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Chapter 6
An Abnormal Approach
Sun Yihan:
I couldn’t tear my eyes off the blonde strands fluttering in the wind.
If someone were to draw the standard archetype of a “warrior,” the depiction would look exactly the same as the person in front of me. If Min Joohyuk resembled the cool breeze of early morning, this man was like the midday sun. Under the bright sunlight, it was easy to see he had a healthy complexion to his white and clear skin.
‘So, all warriors shine like this, huh?’
I was lost in thought, staring vacantly in front of the gate; just then, I felt a gentle and warm touch on my wrist.
Min Joohyuk’s hand. It seemed that his hand–which was larger than it looked–had been encircling my wrist for quite some time. Min Joohyuk caught my gaze and said, “Sun Yihan, it’s alright. Come on in.”
He strolled inside, slowly pulling and leading me by my arm. The scent of flowers that had been wafting in the wind grew stronger.
I heard Min Joohyuk speaking next to me, “Park Yul Hyung-nim! Have you been waiting for a long while?”
“I just came out, too, Joohyuk-ah. 1 You were the quick ones. Also…” That man chuckled gently before turning his head away from his companion to look at me. His eyes were still smiling.
“Good evening, I’m known as Sun Yihan.” 2
“Hello, Yihan-ah. I’m Park Yul. You can speak comfortably with me.”A mellow and tranquil voice–as warm as the sun; I couldn’t help but trust it.
“Yes, Yul-hyung.” I answered, placing more force into my words. However what came out felt shaky and lacked the stability I desired.
◇~◇~◇~◇~◇
Min Joohyuk and Park Yul continued to converse on the spot; Park Yul mentioned, “Joohyuk-ah, Raen reinforced the defense magic training room.”
The hand clasped around my wrist trembled. ‘Ah, come to think of it…Min Joohyuk, your hand is still holding mine!’
In front, Park Yul continued to speak in a soft tone, “Just as you’ve requested. He told me to tell you this as soon as you arrived.”
In lieu of answering, Min Joohyuk paused. When I looked to the side, I noticed his expression seemed frozen. I couldn’t tell what was going on, but, judging from his serious demeanor, it seemed like he wanted to visit that training room immediately.
I looked down at his firm hand; perhaps he had forgotten he had been holding onto me. When I poked him a few times on the back of his hand, Min Joohyuk’s rigid body slightly flinched before turning quickly in my direction.
For some reason, he looked a little surprised. I made sure to look him in the eye; “Go. It sounds quite important.”
“No–I should escort you first. Do you know where your room is?”
I didn’t know. Even so, I didn’t want to waste any of his time. As I slipped into quiet contemplation, Park Yul’s voice cut through my thoughts, “That’s right, Joohyuk-ah. You can relax; feel free to run along. Yihan-ie can be escorted by me, right? Besides, I wanted to talk to him.”
I nodded at Park Yul.
I took off the jacket perched on my shoulders and returned it to Joo Minhyuk, who still seemed slightly worried and hesitant. Min Joohyuk looked down at his coat in his hand, as if nothing could be helped, before saying, “Then, I’ll go first. Thank you so much, Park Yul Hyung-nim!”
He then added some additional useless statements, saying ‘You look tired and should rest!’ to me. Park Yul nodded, a smile adorning his lips.
""
‘But, I’m not tired.’ I wanted to say that I was in great condition right now. But, since I was feeling so refreshed due to my nap on the journey here, I felt like I had no foot to stand on.
Min Joohyuk finished talking while I kept my mouth firmly shut; he looked back at me, placed a hand on my head, and lightly tousled my hair. “I’m going. Rest lots.”
Then, he quickly jogged away, disappearing into the building.
I blanked out a bit after that fast departure before smoothing the hair that Min Joohyuk had disheveled. Park Yul giggled a bit before cleaning up what I couldn’t reach: the back of my head.
We began to walk slowly, stepping on the broad, sun-heated stones underfoot. When I looked up again, the small, square building I had seen earlier was right before me. The door had been built directly in the center.
Creak–
Park Yul opened the door. Even though it didn’t seem very old, it squeaked, like the cogs of a rusty machine moving.
I couldn’t see anything inside the building–it seemed completely empty. And incredibly dark. I stepped one foot inside. Simultaneously, a strong wind blew towards me; I closed my eyes reflexively and tried to retreat. My foot caught on something, and I almost fell over; at that moment, though, someone stabilized me.
There was a gentle touch at my back; my eyes opened to narrow slits. Park Yul had reached out to firmly support me. “Yihan-ah, were you surprised?”
I was super surprised. To be honest, I was so surprised I thought I might wake up from a dream if I were to rub my eyes.
It wasn’t because of the wind–rather, I was surprised at the building’s interior.
Bright sunlight–without any filter or mask–poured out. When I looked up, instead of an opaque and sturdy wall, there was a circular pane of glass. Perhaps that was why the building’s interior was so shiny and bright.
The softly-curving stairs leading to the second floor were placed against the wall. There was a fluffy-looking carpet laid on the floor.
‘It didn’t look this large from the outside.’
While I contemplated the gap between the interior and exterior appearance, I heard a distinct laugh right next to me.
It was Park Yul. “I’m sorry–you looked so startled.” His voice, accompanied by a light laugh, sounded more playful than apologetic. However, it was true that I was utterly surprised. I turned my head and looked up at the warrior with wide-open eyes.
Park Yul continued in a gentle tone, “We needed a lot of space. But nothing really caught our eyes; so we used magic while designing the place. Especially in our efforts to make it look like a normal building from the outside.”
So, this kind of thing was possible with magic, huh? I looked around, admiring magic’s usefulness. As I felt his touch fall away from my back, a heavy weight–his hand perhaps–fell on my head.
“Isn’t it strange?” He said, almost murmuring to himself. “The fact that one’s outward appearance is so important.” When I glanced up, Park Yul looked into my eyes and smiled softly, “Let’s go for now, Yihan-ah. There’s a lot that needs to be said and heard. For both you and me.”
Park Yul lightly messed up my hair just as Min Joohyuk did earlier. I nodded, facing his somewhat grave yet tranquil eyes.
◇~◇~◇~◇~◇
We arrived at a small room on the first floor.
There was a low table and two soft chairs that resembled a sofa on either side. Yellow sunlight shone straight through a large window on one wall.
Park Yul poured tea into two teacups, one after the other. There were cookies of various shapes placed onto a plate in the middle.
I lifted the cup in front of me. It was warm; there were flakes of fruit pieces and petals floating atop the pink tea. The sweet aroma of honey and flowers wafted up.
Staring at me sipping the tea, Park Yul smiled lightly and pushed the plate of cookies in my direction. Then, he slowly began to speak.
He briefly introduced the building’s infrastructure: the canteen was on the first floor; the second floor had four different rooms. The warriors were each using one. “Therefore, Yihan-ah. If you don’t mind, would you share a room with Song Ha-gyeon? He’s a year older than you.”
The room was on the spacious side, and the person named Song Ha-gyeon usually spent all his time in the laboratory on the first floor.
That person had apparently already agreed to share a room. Park Yul informed me that if I didn’t like that arrangement there were other options. He urged me to share my thoughts comfortably.
But that didn’t really matter, did it? I could simply sleep wherever–the location didn’t really bother me all that much. When I said I’d be fine, Park Yul nodded, “Now, why don’t you tell me your story?”
I had no choice but to fall momentarily silent at that question. I had no idea what I should say or even where to start. In fact, I didn’t know much at all.
Park Yul, who was observing my expression, carefully brought up a topic. “Well, I’ve heard that those who stay at the temple don’t have any mana.”
‘Ah.’ This was something I could talk about. “Yul-hyung is correct. But, I have mana…though I’m not sure why.”
Park Yul’s teacup paused mid-lift; it looked like he was pondering something. I was about to add more–perhaps my explanation was too short–however, Park Yul quickly raised his head, “Yihan-ah.”
“Yes?”
Park Yul and I locked gazes. I could see my upright body reflected in his light-green eyes.
For a brief moment, I thought I saw a hint of red in the middle of his pupils.
「 An unusual approach has been discovered.
Activate the firewall to block it.」
Simultaneously, a red window materialized before my eyes.
「Firewall Activation: 3 seconds remaining」
「Firewall Activation: 2 seconds remaining」
「Firewall Activation: 1 second remaining」
The numbers slipped away; the moment I thought, ‘What is this?’…
Beep–
My ears went deaf; it felt like I had tinnitus. I suddenly lost my strength and felt my body go limp. I couldn’t support my collapsing body and tilted sideways. I grabbed the chair’s armrest and placed my forehead on it.
“Yihan-ah?” Park Yul’s voice sounded flustered. However, I wasn’t in a situation to react. My body trembled at the constant ringing–the tinnitus. A vague sense of fear pulsed through me.
Park Yul had rushed to his feet; I heard the sound of a chair being dragged backwards.
“Yihan-ah, raise your head.”
I felt an urgent tap on my shoulder.
“Wait–Look this way.”
The tinnitus made Park Yul’s voice sound blurry–as if I were hearing him from a far distance. He gently cupped my head with one hand, turning it slowly. I barely managed to move with the hand’s help.
Park Yul sat with one knee on the floor; his expression, when it came into view, looked a little stiff. There was still a small red gleam in the center of his eyes.
“Yeah. Don’t close your eyes; look at Hyung.” Park Yul’s brows briefly furrowed. At the same time, the red light in the center of his green eyes disappeared.
「The ‘unusual approach’ has been lifted.
Disabling the Firewall.」
The glistening blue window appeared before my eyes again.
The tinnitus vanished; the amorphous fear disappeared as well. However, my body failed to regain its strength.
When my body drooped, completely spreading out, Park Yul swept away my hair. The cold sweat drenching my forehead and bangs made the resulting air that rushed by feel chilly.
“Are you alright?” He sounded worried.
I wanted to claim I was feeling better, but I couldn’t speak due to my exhaustion.
As I laid there, silent, Park Yul suddenly rose to his feet.
TL: So, in short, mind reading? Was that what Park Yul tried to do?
Also, yeesh, sure Yihan doesn’t feel pain…but he feels all the other side-effects, huh?
Footnotes
the suffix “–ah” or “–ie” denotes familiarity and closeness, alongside affection. While not a complete 1:1 translation here, the MC is being very polite. Hello doesn’t really have many ‘polite’ markers, so I decided to turn “My name is Sun Yihan” into “I’m known as Sun Yihan” to give a similar distant yet formal nuance that I couldn’t fit into the simple English “Hello or good evening”.