Black Badger

Chapter 12

There was no way getting beaten senseless by mushroom tentacles for three hours straight could have been normal.

I watched with weary eyes as Ami started shaking Yoon's body roughly. Yoon looked down at his younger sister without changing his expression in the slightest.

"She's fine. Just tired."

Ami snapped at his matter-of-fact tone.

"What if he develops trauma or something! I'm telling Ye-hyeon oppa and Mr. Joo about this!"

As expected, the only one I could rely on was Ami.

Just as I started to get emotional, Ricardo approached.

"You okay~?"

"Ah. Yes, I'm fine."

I took in the man standing beside me and the unfamiliar faces who all looked pretty shocked. Ricardo scanned me up and down without erasing his smile.

"You look like a mess...."

"I was even more of a mess just a few minutes ago. He went berserk all by himself just to take down one of those things."

"Scary, huh~?"

"More like annoying."

"Really? Looks like you've got some talent~."

Ricardo's eyes widened as he laughed.

As I thought, this guy was an enigmatic man in a different way from my mentor. I couldn't tell if compliments like these were sarcastic or sincere.

I didn't want to overthink it, so I just nodded.

"Thanks for the praise."

"Sure~. So, how about it? You'll have to do this kind of thing for the rest of your life.... Think you can handle it~?"

Ricardo asked brightly.

I could feel everyone's gazes focusing on me. There was some weight to the question. My first impression of him as having a bad personality wasn't entirely off.

I met his green eyes and answered slowly.

"I'm not sure."

Ricardo looked at me without losing his smile.

"Guessing right now wouldn't mean much anyway. Besides, I didn't have many choices, so I didn't think I'd regret this one later."

I realized the stares pouring in as I responded seriously.

This was bad. In a place like this, I should have just said something like, "Yes, I'm fine. I'll work hard, Senior!"

Just as I tried to smooth it over with an awkward smile, the man who had been watching with wide eyes interjected.

"Is this the famous new recruit?"

Word had already spread?

"Yeah! Hildebert Talev!"

"But didn't he just get officially assigned today?"

"Right!"

"And he's already living here without any issues?"

I couldn't follow what the man was saying.

I observed the stranger with round eyes. He looked somewhat fatigued. His skin was tanned like he'd been in the sun a lot, and he had a light mustache under his nose. He wore black pants that looked comfortable like hiking gear and a gray anorak. At a glance, he seemed to be in his early to mid-thirties.

He couldn't hide his surprise as he blurted out.

"It should take at least three months to adjust to the body, right?"

"That's a fair point. This kid's a special case...."

"And did he take down this thing? A real creature? Less than a day after the official schedule started? New recruits aren't supposed to encounter creatures until six months in, are they?"

"That part's entirely Oppa Yoon's fault."

Ami pointed out.

The stranger's gaze turned to Yoon. His face held an incredulity he couldn't shake off. But Yoon just met the look without blinking.

"It ended without any incidents, so don't make a fuss. He handled it fine without my help, and his mind's intact."

"No, Senior Yoon."

The man called out to Yoon in bewilderment.

Yoon didn't react. Instead, Ricardo, standing next to the man, placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at me.

"You two haven't introduced yourselves yet, have you~?"

I nodded awkwardly.

"Yes."

"Lee Ho-chang. He's your senior~. Iho, this is the famous new recruit, Hildebert Talev."

"Nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you."

"Uh? Oh."

Iho, who had been staring at Yoon, turned to me and responded.

He stared at me intently before speaking.

"But how exactly did you...."

"Ah! Hilde's doing his self-introduction next week!"

That's when they'll explain his peculiarities! Ami's clear voice echoed through the training hall.

As the male seniors' heads turned, I panicked internally.

What the hell was this now?

"But the HR director said most of the explanation will come from him. So no need for those faces."

"But don't I have to say a few words too?"

"Yeah."

Ugh.

Beside my despairing self, Ricardo tilted his head.

"When? I haven't heard anything official yet."

"Probably next Friday!"

Crazy. Only a week left.

"Is this official? Does it reflect the HR director's intent?"

"It's the Supreme Commander's intent. He said all available badgers without duties should attend if possible."

"The Supreme Commander?"

Iho freaked out. So did I. This could get big, and that wouldn't be good. Even though my memories were all gone, some odd intuition lingered. The higher-ups getting involved never ended well. I must have experienced office life at some point in my past. That's why I trembled in fear like this.

Maybe I should just catch another mushroom instead.

"Do I have to go too?"

Yoon asked dryly.

"Of course! You're Hilde's mentor, Oppa."

"Yoon's his mentor?!"

Iho exclaimed again.

Ami nodded with wide eyes. Ricardo watched the man's jaw drop with evident amusement.

Iho glanced back and forth between the dryly standing Yoon and me before asking in a dazed voice.

"You okay?"

I had to answer this carefully.

I mustered all my strength and flashed a bright smile.

"Yes! He's been great to me."

"Wrong. He's already watching Oppa Yoon's mood."

"Ah~.... How can he be like this after just a few hours...."

"What was the HR director even thinking?"

Believe me!

Or at least pretend to, you guys. Couldn't you see I was trying to make a good impression on this emotionless mentor?

But contrary to my expectations, Yoon didn't seem offended.

He stood there with his arms crossed, looking sullen. When our eyes met, he jerked his chin.

"Go shower over there. Grab a fresh training uniform from that side."

"Ah, yes."

"Oppa. You're treating Hilde to dinner, right?"

"He'd probably rather eat alone."

"Hilde doesn't have any money!"

That hit where it hurt.

But where was that side? I turned my head to look for the training uniforms, and Ricardo and Iho both pointed in the same direction. I spotted the basket at the tip of their fingers. Unbeknownst to me, it was placed to the left of the firmly closed training hall door.

I bowed in thanks, then hesitated for a moment.

Ami, who had been grabbing her brother's collar, turned her head and smiled gently.

"Out of the shower room, go right! You'll see it right away. Hurry up and shower."

"Yes. Excuse me for a moment."

"Good work~."

Ricardo waved his hand lazily.

Iho nodded and scanned me over.

"For someone who went through that, you look surprisingly fine. You sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

"Ah. I'm okay. I'm perfectly fine now."

I gave an awkward smile, bowed, and turned away. Dragging my heavy, muscle-sore legs, I headed for the main door.

From behind, I heard voices scolding Ami and her brother. Didn't you bring a safe creature? Oppa! That creature has poison! Neutralizing it doesn't make it okay!

Thud thud thud

Pretending not to hear the heavy punches, I grabbed the largest size uniform from the basket. Then, without looking back, I fled the training hall.

The sun had set by then, giving the air a feel of early evening. The pale sunset light seeped into the hallway.

I was hungry. I wanted to shower quickly and eat dinner. With that thought, I headed to the shower room.

*

I ate dinner with my mentor.

Unable to remember what food I liked, I ended up with expensive beef that anyone would enjoy. We took his car to the high-end beef restaurant. Following his brisk strides, I saw the black car and slightly parted my lips upon recognizing the spotless, premium brand.

This was a ridiculously expensive brand.

"The car.... It's impressive."

"Do you remember the car brand?"

Yoon asked as he got into the driver's seat.

"Lamborghini."

"So you were human after all."

"....Did I not seem human?"

"I wasn't sure if you were a normal person."

The man said flatly and started the car.

The sleek black vehicle glided forward smoothly. Even though the mentor didn't touch the wheel, it maneuvered neatly out of the underground parking lot.

"Your recovery's low, yet adapting to the augmented body without issue is bizarre in itself."

"....Bizarre, huh."

"I'll have to check it out later."

Yoon said something oddly cryptic.

....Check what out?

What? How? Questions bubbled up, but I held them back from voicing them. I didn't want confirmation if my suspicions were right.

Instead, I forced a smile.

"As you can see, I'm harmless enough to get beaten by a mushroom."

"We'll see."

Yoon didn't even turn his gaze.

"You don't even know what you were."

"....Yes."

"You adapt well."

His low voice pointed it out without any particular emotion.

"That's a good attitude."

During dinner at the restaurant, he gave a brief explanation. Tomorrow's schedule, the training methods for Black Badger new recruits, and so on. Normally, new recruits got six months to adapt to the augmented body. But strangely, I was already adapted, so there was no need to worry about that. They'd proceed with training assuming adaptation was complete.

"There's a mountain of things to teach, but not everyone has the stamina to charge in like that for three straight hours. And some of the reactions you showed while charging weren't exactly newbie-level."

"My reactions?"

"A couple of physical ones."

What reactions did I show?

No use pondering it; I wouldn't get answers. All I remembered was the wriggling tentacles, the massive mushroom base, and the weird smell it emitted.

But the mentor didn't elaborate and changed the subject.

"Just do the self-introduction roughly. It's unprecedented, so I don't have any special advice."

"Isn't it standard for new recruits?"

"They do borrow the auditorium under the HR director to greet the seniors. But gathering all available badgers on the Supreme Commander's orders like this? First time."

Hearing that made my stomach twist.

Yoon added something even more troubling.

"From what I saw, Ye-hyeon's dead set on it."

Ugh.

It got more disconcerting the more I heard, but it seemed unavoidable. Still, I couldn't prepare right now, so I shoved the upcoming self-introduction to the back of my mind.

After dinner, we returned to headquarters in Yoon's car.

At his instruction to grab my belongings, I quickly ran up to the lounge, stuffed everything into the bag I'd left there, and came back down.

I didn't forget the medicine packet I'd found in the shower room before getting dragged off by the creature.

Once in the smooth Lamborghini, I showed it to the mentor to chase away the oncoming drowsiness.

"Someone left this medicine packet in the shower room. Do you know whose it might be?"

And this was the first time I saw the mentor look surprised.

He turned his head, glanced indifferently at the packet I held out, and his eyes widened slightly.

It wasn't as expressive as others, but the emotion captured there was definitely faint surprise.

The surprise soon shifted to a strangely weary, annoyed expression.

He let out a long sigh and took the packet from my hand.

"I'll pass it on."

To whom?

I didn't have the guts to ask.

Silence settled in the car again.

We sat in the quiet until we reached our destination.

My sweet home.

I gaped at the cabin the mentor had given me for free.