That Was It
I was in one of the Management Bureau’s underground Secreto branch offices. I had been waiting for my teammates to arrive so we could carry out a special mission. One of those teammates was now standing right in front of me—Han Tae-woo, dressed in his signature purple suit. He was the team leader.
“You’re here, sir,” I greeted him, slipping the phone I had been looking at back into my pocket.
Han Tae-woo jerked his chin toward my pocket. “You were reading my novel again, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me—what rank did the protagonist reach in the latest chapter?”
“B-class.”
“Huh. So you really did read it.”
“Haha… Yes. Who else would even bother reading it besides me?”
Han Tae-woo laughed and sat down beside me. “It’s just a hobby. A hobby. If I actually put my mind to it, it could be a huge hit.”
“Then why don’t you put your mind to it and retire early?”
He stared at me blankly for a moment before suddenly wrapping me in a headlock and shouting, “You little punk! Are you messing with your senior right now?”
“You’re the one who started it, sir. And it doesn’t hurt at all.”
I had already wrapped my head in a defensive barrier, so I felt no pain whatsoever.
“Tch. Anyway… Just wait a little longer. Something big is coming in the next episode.”
“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve said something big is coming.”
The novel was about the only daughter of S-class hero parents who rampages through the academy and then continues rampaging after graduation. That was Han Tae-woo’s web novel. He claimed that kind of story was popular these days. Since I didn’t know anything about web novels, I had no way of verifying it. But one thing was certain—whether the material was popular or not, his novel had already crashed and burned long ago.
First of all, the female protagonist had a terrible personality. Not only did she use her parents’ influence to dominate the academy, she singled out one poor professor as her advisor and tormented him relentlessly. Readers had already flooded the comment section with curses by that point, and Han Tae-woo had been genuinely struggling back then. For all his talk about it being just a hobby, he had clearly been paying close attention to the reactions. Still, some readers held on in hopes that something would develop between the protagonist and her advisor. But after she graduated, the professor vanished without a trace and never appeared again. After that second mass exodus of readers, I was the only one left following the story up to the latest chapter.
I had zero desire to read it, but he was my closest senior, so I had no choice. If I didn’t read every chapter and give him feedback, he would probably sink into depression again. I kept forcing myself to read it just so I wouldn’t have to see my team leader moping around like that. And… Han Tae-woo was the only person I could truly open up to.
“Just wait. Something big really is coming soon. By the way, aren’t you going to give me feedback on this chapter?”
“…I suppose I should.”
It was hard to know where to even begin.
“That villain called Dr. Cube. Are you sure you didn’t copy Dr. Schif?”
“What are you talking about? Just because the names are two letters long? He’s an original character I created.”
“Is that so? Anyway, what exactly is that villain supposed to be? What kind of lunatic in the world uses techniques like that?”
Dr. Cube was the villain from Han Tae-woo’s web novel—the one who adamantly claimed he had not copied the famous fictional villain Dr. Schif in any way. He was a former hero who had turned villain and used aura to perform all sorts of bizarre techniques. The most iconic one was his ability to compress people into perfect cubes. That was why he was called Dr. Cube.
“Why? What’s wrong with it?”
“I’ve never heard of anyone using aura that way. And the motivation for his defection feels half-baked. Even if it’s a novel, there needs to be some plausibility. You keep throwing characters together without thinking about cause and effect, so every time someone new shows up, readers drop off in droves.”
My harsh feedback made Han Tae-woo scratch his head in irritation. “Damn… That’s weird. I thought I made him pretty cool…”
“If he’s supposed to be the main villain, then treat him like one. How do you kill him off so anticlimactically after just one appearance?”
“You should’ve told me that sooner, you brat! Should I go revise it right now?”
Han Tae-woo started patting down his suit, looking for his phone as if he were about to edit it on the spot.
“By the way, is Ji-ah running late?”
“She’s dropping Min-ha off at school and then coming.”
“She’s still driving her even though she’s all grown up?”
“Ah. They called the parents in for a college counseling meeting.”
Min-ha was the only daughter of Han Tae-woo and my former classmate, Seo Ji-ah.
“You’re not sending her to the Academy?”
“Of course we are. We’d like to get her into Graford if possible, but since neither Ji-ah nor I are A-class yet, there’s a lot of extra preparation involved.”
“That makes sense. Graford is definitely better than some mediocre academy. Then you two should work harder and reach A-class before Min-ha enrolls. And maybe stop writing that web novel while you’re at it.”
“Instead of nagging me, how about you and the others actually put in some effort and rack up some results?”
“I have no intention of doing that. I plan to take it easy and eventually transfer to a teaching position at the Academy.”
“Professor Kyo Suhyeon? Professor Professor?”
Han Tae-woo burst out laughing and punched my shoulder. “You think the Academy would even accept you? A hero whose name isn’t even on the Management Bureau’s official list? And if that was your plan from the start, you never should’ve joined Secreto in the first place. Why did you even come here?”
“I already told you. I don’t like having my picture taken by civilians, being nitpicked, or drawing attention.”
“You really are a gloomy bastard, like mold in the corner.”
Han Tae-woo clicked his tongue, then suddenly snapped his fingers as if a brilliant idea had struck him. “Hey! Then how about this?”
“What?”
“You suffer for just a few more years and then transfer to the Academy. Get there before Min-ha enrolls and become a professor first.”
“And then?”
“What do you mean, ‘and then’? You become Min-ha’s advisor, obviously.”
The absurd suggestion made me laugh despite myself. “You want me to turn Min-ha into an F-class hero and send her off to a construction site?”
“What? Is that the attitude you plan to have as a professor?”
“What am I supposed to do with defensive techniques, then?”
“Hmm… You have a point. Then start practicing comprehensive offensive skills or whatever from now on.”
“Easy for you to say…”
I was grumbling when the door opened and another hero walked in. It was Seo Ji-ah, wearing a purple suit similar to Han Tae-woo’s. With her long black hair and somewhat melancholic expression, she smiled softly when she saw me.
Min-ha looked far more like her mother than her father. I had only ever seen Min-ha in photographs. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a picture of Ji-ah as a child. They looked that identical.
“You’re early?”
“I’m not married, so I didn’t have much to do. I heard you were dropping Min-ha off.”
“Yeah. I just came back from meeting with her homeroom teacher.”
Han Tae-woo, who had been sitting beside us, chimed in. “What did they say? Can she go to Graford?”
“They asked about our ranks first.”
At that, Han Tae-woo shut his mouth. Both he and Seo Ji-ah were B-class.
“Well… We’ll just have to work hard.”
Having received an awkward answer, Han Tae-woo scratched his chin and tried to sound nonchalant. “By the way, did you know? Suhyeon says he’s going to become an Academy professor.”
“What? Why? Since when?”
“He agreed to be Min-ha’s advisor.”
“Really?”
When Seo Ji-ah looked at me, I shook my head. “I only said I wanted to become a professor. I never agreed to be anyone’s advisor.”
“That’s perfect. You can turn our Min-ha into an S-class hero.”
Even Ji-ah was piling on. I could only offer an awkward smile. “I need to get promoted myself first, and you’re already talking about S-class? You two really are the most troublesome parents imaginable.”
“If anything happens to Min-ha, can I storm the Academy, grab the professor by the collar, and slap them?”
Han Tae-woo spouted nonsense and laughed out loud. At that moment, a broadcast from the command center called for us. Since all three members of the sortie team had gathered, it was time for the detailed mission briefing.
“Where are we heading this time?” I asked as we walked down the corridor.
“The central border region,” Han Tae-woo answered. “We’re intervening in a recent border dispute.”
“This sortie shouldn’t be too difficult. We’re up against conventional military forces, so as long as we don’t leave any traces, it should wrap up smoothly.”
Seo Ji-ah, walking beside me, lightly tapped my shoulder. “Hey, Kyo Suhyeon. After we finish the mission, how about spicy braised ribs? There’s a place Min-ha and I went to last time—it’s really good.”
“You know I don’t like spicy food.”
“It’s not that bad. It’s spicy, but it’s the kind of spicy that tastes good. I’m serious. Trust me.”
“Tastes good and spicy? That still means it’s spicy.”
We continued our trivial chatter as we entered the command center. The moment the automatic doors closed behind us, the scenery flipped upside down in an instant. Once again, I found myself standing on the ground, staring up at the sky.
Just like in the dream that repeated every time, a meteor was slowly falling through the clouds. And just as I always did, I stared up at it in utter despair.
“No…!”
The meteor soon crashed into a distant mountain. Overwhelmed by crushing hopelessness, I collapsed to my knees and fell forward onto the ground.
When I opened my eyes, I was lying face-down on the cold floor of the archives. The Mental Barrier that had been shaking violently and driving me to the brink of unconsciousness had once again become quiet and rock-solid, firmly protecting my mind.
I slowly pushed myself up and picked up the academic records of Han Tae-woo and Seo Ji-ah that had fallen to the floor.
What I had just seen… what was that…?