Chapter 62 - How to Deal with Abnormal Situations (11)
“Whether they’re government-sponsored awakeners or people from the awakened society, those who project themselves and get demands from others will always meet the same end.”
Think about the environment of Shin Baran. An environment where high levels of achievement are taken for granted. I mean, it was an environment where Shin Baran’s performance would have been treated as something like that.
“It ultimately breaks that person.”
Shin Bareun demands that she be just like her, as if it were natural.
“Even if I tell you this, you won’t understand right now.”
In it, Shin Baran sees Shin Bareun, who is who she should be, and Na Yuri, who has the excellence that she should have, then she lives while gritting her teeth.
Nevertheless, in order not to blame them, she admired and longed for them, thinking that all of this was because she was lacking and they were great.
“As you’re an extremely outstanding hunter whose achievements are recognized by everyone, it will be difficult to change your opinion that the path you’re taking is the only right path. Still, I have no choice but to say it.”
If there’s something shining, and if you can’t become that shining thing, you should rather play a role in helping it shine more beautifully.
Each character in the novel had that shining point. That’s why I liked them.
To the extent even if I don’t remember their appearance, I remember their stories.
What I liked about Shin Baran was her weakness.
Shin Baran was a child who got teary-eyed if she thought the other person was really hurt even after they scratched her first; if she set a trap clumsily and it seemed to be a success, she got worried and came to Scammer to get attacked; and she felt sorry if something seemed to go really wrong—in other words, she was a child with clumsy malice.
“Still, I can’t bear to see you put so much pressure and stress on your innocent younger sister.”
“…Pressure?”
Maybe I’m afraid when Min Jaeyoon, Shin Baran, and others are being ruined when the story doesn’t progress according to the novel.
This was clearly the case when I saw myself fussing over Shin Bareun to protect the two children who were easily hurt.
“Nahyun, Sister…”
Shin Bareun and I, who saw Shin Baran fidgeting between us, quietly stopped fighting.
Silence enveloped the room.
I thought about Shin Baran and tried to leave the war of nerves at this point. I closed my mouth, patted Min Jaeyoon, who had crawled into my bed, and looked at the device, then suddenly realized that the appointment time was almost up. It’s the appointment time with Calmy.
Students who come to the fortress for field training must be accompanied by a hunter to move around the fortress. In other words, if I want to go out, I have to take a hunter with you, but…
“Hunter Choi Garam.”
It would be a shame to take Shin Bareun, the captain, whom I just fought with.
“Why?”
Choi Garam, who was lying down, replied languidly to my words.
“I was planning to meet Siwoo in the evening.”
“Oh, date.”
“It’s not a date. So, I’m sorry, but I would like to ask you to accompany me for a moment.”
“Alright~”
Choi Garam got up easily and leaned against the doorway. I carefully laid Min Jae-yoon, who was already asleep in my bed, and approached the door.
“Let’s go.”
Choi Garam walked out of the room with light steps, and I did with slightly heavy steps.
“Ah, but now that I think about it again, I have an appointment. I’ll change the hunter in charge.”
“…Pardon?”
Choi Garam looked around and motioned to a hunter wearing a helmet. The hunter was shocked for a moment, then stopped and walked towards us.
“What… What is it?”
“Hey you, this child has somewhere to go for a while, so would you please accompany her?”
“Oh, I… would love to!”
…Hm? Doesn’t that sound somewhat familiar?
Before I could remember where I heard the familiar voice, the hunter took my hand from Choi Garam.
“Then have a nice time~”
“Are you really going?”
“Yeah. Let me get some rest too!”
Choi Garam disappeared refreshingly. No, is it okay for a mentor to just abandon a student anywhere?
I looked at the back in bewilderment and slumped my shoulders.
In any case, her habit of letting things go as she pleases hasn’t changed since long ago. Is it because of her windy temperament?
“Let’s go…”
Helmet Hunter silently nodded at my words and guided me through the fortress. He was strangely silent.
Strange, the voice seemed like it would talk a lot. It was a rather familiar voice, but was it because of the mood?
I kept talking to Helmet Hunter, wondering what was causing this sense of déjà vu, yet he just kept being silent.
What is it really? Just as I was trying to get a sense of something, the meeting place came into view.
Calmy, who found me, looked at me and waved his hand.
“Ah, thank you.”
The place where we decided to meet was inside the fortress.
A place where we can talk in private, but where hunters can see us clearly from afar.
We talked in one section of the hallway where the GAH series cannons used in the fortress were lined up.
“What about the hunters?”
“The hallway over there. When I said I wanted to talk privately, they looked like they knew something and got out of the way.”
When I looked over there, I saw hunters looking at us happily from a distance where they couldn’t have heard anything.
Although I couldn’t see the Helmet Hunter’s expression, seeing him nodding his head enthusiastically next to the hunter with a happy expression made it seem like his attitude wasn’t much different.
It’s a misunderstanding.
However, it seemed useless to try to correct it, so I decided to do something more productive.
“…”
Calmy was sitting on the stairs and quietly looking up at me. It was difficult to read emotions in his blue eyes.
What should I do? I sat down next to Calmy and asked.
“Hmm… I mean… Did you know from the beginning?”
“Acting? Or that strange power of yours?”
“Both.”
“I noticed the acting from the beginning.”
I knew it.
“But when you praise me or other friends, or how hard you always try… It wasn’t all acting. I just thought there was a lot you wanted to hide. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s related to Yuhan.”
I thought about what to answer for a moment, but eventually said yes.
“That’s also true.”
I was going to talk about my meta system too, but stopped. It’s foolish to play your hand first when you don’t know how much information the opponent has.
This is even more so if it’s Scammer and someone who has discovered my information using some unknown ability.
“I… I must appear positive to Yuhan.”
In an instant, my eyes met dark blue sapphire colored eyes.
Only then did I realize that I had been avoiding his eyes.
“It ‘must appear’. “It’s not that I want to appear so.”
“…Alright.”
Anyway, he’s very quick to notice. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“Is that why part of your energy is always with Yuhan?”
“…What?”
Calmy’s eyes widened slightly at my reaction, wondering if I didn’t know, then he asked.
“I don’t know what skills or items you’re using… A part of your energy is always with Yuhan.”
“My mana?”
“It’s similar to magical power, but it’s a different kind of energy. I’m sensitive to the flow of energy, including mana, so I can understand these things well.”
I recalled the conversation we had on our first day.
[Ah, I sensed the flow of mana nearby.]
[Sensing mana? It’s hard for even hunters to do, that one.]
Sensing mana. And the sensing not even mana, but energy.
Neither Scammer’s Insight Eye nor my meta system appears in the normal status window.
But what if the ‘appearance part’ of the meta system operates through my specific energy?
And similarly, what if Scammer’s Insight Eye also works through his specific energy?
In that case, it could be the energy that only the souls of this world possess.
I thought about Tornito, an awakener who doesn’t have a ‘status window’ as described by Scammer.
“Did you see that energy in the tiger-beast mixed race that kidnapped me?”
“Yeah.”
So, is Tornito also a soul from another world?
What kind of energy is that in the first place?
If Calmy can feel that energy, did he know about Insight Eye in the original novel?
However, in the original novel, there was no mention of him knowing about Insight Eye… Ah, there was no Calmy’s part. Because it was a novel centered entirely around Scammer.
“I see…”
At my reaction, Calmy glanced at me like a puppy that got into an accident.
“I didn’t really ask because I thought there was some personal reason… Should I have told you?”
I firmly replied.
“No, thank you for not telling me. From now on, please never talk about my energy again. Let’s just pretend I’m an ordinary person with only mana.”
“…? Okay.”
Calmy nodded quietly. He looks like a well-behaved large dog.
With that sentiment in mind, I asked the question I was curious about.
“Do you know what… the strange ability I have is?”
Calmy seemed to think for a moment and then
“…Yuhan’s ability to observe his surroundings?”
That’s correct.
I was quite surprised by Calmy’s insight as he got the answer correct right away.