Two New Students Taking on an A-Rank Gate?! (2)
Two New Students Taking on an A-Rank Gate?! (2)
Rewinding a little, to around the time Aika broke the barrier.
The area outside the Gate instantly descended into chaos.
Physically, the place was a wreck thanks to the storm Aika had kicked up...
"What happened?! The awakeners blocked our view, so we couldn't film it. Who the hell..."
"Set that aside for now—film that! Cheonhwa is going in!"
The awakeners charged in as though they'd been waiting for that signal, with porters following close behind.
The loads on their backs...
Supplies prepared for the possibility that every civilian had died.
It was a sight that made tragedy seem all but certain.
"Wait, what are the porters carrying...? My God. How many stretchers are there?"
"That is an absurd number of porters too."
"Are they expecting almost everyone to be dead?"
Several hundred civilians had been caught in an A-rank Gate, and rescue had been delayed for a whole hour and a half.
The victims' chances of survival were exceedingly slim.
Even Cheonhwa Clan, the industry leader, seemed to expect that most of them had died.
Hundreds of civilians—and Seo Yujin, widely hailed as Korea's next S-rank—dead.
The very thought was horrifying.
Naturally, the atmosphere turned as grim as a funeral.
However—
"Even Korea's days as the world's strongest awakener nation are over..."
—Shooook.
"......What!!!?"
"Survivors!!!"
A bright cluster of light appeared at the Gate's perimeter.
The director of the commercial Yujin had been scheduled to film returned.
—Muttering.
"This is not a drama. This is happening in real life... Wow. If we turned this into a movie, it'd easily draw ten million viewers..."
—Shooook.
"Actually, my underwear... Huh?"
Plus one more. A pink-haired girl. Alice.
She was known to be filming a commercial with Yujin...
One of only two awakeners among those caught in the Gate.
At the sight of the two returning safely, everyone's eyes widened.
'One civilian and one awakener? What kind of pairing is that?'
'No, more importantly... If they returned, did that mean the Gate had already been cleared!?'
The appearance of survivors was clearly good news.
But the assault team had gone in only five minutes ago.
Still, wasn't that far too soon for the Gate to have been cleared?
Even with Seol Hayeon on the job, it made no sense.
Yet here were survivors walking right out.
...What in the world had happened in there?
Curiosity ran wild.
"E-excuse me!! The situation inside...."
"U-um... Right now, this is a little..."
"Sorry! We're not exactly presentable right now, so we'll talk later! Alice, follow me!"
-They hurried away.
Alice and the director dodged the cameras and took refuge in a nearby building.
It was rather brusque, but everyone understood.
One had squeezed herself into ill-fitting gym clothes, leaving her in an embarrassingly revealing state.
The other, through no fault of her own, had her underboob exposed.
It was understandable that neither of them wanted to stand before the cameras like that.
In truth, there was no need to stop them.
"That those two are out already...."
"No way, did Seo Yujin clear it first?"
By any reasonable standard, the odds that the strike team that had just entered had already cleared the Gate were zero.
It was far more reasonable to conclude that someone who had already been inside had killed the boss monster.
And there was only one person who could have.
This was no time to concern themselves with a cadet and a director.
He would be back soon.
The hero who had single-handedly cleared an A-rank Gate.
Seo Yujin.
—Shook.
"Make way! Pregnant woman coming through!"
"......H-honey!!!"
What cemented the change in atmosphere was a pregnant woman being carried out on a stretcher.
More civilians streamed out behind her.
"Yeonhwa! Are you hurt any—"
"Mom! I got Seo Yujin's autograph! And I took a picture with him!"
"......?"
Not one of them was injured.
Every civilian they had presumed dead was safe.
"Phew. That's a relief."
"I thought we'd be looking at a field of bodies."
More porters followed them out.
Their fully-loaded packs were practically untouched.
As though there truly had not been a single casualty.
Everyone stared in shock at the miracle that had overturned the expected tragedy.
More and more awakeners emerged from the Gate...
—Fwaaash!!
"I-it's closing!!"
The black curtain finally dispersed in a flash of bright light.
At the same moment, a group of people materialized.
Cheonhwa's A-rank awakeners.
Seol Hayeon, S-rank No. 4.
And lastly,
"It's Seo Yujin!!!"
A wholesome young man.
Those who'd been waiting surged forward at once.
They clutched their cameras and microphones, driven by a single-minded determination to capture a historic event.
"Awakener Seo Yujin! What happened inside the Gate?!"
"Is it true that you cleared the Gate by yourself?!"
"What kind of gate was..."
Naturally, absolute bedlam ensued.
The Chairwoman frowned and tried to rein it in, but—
"He is exhausted right now, so save your questions for another time..."
"It is all right, Association President."
"Oh? In that case... Someone bring over a microphone."
"One moment!"
Who was Yujin, after all?
Before his regression, he had been an S-rank—a man who knew that the best time to look cool was immediately after clearing a Gate.
Realizing that this was his moment, Yujin promptly stepped forward.
"First, I didn't clear it alone. My dear friend Alice Littenwood and I cleared it together."
"That British girl? What help could a mere freshman be inside an A-rank Gate...?"
"I'm a freshman too."
"Well, that is true, but...."
First, he gave his ignored wife's reputation a little boost.
"Can you tell us what it was like inside the Gate and how the fighting unfolded?!"
"Please check the Pine-Needle Snow commercial for that!"
"......?"
A surprise promotional plug.
Everyone's eyes went wide.
"What do you mean...?"
"The director filmed it—our entire fight."
"......!!!!?"
"We'll be going inside to clean ourselves up now. Pine-Needle Snow, the world's greatest beverage! Please give it your support!"
But without explaining in detail, Yujin just bolted.
It was perfect social maneuvering: he knew exactly when to make his move and when to retreat.
Thanks to that, the media's attention shifted to the director.
Show us what you filmed too!
Requests carrying that message flooded both her agency and the beverage company.
The director suddenly had a fire under her.
"Hurry up and edit it! Focus on the edit points I marked!"
"What about the sound effects and such...."
"There is nothing to cut, so just edit the shots together and upload it now!"
To the director, it was already a proper short film.
An unprecedented portfolio piece that distilled all of her creative instincts.
And wasn't everyone clamoring for its release?
So she decided to release a director's cut first.
The official commercial could be polished and released later.
With that thought, a video appeared online at unprecedented speed.
Footage of Yujin and Alice clearing the Gate.
The public response exploded.
[Korean Awakener Minor Gallery]
Title: Sucktana? As of today, it's 'Godtana'
Title: HypnoGOAT really reads every pattern, wtf?
Title: Boss fight cleared in five minutes, damn
Title: How is he fine after getting clubbed by that giant dick?
Title: That surprise product placement at the end, lmao
Yujin's tactical thinking and instincts were as sharp as ever.
Alice's well-timed firepower support.
A real life-or-death battle in which the weaker side fought with every scrap of wit, strategy, and skill it possessed.
It was exactly the kind of footage the public had been craving.
Most awakener combat footage consisted of clans displaying overwhelming power for publicity.
No—setting all that aside, Aika had already shown them plenty of brute-force destruction.
That made this type of battle feel all the more fresh and appealing.
[Korean Awakener Minor Gallery]
Title: This is a real-life hero story
His arms trembled from the shock of being dragged into a Gate unexpectedly,
and he was visibly nervous.
He even said that clearing it alone would be "suicide,"
but the moment he heard there was a pregnant woman, his expression changed.
(Image macro of Yujin saying, "Actually, I'm pretty strong.")
Declares, "I win,"
and actually clears the Gate.
How is something straight out of a biography of a great hero actually real?
└ Ah, you again.
└ 'This bastard simply loves humanity.'
└ A wholesome young man.
Even the story was perfect.
Yujin had only gone in because he figured that he could handle that much.
But to everyone else watching?
He was a hero who had risked his life for the civilians.
Hero stories were popular in every country, and the video had nothing people could dislike.
—Crunch.
"Those fucking bitches. Why couldn't they just die instead of getting caught and causing trouble? I should've killed them when they started talking shit."
"What should we do, Winterer? Those bitches are obviously going to spill everything they know under hypnosis."
"We strike before we're exposed. Prepare at once."
For those who had rejected their humanity, however, it was anything but good news.
* * *
Meanwhile, the video of Yujin and Alice clearing the Gate became hugely popular overseas as well.
Britain swelled with pride at Alice's performance.
Vietnam cheered for Yujin, the friend of Võ Chí Công.
Reactions worldwide were positive, but...
———Japan went into an uproar for a different reason.
[Thread discussing Aika-chan]
(Yujin Alice gate-clear video)
Does the way Yujin-kun swings a katana not look strangely similar to Aika-chan's style?
>>82
Didn't notice in that video, but up close they're definitely alike
>>84
I have practiced kendo for ten years.
Anyone can see that Aika herself taught him.
>>91
What?!
I did not notice during the entrance exam because the reporters filmed from far away while they were fighting inside a barrier.
Now that we can see him up close, he is a perfect copy.
Japan's pride: the swordsmanship of Aika Ninomiya, S-rank No. 1.
[Thread discussing Aika-chan]
>>91
Didn't he just learn it from watching Aika-chan's swordsmanship?
>>95
Just to be sure, I showed it to my seventh-dan kendo master. He said even the smallest habits matched, so Yujin had to be a disciple Aika had personally trained.
>>108
A hidden disciple!?
The topic surfaced instantly.
The possibility that Yujin was Aika's hidden disciple.
A controversy unlike any before erupted.
Japan's pride and walking Strategic Nuke had taught a Korean awakener without authorization.
Even those who supported Yujin and Aika's virtual marriage rose up in protest.
"Apparently, this controversy is gaining momentum. What should we do?"
"Tch. Call Ms. Ninomiya in. Let us hear her side first."
The Japanese government quickly summoned Aika.
They intended to ask her what had happened...
—Frantically.
"P-prime Minister!"
"Hm. What is it?"
"Aika Ninomiya is nowhere to be found!"
"...What?"
"About six days ago, she told her family she'd be back shortly, then disappeared... We have been completely unable to locate her!"
"......!!!!!!?"
Only then did Japan realize that its Strategic Nuke had gone AWOL.