novelraw Chapter 45 : Chapter 45
Chapter 45 : Chapter 45
Chapter 45. There Is No Absolute in the World (3)
"Umm... I have always watched you from afar and thought you were an amazing person. Could I perhaps get a handshake..."
‘...Huh??’
What did I just hear? That Ryu Jin-oh was a fan of Shin Yu-hwan?
It was a setting that had never appeared even once in the novel. In the first place, they had never met, so there was no reason for it to appear either.
And seeing that lump of Ryu-pride acting so humbly, it was hard to think of it as a lie.
The reactions of those around him did not seem like a lie either...
‘Judging by their looks, it seems Kim Su-hyeok and Ju Ha-yeon already knew.’
Cha Yu-na was the same. In the first place, since Do Gang-ho and Oh Jin-eon did not know Ryu-pride's personality well, there was no way they would be surprised by such a reaction.
The only one surprised here, other than me, was Ha Eun-ha.
But setting others aside, what am I supposed to do if you, who have been his classmate since middle school, are surprised...
‘Is that also the reason why Ryu Jin-oh had been glaring at me all this time?’
But why did he glare at me in the Waiting Room?
That was even before Shin Yu-hwan appeared...
‘Well, a family of the Ryu Family's caliber might have known in advance that Shin Yu-hwan was coming.’
I am just glad to have learned the truth behind those glares, even if it is only now.
I almost ended up endlessly agonizing over when I had incurred Ryu Jin-oh's hatred.
Having figured out the whole story like that, I gave a small nod and listened closely to the conversation between Shin Yu-hwan and Ryu Jin-oh.
"Hahaha! Why even ask for something like that? A handshake is an easy thing."
"Ah! Thank you."
"Come to think of it, I have not heard your name yet. What is your name?"
"Ah, my name is Ryu Jin-oh."
"Oho? The Ryu Family?"
"Yes. That is correct."
Their smoothly flowing conversation. I thought it was a conversation worth watching with a pleasant smile from anyone's perspective.
That is, if it were not for the words that followed.
"Hahaha! If it is that Ryu Family, you must be the son of that man, Ryu Jin-seong. Is that petty man still doing well?"
"Pfft!"
Ju Ha-yeon choked on her water while drinking.
However, I could not keep my eyes on her.
No, even excluding me, there was not a single person giving their attention to Ju Ha-yeon.
Unlike the earlier fan remark, this time everyone, including Ryu Jin-oh, seemed surprised.
‘Then again, how could anyone not be surprised after hearing those words?’
The person Shin Yu-hwan called a petty man was no ordinary figure.
The person he made the petty man remark about was undeniably Ryu Jin-seong, the Patriarch of the Ryu Family—the absolute best family in South Korea and a globally recognized one at that—and one of the extremely few Hero-Rank Players.
That Ryu Jin-seong, before whom one could not even dare to casually raise their head.
"What is it? Why is everyone so surprised?"
‘That is because there is no one else here who could call Ryu Jin-seong a petty man.’
"Say something too, Big Sister. Honestly, it is a fact that the man is petty, is it not?"
"Hoho, Yu-hwan. Calling him a petty man is disrespectful, is it not?"
"No, is this Big Sister for real?"
Shin Yu-hwan and Cha Yu-na exchanging insane banter.
Naturally, there was no one here who could interject into that banter.
When Ryu Jin-oh, the most related person, was keeping his mouth shut, who here would dare open theirs?
Still, the fortunate part was that Shin Yu-hwan approached Ryu Jin-oh and patted his shoulder.
"I was not insulting your father, so you do not need to be like that. It was just something I said out of gladness. Hahaha!"
"Ah... Yes."
"No, seriously, just because I told him before that I would not do Gate activities, that man completely blocked every place I could get a job at for several months! If that is not being petty, what is?"
"..."
"Anyway, even up until recently, he kept nagging me, saying how Players and Gates are inseparable existences."
‘Stop it, man.’
Looking at Ryu Jin-oh's expression now, he seemed to not know what rhythm he should dance to.
If he were to agree with Shin Yu-hwan, his father would be getting insulted, but if he were to argue back, Shin Yu-hwan was a Player Ryu Jin-oh liked so much that even his tone of voice had changed for him.
Even if it were me, I did not think words would come out easily in a situation like that.
"Hahaha! He is still a good man, though. I received quite a bit of help from him back when Big Sister and I cleared a Gate together."
"Ah, I see."
"We drank heavily for three days straight back then. Hahaha!"
From their conversation, I felt like I could understand where Shin Yu-hwan's connection with Ryu Jin-seong had formed.
It was something I could figure out because the number of times Shin Yu-hwan had entered a Gate was extremely rare.
‘He is talking about the time when Shin Yu-hwan and Cha Yu-na cleared an A-Rank Gate with just the two of them.’
This part had also appeared in the novel.
It was said that in the past, during their third year at Glory, Shin Yu-hwan and Cha Yu-na had cleared an A-Rank Gate with only the two of them and received an insane amount of public attention.
I remembered it stating that from there, Cha Yu-na went on to directly establish a guild, while Shin Yu-hwan diverted into exterminating Villains.
‘It seems Ryu Jin-seong tried to scout Shin Yu-hwan there.’
Well, since Shin Yu-hwan had absolutely no interest in clearing Gates, it must have ended in failure, though.
It was then.
When Ryu Jin-oh slightly hesitated and opened his mouth toward Shin Yu-hwan.
"Excuse me..."
"Hmm? Do you have something to say?"
"Then perhaps... could I ask for a sparring match with you sometime later?"
At those words from Ryu Jin-oh, I could immediately catch on to Cha Yu-na's purpose for coming here.
What she, a thorough calculator, had wanted.
‘So this was it.’
It was obvious she had lured Ryu Jin-oh and brought him here with the promise of letting him meet Shin Yu-hwan.
And it was certain that she had fully anticipated Ryu Jin-oh would make a request like that.
Even the words that would come out of Shin Yu-hwan's mouth next.
"Well, let us do that. You should have told me in advance. If you had, I would have visited the Ryu Family."
"Hoho, Yu-hwan. You refused the petty man's request last time, saying you did not want to grant it, did you not?"
"...Hahaha! Let us shake off the past and make a fresh start! Then I will pay a visit to the Ryu Family sometime later."
"Thank you!"
As expected, Shin Yu-hwan accepted the request without particularly turning it down.
It seemed like a sequence of trivial conversations, but what Cha Yu-na had gained through this was certain.
‘She has placed Ryu Jin-oh in her debt.’
One might ask how this could be considered a debt, but that depended entirely on one's standing.
Because for someone in Ryu Jin-oh's position, the very act of asking someone for a favor was extremely rare.
And the fact that, given his personality, he would absolutely never forget it once he received help.
Looking at it this way, I could realize once again just how calculating a woman Cha Yu-na was.
‘I must absolutely not get on her bad side.’
I had no intention of doing so in the first place, but should I say it was an opportunity to reaffirm my resolve?
It seemed that just anyone could not be the Guildmaster of the number one guild, after all.
‘Well then, since I have gained a lot of information, I should get going soon.’
Telling Shin Yu-hwan about my favor and having it accepted; learning that Ryu Jin-oh did not view me negatively and even striking up a conversation with him; and finally, realizing once again that Cha Yu-na was a terrifying woman.
For just having come for a casual lunch, I could be satisfied with the unexpected gains.
If I had my way, I would like to stay a bit longer with our heroes, but I had to do what needed to be done, did I not?
Because in the long run, this was all for the sake of our heroes as well.
"Excuse me, but I have some matters to attend to, so I will get going first."
"Hmm? Are you leaving already, boy?"
"Yes. I have things I need to do."
Shin Yu-hwan, who stared intently at me upon hearing those words, soon nodded with a face that showed he understood.
"Alright, living diligently in whatever you do is a good thing. Then let us see each other again later, boy."
"Yes. Understood."
After finishing my farewell with Shin Yu-hwan, I also offered my goodbyes to Cha Yu-na and the rest of the kids.
Even though I had initially come here alone with Shin Yu-hwan, I could not just leave without saying goodbye.
Fortunately, Cha Yu-na replied to my goodbye with a pleasant smile, and the other kids also exchanged goodbyes with me.
The fact that Ju Ha-yeon and Ryu Jin-oh also did not ignore me and accepted my greeting was also a key point. Of course, it was not a friendly vibe, but to even get this much, how great was that?
"Then, see you later, Yu-seong!"
"Yeah, alright."
After ending the greetings with our protagonist Su-hyeok as the last one like that, I left my seat to attend to the things I needed to do.
***
After lunch ended, starting with Choi Yu-seong who had left first, some left for their upcoming sparring matches, while others began to leave their seats one by one to review the sparring matches that took place today.
Like that, the ones remaining at the very end were naturally Shin Yu-hwan and Cha Yu-na.
Because the two of them were not Cadets, a deeply relaxed vibe emanated from them, more so than the others.
In the midst of that leisure, it was Shin Yu-hwan who opened his mouth first.
"By the way, Big Sister, is it okay for you to be sitting around like this when you said you came to look for useful talents?"
"I have already roughly seen what I needed to see. It is not like I am a small-scale guild, so how could I check everyone? I can just watch the uploaded videos separately later."
"Hahaha! I suppose it is true that you are quite lazy to move, Big Sister. So, how was it?"
"What do you mean?"
"What else? I am asking what kind of impression the boy gave you when you saw him. You said you were curious last time, did you not?"
At Shin Yu-hwan's question, Cha Yu-na briefly closed her eyes and began to ponder.
She furrowed her brow slightly in the middle of it, but the answer that followed consisted of quite positive remarks.
"He gave a considerably good impression. The right attacks at the right timing. His combat sense, for one, was outstanding."
"Hahaha! Did he not seem that way to you too, Big Sister? I am telling you, the boy's sense is insane."
"Well, there were some lacking aspects too, but considering he is still in Year 1, it will not be a major issue."
"Oh? What did you find lacking, Big Sister?"
"First of all, his basic physical specs. You must have felt it too, but the specs he showed when sparring with you were likely not that child's original specs."
"Hmm... That is true. Because if those were his original specs, he would not have been at that rank in the first place..."
"He probably used a Talent. I do not know the exact details, but it seems to be a Talent accompanied by some sort of condition, and honestly, you know as well that growing to that extent in such a short period of time is close to impossible, do you not?"
"Hahaha! I want to say no, but I cannot deny it. Just as you said, Big Sister, that level of growth in that timeframe is difficult."
"Aside from that, it is not much different from the problems you pointed out there. There is not much difference between what you see and what I see, is there?"
Shin Yu-hwan nodded at Cha Yu-na's words.
Because he and Cha Yu-na were at a similar level of standing.
If it was something he could see, his Big Sister could see it, and if his Big Sister could see it, he could see it too.
Yes, it meant that if he could see it, his Big Sister could see it too. That was certainly supposed to be the case, but...
"So, why did you suddenly ask something like that?"
"Ah, just because. In case there was something I missed. I want the boy to grow up well and rapidly, you see. Hahaha!"
Shin Yu-hwan laughed at Cha Yu-na's question and appropriately changed the subject.
And then, he recalled the sparring match that took place today, specifically the strike he received at the very end.
The strike that he clearly saw, but his Big Sister seemingly had not seen properly.
‘That flow of mana was almost identical to my Talent.’
The boy's final attack, which was incredibly similar to the Talent he possessed, Mach Strike.
Of course, its power was significantly lower, and it could have merely been a similar Talent, but why did it keep coming to mind?
And who knows? They say there are absolutely no identical Talents in the world, but it was not impossible for there to be, was it?
‘He truly is a boy like an onion.’
A Talent similar to his own; truly outstanding intelligence-gathering ability, though the process was unknown; and truly exceptional skill.
There was not a single thing about him that was not interesting.
"Hahahaha! That is why I like him!"
"Have you suddenly lost your mind? Why are you acting like this?"
"Hahahaha!!!"
"Crazy bastard..."
What could he do about this good feeling even when being cursed at?
How could he not enjoy this amusing situation where something new kept appearing no matter how much he peeled it back?
‘I am truly looking forward to it—what the boy will show me next.’
Thinking that, Shin Yu-hwan began to laugh loudly once again.
Wondering what the boy would show him next.
Getting hit once by Cha Yu-na for being noisy and subsequently shutting his mouth was another story entirely.