How to Survive as a Player Chapter 81

#81

“… You have painful memories. It’s hard every time it pops up, but there are memories that stick to you and don’t come off. From what I’ve experienced… If I deny it, it hurts more. If I just accept it, I feel like it will get better at some point, even if it doesn’t get better. Of course it hurts. It hurts… “I can breathe easier than denying it.”

“Sehyun too… “Are you out of breath?”

“… Yeah, whatever. I cried a lot and struggled a lot… It was all to no avail. Because I just accept it as is… It hurts, but it gets dull at some point and then… When I think of it for the first time in a long time, it hurts again. I repeat that every day. still… “I’ve learned that it’s better than pushing away.”

Kwak Jeong-han looked at the dark lake. When the gaze turned to Sehyeon again, the wind swept across the lake.

“So, Jeonghan… Instead of trying to push it away, how about accepting it?”

“… “Sehyun, you cried a lot.”

“Kwak Jeong-han, you talk as if you’ve never cried.”

“Yes, I have never cried.”

“Kwak Jeong-han, you like water, right?”

Sehyun smiled and asked sarcastically. Huo Jeong-han’s gaze sank quietly. A feeling different from other days lingered within it.

And for the first time, Kwak Jeong-han gave an answer instead of silence.

“… no. “I don’t like water.”

I really hate it. The low voice repeated the words several times. Until his emotions became dull, Kwak Jeong-han looked at the lake and accepted himself little by little.

It was around that time that Sehyun suddenly stood up from where she was sitting. Kwak Jeong-han’s shoulders jumped, startled by the sudden movement.

“Kwak Jeong-han, there is nothing strange here.”

“I don’t know what’s strange… In my experience, there was nothing but fish.”

“What about big fish?”

“I only caught it once.”

“How big is it?”

“He would have been as big as Se-hyeon.”

“Kwak Jeong-han, can you teach me how to swim? It might not work out well because of the wings. “I have to wash the blood stains anyway.”

Kwak Jeong-han’s expression became blank for an instant. He went back and forth between the wing and the lake with his eyes wide open, but I don’t know what he was thinking, but later he stood up with a solemn expression on his face.

“I’m not good at teaching, but… “I’ll give it a try.”

“Don’t bite again. Am I dying?”

“… yes.”

Kwak Jeong-han answered in a gloomy voice. Still, the second time the water wrapped around my toes wasn’t as scary as the first time. Se-hyeon held Kwak Jeong-han’s hand and slowly entered the water.

“Jeonghan, can’t you let me go? “You have to hold hands.”

“Yes, I’ll hold on to it well, so please move your feet slowly first.”

Se-hyeon held on tightly to Kwak Jeong-han’s outstretched hand and kicked his feet. Perhaps because of the wings, it was able to maintain the level incredibly well. Kwak Jeong-han swam backwards and slowly led Se-hyeon.

“Now, wait a minute, Jeonghan. “I think she caught a fish at her feet.”

“… “It seems like foam.”

“no. Even now, ugh! I got bitten. Mr. Kwak Jeong-han, he was bitten… !”

Kwak Jeong-han’s expression became mysterious. When I looked closely, I saw that a fish the size of my forearm was biting Sehyun’s leg and shaking it. When Kwak Jeong-han quickly swung the rake, the fish quickly disappeared beneath the surface.

There was silence for a moment. It was Sehyun who opened her mouth first, as if stabbed.

“… “I am no longer a Celestial Race.”

“Yes, I know.”

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Kwak Jeong-han’s mouth. Kwak Jeong-han looked quite calm as he watched Se-hyeon looking closely at the bottom of the lake with his eyebrows furrowed. When Sehyeon began shaking off his wings and washing away the blood, he was able to maintain his composure enough to grab him and wash him.

Only after washing off all the blood did Se-hyeon and Kwak Jeong-han come back to land. Kwak Jeong-han, who was watching Se-hyeon shaking off the moisture, calmly called out to Se-hyeon.

“Mr. Sehyeon.”

“Please speak.”

“Try… Let’s see. I may not be able to accept everything, but I will at least accept enough to not hurt anyone. And thank you for coming today. The wings… “I will repay you with all my life.”

“What. “I’m going to treat you a lot from now on.”

Kwak Jeong-han smiled instead of answering. The calmness that Sehyun knew was evident in his appearance.

“Just like Se-hyeon, Se-hyeon is also my first colleague.”

It was a place where there was a lot of envy and jealousy, so it was an environment where there was no place to open up. For Kwak Jeong-han, Se-hyeon was also the first colleague he opened up to and leaned on. Colleagues, not friends. He seemed to be able to vaguely understand those words now.

Sehyun just smiled.

“We’ll talk about the rest tomorrow, you should sleep.”

“Yes, Sehyun, please go in before you catch a cold. “I plan to stay a little longer.”

“Are you okay?”

“yes. today… “I think it’ll be okay.”

“Then I will go without hesitation. See you tomorrow.”

Something was different from other days. It seemed like he had found his way to some extent.

Sehyun wrung out her wet clothes and turned her back without hesitation. Immediately afterwards, the sound of splashing water was heard. Sehyeon quietly left the place while listening to the sound of cold water.

***

Sehyun’s daily routine was always to leave the castle tower while being escorted by heroes, but today the routine was a little different. It was because it was hotter than other days, and because I was wearing light clothes and didn’t have a hump on my back.

Current time is 11 am.

Se-hyeon took advantage of the time when all the heroes were summoned and away to come out of the castle tower alone and have a close conversation with someone. It wasn’t a very good place because it was sweltering hot on an already hot day, but it was more bearable than other days.

There is only one thing that is different from before. Sehyeon’s back felt empty. The wings that had been attached so heavily were now completely gone.

Therefore, the other person was asking for various information without realizing that Sehyun was Rod. He was a very talkative man with a well-moved mouth. Of course, it was Sehyun himself who induced it that way.

“… So you’re saying you don’t see the face?”

“Why are you looking at my face?”

Sehyun looked devastated. No, isn’t it almost instinctive for humans to look at faces?

The man sitting next to Sehyeon and looking at him strangely was a new blacksmith at the weapons refinery where Keppel was the director. A first-time blacksmith who has just received his rank and exudes fresh-faced energy.

Sehyun knew this man very well. Although he lacked blacksmithing skills, he was a soldier-level vassal who regarded Keppel as an idol and repeatedly begged Sehyeon to hire him as a blacksmith. So, in terms of grade, it is B grade. His name is ‘Iobel’.

“The Archduke’s wings are as good as ideal, but my Lord is said to surpass them, so I wonder if I wouldn’t want to see them. Ah, why would the Lord come when I was circling the tower with the magic stone…? . Isn’t it? “You haven’t seen Rod either, have you?”

“Yes, well… .”

“Why is your reaction like that? Me too… I don’t really believe it, but considering that the Archduke today ordered the heroes to be summoned these days, it seems to be true. Hmm, isn’t it? Well, what goes beyond the ideal? But if Keppel, who is so strict, says that, it seems like it’s true. Ah, anyway, since our Lord has wings, whatever happens will be fine.”

Iobel looked somewhat like a fanatic. Of course, Sehyun couldn’t counter that.

“… “What is the standard for being pretty?”

“Of course, the wings come down in a round shape like this, so the feathers fall straight down, and the further down they go, the more they end…” Oh, there is. If you are also a Black Heavenly Clan, I would know at a glance, so what do you ask? Should I go if I’m not interested? “Why, are we afraid our rod wings might be strange?”

“So you don’t see my face?”

“So why do I have to see your face? “All you have to do is have pretty wings.”

“I wish my face looked like a salamander.”

“… That’s a bit of a problem… No, why make that assumption in the first place! Aren’t you a Black Celestial?! All Black Elyos are above average, right? I also do averages! You too are above average! If you look at the vassals passing by, they all look average. The load must be above average then, but what? Plus, it’s white… !”

After speaking well, Iobel buried her face in her hands and started pretending to cry.

“Isn’t it so bad if it’s white?”

“This vassal doesn’t know anything, tsk. Hey, Mr. Gasin. It looks like it hasn’t been long since I came here, but if you say something like that somewhere, you’ll be taken away and buried without even a rat or a bird knowing, so be careful. Pure white, pure white! They say that our ancient ancestors were also pure white, but I don’t know because I haven’t seen it, but it is a very rare color anyway. So heroes, huh? “I’m getting ripped off by the Archduke for being so careless.”

“then… Why are you hiding your wings? “I heard you’re giving up Lord and the Archduke?”

“… No, you were sold somewhere else? “Why don’t you know that common sense?”

“I grew up alone.”

Iobel’s expression instantly became pitiful, as if wondering what such a pitiful thing was. Sehyeon calmly accepted that gaze. In comparison, Iobel always looked pitiful.

“Ask me everything. What a pitiful… .”

“So why isn’t everyone taking out their wings?”

“They say it’s exclusive.”

At those words, Sehyun let out an exclamation as if she realized something. Only then did everything make sense.