... Ahem. No, you'll reach S-rank soon after graduation. Let us drop the formalities, Yujin."
"Ah, sure. Then I'll call you Công."
'He was as easygoing as ever~.'
They were on casual terms almost instantly.
To Công, this was his first meeting with Yujin. To Yujin, Công was a friend he had known for nearly ten years.
A smile tugged at Công's lips.
"Pfft. Most people do not drop formalities the instant they're told. Hmph. Ridiculous."
'Huh? Had I come on too strong...?'
"But I like it a lot! Haha!"
He liked Yujin so much that he abandoned the polite smile he'd maintained and laughed openly.
—Pfft.
'It was good to see him laugh. Maybe I could have soup and soju with him that evening.'
"So, what do you want? If you flew here directly from Vietnam, it must be urgent."
"Ah, right. That was why I came."
Yet, his expression soon returned to normal.
What was the reason he had sought out Yujin?
He'd come because he believed the Vietnam Liberation Army needed Yujin’s hypnosis.
He had not paid a personal visit just to find a mere friend.
In a single second, the man delighted to find a potential friend became the hero of Vietnam and the awakener ranked seventh among the S-ranks.
—Shift.
"Awakener Seo Yujin. I know it is discourteous to pry into someone’s ability, but..."
"Hey, you can ask me casually. My ability does not really have any weaknesses, so it's fine."
"Then I won't hold back. Can you make a villain normal again?"
"Impossible. It'd wear off quickly. Killing them would be easier."
"As expected. Those bastards would never become normal just from hypnosis."
The first question was whether a villain could be rehabilitated.
The answer was a firm no, but Công was not bothered.
He knew well that villains were fundamentally irredeemable trash.
"Then, here's the main point. Our Liberation Army captured a Grade 1 Villain. She was a close aide of the Necromancer."
"Oh, really? You managed to capture her."
"...Only because one of my comrades sacrificed herself."
Regret settled in Công's eyes.
Someone he had been unable to save even with his Innate Talent.
He had remembered Nguyễn Xuân Thiên, the B-rank awakener who had died heroically for her homeland.
—Grit.
"I can't let her sacrifice be in vain, so I want to extract information about the Necromancer somehow."
"And you came to me for that?"
"Yes. We administered truth serum and even subjected her to horrific torture, but she still wouldn't talk."
Công's gaze returned to Yujin.
This time, his gaze carried unmistakable hope.
"So I'll ask. Yujin, can your hypnosis interrogate a Grade 1 villain—an awakener around the middle of A-rank?"
"Yeah. With truth serum as well, definitely."
".........!!!!!"
His eyes flew open.
Yujin was still only a cadet, so part of Công had already resigned itself to hearing that it might be impossible.
It was really possible.
"...Really?"
"Yeah. Really. If I can't, I'll put cilantro on my pho three meals a day from now on."
"What does that even... No, that is not what matters. Then we need to go right now...!!!"
Công's face brightened and he sprang to his feet.
He thought, 'Nguyễn Xuân Thiên, your sacrifice had not been in vain!!'
———But there was something even he had not anticipated.
"Don't get so excited. Sit down, Công."
"No, I can't waste another second sitting around! We need to go right now!"
"As it happened, I was interested in the Necromancer too, so I had researched her."
"......What?"
The person sitting before him wasn't merely a cadet with a hypnosis ability...
He was a man who'd transmigrated and then regressed:
the self-proclaimed Second-Round Hypnosis Breeding Guy.
'Buddy, I was sorry I had laughed at your name. As an apology...'
"Well then. Should we start with that bitch's weak points?"
'I'd spoil your turbulent life story for you.'