Chapter 27

"The foolish Jin Soram must reflect on suspecting me by ordering a week's worth of late-night snacks."

"..."

Soram took a card out of the back cover of his cell phone and handed it to Ayoung.

"Return it the week the midterm exams end."

"Really? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Buy snacks too. If you want to buy for your friends, go ahead."

"Thank you so much!"

Ayoung, whose allowance was still managed by her parents, quickly took the card.

Soram read Tae-un's message one more time. His special ability was 'numerical addition and subtraction'...

"Oppa, is Tae-un oppa maybe able to control weight? Like becoming lighter than air and flying."

"No, that's probably not it. If he became that light, he wouldn't be able to block attacks and would just get pushed back."

But Han Tae-un's body was incredibly sturdy. Above all, the day a 4th-grade dungeon broke out at a high school was in March, when the cold winds of spring were still blowing. If he could make his body lighter to fly, he would have been swept away by the wind while in the air. However, there was no such instability visible in Han Tae-un.

Soram continued to stare intently at the message Tae-un had sent.

The keyword for the special ability was 'numerical addition and subtraction'...

Being able to add and subtract numbers must mean something that can be expressed numerically. If it affects flight, it would be factors like buoyancy, gravity...

The most likely possibility is still controlling physical strength, but... No. Perhaps it's not limited to just one element, and the 'numerical control' itself could be the special ability. An ability to manipulate everything expressed in numbers... But wouldn't that be a cheat-level ability that would turn the whole world upside down?

The ability to freely fly, be strong, and even crack a concrete floor. What should one even call this?

"Ugh..."

"What's wrong? Why are you like that?"

"It's been a while since I had to think this hard, so it's tiring..."

Soram's upper body collapsed onto the desk. He looked at the message Tae-un had sent again. 'Numerical addition and subtraction.' The mysterious sentence that remained unsolved was still there. The ability was something he would have to ponder over more in the future. And...

The awakening wish. To help the hunters. In fact, this information wasn't much help in guessing the special ability. It was an ambiguous wish that could lead to various conclusions. It could go in the direction of becoming stronger to fight alongside the hunters, or it could create supportive techniques like healing abilities.

It was also a very Han Tae-un-like awakening wish. Perhaps his unique sense of justice was ignited as he saw the citizens in crisis and the desperate hunters.

"Ah, but oppa. This is kind of funny."

"What?"

"You say you're the strongest in this team, so don't save you, and Tae-un oppa says he wants to help the other hunters."

"It's fine if he doesn't save me. Ayoung, you shouldn't try to save me either and just run away."

"Normally it would be a really cool thing to say, but the way you say it just makes you sound like a lazy person who can't be bothered to run away."

It was a thought that could be easily entertained while looking at Soram sprawled out on the desk.

However, Soram lay there, ignoring it and staring at his cell phone. The screen hadn't changed from the page with Tae-un's self-introduction.

Looking at it again, it was truly a noble awakening wish. As he kept staring at it, a certain voice began to echo in Soram's mind.

You have to live.

"Ugh..."

It felt suffocating, as if his insides were blocked. He wanted to close his eyes, but if he closed them now, he felt the voice and that scene would come up. Soram gripped the phone tighter as he kept Tae-un's awakening wish in his eyes.

Han Tae-un, who awakened for the most altruistic reason, and Han Tae-un who sacrificed his life three times because of Soram. The emotion that arose from that was not remorse or gratitude, but...

Who asked you to save me? Help me? Do you have any idea how fucking annoying it is to just take things as you please?

But Soram had no target left to be angry at. Yelling at the current Han Tae-un, who knows nothing, about why he repeated that nonsense would be useless. He would only get the answer that he doesn't understand, and that would make him feel even more alone.

So the goal of this life is to forcibly repay the borrowed life at least once...

After some time, the Soram reflected in the darkened screen had a hollow smile on his face. Based on the thoughts that had just come to him, he could indulge in a little mischief.

To give this life's Han Tae-un a bit of an awakening as well.

* * *

On a weekday morning, only Soram and Tae-un were in the Team 7 office. The other team member had gone to school.

The work that Field Operations Bureau hunters do in the office is filing reports on dispatch sites, or requesting supplies like weapons. When they returned from a dispatch of the same grade, the average length of the report was about 3 lines for team leader Soram, 10 lines for Ayoung, and 15 lines for Tae-un. And so, today, Soram was lazily resting his head on the desk, while Tae-un was tapping on the laptop.

When the silence between the two lasted more than an hour, the sound that broke the peace was always the same.

Beep― Beep― Beep―

"Is it a dispatch request?"

"Yes."

Tae-un closed the laptop and picked up the outerwear hanging on the chair. There was no longer an overly hurried or anxious look like before when the dispatch signal came.

"Have a good trip."

"I'll see you later."

Tae-un gave a slight nod and left the office, while Soram waved his hands flutteringly.

And Soram got up from his prone position and turned on his cell phone. The screen that soon appeared had Tae-un's dispatch location written on it. He took a cap from the cluttered work desk and pushed it down firmly. Then he opened the window.

"No, it was definitely here..."

When Tae-un arrived at the construction site, the rift was nowhere to be seen.

Of course, the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters also receives false reports sometimes. There have been cases where anxious people mistook a black banner or a rope fluttering in the sky for a rift. But the reporter seemed genuinely distressed.

In fact, if the hunter who came here had been one with a rather gentle personality, they would have just said, "Oh, I'm sorry about that" and sent them back. However, when a large man came and looked at him coldly, the reporter was intimidated and added more words. Although the person himself had no particular thoughts and was just as expressionless as usual...

The aggrieved reporter even showed the photos he had taken when reporting to the Rift Phenomenon Management Headquarters.

"... Yes, it's hard to see this as a mere mistake."

"I told you!"

When he zoomed in on the photo, this was indeed a rift. There was no possibility of something being blown away by the wind in an indoor space, and the cracks around the rift were clear.

It was said that among the weak rifts, there were rare cases where they closed themselves by recognizing the harmful substances in the air, heat, or cold as attacks. Tae-un looked around.

"I'll go check just in case. Where exactly did the rift occur?"

"It's over there. Up there, above."

The location of the rift was around the 3rd floor of the building where the floor had not yet been laid. Despite the weak grade, there was a reason to call the flight team. Tae-un looked at the place the man was pointing.

Tae-un's expression slightly frowned as he looked up. The reporter took a step back, thinking that he was about to be scolded with, 'There's nothing there, where did this nonsense come from...' The handsome man with a strong build was rather intimidating.

Tae-un's feet lifted off the ground. Smoothly, his body flew up, passing the reporter's height, then the 1st and 2nd floor ceilings, continuing to soar.

Goodness. Leaving behind the reporter who had involuntarily admired him, Tae-un approached the strange thing he had just discovered. On the gray steel frame, something was fluttering slightly.

What he found was a small post-it note in the shape of wings. It was a shape he was sure he had seen somewhere before.

[The cute snail has already taken care of the rift!

Just report that it's done! :D]

"..."

Tae-un held the post-it note and hovered there for a long time.

* * *

Today, Soram received a call instead of a dispatch signal.

Han Tae-un.

Seeing the name appear on the screen, Soram put out the cigarette he was smoking on the roof of the headquarters and went inside the building.

"Yes, hello."

"Jin Soram ssi. It's me."

"Yes. Did the dispatch go well?"

"... Yes. But by any chance."

"Then come straight to the restaurant. Let's eat. I'm hungry."

Before Tae-un could say anything more, Soram abruptly hung up the phone. Through the elevator window, the sky was a very deep blue as spring was maturing.

Tae-un, who arrived at the headquarters quickly, asked as soon as he faced Soram.

"Jin Soram ssi, did you by any chance go to the site I was dispatched to?"

"Huh? Why would I?"

Soram answered with a serious expression, and Tae-un's face became one of 'Is that not the case...?' Seeing Tae-un choose the bulgogi bibimbap, Soram also approached the Korean food corner.

"I think the snail ssambap looks delicious... No."

Soram eventually chose the strong soybean paste ssambap. Snail... Tae-un felt a vague sense of unease and asked an unusual question.

"Why aren't you ordering the snail ssambap?"

"Because today, it feels like fratricide."

"..."

As expected...! Leaving Tae-un with his eyes narrowed, Soram turned his back while laughing.

The two menu items that didn't require a long cooking process came out quickly. Soram, who had gone to the Korean food corner first, naturally picked up two trays.

"This one is mine."

"Okay. I'll take it to the table."

"No need. What for..."

"Just let me. From now on, I plan to spoil Han Tae-un ssi."

Since the path back to the table was too narrow to argue and snatch the tray back, in the end, the food he had ordered was delivered to Tae-un's seat.

"... Thank you."

"Don't mention it. There's more I can do for you."

Soram smiled brightly. But Tae-un himself was not the type to think 'It's convenient and good if he does it for me,' and since the other person was Jin Soram, he looked at him with a wary gaze, wondering what his ulterior motive was.

After finishing the meal, Tae-un quickly picked up his tray to avoid Soram's outstretched hand. Soram chuckled "Hmm..." and kept that suspicious smile as he followed Tae-un. From here, the thought that something was off kept growing stronger.

And the second call came after lunch.

[The snail has appeared energetically again!]

When he found a note with the same design, that thought became completely certain. He clearly remembered seeing this wing post-it before. It was the one Soram had attached and floated on a flashlight when clearing the mimicry dungeon.

Tae-un called Soram, but he didn't answer. He strode back to the office. But the office was empty.