The Art of the Commoner
I waited with bated breath for Hye-in's answer. The pause was so long it actually felt like I was truly waiting. Half a second? During that tiny gap, the faint twitch at the corner of Hye-in's eyes annoyed me to no end.
"I know. I learned a bit of it myself."
Her unexpected reply didn't shock me much. I simply figured S-class awakeners must have an exceptional thirst for knowledge and let it slide.
"Really? Where can you even learn it?"
I quietly eavesdropped on the conversation the two of them were having while setting the table.
"That's a hard question to answer. It's a technique that went out of business quite a while ago."
"Out of business? You mean it's gone?"
"Yeah. These days it's called Gyeokmun-sul."
"Oh. I know about that one."
"That makes sense. Now that I think about it, the real surprise is that you even know the term Beombu Shingong."
"Hmm—"
Seo-hyun, face scrunched up in deep thought, asked another question.
"But why did it disappear?"
Hye-in answered while neatly aligning her chopsticks.
"Because it's too dangerous if you learn it the wrong way. There were tons of weird rumors about it too."
"Rumors?"
"Stuff like it only shows proper effects once you enter a Gate, or that certain techniques only activate when using military supplies. Apparently it caused quite the uproar back then. Theft was the number one cause of supply loss."
To think something like that had happened. Hearing apocalyptic anecdotes from the era when I was gone left me with a strange feeling. It was both interesting and bittersweet.
Seo-hyun looked disappointed. "I see..."
Pursing her lips, she set the table down in the center of the room and called out to me.
"I-seul. Let's eat."
For some reason I ended up approaching in a full stealth-action pose. When Hye-in burst out laughing at the sight, a wave of self-loathing crashed over me. I sat down with my shoulders hunched up tightly.
Hye-in scratched her cheek apologetically. Maybe trying to be considerate of me, she sat a deliberate distance away before asking Seo-hyun, "So why the sudden interest? Planning to learn martial arts?"
I wanted to send her a telepathic message, but I still didn't know the range of Hye-in's detection skills. So I simply sent the thought with all my heart. Say no. Change the subject already.
But of course there was no such thing as true telepathy through pure intent.
"It's less about martial arts and more that I want to learn Gyeokmun-sul."
Giving up, I grabbed some snacks. I didn't need the nutrition, but I could still taste, so I popped one in my mouth and chewed noisily.
Hye-in picked up her fork and let out a contemplative groan. "Hmm—"
Then, while twirling spaghetti around her fork, she gave a fortunately reassuring answer.
"That would be really difficult. These days the only people who properly know Gyeokmun-sul are S-class awakeners. As far as I know, only three of them."
It was also an interesting answer. Seo-hyun must have felt something similar, because her mouth fell open.
"All of them are S-class? Isn't it supposed to be a technique for ordinary people?"
"They pick it up half as a hobby. Anyone at S-class is aiming for the Tower, right? There are always a few who collect anything that looks like it might be useful for climbing it."
"Learning Beombu Shingong as a hobby..."
"It's not completely useless, I hear. The Tower throws all sorts of bizarre situations at you, so sometimes you need to be able to think of yourself as a commoner."
While she chewed her spaghetti, Seo-hyun's face hardened with determination. The moment Hye-in swallowed, she made her request.
"Could you introduce me to one? A Beombu Shingong teacher."
The answer came immediately. "No."
Seo-hyun's face instantly crumpled into a pout. "Why..."
"Because it's dangerous."
Hah! Serves you right. Now you know how I feel? I wanted to laugh in her face, but Hye-in's cold smile was terrifying. I quietly chuckled to myself.
Oops. Hye-in was now looking at me strangely. Better not chuckle either.
Hye-in tilted her head once, then smoothly changed the subject.
"Besides, you need to decide on your path first. You're an A-class awakener with a child to raise, aren't you?"
After that the two of them talked about the brilliant future an A-class awakener could enjoy. Most of it covered familiar jobs—guild combatants, association monitors, soldiers, public servants—but there were quite a few unfamiliar ones too.
"Explorers are way better than those free guild guys. Since they're basically salarymen, their mindset stays relatively sane."
According to Hye-in, Gates were now treated like mines. Extremely dangerous yet extremely rich mines. So even Gates that could be closed right away were deliberately left open for days to give corporations a chance to mine them.
The resource they mined was called mana medium. Various mana stones and spiritual herbs all fell under this category. Naturally, its value was astronomical.
Even I—who had experienced Gates during the most horrific period—couldn't call it reckless safety blindness, because I had always wanted the same thing. Better weapons. Better armor. Now that those needs were satisfied, this was the natural result.
I understood it logically, but... the gloomy feeling in my chest refused to go away.
I made sure none of that showed on my face until we reached our new home.
And finally, the moment of truth. In the living room of the ultra-luxurious apartment after Hye-in had left, leaving just the two of us, I asked Seo-hyun—who was walking around exclaiming in awe at everything—
"So? What are you going to do?"
Seo-hyun, who seemed to have already forgotten, blinked dumbly. "Huh? About what?"
"Are you going into the Gate or not?"
"Ah. That..."
Once again she squeezed her eyes shut and froze. Just as irritation started rising at how long she was going to agonize over it—
"Ah!" Her eyes snapped open. "Is that true? What Sister Hye-in said."
What had she said? They'd had so many conversations it took me a moment to find the right line in context.
Seo-hyun supplied the answer first.
"The rumor. That it works better inside a Gate? And that you have to use military supplies for the materials."
Aha. It had been shocking enough that I remembered it clearly. But thinking about it now, it wasn't all that surprising. And once she heard this truth, Seo-hyun would definitely want to enter the Gate.
I planted my hands on my hips and grinned.
The next morning. Presidential Palace. In the corridor leading to the special ability training ground set up in the underground bunker, Hye-in frowned.
Right after, a powerful vibration and wave of mana swirled violently.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble
The cutting-edge seismic design actually made the shaking worse. At least there was no sound. That was something.
Still, holding back complaints had never been in Hye-in's nature.
"What the hell are you doing, calling someone over and then pulling this?"
In uniform, her personality shifted as dramatically as her expression. A charismatic commander in front of subordinates. A prickly but reliable vanguard in front of colleagues. And in front of her superior...
Thud! Creeeeak—
Hye-in kicked the thick iron door open and shouted.
"Old man! Have you lost your mind?!"
The very picture of an ill-mannered brat. Yet even she couldn't act out in front of the President.
"Ah. Hye-in."
The President stood in the center of the hundred-pyeong room, calmly adjusting his gloves as if nothing had happened. But anyone could see that something tremendous had just taken place. Centered exactly where he stood, one side of the room—walls and ceiling alike—was bumpy and crushed. The other side was perfectly smooth, as if polished.
Hye-in knew what this room was made of.
True Adamant. A rare mana medium once famous for being described as the fingernail of a Demon King-class monster.
"Your timing is perfect."
The President smiled brightly and asked, "I was just about to practice Super Thermal Wave Slash. Would you mind checking my form?"
Hye-in couldn't act out. That didn't mean she had to like it.
"Get lost."
She stepped back outside and grumbled.
"Is there any need to risk people's lives?"
The reason for her words became clear the next instant.
Ziiing—
The mana wave was so intense it affected the material world itself, erasing the sound of the explosion. There was no vibration—only a single massive ripple through space.
When Hye-in returned after sighing, half the room had vanished.
Now fifty pyeong. No. A spherical void had formed where the wall once stood, so the actual space might have grown. While making such pointless observations, Hye-in asked,
"Have you gone senile? Why are you suddenly doing things you never did before? It's annoying for the person who has to come all the way here."
The President laughed heartily and removed his gloves.
"I'm scheduled to inspect the Gate tomorrow. I plan to push forward even if the rank gets adjusted midway, while also evaluating the participants' capabilities."
"Tomorrow? That's Incheon, then."
"Yes. That one."
"Isn't it E-class? Why are you going there, old man?"
"I need to stretch my body once in a while too."
Hye-in stared at the President's face for a moment, then let out a hollow laugh.
"It's acting up again."
The President subtly twisted his smile and tilted his head.
"What is?"
Hye-in changed the subject.
"Never mind. The investigation on Seo-hyun is finished. I'm planning to put her in my unit, so make sure no one else can touch her."
The President's expression brightened again.
"That's good news. Not only is she safe, but the 3rd unit will get additional personnel. Is there anything I can help with? Please, tell me anything."
"Just please stop interfering."
"When have I ever interfered..."
Countless past incidents flashed through the President's mind and he cut himself off.
Hye-in sighed and started walking.
"We'll talk about the rest outside. The way you messed up all the mana in this place makes me sick. This underground hole."
The President looked around with a puzzled face.
"Makes you sick, huh."
A moment later, a faint madness flickered in his smile as he walked.
"But it feels just like being inside a Gate. I rather like it."
A refreshing morning. Determined steps. I was walking along cheerfully like the model in a yogurt drink commercial when Seo-hyun grumbled from behind me.
"Why do these things always have to start at the crack of dawn..."
I completely agreed. Why not just start right after midnight?
The place we arrived at was the shopping area of an apartment complex that looked like middle-class housing. As Seo-hyun had said, it was still so early it could only be called dawn, so the shops were empty. About ten people had gathered in the parking lot of a relatively large mart.
At a glance, they were obviously the ones entering the Gate today. Dressed in work clothes like the scavengers from my previous life, each carrying one crude weapon. Spears, swords, shields, bows. The rifles slung over their shoulders didn't count. What mattered was the type of magic bullets in their pockets.
Anyway, they looked shabbier than I'd expected. For an exploration team that should have seen fifty years of technological and equipment advancement, they looked exactly like scavengers.
The person who would relieve those worries of mine only appeared after ten minutes had passed.
Screeeech—
Three black jeeps came to a rough stop in the mart parking lot.