CH 23

Babel Network

▷ Local ─ Korea

▷Domestic Ranker channel 1 (For Rankings 1-50)

| 8 | David: No, since I lived abroad for a long time I am not that familiar with the korean culture (k-culture), but if there is something to celebrate isn’t it good manners for rankers to give out rice cakes and greet the neighbours?

| 4 | White Bird: It’s not manners, it’s courtesy.

| 8 | David: Fuck ㅡㅡ This is why I put an interpretation on the writing you little birdhead.

| 8 | David: Hey, No.1 are you going to keep saying no comment?

| 8 | David: If we are going to really be framed for friendship, then let’s actually have a little friendship, okay?

| 5 | Bambi: Go somewhere else and find out. It’s going to be hard to see them for a while.

| 6 | Late Night Snack King: ? huh, I didn’t know you guys were close enough for you to know.

| 6 | Late Night Snack King: ???

| 6 | Late Night Snack King: The crazy bastard is coming and joking as he chews on his words like Llama;;

| 8 | David: Oh you asshole ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ why? Rivals alone every day;

| 12 | Imagination: The truth everyone knows, but he alone never knows…

| 15 |Teacher: Head. Please don’t talk. I beg of you..

| 20 |Renewing my public certificate: Team Leader Si-Kyun! The tutorial walk ended earlier than planned, but will the new hunter registration continue on the fixed date? Please contact us to confirm.

| 8 |David: Oh don’t change it, just get some moreㅡㅡCompulsory training for a week is too short.

| 25 | Christmas: Reminds me of the old days where I was a newbie and wanted to learn new things and make new friends… Office workers miss school life.

| 3 |Alpha: That’s right. In March it’s a new beginning, flowers bloom and storms bud. It is also the traditional starting point of the academy genre. Look at the heirs^^~ It is a masterpiece of the times.

| 25 |Christmas: ;;;; Why is the story turning into a drama again?? It’s always the heirs;

| 3 |Alpha: It reminds me of Tan-ssi. If you don’t like it, you can change your name ^^~* (Christmas = Seongtan)

***

The blooming March.

New tutorial.

And a new semester.

Spring is a time of exciting new beginnings.

After the tutorial and before ‘registration’, the newbies who entered the training center for compulsory education were starting to show up.

Optimus Prime, a prestigious college entrance exam.

A new relationship was also sprouting up in the special management team for the art selection at Jong-ro headquarters.

“This is a secret… ..but actually, “Jo” is my brother.”

‘What? This punk?’

“It’s a real secret, so you should never tell anyone. All right?”

‘Why are you telling me this when you just met me for the first time…?’

The first day of class.

An early resignation letter (on the subject of the academy) was given to her by my homeroom teacher to send her home only if she had a good reason.

Gyeon Zio, a three-timer student, wrote on the empty piece of paper with a distraught face.

I  am applying for early leave for the following reasons…

[Reason: My friend is forcing me to change my gender.] (Referring to how the ‘friend’ said Jo is their brother when she is actually a girl)

***

“At this rate, the whole nation will have the same family register. Everyone is saying my brother is Jo, and my sister is Jo.”

“Oppa, what are you looking at?”

“Just a comment on the internet. Look at this. Their impersonation is legendary. Ah, why does such a large-scale incident happen when we are locked up in a training camp? What a waste.”

“I know right. I heard from my friends that the situation outside is like winning the world cup. I guess festivals are held every day on the Han River. I envy them…”

“That’s understandable. If I had regained the throne, I would’ve flipped over, but they are now the number one in the whole world and not just in the nation.”

“Right, right. I’ve never seen such a world notification before. Goosebumps.”

“The timing is amazing, too. At the same time as when the tutorial ended.”

“The king sure knows how to handle drama. The Balrag opener commander Jo is nowhere to be found.”

“Have you ever been on the Hunter Internet? The comments are so funny. The king just knelt down for a moment to gain momentum.”

“Oh, I was wondering what the Hunters would say on the internet, but turns out it’s just the same. They are playing with the same jokes.”

“Hyeol, what’s that? Can we get in there too?”

“We didn’t register yet but we are still awakeners. There are a few functions locked, but the connection itself should be fine right?”

People who awakened were saying they didn’t know.

He seemed to want to log on quickly and look around.

Thanks to the flexible training schedule, they had plenty of free time.

Here, Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, ‘Preliminary Awakening Ability Adaptation Training Institution’.

It was also called the training camp or the reserve building. It was also a place people roughly called ‘Mars’.

Basically, it was a national institution under the center, but it could also be considered to be operated jointly with the association.

It was established about 10 years ago.

In the wake of the incident called ‘Nightmare of March’, people who deeply realized the necessity of having someone control the awakeners rushed to fix their barns. With the full support of the people, the newly launched government had pushed for  ‘compulsory education before awakeners registration’.

As a result, a special law had been put in place that stated that everyone above 14 years old must have a record of completing the training camp before they could ‘register’.

There were two ways for awakeners to formally register their name on the server.

1. Go inside the Tower of Babel.

2. Come into contact with ‘Babel Stone’.

The ‘Babel Stone’, which is used as the base for the grade rating, was a high-level magical substance that was very difficult to handle, so it was absolutely not something an individual could handle.

That’s why as soon as the new law passed the government began to thoroughly supervise all routes to the entrance of the Tower of Babel.

What kind of a human rights violation was this in the 21st century?

What are you, a brother?

Some of the awakeners had a brief rebellion.

Oh, and whoever replaced the government, they did a great job, and clap clap clap clap they didn’t dare go against the public sentiment of.

Now, after the tutorial was over, It was very natural to follow the instructions given by Mars.

“Hong Haeya, aren’t you going?”

“I’ll eat a little more. The rice is so delicious… I think the facilities here are really good. To be honest,I thought it was all lies when I read the reviews.”

“What is good about it? We should take national talent and close the door if we don’t do this much. It’s obvious you are from the countryside.”

“I-It’s not the countryside.”

“Oh sorry sorry. Country kids are very sensitive to the word ‘countryside’. haha. Where were you from? U…Ulleungdo! Right!”

“…Ulsan.”

“Isn’t it similar? The view of the sea would be nice.”

‘You ignorant Seoul villager…’

Big hair and thick square glasses.

Thanks to that, people couldn’t see his cursing eyes.

High school student Hong Haeya (18 years old/male), who moved from Ulsan to Seoul, smiled awkwardly.

The third day after entering Mars.

No matter how many teams came from training camps, how many social gatherings there were, it was all down to luck.

If you started off on the wrong foot, it’s hard to fix it…

The situation is no longer reversible because he kept hanging out with people who he didn’t fit in with.

Since the group had already been formed, the possibility of making other friends was now very low.

Hong Haeya looked at Choi Seong-taek on the other side with complicated feelings.

‘Everyone says that they formed groups on Mars and made life friends, so why am I…’

Even his dormitory with double rooms was being used alone.

He was the only one in the training camp who didn’t have a roommate…

“Oh right. You should have a roommate soon.”

“Is that so… yes, yes? For my room? A roommate?”

“I heard someone had a seizure in the B-wing so got moved to the special ward. You always wanted someone to be your roommate right? Why, do you want to put it aside now?”

“Finally…!”

“Of course, you deserve it. Try to get along with each other. If you get to know each other, help this hyung build some connections too.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“It’s him, the first place of the tutorial.”

First place… first place…

“B-B-Baek Do-hyun?”

Hong haeya, screamed out of surprise and covered his mouth. Eyes rolling towards the diagonal direction.

Baek Do-hyun, Na Jo-yeon, etc.

The first and second places of the 40th tutorial were sitting together.

He might be mistaken but he felt like they looked in his direction.

Like a turtle, Hong Haeya shrunk his neck. Turn the volume down and check again.

“Really? Is he really Baek Do-hyun?”

“Yes, like I said. Why are you so self-conscious?”

“But nothing, I think it’s scary… It is said he is the all-time top scorer. It’s the first time anyone has surpassed 30,000 points… I also heard that he was one of the last riders to leave the ‘heavenly gate’.”

Immediately after the end of the tutorial, people would be moved to the ‘heavenly gate’ to choose a deity.

The amount of time each person spent there would be different.

Some took less than a second while others took the whole day.

Whether or not a covenant was made would be unknown unless you revealed it yourself, but for people who took more than half a day like Baek Do-hyun, it’s usually…

“He must have met with the contractor. It looks like he got himself a high grade. He said it was a re-entry, so it’s a whole new life! Everyone is going to rush to take him.”

Following the flow, Choi Seong-taek began to unravel the theories he had picked up here and there.

They say that Baek Do-hyun was originally an F-class, he said that he left a cat alone at home a while ago, he usually hangs out with Na Jo-yeon but they seem to fight every time and many more

Just like that……

Hong Haeya, who had been nodding the whole time, suddenly lifted his head.

“W-What?”

“Hyung, just now… what did you just say?”

“What did I, what?”

“The Silver Lion, what did you say!”

Choi Sung-taek, who felt a bit pushed back by the sudden spirit hesitated before recovering.

“B-Baek Do-hyun might join silver lion…”

“Before!”

“…It is said he has a relationship with Jo, so maybe he will take him to the silver lion.”

The look in his eyes changed beyond the glass.

When he asked for a detailed explanation, Choi Sung-taek stuttered.

“W-Well, it’s just a story on the Internet. Someone saw Baek Do-hyun catch up to someone on the day he became the hero of the Seolleung Station, and when you compare that to Jo’s appearance some people believe that it was Jo. And… The silver lion is, well, famous.”

That’s right.

It was almost the only link.

It was quite a well known fact that the guild ‘The Silver Lion’ took care of everything related to Jo’s external activities..

Anyone who digs deeper into Jo would know this.

So Hong Haeya also…

“… wait, but hey, why are you so excited? You scared me, dude.”

“Oh, sorry. I am also aiming for silver lion so I was a bit surprised.”

Hong Haeya pushed up the thick frames of his glasses. He once again had a timid look.

Choi Sung-taek grumbled. What else to say.

“Take it as a rival. My hyung said that just having motivation isn’t enough. Can’t you see? He must be at least A rank. It’s written on his face.”

“As soon as registration is over, scouts will line up, shouting out loud saying ’Baek Do-hyun! Pity us small guilds please.’”

“…”

You are not someone that amazing. Don’t go crazy for nothing and think about what to do to become friends. Probably because he’ll never talk to you… first…”

Uh huh?

Oh…, what?

Choi Seong-taek’s voice slowly died down.

Hong Haeya looked up at the shadow that was cast. And then.

“Haeya. Hong Haeya. Right?”

“…Yes.”

“Nice to meet you. I will be your roommate starting today.”

He was still young. The golden eyes hidden behind the lenses.

One of the puzzle pieces from the world he crossed.

The Golden Rule, Hong Haeya.

Baek Do-hyun held his hand out with a nice smile.

This time, before this piece gets pitifully broken, with a determination to deliver it to the king properly.

To his dear, little king.

***

Kiddo stopped humming.

Then with a beautiful smile on his face he said.

“Wow, it really is like X”