Chapter 409 |
The next day.
After checking the list Go Yeon-ju had given me, I set everything aside and headed to Barbara. There was only one reason.
“Welcome to the User Academy.”
“If you are an affiliate, please state your name and clan.”
I needed to visit the User Academy.
I opened my mouth and spoke calmly.
“I am Kim Soohyun, Lord of the Mercenary Clan.”
“The Mercenary Clan... Confirmed as a participating clan for this session. Is the purpose of your visit promotion?”
“I don’t have any large-scale promotional plans yet. I’m here to see if there are any new Users worth scouting.”
“Head Instructor?”
Wondering what that meant, I glanced to my side and saw Go Yeon-ju wink. I’d never heard of a Head Instructor before; it seemed to be a newly created position.
Soon, I passed by the User who was bowing deeply and entered the academy.
‘...Seong Ha-yan.’
The name Ha-yan, on the first page of the list, was one that remained quite vividly in my mind. Of course, there was a chance she was just someone with the same name as the User I remembered.
But even so, I chose to confirm it myself. The surname Seong was common enough, but the given name Ha-yan was not.
‘It’s not like it’s difficult to take a look.’
Calming my inexplicably pounding heart, I slowly looked around. Familiar buildings came into view. They still retained their old appearance, but I’d heard the academy was scheduled for renovations soon, hadn’t I?
As I was walking and reminiscing, Go Yeon-ju sidled up and spoke to me.
“Oh... Soohyun. I just remembered something I forgot to tell you.”
“?”
“Lee Hyo-eul is here. No, she’s been living and working here ever since the academy opened.”
“Lee Hyo-eul?”
Lee Hyo-eul... the guardian of the Northern Continent. A User whose profession required her to hide her presence as much as possible. I couldn’t understand why someone like that would be in such an exposed place, so I tilted my head in confusion for a moment.
Go Yeon-ju continued.
“She wants to meet with you, Soohyun.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I’m not sure why... but I guess she has some personal business with you. Anyway, why don’t you go see her after you’re done with your business? You owe her a debt, one way or another.”
A debt. For a moment, I recalled the second request I had made to Go Yeon-ju.
‘She’s not entirely wrong.’
I nodded silently and calmly organized my thoughts.
In any case, the top priority was to check Seong Ha-yan’s User Information. Looking at the other new Users or finding Lee Hyo-eul would come after that.
“So, where would you like to go first?”
“First, the melee classes. Among them, I’d like to see the class the swordsmen belong to.”
I answered immediately. According to the list, Seong Ha-yan was in class 1. I remembered her as a woman who used a sword, so she would have been classified as a melee type.
Go Yeon-ju blinked a few times, then tilted her head and asked.
“Swordsmen? Are you planning to recruit melee types?”
“Just... killing two birds with one stone, I guess?”
Though her expression remained skeptical, she soon nodded.
“Hmm. I’ll guide you.”
I began to quietly follow Go Yeon-ju as she walked ahead with light steps.
A short while later, to my surprise, Go Yeon-ju led me not to the dorms, but to the academy auditorium. I thought there would be no classes since it was the weekend, but unexpectedly, it was packed with trainees (new Users).
Of course, classes are sometimes held on weekends for various reasons. But considering the academy had only recently opened, it felt like a relatively unusual situation.
In any case.
I prepared to activate the Third Eye and peered inside.
“Oh my. It looks like a joint class today.”
There were well over three hundred people gathered in the auditorium. Just as Go Yeon-ju said, it seemed all the melee classes had been brought together. Judging by the occasional dozing trainee, it was probably a history or mental training class.
It was then.
Just as I was about to start checking the students one by one from the left row, the instructor in the middle of his lecture looked over at Go Yeon-ju and me. It made sense he’d find it strange, since we were openly peering inside.
The instructor’s eyes widened for a moment, and he immediately stopped his lecture. With the sound of a sliding door, the instructor came outside.
“H-Head Instructor. What brings you here...”
“Ah, please continue. I’m just here to observe for a moment with the Clan Lord.”
“The Clan Lord... Ah. Are you perhaps the Lord of Mercenary?”
I nodded to confirm.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Kim Hyun-woo, from the Sacred Clan.”
“Kim Soohyun, Lord of the Mercenary Clan.”
A clan I’d never heard of, and a name I didn’t recognize. I accepted his greeting formally.
After staring at me blankly for a while, the instructor spoke with a look of realization.
“By observation, do you mean you’re here for promotional purposes?”
“Not for promotion. Think of it as a light scouting mission for today.”
“I see. Then please, come inside. I’ll arrange a seat for you.”
Inside?
I glanced at Go Yeon-ju as if to ask if it was okay, and she shrugged as if to say, ‘Do as you please.’ So, I decided to go inside and take a closer look.
“Then, if you’ll excuse us.”
“Haha. It’s quite all right. This isn’t the first time.”
“We’ll just watch quietly and leave, so you can continue the lecture.”
A moment later, Go Yeon-ju and I followed Kim Hyun-woo into the auditorium, and at the same time, we received the gazes of countless trainees. And in that instant.
“Whoo~! Whoo~!”
“Wow~! Yeonju-nunim!”
Heated cheers erupted from the male trainees. For a moment, I couldn’t understand what was happening, but one look at Go Yeon-ju made it clear.
Go Yeon-ju kissed her hand and then performed a little show of blowing it towards the cheering trainees, complete with a wink.
“Soohyun. I’ve been steadily building up Mercenary’s reputation, you see?”
‘...I understood what she meant. Right or wrong, it was certainly one way to do things. Back in my day, they also assigned handsome men and beautiful women as lifestyle instructors.
‘Though I’m sure it’s only built up a reputation among the men.’
I gave a bitter smile and spoke quietly.
“User Go Yeon-ju. A class is in session. Please refrain from actions that disrupt the lecture.”
“Oh, no it’s fine. Most of them were dozing off anyway. It’s a relief if this wakes them up.”
Kim Hyun-woo laughed and shook his head as if to say it was fine, and Go Yeon-ju also crossed her arms and put on a subtly cute act.
“Hoho. Alright. I’ll be quiet.”
In any case, since the instructor said it was fine, I couldn’t press the issue further and turned my gaze to the trainees in the auditorium.
The instructor walked up to the podium, tapped the desk to get their attention, and spoke in a loud voice.
“Everyone, quiet down. We will now resume the lecture.”
When a few faint cheers still lingered, he spoke again.
“Two important officials have come to observe today. One, as you all know, is the Head Instructor. The other is Kim Soohyun-nim, the Lord of the Mercenary Clan, who counts our Head Instructor as one of his clan members.”
In that instant, the commotion died down in a flash. He looked over the finally quieted audience and smiled in satisfaction.
“I’m sure I’ve told you all time and again. If you trainees wish to get a better start after graduation...”
The cliché speech continued, and I could feel the trainees’ gazes turning to me with renewed interest. It was obvious what they were thinking. Regardless, I activated the Third Eye and scanned the auditorium.
『Seo Yun-hui』
『Park Tae-jin』
『Gu Bon-gyeong』
『An Bo-ram』
............
『Seong Ha-yan』
‘Found her.’
And in an instant, I was able to find the name I was looking for. It wasn’t that difficult. Should I say my gaze was naturally drawn to the center?
I stared intently at a woman buried in the crowd of Users in the center. Coincidentally, the woman was also looking at me, and our eyes met.
Her eyes were perfectly clear, without a single blemish. Her skin was so snow white that the jet-black hair cascading down her cheek stood out in stark contrast. Her long, slender nape and delicate shoulders seemed so still, as if a single touch would send ripples through them.
Her gaze was also subtle. It was a mysterious look that seemed to be on me, yet at the same time felt as if it wasn’t seeing me at all.
Upon seeing that much, I suddenly knew. The Seong Ha-yan I was looking at now was the same person as the Seong Ha-yan I remembered.
Player Status
1. Name: Seong Ha-yan (0-year User)
2. Class: Normal Sword User (Normal, Beginner)
3. Nation: -
4. Clan: -
5. True Name · Nationality: Snow Flower (Snow On The Branches) · Republic of Korea
6. Sex: Female (20)
7. Height · Weight: 165.5cm · 42.5kg
8. Disposition: Integrity · Fidelity
『Strength 36 | Durability 42 | Agility 55 | Stamina 31 | Magic Power 47 | Luck 58』
(Remaining stat points: 0)
‘A woman of fidelity, huh.’
Though I was taken aback by her disposition, I carefully examined her User Information once more.
‘......’
But I couldn’t see anything strange. At most, her True Name, ‘Snow Flower’, caught my eye, but that was it. Her stats were decent enough.
I looked over everything carefully, but I couldn’t find anything else out of the ordinary. With a sigh, I deactivated the Third Eye.
And I recalled the words ‘he’ had left behind in the first playthrough.
‘She is the only woman who can accept me.’
Seong Ha-yan. The User from the first playthrough whom ‘he’ had cherished more than his own life, and who was also his lover. I knew their relationship was far too deep to be called a simple romance. So much so that after ‘his’ death, the story of their love spread throughout the entire Northern Continent.
That being the case, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed. That bastard had cherished and protected her so much that I thought she must be someone special, but she was just a User with nothing particularly noteworthy about her.
‘Seong Ha-yan... I’ll put her on hold for now.’
After smacking my lips once or twice, I gave Go Yeon-ju a look that we should leave. On the assumption that the future might have changed, I decided to put Seong Ha-yan on the back burner for now. There was nothing I could do until she completed her training anyway, so it was better to deal with my second request—a benefit I could secure right away.
After we left the auditorium, Go Yeon-ju gave me a look asking how it went, but I answered by shaking my head. I’d have to check them one by one with the Third Eye to be sure, but aside from Seong Ha-yan, there weren’t any trainees that stood out.
“Soohyun. So where to next? The mages? The priests?”
I shook my head again at Go Yeon-ju’s question.
“No. Let’s stop looking at the trainees for now.”
“What? You’re stopping here?”
“Yes. There’s still plenty of time.”
“Hmm. That’s strange.”
Go Yeon-ju tilted her head. I could somewhat understand how she felt. Being a sharp woman, she must have known I was after something specific. If I’d just told her what it was, that would be one thing, but she had every right to find it strange that I was beating around the bush like this for no reason.
But since I couldn’t tell her the whole truth, I could only offer a bitter smile.
‘It’s fine... I knew it would be difficult to recruit Gong Chan-ho anyway.’
But the reason I still sought out Seong Ha-yan... was because I still had a lingering attachment to that 101 stat?
Gong Chan-ho. Recalling the name of the User with 101 Strength, I spoke quietly.
“Go Yeon-ju. What’s the status of my request regarding Park Hyun-woo?”
“It’s just as I told you. I’ve already spoken with him, and I’ve received Lee Hyo-eul’s permission. However, he wants to speak with the Clan Lord.”
“I see. Did you say they’re currently together in the prisoner camp?”
“Yes. But before that, why don’t we find Lee Hyo-eul first?”
I thought for a moment before nodding.
“Let’s do that.”
Then, guided by Go Yeon-ju, I began to walk slowly down the hallway.