93. Caught Up at Last
How long had it been?
"Uh...?"
The first sign was the sea water beginning to recede.
Even accounting for low tide, the drop in the seawater level was absurdly abnormal.
The waves grew even more violent, as if something was approaching them.
In. Out.
Strongly. Even stronger.
At the same time, the clear blue sky began to be gradually swallowed by the dark clouds.
"The weather..."
An ominous sign.
A slowly approaching presence.
The hair on my skin stood on end, and the wind touching my skin grew increasingly intense.
"...Oppa. What the hell is that over there?"
A being that opposes humanity.
"Sharks! They're sharks!"
"No... That's a monster! Monsters are coming up!"
"Kyaaah!"
"Finally heading to Hitgal?!"
Panic. Screams.
Along with the noisy voices, the camera shutter sounds—what kind of insane person is doing this?
'If I just look at the silhouette...'
The mass of monsters, slowly becoming visible to the naked eye.
Beyond the beach, fins of a deep blue light began to rise from the waves beyond the horizon.
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh!
"Kyaaah!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
A swarm of monsters charging toward the people.
A short while later.
"...Huh?"
Drip. Drip.
"...???"
The monsters had used Leap... but the effect was insufficient!
"...Are they idiots?"
A voice.
The exact same voice.
The monsters that had boldly emerged from the water were unable to adapt to the spicy taste of the air on land and flailed around, thrashing wildly.
In the end, they died from suffocation without breathing.
"...???"
That's right.
Originally, if they were monsters that would directly harm humans, I would have stopped them or tried to prevent it, but most aquatic monsters behave like this once they come out of the water.
"What? They came out of the water and can't do anything!"
"Ugh... gross!"
"Perhaps they have mana stones too?"
Fear was dulling, curiosity was rising.
A few people who had stepped back began approaching the dying monsters with excitement to take photos.
And right now. The people were starting to relax. That was exactly when the crisis would strike.
Shiiiiick!
"...Finally."
The sharp sound coming from over there.
Threatening sounds flying through the air.
Thud. Boing.
"Uwag?! What is this..."
"A spear! Spears are flying from the sky!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
"Hitgal! Hitgal is coming!"
Mermens.
Aquatic monsters that usually live in the sea but can come up to land.
Their thrown spears soon began to threaten even beyond the land.
"Shinpung. Below."
[Ppyo?]
"...Shinpung. Please."
Even in moments like this, you want to?
I sighed softly and extended my arm forward, murmuring.
"...Kamikaze. Gather my wind into yours and scatter the threats across the world!"
[Ppyo Ppyo Ppyo—!!!]
A powerful Shinpung's howl.
At the same time, fierce winds began to sweep around me.
'Normally I'd protect with Seiren safely, but...'
There were civilians around now.
It was practically impossible to protect each of them one by one with Seiren.
If so, it was easier to simply deflect the trajectory itself so the attacks wouldn't reach at all.
"As is. All at once—!"
[Ppyoyoyoyoyot!!!]
A dense barrage of spears covering the sky.
Shinpung's whirlwind rushed toward them.
Thud. Boing.
Pfoobububububububuk!
"...H-hah..."
"Alive..."
"...Awakener? Spirit?"
"Hi... Hitgal arrived!"
Spears that fell due to the wind before reaching the people.
The sight of spears falling right in front of my eyes was intimidating, but it also created an uncontrollable tragedy.
Kie. Kisiiiiit!
"Kieeeeeek!"
"...!!!"
"Ugh..."
Rain of spears falling from the sky.
Especially the front line of monsters, fish-shaped, jumped up with power and went into near-death state, and got wiped out by the allies' spears.
Instant team kill. Thanks to that, time was bought.
I stepped forward one step and turned toward the civilians.
"I am Kim Sunwoo, A-rank Spirit Contractor affiliated with the Yuseong Group! I cannot guarantee any damage to the civilians, so I ask everyone to evacuate immediately!"
"Yuseong Group...?"
"Awakener! A-rank awakener!"
Click. Click. Click.
Civilians busy taking photos instead of running, despite the command to evacuate.
"From now on, even if any damage occurs in this place, I will not guarantee it! I repeat! Please evacuate to a safe area immediately!"
I shouted toward the civilians with strength in my voice, but...
"Yuseong Group... Kim Sunwoo... found!"
"Manager of Nature? Manager left!"
"Manager hyung! Photo! Please sign!"
Citizens approaching with approval.
"...Haaah."
Such words were useless, but our citizens' awareness was clearly broken in many ways.
'Even when fire breaks out, if firefighters say to run, people come close to take photos.'
I couldn't get it through words.
So, I had no choice but to forcefully pull them down by force.
I entrusted the mana holes to the spirits to ask the civilians to evacuate.
"People, listen to what I'm saying, you idiots!"
"...Eh?"
No. I was trying to ask for evacuation.
Why was Yeonhwa here?
"Everyone, please evacuate toward the city!"
"...Harin unnie. The in-crowd won't listen anyway, and if we just leave Nature to the natural selection—"
"—Sujin, what are you saying!"
"Sujin and Harin too?"
It wasn't just Yeonhwa.
All three members of Nature appeared.
Even that was enough to be shocking...
"Citizens! Please evacuate!"
"...Haa."
A single person approaching the beach slowly.
"If you do not evacuate, it will be considered intentional interference with evacuation, and we will sue under the Yuseong Group!"
"Seriously crazy."
Yoo Hyewon. She was standing there.
---
A few days ago.
A day when Sunwoo was unusually kind.
"Finally... has he acknowledged me as the instructor?"
Harin smiled as she and Yeonhwa recalled today's training.
"Normally, he would have scolded me with something like 'So you're the cat mom!' or 'Aigoo, Harin is the mother! That's why you'll earn Churu!' and said all kinds of weird things! But today..."
The training was as tough as usual, but perhaps not as rough on the hands?
Compared to usual Sunwoo, who would mix in personality attacks, today's Sunwoo felt like he was sincerely only training.
"Even at the end, he tapped my forehead... what a truly instructor-like feeling?"
"The guy who was supposed to say anything good even if he died ended up being unexpected."
"...Yeonhwa unnie. Are you embarrassed?"
"Noisy, idiot."
Yeonhwa turned her head and avoided my gaze.
Harin finally caught the hint and smiled wickedly, stepping closer.
"Embarrassed? The great Yeonhwa unnie? Yeah. In that case, Yeonhwa unnie said she likes people stronger than herself, right?"
"..........."
"....Huh?"
Yeonhwa fell silent noticeably.
With her lips sticking out as if uncomfortable.
"It's not touching someone who has a partner."
"...Unnie, are you serious?"
Even the following words.
"Serious... about that?"
"No."
"To say 'no'... is..."
"No."
Continuing the denial.
However, Harin caught on.
"...Because it's obvious that anyone would like you."
"I said 'no'!"
"Kyaaaaah?!!"
Choke followed by headlock.
A natural grounding combo.
"People! Listen to what I'm saying! Listen!"
"Kyaaaaah! Surrender! Surr—kyaaaaah!!!"
At that moment, the bed turned into a wrestling ring in an instant.
"Date a Dream Part 1 Episode 13... Shining Days Season 2 Part 2 Episode 2... Blue Youth Episode 10..."
"...?"
A voice muttering as if sick.
The hand holding the phone moved tirelessly, rummaging through various sites.
Often, voices of anime characters spilling out of the phone. A collection of dialogues from manga characters reflected through the blue light blocking glasses.
"Sujin. If you're going to watch anime, put on earphones or watch together, pick one."
"Hik! Uh... uuuu...."
Sujin, startled by Yeonhwa's words.
In an instant, she took out the earphones she was about to hand over, Harin asked Sujin.
"Sujin. How did you see the instructor today?"
"Like...?"
"The instructor. Don't you feel like he acknowledged us?"
"...I don't know."
"Eh...?"
Sujin denied outright.
"...Huuung. What does that mean?"
"What? Ah, that's... uuu...!"
"It's not scolding. Since I'm not angry, tell me."
"That's...."
Sujin looked flustered.
Soon, she slowly raised her head and whispered in reply.
"It felt like episode 11 in the anime where only episode 13 is out."
"???"
What does that mean, Sujin.
Harin was taken aback by Sujin's Sujin-like voice, but Yeonhwa corrected her sitting posture and asked Sujin again.
"Keep talking."
"That's... no matter how I look at it, it only looks like a dead flag..."
"............"
"...Yeonhwa unnie? Sujin?"
A strangely coherent conversation with different words.
Yeonhwa nodded quietly and agreed.
"If a person suddenly changes, it means they're going to die or are going there. Damn, that makes sense. I was sitting there like an idiot again?"
"Yeonhwa unnie...?"
Late realization.
Yeonhwa continued, facing Harin.
"Instructor. You plan to do something again."
"...What do you mean?"
"It's the promised plot!"
"So explain what that means, Sujin!"
The promised plot.
Suddenly changing as a person.
Yeonhwa asked with sincerity to the frustrated Harin.
"From your perspective, do you think you've grown enough to receive praise from the instructor?"
"Yes??"
"From your perspective. Do you think 'that instructor' has grown enough to praise you."
"...That's."
"If you don't think so, even the instructor wouldn't think so."
"..........."
Yeonhwa's bone-crushing line.
But at the same time, it was enough to create a certain suspicion in Harin.
The possibility.
The doubt.
And the actions shown so far.
"You might do something...?"
At that, Nature passed it on to Hyewon.
Hyewon was also thrilled at the thought that the date had gone well, but rather, the fact that things went too smoothly caught her ankle.
"After ten years, suddenly being able to make a love confession doesn't make sense."
"...Has some credibility?"
Things were going too well.
That's why anxiety arises. Unease.
Having experienced countless times of getting screwed over at the right time, now the psychology is that not getting screwed over is rather anxiety-inducing!
Even though it seemed absurd to her, if coincidences stacked up, it would soon be science and fate.
And as if to add truth to that thought, she arrived at Sunwoo's house on the day of the promise, but Sunwoo had already left and was long gone.
"At this time, saying he's not here..."
"It means he's gone somewhere."
"Uuuu..."
Somewhere.
But no way to know where.
Should I check the CCTV?
While the worries converged, Harin slowly raised her hand.
"Shouldn't we just call?"
"...If I call and ask where he is, will he tell me honestly?"
Yeonhwa's answer.
A completely obvious answer on the surface.
But...
"No. That's not it. I think I can track the location."
"""....??"""
"That's. It was when I was kidnapped before—"
Exception for awakener, for spirit contractor.
Tracking location through radio waves using lightning spirits.
An unexpected proposal, a feat only possible for Harin, the lightning spirit contractor.
"Oppa... where are you now?"
[...I'm arriving soon.]
"Uuu... uuuuuuuk....!"
However, since it had never been tried once, the success rate was unknown.
"───Ah."
The talent as a spirit contractor was the worst, but even with that worst talent, Harin had 'other kind' talent to endure Sunwoo's training.
Especially since she had unintentionally seen Kim Sunwoo's radio tracking with her own eyes.
"Busan, Busan..."
"""..........."""
In the end. Nature and Hyewon could track Sunwoo's back.
By the way.
"He said he's in Busan, right?"
"How long does it take to go by car?"
"KTX would be better! I looked it up when going to Busan Comic World!"
In the crowd quickly moving.
".....Uh."
Harin stared blankly at the phone.
"............"
The phone.
Location tracking using radio waves.
And the phone—let's say it's a kind of battery...?
"...Ah."
A moment of realization.
It didn't take long to use that realization.