Chapter 57.

When Chae Nayun easily struck the target 200 meters away, the spectators broke into applause . Chae Nayun was an amazing archer . That’s what everyone felt, including Kim Suho . He looked around at other archers spectating the match . Because it was an archery duel, there were ten or so cadets with bows hanging on their backs .

“Chae Nayun’s posture is amazing . ”

“She’s been doing it for a long time . ”

“Yeah, but still, how can it be so perfect?”

They began to comment on the match . Kim Suho, Shin Jonghak, Yoo Yeonha, and Yi Yeonghan, who didn’t know much about archery, naturally listened in on their explanations .

At that moment, Kim Hajin fired . His first arrow missed the mark by a mile .

“The hell… . His posture is completely off . ”

Kim Suho placed his ear on the commentators and his eyes on the archery duel .

Kim Hajin fired a second shot, which missed once more .

“Er, maybe he really didn’t practice . ”

“No, he changed his bow’s direction at the last second . He missed on purpose . ”

“Huh? Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know . ”

Then, Kim Hajin fired his third arrow . This time, his arrow hit the target perfectly .

“See? He missed his second shot on purpose . ”

“Okay, but why?”

“Fuck man, I don’t know!”

…For now, Kim Suho continued to watch their duel .

“But I’ve never seen him before at the archery range . ”

At that moment, one of the cadets muttered .

There were two facilities for sharpshooter cadets – the shooting range and the archery range .

More often than not, the shooting range was used by cadets to practice archery with magic power, while the archery range was used for pure, traditional archery practice . Furthermore, there was a limited number of archery ranges that first years could use, so most first year sharpshooters had seen other sharpshooters’ faces at least once .

“Have you seen him?”

“No, I haven’t . ”

“Maybe he comes after midnight?”

“No, that’s when I’m here, from midnight to 3, and I’ve never seen him . ”

Kim Suho was at a loss for words . Did Kim Hajin really not practice at all?

But Kim Hajin’s archery was too keen and quick for that to be true . His arrows shot after his target like a starving wild beast .

Soon, the archers began to compare their practice hours to discuss this mystery .

Their busy conversation came to a stop by the time the distance reached 400 meters . Kim Hajin was shooting too well .

One of the cadets muttered in a daze .

“450-meter mark is my record…”

But soon, Kim Hajin easily surpassed the 450-meter mark . The noisy crowd slowly began to quiet down, and sounds of hard swallowing increased .

“Ah, Chae Nayun missed . ”

And at 500 meters, Chae Nayun missed for the first time . On the other hand, Kim Hajin succeeded just as easily as before .

The same thing happened on the 550-meter mark . When Chae Nayun failed a second time, Kim Suho realized she would lose .

Now, it was the 600-meter mark .

Kim Suho could see Kim Hajin saying something to Chae Nayun, but because they were too far away, he couldn’t hear them . Curious, he focused his magic power on his ears .

—But with a bow, you won’t be able to kill a single Djinn, much less get revenge for your older brother .

Kim Suho frowned .

“What is he…”

Perhaps because of what he said, Chae Nayun failed again on the 600-meter mark .

Chae Nayun immediately gave Kim Hajin a fierce glare, but Kim Hajin ignored her and concentrated on shooting .

“Whoa, what the hell!?”

At that moment, other archers exclaimed in shock . Kim Hajin had shot down three targets at 600-meter, 650-meter, and 700-meter marks . Kim Suho had to admit, Kim Hajin’s technique was like a form of art . But seemingly unsatisfied, Kim Hajin continued . Kim Suho stared at him with mixed feelings .

On the other hand, Yoo Yeonha was watching Kim Hajin in satisfaction . His performance was exactly what she expected to see . Furthermore, she felt what he showed today was only a tiny fraction of his real power . She couldn’t help but wonder how much of his real strength he was hiding .

“…What is he?”

“I don’t know . ”

“It must be a Specialized Gift . ”

A nameless archer put out an idea . Hearing the word Specialized Gift, Yoo Yeonha strained her ears .

Specialized Gift . Just like its name suggested, it was a Gift specialized to a certain role .

Although it wasn’t a showy Gift like Kim Suho’s or Shin Jonghak’s, Specialized Gifts stood at the peak of the field they specialized . Furthermore, most people with Specialized Gifts had an additional Gift .

Because of this characteristic of Specialized Gifts, they were rare and valuable .

“Then there’s no way Chae Nayun can beat him in pure archery . Not unless she uses magic power . ”

“But Kim Hajin uses a gun . It was determined that his Gift was the greatest gun-related Gift . ”

“Maybe his Specialized Gift is for bows and his other Gift is for guns . ”

“Wow, then imagine if they were both for bows . ”

“That wouldn’t be fair . If that was the case, he would be in the same league as Jin Seyeon . ”

Hearing that, the archers began to nod in agreement . For the record, Jin Seyeon was Korea’s Master rank Hero, titled the Divine Archer .

At that moment, Kim Hajin turned around after hitting the 900-meter mark target . Facing him, the archers suddenly froze .

“… . ”

In the dead silence that followed, Kim Hajin walked past the crowd of spectators . Kim Suho eyed him as he walked by, and Kim Hajin did the same expressionlessly .

Soon, Kim Hajin completely passed by Kim Suho, and Kim Suho stared at Chae Nayun who was left standing alone in the huge lane .

Kim Suho began to walk towards her .

“Nayun . ”

Chae Nayun’s body jolted . Standing an appropriate distance away, Kim Suho picked out the words to comfort her .

“Um, I heard from the other guys, it seems Kim Hajin has a Specialized—”

“It’s fine . ”

But Chae Nayun interrupted him .

“I’m… I’m not in the mood to talk . And Specialized Gift or not, that means there is a difference in our talents . ”

“Nayun, don’t be so hard on yourself…”

“Just leave . ”

The entire time, Chae Nayun refused to turn around .

“…Okay . ”

In the end, Kim Suho returned helplessly .

At the same time, he caught sight of a man staring at him with a big smile on his face .

“Haha, you should know your place . Move over . ”

Shin Jonghak sneered at him and began to walk towards Chae Nayun . However, Yoo Yeonha carefully grabbed Shin Jonghak’s sleeve, attempting to hold him back .

“Jonghak, I think you should leave her alone for now . ”

“No, I’m different . ”

Despite Yoo Yeonha’s dissuasion, he confidently walked up to Chae Nayun .

“Chae Nayun, I think you’re…”

“I SAID LEAVE!”

Chae Nayun’s thunderous roar startled Shin Jonghak .

“C-Chae Nayun? I’m not Kim Suho, I’m Shin Jonghak…”

Somewhat in a daze, he placed his hand on Chae Nayun’s shoulder . Chae Nayun immediately smacked his hand away .

“I SAID LEAVE! SCREW OFF!”

“…Eh? Uh, um… uh, yeah . ”

Shin Jonghak staggered backward as though his soul was sucked out .

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“… . ”

By the time Shin Jonghak returned to Yoo Yeonha with a devastated face, Chae Nayun was running into the forest .

Yoo Yeonha watched her leave with a grin on her face, happy to see Chae Nayun running away after being completely stomped .

But separately from her heated emotions, her cold reasoning was working on a plan .

Helping someone when they were down was the most effective way of making connections .

Chae Nayun had a grade 1 priority in Yoo Yeonha’s Connection Management List . Just being a fourth generation chaebol was enough to give her that grade, but her family conglomerate wasn’t one that ran a guild . In other words, she was the greatest connection she could bring into her guild .

“…Don’t worry, I’ll console her . ”

Yoo Yeonha began to run after Chae Nayun .

**

Not long afterwards, she discovered Chae Nayun sitting crouched down behind a bush . With her face buried between her knees, she was shaking up and down .

“Nayun?”

When Yoo Yeonha called her, she trembled but didn’t respond . Yoo Yeonha quietly sat down next to her, and Chae Nayun waddled to the side in response .

“… . ”

Yoo Yeonha didn’t say anything . She only occasionally signaled to Chae Nayun that she was still there, all the while waiting patiently .

She had to wait for a fairly long time . The wind blew, leaves fell, and the sky began to grow dark .

After about 30 minutes, Chae Nayun raised her head, wiping her tears as she sobbed .

“Yoo Yeonha . ”

She then called Yoo Yeonha, who responded with a casual, tender voice .

“Yeah?”

Chae Nayun opened her mouth within the forest’s silence .

“Did you guys… not hear him?”

“Hear what?”

“He… mentioned Oppa . ”

“…Really? We were too far . ”

Yoo Yeonha was genuinely surprised . To Chae Nayun, her older brother was a bottom line that shouldn’t be crossed, the reverse scale of a dragon that shouldn’t be touched . Every cadet took special care not to mention him even as an accident… .

“Yeah, that bastard . … Haa, that was the second time . ”

Chae Nayun couldn’t even continue her sentence . She was burning up from a mixture of embarrassment and rage . She wanted to let it out, chase after him and punish him, but because she was so thoroughly crushed, she didn’t have the strength to do so .

“Mm… . ”

Seeing this Chae Nayun, Yoo Yeonha scratched her neck . Things had gotten more complicated than she anticipated .

Yoo Yeonha disliked Chae Nayun, but she also wanted to make her into her ally . However, the same could be said for Kim Hajin, and he was even a benefactor who saved her life .

Rather than choosing between one of them, she told herself that the best thing to do was to mend their relationship .

Of course, she also wondered why Kim Hajin would say something like that .

“Haa . ”

Yoo Yeonha sighed and began to contemplate on what to say .

And exactly three minutes later, she thought up a good idea .

Kuhum . After clearing her throat, Yoo Yeonha spoke .

“…It’s understandable . ”

“What?”

“Your Oppa is alive . ”

“…Are you crazy?”

Chae Nayun glared at Yoo Yeonha as though she was ready to strangle her at any moment . Yoo Yeonha calmly received her aggressive gaze, then carefully continued her sentence .

“Did you know? People feel a sense of kinship with others who share similar wounds . ”

_Sssss . _The forest’s leaves shook .

Chae Nayun looked confused . Yoo Yeonha continued .

“But when the depths of those wounds are different… so, if someone who should feel less pain is crying louder, the person with the deeper wound might find it unsightly . ”

Yoo Yeonha recalled the message she received from Yoo Jinhyuk three days ago .

[It’ll take longer to look into him . But know this, there is something about Kim Hajin . ]

‘There is something about Kim Hajin .

’From this meaningful sentence, Yoo Yeonha obtained assurance of her hypothesis . Kim Hajin’s parents were killed by someone, and Kim Hajin was searching for the person or group who had ruined his happy life .

“What are you talking about? I…”

“That person, he’s an orphan . Probably because of a reason similar to yours . ”

“…What?”

Chae Nayun’s eyes widened .

It was a reaction Yoo Yeonha expected . Chae Nayun was someone who didn’t care about other people’s past . In a way, it was a defensive mechanism, since if she dug up others’ past, they could also dig up her own .

“Don’t you know that people are harassing him about it?”

Chae Nayun looked completely oblivious . In the first place, it wasn’t something she could imagine . From her perspective, people who made fun of others for losing their parents couldn’t exist .

Chae Nayun swallowed hard and asked again .

“He endured it?”

“…That’s the only thing you’re curious about?”

Yoo Yeonha furrowed her brows as though she was tired .

“Kim Hajin is being harassed because of you . Because you told Jonghak . ”

“T-That’s… . ”

“Nayun . ”

Yoo Yeonha collected her breath before continuing .

“…You’re not the only one with a painful past . ”

At that moment, Chae Nayun’s face drew a blank .

Chae Nayun thought back to the day she talked to Shin Jonghak because of what Kim Hajin said about her older brother .

That was when harassments and bad rumors about Kim Hajin began . She was the source of it, yet she didn’t do anything to stop it . She had purposely ignored it, something she couldn’t deny .

Still, she truly didn’t expect that those delinquents would even dig up his past…

“K-Kuhum . ”

Seeing Chae Nayun’s soulless face, Yoo Yeonha held back her laughter by clearing her throat . This was enough . Investing any more time and emotion was something that didn’t fit her personality .

“Then I’m leaving now . I’m only a third party in all this, so talking about deep things will only cause misunderstandings . You can think the rest for yourself, Nayun . ”

Yoo Yeonha gently stroked Chae Nayun’s shoulder and turned around to leave .

“…Uh, yeah . ”

Chae Nayun’s voice was much weaker than before .

Yoo Yeonha felt like she gained points from both of them . Satisfied, she went back with a light heart .

“… . ”

In the vast, silent forest, Chae Nayun was left all alone . She stared into the distance blankly .

Chwaaaa—

From the darkness, cool wind blew and brushed against the forest’s leaves .

Seeing leaves shaking and falling, Chae Nayun took time to self-reflect .

**

“…Haha, you sure got big . ”

With a big grin, I looked down at Evandel’s Seed . The way it quivered to absorb blood was surprisingly cute .

I already knew what the seed would look like once it hatched . At first, she would look like a 3 to 4-year-old child .

But Evandel was a very special witch . Temporarily transforming herself into a cat or a dog shouldn’t be a problem for her .

“Should I go with a cat? Or a dog…?”

That was my worry . Raising a child at Cube was absolutely not allowed, but it was okay to own pets . In fact, Cube encouraged cadets to own pets as they supposedly helped with cadets’ mental health . There was even a pet adoption center inside Cube .

“When will you hatch?”

I gently rubbed the seed’s belly . The seed quivered, almost as if it was ticklish .

“Haha, you’re so cute . ”

I suddenly remembered Mong, a dog I used to own . He only liked Mom and Dad and never gave me a glance, but at this point, I missed everyone from Earth .

At that moment… an alert popped up on the laptop I had open on my desk .

[You obtained 253 SP . ]

[An incredible luck applies to your human relationship!]

[Narrow Escape from Death (2/9) – A special stat, accumulation of luck, becomes partly unlocked!]

“…What’s this?”

It was an alert I couldn’t understand .

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