70
What greeted Baek Woojin as he stepped out of the simulation room was not enthusiastic cheers or applause, but a heavy silence.
"You were magnificent."
"Ah, thank you."
It was right as he gave a slight nod to the only staff member who spoke to him.
"I request a rematch!"
Arthur Taylor, who had been standing beside Hong Yeonha with an exceedingly triumphant posture, approached Baek Woojin and the staff with a rigid face.
"No! I made a mistake. I will forfeit, so please let me use the simulation room."
At Arthur Taylor's demand, the staff member merely curled the corners of his lips slightly.
"Kugh...!!"
His face turning red, Arthur Taylor shifted his target from the staff member to Baek Woojin standing beside him.
"The real thing is tomorrow."
"Who said otherwise?"
"Kugh...!!"
Trembling slightly at the shoulders for a moment, Arthur Taylor turned and left on his own, just like that night a few days ago.
"Yes. As you all witnessed, the last participant is the victor. I believe there are no objections, so I will conclude this gathering. Except for the winner and their partner, I ask the rest of the guests to please vacate the premises."
As the staff member spoke politely with a soft curve at the corners of his mouth, the gathered people hesitated briefly before heading one by one toward the elevators.
As Baek Woojin watched the crowd quickly dispersing, his gaze caught Hong Yeonha expressionlessly blending into the flow of people.
For some reason, it looked to Baek Woojin as though Hong Yeonha was forcing an expressionless facade to hide her joy.
"Everyone has left."
Just as the staff member said, the crowd that had filled the room poured out in an instant, leaving only the staff member, himself, and Shin Hyeji. Just the three of them.
"Then."
The staff member tugged slightly at his collar to straighten his attire and smiled.
"Now that everyone's gone, why don't you head up."
"…?"
Baek Woojin, who had thought they were told to stay because there was something to be given to the winner, blinked at the completely unexpected words.
"Why did you ask us to stay?"
"Because you seemed to dislike noisy situations."
At the staff member's immediately following answer, Baek Woojin blinked once more.
"Is that all?"
"I could also escort you to your room."
"…That won't be necessary."
Since it didn't sound like a joke no matter how he looked at it, Baek Woojin waved his hand and gestured for Shin Hyeji, whose eyes were sparkling to an almost excessive degree, to come over.
"Um──"
"Enough."
Before Shin Hyeji, who had approached, could even open her mouth to say something, Baek Woojin abruptly cut off her words.
"If you have something to say, save it until after all the schedules are finished. If you understand, nod once."
"……."
In contrast to her sparkling eyes, Shin Hyeji calmly nodded once.
"However, normal conversation is fine."
"Yes."
"Alright."
Since he was planning to return to Korea with Hong Yeonha rather than Shin Hyeji's group once the schedule ended anyway, he would never find out what she originally intended to say.
"Then we'll be going."
After giving a light bow to the staff member, Baek Woojin had taken only a few steps toward the elevator with Shin Hyeji.
"Guest."
Stopping his footsteps and turning his head, he saw the staff member wearing a smile that evoked a peculiar feeling ask,
"You primarily use a specific weapon, don't you?"
"Yes."
"If you don't mind, could you tell me what weapon you mainly use?"
It didn't seem like he was asking out of simple curiosity, but Baek Woojin decided not to ask for the reason.
"A halberd."
"I see. That's why you used your sword while it was still sheathed."
The staff member muttered to himself and nodded, then bowed respectfully.
"May you have good results tomorrow as well."
As usual, Baek Woojin didn't respond and boarded the elevator with Shin Hyeji.
The two pressed the floors where their respective rooms were located.
"Today was a really fun day."
"The opposite for me."
"Ah, I'm sorry."
When Shin Hyeji quickly bowed in apology, Baek Woojin concluded that the woman before him was just as clueless as Arthur Taylor.
"I was joking."
"…Really?"
"It's not like I'm in a good mood, but it's not bad either."
"Then isn't that ultimately a bad thing?"
It was a matter that only the person themselves could clearly distinguish, but Baek Woojin kept his words to himself so she could interpret it freely. That way, she would probably quiet down a bit more.
"See you."
"Yes. See you tomorrow."
Baek Woojin, whose floor was one level below, got off the elevator first.
Perhaps thanks to the staff member's consideration, no one waiting to have a conversation was in sight. The moment he passed the corner of the quiet corridor and opened the door to his room.
Vmmm!!
The smartphone he had kept in his embrace rang loudly, and he took it out and checked the brightly lit screen.
[ Hong Yeonha ]
After briefly debating whether to answer or not, Baek Woojin decided to have a short conversation and answered on speakerphone.
-Why are you answering so late?
"If anything, I want to ask. Were you watching?"
-What are you talking about. I was just about to go out to buy snacks and happened to see the elevator stop on your floor by chance.
"Please hold back on the stalking."
-I said I wasn't.
Tossing his smartphone haphazardly onto the bed, he opened the closet.
"So why did you call."
-Do you really have to use a halberd? From what I saw today, you handle a sword well too.
"If we're just going to mess around in a D-rank dungeon, a sword didn't seem like a problem either."
-Alright. I get it. Just get me a halberd and that'll be fine!
Having finished changing his clothes, Baek Woojin picked up the smartphone again with a sullen expression.
"Anyone hearing this would mistakenly think I threatened you to get me a halberd."
-I don't care. Hanging up.
"No w─"
It wasn't a joke; Hong Yeonha actually hung up.
Vmm!!
[ Hong Yeonha : You were cool. ]
"I'd rather you spoke well to your grandfather than give me your impressions."
Still, his mood wasn't entirely bad, as Baek Woojin chuckled and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes.
**
"Good morning."
"Yes."
When he opened the door to go eat breakfast, Shin Hyeji, who had been right next door, greeted him abruptly, but Baek Woojin wasn't surprised at all.
"It's the last day."
"I suppose it is."
They boarded the elevator without any particular conversation, and as it descended, it stopped and several young men and women got on.
"Oh!"
A man who appeared to be of the same Asian descent widened his eyes like a child who had found what they were looking for and pointed his index finger.
"Baek Woojin! Baek Woojin? Is that right? It is, isn't it?"
"He doesn't look Korean. But his Korean is good."
"What? Ahahaha!! You don't know me? No, wait. I guess you wouldn't."
The man, who laughed loudly, extended his hand and requested a handshake.
"I'm Wang Ho, the third disciple of Kwon Ma!"
He had never heard that face or name before.
In other words, it was a name he hadn't even heard of before his regression.
"I'm Baek Woojin."
The moment their hands clasped, the man who had introduced himself as Wang Ho suddenly began to put strength into his grip.
'As expected, I fall a bit short in pure physical strength.'
Baek Woojin was evaluating himself quite objectively. And he concluded that he was not inferior at all compared to the self-proclaimed promising talents gathered here.
Even now.
"Ugh!!"
The skeleton that had changed as his limits grew from E-rank to C-rank, the rapid growth rate through soloing. And.
"B-Body enhancement is cheating!"
"Bullshit."
An overwhelming amount of mana.
"You do it too, then."
"Ha! I regret thiiiiiiagh!?"
When Baek Woojin bent his hand back, Wang Ho screamed and dropped to one knee right in front of him.
"I-I lost! I lost!!"
"So what."
"What!?"
Not liking how he was saying things that might make someone misunderstand this was a fair match from the start, Baek Woojin kept Wang Ho on his knees until the elevator stopped at the dining lounge floor.
"M-My hand…."
Having lightly sorted out the hierarchy, Baek Woojin got off the elevator with Shin Hyeji, who had been watching quietly from beside him.
"Woojin-san."
"……?"
Baek Woojin, who was briefly pondering what to eat today, turned his head again at the voice from behind. There stood another man who had ridden the elevator with Wang Ho.
"I'm Abeno Shinji. I would like to be friends."
"Sure."
Unlike someone else, the two exchanged a normal handshake.
"Line, ah! May we exchange contact info?"
Looking somewhat timid for an Awakener, he held out his smartphone, and Baek Woojin took it and entered his number.
"Thank you. I will contact you later."
"Yeah, sure."
His pronunciation was accurate, but his overall inexperience was apparent, so Baek Woojin decided not to hold him back any longer and let Abeno Shinji go.
"……."
"……?"
When Abeno Shinji passed by first, the woman who had been with him gave a polite bow from the waist and followed behind him.
"Is he a famous person?"
Unable to contain his curiosity, Baek Woojin eventually asked Shin Hyeji standing next to him.
"He's a descendant of Abeno Seimei, and unusually, he's said to use jujutsu rather than magic."
"That has nothing to do with swords, but you know quite well."
"Yes. Did you see the woman who followed him earlier? She's Abeno Shinji's older sister, Abeno Suzuka. She's known in Japan as a master who handles all types of swords and blades."
"I see."
So Abeno Shinji was a case he discovered while investigating the sister's side, Abeno Suzuka.
"Um──"
"Yo~ brother-in-law!"
Someone spoke from behind, but the words spouted by Shin Hyeri approaching from the front were far more irritating.
"Who's your brother-in-law."
"Just kidding~"
It didn't sound like a joke at all, but Shin Hyeri laughed heartily and lightly patted Baek Woojin's shoulder.
"But why is she acting like that?"
"I don't know."
"Hmm~?"
Shin Hyeri glanced at her younger sister Shin Hyeji standing beside her, but Shin Hyeji only blinked.
"Sigh, I was a fool to expect anything. More importantly, brother-in-law... alright, I get it."
When Baek Woojin showed genuine displeasure, Shin Hyeri raised both hands and took a step back.
"More importantly, how about going somewhere with this noona for a bit?"
"I don't mind going, but."
When he gave her a look asking if she should at least tell him the reason, Shin Hyeri slightly curled the corners of her lips and brought her mouth close to Baek Woojin's ear.
"You know a runestone is appearing in the latter half of the auction, right?"
"Yes."
"Yeah. That's exactly it."
Shin Hyeri distanced herself again and lightly flicked her long flowing hair.
"Let's go get a compatibility test."
"I suppose it'd be fine to be called brother-in-law for at least one day today."
"I'll pass on a petty brother-in-law though~?"
"What a shame."
Her overly honest attitude actually came across as likable, and Shin Hyeri laughed for a good while as she patted Baek Woojin's back.