Chapter 2018

Chapter 2018

Song Juseop was very prideful. He had been practicing kendo from a young age and used to be the best in the country during middle school and high school. Even though he started focusing on his studies later than his peers, he graduated from a prestigious university. He turned his life around by realizing the potential of Grid’s skills during the First International Competition...

In many ways, he was not an ordinary person.

Even Song Juseop himself often wondered, ‘Could it be that I made some great contribution in my previous life and received a blessing from God?’

This was why he was a devout Christian, Catholic, and Buddhist.

...In any case, he was always full of confidence. He never felt intimidated when he had to prove himself in front of others.

But now it was different.

Failure was one of Grid’s first symbolic weapons. Juseop was very tense as he stood in front of the iron armor with a replica of Failure. He tried to control his breathing and concentrate, but he couldn’t calm down. Shin Youngwoo was standing right next to him. Youngwoo was just a young man wearing a simple tracksuit. He seemed ordinary at first glance, but was actually an extraordinary individual.

This was the person whom Song Juseop had longed to meet for so long. Could Song Juseop really talk in the same room as Grid? Swing a sword in front of Grid?

This was a dream come true. Juseop had always hoped for this day to come, but he never thought this would ever happen.

“......”

Youngwoo remained silent. He had become accustomed to others admiring him and was considerate of Song Juseop’s feelings. He knew why Song Juseop was nervous and didn’t offer him advice or encouragement. Youngwoo’s words could become a heavy burden for others.

‘It’s not like I have anything to say anyway.’

Song Juseop’s posture was flawless. It was a pity that his shoulder muscles were somewhat strained. His back and leg muscles weren’t relaxed either. However, this was a problem that could be solved if he relaxed a bit.

The problem was that he couldn’t relax...

‘Um.’

Even after a few minutes passed, Song Juseop’s trapezius muscle was still tense. Youngwoo couldn’t waste any more time. The more time passed, the more anxious Song Juseop felt. Youngwoo picked up a nearby broom, looked at Song Juseop and swung it.

"......!"

Song Juseop, who was trying to stop being tense and concentrate, trembled. Finally, he managed to focus. He captured a certain trajectory at the edge of his field of view. This was the perfect sword trajectory that Song Juseop had pursued for over twenty years.

He reacted reflexively.

He swung the greatsword in a straight line and struck the shining silver armor. A loud sound filled the room and vibrations traveled up Song Juseop’s arms. Pain flared in his muscles. Even though he wore gauntlets he himself had crafted, the tremendous shock passed through his fingertips, traveling all the way to his shoulders.

He frowned in pain and looked up in surprise. Youngwoo’s iron armor was intact except for a slight dent in the shoulder area. Just as expected. There was a reason the tremendous backlash had come close to shattering Song Juseop’s hands.

“Ha... Haha... Really... Really amazing.”

Song Juseop was half-mesmerized and very impressed with this piece of work. Youngwoo had crafted the armor in the same environment as him, using the same tools and materials. It had taken Youngwoo only nine hours to smelt iron, forge it into the desired shape and work on it to make it a nice silver armor.

It had taken Song Juseop thirteen days of work to craft his masterpiece—the imitation of Failure. However, his weapon didn’t stand a chance against the armor made by Youngwoo. Even after years of sharpening the blade every single day without exception, the most Song Juseop could do with his greatsword was scratch this piece of armor that had been crafted in less than half a day. It was a good piece of armor.

Instead of being disappointed, Song Juseop was simply thrilled.

He was impressed with Youngwoo’s skills which resembled Grid’s in Satisfy, even though this was reality.

“I didn’t expect your first work to be so great. All I can do is be impressed with it.”

It was said that people were impressed by things they weren’t familiar with. The established theory was that the more one understood what they were looking at, the more blurred their admiration would become.

Thus, Song Juseop was worried. He had admired Grid from a distance for many years. He was thrilled to finally meet his role model, but he was also worried that he might end up disappointed and harbor disrespectful feelings toward him as a result of his disappointment.

Song Juseop was only embarrassed, not happy. He probably needed more time to adjust to this turn of events.

Youngwoo shrugged and left Song’s Workshop. On the way home, he contacted a construction company he had worked with before. It was the best construction company in South Korea that had designed and built Grid’s buildings.

“CEO Kim? Let’s go tour some smithies for a while.”

***

Before going home, Youngwoo visited Jishuka’s house.

Beep beep beep beep.

He entered the password for the door lock they had set up together and headed straight to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and found it full of ingredients Youngwoo had just recently bought.

“Lululu~”

Youngwoo’s hobbies didn’t include cooking. However, he was good at cooking because of his outstanding dexterity. His very developed five senses helped him know for how long he needed to cook every ingredient and how to exquisitely season every dish.

In other words, even though he didn’t usually cook, he was naturally gifted at it. As his love for Yura and Jishuka grew, he eventually started cooking for them more often...

‘I can’t believe I’m such a romantic.’

Even though he shook his head, the smile never left Youngwoo’s face as he cooked. He hummed happily as he prepared a bunch of Jishuka’s favorite dishes. A delicious smell filled the house.

“Youngwoo~”

Jishuka came out of the bedroom. Her eyes were only half-open as she rushed to hug Youngwoo from behind. She had endured fighting a difficult war for several months just to enjoy the happiness of this very moment. In real life, she was able to spend precious time with Youngwoo.

“If you open a restaurant, you can easily get three Michelin stars.”

Jishuka’s expression melted as she chewed the chicken that Youngwoo spoon-fed into her mouth. Youngwoo was amazed every time he saw her like this. Where did the sexiest woman in the world disappear to and when did this girl who was as sweet and cute as a freshman university student appear?

Youngwoo said, “I will leave on a business trip in two days.”

“Have you finally scheduled a tour of the smithies? I’ll come with you!”

“No. I am going with CEO Kim of Seonwu Construction.

“So you aren’t going with Yura?”

“If I was going with Yura, I would take you too. You are both busy anyway. Starting tomorrow, you will probably not even be able to keep your eyes open.”

It was hard for Youngwoo to tell because he had been so focused on his personal activities, but the busiest period in a war was the period after it was finally over. There were so many problems left to sort out. Jishuka and Yura had a lot to deal with considering their duties.

“...Yes.”

Jishuka looked tired for a fleeting second. Youngwoo didn’t miss it.

“Jishuka. Let’s eat later...”

“A-Ah...”

Two hours later, Youngwoo returned home after spending precious time with Jishuka and lay down on the bed instead of the capsule. He was monitoring the situation in Satisfy. He could accurately distinguish between situations where he was needed and situations where he wasn’t.

‘I’ll be in really good condition tomorrow.’

His eyelids fluttered closed. Youngwoo quickly fell asleep with a wide smile on his face. Spending time with his loved ones always kept him happy and healthy.