Chapter 158: Button (2/2)
“Ahh, I’m gonna die…”
Yu Jitae resumed training Yeorum. The spartan training session started yet again just like the winter vacation training they had.
Yeorum still hadn’t fought Yong Taeha or Tyr Brzenk yet. Tyr Brzenk wasn’t interested in the competition itself while Yong Taeha avoided her with the help of the group chat.
There wasn’t any reason to snipe them either, so there hadn’t been any chance for them to fight as of yet.
Yu Jitae predicted that Yeorum had already exceeded the level of a cadet, but he was planning to put her at least in the 100’s worldwide by graduation, so that she could fight against and beat Javier Karma from SAN before the end of her Amusement.
And that would also allow her to survive after she returned.
“Ah… my fucking entire body hurts, seriously…”
After coming back to the dormitory, Yeorum collapsed onto the sofa without even washing herself.
Pulsation, breathing and walking. What Yeorum was learning after all those was ‘standing up’. To stand firmly on the ground on two feet.
It might sound absurd but Yeorum didn’t complain and besides, the ‘standing up’ that Yu Jitae demanded was to stand straight even in the most extreme situations without ever falling down.
And after the training session, her veins had been broken and she had bruises on her waist, thighs, calves and feet. Yu Jitae carefully manipulated the mana and massaged her legs while she was lying down on the sofa, so that she could heal them back up.
Since he had been repeating this procedure recently, Yeorum laid down obediently with her head buried into the sofa.
“…”
That was when he felt a gaze from somewhere. Turning around, he found Bom who was writing a novel on the living room table, staring at him. These days, she didn’t stay in her room and instead wrote in the living room.
“Why.”
She had a weird yet indifferent look on her face and remained silent. She merely stared at Yu Jitae for a while, before looking away and focusing back on her novel.
“Ah, thanks. Ima go rest for a bit.”
After the massage, Yeorum gave a long stretch and walked into her own room when Bom’s gaze headed towards her. It stayed on her for longer than usual and remained on the door of the room for a while even after it closed.
Yu Jitae felt a similar gaze again at night.
Kaeul, Gyeoul and the baby chicken were playing with a small elastic ball after dinner, when the Doonga Doonga time suddenly began. Gyeoul struggled to lift the large baby chicken up. If the chicken got slightly bigger, it would make them look like Sisyphus and his rock.
In any case, Kaeul lifted Gyeoul up and then shook them left and right. The Regressor still had no idea about the reason behind this conduct, which tended to occur regardless of the time.
“…Please do, Doonga Doonga.”
Gyeoul suddenly requested that while being hugged by Kaeul. Yu Jitae, who had been vacantly watching them from the sofa, replied half a second late.
“You mean me?”
Nod nod.
“Why?”
“…We need 4 floors, to make Doonga Doonga.”
The baby chicken was the first floor, while Gyeoul was the second and Kaeul the third. It seemed that they had set an actual principle for themselves.
It was meant to be Bom’s turn to participate, but she seemed to be outside and was nowhere to be seen right now. Left with no other choice, Yu Jitae stood up and approached them, when Kaeul suddenly spoke in fright.
“Uhhh, Gyeoul!”
“…Nn.”
“Can we just have 3 floors today?”
“…Nn? No.”
“Why why? Don’t you think 3 is enough?”
“…We can’t, do that.”
Meanwhile, Yu Jitae went behind Kaeul. He just had to grab her on the waist and lift her up.
“M, mommy…”
Kaeul was shocked and buried her face on Gyeoul’s back.
He didn’t know what had made her this flustered but regardless, Doonga Doonga itself wasn’t that difficult. Yu Jitae lifted Kaeul up into the air.
Seemingly enjoying the Doonga Doonga that suddenly increased in height, the baby chicken chirped out loud and Gyeoul screamed out in joy.
But it seemed that Kaeul was scared.
“Ah, ahjussi. Let me down please…”
“What?”
“Hurry…”
She asked with her head lowered, so Yu Jitae let the kids down.
That short Doonga Doonga was apparently enough for them and Gyeoul and the baby chicken chuckled excitedly as they ran around the living room, while Kaeul hurriedly escaped into her room.
That was when he felt that same gaze again.
It was unknown when she had come back, but Bom was standing in the entrance staring at the living room. When her eyes met with Yu Jitae’s, she gave a faint smile before lowering her back and picking up the black plastic bag that was on the ground.
“Guys. I bought some snacks for us.”
After that, they ate the snacks and watched a movie.
It was another normal day of the summer holiday that wasn’t particularly out of the norm.
***
The next morning, Bom showed him a paper and asked.
“Ahjussi.”
“Yeah.”
“Can I go on a short dispatch?”
There were two types of dispatchments in Lair. One was short-term and the other was long-term. The short-term dispatch was around 3-4 days long and they would complete a task outside of Lair while long-term dispatch was quite literally a long counterpart that continued for months.
Yu Jitae checked the paper Bom showed him.
It was a list of short-term missions and locations that had been confirmed by Lair.
“What made you want to do it?”
“To study for my novel and… I also wanted some fresh air.”
“I see.”
“You already know how I enjoy going on trips, right.”
Right. Yu Jitae nodded in response. While going through the list, he found a decent one.
“Then let’s go with this.”
“Hmm… the snowy mountains in North America?”
“Yeah.”
Bom nodded with a slightly brighter expression.
That was when Yu Jitae added.
“It would be a great place to take Gyeoul along.”
These days, Yu Jitae was focusing on Gyeoul. The child started feeling ticklish around her heart, which meant that it was about time for her to shed skin.
A ‘short-term dispatch’ had to be accompanied by the guardian. And if he were to bring Gyeoul along, the best place would be somewhere that was next to water.
But after hearing that, Bom closed her mouth and looked into his eyes. Although her gaze was still indifferent, it had a slightly different light to it than before and he had been seeing that gaze a few times recently.
He was slightly curious, but that was when Bom hesitantly opened her mouth.
“…Hmm, in that case, I’ll go ask the education department if there is room or not.”
“Ah, right. There’s a lot of demand for dispatch locations so go ask them now.”
“Okay.”
When she returned after going to the academy district, there was a disheartened look on her face.
“Why.”
“It’s full, apparently.”
“That’s not good.”
“That paper was from a week ago. It’s my fault for being too late.”
It was understandable. Short-term dispatchments were considered in the final grades and were very popular with cadets.
“Apparently this is the only thing remaining now…”
Bom showed the list again.
There was only one location that didn’t have a line going through.
[North of Africa Ancient Beast Epidemic Ef-014 Virus Outbreak in the Area]
Ancient beast epidemics were very infectious and were rampant in North African regions that weren’t hygienic.
According to the contents of the mission, they had to scout out the source of the epidemic and had to retake any place that had been filled by monsters. But ‘Ef-014’ was a virus that could infect even a superhuman so these missions tended to be avoided the most.
Cadets were soldiers and everyone understood how some could die during the education, assignments or dispatchments.
There was a reason no-one took it till the end.
“Do you think, we can still do this?”
Dragons and the Regressor were immune to the likes of epidemics. However, dragons became extremely fragile and sensitive both before and after shedding their skin and it wasn’t a suitable place for Gyeoul to be at.
Leaving the child behind weighed on his mind.
He pondered for a bit. Thinking back, Bom hadn’t requested him for anything recently and the trip was only two days or a week long at max.
“Do you really want to go?”
Bom gave a nod.
Thus, Yu Jitae decided to go on a short-term dispatch with just Bom.