The Bet (4): The Way Home
On the way home, I was organizing the workout routine I planned to do with Min Soyeon. The running course would take us all the way to the Han River… Would that be too hard on her? From my experience, there was no better exercise than running for building endurance. There were many things a hunter needed to prepare for, but I considered stamina the most important of all.
This was because if you possessed an ability, technique mattered far more than raw physicality. After the Gates first opened long ago, people suddenly began awakening powers all across the world. As if they had been waiting for the Gates to appear, these ability users sprang up like mushrooms after rain. The variety of abilities was staggering, and they exerted massive influence over every corner of society—though they were used most often to hunt down the beasts that emerged from the Gates.
Those with abilities could naturally manipulate mana. They could reinforce their own bodies with it or release it in explosive bursts to display overwhelming power. Therefore, for Min Soyeon—who had to wield both mana and a sword at the same time—endurance wasn’t a choice. It was a necessity. On top of that, she was still in the middle of her growth phase, so the right kind of training would help her tremendously.
“...”
While walking and typing the exercise plan into my phone, I overheard a group of students chattering loudly nearby.
“At this rate, isn’t the whole country going to collapse? I heard the Association got terrorized.”
“The Hunter Association? They’ll take care of it.”
“No, they say the terrorists are ability users too. The Association got completely wrecked.”
“The S-ranks will handle it. I mean… whatever.”
Terror? The Association? Their conversation was laced with disturbing words. I pulled up the internet on my phone, and every portal site was flooded with articles about the attack.
…What the hell is this.
It was shocking. A hunter had attacked the Association itself, and they still couldn’t determine why. The B-rank suspect had used a bomb instead of his ability. Even a C-rank hunter could live comfortably, so why would someone at B-rank risk their life like this? Living day to day like a bean sprout the way I did, I simply couldn’t understand it.
Before long, I arrived home. I cooked the pork I hadn’t been able to eat yesterday for dinner, then immediately sent Min Soyeon a message.
She was playing games again. …She really loves games, huh. I asked if she had eaten dinner. Her reply came back shortly after—a single letter: “N.”
She hadn’t eaten dinner? No matter how fun the game was, she should at least eat properly. What on earth was her mother doing that she couldn’t even feed her own daughter?
After leaving the message, I started tackling the housework. I put in a load of laundry, did the dishes, swept and mopped the floors… I moved quickly, not knowing when she might reply.
By the time I finished, it was already a little past 8 PM. This seemed like a good time. I was about to send another message when I decided calling would be faster and dialed her number instead.
The call rang with a dry tone for several seconds. Then it suddenly cut off. No sound. She had answered.
“Hello?” I asked carefully.
[…Why.]
Min Soyeon’s small voice came through the speaker.
“Ah, Soyeon. I called to see if you ate dinner. Is it okay to talk right now?”
From the other side, I heard rhythmic tapping—tak-tak-tak. Huh? What was that sound?
[…Why are you calling?]
She didn’t deny it, so it seemed she was fine to talk. “We promised to exercise together today, remember? Let’s go before it gets too late.”
There was no immediate reply this time. Only more tapping. After a moment, she answered.
[…Now?]
“Right now.”
Tak-tak-tak. The periodic noise continued. Ah. Don’t tell me… I realized the sound was exactly like keyboard clicks. She was probably still gaming.
“…Soyeon, if you’re busy right now, we can go tomorrow instead…”
[…If we go tomorrow, it’ll be annoying, so let’s go today.]
I somehow managed to get her agreement. “Then where should we meet? My house is a bit far, so I’ll come to you.”
Min Soyeon suggested the park near the stream. It was about twenty minutes from my place. We agreed to meet in thirty minutes, and I immediately began preparing to head out.
Even though the purpose was exercise, I couldn’t show up looking sloppy in front of her. I picked the cleanest set out of my limited training clothes and left the house.
Since this was the first day, I had no intention of doing anything too intense. Starting too strong might make her lose interest quickly, and stamina didn’t improve overnight. The key was to help her build the habit of doing it consistently.
Lost in these thoughts, I soon arrived at the small park she had mentioned. It was tiny—just a slide and a few swings. Because of its size, the few streetlights barely illuminated the area. It was already past the agreed time, but Min Soyeon still hadn’t arrived. With no benches, I sat on one of the swings and waited.
“...”
Then I sensed a presence and looked around. A woman was lingering at the park entrance. It was Min Soyeon.
“Soyeon!”
When I called out and approached, she flinched and looked at me. She was wearing a black training outfit with white accents that looked brand new and spotlessly clean. Seeing that she had even put on proper sneakers, the corner of my mouth lifted slightly. She had prepared properly.
After a brief greeting, we headed toward the walking path together. While walking and talking about the terror incident that had happened earlier, she quietly asked,
“…So, how far are we going?”
“There’s a fountain halfway along the path. Let’s just go that far.”
“…The fountain? You want to go all the way there?”
Her clearly reluctant reaction caught me off guard. My original plan had been to go past the fountain to the plaza, but it was already late and I didn’t want to push her too hard, so I had shortened the distance.
“…Is that still too far?”
Whatever. It was only the first day—there was no need to overdo it. I watched her expression carefully and suggested, “Then how about we only go as far as the bridge before the fountain…?”
“…The bridge should be fine, I guess…”
“Let’s do that. Since today is the first day, we can gradually increase the distance starting tomor—”
“Tomorrow?” Min Soyeon suddenly burst out. “You’re saying you’re coming out again tomorrow?”
“Of course. Exercise only works if you do it every day.”
“Why are you talking like you’re definitely going to win tomorrow too?”
Her tone suggested she found me ridiculous. I was momentarily stunned. That’s right. The only reason we were walking side by side like this was because of our bet. She wasn’t here by choice—it was the condition of the wager.
I quickly regained my senses and told her, “…I forgot to mention it. I won’t make a bet with you tomorrow.”
“…You won’t?”
“If you exercise with me for the rest of this week, I’ll accept your bet.”
Her face twisted as she glared at me. “...You bad bastard.”
I had grown quite used to her harsh language by now. “If you don’t do anything, it’ll be hard for you to win anyway. Since we’re doing this, we might as well do it together.”
Min Soyeon must have felt the truth in my words. She whipped her head away. I tried talking to her about various things, but she remained stubbornly silent, clearly upset.
After walking a little farther, the bridge—the halfway point—came into view.
“Soyeon, should we head back now?”
I glanced sideways as I spoke. Huh? Min Soyeon was gone. I looked around and spotted her already walking back the way we had come, far in the distance.
Startled, I hurriedly turned and chased after her. “S-Soyeon, wait for me!”
She glanced back at me, then quickened her pace. I strode after her and spoke carefully.
“Soyeon, let’s try what I mentioned earlier. That thing about spreading mana across the soles of your shoes.”
It was the training method I had explained on the way to the bridge. By thinly layering mana on the bottom of your shoes and walking, you create a small repulsive force against the ground that increases your speed. It was different from wrapping mana around your legs to boost movement. This was a training technique my wife, Ju Yeonhee, had come up with. I had used it often myself—it was extremely efficient.
First, spreading mana that thinly was difficult, and it had to be strong enough to support your body weight without collapsing. It required paying attention to multiple things at once, making it quite a challenging exercise.
“Just try it until the entrance. You can do it.”
Min Soyeon shot me a sharp, annoyed look and continued walking in silence.
…No helping it, then.
I slowly drew up my mana and spoke to her. “...Soyeon, if you arrive before me, I’ll accept the ‘bet’ tomorrow.”
Her eyes flicked toward me, clearly tempted. “But if you can’t win, we exercise together tomorrow too. Got i—”
Tadadadak!
Before I could even finish, Min Soyeon shot forward like a bullet. Seeing how obsessed she was with the bet, she must have been really worked up.
I immediately wrapped mana around my shoes and stomped hard against the ground.
Thud!
The moment my foot hit the ground, my body sprang forward. I couldn’t make the effect very strong because my mana reserves were low, but I could keep it solid. I lowered my upper body slightly to reduce air resistance and kicked off even harder.
Thud!!
In just a few steps, I caught up to her. She had wrapped mana around her legs too in an attempt to shake me off.
“Tch…”
Realizing I was close, she whipped her legs harder and sped up. She sprinted down the open promenade as if it were a runway. She looked so adorable that I couldn’t help but smile.
In the end, the little race finished with Min Soyeon—who had started ahead—winning. I had gone a little easy on her, but her physical abilities were absurdly monstrous to begin with.
Her mood seemed to have improved now that she had won. She looked back at me, who had arrived slightly later, and gave me a small smile. It was a beautiful smile, no matter how many times I saw it.