Chapter 76: Midnight Walk

Chapter 76: Midnight Walk

As the night deepened, the thieves club and Kim Hos group disbanded immediately upon leaving the student disciplinary committee room.

Go Hyeon-woo headed to the infirmary to treat his internal injuries.

While the members of the thieves club said they were tired and went to their dormitories.

Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-young had something she needed to say to Kim Ho and questions she wanted to ask.

So, she subtly called out to her junior who was just beginning to walk away.

Would you like to walk for a bit?

Sure.

It was before dawn so the sky was still a dark blue, almost black.

Following the path illuminated by streetlights, the two of them walked in step.

Even a path taken daily could feel different when walked in this time and when it was just the two of them.

Perhaps because of that, no words were exchanged between Dang Gyu-young and Kim Ho for a while.

Then, Dang Gyu-young hesitated for a moment before turning her head away and breaking the silence.

Im sorry. For getting caught.

The core objective of this mission, infiltrating the deep dungeon, had been a success. However, the missions requirement was to exit the underground floors without being detected until the very end.

But they were caught by Kwak Seung-jae at the last moment and received demerit points, so the completion of the task was less than perfect.

Especially since the president of the thieves club was directly involved in this. It was all the more disappointing.

Kim Ho sighed deeply.

Senior-nim, Im a bit disappointed. No matter how delicious the jerky was, you should have stayed focused until the end.

No, thats not it! I was focused the whole time!

For someone who was focused, you seemed to enjoy the jerky quite a bit. Werent you more focused on that?

Hey, thats really not it! Honestly, Kwak Seung-jae just made a really good move

Dang Gyu-young got flustered and stepped in front of Kim Ho only to notice a playful smile on his lips.

It seemed that now that they had become a bit closer, Kim Ho would occasionally play such pranks.

If it had been any of the other brooding members of the club, Dang Gyu-young would have immediately set about enforcing discipline. But coming from this junior, she somehow found it cute.

So she ended up just giving him a light shove on the shoulder.

Aisshi. Stop teasing me.

You dont have to feel too sorry. Im not really bothered by just one demerit point.

Even though it was just one demerit point, it wasnt without impact on the grades.

They accumulate over time and can become a bigger issue.nove(l)bi(n.)com

However, Kim Ho seemed unconcerned about grades and had a truly nonchalant attitude.

He then changed the subject and brought up Kwak Seung-jaes tracking skills.

Senior Kwak Seung-jae s tracking ability is really something, isnt it? He stuck with us all the way, even back in the temporary storage incident.

Exactly. That guy has had a nose for tracking right from the start; a real bloodhound.

Kwak Seung-jae had excellent detection and tracking skills, but he also had deep focus and an oddly good intuition which allowed him to have a history of arresting second- and third-year members of the thief club even during his freshman year.

While the older thieves club members were more skilled, Kwak Seung-jae still managed to catch them off guard once or twice out of ten attempts.

It got even trickier when he became a second year.

When Kwak Seung-jae was a first-year, he managed to catch the thieves only once or twice out of ten attempts. But now that he was a second-year, his success rate had increased to two or three times out of ten.

And today happens to be one of those two or three times just to clear up any possible misunderstanding.

Dang Gyu-young was keen on proving that she was not as incompetent as she appeared to be.

She cleared her throat and steered the conversation back on track after it had momentarily veered off course.

Anyway, its true that our service was lacking, so Ill offer more help with the cleanup. This should resolve any issues, right?

Id appreciate that.

Let me take a look at your hand for a moment.

There had been something that had been bothering her for a while.

Dang Gyu-young carefully examined Kim Hos hand and started turning it over back and forth.

Faint burn marks marred the skin.

These were the aftereffects of using [Inferno Fist].

For some reason, although Kim Hos hands had been unscathed after using Inferno Fist previously, this time marks remained.

He must have had a tough time in the Black Death dungeon.

What exactly happened inside would be a story for another time.

For now, more pressing issues needed to be addressed.

Seung-jae must have seen this, right?

I believe so.

Kwak Seung-jae had delegated all interactions to Oh Se-hoon and he chose instead to step back and observe everyones every move.

During this observation, his gaze landed on Kim Ho far more frequently than on anyone else, so it was highly unlikely that he missed the burn marks.

Dang Gyu-Young looked up to him and Kim Ho looked down.

The two stayed silent for some time.

Perhaps sensing her sincerity, Kim Ho slowly averted his gaze to the distance and began,

I told you Ive graduated over 200 times.

Dang Gyu-young who was about to say, Are you saying that again? saw Kim Hos serious expression and closed her mouth again.

She couldnt decide whether it was a lie or not.

During those 200 times, not every experience was pleasant. Especially in the early stages, when the numbers were in single digits, I was much less experienced which led to more unfortunate events.

Like what?

Like people dying, getting injured, things like that.

Kim Ho mentioned these events casually but they weighed heavily on Dang Gyu-Youngs heart.

She assumed the claim of 200 graduations was surely a lie, which meant these stories were likely veiled truths of a painful past etched deep within him.

Im sorry. Maybe I shouldnt have asked.

Its alright. Those days are behind me now. But one thing I made sure of during that time.

Whats that?

Kim Ho continued to stare into the distance and answered in a calm tone.

To never let anything of mine be taken away. To ensure that no one I care about dies.

To ensure that no one I care about dies

Dang Gyu-Young softly repeated the words to herself.

Is that what you want?

Yes.

That sounds difficult.

It is.

Students aspiring to be heroes at the Dragon Slayer Academy all live with the uncertainty of the future.

They never know when they might be thrown into the midst of battle, where life and death hang in the balance.

In such places, its challenging enough to cling to ones own life, let alone take care of ones people.

Kim Ho added,

Thats why we have to become stronger until it gets easier.

To become faster and overwhelmingly stronger.

Dang Gyu-Young felt she was beginning to understand.

Thats why he was striving to such lengths.

Being cautious and protecting yourself might bring immediate comfort, but you might face a more difficult fight later and possibly end up losing someone.

On the other hand, even if getting into disputes with other clubs and breaking a few school rules now meant getting entangled in all sorts of trouble, it could ultimately lead to achieving what was desired.

Kim Ho had concluded that the latter option would bring fewer regrets.

Its a relief; this should be fine.

She felt like a heavy burden was lifted from her chest after hearing that.

If protecting others was Kim Hos goal, then ensuring he also remained unharmed should also be part of that objective.

With this in mind, he would naturally take care not to cross any lines that shouldnt be crossed.

Dang Gyu-Youngs lips curled into a gentle smile.

I like that.

If the side of Kim Ho she had just seen was indeed genuine, she was more than willing to be his accomplice moving forward.

Before they knew it, the dormitory was in sight.

Despite deliberately taking a longer route, Dang Gyu-Young felt a tinge of regret that it was already time to part ways.

She wanted to take another round and talk about trivial matters, but she decided to stop here for today.

After all, today wasnt the only day they had.

Its getting late. Lets go in and rest.

Rest well, senior.

Yep, see you in Monday!

?

Kim Ho looked puzzled and tilted his head.

As if he was recalling whether they had arranged something for Monday together.

But then nothing came to mind and he asked.

Why Monday?

Dang Gyu-Young gave a playful wide smile in return.

Why should you be the only one to tease? Its my turn now.

I wont tell you.