novelraw Chapter 162 : Intern Jae-hee (3)
Chapter 162 : Intern Jae-hee (3)
With the hostages safely rescued, there was no longer any reason to hesitate.
“I’ll handle monster extermination,” Rain Man said. “Captain, maintain aerial reconnaissance. Provide support if anything changes.”
After instructing Captain Nerd, he turned to Death-Medic.
“Medic, you guide the civilian evacuation and provide emergency treatment.”
“Leave it to me!”
With a wink, Death-Medic began frantically waving over the hostages and the injured.
“Hee-hee-hee! Scrubs, scrubs, scrubs! All you scrubs who couldn’t even outrun a few monsters! Hurry up and get over here! If you don’t get treated now, your wounds will get infected and—pop!—you might just drop dead, you know?”
While Death-Medic cheerfully administered aid, Rain Man had already leaped into the air, positioning himself above the construction site.
With a flick of his hand, the sky tore open.
A thunderous deluge followed.
The torrential downpour was a bombardment of sheer mass. Raindrops, aimed with lethal precision, fell like a hail of bullets.
Faced with jets of water that struck like pressurized cutters, the monsters were sliced to ribbons without a chance to resist.
Jae-hee’s mouth fell open at the sight of Rain Man’s overwhelming power, which wiped out the monsters inside the building in an instant.
So that right there… is the strongest in the world…!
Just then.
“Groooaaar!”
The Gate Lord—the monster monarch that had been hiding inside and enduring Rain Man’s assault—must have decided it could hold out no longer. It burst out with a terrifying roar.
CRASH!
With a body like a colossal train, the monster smashed through the building as it escaped.
“...!”
Rain Man quickly waved his hands, unleashing a carpet bombing of rain on the Gate Lord.
Even as pieces of its body were sheared away, the monster’s charge never slowed.
It was headed straight for the spot where Death-Medic had set up a temporary aid station and was treating the injured.
“Whoa?!”
Jae-hee, already drained from his earlier sprint, could only scream.
Death-Medic threw her hands up in a gesture of surrender. “No way, no way, no way! I’m a healer, remember?! I’m a total scrub at fighting!”
“Captain! Support!” Rain Man yelled, desperately pouring on the rain.
«Dammit…»
Surveying the area from above, Captain Nerd clicked his tongue and aimed his weapons.
The mech was equipped entirely with high-firepower guns and cannons. They were useless in a danger-close situation like this, with civilians nearby.
In the end…
«Why do I always get the short end of the stick…?»
Thrusters flared from the back of the grumbling mech.
It shot forward like an arrow, hurtling directly into the Gate Lord’s path.
Standing before the monster that was crushing the ground like a runaway train, the mech braced itself and met the creature head-on.
BOOM!
The mech’s entire body exploded on impact. As high-performance as it was, the difference in mass was simply too great.
But it had bought them a few seconds.
Whoosh!
And a few seconds were all they needed.
The rain, now transformed into thousands, tens of thousands of pressurized cutters, shredded the monster’s body.
The next moment, the Gate Lord was neatly sliced to pieces.
“Woo-hoo!” Death-Medic cheered, hopping in the air without a trace of tension.
“I’m… I’m alive…”
Staring at the massive, dismembered corpse that had collapsed right in front of him, Jae-hee finally let out a sigh of relief.
Amid the sound of the pouring rain, the rescued civilians erupted into cheers, a beat behind.
***
Civilians rescued. Monsters exterminated.
Jae-hee’s first mission as an intern had ended safely.
“Uhhh…”
Rain Man was busy cleaning up the site, and Death-Medic was treating civilians.
Jae-hee, on the other hand, had nothing to do and just stood there making dumb noises.
Just then.
“…You did well today.”
A compliment came from his side. The voice sounded reluctant, almost resentful.
“You really are incredibly fast. You’re probably the only Awakened who can move at that speed.”
Jae-hee turned, his eyes widening. “Huh…?”
The praise had come from a small boy hunched in a wheelchair.
A blanket covered his knees and a shawl was draped over his shoulders. Behind a pair of large glasses on a small face, tired eyes blinked back at him. The paper cup in his hand held coffee, steam rising from it in gentle puffs.
Jae-hee didn’t know who it was, but he’d been complimented, so he answered awkwardly.
“Thanks… kiddo…?”
“I’m your elder, you little shit.”
“Ah.”
He finally recognized that manner of speech—it was the person he’d been talking to over the comms.
Jae-hee asked cautiously, “Captain Nerd… is that you?”
“Took you long enough.” Captain Nerd snorted, pulling his legs up under the blanket until they were tucked against his chest.
As Jae-hee stared, mouth agape, Captain Nerd’s large eyes glared at him irritably from behind the glasses.
“What’s so surprising?”
“Well… you’re just completely different from what I imagined…”
Between the irritable, mechanical-sounding voice and the massive robot, he had never imagined the pilot would look like this.
“I became an S-Rank ten years ago, when I was thirteen.”
Captain Nerd snorted again and took a sip of his coffee.
“I stopped aging after that, so I’ve been stuck like this my whole life.”
S-Rank Awakened stopped aging from the moment they Awakened.
But Jae-hee had never realized that meant their physical growth halted, too.
He stammered, looking at the senior Hero who was technically five years older than him but looked five years younger.
“Does that mean I won’t age anymore either?” he asked.
“Probably. It’s like you get frozen at that point. Preserved, you could say.”
A mischievous smile crept onto Captain Nerd’s young face.
“You’ll remain a ‘Boy’ forever, too.”
Jae-hee’s face fell as he mumbled, “I think you’re much more of a boy than I am, Captain…”
“My case is a bit extreme, don’t you think…?”
As the two chatted, Death-Medic, having finished her first aid, approached with a cheerful cry. “What’s this? Are you two friends already?”
“Shut your mouth, Medic. I have no intention of getting friendly with any of you.”
Rain Man, who had finished securing the area, walked over. “The situation is resolved. We can disperse for the day.”
“Sweet!”
“Mission reports are to be submitted by 11:00 AM tomorrow.”
“Ugh.”
Leaving Death-Medic to her dramatic reactions, Captain Nerd began to wheel himself away from the scene.
“I’m heading out. See you later.”
“…Huh?” Watching the wheelchair retreat, Jae-hee turned to Death-Medic, confused. “Isn’t Captain coming with us?”
“Nerd-Cap doesn’t live at Hero Tower. He has his own place. He just stores his mechs in the Tower’s warehouse.”
“Oh, I see.”
Death-Medic patted Jae-hee’s shoulder. “Hey, Boy! Why don’t you see Nerd-Cap home?”
“Me?”
“He doesn’t have his mech right now. Look how hard it is for him to push that wheelchair. You should take him.”
“Uh… should I?” He glanced at Rain Man.
After a moment of thought, Rain Man nodded. “Captain’s capabilities are diminished without his mech. It’s not a major concern, but just in case… Boy. You escort him. His house should be nearby.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
Jae-hee hurried to catch up.
Just as he’d expected, Captain Nerd was not at all pleased with his escort.
“I’ve been using this wheelchair my whole life. You think I can’t make it home on my own?” he growled, scowling fiercely as if he’d been insulted. “Hey, newbie. You already think I’m some kind of pushover? Huh?”
“N-no, that’s not it… It’s just that your robot was completely destroyed. I thought it might be inconvenient for you to get around…”
“It’s a mech, not a robot!”
“Oh.”
“And I have plenty of spare mechs. The only reason I didn’t call one is because I can manage just fine with the wheelchair.”
Suddenly, Captain Nerd’s annoyed snapping cut off with a grunt.
Looking down, Jae-hee saw the wheelchair jammed against a broken paving stone.
After a brief struggle, Captain Nerd groaned in frustration. “Fine, then… get pushing already, oi!”
“Yessir.”
With Jae-hee pushing from behind, the wheelchair started moving again. They proceeded toward their destination in an uncomfortable silence.
Fortunately, Captain Nerd’s home was close.
It was a two-story house on the corner of a shabby street. But as befitting the home of an S-Rank Mechanic, the door only opened after passing through various high-tech security measures disguised as an ordinary lock.
The door swung open, and Captain Nerd was just about to tell Jae-hee to “get lost” when a voice called out.
“Oh, Dong-ha!”
The door of the house next door opened, and a young woman’s face peeked out.
“What’s this, what’s this? Did you bring a friend home?”
Captain Nerd ground his teeth. “He’s not a friend…”
Ignoring him completely, the woman popped out and immediately offered Jae-hee a handshake.
“Hello! You’re Dong-ha’s friend, right? I’m Ji-ye, I live next door. I’m like his big sister.”
“Don’t you call yourself my sister! Just get back inside!” Captain Nerd yelled.
Regardless, Jae-hee quickly returned the handshake. “Oh, hello! I’m Cap—ahem. I’m Jae-hee, Dong-ha’s friend!”
The two of them giggled as they shook hands.
A single glance was all it took for them to recognize each other as kindred spirits—human quokkas with maxed-out friendliness stats.
“See? You are friends! This is great. Please take good care of Dong-ha, okay? I’m always so worried because he doesn’t have any friends…”
As the neighbor was about to launch into another story about Captain Nerd, he hastily pulled Jae-hee inside.
Through the closing door, the woman called out again. “Oh, Dong-ha, let’s have dinner together later! My mom’s making galbi!”
“Tell your mom I’ll be over at dinnertime! Now get lost!”
SLAM!
Captain Nerd slammed the door shut.
Jae-hee smiled awkwardly at his small, fuming back. “You two seem pretty close. You and your neighbor, I mean…”
“She’s not my older sister, you know,” Captain Nerd bit out. “We’re the same age.”
“What?”
Seeing Jae-hee’s confusion, Captain Nerd explained reluctantly, “At least, we were the same age. Until elementary school…”
She was his childhood friend, and they had grown up together next door.
Until he Awakened as an S-Rank at thirteen.
“Since then, I’ve been stuck like this for ten years. And she’s already grown up so much… she’s an adult now.”
“…”
“She thinks I have some rare disease. Pities me. Tries to take care of me every day…”
Captain Nerd gazed absently over the wall toward the house next door.
“Now she just treats me like a little brother…”
He was looking at the home of his childhood friend, once closer than anyone, but now separated by appearance, by the very worlds they lived in.
Jae-hee asked gently, “So you haven’t told her… that you’re an S-Rank Awakened, one of the New Five Heroes?”
“Of course not… And if you say a word, I’ll kill you, little shit.”
“I won’t. My lips are sealed.”
…said Jae-hee, who looked every bit the blabbermouth.
Captain Nerd let out a deep sigh. “I’m your senior, and I’ve already shown you too many embarrassing things on your first day…”
“Not at all. It just shows your human side.”
Jae-hee wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Captain Nerd shuddered, clearly displeased by the gesture.
“So, is she the reason you stay here? Instead of at Hero Tower?”
“…My ability is ‘Mechanic.’ I build, attach, and assemble machines.”
Captain Nerd gestured to the side.
Suddenly, from all corners of what had appeared to be an ordinary house, various robotic arms and drones flew out like a flock of birds, landing on his arm.
“And a Mechanic needs a workshop where he can be comfortable. That’s the only reason I’m still here.”
“Ah, I see…”
“Hero Tower is all flashy on the outside, but I can’t just… customize it into a base like this.”
Thump, rumble—
The floor split open, revealing a storage space packed with the same three-meter-tall mechs he had seen on the mission.
“Whoa…”
“Hmph.”
Satisfied by Jae-hee’s awestruck expression, Captain Nerd waved his arm again, concealing the machines, and added, “Besides… the only reason I bother protecting this garbage heap of a world is to protect the people who are precious to me.”
He once again looked absently toward the house next door.
“If I can’t protect this place… then nothing else matters.”
Having heard all this, Jae-hee couldn’t hold back any longer.
“You’re in love with her, aren’t you!”
Captain Nerd’s face turned beet red.
Instead of answering, he whipped his arm downward.
A pillar of the house transformed into a giant robotic arm and slammed down on top of Jae-hee’s head.
WHAM!