Chapter: 126. The Final Day.
Has it been four days since I talked to Queph? I was excited about what was going to happen today and had stayed up all night. Suddenly, I heard a sound in my ear.
“Ugh… Hwaaaam.”
It was Han Abin’s yawn.
Matching her cue, I too opened my eyes.
“Are you awake?”
“Uh…9”
In response to my morning greeting, Han Abin slowly turned her head, still looking drowsy, and smacked her lips. Looks like she’s not a morning person. Her tongue is completely tangled.
… “Didn’t you sleep?”
“I just woke up early.”
About six hours or so.
“This is the first…”
Han Abin mumbled sleepily as she got up from her bed. With her hair a mess, she slowly dragged herself to the center of the room.
“Could you… step outside?”
She said to me.
“Step outside? Where to?”
“I’m going to do my morning exercises.”
She looked at me with dazed eyes and said that, as if she had to say it no matter how sleepy she was.
“Why not just do it here?”
She used to walk around wearing just a t-shirt in front of me.
Dragging her feet, Abin came closer and grabbed my hand.
“Please go outside…”
Then she pulled me with all her might, chasing me out of the room, and thanks to that, I fell into the room where the children were, wrapped in a cloth.
What the heck is this?
There was a strange pressure that suggested I shouldn’t resist, so I was dragged out without a fight, but wasn’t I someone who should be treated like this?
I have no idea what is going on. Has late puberty finally hit me? Seems like it’s ten years late, though.
While I thought about that, I rolled around the room. My actions were pretty embarrassing, but thankfully, the kids seemed to be too sleepy to notice, as the four of them cuddled together and were only releasing faint breathing sounds.
Along with the quiet breaths of the kids, how long did it take to hear the intense gasps coming from the neighboring room?
“Hmm? Where did the teacher go?”
“Oh, Shihyeon! You woke up? Your senior is in the next room. They got up earlier.”
I heard the conversation between Baek Shihyeon and the others, and the sound of fluttering, along with the cloth separating the rooms, was vigorously lifted.
“Shihyeon, wait a minute!”
With that flutter, the cloth that had been lifted fell back down.
“Huh? Did something happen?”
The clueless voice of Baek Shihyeon cut through the silence.
“It’s nothing—”
‘Right now! You saw everything!’
Crap, I thought I had gotten away with it, but it seems I’ve clearly stepped on a landmine.
‘From where to where did you see?’
Directly implanted in my mind, that telepathy swirled around.
There was no error in the message I wanted to convey, and I could feel exactly how angry Han Abin was just by sensing the emotions.
With her being this furious, surely she must be experiencing some serious headaches…
… Why doesn’t it hurt?
“Say something! Okay?”
Another telepathy came in, but I couldn’t feel any headache.
There was some noise from the telepathy being blocked by a mental barrier, but I guess that’s just an unavoidable problem in the mental realm.
Could it be…?
“Han Abin!”
As I tore through the cloth and jumped into the room.
‘Senior?’ ‘Senior!’
The telepathy and their voices mixed together as they reached me.
“Wait, can you say that again?”
“Yes? Yes? What should I say again?”
Hana Abin seemed flustered by my request as she glanced around nervously.
What’s with her all of a sudden?
“I told you to do that again.”
“Uh? Senior? Why all of a sudden…? Is it because I chased you out?”
“Then I’ll apologize…”
Her face turned red as she began to babble incoherently.
Still not fully awake, it seems.
“Senior? Uh? Really?”
If I left her be, Han Abin began flailing her arms and sprinkling the sweat sticking to her body everywhere.
Did I scold her too harshly? I didn’t expect her to show this much rejection toward the telepathy.
“Just ignore it and shoot your telepathy!”
“Shoot the telepathy?”
So she thought I had been making her do this all along, huh?
As I stared at her, puzzled, Han Abin suddenly sighed.
“Ah… I guess so… Telepathy…”
Muttering that, Han Abin pushed me away and continued speaking.
“I’m not sure why you’re asking for telepathy all of a sudden, but just go outside and wait. I’ll come after I’m done.”
Wait, does she not realize she used telepathy? Listening to her speak, it sounds like it came out unconsciously…
So what’s the right approach? Should I have her try right now? Or let her slowly recall the feeling later?
I’m annoyed I don’t know much about magic. If only Unho were around.
The growth of my student is right in front of me, but here I am, unable to do anything, feeling an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
How far do I have to go to find Unho?
Should I at least read related books and embed the knowledge into my memory? I had intended to leave the minor stuff to my acquaintances, but if such a sudden situation arises, I should have grasped at least some basic knowledge…
“Sen… ior?”
Han Abin’s voice rang in my ears as I was lost in thought.
“Uh? What?”
“Did you not hear me telling you to go out?”
Did she say that?
The moment I tried to recall my memory and moved my head.
“Shihyeon, pull him!”
“Master! Come here!”
My body was forcefully pulled.
My body rose, the cloth fluttering.
Han Abin disappeared from my sight.
Ugh.
It’s a pity. I may not know much about telekinesis and magic, but if it’s similar to the enlightenment of a martial artist, it seems best to grasp the sensations I just felt immediately.
The problem is, it seems Han Abin has no awareness of using telepathy and looks like she doesn’t want to face me right now, so I can only go along with her feelings.
“Master, don’t just look at Abin, please look at me too!”
It was Baek Shihyeon’s voice that pulled me back into reality.
“What to look at?”
“Skill proficiency!”
In saying that, Baek Shihyeon began swinging the hammer she had summoned around the room.
… “Don’t swing it indoors.”
With a bang slicing through the air, the hammer disappeared.
“Are they awake?”
“No!”
Baek Shihyeon replied, but when I looked away, I was met with the sight of the kids sleeping soundly as per Shihyeon’s words.
Seeing them sleep soundly amidst this chaos shows how resilient they are. Living in the city certainly makes one tough.
“Shihyeon.”
“Come outside. I’ll look at you for a moment before breakfast.”
I had nothing else to do anyway.
Listening to the cheering voice of Baek Shihyeon, I stepped outside.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“Think about your next move!”
“Once more.”
“Think about your next move!”
“Alright. Remember it well.”
I feel like I’d forget again anyway.
Sighing at such thoughts while repeating that line, I thought the foolish antics were to be expected, and while it was just a simple weapon clash, Baek Shihyeon’s weapon technique had improved quite a bit.
What’s problematic is that he still swings his weapon without considering the aftermath. So, I just keep repeating that line. I might as well say it one more time.
“Again.”
“Think about the aftermath!”
I feel like something has changed with that phrase…
Not that I have a big deal with it.
Leading our silly antics, we returned to the hideout.
“Did you come?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m back!”
On the table in the returned hideout, breakfast was neatly laid out.
Around it, the kids sat, staring at the food eagerly.
“Where did you go this early?”
“The master checked my technique!”
Baek Shihyeon declared energetically, then dashed past me and sat by the table, reaching for the food.
Was that a signal?
The kids, who had been polite earlier, all reached eagerly for the food, and a slightly chaotic breakfast began.
Of course, neither I nor Han Abin participated in that scramble.
“Weren’t we supposed to go outside today?”
“Right.”
To find Kim Taejoon, the representative.
I had already gotten information about where those guys usually hang out.
That should have been the plan.
“But if we train from the morning, won’t Shihyeon’s stamina be okay?”
Is it nine o’clock?
As I listened to Han Abin, I looked at the time on my phone.
It’s a decent time.
“Do you see me looking even a little dainty?”
Han Abin grimaced at my line.
I turned to her and released the signal limit on my phone.
“Then hurry up and eat, while you’re at it, since you’re an infinite energy powerhouse, we need to care about your stamina too.”
“I think as long as I don’t run around recklessly like before, I’ll be fine…”
Han Abin said, showing a displeased expression while pulling bread off the table.
I also grabbed some rolled-up rice from the table.
I don’t quite get why they’re fighting over food when it can be so easily grabbed.
Is having two pieces of bread in both hands that important?
While we filled our bellies like that, my phone showed no response at all.
Of course, it was expected. It’s not like an incident would happen exactly on cue.
So, I waited calmly for the moment to come.
About eight minutes went by, I suppose.
When Han Abin and I were done eating and sipping our drinks, I finally opened my mouth to ask.
“So, about what happened this morning…”
… “Do you really want to talk about that?”
Han Abin looked at me with a slightly disdainful expression.
I really can’t understand why she’s acting like that.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but telepathy…”
BZZT—my phone rang out of nowhere.
As I quietly pulled my phone out of my pocket, Han Abin nodded as if telling me to answer.
Alright.
I peeked to see if it was a wrong number, but the name glittering was the one I had been waiting for.
Park Hyunseok.
I pressed the button.
“Only now have I managed to contact you.”
A frantic voice spilled out of the phone’s speaker.
It was unlike him, with that loud and bewildered tone.
I played dumb, pretending not to know anything, “What’s going on?”
“Lee Harim, are you at Nanjido right now?”
I sensed the plan was kicking off.
“Get out of there immediately. Hurry.”
“What’s with the nonsense? Answer me clearly.”
I already knew, but I acted surprised.
“I don’t have time to explain in detail, but two O-Ranks and one A-Rank monster have been confirmed at Nanjido.”
Got it.
“Wait, are you serious? O-Rank? Where did that come from all of a sudden? There was no public designation.”
Feigning ignorance and astonishment.
“…Umbra Let, Octomundus, Black Marauder have been confirmed. The details are unknown, but I’ve assessed that there’s a high likelihood it’s related to the monster association.”
So, what’s left?
… A nuclear weapon.
“That’s not been approved yet. The proximity to the city…”
Thank goodness.
Since Queph assured me that a nuclear weapon would never fall…
Then perhaps, they plan to instead…
“A indiscriminate bombing. They plan to wipe this place off the map.”
… The mission is canceled. Hurry.”
“Got it. I’m hanging up.”
“Wait, I still have something to say…”
Beeep.
I hung up, looking at the fools around me with a blank expression.
“That’s the situation, son. What will you do?”
Alright, let’s get started.
From now on, it’s a race against time.
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