CH 275

While Chi-Woo was busy preparing for the expedition, Hawa was wandering between the crossroads of life and death like usual. After boldly approaching the legend and asking for his teaching, Hawa had been leading a repetitive life of going back and forth between her home and the official residence. Chi-Hyun’s method of training was simple; it closely resembled the method that his and Chi-Woo’s master, Byeok, used.

He created a specific situation with his image representation ability and left Hawa there. That was the extent of his involvement, and whether she died or not, he gave no advice. Thus, Hawa had to survive on her own again today. Although she was the epitome of emotionlessness, she was still human, and she felt enormous disappointment and frustration towards this forceful training.

At first, she tried to complete this task with all she had without even letting out a groan out of pride, but it wasn’t easy. She wasn’t sure if it was an intentional arrangement of Chi-Hyun’s, but it was hard to make out the different monsters appearing in different situations with the darkness shrouding them. Thus, Hawa tried to identify the monsters by remembering their other characteristics, such as the sound they made, but she soon realized that the attempt was also futile. No matter how much she searched, there was no information that matched the characteristics of the monsters that she’d experienced firsthand; she couldn’t even get a small clue about the monsters outside of the image representation space.

It became clear by then that the image representation space was created based on memory and experience, and the mental images that she encountered were created by Chi-Hyun. Moreover, it was clear that the mysterious monsters that appeared every time were monsters that only Chi-Hyun had directly or indirectly faced. It might be alien monsters outside of planet Liber. Hawa felt most discontent about this fact. She could understand if they were monsters she might face on Liber, but she couldn’t understand why she had to risk her life to find ways to kill alien monsters. Hawa, who had been desperately waiting for a chance, eventually set up a meeting and formally protested to Chi-Hyun.

Then Chi-Hyun replied like this.

[This is Liber’s monster.]

[And even if it isn’t, you should know how to deal with alien monsters. You know where the Sernitas are from, right?]

Hawa’s rebellion sank with just those two sentences. However, the words he said subsequently left a deeper impression on Hawa.

[If you know yourself and your enemy, you won’t be in danger even in a hundred battles. As this expression goes, your chance of winning increases if you know your opponent in advance. It should be a given that everyone should find out more about their enemy in advance. I’m not denying that.]

[However, will everything go the way you want it to go? Unless you become a master of all things or a wise sage, there will surely come a time when you encounter an unknown situation or an unknown enemy.]

[What are you going to do then? Will you complain like this to your enemy, saying you don’t have any information about them?]

[You should be able to find the best way out anytime, under any circumstances. I think this is a basic skill that you must have if you’re a guide.]

[Think carefully about why even though there’s an expedition leader, a guide takes the position as head of an expedition and is granted comparable authority to the expedition leader.]

Every word hit her in the bones. Technically, he wasn’t wrong. If the head simply meant ‘a person who responds well to what they already know’, anyone could become a guide. After listening to Chi-Hyun’s advice, Hawa never complained since then. Rather than relying on external information, she tried to analyze the situation as much as possible and think on her own even if she didn’t know what her opponent was. On days when her analysis was wrong, she had to struggle with terrible pain and face death in the end, but everything she gained in exchange became part of Hawa’s blood and flesh.

Therefore, Hawa was walking alone in a forest shrouded in black today. She walked quietly for a while to prevent making a sound. Soon after, a forked path appeared in front of her. Hawa looked around carefully, dropped on one knee, and carefully observed the forked path. Then she narrowed both eyes and looked extremely conflicted.

How long has it been? Hawa got up and began moving to the middle of the three forked paths. After a while, she heard a scratching noise and stopped walking again.

Sasasasak! Hawa’s subsequent actions were very astute. She showered the source of the sound with numerous daggers and ran as hard as she could. Soon, all the daggers she threw bounced away, and something big rushed towards her with impressive speed. However, there was nothing around; even when it looked around, it couldn’t see anybody else because Hawa had already moved back and climbed up one of the surrounding trees. Although she got caught by the monster right away, Hawa had already taken the bow off her back and notched an arrow. As soon as something dark raised its head, a slight glow shone on its forehead. The moment between life and death was decided in less than a second. Hawa let go of the bowstring without hesitation.

Twang! The arrow hit the monster’s shining forehead exactly. As expected, it couldn’t pierce through the monster and bounced off, but—

Kirrrrrrr? Its reaction was different from before. The monster, which was about to jump, hurriedly stepped back in surprise. And at that moment, the world stopped. Hawa, who was preparing for her next action, looked around after noticing that time had stopped. Then she was surprised to see Chi-Hyun standing behind her. She had no idea how long he had been there when she hadn’t lowered her guard for even a second.

“You earned about three seconds.” Chi-Hyun rubbed his chin and slightly lowered his head. This was his habit whenever he thought something was ‘so-so’. In the military, there was a position called the listening post. Their job was to listen carefully to detect enemy movements during the night or in foggy weather. A skilled listening post could even hear moles digging tunnels.

Anyway, it was an essential skill to learn as a guide, and Chi-Woo thought what Hawa did just now was ‘okay’. Although an unknown opponent suddenly made a surprise attack, Hawa accurately attacked the enemy’s weakness and succeeded in withdrawing. She merely bought three seconds, but it was more than enough time for the other expedition members to check and prepare for the appearance of an enemy; that was on the premise that they were all experienced and skilled heroes, of course.

“Your response wasn’t bad, but…” Still, good hearing alone didn’t make someone a good guide. “What did you see at the three-way intersection?”

“I saw footprints going inwards.”

“Tell me in detail.” He was telling her to describe her entire thought process of how she reached the conclusion to pick the middle path.

Hawa gulped and replied, “There were footprints on every path. The middle path had the most, the left had the second most, and the right path had the least footprints.”

“And?”

“There was one thing each path had in common. I saw signs of entry, but no signs of exit.”

“So?”

“So…I thought it would be better to go to a place with the most footprints.”

“Why?”

Hawa paused for a moment at his non-stop questions.

Chi-Hyun asked again, “Just because there were more people?”

“Rather than that…” Hawa hesitated and continued, “Since there was a higher possibility that the team with a larger number would be a more standard team, I thought it would be better to go there.”

Chi-Hyun rubbed his chin again, but he didn’t lower his head this time. “Judging by your tone, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“…”

“You must not be sure of yourself. Did you just go with your gut feeling?”

“…Yes.” Hawa honestly admitted the truth, and Chi-Hyun slightly tilted his chin.

“I won’t say your approach is wrong, but you weren’t able to get the right answer. By your logic, you should have gone to the left.”

Hawa inadvertently looked back at the intersection she passed.

“There is one footprint on the path on the right. The depth of the footprint suggests that they were wearing iron-plated shoes. It doesn’t go along well with guides who generally prefer agile movements and lighten the load on their feet.” Chi-Hyun was saying that since only one person went this way and wasn’t a guide, they went to die by themselves.

“The middle path has a lot of footprints, but if you look closely, you can gauge their formation. The footprints are not deep like the right path, but all the light footprints are centered around the middle. Since there is no reason to put the guide in the middle, you can take that as a clue that this team was trying to protect a mage or a priest.” In other words, the team on the middle path entered without a guide; since there wasn’t a guide, it couldn’t be a proper team.

“On the contrary, the team on the left path has a standard composition even though their numbers are smaller compared to the team on the middle path. A guide led the way in the front, and the middle and rear are neatly placed, so the whole formation is solid.”

Hawa’s expression seemed to be saying, ‘how the fuck can I analyze all that in such a short time,’ but she just quietly listened.

“The role of a guide is the same as a driver. They have to lead their teammates in the right direction so that they won’t die on the ride.” Chi-Hyun continued, “In that sense, the guide should always be certain. Instead of saying, ‘I think so’, they should be saying, ‘This is what it is.’ To be certain, they need to develop the ability to find even the smallest clue to narrow down the number of possible cases.” The surroundings changed completely then. The gloomy black forest disappeared, replaced by the official residence lit under the bright sunlight.

Chi-Hyun said, “Good work.”

Tap. A box wrapped in a cloth fell in front of Hawa—it was a lunch box packed by Chi-Woo. “Let’s eat.”

Hawa sat at the office desk and stared at Chi-Hyun, who also opened his lunch box. Thinking back, it was funny how this whole situation emerged. Chi-Woo originally packed lunch for only his master, but at the request of several people, he made lunch boxes for others as well. Hawa was one of the people he made lunch boxes for. Although Hawa didn’t ask for one, Chi-Woo packed one for her, telling her to take care of herself, and she didn’t turn down his offer. However, when she first went to the official residence with the lunch box, it got stolen immediately. Chi-Hyun, who looked indifferent at first, looked at the contents of the lunch box and took it from her, saying, ‘This is the tuition, isn’t it? He at least has some manners.’

No matter how many times Hawa said it was for her, all of her efforts were useless because Chi-Hyun shut down all her protests by saying, ‘I’m using my precious innate ability for you, so I need to get something in exchange. If you have any complaints, pack two lunch boxes next time.’ In the end, Hawa had no choice but to endure and accept this situation. On the other hand, when she asked Chi-Woo to pack two lunch boxes, he easily accepted—although Chi-Woo misunderstood and told her, ‘Ms. Hawa, you eat more than you look. Was my food that good?’

“Listen while you eat.” While Hawa cursed Chi-Hyun inside her mind, he continued, “It’s about your next training.”

“Please wait a minute. I have something to tell you.” Hawa looked up while eating. “I can’t come here for a while.”

“When are you leaving?”

Hawa was about to say, ‘Because I’m planning to join an expedition where Chi-Woo is the captain—,’ but Chi-Hyun’s response took her by surprise. ‘He already knew?’ However, she calmly replied, “I don’t know exactly, but I think we’ll be leaving soon.”

“You think you’ll be leaving soon?”

“…I heard this morning that he’ll finish all the preparations within this week.”

Chi-Hyun snorted. “Did he allow you to join?”

“No, I haven’t said anything yet, but I’m going to bring it up to him soon.”

“Good. Then we can proceed with the next training.”

“?”

“Join that expedition and be acknowledged.”

“By whom? Your brother?”

“Not only him, but everyone in the expedition,” Chi-Hyun said calmly, “Take the position of the head in your team.”

Hawa doubted her ears. Since it was the most important role in a team, being the head was equivalent to winning everyone’s respect and acknowledgment. However, this was incredibly difficult. Hawa was somewhat aware of the present situation as well. It was an expedition in which four of those renowned Celestial Lights were participating, and the other two confirmed members of the expedition were just as formidable as the Celestial Lights. No words were needed to describe Ru Amuh, and it was the same for Onorables Evelyn, who was the Saintess of the White Horse General. Excluding Chi-Hyun, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this was the best expedition team for humankind at this point.

And Chi-Hyun wanted her to play the role of the head in an important expedition like that? She would like to do it if she could, but it was not a position that she could get just because she wanted it.

“Well…”

Chi-Hyun read her self-doubt and asked, “Are you not confident?”

She stared intently at him. “Do you think I can do it?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“I didn’t think you judged me so highly,” Hawa said slightly sarcastically, but Chi-Hyun didn’t show much reaction; he really did seem like he thought she could do it.

“Why? Why do you think that?”

“It’s no fun if I tell you in advance.” Chi-Hyun flatly spoke while eating vegetables. “You’ll find out when you go.”

“With such irresponsible words—.”

“Let me ask you one thing.” Chi-Hyun interrupted her and said, “Have I ever made a demand that was far beyond your abilities during training?”

“Well…” Hawa had no words to say; that wasn’t the case. She had an incredibly difficult time, but it somehow worked out in the end after a lot of effort on her part.

“It’s the same for this time too.”

Hawa looked at Chi-Hyun with a new perspective. She didn’t know that this man could also give encouragement as well. Come to think of it, he also told her she’d done good work earlier. And he didn’t tell her off for interrupting him or get annoyed at her, telling her to stop asking useless questions.

“Of course, you might feel anxious. Then I’ll give you a special lesson. Come every day until the day before your departure. I’ll be extending the training time from now on, so don’t forget to bring your lunch box.”

Why was he acting so nice all of the sudden? ‘Perhaps…’ Looking back, Hawa thought Chi-Hyun might have gotten more lenient after she brought the lunch boxes. ‘No, no way.’ Hawa shook her head. No way this was true. Chi-Hyun was the type to not even blink when a dazzling beauty born only once every thousand years ran into his arms. Hawa admitted that Chi-Woo’s food was delicious, but there was no way that a guy like Chi-Hyun, who didn’t even have an ounce of emotions, would be shaken by such a—

“Yeah…I think doenjang-guk[1] will be good tomorrow…”

“…”

“Don’t forget…doenjang-guk…”

Hawa’s eyes became dim as she looked at Chi-Hyun, who was happily thinking, ‘What should I eat tomorrow?’

* * *

There were three additional ingredients that La Bella required for reliquia. Chi-Woo had no idea what they were and where to get them; even Evelyn, who had extensive knowledge as an Abyss witch, did not know everything.

[Besides the Core of Solitude, the dragon’s breath is probably related to the last dragon.]

[Why don’t you go to her after this expedition ends? Since you’re the legend’s brother, I don’t think she’ll reject a meeting with you.]

Chi-Woo thought Evelyn was right and decided to focus on the expedition for the present. The preparations were almost done, and they had plenty of supplies and equipment. There was no reason for him to drag things out further. Even if there was a grace period, delaying the expedition further would only be detrimental, so he immediately contacted Apoline, and like this, the departure date was set.

Although he was busy preparing for the expedition, Chi-Woo did not forget to take care of the people near him. Since he thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have one more warrior, he asked Ru Hiana to come with them. However, surprisingly, Ru Hiana refused.

“Will you really be fine with not going?”

“Yeah, of course. Honestly, it’s not an expedition for me to join. If I go, I’ll only be a hindrance.”

“But Ms. Ru Hiana, you’re still a silver rank.”

“Thank you for thinking of me, but I’m really fine. No—I don’t want to go, actually. I don’t want to die yet, senior.” Ru Hiana swore to raise her tier to gold tier without anyone’s help and sternly refused Chi-Woo’s offer. She also knew that this expedition was an opportunity for her, but she realized during the Narsha Haram expedition that at her current level, she would only drag Ru Amuh and Chi-Woo down. Ru Hiana thought she shouldn’t be more of a burden and joined another team, and she left after saying that he should come back alive.

Of course, not everyone was like Ru Hiana. While Chi-Woo was busily preparing lunch boxes, a person approached him.

“I also want to join.”

Chi-Woo turned around at the sudden remark and saw Hawa speaking monotonously.

“The expedition.”

While Chi-Woo became speechless at the sudden request, Hawa asked one more time, “Did you get a guide?”

“What? Ah, no. Not yet.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I’m planning to get one over there,” Chi-Woo answered despite his surprise and stared at Hawa with suspicion.

“I want to give the head position a try.”

His suspicion was right. Matching Hawa’s manner of speech, Chi-Woo also replied directly, “No, you can’t.” He refused flat-out.

“Why can’t I do it?”

It wasn’t difficult to bring Ru Hiana along; she had a relationship with him and Ru Amuh, and at the end of the day, she was a silver tier. As the expedition leader, he could let her join at his discretion. However, Hawa was a bronze tier; it was already a matter of concern for her to join as a regular member, but she wanted to join as the head? She crossed the line way over. It was simply absurd. It was no exaggeration to say that the team might fracture and completely crumble even before they left for the expedition.

“Then let me join as a porter like before. But.” Hawa expected Chi-Woo to refuse in the first place, so she continued as if it was no big deal, “If I show you that my ability is better than the head over there, would you be able to give me that position?”

One of Chi-Woo’s eyebrows crept up. She was very confident; he didn’t know why, but she seemed certain that she could get the position. On second thought, she had been training hard alone recently… Chi-Woo shrugged after much thought.

“Then it won’t matter.”

“All right.”

When Hawa smirked, Chi-Woo smiled wryly and handed her two lunch boxes. “If you want to go with us, I won’t stop you. But please don’t overdo it, all right?”

Hawa took the lunch boxes but stood still. Normally, she would have bowed her head and turned away without another word, but today, she lingered and hesitated to say something.

“What is it?” Chi-Woo asked.

When Hawa continued to hesitate, Chi-Woo became nervous. Hawa was the type to unceremoniously make a bomb-like declaration as wanting the head position, but she was now hesitating. It must be no ordinary matter.

“There’s…”

Chi-Woo took a deep breath when Hawa finally opened her mouth.

“No soup.”

‘What?’

“If there’s no soup, it’s harder to eat the rice,” Hawa continued while desperately looking elsewhere, “So please make some soup to go along with it.”

“What type of soup would you like?” Chi-Woo asked with a blank face.

“Doenjang-guk.”

“…Wait. Ms. Hawa, how do you know what doenjang-guk is?”

“Can’t you just make it without asking or arguing with me about it? Please.”

“I just—”

“Please.” Hawa had never looked more desperate.

Chi-Woo closed his mouth because Hawa’s face was contorting with so much self-loathing, it was as if she was thinking, ‘I really hate myself for doing this too.’ In the end, Chi-Woo was pushed back by her indescribable spirit and ended up making doenjang-guk. 

Little did he know, Chi-Hyun was very satisfied with Chi-Woo’s soup. Chi-Woo put his heart and soul into finishing the expedition preparations. Time busily passed by like this, and the starting day of the expedition finally arrived.

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1. korean soybean paste soup ☜