Black Badger

Chapter 27

First, we disposed of the corpse.

We couldn't just leave it to rot in the underground parking lot. And these kinds of miscellaneous tasks always fell to the rookies.

But my cohort members refused my help. The main point was that they couldn't assign work to someone whose injuries they didn't fully understand.

It hit me clearly every time like this—how I was holding everyone back.

Tom and Hesi carried the dead pig creature's body outside. While I sat forcibly in the lobby chair with its torn side, Iho, Kal, and Angela wiped up the blood that had spilled from the corpse.

The two unnamed senior women seemed to keep watch in front of the supply depot.

Only Yoon and Tvain weren't working. The first-generation Black Badgers looked down at me sitting in the chair.

To be precise, while Yoon scanned my condition, Tvain came over to watch.

"Sword?"

The blond man, arms crossed, stared blankly at me and my mentor before he spoke. "What? In this day and age, you're making him use a sword?"

"He's suffered some internal injuries but is recovering."

Yoon ignored Tvain's words and gave his diagnosis.

He slipped the oval device into the pocket of his combat uniform and straightened his bent waist.

"When we get back to the Core, schedule a visit to Samuel. Both your arm and your recovery status need a proper checkup."

"Yes."

"Let's take our time considering what kind of sword would suit you best."

"Yes, thank you."

"You mean that?"

Tvain let out a voice full of disbelief and dissatisfaction.

Finally, my mentor turned his head to meet Tvain's gaze. Yoon had his usual inscrutable, dry eyes.

Tvain grumbled at those rough eyes.

"What kind of sword in this era? You'll end up dead trying to show off."

"If you can use it properly, it's a good weapon for us. Look at that pig right now."

"Using a sword as a secondary weapon is the same as using it as your main one?"

A cold wind from outside brushed past my back. Hesi and Tom, who had taken the corpse out, came back in. The seniors who had cleaned up the blood also climbed the lamp staircase back to the lobby.

It was already almost midnight.

The creature blood that had dried and stuck to my body felt sticky. At least I'd roughly wiped off the blood that had splattered on my face.

I rubbed at the blood near my neck with my sleeve.

Tvain's nitpicking continued.

"And this guy's badger duties were a mess too, so what close-range weapon?"

"If you hate swords so much, why not bitch fairly to the people who use them? I don't recall you complaining to Jonathan Kudo about his weapon."

"That Japanese sword?"

Tvain curled his lip at Yoon's point and let out a scoff.

"Would that stubborn ass listen to anyone?"

Who was Jonathan Kudo?

I looked at Yoon with puzzled eyes, and my mentor explained in a nonchalant voice.

"The tall guy next to Sordi in the auditorium."

Ah! That handsome one.

"No need to remember the name. You won't ever talk to him anyway."

His personality must have been pretty rotten.

I'd have to avoid him diligently. That was the thought that came right after I heard my mentor's explanation. There were already plenty of unpleasant people around with Yoon, Ricardo, and Tvain.

Tvain turned his head to look down at me.

"Why'd you practice with a sword?"

The sudden question left me speechless.

The people who had finished their tasks gathered around us one by one. People stood next to the two war heroes. There were more ears listening now, but I had no answer to give. I hadn't even known myself that I could handle a sword until a few days ago.

What should I make up?

As I stayed silent in thought, Tvain furrowed his brow.

"You're not one of those pathetic types who started with swords after seeing Ye-hyeon's video, are you?"

"What's Ye-hyeon's video?"

Did the supreme commander film some public service ad swinging a sword back in the day?

I asked lightly. But the reaction that came back wasn't light.

"Huh?"

Everyone except Yoon looked puzzled. Tvain especially raised his eyebrows like he'd heard nonsense.

He had the face of someone wondering why I couldn't grasp something so obvious.

"Why don't you get it? The video where humans are all hyping up the birth of a hero in chaotic times or whatever bullshit."

"...Uh, what?"

"The video of him killing a Tier 10 creature, you don't know?"

A hint of irritation mixed into the man's voice.

"From the First War with creatures?"

Ah.

Realization flashed through my mind. I got a sense of what video he was talking about. I remembered the comments I'd read while I lounged on the beanbag. Ye-hyeon had taken the supreme commander position by killing a Tier 10 creature, and the video evidence left no room for doubt.

He must have used a sword back then.

Relieved to have caught the context of the conversation, I replied.

"I know what it is, but I've never seen it."

Clear shock appeared on everyone's faces.

I'd clearly answered wrong. Everyone around had widened their eyes. Tvain's eyes were round too. Seeing the man, who had always looked irritated or obnoxious, genuinely surprised felt strange.

Only Yoon, who knew my situation, kept his composure.

The silence of the night settled over the cleaned-up lobby.

The first to ask was Hesi.

"You haven't seen it?"

No, I hadn't.

I nodded, trying to hide my embarrassment, and Tom blinked, muttering.

"It's a super famous video."

"Sorry. I'm pretty oblivious to worldly stuff. I've lived a reclusive life for a long time."

"You lived reclusively? You don't look like it. Did you play games obsessively or something?"

"Hey, go watch it right now! You know how to use a sword but haven't seen that video?"

"Were you in prison or something?"

Tom's puzzled voice and Hesi's excited one—Tvain covered them with his snarky tone.

I turned my gaze from my cohort members back to Tvain. My senior, who hated me just for being Yoon's mentee and had dumped the three rookies in the underground parking lot side by side.

That senior looked down at me strangely, smiling with satisfaction.

Why was he suddenly looking at me like I was something to be proud of?

"You're a rare decent rookie."

"...Me?"

"At least get on the train."

Yoon spoke in a grumpy voice.

He stared at the ceiling with an expression like the whole thing bored him.

"If you have something to say, do it privately later. Aren't you going to clock out?"

People complied with Yoon's words.

We quickly left the library. We said thanks to the two badgers who had been silently keeping watch and headed to the train in a group.

The train at the station barely showed its outline thanks to the streetlights.

People slipped into the train one by one.

Exhausted, they vanished into their respective cars in an instant. I bumped fists wordlessly with my cohort members and headed straight to the bathroom in my train car.

I turned on the water and wiped off the blood dried on my body.

As I scrubbed for a while, I heard the train's engine revving up.

At least the day passed safely somehow.

There was too much information to take in and too much to hide, making for a tiring life, but it wasn't unbearable. My gratitude toward the people who accepted me wasn't fading either.

I felt the rumbling train departing toward the Center Core. A faint vibration came through my soles.

I stripped off my combat uniform and flopped onto the bed.

I needed to get stronger so my cohort members wouldn't have to worry about me like today.

I resolved to recall the sensation of holding the sword again. I stared at the blood-soaked combat uniform and boots, and the Core-less outside.

I whipped myself like that until I fell asleep, into a dreamless slumber.

A while later, when I opened my eyes, the train had stopped. Badgers came out into the train corridor in casual clothes.

We were back at the Center Core again.

*

They said you got a holiday after going out of the Core.

We got one too. Two days: the day we returned and the next. The return day passed without doing much.

As soon as I got to the dormitory, I slept again. Around lunch, I woke up along with Tom and Hesi, who had slept like maniacs too, and we ate tacos. In the afternoon, I played the game Hesi lent me, and for dinner, we ate rice noodles with my cohort members again. Then bedtime.

By the second day, my mind had cleared up a bit.

Morning. I woke up with a much refreshed body and stepped out of the room.

"Hilde!"

It was Ami.

I was buying water from the vending machine when I ran into the round-eyed senior in the third-floor corridor.

She got off the elevator and trotted over to me.

"Hi!"

"Hello, Ami. Good morning."

"Yeah! Good morning! You did well out there yesterday?"

The light and salt of my life approached and stopped in front of me, asking. I nodded vigorously, putting my genuine joy into it.

Ami smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

"That's a relief. How's your body? I heard from Kal that you got hurt, so I was worried and came to check."

"Ah. Thank you. But I'm totally fine now. I slept all day yesterday, and it seems healed."

"That's good. Oppa didn't seem too bad either, so he just sent you back to the dormitory. Still, just in case, let's go see Samuel later."

I nodded readily.

But Ami craned her neck and scanned my condition once over. Only after confirming that I really looked better did she meet my eyes again.

She looked straight into my eyes and smiled softly.

"How was it out there?"

"I came back realizing how much I'm lacking. From now on, no slacking—I plan to practice hard."

"Aw~, they said you did well. I heard everything. Kal and Angela said this batch of rookies is good. Even maknae oppa said you're usable, Hilde."

"Maknae oppa?"

Who was maknae oppa? Choi Yoon?

Ami let out an "ah" and nodded.

"Yeah. Yoon oppa."

"Eh? There's another oppa? I thought you two were the only siblings."

"Ah, there are two more oppas. But Yoon oppa is the only blood brother. The siblings were adopted together."

My mouth stayed open in surprise.

Ami waved her hand hurriedly to reassure me.

"It's not like you said something wrong, so don't worry! I'll explain in detail later."

"Ah, yes. Thank you."

"I heard that from oppa too."

Ami skillfully steered the topic back to the original.

She looked at my bewildered face and widened her smile.

"That you use a sword. That's cool."

"Ah!"

That video!

My voice rose without me realizing.

Ami's eyes widened in surprise at my reaction. As always, unlike Yoon, her reactions were so rich.

I reflexively smiled and looked down at Ami.

"Sorry. I just remembered something I'd forgotten.... I was planning to find and watch that video today."

"Video? What video?"

"The one where Ye-hyeon kills a Tier 10 creature."

Understanding dawned in her round, dark eyes.

She bowed her head and quickly pulled out her phone from her cardigan pocket.

"You haven't seen it yet, huh."

"No. I didn't know it was that famous.... I just said I hadn't seen it without much thought, but everyone else thought it was weird."

"I'll show you."

She tapped the screen firmly with her finger.

Then she quickly flipped the phone toward me.

"This is it."

Ruins.

A gray city. An ashen devastation completely different from the scenery enveloping the Library of Beginnings. The screen showed a city collapsed in devastation.

And the screen soon focused on a being that hadn't collapsed amid the ruins. Filmed from afar, the subject was small. But the focus didn't waver, capturing them precisely in the center of the frame.

Two people.

No.

One person and one creature.

Ye-hyeon, and a creature that looked just like a human.