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[ (Side story) Special selection for current employees ]
[Chapter 8 The final mission of the area ‘Plague Infested City’ has ended.]
[The winning party in the final mission is ‘Lily and the Cuties’.]
As soon as the official announcement of the system was made, Lily jumped up and down, hugging her friends on both sides.
“I won!”
“evil! “I’m dizzy!”
“It’s nice to win, but… what’s the team name? Lily and the cuties?”
“Before the mission started, I secretly wrote something down and submitted it to myself…”
“Ahahaha! Anyway, we won, so let’s have a celebration party!”
Wendy and Anna, who were grumbling at first, were soon caught up in Lily’s pace and laughing and talking wildly.
“Then I will prepare a barbecue.”
On one side, Gerold was already preparing to grill the meat.
Everyone was completely relieved.
[Actions after the current time will not be reflected in points.]
[After 24 hours, all candidates will be sent out of the mission area.]
[The final winning team is requested to rest until the results are announced.]
They will complete the final mission . We competed against other teams and won proudly.
All that’s left is to wait for the entrance exam results to be announced.
And considering the results they showed on their way to this point, it was rather strange that they failed the entrance exam.
“Now we can meet at school every day from now on!”
However, there were people who were not happy with that complete victory.
Clap, clap, clap….
Soshinhan clapped awkwardly while keeping an ambiguous distance from the other party members.
As if there was an invisible wall between them.
The great man came next to him and handed him something.
“Here, drink.”
“…ah. thank you.”
Soshinhan accepted the canned coffee handed to him by Daein.
When I held the can with both hands, I felt warmth.
Thanks to this, my hands, which had been shaking from earlier, seemed to have calmed down a little.
“Whew…”
Soshinhan sighed while looking at his hands and then spoke to Daein with a forced smile as if nothing had happened.
“Anyway, I was really surprised. The boss invited a volunteer from WHA…”
“Retired superhumans sometimes get jobs like this. “If I think the test takers are going to have a problem, I watch over them and rescue them, and things like that.”
“Then the boy from earlier was also hurt…?”
“uh. “I got you to the emergency room.”
The great man naturally lied.
Soshinhan, who did not know much about the circumstances surrounding the WHA, could only nod his head, wondering if that was the case.
The problem was Sosinhan’s current state.
“haha. I see…”
The great man frowned slightly at the sight of Sosinhan smiling weakly and nodding.
“Why are you so upset? “I did well on the exam.”
“…Iknow, right. I do not know.”
So Shinhan drooped his shoulders and smiled weakly. His eyes were unfocused and blurry.
‘Tsk. ‘I can’t believe my only employee is like this…’
Daein scratched his chin with his finger.
I had a rough idea why this timid friend was like this.
The aftereffects that new recruits who are deployed to extreme situations often experience.
A type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A lot of emotions that you couldn’t feel during a hectic battle come rushing back to you only after the situation is settled.
Trembling….
The great man said after seeing Sosinhan’s hands shaking.
“Can we talk over there for a moment?”
“…yes.”
After a while, the two sat side by side on a park bench.
The city where the fog had disappeared was turning red in the evening sunset.
Although it was still a city in ruins, there was a slightly different atmosphere than before in the city where there was only despair and death.
“Mr. Shinhan. Can you see the people over there?”
“…yes.”
Survivors were gathered at the place Daein pointed with his chin. They were sharing food in a makeshift tent.
‘If I were stronger…’
So Shinhan lowered his head because it was painful to see them.
At that time, a great man’s voice came to his ears.
“Raise your head and look straight again.”
That voice contained an irresistible power. Soshinhan suddenly raised his head.
“yes yes!”
“upright.”
‘What do you mean by being upright…’
Now, in Soshinhan’s eyes, all he could see were people who were injured, lost family members and friends, and were in endless sorrow.
But the great man told him to look at something else.
“Those people. “You saved it.”
“…!!”
At that moment, Soshinhan felt an emotion welling up that could not be explained in words.
He had no choice but to watch countless people die before his eyes.
The thought that I could have saved more people if I were stronger than I am now never left my mind.
Therefore, even after the final mission was over, Soshinhan continued to blame himself for being helpless.
‘Because I was weak, people…’
The great man told him, who was only blaming himself, to look at the people who were saved, not at the dead.
“The people I saved….”
“Are those people blaming Mr. Shinhan?”
“No…”
So Shinhan looked at the people blankly.
Then the scenery began to look a little different.
I now realize that the looks of people I had not even encountered because they felt like they were criticizing me were expressions of gratitude.
At that moment, tears poured out for no reason.
“Hehehehehehehehehehehe…”
Soshinhan looked at the people he saved with tears in his eyes for a long time.
Then he finally turned his head and spoke to Daein with red eyes.
“…thank you. “Thanks to the boss’s words, I feel a lot better.”
“Managing the mental health of test takers is also one of the volunteers’ jobs.”
Daein lied shamelessly and patted Sosinhan on the shoulder.
‘Anyway, the problem is that good guys who don’t have any measures in place end up blaming themselves when something happens.’
Soshinhan’s reaction was probably natural.
The kids over there have already had a lot of combat experience and have seen countless deaths with their own eyes. Likewise, Gerold was a knight with extensive combat experience.
However, Soshinhan was just an ordinary citizen until not long ago.
‘For a guy like that to fall into this place overnight, this is pretty good.’
At that time, Soshinhan hesitated and asked.
“Boss, by any chance… did you watch it from beginning to end?”
“Not from the beginning, but roughly from the middle? why?”
“What did the boss think of me…?”
A question asking you to evaluate your own skills from the perspective of a retired superhuman.
The great man spoke honestly.
“It was terrible.”
“…….”
“The battle is clumsy and the judgment of the situation is poor. Being uncool and overly emotional is also a minus. “He’s the perfect type to die in if it were a real fight.”
“But that’s also true for Lily…”
Soshinhan timidly tried to retort, but was silenced by Daein’s cold gaze.
“The little boy can handle it. But what about Mr. Shinhan? “You walk around with a kid and you think we’re in the same class?”
“…….”
The great man spoke so coldly that it seemed harsh.
Pulling him out of the quagmire of useless depression was a different matter.
‘He’s the kind of person who doesn’t know his subject and would be happy to die.’
Justice. belief.
Everything is good.
But that was only when skills supported it.
Daein looked directly at Sosinhan and spoke coldly.
“Honestly, I know best myself that if I wasn’t on the same team as the kid, I wouldn’t have even made it to the final exam.”
“…….”
“Shall I tell you more?”
So Shinhan hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
“…yes. “I would like to ask for more.”
“Once the mission first began…”
Soshinhan’s expression was stiff as he listened to Daein’s harsh evaluation.
I clenched my teeth tightly as if I was angry, my ears turned red as if I was embarrassed, I sighed deeply, and closed my eyes tightly.
“…So far.”
The Daein evaluation, which was like hacking into pieces, has come to an end.
Soshinhan, who was listening to the story with a pale face, let out a long sigh.
“Huh…”
There was a certain amount of resignation mixed in that sigh.
He asked Daein with a bitter smile.
“After all, it would be difficult to get into school with my skills, right?”
The great man nodded silently.
There was a story I had already heard from Baek Chang-su before coming here.
-That friend named Sosinhan. I like his personality and attitude… but his personal skills are quite lacking.
While taking the WHA entrance exam, So Shin-han became surprisingly stronger.
He could be said to have surpassed his limits as he had blossomed into the second form of his trait [Wolfification].
‘But to be honest, this guy’s skills right now are nowhere near the average of all test takers.’
Werewolf?
Although it was a powerful ability, Soshinhan was not even able to properly digest it yet.
If it weren’t for the amazing colleagues by his side, Soshinhan would never have come this far.
He himself was well aware of that fact.
-I think it would be better for that friend to be eliminated. Trying to follow other students may only lead to frustration… What do you think?
Daein crossed the gate without answering Baek Changsu’s question.
And now.
He was answering while facing Sosinhan like this.
“Shinhan will be the only one on this team to fail the entrance exam. No matter how good the team evaluation is, the individual evaluation score is low.”
“…I see.”
Soshinhan smiled bitterly at Daein’s words.
He spoke in a self-mocking voice, as if he had expected it to some extent.
“Well, there were geniuses from all over the universe, so it was ridiculous for someone like me to be in this position.”
The great man frowned at those words.
“Mr. Shinhan. But to belittle yourself like that…”
“But it doesn’t matter.”
“huh?”
“I felt relieved after hearing what the boss said.”
Soshinhan jumped up from his seat.
His eyes were no longer anxious or wavering.
Rather, a calm smile appeared on his lips.
“Because the answer is not just here.”
As I thought back to everything I had experienced from the start of the entrance ceremony until just now, it felt like I had been on a battlefield for several months.
But only a week had passed.
And that week was enough to change Soshinhan’s values.
So Shinhan said with his eyes shining.
“I will try again. It doesn’t have to be WHA. Superhuman Guild Mercenaries. Anywhere is good. It doesn’t matter if you start from the bottom. “I…”
Soshinhan looked down at his hands.
Tremble… My hands were shaking again.
But it wasn’t because of fear like before.
It was because of expectations for the future.
“I want to become stronger. So I want to protect more people.”
“…….”
Wow.
Soshinhan clenched his fist and bowed his head to Daein.
“president. Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. “I have truly received a favor that I cannot repay for the rest of my life.”
“…stop.”
“yes?”
The great man frowned and said.
“It’s cringy, so stop! “I’m not the main character of a boy’s cartoon…”
Soshinhan laughed as Daein scratched the skin on his arm.
“haha. I was greatly influenced by the landlord. He is truly like the main character of a shonen’s cartoon. Just the famous words you left behind…”
“Ugh! Please stop! “Someone take this bastard!”
“…Why are you embarrassed, boss?”
“You know this guy, but you did it on purpose… There’s no way, damn it!”
Daein looked at Sosinhan as if he were seeing some kind of disgusting creature and sighed softly.
“ha. If you really want to do that….”
“Uncle!”
On the other side, Lily was calling to the two people with her hands cupped over her mouth.
“The meat is all cooked, so come quickly!”
“…That doesn’t give us a chance to talk about anything.”
The great man grunted and stood up. The two walked to the barbecue area together.
While walking for a while, the man suddenly stopped.
“Shinhan, go first. “I have someone to talk to for a moment.”
“Hurry. “If you’re late, Lily will eat it all.”
The great man sent the small man away first and then looked at his back.
The skills are definitely lacking.
Compared to other test takers, his talent is not that special.
With my current skills, it would be difficult to even follow WHA’s classes.
…But whatever.
You think you’re being called an immortal hero because someone is a genius.
‘If you have that personality and join a guild or mercenary group, it’s easy for you to become a guest…’
Then you have to hire new restaurant staff, which is also quite annoying and cumbersome.
After roughly organizing his thoughts, Daein scratched his head and muttered.
“From now on, just feed them twice as much mana nutritional food and train them separately.”
The great man who made his decision tapped the star of transcendence.
Then, a hologram that only adults could see appeared above it.
After clicking a few buttons, communication was immediately established with the other party.
“CEO.”
The person who appeared on the hologram was Baek Chang-soo.
-Why but? I’m busy interrogating a spy right now.
“Can we put at least one person into special selection?
-…Wasn’t it you who told me not to do that?
To Baek Chang-soo, who looked at him in bewilderment, Dae-in said, “Isn’t that what social life is all about?”
“no? “Then, let’s make one right now. It’s a special selection for employees.”
-…It must be awkward.
A few days later, the WHA entrance exam results were announced.
[(Side story) Special selection for current employees] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
