Chapter 15
—To be honest, when I came to my senses, I felt empty.
Because in the end, my ambition to prevent the system from forcing me to do so went down the drain.
“Huh… it’s driving me crazy.”
The high risk red quest that came up this time was a problem.
As a user I knew very well what this red quest meant.
(I didn’t think the GAMEOVER quest would appear for me, though…)
For each main character, there is a crossroads between life and death options, and the quest window that appears each time is precisely the red quest window.
If you fail a quest here, in game terms it means [GAMEOVER], which in reality means death.
Of course, as someone who has cleared all the main characters, I knew exactly when the red quests appeared and how to attack them.
(The problem is the main villain, though…).
For each playable character, there is a main villain who threatens the protagonist.
The main villain in the Han-Shi Young storyline (Villain Alliance.)
Main villain in the Anna storyline (S-class villain – Kalton.)
Main villain in the Haruna-Ruel storyline (Alter.)
Main villain in the Liam-Martel storyline (Criminal group Villant.)
It is that main villain who makes an unscripted appearance in the storyline where each lead character’s red quest is up for grabs.
In the first place, the main villain has the biggest influence on the death of the main character, so it would be strange if he didn’t appear.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue in frustration and looked at the system window once again.
[Warning! Error occurred]
[Warning! An error has occurred]
[Due to a system error, no further main quests.]
At least it was a failure, but not a total disaster.
Anyway, I don’t think the troublesome main quest will be up for a while.
Of course, that broke my bracelet…
(Then I have to do it anyway, even if I don’t want to die…)
The situation has changed.
Unlike before, I made an effort because I didn’t want to get involved, but now it’s different.
At least it’s a situation where my life is at stake.
Fortunately, the coercion is gone and I have a definite target?
Of course, there is a heavy penalty of death…
(Then the closest one to get red quest. …. Is it Anna?)
Anna Elizabeth Hartel.
At first I didn’t mind if they died, but now that the red quest with lives at stake has surfaced, I have no choice but to be related to them.
(Surely… it was an external joint exercise?)
An external joint exercise in two weeks’ time.
It’s an impossible training, like a hands-on learning experience where you go out to support an external organization and experience a variety of superhuman occupations.
And it’s the episode where Anna gets her first red quest.
* * *
Time flies, and it is the day of training.
I boarded the Rokia Academy’s famous wing bus with dark blue crystal balls instead of wheels in front of the large square.
Incidentally, this bus runs in the sky, not on land.
The bus itself is a product of magical engineering, a combination of magic and technology.
(Hmm…)
I looked at the scenery grazing by the window .
I had never been on an airplane before, so I was expecting a bit of a ride, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
Perhaps it was because of worries about future events, I thought.
(Let’s see what happens…)
In this joint training episode, Anna is given a choice.
A crossroads of life, a choice where [GAMEOVER] appears as soon as she chooses one wrong.
First-time players of the game usually use the method of saving and loading to progress faster, or remembering all the choices, but now it’s real.
Of course, Anna’s choices could not be what I wanted.
(Umm, wouldn’t it be a problem if she died?)
Maybe not just a difficult level.
I can’t imagine where the story itself would bounce.
I hope the future doesn’t change, at least to a bearable degree.
Who is going to fill Anna’s vacancy when the country can’t even handle the variables?
(And yet, in a way, is this a compromise?)
I thought this was the best compromise I could come up with.
The red quests that popped up all of a sudden, probably also forced by the system.
(Well, still, this is better. Yes, this is how it should have been from the start 🙂
[Main quest].
(Questable character: Kim Ha-Jun
Description:Graduate successfully from the Rokia Academy with your friends.
● Han-Si-Young (Pending).
Anna-Elizabeth Hartzell (Pending).
Haruna-Ruel (Pending).
Liam Martel (Pending).
Failure: Death.
It was at least better to have a definite goal than to not know the end.
Only then would I feel like making an effort.
“Huh Eh? No way, Mr. Ha-Jun?”
I turned my back to the voice of someone calling me.
Then a girl with a familiar face looked at me with a surprised face.
“… Joo-Ah?”
“I didn’t think that I was on the same bus as Mr. Ha-Jun.”
I honestly didn’t expect it either.
I didn’t think a daughter of the Lee clan, famous for its swordsmanship, would be a volunteer team…
Joint support training is similar to the alias work experience, where one group is selected and organized in each class for joint training with the combat department and support from the beginning, and then goes out to support an external organization.
In other words, it is a class designed to experience the everyday life of heroes in service.
“Why are you being so respectful? Just speak comfortably.”
“Uh, so, is that okay?”
Lee Joo-ah’s cheeks suddenly turn red.
She naturally took a seat next to me.
I stared at her like that vaguely, then quickly shifted my gaze to the window and asked a question.
“By the way, you’re in the support section?”
“Yeah. ….I’m not as talented as my sister.”
I looked at her like that blankly for a while.
Then, as if embarrassed, it was Joo-ah, her cheeks reddening as she lowered her head.
(Hmmm, no talent…?)
“Is that so?”
“Yes”
“It doesn’t look like that…”
“Eh?”
I looked out of the window again.
Joo-ah, who started looking at me with a strange look on her face.
(Hmm, I didn’t know this.)
Lee Joo-ah.
A character who should have died long ago if I hadn’t saved her.
Naturally, I did not know her well, only because she was a character who had not appeared in the game.
However, one thing.
She doesn’t seem to know her powers very well.
–Hoo~ this girl… she was chosen by (Divine Beast) Shinsu.. (Notes: Author originally mentioned “신수?’ ‘Shinsu’, I can’t find any explantion expect this, LINK. ! So if anyone knows the meaning please do comment, I’ll edit)
Because since a while ago, Ego – Piraten has been noisily, huffing and puffing and commenting on her.
–Divine Beast?
–That’s right. My master has no magic powers, so he won’t see or feel it. Of course, I feel it would be better not to see it.
–What do you see, though?
–I see a Giant fang wolf. Hungry wolf. It has an incredible intimidation that will engulf your spirit by itself to see it with your eyes. This is not an exaggerated word. Master. If he grows up more, he could become a giant monster that swallows the world or a divine beast that protects the world.
(A Giant fang-wolf…)
Then we can predict some of her aptitude.
At least not swordsmanship, but that doesn’t mean it’s the aptitude that makes her a healer in the Volunteer Division.
(I didn’t expect a summoner to emerge from a famous swordfighting family…)
The word “Giant wolf” brought one thing to mind.
Fenrir, the wolf that swallows the world.
He’s the one who occupies one of the highest seats among the summoner can summon.
If she is gifted as a summoner, it is clear that the responds to her summons will be that monster.
“Could it be that your mother was a summoner?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“Did you try the summoning technique?”
Joo-ah, who smiled bitterly at my question and lowered her head.
She nodded in agreement.
“Yes, I tried. -I didn’t have the talent for that either.
“Didn’t check it with a lower-level summoning team something, by any chance, did you?”
“Huh? That’s right?”
“Tsk – you’ve got a lot of money, but… find a top-grade summoner and try it.”
There was no way that she, who had been chosen by Fenrir, could summon a return with a lower-grade summoner’s team.
In fact, I bet the lower level would run away because they were afraid of Fenrir.
“I see, will that work?”
“Try it once. If it works, then repay the favour.”
“Unn?”
Lee Joo-ah, who had a strange expression on her face at Ha-Jun’s words for a while, immediately looked at Ha-Jun and smiled.
“Yes, okay.”
She took it as a blank word of support, I think.
Of course, it’s up to her whether she believes in it or not.
At least she’ll have a choice if she wants to join the combat department.
(Well, I guess I’ll take a nap…)
The moment I tried to close my eyes with such ease.
Gradually the speed of the wing bus slowed down and I felt like I was landing below.
No, it wasn’t a feeling. It was actually a landing.
Looking at Lee Joo-ah getting out of her seat as soon as we landed, it seems that we have arrived.
“The first express group and the first advanced support group, finish your preparations and disembark.”
With those words, I got up from my seat.
Incidentally, as I said earlier, each group has a different site to support.
There are various places, but typically they send support to organizations that are targeted by the Villain Alliance, such as the Heroes Association branch, the bank and the headquarters of a well-known guild.
Of course, villainous terrorism is not a daily occurrence, and since the students are here in the first place under the guise of experiential learning, the current heroes working in the field do not have such high expectations of the students, who are to a large extent just students. They would rather have them do chores or just watch.
“… Um, Is anything…-?”
“Well… it seems we’re in the same group.”
I looked at Joo-ah with a bemused expression for a while.
Not only are we together on the bus, but we’re also in the same group for a joint drill…
I smell something fishy.
(Is it the student council president?)
If I’m right, that’s a bit troubling…
No matter how much she didn’t know, she put her sister in danger.
* * *
We came to the support of the famous Nefertem hotel in South Korea, where all kinds of high-ranking officials from the Korean political and business worlds to guild leaders and top heroes gather.
Is it because of some kind of game?
Even though it is the best hotel in South Korea, it is bigger and more spacious than I had imagined.
Of course, this sounds obvious because it is a famous hotel, but that’s about all I can say.
Not just because it was big and spacious, but because it boasted a size beyond anything I could have imagined.
The hotel was not 63 buildings high, but its height was enormous.
Even though it was a hotel, it was too big by degrees.
And here’s the more appalling point…
“I see you’re here.”
A girl approached the students as they got off the wing bus.
She had pure white hair and white skin, not unlike a Korean.
In contrast, she was beautiful, in a black dress.
She was probably the same age as us.
“Hello. My name is Yoo Seol-ah, the general manager of Nefertem.”
Yoo Seol-ah.
She is a fourth-generation girl from the Yuhan Group, one of the largest companies in Korea.
A genius girl who was recognized at a young age for her excellent awakening abilities and sharp intellect, and rose to the position of general manager of a hotel.
At the same time, she is also the character most frequently targeted by the Villain Alliance due to her awakened abilities.
“It’s been a while. Anna-Elizabeth Hartzell.”
“It’s been a while, Yoo-Seol-ah.”
The girls began to converse, maintaining their natural elegance, as if they had already met each other.
Soon after, the students also started whispering among themselves.
–Woah! I never thought I would actually see Yoo-Seol-ah.
–Yes, it’s the first time I’ve seen her in person. The Real Deal.
–The awakening abilities are so good that she is already registered as a hero.
–I can’t believe it, even though we’re really the same age. We live in different worlds.
They were all looking at Yoo-Seol-ah with admiring eyes.
Soon the exchange was over, and Yoo-seol-ah approached the students, who were standing idly in the back.
Yoo-Seol-Ah looked around, as if looking for someone.
“Huh? That’s strange. Where is Han-Si-Young?”
“Han-Si-Young is in a different group.”
Yoo-Seol-ah looked curious at Anna’s reply.
“Eh? But I’m sure there’s a top student among the students who come to support us…”
“Han Si-young is the runner-up.”
“What? Not Anna?”
Yoo Seol-ah was a little confused.
Shortly afterwards, Anna pointed at a boy.
He had the impression of looking tired just by looking at him.
Dark circles under his eyes and shaggy hair.
The boy yawned openly and expressed his tiredness in a blunt manner.
Yoo-Seol-ah’s eyes met the boy’s and she turned to look at Anna and him alternately with a flustered look on her face.
“Um, are you sure?
“Yes, he is the head of the class.”
It was Yoo-Seol-ah, looking at Ha-Jun with disbelieving eyes.
Yoo-Seol-ah then approached Ha-Jun and asked him his name.
“Do you have a name?”
Ha-jun replied casually.
“Kim Ha-jun.”
“Seeing that you got first place, you seem to have good ability.”
“I was lucky.”
“Luck?”
“Yes. At that time, Han Si-young was probably not feeling well. Well, maybe he had a stomach ache, or something.”
For a while, Yoo-Seol-ah tried to imagine Han-Si-Young complaining of a stomachache because of the pain in his tummy.
Nope, she just couldn’t picture it.
What is it? Is he playing word games?
He was so brazen in his ramblings that I was rather taken aback.
“If it’s luck, well…”
Yoo-Seol-ah just decided to ignore Kim Ha-jun.
Well, if it’s luck, it’s luck, and for the time being, she was convinced that Kim Ha-jun was a unique person. Of course, in a bad way. What’s the worst that could happen if they were to be related?
Moreover, no matter how much Han Si-young was deprived of the top position, there was no image of him being defeated.
This was because Yoo-Seol-ah also knew more about Han Si-young’s strength as well as Anna, who was by her side.
(Still, well. –, luck is also a skill, but one has to investigate).
Still, in his own way, he was the man who overtook Han Si-yong to occupy the top spot.
Yoo-Seol-ah finished her thoughts about investigating Kim Ha-jun in secret.
“Well, then, students, this way please.”
And she soon began to guide everyone.
On the way into the hotel with Yoo Seol-ah, Lee Joo-ah called out to her.
“You look a bit scary…”
“I’m a scary woman.”
“Hm?”
She’s right, she’s a scary girl .
She’s a girl who values people for their worth.
She relentlessly dismisses people she thinks are useless to her.
She shows sociopathic tendencies in her disposition, so I didn’t dare to stand out.
It would be troublesome if she hated me.
“You should watch out too. Don’t pay attention to him, just because he catches your eye in a strange way.”
“….Yes”
Lee Joo-ah answered timidly as her cheeks reddened once again.
