Chapter 37 - The Eve Of The Storm

How much time has passed already? It's already evening.

After spending the day wandering around Busan with excitement, we finally entered the hotel to get some sleep.

The five-star hotel, 'The Signature'—supposedly the most expensive one in Busan.

Personally, as a patriot, it bothers me that such an iconic Busan hotel has an English name. Why not use Korean? We have perfectly good Korean words instead of 'Signature'... like... well, 'sign.'

...Come to think of it, 'sign' isn't Korean either. Wait, isn't 'signature' being used in a different sense here anyway? Whatever, let's just go in.

The lobby inside was incredibly spacious and elegant. It looked like it could easily accommodate hundreds of people. I told Subin to watch our luggage, while Seo-eun and I headed to the front desk to check in. Since Seo-eun had made the reservation, she came along too.

"Welcome. May I have the name on the reservation?"

"Ah, it should be under Han Seo-eun."

"Yes, confirmed. Here's your key for room 2708."

"...Is it just one room?"

"Yes. You only reserved one room."

"Ah, okay..."

I trudged back to the lobby holding a single card key and asked Seo-eun, who was beside me.

"Seo-eun, why did you only book one room?"

At my questioning look, Seo-eun averted her eyes and said.

"Well... you know, it saves money and all..."

"Why would we need to save money? Between you and me, we have more than enough."

"Ugh! The bed's a super king anyway, so let's just go sleep!"

"Seo-eun? Wait, there's only one bed too?"

As I stared at Seo-eun in dismay, Subin came over, hugged Seo-eun, and said.

"It'll be nice for the three of us to sleep together after so long. Hehe, I'm looking forward to it."

"Uh... but we've never actually slept together as a group before..."

The two ignored me and whooshed off toward the elevator.

My authority as head of the household...

***

"Wow, the room is really spacious!"

Seo-eun bounced around the hotel room in admiration.

It's nice to see her sparkling with excitement and moving around energetically, instead of always sitting primly in front of her computer.

Students really should go outside and run around a bit. Definitely.

"Wow, the bathroom is as big as a hot spring."

Subin, who had gone toward the bathroom, also widened her eyes in surprise.

Right, this is what a five-star hotel is all about, huh?

It was the biggest and most spacious hotel I'd ever been to in my life.

Even the furniture was made of luxurious wood that seemed like it would cost tens of millions of won if you accidentally burned it.

I definitely shouldn't play with fire in this hotel. Oh wait, you're not supposed to play with fire anyway, right?

"The night view is amazing."

I said that as I drew back the curtains. It was exactly as I said. Being on a high floor, we had a spectacular view overlooking the Busan cityscape at night. I could even see the night sea with its waves in the distance.

"Yaaawn... Wow, the TV is huge."

I looked at the TV in the bedroom area with admiration. Even the TV at our base isn't this size—should we get a new one?

But seriously, there really was only one bed. Of course, it was huge—like four beds pushed together—but... did we really need to book a single bed?

As they stood around awkwardly with their suitcases, I spoke first.

"Let's unpack first, wash up, hang out a bit, and then sleep."

I'm tired from all that walking around today.

***

And so everyone washed up and lay down on the bed.

Seo-eun lay in the middle, with Subin and me on either side.

We decided to rest while watching TV.

As I was flipping through channels looking for something interesting, Seo-eun, who had been looking at her phone beside me, spoke up.

"Oppa, get me some water."

Huh? What did she say?

Did I hear that wrong?

"Water."

But Seo-eun said it again, completely nonchalantly.

Wait, Seo-eun, do you not have hands or feet...

"Seo-eun... to think you'd boss Oppa around like this now. Sob... I've raised you wrong. I should have been stricter. Oh no, oh no..."

As I made exaggerated wailing sounds, Seo-eun waved her hands in panic.

"No, Oppa, it's not like that! You have telekinesis, don't you? Can't you just whoosh it out with that? You only need to move your hand a bit, right?"

Ah, is that what she meant?

I thought my Seo-eun had become an ungrateful child...

"Mm, sorry Seo-eun. Just get up and get it yourself."

"Aww... okay."

"No, the reason is, Oppa needs to conserve his strength."

"Strength? What do you mean?"

"Hmm... did I not explain this to you? Let's see... you know MP in RPG games, right? Should I call it mana? The stat that mages need to fill to use magic."

"Oh, that? The blue bar below the HP bar?"

"Yeah, that. Oppa's telekinesis is like that. If I use it too often, I run out of power and it becomes only as strong as a claw machine grabber. But if I don't use it and just stay still or charge? What should I call it, concentrate? Anyway, if I do that, the power gets a bit stronger. So I need to save up power for emergencies."

Actually, since the last time I used it was months ago dealing with that crocodile bastard, it felt pretty strong now. Patience wins...!!

"Ah. I get it now. I thought you could just use it freely... I'll be right back."

And so Seo-eun trudged off toward the hotel mini-fridge.

I should flip through channels in the meantime.

Variety shows... news...

I just put on the news.

Honestly, in this world, the news is more entertaining than variety shows.

How can it not be fun when the news goes on about B-rank villains~ and fire ability users~ and such?

When I turned on the news, there were photos of a blonde-haired woman and a woman with long sky-blue hair. Oh, the one on the left is Stardus. The one on the right is her. The Ice Maiden of the North Sea.

The anchor's voice flowed from the news.

[As citizens' security concerns continue following the report of Shadow Walker's comatose state, Hero Association A-Rank Heroes Stardus and Icicle have come forward to address the situation directly. The two stated they would maintain a 24-hour emergency system, and announced that as before, Stardus would be responsible for Seoul and the metropolitan area, while Icicle would cover Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and the Busan area.]

Well, Stardus was always in charge of Seoul and the Ice Maiden of the North Sea was always in charge of Busan, so what they're basically saying is that those two will be working 24 hours. Poor them...

The Ice Maiden of the North Sea isn't called that yet—she appears on the news under her official hero name, Icicle. Well, 'Ice Maiden of the North Sea' is an epithet she gets later after freezing North Korea, so it makes sense.

As I briefly recalled the original work, the anchor continued speaking.

[In response, citizens expressed concern, saying, 'South Korea is too vast for just two heroes to cover.' The Association then released a statement advising people to 'keep a baseball bat by their bedside as a precaution,' which has sparked nationwide outrage.]

...So the Association is still at it.

Well, the Association has always been like that, so it's not particularly surprising. If I remember correctly, even the Association President was a bit unhinged...

But seriously, public safety must be pretty shaky right now. Should I prepare something too?

"Oppa, watching the news again? You really do act like an old man sometimes."

Seo-eun suddenly dealt critical damage as she returned from the bedroom. No, that's unfair. This might be everyday life for you, but for me it feels like watching a movie.

"Huh? Wait, that's not water—that's cola? Where'd you get that?"

"Cola? I found it when I opened the minibar."

I nearly screamed.

"Seo-eun! You can't just drink that! Do you know how ridiculously overpriced hotel minibar drinks and snacks are? That can of cola you're drinking probably costs five thousand won!"

As I reacted in shock, Seo-eun shrugged as if to say, 'What's the big deal?'

"So what if it's five thousand or fifty thousand won per drink? We have plenty of money."

Her words left me momentarily speechless.

Right, we do have a lot of money, don't we?

Between the money I'd made using my knowledge of the original work since arriving in this world and what Seo-eun had already earned, we had quite a fortune.

But I guess I'd lived like an ordinary citizen for so long that I kept forgetting.

"Besides, Oppa, this hotel alone costs how much? This building probably has the highest land value in all of Busan, doesn't it? It's the only five-star hotel here."

"Mm, right. Drink as much as you want. Just make sure to brush your teeth afterward."

"Oh, come on. Do you think I'm a child?"

Seo-eun puffed out her cheeks in protest. Uh, you actually look pretty childish right now...

Subin simply watched us with a quiet smile.

*

"Haaah... I'm getting sleepy now. Let's call it a night, everyone."

If we wanted to wake up early and have fun tomorrow, we needed to sleep early.

And so we all brushed our teeth, turned off the lights, and lay down.

We were all lying together, but the bed was so large that it wasn't particularly uncomfortable.

Though sharing one blanket did feel a bit awkward.

Not long after we'd lain down, I heard quiet breathing from the other side—Subin was already asleep.

Already? She fell asleep the moment she lay down.

As I closed my eyes to sleep, Seo-eun, who was lying next to me, murmured softly, apparently still awake.

"Today was fun..."

"Mm? Yeah, what was the most fun?"

"Seeing the ocean was nice, and touring the market was fun too... I think it'd be good to go out and have fun like this sometimes."

"Yeah. Let's go out and have fun from time to time."

If we can, that is.

First I need to complete all the terror plots in my head and Stardus's growth project...

"We should sleep now if we want to have fun tomorrow too."

"Okay..."

Seo-eun yawned once, then buried her face in her pillow.

I should hurry and sleep too.

The hotel is so quiet, I'll probably fall asleep quickly.

And true to that thought, I fell into a deep sleep within minutes.

When I open my eyes tomorrow, the sun will be up, right?

***

However, late at night, when the moon still illuminated the dark city, at the hotel.

Thud.

Thud thud thud.

Heavy footsteps echoing from all directions.

BOOM—

The sound of something exploding somewhere.

Kyaaaaaah. Crash.

Someone's scream, and the sound of something shattering.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG.

The pounding on our door, like noise from upstairs neighbors.

"FBI OPEN UP!!!!"

And shouting voices coming from outside our door.

"Oh, for fuck's sake..."

I woke up mid-sleep and muttered.

Why does this keep happening to me?