Living a Normal Life (2)

The moment we stepped into the café, the conversation hit my ears immediately.

“Hey. Isn’t that Han Yeseo?”

“What? For real? Damn, it is her.”

This time, there were people who actually recognized her. A few customers glanced our way, but that was it. No one approached. Being an S-rank hunter probably made them think twice.

Yeah, those E-ranks really were something else. Their confidence was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on another level.

We found a decent ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠table and sat down. Since Han Yeseo was the oldest, she asked everyone what they wanted to drink and headed off to order. The other three were still kids, so I could understand, but I was an adult. She could’ve just asked me too.

She was even paying, and yet she insisted on handling all the little chores herself. If she said she was fine with it, I wasn’t going to argue.

While we waited at the table, chatting casually, Kim Seoyeon suddenly spoke up.

“Unnie… Unnie!”

“Hm? Yeah?”

“Your name is Baek Sowol, right…? Can I call you Sowol unnie?”

“Can I call you Sowol noona too?”

Ah. I wasn’t used to being called “unnie” or “noona” yet, so it took me a second to realize they were talking to me. Still, there was no reason to refuse.

We’d come out together to get closer, after all. Dropping the formal speech was basically the same as saying they wanted to be friends.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Really? Then can we exchange numbers?”

“Me too! Me too!”

Same logic. No reason to say no.

“Here. Kids, this is my number. Save it and send me a text each so I know you’ve got it.”

“Yes!”

After swapping numbers, we kept talking. Maybe because they were still young, their energy was on a completely different level.

“So unnie! What cosmetics do you use?”

“Huh…? I don’t really use any…”

“No way? You’re not even wearing foundation?”

“Nope. I’m not. Want to touch and see for yourself?”

I knew women generally wore a lot of makeup, but Baek Sowol’s face was so naturally beautiful that I’d never bothered. And it wasn’t like I was trying to impress any guys. Why go through the trouble?

“Whoa, seriously? I can actually touch?”

“It’s fine.”

If I thought like a wizard, the most effective way to convince someone was to let them experience it directly. No need for extra explanations if they could just feel it themselves.

I gave Kim Seoyeon permission to touch my face.

‘Well, this is the age when kids get curious about stuff like this.’

People who haven’t become adults yet tend to be interested in these kinds of things.

Everyone goes through that phase, right? Back when I was a first-year in high school, I wanted to become a mage so badly that I illegally bought a tattoo machine and tried to copy a magic circle on my skin. I got the absolute crap beaten out of me at school for it.

Just for reference, I tested it again after Awakening. It didn’t help at all.

“Ah! I’m sorry, unnie.”

“It’s okay. But even if I don’t mind, other people might, so you shouldn’t just touch anyone without asking, alright?”

“Yes!”

Thankfully, unlike the usual trash-talk about “kids these days,” Seoyeon actually knew how to reflect on herself. She was bright and had good social sense. They all seemed like good kids. The kind it would be nice to get closer to.

“But unnie, are you really not wearing anything? How is your skin this good?”

“You noticed that while you were touching?”

“Of course! I touched you to figure out what you were wearing in the first place! I’m not saying I did a good job though…”

Baek Sowol didn’t enjoy wearing makeup. When I’d searched the house, there were almost no cosmetics at all.

So I didn’t use any either. Honestly, I had zero interest in learning how.

‘This kind of atmosphere isn’t bad at all.’

Maybe it was because I’d become a wizard. I felt like I finally had some breathing room. In the past, I would’ve considered this a waste of time and focused on something else. But now I was a proper wizard. Once my mind found peace, I started to enjoy the moment.

While I was watching these future sprouts and killing time, Han Yeseo finally finished ordering and came back.

“Kids, orders are done. The bell will ring when they’re ready, so just go pick them up… Jihu? You’re not crushing on Sowol, are you? You’ve been staring at her the whole time.”

“What? What!? Don’t frame me like that, noona!”

“Look at how strongly you’re reacting. Definitely love at first sight, huh? But Sowol’s an adult, so dating you would be illegal. Give it up. Even if you’re okay with it, she wouldn’t be.”

After that, Han Yeseo naturally started teasing Lee Jihu. From her expression, it was clearly just a joke. They seemed pretty close.

‘Even if our ages matched, I still couldn’t accept it.’

Setting aside my previous life, I didn’t even know the full history of this body. Starting a relationship on top of that? The headaches would never end. If I ever did date someone, it would only be after I’d uncovered everything about the past.

‘Still… though…’

Even if it wasn’t romance, connections like this didn’t seem so bad.

‘Sowol and the kids seem to be getting along great.’

Ever since Han Yeseo learned that Baek Sowol was a wizard, she’d been trying even harder to get closer. What reason was there not to? She was pretty, kind, and on top of that, a wizard.

She did show some strange ways of thinking sometimes, but Yeseo had heard that all wizards were a little crazy, so it didn’t bother her. If anything, combined with that unique white hair, the strangeness had transformed into an aura of mystery.

‘This much should be fine, right? I’m not revealing anything directly.’

That was why she’d set up this outing. And luckily, the kids had shown up. The ones who would be active in Binghwa in the future.

She’d introduced them to Baek Sowol.

She couldn’t exactly call her reasons completely pure.

Introducing the kids had all been part of her plan to pull Sowol into Binghwa.

‘Honestly, Sowol does seem interested in joining a guild…’

Baek Sowol had never said she wanted to join Binghwa specifically. But from the way she talked, it was clear she planned to enter either one of the Four Major Guilds or Hermes.

She was just hiding the fact that she was a wizard because joining right now would be too much of a loss.

‘Then I need to bring her into Binghwa.’

A wizard held incredible value just by existing. If Binghwa could secure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fully grown wizard, there was no reason to hold back on investment.

She wanted to get closer. Being in the same guild would make that easier. Plus, successfully recruiting a wizard would raise her own standing inside the guild. If she could personally call on Baek Sowol, then the stronger Sowol became, the stronger Yeseo’s position would grow.

And with Sowol’s appearance, there was more than enough appeal to recruit her. Even if she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠only reached S-rank as a wizard, she’d be able to earn more than most SS-rank hunters.

For that to happen, it was better for her to be in Binghwa. There was also the option of joining as a regular hunter instead of revealing she was a wizard.

Was hiding the fact that she was a wizard wrong? Legally and morally, there was no issue. Plenty of hunters who only planned to stay with a guild short-term didn’t reveal their full power. If the guild had all their information, it could cause problems later when they left.

They’d simply receive lower treatment in proportion to the power they hid. Guilds didn’t usually complain about it.

After all, even Han Yeseo herself had nearly died because all her information had been made public.

‘If everyone around her is part of Binghwa… there’s a high chance Sowol will stay with us too.’

No matter how much people clung to contracts, they couldn’t ignore personal connections. Between ten million won and eleven million won, a hundred out of a hundred people would choose the latter.

But what about earning ten million in your hometown where all your friends were versus earning eleven million somewhere far away? Some would choose the latter, but a lot of people would pick the former.

So this much was probably fine. She wasn’t revealing Sowol’s identity directly. And… she genuinely wanted to protect someone like Sowol.

‘Something like what happened with Yeji… I won’t let it happen again…’

She would never let something like that repeat.

“Kids, orders are done. The bell will ring when they’re ready, so just go pick them up… Jihu? You’re not crushing on Sowol, are you? You’ve been staring at her the whole time.”

Having made that firm resolution, Han Yeseo walked back over to the table.

After hanging out with the kids, I returned home. I checked my phone again.

There were still no messages.

At this point, it felt like they’d completely cut ties. But I still couldn’t confirm it for sure. There was a saying about not scratching where it itches. There was no need to check on purpose and create problems.

‘Let’s focus on promoting myself again…’

I sat down, turned on the computer, and entered Hunma-gal. Right at the top, one post caught my eye.

{A photo with only a glimpse of Baek Sowol’s white hair visible.}

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Huh…? So this kid posts on Hunma-gal too.

From the way he talked, the situation, and the username LeeJihuPing, there was a very high chance this was Jihu.

When I checked his gallery log, it was full of the kind of aggressive, swear-filled posts you’d expect from a boy his age. There wasn’t really anything to criticize. He wasn’t attacking anyone; he was just writing about what he’d experienced.

He hadn’t revealed her face either, just a bit of hair and her hand. That was within acceptable limits. Honestly, I wasn’t in any position to complain.

Why? Because I’d secretly uploaded a picture of Yeseo noona myself. Even though I stopped people from posting my own photos on Inbel. Public figures could still make some people uncomfortable.

Since I didn’t feel particularly upset, I decided not to make it an issue.

Hmm. They seem to be having fun.

This much is fine. Doesn’t look like there’s any real problem.

I was just about to write my own post to promote myself when my phone suddenly buzzed with a notification.

After growing curious about Baek Sowol’s family before, I’d requested a family registry certificate. I’d also pulled their basic certificates. These days, because of all the issues caused by gates, family registries now included life-and-death confirmation. They’d apparently been merged with the basic certificate… I didn’t know the exact details.

It was also possible to check siblings now. Family registries had been updated to include life confirmation in many cases, so the law had changed.

Anyway, this would let me confirm whether Baek Sowol’s family members were alive or dead. I opened it right away.

“…What?”

The results were so absurd I couldn’t help but be stunned.

‘My family… they’re all… alive…?’

Baek Sowol’s parents and siblings were all alive.

And none of them had contacted her for over a month.

I…

Had I really been living an even more messed-up life than I thought?