Chapter 5 : The world we live in (1)

The silvery hair, scattered messily atop a white pillow, shimmered in response to the warm morning sunlight filtering through the sheer white curtains.

From the kitchen beyond the wall came the bubbling sound of kimchi jjigae being made by Seo-hyun’s mother, enjoying a rare day off.

From the room next door, Hyun-a’s cheerful alarm rang out, followed by the sound of her stretching.

And amidst this dreamlike reality, Seo-hyun woke up once more.

*

A dreamlike daily life with his family.

It had been his greatest wish, the guiding star in the darkness, and now it had become reality, bringing him immeasurable happiness.

With all this as his foundation, Seo-hyun was now taking his first steps toward living as a human again.

*

“Have a good day, kids~ Hyun-a, take good care of Seo-hyun.”

“Yes~ We’ll see you later~”

“We’ll be back.”

*

Having finished a pleasant breakfast with his family, Seo-hyun, seen off by his mother, left early in the morning with Hyun-a.

Three weeks had passed since his return from the other world.

Having adapted to modern society to some extent with the help of his mother and Hyun-a, Seo-hyun decided to forgo finishing high school and apply directly to the Guardian Association.

Unlike the Hunter Association, whose sole purpose was to earn money by defeating monsters, the Guardian Association was a heroic organization dedicated solely to protecting the world.

Their job was to predict and monitor the appearance of Gates and to deal with the monsters that poured out of them.

Therefore, for Seo-hyun, who wanted to protect his mother, an executive of the association, and his younger sister, a prospective Guardian, and to enjoy a normal modern life, it was the most suitable organization.

…Of course, becoming a Guardian wasn’t a smooth process.

While he managed to take the aptitude test thanks to his mother’s connections, he couldn’t overcome the significant hurdle of modern society’s strict rules:

The mandatory minimum education system for underage returnees.

In the end, in recognition of his abilities, Seo-hyun received an exceptional offer. He was allowed to engage in Guardian activities immediately after completing six months of high school classes at the Guardian Academy. Thus, he was temporarily enrolled in the high school division of the Seoul Guardian Academy.

*

#

Seo-hyun looked at the main gate of the Guardian Academy, where he would be spending his time for the next six months.

“Unni. Look at that stone over there. It’s our school’s landmark.”

Hyun-a, who had changed her form of address over the past few weeks, spoke to Seo-hyun in a subtly excited voice.

A girl who looked to be about high school age calling a much younger-looking girl “Unni” was undoubtedly a strange sight, but it had long since become a natural thing for the two of them.

Hyun-a explained that this place, where the most talented individuals in the metropolitan area passed through every day to become Guardians, was a landmark in itself.

Standing majestically next to the school gate with an overwhelming presence was a giant stone monument, carved from a part of the body of a massive rock monster that appeared during the large-scale Gate incident two years ago.

The magic power it possessed was B-rank, small considering its size, but the problem was that it had appeared in the heart of Seoul.

And in the two hours it took to subdue it, it caused a staggering two thousand casualties.

That fact had sent shockwaves through modern society.

In the end, people were able to stop various political and interest-group fights over Guardians and Hunters and unite to protect their lives and daily routines.

Ultimately, the monument was imbued with the sorrow and will of the numerous victims and the countless people who strived and sacrificed to protect Seoul.

After listening to Hyun-a’s explanation, Seo-hyun summed it up in a single sentence:

“…It’s a very heavy object.”

Hyun-a tilted her head at his words.

“Are you talking about the weight of the stone? Or the meaning it holds?”

“Both?”

Seo-hyun replied indifferently, adjusting his unfamiliar school uniform.

Hyun-a knew that Seo-hyun wasn’t emotionless, but simply not used to talking and therefore only spoke concisely or when necessary, due to his experiences in the other world.

She knew this because she had been the one skipping school for the past few weeks to teach him common sense.

Therefore, Hyun-a couldn’t help but worry even more.

‘Sigh… If he keeps this up, it will be difficult for him to get along with people…’

Hyun-a sighed inwardly, thinking thoughts a parent might have. In fact, looking at Seo-hyun, she felt like he was a child left alone by the water’s edge.

Now, there were no major problems with his common sense or behavior, but Seo-hyun still acted indifferently in conversations with others, except for his family.

That was one of Hyun-a’s biggest worries these days.

Even if she told herself it would get better with time, the anxiety was unavoidable.

Hyun-a took a step with Seo-hyun, hoping he would adapt well to his classes and the classroom, even if they were in different classes.

*

#

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“Alright. Talk to the principal and when you’re done, come to Class 1-6. Okay?”

“Yes.”

A short conversation took place in front of the principal’s office.

Seo-hyun stared blankly at the back of Yoo Do-hwa, the current A-rank Guardian who would be his homeroom teacher for the next six months.

*Knock, knock, knock*

“Principal, I’ve brought Seo-hyun.”

What stood out was her hand knocking on the principal’s door.

It showed traces of peeling and burns, indicating how much she had gone through.

‘The work of protecting people.’

Seo-hyun thought.

Humans protecting humans. What a human thing to do.

Seo-hyun had once experienced a world where such concepts had been completely erased in ancient times, leaving only ruthless survival of the fittest and insane religious groups.

Parents eating their children, children coming back to life and sacrificing their parents. A world where numerous grotesque beings bred humans to satisfy their amusement and thirst, playing with them in various ways. A world where he could fully understand the cruel darkness and the end of the world.

That’s why he desperately wanted to escape that place.

Seo-hyun’s eyes twitched as he thought of those disgusting, unpleasant things.

It’s all in the past. He was standing here, now, wasn’t he?

Thinking so, he took a step into the room.

Entering the principal’s office, leaving his homeroom teacher who opened the door behind, Seo-hyun felt the air inside was distinctly different from the outside.

Hot, turbid air.

And a voice cutting through it.

“”Student Seo-hyun. You’ve worked hard coming all this way.””

Although this pervasive ‘phenomenon’ bothered him, he had to greet them.

As the voices that seemed to belong to the principal reached him, Seo-hyun bowed to the principal with his hands on his stomach.

“Hello, Principal.”

The way to greet a superior, as taught by his younger sister.

Someone inside his head was denying this, but Seo-hyun trusted his sister’s words more than his own mind.

“”Ha, ahaha. You’re quite a polite student. It’s nice to meet you too.””

As the principal accepted his greeting with a flustered look, Seo-hyun sat on the sofa and looked at her with his head held high.

A mature woman in her late twenties, dressed casually.

And a dignified-looking man in his forties, wearing a suit.

The two figures overlapped in Seo-hyun’s eyes, creating a comical sight.

‘What an annoying ability.’

In the other dimension, various beings with different essences often appeared like this, but this one felt too artificially cobbled together, making it extremely uncomfortable.

Perhaps the principal herself did it with a playful intent, but for Seo-hyun, who had seen various races and monsters hiding their true forms, he couldn’t stand to see this.

Staring at it with a disgusted look, Seo-hyun flicked his hand.

Along his slender fingers, he felt the heat emitted by minute dimensional particles. The turbulent flow manipulated by magic power. The distortion of spacetime, continuously connecting along an infinite grid.

And a small-scale manipulation of reality achieved by all of these.

Breaking the axis between them to disrupt the balance.

Then, all of this crumbled down, and the air flow returned to normal.

The cornerstone of the Guardian Academy was the principal.

She must have intended to use this ability to control and command the students and teachers in case of emergency.

The intention wasn’t bad, but seeing this kept reminding him of *that place*, causing his discomfort to surge.

Thinking so, Seo-hyun looked up at the principal.

“Student Seo-hyun, what did you just do with your hand…?”

The principal, about to speak to Seo-hyun in the incongruous tone of a middle-aged man, stopped mid-sentence and looked around.

It seemed she finally noticed that her ability had been broken.

She seemed so flustered that she was about to say something, but Seo-hyun spoke first.

“…I’m a bit sensitive to these kinds of things.”

“I, is that so? I apologize… It was just a little surprise…”

The principal, looking dejected, seemed surprised that her ability had been seen through. If she had made that face as a middle-aged man, he wouldn’t have been able to stand it any longer, but now it was bearable.

“It seems I underestimated Student Seo-hyun’s abilities… Come to think of it, you said you were in a world with impurities, didn’t you?”

Seo-hyun nodded at her words.

Mental beings that exert a bizarre influence on the observer’s mind. Beings that seize reality and twist it to their will. Their existence was known on Earth as well.

People called them impurities. Strange beings who didn’t mix with the laws of the world, even if they crossed over through the Gates. Beings who could stand alone at the infinite extremes of their respective fields. In other words, beings corresponding to S-rank monsters.

Wasn’t Seo-hyun himself a being that could be called an impurity until recently?

Seeing Seo-hyun nod, the principal apologized again with a sorry look.

“I’m truly sorry, Student Seo-hyun. You must be busy since it’s your first day here, so let’s get straight to the point.”

Seo-hyun also didn’t want to be held up here any longer, so he welcomed her words.

The principal’s explanation of the six-month training program began.