[Huff...]
[Are you tired already? We still have a mountain of things to do.]
Edward looked at me with a shocked expression. Why is he making that face? We've only done 3 hours!
—Don't you think you're pushing him too hard?
'It's because his weak points are so noticeable.'
Edward's weakness is clear. He needs to accurately recognize what type of energy it is each time he absorbs energy. Because of that, his reaction is slow. So he's weak against combination attacks.
'Isn't it a shame that he can't utilize his talent to be the most perfect shield better than this?'
—How many awakeners do you think can pour out various attributes in succession like you?
Hmm, maybe throwing five in a row was a bit much.
Edward only reacted to two of them. The first attack, and the last attack. He couldn't even react to the middle attacks and just got hit.
It's only because I aimed away from vital points and lowered the output of all attacks, otherwise he would have been critically injured.
'Still, it's better to be clearly aware of your weaknesses.'
I said to Edward:
[It would have been good if you absorbed the first attack to create a shield.]
[I told you I can only deflect them for now.]
[That's why we need to train that point too.]
[Can't we do just one thing at a time?]
[Of course not. When we can train your reaction speed and how to utilize absorbed energy simultaneously, how can we pass that up?]
How great is this? Such 2-for-1 training is rare.
—Isn't there usually a reason things are rare?
I shook my head at Ray's quip. There's a reason for pushing Edward like this.
[You think too much.]
Considering Edward's ability, it doesn't make sense that he needs to check the type of energy flying at him.
'We need to make him absorb it naturally like breathing, without going through thought.'
There's a reason I'm pushing Edward this hard. Edward thinks too much.
[I, I can't do any more today.]
[It seems like we could do a bit more...]
[Yeah, it'll work out. I'll become a corpse.]
[Don't whine too much.]
'But his reaction speed is definitely getting faster.'
—He has to if he wants to live. With attacks flying every 1-2 seconds, he'd be in tatters if he got hit by all of them.
'Anyone watching would think I'm really tormenting Edward.'
All I want is for Edward to use his ability well. I'm sincerely cheering for him.
Should I let him rest for today?
[Rest well today.]
[Sob sob.]
At my words, Edward pretended to cry as he went inside. Not shedding a single tear, the detestable thing!
Next, I watched Cha Song-jin's training. Well, this time I literally just 'watched'.
"Hyung, your posture is collapsing. Straighten your back, open your chest, and hold your shoulders up without drooping."
"Ugh, ugh, uhhh."
Hmm, teaching well.
—That guy. He's smiling while watching someone else's pain, and with such a terrifying face...
'Well, it's better than crying.'
I brushed off Ray's words casually, but even I broke out in a cold sweat the moment I saw Han Seo-hyeon's chilling expression.
Han Seo-hyeon is a bit dangerous after all. I deliberately ignored Cha Song-jin crawling on the ground and went inside the building. He won't kill him, right? He'll get healthier. There's no muscle growth without pain, after all.
After entering the house, I checked the news. The first thing I looked at was the trends of the major guilds.
In the past around this time, Sirius had collapsed so severely that there was no talk of a comeback, but the current Sirius is different.
It's true they took a huge hit from Seol Rok-jin's scheme, but they successfully conquered Serena's Ice Palace, the super rookie Yoo Seon-je is alive, and they managed to stop the department store terror attack...
The situation wasn't too bad. The problem was that all the first-string members who strongly supported Sirius were swept away. But they found a solution for that too.
'They swept up almost all of this year's Babel Academy graduates.'
There are no rookies with S-grade potential, but Babel is Babel. They can't put them in the first string right away, but they'll be a great help if properly nurtured for 1-2 years.
—Are the graduates there that good?
'They're definitely on a different level from other academies. Babel is about the only place that actually goes out for gate practice.'
Even in the future where hatred for awakeners reached its peak, the words 'Babel graduate' still drew admiring looks. Though it's not a place with particularly good memories for me.
—Come to think of it, what kind of place is that academy? Looking at how your country operates, that place doesn't seem normal either.
'Hmm, it should be fine until next year. It was quite alright until one person who enters next year takes over the academy. Though there's some corruption and severe discrimination among students, it's just an ordinary academy.'
—What part of that is ordinary?
'When you gather talented kids and make them fight for ranking, of course there will be bullying and discrimination problems.'
There are character development classes for awakeners too, but how much help can those few hours be? If they were, Yoo Seon-je wouldn't have been so rude.
The surprising fact is, Yoo Seon-je wasn't even the worst among them. Actually, Yoo Seon-je's level of rudeness was quite tolerable. At least he wouldn't cause trouble unless provoked first. There were plenty of worse guys than him.
Kids who were already guaranteed success just by being born with decent talent acted all high and mighty as if they were already something. Well, it's not entirely wrong.
'Awakeners born with moderate talent don't have much to fear. It's always the middling people, and those at the bottom who get hurt.'
My mouth tasted bitter, but there's nothing I can do about it right now.
'Still, I think I should visit Babel once. Because the guy who's going to enter there is a real bastard.'
That person with the ability of fascination sold off Korea's talented people to foreign countries.
'Remember the human trafficking group Taika Cooper mentioned? The organization that sold off talented awakeners. I strongly feel they might be connected to that.'
He'll be appointed around fall or winter this year, so I should take care of other business and infiltrate Babel before then. As a janitor or whatever.
'I can't let the future forces who could prevent destruction be lost so futilely.'
Let's keep that plan in mind for now.
Now let's solve the immediate issues step by step.
I checked the text from Nam Ju-hyeon. I delivered the phone I got from Professor Geum to Nam Ju-hyeon through Han Seo-hyeon yesterday. I hope she keeps it safe this time without Xie Haozhu taking it away.
I gave Nam Ju-hyeon permission to make in-app purchases in games. Yeah, let's consider this a kind of activity expense. However, Nam Ju-hyeon didn't seem very happy at my words.
"The pickup period is already over! Ugh! Why didn't you tell me a day earlier!"
"Can't you get it at all if the pickup period is over?"
"That's not it, but! The odds are terrible. There's no pity system either!"
"Whether the odds are terrible or whatever. Keep pulling until you get what you want. I'll support you that much."
And then the replies stopped. I ignored it thinking she might be busy, but the reply I just checked was outrageous.
"What, are you proposing?"
"What kind of horrifying words are those?"
Why are you trying to repay someone's goodwill with enmity? Nam Ju-hyeon sent a bunch of laughing emojis at my disgusted reaction.
"Ah, right. I passed on the materials you requested to D."
By the way, D stands for Do Chae-hee. I thought it was ridiculous to abbreviate even that, but since mentioning real names could be dangerous, I went along with it.
It was also much healthier than the taste of someone who keeps trying to make me a Power Ranger knockoff.
"Ah, and there was a special request from D's side..."
Request? Can't you just say favor?
"What is it?"
Nam Ju-hyeon said to my question:
"She wants you to find Manager Cheong who runs a detective agency."
I froze holding the phone at that name.
Manager Cheong. It was a name I hadn't heard in a very long time.
* * *
"So you're saying there's someone here who knows the real truth?"
After much trouble, Kim Doo-sik and Choi In-hyuk arrived in Cambodia. The fortuneteller who was said to live near Angkor Wat, north of Siem Reap, stubbornly insisted on seeing the client's face in person to give an answer, so Choi In-hyuk finally flew here directly after finishing all his schedules.
The airfare to get here and the cost of a local guide who would also serve as an interpreter. The situation had already become a case of the tail wagging the dog, but Choi In-hyuk didn't bend his determination to collect the debt from that damn Kang Yi-sin.
Kim Doo-sik nodded while watching Choi In-hyuk's terrifying gaze.
"It's damn hot."
Unlike Korea where it was still winter in March, Cambodia's weather was sweltering. It was cool in the shade since it wasn't humid, but the area where that damn fortuneteller lived had all the trees and buildings cleared away.
"Why is it in a place like this?"
"They say this is where divine energy is closest."
"Bullshit."
Choi In-hyuk frowned. Anyway, what they found after arriving there sweating profusely was a small mud hut. Yes, a mud hut. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't a place where a successful fortuneteller would be, but the surroundings were packed with people.
Those people gave looks to the two who arrived late as if telling them to line up, and Choi In-hyuk and Kim Doo-sik had no choice but to get in line.
"Damn it, if I don't get a proper answer, I won't let this slide."
Kim Doo-sik just kept swallowing at Choi In-hyuk's muttering aura. Thinking that this young master's presence was no joke.
How long did they wait like that? Just before sunset, Choi In-hyuk, Kim Doo-sik, and the interpreter, the three of them were finally able to set foot in that supposedly amazing fortuneteller's, no, truth office.
Sitting there was a woman in her early 30s. With dark skin and long curly hair hanging down, she tilted her head looking at the three people.
[You have more than one question.]
Choi In-hyuk asked what that meant to the words the interpreter delivered.
[I can only answer one thing a day.]
"So what does that mean?"
[I can tell you the truth for certain, but I can only answer yes or no.]
"Can't you just give a simple direct answer? Like where that bastard is?"
[It's possible to narrow down the range. But I can't spit out an address. My answer is always 'yes' or 'no'.]
Choi In-hyuk gritted his teeth at the unexpected restriction.
"Fine, let's do it. First question."
Choi In-hyuk swallowed and said:
"Is that bastard alive?"
The answer to that question was 'YES', and the next question...
[The divine only answers one question a day. Come back tomorrow.]
"Damn it!"
Choi In-hyuk clenched his fist.