novelraw Chapter 44 : Chapter 44
Chapter 44 : Chapter 44
Chapter 44. There Is No Absolute in the World (2)
‘No, what is this...’
There was no dramatic scene of me drooling the Gukbap I was eating out of my mouth, but I had no choice but to be considerably surprised.
Was it not obvious?
I was eating Gukbap alone with Shin Yu-hwan in some shabby restaurant, but suddenly Cha Yu-na and the guys appeared.
Even if it had been someone else instead of me, they would have definitely been surprised.
Still, I calmed my surprised heart and first checked who the guys accompanying her were.
‘Kim Su-hyeok, Ha Eun-ha, Do Gang-ho, Oh Jin-eon, and even Ju Ha-yeon and Ryu Jin-oh...?’
No, what kind of combination is that?
I was thinking that it would be more realistic to say Shin Yu-hwan and a Villain had reconciled, and it was then.
Cha Yu-na, who had been staring blankly at our side, initiated the conversation with Shin Yu-hwan first.
"How can your tastes in food remain unchanged even after all these years have passed? The kids working with you are going to get Gukbap trauma at this rate."
"Hahaha, Big Sister. Gukbap is love, you know? But why did you come here so suddenly? And what about the kids behind you?"
"I just came to feed our juniors since they are working hard~. I can do that much as their senior, can't I?"
"..."
At those words, Shin Yu-hwan shut his mouth with a face as if he had seen something he should not have.
And it was the same for me as well.
Because the words Cha Yu-na had just spoken were an obvious lie that both Shin Yu-hwan and I knew.
‘I know what Cha Yu-na's personality is like, so that is a bit...’
She was by no means a person swayed by affection.
If I were to express her personality in a word, yes... a thorough calculator would probably suit her best.
Because, fitting for the leader of a massive guild, Cha Yu-na always showed an ice-cold and calculating demeanor in everything she did.
Because of that, I could not guess the reason why she brought the Cadets here even more.
It might be awkward to say this, but setting Kim Su-hyeok, Ha Eun-ha, Ryu Jin-oh, and Ju Ha-yeon aside, there was no way Do Gang-ho and Oh Jin-eon would ever catch her eye.
‘There is only one instance where Cha Yu-na acts out of affection, but...’
As far as I knew, the only case where she acted out of affection was precisely one thing: matters related to Shin Yu-hwan.
Should I say Shin Yu-hwan was quite a special existence to the person named Cha Yu-na?
In the setting, the two were described as being like sworn siblings who had been together for over 10 years since their Cadet days, so I naturally thought it was possible.
‘But even so, I still do not quite understand.’
Even if she was driven by her mood because of Shin Yu-hwan, honestly, this situation was hard to comprehend.
If her intention was to play a prank, there was no way Shin Yu-hwan would fall for something like this, and even if she intended to help, this encounter would not be particularly helpful to Shin Yu-hwan.
Perhaps having the same thought as me, Shin Yu-hwan looked at Cha Yu-na as if asking what on earth this behavior was, but she paid no mind to Shin Yu-hwan's gaze and called the guys behind her in.
"What are you all doing just standing there blankly? Don't you all want to eat?"
At those words, the guys hurriedly filled the seats around Shin Yu-hwan and me.
As expected of the leader of Horizon, Cha Yu-na's influence truly seemed to be quite strong.
But setting that aside...
‘Why does he keep doing that?’
I was left speechless when I saw Ryu Jin-oh repeatedly sending me glaring looks even while finding a seat and sitting down.
Was it just my imagination that his gaze felt dozens of times sharper than the one he sent me in the Waiting Room before the sparring match?
Regardless, as someone who did not know the reason, I could only feel frustrated.
‘I should try talking to him separately.’
Whatever it was, I had to at least know the reason to show an appropriate response.
But not right now; I plan to talk to him later.
Because I was not mentally prepared enough to ask him why he was glaring right at this moment...
Anyway, after everyone found a seat and sat down like that, Cha Yu-na gently opened her mouth while looking at the menu.
"Let's see... What do you guys want to eat? I will just have the regular Gukbap."
Cha Yu-na smiled refreshingly while closing the menu as she said that.
Was the answer to come out in this situation not already set?
"I will also have the regular Gukbap."
"Me too."
"Then me too..."
It seemed that only max-level experts in social life had gathered here.
It was then, when everyone was picking the exact same menu Cha Yu-na had chosen.
"I will have the Sundae Gukbap!"
"I will have the Pork Gukbap."
The counterattack of Kim Su-hyeok, who had zero tact, and Ryu Jin-oh, who had lived a life where he never needed to read the room even once.
At that counterattack, the other kids' gazes immediately turned toward Cha Yu-na, but fortunately, Cha Yu-na maintained her refreshing smile and deflected the counterattack.
She was full of pride, but since they were two talented individuals, it seemed she was letting this much slide with a laugh.
"Alright, then we will order it like that. Yu-hwan, hurry up and order."
"Big Sister, you are at that age and still cannot order by yourself... Keugh!"
"Do not say useless things. Hoho."
It felt as though a fist had flown into Shin Yu-hwan's abdomen at tremendous speed just now, but pretending not to notice is the best policy at times like this.
As I turned my gaze with a face suggesting I had seen nothing, I made eye contact with Kim Su-hyeok, who was sitting opposite me.
And our protagonist, Kim Su-hyeok, did not miss that fleeting opening.
"Yu-seong! Your sparring match today was amazing, you know? I totally thought you were a pro!"
"Uh... Thanks."
"No need to thank me; I just said what I saw. You really changed a lot from the beginning!"
‘That is because I did not even know how to use Talents in the beginning.’
Starting with this trivial conversation, the other guys also slowly opened their previously shut mouths.
"Hmm, I also think it was an amazing sparring match. To grow to that extent in such a short period of time; I respect you."
‘It is purely the power of my Talents, I tell you.’
"He is a slightly suspicious guy, but his skills were certain."
‘If they see my stats, they will foam at the mouth and faint.’
"It, it was even cooler than what you showed at the Gate back then!!"
‘Why is even Ha Eun-ha acting like this?’
Seeing Ha Eun-ha still bringing up the Gate incident, it seemed the shock from that time was still lingering.
I really wished she would not cling so much to what happened back then.
Anyway, they were burdensome compliments for me, who relied entirely on the power of Talents, but it was still right to express my gratitude.
"Thanks, everyone. But it wasn't to that extent."
And I belatedly realized that I should not have attached 'But it wasn't to that extent' at the end.
"Hahaha! Boy, it was a skill level enough to injure me, so you can be a bit more proud of yourself, you know? Right, you there, boy and girl?"
It was because Shin Yu-hwan had suddenly dragged Ju Ha-yeon and Ryu Jin-oh, who were sitting silently, into the conversation.
No, setting the other kids aside, I was still on terms where I could not even hold a proper conversation with those two...
Furthermore, Ryu Jin-oh had been sending me terrifying glares since earlier.
Just as I was about to resent Shin Yu-hwan for no reason, an unexpected answer was heard.
"Certainly, if considering your existing Cadet ranking, I think it was amazing."
Ju Ha-yeon looked at me and delivered a positive evaluation.
However, what surprised me more than that was Ryu Jin-oh's answer that followed.
"...Even in my eyes, I think it was not bad."
‘What??’
He hesitated a bit at the start and trailed off at the end, but that was a compliment, right?
Are you sure that Ryu Jin-oh, who would rather die than spout empty words he did not mean, just praised me?
‘This is crazy.’
It was a reaction I could not have imagined at all.
I thought I would have to strike up a conversation with him someday, but I expected it would only be possible around the time the first semester was wrapping up.
But to have halved that timeframe; I could only think of this as favorable news.
I felt grateful to Shin Yu-hwan again, whom I had resented just moments ago.
It was then.
"The food you ordered is here~."
"Ah, I will place this down."
The food ordered by the rest of them, excluding Shin Yu-hwan and me, had come out.
With practiced hand movements, Kim Su-hyeok took his Sundae Gukbap and then even brought over Ryu Jin-oh's Pork Gukbap.
After swiftly taking care of the other party members with the sociability typical of a protagonist, Kim Su-hyeok stared at Cha Yu-na with sparkling eyes.
At that sight, Cha Yu-na let out a small laugh and opened her mouth.
"Don't mind me and eat. You don't need to read the room even when eating, do you?"
"Yes! Then I will enjoy the meal!"
It seemed Kim Su-hyeok had not noticed, but he probably earned points with Cha Yu-na just now with that.
To earn points even with an action done unconsciously like that; the World's Protection really triggered even in such trivial moments.
Anyway, the guys began their meal starting with Cha Yu-na's words.
Seeing that sight made me feel inexplicably pleased.
‘I do have things I need to do, but a little while should be fine.’
Originally, I was planning to just ask Shin Yu-hwan for the favor, quickly eat, and then return. However, I thought taking a brief moment to relax like this would not be bad.
It was not as if eating lunch here would take several hours anyway, so wouldn't it be fine?
Besides, truth be told, it would also be awkward to leave first while saying I had things to do in the midst of this.
While having those thoughts and pleasantly watching the kids, Ha Eun-ha, who was sitting next to me and eating diligently, inexplicably caught my eye.
"Nom nom nom."
With an average height shorter than the other Cadets and a rather small build, how should I put it... Should I say it felt like a rabbit was eating?
So I guess my attention was suddenly drawn to her without me realizing it.
‘But perhaps because her mouth is small, she eats incredibly energetically, yet the food is barely decreasing.’
The speed at which her spoon moved seemed twice as fast as others, but the amount going in was less than others.
Watching that reminded me of how I was scolded by the master of the dojo for having many inefficient movements back when I first learned Kendo.
‘I corrected my posture right away the day after being scolded and put the master in his place, though.’
They said one thought connects to another and ends with an unrelated topic, did they not?
At first, I was thinking about the sight of Ha Eun-ha eating, but before I knew it, I was thinking about putting the dojo master in his place—an utterly useless thought—when it happened.
PLOP.
"Ah!"
Ha Eun-ha momentarily fumbled her chopsticks and dropped Kimchi on her leg.
I had been thinking that a scene like this would happen since she was eating so hastily.
I watched Ha Eun-ha flustering around in panic and handed her a few tissues.
Because given the place where it dropped, it wasn't like I could wipe it off for her myself.
"Here. Wipe it with this."
"Huh? Ah, thanks..."
I did not know why she was acting like that, but Ha Eun-ha took the tissues and quickly turned her head as she wiped the spilled spot.
I thought I should tell her at some point later that she did not need to care about what happened at the Gate anymore.
However, it seemed our Player Shin Yu-hwan had no intention of just watching that idly.
Looking toward Ha Eun-ha and me, Shin Yu-hwan smiled wickedly with an expression that said he had seen something amusing.
Just from a glance, I felt like I knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Goodness, to think you are so skilled in that..."
‘Hey man, even if you are my admired hero, you cannot do that.’
"Come to think of it, what brings the Guildmaster of Horizon all the way here?"
"Huh?"
I could not just sit back and let Shin Yu-hwan's mouth open like that.
Therefore, I immediately interrupted and blocked Shin Yu-hwan's mouth by addressing Cha Yu-na.
Shin Yu-hwan's lips seemed to pout slightly, but I decided to pretend I didn't see it.
"Hmm, about that..."
Cha Yu-na trailed off and shifted her gaze slightly.
Following her gaze, Ryu Jin-oh was at that spot.
And Ryu Jin-oh was swallowing his saliva nervously at that.
‘What on earth is it...?’
Why was he so nervous?
Like that, receiving Cha Yu-na's gaze, Ryu Jin-oh's mouth slowly opened.
Eventually, at the words that popped out of his mouth, I had no choice but to open my eyes wide in surprise.