NOVEL WEB Chapter 74
The day after the Sports Festival. I wanted to say I was on my way to the Academy as usual, but…
“Hey, that kid over there. Isn’t he the one who made it to the semifinals yesterday? He fought like a beast!”
“Yeah, but my legs… Babe, that’s not what I meant. Oh, ow. Wait, just a moment, give me some mercy!”
“Still, I wonder if students should be fighting like that.”
“Honestly, I felt relieved. I mean, it’s those kinds of kids who protect us. Sure, it might be a bit extreme… but better than being too soft.”
The people around me didn’t even try to hide it and were blatantly discussing me. Ahahaha, sigh.
Looks like this chaos will keep going for at least a week.
Listening to humans mumbling was getting painfully annoying, so I got off a stop earlier than I should have.
There were still people on the roadside, but at least I could escape there. I could find a way to dodge them.
But on the subway, that wasn’t an option.
Even on the street, too many people recognized me. I mean, they were blatantly showing yesterday’s fight video on a billboard.
And of course, guess what? My video was the one playing.
…Not the part where I narrowly dodged Morgan’s punch or beat up some Class B kid, but the moment where I faced Jinhyeon and showed some skin.
Media, whether here or there, seems to be the same—so blatantly consistent in their crassness.
I ducked into a sparsely populated alley to avoid the growing crowd.
Finally feeling like I could catch a break, I was about to climb up the building wall when someone called out to me.
Who the heck is it now?
Stuffing down my annoyance, I turned to see a scruffy-looking mixed-race boy.
Aha. Not following me, just a resident of the alley. In that case…
“Uh, um. Sister? Y-You? Yesterday’s match was, um, awesome!”
He didn’t seem shy like Lapiz, but looking at his fidgety hands and inability to keep himself steady, it seemed like he was struggling with some substance.
Given his state, he looked like he belonged in the back alleys.
Heros City was a town where you couldn’t survive without citizenship.
But, just like humans always do, some managed to sneak in and live without citizenship.
No matter how advanced technology gets, humans will always find a way around it.
Or should I call them Ein? Most of those lower-class infiltrators are probably of the Ein race.
This boy was likely one of their offspring.
Legally, they were invaders, and heroes were supposed to expel or deal with them on sight.
But then again, heroes are human too, right?
As long as they didn’t crawl out and cause trouble, they wouldn’t go out of their way to hunt them down and expel them.
I should theoretically report or dispose of them, but…
I don’t know. I just didn’t feel like it. Was it because he was one of my kind, or was it because I could tell he was a life that wouldn’t last much longer?
If his outward symptoms had already progressed this far, I could only imagine how far gone he was on the inside.
Even if he decided to quit drugs now, he’d be suffering from withdrawal for the rest of his life.
Thinking of how others were falling apart like this should have made me happy, but there was something strangely upsetting about seeing those who had already crumbled.
Maybe it’s the camaraderie I feel towards the broken ones. Or perhaps it’s the fact that they’re stuck in a situation where there’s no way up for them.
“So, um, can I… get your, uh, signature?”
Seeing someone like him doing well must have left a deep impression on the boy.
He handed me a horrifically stained napkin, asking for my autograph.
This thing was so gross it wasn’t even fit to wipe my nose, so I tore a page from my notebook and wrote my name on it before handing it over.
“Thanks, thank you! Thank you…”
“Yeah, thanks or whatever.”
Trying to push away my discomfort, I waved to the boy and jumped up to the building rooftop, kicking off the wall and the outdoor unit.
There was no medicine that could fix someone that far gone. No, even if there were, they wouldn’t give it to a kid like him.
And I certainly couldn’t create that kind of magic.
Even if I tried to heal him with the tools I could create, it would take an excruciatingly long time.
…If I had continued to strive to be fixed, could I now laugh at the ordinary or get angry at the little things like any normal person?
If – just if – I hadn’t followed the Boss, would I have been able to grow up normally with other ordinary people?
I know it’s a pointless question, but still, I can’t help but wonder.
No one can give me the answer, anyway.
——————————————————
Hosting the Sports Festival was not just about letting the kids have fun.
Of course, that was part of it, but the main purpose was to ‘showcase’ the students.
Showcase them to whom, you ask? To current heroes and hunters.
Exhibiting promising talent in hopes that they would want to nominate students as interns.
This wasn’t part of Heros Academy’s curriculum. But it was effectively treated as a regular part of the curriculum.
No matter how excellent the educational facilities were, there’s knowledge that can only be gained in the field.
Gaining different experiences apart from practical field trips meant no loss for the Academy.
“I hope you all achieved satisfactory results in the Sports Festival. And thank you for your hard work. You all showcased impressive performances.”
Justitia was laying the groundwork smoothly, trying to keep it light, before she added, “But,” and got serious.
“I am your teacher. Naturally, I can’t help but have my own biases. So it’s time to filter out your results without such biases.”
For those who know, they know.
Justitia briefly explained internships for those who might not know, then turned on the projector to show a summary chart of who received how many nominations.
“Of course, Changwon came in first and Minho second. Well, they did compete in the finals after all. But Minho received an overwhelmingly larger number.”
“He had dominant victories from the quarter-finals to the finals. That’s probably why.”
“Maybe. Who knows?”
“W-Why am I… third…?”
“You almost beat Im Changwon, you know? If you’d met him later, you probably would have faced him in the quarter-finals or finals.”
Lapiz was shaking, seemingly unable to comprehend why she had gotten the third most nominations.
Poor thing was way too hard on herself.
Ignoring the trembling Lapiz and checking the rest of the chart, I found myself in fifth. Ageha was fourth. Seolhwa sixth… something like that.
Yeonhwa and Jinhyeon were neatly tied at eleventh and twelfth.
Aside from those two who didn’t even make it into the tournament, everyone received at least one nomination.
“Students who did not receive a nomination can choose a hero office contracted with Heros Academy to go for their internships.”
Justitia directed that info to the duo she pointed out, but it didn’t seem reassuring to them at all.
Noticing their expressions were deteriorating, they were probably feeling a bit inferior.
And I vaguely recalled someone who might just jump into the Evil Society like that.
It probably wouldn’t rain trouble to leave them be. With a disinterested expression, I watched as the class stirred and then checked on Im Changwon.
He didn’t seem particularly pleased. But he didn’t look indifferent either. Maybe he had his own feelings about it.
“Class president and vice president, please come forward and distribute the detailed list of which office chose which students.”
Justitia called us over and instructed us to hand out the papers. Most were thin, but those in the top five were quite thick.
Including mine. So I could randomly pick a choice from these.
After handing them all out, I looked over the offices that called my name one by one.
Most of them were nobodies I’d never heard of. And for some reason, the Hunter offices had received quite a few nominations.
Why? Wait, can Hunter offices even nominate heroes?
While I was confused, I quickly spotted a familiar name in the middle. Justitia’s office.
Looks like asking for her favor yesterday paid off. In the original story, Minho chose Justitia’s office out of a multitude of choices.
And during that internship, Justitia started to waver due to Minho.
This meant that to prevent Justitia from turning her back on the Liberator, Minho would have to stick by her like a leech and meddle in her thoughts.
So for that to happen, Justitia first had to choose me, which is why I’d asked her to nominate me before sleeping last night.
“So many people… have chosen me?”
“Don’t worry too much, Lapiz. Just pick a decently well-known place.”
As I tried to calm Lapiz and planned what to do next, a name I never expected rang out.
“Invictus… Office…?”
And the one who mentioned it was someone who shouldn’t have said that name.
“What…?”
“What?! Jinhyeon, is that for real?!”
Among the offices that nominated Jinhyeon was the Invictus Office.