Chapter 27 - Level Ten (1)

First, we got rid of the corpse. We couldn't leave it to rot in the underground parking garage, and miscellaneous chores like these always fell to the newest recruits.

But my fellow recruits refused my help. Their point was that they couldn't put someone to work without knowing how badly he was hurt.

Every time this happened, I felt keenly aware that I was holding everyone back.

Tom and Heshy carried the dead Pig outside. While I was forcibly seated in a lobby chair with a split side, Iho, Karl, and Angela wiped up the blood that had dripped from the corpse. The two female seniors whose names I didn't know seemed to be keeping watch outside the depot.

Only Yun and Tvein did no work. The two members of the Black Badgers' first intake looked down at me in my chair. More precisely, Tvein came over to watch while Yun scanned me.

"A sword?"

The blond man stood with his arms folded, staring sourly at me and my training officer.

"A swooord? What century is this? You're making him use a sword?"

"Some internal injuries, but they're healing."

Ignoring Tvein, Yun delivered his diagnosis. He slipped the oval device into a pocket of his combat suit and straightened up.

"Once we're back in the core, we'll set a date to see Samuel. Between your arm and your healing, we need a proper assessment at least once."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's take our time considering which kind of sword suits you best."

"Yes. Thank you."

"Are you serious?"

Tvein sounded incredulous and thoroughly displeased.

My training officer finally turned to meet Tvein's gaze. As always, Yun's eyes were dry and unreadable. Tvein grumbled into that parched stare.

"Who uses a sword in this day and age? Want him to fucking die trying to look cool?"

"They're good weapons for us, provided we can use them properly. Just look at that Pig."

"Using a sword as a backup isn't the same as using one as your primary weapon!"

A cold breeze from outside swept across my back. Heshy and Tom were coming back in after carrying out the corpse. The seniors who had cleaned up the blood also came up the ramp stairs into the lobby.

It was almost midnight already. The creature blood dried onto my body felt unpleasant. At least I'd roughly wiped off the splashes on my face. I rubbed at the blood around my neck with my sleeve.

Tvein kept finding fault.

"Besides, I hear this bastard can barely function as a Badger. What the hell is he doing with a close-range weapon?"

"If swords piss you off that much, why not give everyone who uses one the same shit? I don't recall you ever giving Jonathan Kudo shit about his weapon."

"That katana?"

At Yun's criticism, Tvein curled his lip and gave a derisive snort.

"You think that stubborn bastard would listen to anyone?"

Who was Jonathan Kudo?

When I gave Yun a questioning look, he explained in a bored voice.

"The guy next to Sordi in the auditorium."

Oh! That tall, handsome man.

"No need to remember his name. You won't ever be talking to him."

He must have one hell of a shitty personality.

I'd better make a point of avoiding him. That was my first thought upon hearing my training officer's explanation. Between Yun, Riccardo, and Tvein, I already had plenty of ill-tempered people around me.

Tvein turned to look down at me.

"Why'd you practice swordsmanship?"

The sudden question left me speechless.

Having finished their work, the others gathered around us one by one, standing beside the two war heroes. There were more ears listening now, and I had no answer. Until a few days ago, I hadn't even known I could use a sword.

What excuse could I give?

As I stayed silent, thinking, Tvein furrowed his brow.

"Don't tell me you're one of those pathetic idiots who took up the sword after watching that video of Yehyeon."

"What video of Yehyeon?"

Had the commander-in-chief once filmed some public service announcement where he swung a sword around?

I asked casually. The response was anything but.

"Huh?"

Everyone except Yun looked puzzled. Tvein in particular arched his eyebrows as though I'd spouted nonsense. His expression said he couldn't understand why I was being so frustratingly slow.

"How do you not get it? That video everyone makes such a fucking fuss about, calling it the birth of the Hero of a Troubled Age or whatever."

"... Uh, sorry?"

"The video of him killing a level-ten creature. You don't know it?"

A hint of irritation entered his voice.

"The video from the First Creature War?"

Oh.

Realization flashed through my mind. I had an idea which video he meant. I remembered a comment I'd read while lounging on the beanbag: Yehyeon had become commander-in-chief by killing a level-ten creature, and there was no need to question it because video evidence existed.

He must have used a sword then.

Relieved to have caught up with the conversation, I answered.

"I do know which video you mean. But I've never watched it."

Outright shock spread across their faces. Clearly, I'd given the wrong answer. Everyone around me had widened their eyes, including Tvein. It felt strange to see genuine surprise on a man whose expressions had ranged from irritated to obnoxious.

Only Yun, who knew my circumstances, remained composed. Silence settled over the lobby, already steeped in the quiet of night.

Heshy was the first to ask.

"You haven't seen it?"

No, I hadn't.

Trying to hide my dismay, I nodded. Tom blinked and murmured,

"It's an incredibly famous video."

"Sorry. I'm pretty out of touch with the world. I spent a long time living like a recluse."

"You were a recluse? You don't seem like one. Were you really into gaming?"

"Hey, make sure you watch it when we get back! You know how to use a sword, but you've never seen that video?"

"What, were you in prison?"

Tvein's taunting voice cut across Tom's bewilderment and Heshy's excitement. I turned away from my fellow recruits to look at him again. The senior who disliked me simply for being Yun's mentee and had shoved all three of us into the underground parking garage.

Strangely, he was looking down at me with a satisfied smile.

Why was he suddenly looking at me as if I'd made him proud?

"A decent rookie for once."

"... You mean me?"

"Just get on the train."

Yun spoke sourly. He stared at the ceiling, looking bored with the whole affair.

"If you've got something to say, do it privately later. Don't you want to get off work?"

Everyone complied. We hurried out of the library, thanked the two Badgers who had been silently keeping watch, and headed for the train in a group.

The station lamps barely illuminated its outline. One after another, the others climbed aboard.

They must have been tired, because they vanished into their respective compartments in no time. I exchanged silent fist bumps with my fellow recruits, then headed straight for the bathroom in mine. I turned on the water and scrubbed the dried blood off my body.

After I'd been washing for a while, I heard the train's engine warming up.

Somehow, I'd made it through another day in one piece.

With so much information to take in and so much to hide, life was exhausting. But it wasn't unbearable. Nor was my gratitude toward the people who had taken me in growing any fainter.

I felt the rattling train begin its journey toward Center Core. Faint vibrations traveled up through the soles of my feet. I stripped off my combat suit, tossed it aside, and sank onto the bed.

I needed to get stronger so my fellow recruits wouldn't have to worry needlessly about me as they had today.

I vowed to recapture the feeling of holding that sword, taking in my blood-soaked combat suit and boots, and the unlit world outside the core.

I fell asleep while driving myself on, and my sleep was dreamless.

Much later, I opened my eyes to find the train had stopped. Badgers emerged into the corridor in their everyday clothes.

We were back in Center Core.

* * *

Apparently, trips outside the core earned you time off. We received two days: the day we returned and the next. The first passed without my doing much of anything.

I went back to sleep as soon as I reached the dorms. Around noon, I woke up and ate tacos with Tom and Heshy, who had also slept like the dead. I spent the afternoon playing a game Heshy had lent me, then had rice noodles with the two of them for dinner. Then bed.

By the second day, I felt a little more human. That morning, I got up feeling much more refreshed and left my room.

"Hilde!"

It was Ami.

I was drinking water I'd bought from the vending machine when I encountered the round-eyed senior in the third-floor hallway. She bounced out of the elevator and hurried over to me.

"Hi!"

"Hello, Ami. Good morning."

"Yep! Good morning! Did your trip outside go well yesterday?"

She was the salt and light of my life. She stopped in front of me as she asked, and I nodded enthusiastically, delighted to see her. Ami smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

"I'm glad. How are you feeling? Karl told me you'd been hurt, so I came to check on you."

"Oh. Thank you. But I'm feeling fantastic. I slept all day yesterday, and I think I'm completely healed."

"That's great. My brother said it didn't seem serious, so he just sent you back to the dorms. Still, let's go see Samuel later, just in case."

I nodded readily. But Ami craned her neck to inspect me anyway. Only after confirming that I really did look well did she meet my eyes again. Looking straight into them, she gave a gentle smile.

"What was it like out there?"

"I realized just how far I still have to go. I'm going to practice hard from now on, no slacking off."

"Oh, come on. I heard you did well. I heard all about it. Karl and Angela said this batch of recruits is pretty good. And my youngest brother said you seemed useful, Hilde."

"Your youngest brother?"

Who was her youngest brother? Choi Yun?

Ami let out an "Oh" and nodded.

"Yes. Yun."

"Huh? You have another brother? I thought it was just the two of you."

"Oh, I've got two more older brothers. But Yun's my only biological brother. We were adopted together."

My mouth fell open and stayed that way. Ami hurriedly waved a hand to reassure me.

"You didn't say anything wrong, so don't worry! I'll explain properly later."

"Oh, yes, of course. Thank you."

"My brother told me something else, too."

Ami deftly steered the conversation back to its original subject. Seeing my bewilderment, she smiled more broadly.

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

"Oh!"

That video!

My voice rose before I knew it. Startled by my reaction, Ami's eyes went round. Unlike Yun, she was always wonderfully expressive. I smiled reflexively as I looked down at her.

"Sorry. I just remembered something I'd forgotten... I meant to make sure I looked up that video today."

"Video? What video?"

"The one of Yehyeon killing a level-ten creature."

Understanding lit her round black eyes. She lowered her head and promptly took her phone from her cardigan pocket.

"So you haven't seen it yet."

"No. I didn't realize it was so famous... I said I hadn't seen it without thinking much of it, but everyone thought that was strange."

"I'll show you."

She tapped firmly at the screen, then quickly turned the phone around and held it out to me.

"Here it is."

Ruins.

A gray city. An ashen scene of devastation utterly unlike the landscape surrounding the Library of Beginnings. A horrifically shattered city filled the screen.

Then the camera caught two figures still standing amid the ruins. They appeared small, as though filmed from far away. But the focus remained steady, framing them squarely in the center of the screen.

Two people.

No.

One person and one beast.

Yehyeon, and a creature that looked exactly like a human.