Chapter 20: A Suspicion No One Expected

“Different? How? In what way?”

“I mean, it’s nothing serious. But from what I heard, his ranking went up because his practical score shot up. Our theory scores barely affect the final grade. No matter how well he did, that alone shouldn’t raise him that much.”

“……Huh?”

That was something he had never even considered. But Yoon Jae had no reason to lie about it.

“Then why would Yoo Hee-ro lie? If he said he scored well in the practical exam, I’d have praised him even more.”

“……Yeah, true. Maybe I heard wrong. But thinking about what he did in the Gate, it’d be impossible for his practical score not to be high…”

Shin Yoon-jae scratched the back of his head and started talking about himself.

“I actually couldn’t control my power properly until middle school. I was like Hee-ro—my ability suddenly burst out one day.”

“Okay, and?”

“At that time my accuracy was awful and my power was all over the place. But that’s how it is for most untrained ability users. It’s like going berserk—everything just comes out uncontrollably.”

“……Yeah, that makes sense.”

Abilities were more delicate than most people realized. It was natural for someone unskilled to produce chaotic results. Yoon-jae hesitated, then continued.

“This is just—just a theory, okay…?”

“……”

“Oh my god, just spit it out already!”

Hyerin exploded, unable to tolerate his roundabout way of speaking.

“I don’t think it’s impossible that Yoo Hee-ro can actually use his power.”

“……What?”

“Huh? What bullshit is that?”

“I mean, I don’t think someone who’s never used their power before can wield it that precisely and with that much density. You saw it at the Gate too, didn’t you? How he aimed and destroyed things with perfect accuracy.”

Hyerin tilted her head, confused.

“I don’t know. I was dying back then, so I barely remember anything.”

“…Never mind. It’s just something I thought about. Not certain…”

Yoon-jae trailed off, glancing quickly at Sung Jiwoo. Hyerin punched him lightly on the head.

“Why say something if you’re not sure! That just makes it weird!”

Jiwoo, who had been listening quietly, added softly:

“I do think Hee-ro has some kind of trauma about using his ability.”

Maybe what Yoon-jae sensed wasn’t wrong. Yoo Hee-ro was born with a fate that made it natural for him to use his power well.

“That’s probably why you felt that way. Physically speaking, Hee-ro definitely can use his ability.”

“……”

“But for some reason, his subconscious seems to be rejecting the idea of using it. Like something big happened in the past. Or something went wrong the moment he first awakened.”

“Well… if it’s psychological, that explains everything.”

Yoon-jae nodded as if satisfied with that answer. He let out a long breath, relieved.

“Ha… I kept overthinking on my own, so this makes me feel better. Yeah, Hee-ro has no reason to hide anything from us.”

“Exactly. Why would he pretend he’s powerless while being bullied for it? That makes no sense.”

“Right, no reason at all.”

And with that, their conversation wrapped up. The three left the cafeteria and exchanged farewells.

“Good luck with your internships. Let’s meet up when we have time.”

“Yeah. Same to you two.”

Then each headed back to their dorms, and for the first time in two and a half years, they began packing their bags to step into the outside world.

Late that afternoon after the closing ceremony, large buses entered the school grounds to pick up the third-year students.

Sung Jiwoo lined up to board the bus heading to the Knocker Guild. Only one other student was assigned to the same guild. The person was rummaging through their luggage so frantically that Jiwoo didn’t know how to approach them. He was waiting quietly when a familiar voice called out.

“Senior!”

“Hee-ro?”

“…I won’t see you for a while, so I wanted to say goodbye.”

Hee-ro ran up to him, out of breath. His arms were full of something.

“I thought you might need these, so I packed a few things.”

“Hm? These are for me?”

“Yes. I also wrote my phone number inside. If you have time… could you contact me?”

“Well… sure. If I have time.”

Jiwoo scratched his cheek awkwardly. He was not used to keeping in touch with anyone.

“Stay healthy during break, okay?”

“Yes. I’ll stay strong.”

“And don’t push yourself too hard during training.”

“Okay. I won’t.”

Just then the bus started its engine. People ahead of them began boarding.

It was time for him to go. Hee-ro didn’t move a single step, clearly determined to see him off. Maybe because no one in his previous life had ever done that for him, the gesture felt strangely touching and awkward.

Feeling he should at least show his face, Jiwoo sat by the window closest to where Hee-ro stood. Hee-ro gave a small, shy wave.

The bus pulled out. The school buildings—and the burnt remains of the research wing—slowly faded from view.

At the Knocker Guild, no one came to greet the two interns. In his past life, the guild at the Imperial City had an entire internship team and a clear system. It seemed mid-sized guilds really did operate chaotically.

When they first walked inside, it was so empty he wondered if the guild had gone bankrupt. Then he heard noise from a storage room and found someone sorting items inside.

“Excuse me.”

“Whoa! You scared me. Yes?”

“Is this the Knocker Guild?”

“Oh—yes! Oh my gosh, right. I totally forgot! You’re the interns arriving today, aren’t you? Sorry, we suddenly got flooded with orders…”

The storage room was tidy, though a bit dusty.

“The guild members all went out gathering materials, so you probably won’t see them yet. They said they’d come back early today though, so maybe by the time they clock out.”

The remaining guild member seemed to be the youngest. His awkward behavior made it obvious. It wasn’t the atmosphere Jiwoo expected, but it wasn’t bad. The kid seemed nice, at least.

“Are you two friends…?”

“No. We just met.”

“We don’t know each other.”

Jiwoo and the woman answered at the same time.

“Oh, then should we introduce ourselves? I’m Gam Joo-an. You can call me Joo-an. I’m twenty-three—pretty close in age, right?”

Four years. Not too close, but not far either.

“I’m Sung Jiwoo. Nineteen. I’m a Light-attribute Support.”

Joo-an hadn’t mentioned his own power or role. For Hunters, that was like not giving someone your business card.

“Oh wow! I’ve never met a Light user before. Must be so cool.”

The woman beside Jiwoo took a sip of water and spoke calmly.

“I’m Goo Min-ah. Nineteen. I’m a long-range dealer who handles divine beasts. Jiwoo probably doesn’t know me.”

Min-ah spoke as if she knew him. They definitely hadn’t introduced themselves before now.

“The students talked about you a lot. Not that I believed everything.”

“Oh…”

If that was the case, then it wasn’t strange she knew him.

“I transferred in the second semester of our second year, so we probably never crossed paths.”

“Yeah, I guess not.”

“Didn’t think I’d meet the person behind all those rumors here…”

It was hard to tell whether she meant it sarcastically or genuinely. Joo-an took it positively.

“Oh right! We were actually curious. I heard you got first place in the last evaluation. Why did you pick our guild? The guildmaster thought it was a joke at first and told us to reject your application.”

Jiwoo laughed awkwardly. His score wasn’t something he considered brag-worthy, but people kept bringing it up.

“Well… I’m not really interested in becoming a Hunter. I thought I could learn about weapon and artifact crafting here.”

“Really? But isn’t this the time when everyone brags about aiming for rank 1? Honestly… even I did.”

Jiwoo shrugged. In truth, he had been the same in his past life—full of ambition. He was young then.

“But I’m glad you came! I’ll teach you everything I can! Min-ah, how about you? Any special reason you chose this guild?”

“I’m more interested in research than hunting. And I heard the guildmaster used to be a chief researcher.”

“Oh! You wanted to meet him! I’ll talk to him and arrange something for you!”

Despite her blunt honesty, Joo-an responded with warmth. To Jiwoo, he still looked like a bottom-rank guild member… He worried Joo-an might get scolded for saying such things. But that worry shattered three hours later.

“Our baby! Did you guard the house well?”

The guildmaster burst inside loudly and ruffled Joo-an’s hair like he was a puppy.

‘…Oh. That’s why he talked so casually.’

He never expected the two to be this close.