novelraw Chapter 152 : Chapter 152
Chapter 152 : Chapter 152
Chapter 152: Hero (3)
The cheers that had filled the area were nowhere to be found.
All that remained were the sound of chalk tapping against the blackboard and the professor’s dry voice.
The day after hearing my name chanted for the first time in my life, I had returned—almost like a lie—to an utterly ordinary routine.
It seemed that a certain level of screening had already been completed, because the curriculum had now been fully reorganized into something befitting a hero academy.
Even so, the titles of the textbooks we were using felt slightly unfamiliar.
[Introduction to Hero Studies]
What is a hero?
What does it mean to be a hero?
A basic required course that taught the lofty ideals and history behind the concept.
I glanced absentmindedly at the seat beside me.
The guy who would normally be chatting nonstop before class and subtly causing trouble even during lectures was nowhere to be seen, and the absence left an oddly quiet feeling.
‘He said he was skipping the morning classes.’
Do Haru had decided to take the entire morning off.
Apparently, since his siblings had been in danger at yesterday’s terror site, he planned to stay with them today.
Just looking at the message he sent me that morning made his condition obvious enough.
[DoDay (Do Haru): Jinwoo, seriously, thank you so much. I will serve you as my lifelong benefactor. Really… really… thank you for saving my kids. I will buy you something delicious later! No, just tell me what you want! I will do anything! As long as it is within my meansㅠㅠ My mom and dad keep saying how grateful they are to you too…….]
A wall of praise that completely filled the message window—something that could only be described as very Do Haru-like.
Even yesterday at the scene, he had been sobbing uncontrollably and clinging to my pant leg as if he were about to bow in gratitude. His sincerity was beyond doubt.
‘Well, it is a good outcome.’
He had nearly lost his siblings.
Thinking about it now, it was fortunate that I went there.
Setting aside the fact that I ended up being dragged into another mess during what was supposed to be my hard-earned rest, at least people were saved because of it.
And the ones I saved were Do Haru’s siblings, no less.
Do Haru might currently look like a screw-loose mess drowning himself in dramas and comics, but fundamentally, he was a textbook example of a late bloomer Phantasmal Beast Summoner.
His growth potential was enormous—like an un-scratched lottery ticket.
Putting a large debt on someone like that was a pretty solid investment.
‘And I do owe him an apology, too.’
Twice already, he had spent entire days running in and out of the restroom because of me.
This incident cleared away a fair bit of that lingering guilt.
“…Therefore, rescue activities conducted by unlicensed and unauthorized individuals are, in principle, restricted.”
At that moment, the old professor’s voice cut through my thoughts.
He pushed his glasses up and pointed his baton at the holographic materials floating in the air.
“Unverified armed intervention can worsen confusion at the scene and lead to even greater loss of life. You must not forget your status as cadets and recklessly rush into disaster sites—”
‘In principle.’
He was not wrong.
The state managed heroes through a licensing system precisely to control those who wielded power.
But principles on paper were always a beat behind reality.
Just yesterday proved that.
If I had obediently followed the rules and done nothing, the Doies and countless other civilians might have become crawler fodder before Slashhammer ever arrived.
‘That is probably why they apply it so loosely.’
I received no penalties at all for what I did yesterday.
Naturally so. Punishing someone for saving lives would be absurd.
Still, a government official handling the aftermath did say this much:
“This time, you were lucky, but please be careful from now on.”
‘In other words, if it feels like too much, know when to pull back. Do not make it a problem.’
Either way, since things turned out well, the crisis became an opportunity.
Aside from Do Haru’s messages about yesterday, there was one more.
[Team Leader Kang Junyoung: Cadet Ryu Jinwoo, the settlement amount related to the ‘Mangwon Gate Incident’ is scheduled to be paid tomorrow. Please confirm.]
A suspicious message mentioning money, from someone I had never heard of, with the title Team Leader.
At a glance, it looked like phishing.
Surprisingly, every part of it was real.
To understand how I ended up receiving this message, I had to go back to the moment when the incident wrapped up and the site was being secured.
***
“How do you feel? Exhilarating, right?”
After finishing the spectacle in front of the civilians, Slashhammer asked me.
“My first thought is that it feels sudden.”
There was no helping it.
‘Ryu Jinwoo! Ryu Jinwoo! Ryu Jinwoo!’
How was I supposed to feel when people were chanting my name like that?
At least for me, it was unbearably awkward.
“Hah. Of course it is sudden. Gates open suddenly too, do they not?”
“That is a little different.”
“Just enjoy it as it is. That is what people like us do. After this, you go empty a bottle of liquor, and that is life. How about it? Want a drink?”
“…I am wearing a school uniform.”
I was a minor, no matter how you looked at it.
Academy student or not, alcohol was obviously forbidden.
“Then drink cola or something. Anyway, that aside.”
Slashhammer scanned the area, looking for someone.
By now, a field recovery team from the Hero Association had arrived and was collecting the crawler corpses.
Cleanly killed demonic beasts were transported as they were, while severely damaged ones were dismantled on-site before being moved.
In the process, foul bodily fluids burst out, filling the air with a thick stench.
I was newly grateful that, in reality, I did not have to handle filth directly.
As Slashhammer surveyed the scene, he suddenly shouted.
“There he is! Hey! Team Leader Kang! Come over here!”
At his booming voice, a man in a neat suit who had been directing the site hurried over.
“Yes, Slashhammer. Is there a problem?”
“It is about this.”
Slashhammer jerked his chin toward the pile of crawler corpses.
“The corpses? Do not worry. We are handling them at the highest standard so that the venom sacs do not rupture.”
“That is not what I mean. If we take everything, it feels a bit off.”
He pointed his thumb at me.
“This kid helped take them down too. I think we should split the distribution.”
Team Leader Kang scratched his head awkwardly.
“Ah, well… the demonic beasts in this section are under a contract for full recovery by our guild. In principle, it is difficult to hand byproducts over to outsiders.”
“Haaah, come on. Principles, my ass.”
Slashhammer tapped his chest impatiently.
“Should not the ones who caught them take them? This kid took down plenty. Are you really going to wipe your mouth clean and walk away?”
“That may be so, but he is not a registered hero. Instead, we can calculate the maximum ‘Citizen Cooperation Reward’ according to regulations—”
“How much do you think that measly reward is worth? This kid pulled his weight!”
At Slashhammer’s shout, Team Leader Kang flinched and stepped back.
To be fair, Team Leader Kang was not wrong.
In exchange for rapid deployment and information support through the guild system, ownership of the spoils went to the guild, which then redistributed them to heroes.
That was how settlements worked for demonic beast hunting.
For outsiders, a modest reporting reward was usually the norm.
But Slashhammer refused to budge.
“No, that is for people who just happen to help a little. This kid fought with us as part of the party. He has a share. A share! Hey, sharpshooter! You recorded everything with the body cam, right?”
As if to drive the point home, he turned to the sniper woman who had been cleaning her gun.
“Everything is recorded. Including you flexing your muscles like an idiot in the middle of the battlefield.”
She answered indifferently as she removed her goggles. Slashhammer shot Team Leader Kang a triumphant look.
“See? So make sure his share gets properly settled too. You can take it out of my portion if you have to.”
“If you insist that much, I will report it to headquarters and process him as a special contract collaborator.”
“Okay, okay. Problem solved. Let us have a drink sometime.”
Team Leader Kang sighed and returned to directing the site.
Slashhammer winked at me.
“Am I causing him trouble because of me?”
“So what? Do you not like getting paid?”
“How could I not? Brother.”
Who disliked money?
Anyone who claimed to hate it was the most obsessed with it of all.
“And this is a bonus.”
“What is this?”
“When you get paid, upgrade your weapon first. It looks unreliable. Go to the place written there and mention my name. At the very least, they will not turn you away.”
“Ah, thank you.”
“Do not thank me. Just keep training those muscles.”
He flexed his arm muscles proudly at the end.
A fitting end to an odd connection that had begun with muscle admiration.
***
[Team Leader Kang Junyoung: Cadet Ryu Jinwoo, the settlement amount related to the ‘Mangwon Gate Incident’ is scheduled to be paid tomorrow. Please confirm.]
And that was how I came to receive this phishing-like message.
A blessing directly bestowed by a hero, perhaps.
The amount was roughly nine million won.
Ten times the standard citizen reward, heavily influenced by Slashhammer’s insistence.
For a cadet—and earned in a single day—it was a substantial sum.
And once the relic I had put up for auction sold, funds would be more than sufficient.
‘The more, the better, for now.’
With this money, I planned to visit the place Oh Hamma recommended and gradually acquire items that would prove useful in the future.
They said there were things money could not buy, but there were just as many things that were only possible because of money.
Since villains would soon begin moving in earnest, I needed to stockpile both money and SP as much as possible to prepare for future variables.
That was when the class-ending bell rang and the break began.
Bzzz—!
A vibration alert buzzed from my watch.
[Cadet Ryu Jinwoo, your leave request has been approved. Please visit the administration office before departure. - Zero Academy Administrative Team]
‘Hm?’
A message from the administrative team.
At first, I thought it was just a routine academy notice, but the contents were unusual.
‘Leave? What for?’
It was strange.
I had not submitted any leave request.
Yet a request had been filed and approved.
‘Only the cadet themselves or their family can even submit a leave request in the first place.’
So unless there was a system error, either I had somehow applied half-asleep, or a family member had done so.
My family…
‘There is exactly one person.’
No way.
The one who filed the request—
‘…Uncle?’
A certain figure came to mind.
My uncle—or more accurately, the lunatic who had recently been playing the role of my uncle in earnest.
In truth, he was a fake family member forcibly fabricated so that Edward’s Bremen could maintain a connection to me.
‘No. It cannot be. Surely not.’
A chill ran down my spine.
I desperately hoped it was nothing more than a clerical error, a mistake by the administrative team.
But ominous premonitions were rarely wrong.
The moment I opened the door to the administration office, a well-dressed man sitting on the sofa frowned when he saw me.
[Jack]
[Irritation, Annoyance]
“…Ha.”
A deep sigh escaped me.
“…Tsk. Why are you so late?”
My earnest hope was crushed before it even had a chance to step over the threshold.