Chapter 76 - Old-timers (3)

Chapter 76: Old-timers (3)TL: SHW

Yoo Ji-eun’s sword holds many memories.

One way or another, it had been in Yoo Ji-eun’s hands for over ten years. Naturally, there were many stories tied to it, and some of them involved me.

Yoo Ji-eun found this sword not long after graduating from her high school. She had used it ever since…

I remember the first time I held this sword.

It burned my hand.

It was the first time I’d seen that old man so freaked out. He poured potion over my hand, threw me on his back, and rushed to the hospital. Yoo Ji-eun, with her face pale as a sheet, had followed us. As for me, I was so shocked I couldn’t even cry.

After my hand healed, I grabbed it again. This time, I followed the old man’s teachings and used mana to protect my hand tightly.

…We didn’t have to go to the hospital this time. The potion took care of it. But I got scolded a lot by both the old man and Yoo Ji-eun.

Still, I didn’t give up and kept trying a few more times. I was determined to break that cocky sword.

Hmm. It’s a memory. I was young back then.

In the end, Yoo Ji-eun’s sword never accepted me. Not until Yoo Ji-eun died.

That sword, which had been so picky, now behaves calmly in my hands. It moves as I swing it, and the flames rising from its blade no longer burn my hand.

Far from burning me, it now easily grants me the techniques Yoo Ji-eun used to show off.

That woman, she was always bragging. Look at this. Turns out, it wasn’t a big deal after all. The sword does all the work.

I looked at Kang Tae-woo. He had his eyes wide open, as if trying hard to see something.

“How is it?”

“……”

“It’s okay if you get it wrong.”

“…Is it a number?”

“What use is knowing that?”

“Then… is it a letter?”

“I told you, it’s okay if you’re wrong. Just say what you feel.”

Kang Tae-woo hesitated for quite a while. Still, I waited patiently. I even kindly swung the sword again.

The invisible flame crawled across the dirt. As the wind blew by, heat surged forward. It was already a hot day, but the heat from the flame was incomparable.

“Teacher Woo, you’re giving some fun lessons.”

Hong Seok-young scratched his chin. I didn’t bother responding and focused on Kang Tae-woo.

“Do you get it?”

“…Is it zero?”

I nodded as I moved my mana. The transparent flame began to take on color. Like ink spreading in water, a blue hue rose from below, eventually becoming a familiar blue flame.

A large circle appeared on the ground.

“You see how it’s done now, right?”

“…Yes.”

“Let’s keep going.”

Of course, that day, the only thing Kang Tae-woo got right was the first circle. But still, getting even one thing right was important. After all, starting is half the battle, and a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Luckily, the training ground was spacious. As long as the kids didn’t roll over to this side, there wouldn’t be any disruptions to the training.

I suddenly felt a gaze and turned my head in that direction. Oh Hyun-wook was quietly watching me from the classroom.

I nodded at him as if to tell him to pay attention to class, and he quickly turned away, startled. If he’s going to be so obvious about it, he might as well not stare at all.

Really. These Old-timer Kids, I tell you.

* * *

I’m not doing much, yet I’m busy.

That’s how I’ve been feeling lately.

Why do I have to be so busy? It doesn’t make sense. It’s probably Hong Seok-young’s fault. That old man dumped all his work on me, didn’t he?

Back in the day—well, it’s not even that long ago. Just half a year ago, I thought Hunter Academy teachers were basically getting paid for doing nothing. The students at the Academy aren’t exactly children. Hunters are naturally self-sufficient, aren’t they? Even if you just let them loose, some of them would figure out how to grow up on their own.

…Not that it’s something someone working at the Ability Management Agency should say. Let’s pretend I didn’t say that.

Anyway, from the outside, being a teacher at the Academy looked like an easy job. You just follow the curriculum, give your lectures, and teach your classes. That’s all there is to it, right? These kids aren’t preparing for any entrance exams. Once they graduate, that’s the end of it. Done.

You really don’t understand something until you step into someone else’s shoes. Now that I’m a teacher, my perspective has completely changed. There are only eight students. Even if you include Kang Tae-woo, it’s just nine. Yoo Ji-eun’s team never even dropped to nine people.

So why is it so exhausting to take care of this small group?

Is it because they’re kids? But aren’t Kim Chae-min and the Hunters from Daseon splitting the lessons? Honestly, shouldn’t the Hunters from Daseon also be getting paid? Or is it counted as part of their Daseon work hours?

I should mind my own business. Why am I worrying about them?

Anyway, I’m busy.

I have to make sure the lessons for the other eight students are going well, and Kang Tae-woo is getting one-on-one lessons.

And… and, also.

“Teacher.”

Oh Hyun-wook approached me with a grim face.

“…Yeah.”

The sky was dark.

Of course, school had ended a long time ago. I’ve been worked to the bone by Hong Seok-young without even a weekend break, but at least during the evenings, I was free from the kids. Ever since Hong Seok-young handed me my ID card and bank account, the only time I had to deal with him was the occasional gathering at the pub!

But why, why was Oh Hyun-wook calling me now?

His face was tanned and dark from the sun. He was short and skinny, with a slight build. But despite his small frame, his muscles rippled under his T-shirt, and his fierce eyes seemed ready to bite off a finger if provoked.

Twenty years from now. It’s hard to imagine this kid as a man whose body has gone soft from drinking and overeating. Let’s make sure Oh Hyun-wook never touches alcohol from now on. Yeah. Even one sip, and his body’s mana would break down…

…That’s the kind of nonsense you’d hear in the Ark.

I pulled my focus back. It wasn’t every day Oh Hyun-wook called for me. Before we entered the Pixie Dungeon, he didn’t even say a word to me. He must’ve gathered some courage to come and talk, so I should take this seriously too.

“I…”

I considered taking him to a café, but Oh Hyun-wook shook his head. In the end, we walked in suffocating silence until we arrived at a small park. Being a countryside town, there wasn’t a soul in the park now that it was nighttime. It was just me and Oh Hyun-wook.

This… what is this? A scene from an old movie?

I frowned when he wasn’t looking. He’s not going to suddenly stab me here, is he?

“…It’s about someone you knew, Teacher.”

Someone I knew?

It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about. He’s referring to the adult Oh Hyun-wook, the one I spoke to after we cleared the dungeon, right?

The thing I made up on the spot to dissuade him from dropping out?

I nodded awkwardly.

“Hmm. What about that person?”

“You said they weren’t a Hunter.”

“That’s right.”

I remembered telling him that the person wasn’t a Hunter, figuring that if I mentioned a Hunter, Hong Seok-young might get suspicious.

Given that he’s bringing it up so late in the day, it didn’t seem like he was planning to tell Hong Seok-young, but you can never be too careful.

“They’re not a Hunter.”

“Then what did they do?”

“……”

What should I say?

I recalled Oh Hyun-wook’s profile. A social worker? There’s no way I could describe that alcoholic as a social worker, not even if my mouth were sewn shut.

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No, no. I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that this would get back to Hong Seok-young.

If I say they were part of the Ark, I’ll get an earful for teaching him weird things. Not from Hong Seok-young, but from Kim Chae-min.

Maybe someone he’d know, a respectable victim of some crime… An upstanding figure from outside.

I thought back to Oh Hyun-wook’s profile again. A profile riddled with censorship.

Although, there wasn’t much to censor in the first place.

The profile noted how he tracked criminals that could cause diplomatic issues and investigated illegal Awakeners, dungeons, and corruption tied to Hunters. If necessary, he carried out summary executions as well.

The old man made sure I wasn’t involved in any of Oh Hyun-wook’s secret missions. Still, he couldn’t stop me from seeing the reports.

“…Teacher?”

“Huh? Oh. Right. You’re asking what they did, right.”

Without hesitation, I answered.

“They were a police officer.”

“A police officer?”

“Yeah. A cop.”

Why? What? The job is kind of similar to being a cop, isn’t it? Chasing down criminals and all that.

There’s no way he called me out just to ask that, right?

“…I’ve been thinking about what you said, Teacher.”

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like that’s why he brought me here, as Oh Hyun-wook finally spoke up.

What had I said to him again?

“You told me to prove that I could be a better person.”

Ah, that.

“Do you think it’s not possible?”

To be honest, when I got a call from Oh Hyun-wook, my heart sank.

I thought he was going to say he wanted to drop out again.

Why else would I have come out so easily?

I looked at Oh Hyun-wook, who seemed lost in thought.

Even though his expression was still unreadable, I actually found it reassuring. At least it wasn’t like the time he panicked in the Pixie Dungeon.

Oh Hyun-wook slowly shook his head.

“No. It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“How do I… become a better person?”

“How do you?”

“……”

His voice trailed off, but I understood what he was trying to say.

Not that I’m one to talk, considering how desperately I tried to prove to the old man that I could be a better person back then.

I scratched my head.

“That’s something you need to figure out for yourself, don’t you think?”

I’m really not cut out for teaching others. It’s fun to sit back and criticize what others do, but I can’t exactly do that with these fragile-minded kids from the old days. I have to be gentle, after all.

Forget the hassle and focus on the positives.

If I play my cards right, I can raise this little piglet exactly the way I want. Just like how that piglet would grumble but come running when the old man called, wagging its tail, I could get Oh Hyun-wook to follow my words without question.

That’s something I can only achieve during this time….

“The only advice I can give you is….”

Don’t think badly of this. I’m only saying it for his own good. Wouldn’t the little piglet be happy if it could finally escape its alcohol addiction?

Let’s think. The things the old man said to me. The nagging Yoo Ji-eun used to do. The things Oh Hyun-wook said that got under my skin, or the blunt comments Park Seo-hyun would throw at me after staring me down. I’ve heard countless things from all of them.

Now, what advice can I give to Oh Hyun-wook?

Something I could say to a guy who throws himself in harm’s way instead of using others as bait.

It’s good to be selfless. I don’t think having the mindset of wanting to clear a dungeon no matter what is a bad thing. After all, my goal is to catch those who contaminated Seoul and turned it into a sea of fire. Who’s to say that kind of monster only exists in Seoul? Just because I haven’t seen it elsewhere doesn’t mean it’s not out there in other dungeons.

To catch them, we need more good-hearted Hunters like the old man or Yoo Ji-eun, people willing to wear themselves down to save others.

Good and strong Hunters.

And Hunters like that can’t be disposable. I need them to stick around for a long, long time.

“…….”

What should I do?

Should I go soft? Or be rough?

Maybe both.

“The world won’t change just because you die.”

Oh Hyun-wook looked at me with a blank expression.

Too harsh?

“When you die, that’s it. No one will remember you. Sure, the people who know you might be sad. But… that’s it. What more can they do for you? You’re dead.”

Gently. Gently… How do I do this?

I tried to soften my voice, speaking slowly.

“If you want to prove something. Or achieve something.”

Who told me this again?

Who said this to me…?

“You have to stay alive.”

The words I’d repeated to myself countless times came out of my mouth without me even realizing. My voice sounded unfamiliar, even to me.

I corrected myself.

“You have to accomplish it while alive. People tend to listen more to the words of the living than those of the dead.”

*****

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