Chapter 125
Yu-hyun couldn’t understand the absurd question that Kang Hye-rim suddenly threw at him.
“What, what? What are you talking about?”
Even if he was the great Kang Yoo-hyun, he would be flustered by such a sudden question.
He couldn’t figure out why Kang Hye-rim was asking him about his relationship with Kwon Jia in this situation.𝚗𝘰ѵ𝒆𝒍𝚋Ꭵ𝔫.𝓷𝑒𝒕
‘No, isn’t that obvious?’
He recalled their appearances and realized that there were some clues.
Kang Hye-rim was uncomfortable with Kwon Jia.
Kwon Jia herself didn’t seem to care, but to Yu-hyun, she did.
When he sent them to the orc tribe to cooperate, Kang Hye-rim was the only one who gave an unsatisfactory answer when they reported the results.
Yu-hyun remembered that he wanted to ask Celine about it later, but the timing wasn’t right.
For now, answering the question was the priority.
“Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”
“Just, it came to my mind.”
Kang Hye-rim dodged the answer and asked.
“So, what’s going on between you two?”
“What do you mean? There’s nothing like that.”
“Hmm.”
Was it because of Yu-hyun’s lukewarm answer? Kang Hye-rim narrowed her eyes slightly and glared at Yu-hyun.
Yu-hyun thought he might taste sand in his coffee when Kang Hye-rim opened her mouth first.
“From my point of view, well. You two have a similar vibe.”
“A similar vibe?”
“Yes. Both you and Jia have something to hide, don’t you?”
“That’s…”
Yu-hyun tried to deny it, but he realized that Kang Hye-rim had already seen through something of his.
It wasn’t untrue. They were both regressors who knew the terrible future.
“Jia definitely joined our management later than me. I know that. But strangely, I didn’t feel like she was a junior. Like you, she seemed like someone who knew everything from the start.”
“Is that so?”
“Hehe. It’s a funny story, right? I know. It’s ridiculous. In fact, I felt that way without any plausible reason.”
Kang Hye-rim leaned over the table.
Her white and soft cheek pressed against the table and bulged out like a bun.
Yu-hyun felt a sudden urge to poke it with his finger.
“But even with this inexplicable feeling… I sometimes feel left out.”
“…”
Yu-hyun couldn’t help but gasp at her honest words.
“It feels like you two know something that I don’t. Sometimes I get sad without knowing it. Is it my delusion? Am I a bad kid? Am I lacking that I feel this way?”
“Hye-rim…”
Yu-hyun shook his head as he tried to say something.
A clumsy consolation would only hurt her more.
It might be better to keep silent.
But was that really the answer? Would everything be solved if he just sat there and listened to her, keeping his mouth shut?
It wasn’t.
“I understand what you mean by anxiety.”
“…Really?”
Kang Hye-rim lifted her upper body up from the table.
“Well, um. You might feel that way. Jia is not ordinary in your eyes, right?”
“That’s true. Yes. She’s supposed to be a newbie who just finished her graduation ceremony. But she seems to know more than me, and has lived a different life. That must be because… she’s much more talented than someone like me.”
“No.”
Yu-hyun cut off her words sharply.
“What?”
“No. That’s not talent.”
People might mistake Kwon Jia for having a great talent when they see her.
Actually, depending on how you look at it, her regression trait might not even be called talent.
But Yu-hyun had seen Kwon Jia’s true talent and it wasn’t that great.
It was closer to dullness than mediocrity.
Yet Kwon Jia had gained such power because of something that transcended talent.
“I’m sure of it, Hye-rim has much more talent than her.”
“Then why am I so lacking?”
“There’s no one who has everything from the start.”
“Jia does.”
“Jia… she might seem that way. But Hye-rim. At least when you learn more and realize the truth later, you’ll change your mind in an instant.”
Yu-hyun couldn’t tell her about Kwon Jia’s peculiarity directly.
It was Kwon Jia’s secret.
If she wanted to know, Kang Hye-rim had to talk to her personally and hear it from Kwon Jia herself.
At least that’s what Yu-hyun thought.
But he also understood Kang Hye-rim’s feelings more than that.
“Hehehe.”
Yu-hyun chuckled softly.
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She was jealous right now.
“Hey, why. Why are you laughing?”
“Hehe. No. It’s just, your behavior is cute.”
“Cu, cute?”
She blushed and asked as if she heard it for the first time.
Yu-hyun nodded casually.
“Yes. Of course, I know you’re totally jealous right now.”
“What, what? No, no. Jealous? That’s not it.”
“Look. Your voice is getting higher. You’re caught. You’re caught.”
“No, no.”
Kang Hye-rim was flustered and tried to say something, and Yu-hyun kept teasing her.
In the end, Kang Hye-rim pouted and glanced at Yu-hyun.
“Hmph. Fine. It’s my fault for talking to you.”
“Haha. This is something. Okay. Let’s not do that.”
“It’s not ‘let’s not do that’, it’s really not that.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“You jerk.”
Kang Hye-rim, who was annoyed, drank the remaining drink in one gulp.
She still didn’t feel better and glared at Yu-hyun.
Yu-hyun shrugged his shoulders and laughed as if he found her adorable.
“Heheh. Heh.”
“Hey, stop laughing.”
“What can I do if it’s funny?”
“Is it that funny?”
“Yes. At least, I felt that Hye-rim was like everyone else.”
Yu-hyun said, wiping his slightly teary eyes.
“I don’t think you need to be ashamed of feeling jealous, Hye-rim. It’s only natural, and everyone has that emotion. I think it might even help you, in a way.”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“Well, at least you’re aware of your shortcomings and you want to improve, right? You’re jealous of Jia, but you don’t want to harm her or anything. Am I right?”
“That’s… true.”
“People who are jealous of others have two choices. They can either drag them down to their level, or they can rise up and surpass them. Most people choose the former. It’s easier and more accepted. But you, Hye-rim, you keep thinking about the latter option somewhere in your heart.”
It was the truth that came from the depths of her soul, not something she deliberately thought of.
Hye-rim’s eyes widened as Yu-hyun spoke as if he could see through her innermost feelings.
He smiled slyly as he saw her reaction, as if he had hit the mark.
“That’s a very good attitude to have.”
“Then… are you not going to tell me Jia’s secret?”
“I can’t tell you that. If you’re curious, why don’t you ask Jia yourself?”
“Oh, but that’s…”
“Do you feel inadequate? Well, I don’t think Hye-rim is any less than Jia right now.”
“Really? Do you really think so?”
“Yes. I told you before, didn’t I? Have some confidence. Hye-rim, you’re the first client of Baekhwa Management and the most famous collector in the world. And you’re also my first client, Kang Yu-hyun Teller. Oh, that sounded like I was bragging.”
“What? You weren’t? I thought you were showing off.”
“Are you serious?”
“Hehehe.”
Yu-hyun asked incredulously and Hye-rim burst into laughter.
She laughed so freely that it seemed like she had forgotten all her worries.
“Haha, ha. Oh, that’s hilarious. Did you see your face just now?”
“How can I see my own face?”
“Oh, what a shame. You should have seen it. It was like this!”
Hye-rim imitated Yu-hyun’s expression in a comical way and he glared at her.
“Hey. Getting cocky all of a sudden?”
“You said it was good to have confidence. I was just doing what you said. Hmph.”
“Huh.”
Yu-hyun shook his head in disbelief but also chuckled.
“Hye-rim.”
“Yes?”
“Right now, I can’t tell you anything. Even what I told you at the office today was a huge decision for me.”
The end of the world.
Hye-rim’s face hardened as she recalled it. She felt that what Yu-hyun had revealed to her today was too heavy and unbelievable.
‘How did he bear it all this time, knowing that?’
Hye-rim couldn’t imagine how much burden this man in front of her was carrying.
She thought that his body hidden under his clothes must be full of invisible wounds.
“Hye-rim. But someday… I’ll tell you everything.”
He was being sincere with her.
Not now, but someday he would tell her everything.
His hidden scars, his troubles that no one knew.
Hearing that, Hye-rim felt ashamed for being so childish and demanding.
But she also felt more motivated.
“I understand.”
She was not enough right now. She knew it very well.
It was good that she had found her talent and passion. But that only meant that she had reached the starting line.
She still had a long way to go.
“I’ll wait for you, like you said.”
No. Waiting was not enough.
She had to become strong enough to make him want to tell her everything.
“I promise.”
To be proud of herself someday.
To go further.
Hye-rim made a vow to her conviction.
“Good.”
Yu-hyun smiled contentedly at her answer.
The atmosphere had warmed up and they had finished their drinks.
Yu-hyun noticed that Hye-rim’s gaze was fixed on something outside the window and followed it.
There were four students there.
Unlike ordinary students, they wore flashy uniforms and carried sealed weapons.
“They’re Academy students.”
“Yes. I’m curious about them. If I were a little younger, I would have gone to a place like that instead of a training center.”
“A little?”
“…”
Zap!
Hye-rim glared at Yu-hyun as he teased her.
“You shouldn’t dig into a woman’s age like that.”
“Ahem. Sorry about that.”
“Anyway, it’s amazing to see them. I wonder how they became collectors. I’m worried if they can fight well.”
“Well, I guess so.”
Most people would think that collectors are legally adults, but the reality was different.
Students, or even children, could awaken as collectors unintentionally.
Conversely, there were also rare cases of old people becoming collectors.
“The Academy. I’m curious about it. What do they learn there?”
“They learn how to fight, how to survive, and many other things. Hye-rim, here’s a trivia quiz. Do you know why the Academy was founded?”
“Huh? No. I don’t know that.”
“In the early days of the collector society, there was no Academy. Actually, there was not much to teach. But when you find out the reason for its establishment, it’s funny.”
“Why?”
“The Academy was created to force education on underage collectors because they had the highest mortality rate.”
“What?”
Hye-rim asked in surprise, as if she had heard something unexpected.
“At first, adults were mostly collectors. But after the change, underage collectors started to appear one by one. But the problem was that they didn’t know their place.”
“Didn’t know their place?”
“What do you think happens when a minor gets power? They want to use it recklessly. They think they’re the best because they’re strong. They didn’t know the reality.”
There were many examples of that. Minors were very happy and arrogant when they awakened as collectors, as if they had become the protagonists of a novel.
-What’s wrong with them? Why are they so scared of just one monster? They’re such cowards.
-I could easily slice up that fantasy creature.
-Ugh. So frustrating. If only I were a collector.
To them, the power of a collector was like that of a superhero in a movie. They were deluded. They thought they would become the main character if they had power.
Without knowing how much responsibility came with it.
That’s how high school students who awakened as collectors went into the world of fantasy without fear and got killed by fantasy creatures.
“How can those kids who don’t even know how to fight properly against a single dog do anything with a sword?”
Reality is different from imagination.
When the kids faced the fantasy creatures in person, they realized that they were much more brutal than they thought and froze on the spot.
The kids who were so confident outside and said they couldn’t do that with their mouths were confronted with the fear of death when they faced the fantasy creatures.
And then they died.
Those who had pride in their power were equal and identical in the end, no matter how it happened.
As the number of deaths increased rapidly, the government took this matter seriously and decided to establish the Academy to prevent such accidents.
“To imprint the cruel reality on the kids who live in delusion and ignorance. That’s the biggest reason why the Academy was founded.”
Hye-rim opened her mouth in astonishment at the unexpected reason.
