Chapter 61
HEL SCANS
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In stark contrast to the dungeon, which had been gloomy and tense throughout, the gathering place had a very comfortable atmosphere.
It was adorned with appropriate lighting that revealed every nook and cranny, along with refreshing and pleasant air.
It was a space where the tension built up during the battle could gently dissipate.
crackle…
Children gathered closely around a warm bonfire, looking at the Hero standing in front of them.
“You’ve all worked hard. You must have learned and realized a lot during this practical training. Please don’t forget and apply what you’ve learned in the next session.”
The Hero finished speaking and gestured to Pia.
The children’s eyes widened as they saw the cart Pia had brought.
Zoom-!
Cuculli landed gracefully on it, her horns swaying from side to side.
“Heuk, heuk. Meat! It’s meat!”
“Oh, there’s also alcohol!”
The forgotten hunger now made its presence.
The current time was noon.
They had been fighting on an empty stomach for almost six hours since dawn.
Their stomachs were practically sticking to their backbones.
The Hero grabbed Cuculli’s tail, pulling her out and concluding his speech.
“I’ll give you two hours now. Take a break and share your thoughts and feedback with each other.”
“Wow!”
“Hurry, hurry!”
Thus, an unexpected feast unfolded.
“Well, let’s eat!”
Children gathered around naturally, without picking specific groups.
The one that attracted the most attention was, unsurprisingly, the victorious group.
“Is this a cheerful rebellion?”
“Wow, honestly, we didn’t really expect you guys to win.”
“No, how did you do it? We thought you would lose since your group never encountered ours.”
As they perceived the other group as relatively weaker, there was even more focus on them.
Gerald, at the center, wore an extremely proud expression as he sincerely answered each person.
His shoulders almost reached his ears in triumph.
“Hmm, that’s right…,” he mused.
He had been receiving pitiful looks ever since the brutal education he received from the Hero in the first class.
Weren’t there even some mean-spirited people who openly laughed at me to my face?
“Hahaha! Fool, you’re a fool!”
Now, the days of insult and contempt are over.
He was filled with emotion and patted the back of the person responsible for this victory.
Bang, bang!
The girl’s black hair swayed rhythmically.
Group 5 was the first to place the explosive artifact in the heart of the simulation.
This was thanks to their swift breakthrough of the early stages densely packed with traps.
“Hey, good job. Were you some kind of detection hound? It felt like it!”
“Yeah… thanks.”
Nyhill nodded as she toyed with the meat in her hands.
Gerald gazed at her indifferent face with a strange expression.
Under the silky black hair, her clean and fair skin, tinged reddish by the warmth of the bonfire, was revealed.
When their eyes met, she casually averted her gaze.
Gerald suddenly realized something.
‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve had a conversation with her.’
Of course, he was aware of her existence.
However, amidst extreme personalities with excessive quirks, Nyhill, with no distinct features, was just vague.
A quiet, commoner-origin colleague.
If forced to point out a characteristic, it would be her unyielding calm expression.
Anyway, she gave off a feeling of not standing out in anything.
“Today was a bit different, though.”
It was in the early trap zone.
When team members were gradually falling into traps, Nyhill took the lead.
Since then, it has been a series of impressive scenes.
‘Is she some kind of ranger?’
She instinctively seemed to grasp the intention of every trap.
Her momentary instincts and agile reactions were also at an extraordinary level.
Thanks to her, they could quickly navigate through the trap area.
Even when facing the guardians, she reliably covered his blind spots and assisted in combat.
To others, she might seem to have made little contribution, but Gerald, standing at the forefront, felt with his entire being how invaluable she was.
Gerald felt an urge to add another word.
“By the way, you worked really hard today.”
“Worked hard?”
Nyhill set down the meat she was eating.
Gerald nodded absentmindedly.
“Yeah, it was different from usual.”
“Different from usual…?”
“Do you have a wish you’d ask the professor or something?”
“A wish?”
Nyhill’s eyes, mirroring Gerald’s words like a parrot, shook ever so slightly.
Her black pupils turned towards the Hero on the other side before returning to their original position.
‘What’s going on?’
It resembled the face of a child caught doing something mischievous.
Gerald chuckled, feeling the odd impression.
Soon, Nyhill realized her mistake and, trying to divert Gerald’s attention, asked,
“What about you? What do you want from the professor?”
“Me? I’ve got it all planned out.”
Following Nyhill’s intention, skepticism disappeared from Gerald’s eyes, replaced by a rising excitement.
“A signature. I’m going to get a signature.”
“A signature? You mean, like signing something?”
“Yeah.”
“Why a signature?”
“What a silly question.”
His own spear.
HEL SCANS
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The Hero’s writing would be engraved on the family heirloom passed down through generations in the Bryce lineage.
‘To my beloved student Gerald, filled with affection and support.’
“Something like that!”
I don’t think he will do it….. Nyhill mumbled as she continued to eat her meat.
But upon hearing Gerald’s words, the concept of a ‘wish’ became inevitable.
Maybe imagining wouldn’t hurt.
Nyhill pondered deeply.
Meanwhile, other children were also enjoying a sweet break.
“You! You watched me!”
“I didn’t.”
“You almost caught me!”
“I didn’t, really.”
There was Luke, avoiding the energetic Evergreen who was hopping around in frustration and changing his spot.
“Hey, Ban. I saw you at that time.”
“How did you do that? Dodging everything so smoothly.”
Among the children, there was also Ban, emitting a bright laugh.
“…But why are you here?”
“I got kicked out for eating it before it was even cooked!”
“Well, that makes sense.”
“Urgh! you are aiding and abetting bullying!”
Even Cuculli, coveting the Hero’s meat, was there.
“…”
Leciel, with a stoic expression, didn’t touch the cooking meat and just stared into space as it sizzled.
Regardless, the practical training had left an impression on everyone.
“Pia, you did a great job.”
It was Pia who had stayed up for several nights preparing for this dungeon practical training.
She sat huddled like a sleepy cat, absorbing the warmth from the bonfire, faintly smiling as she raised her cup.
“Thank you, Professor.”
With that, the dungeon practical training, filled with chatter and adventures, came to an end.
* * *
Nyhill’s routine was as follows:
She would contact the informants, verify the newly updated information, and review the data collected by the dolls.
The surveillance and observation tasks were divided among the staff—Senetta monitored the staff, Sergei took care of the servants and children, and the dolls scattered in the nearby village gathered external information.
After selecting any notable incidents to report to the Hero, she spent the remaining time observing and guarding the children.
In the past few days, most of the children had spent their time in the training ground.
Perhaps it was because they directly felt the strength of their competitors and their own shortcomings during this practical training.
The intensity of the training had significantly increased compared to before.
Therefore, Nyhill’s time in the training ground naturally extended as well.
“…”
As usual, Nyhill found her place in a corner.
No one showed any interest in her.
Under her abundant hair, her sparkling black eyes moved here and there.
‘…Everyone is working hard.’
The training ground was bustling with activity.
Everywhere she looked, it was filled with children sweating and exerting themselves.
Even though they gasped for breath as if they were about to collapse, their eyes didn’t lose their vitality.
“Euhaha, take my spear!”
“Gerald, you’ve gotten slower! Is that all you can do? Do you want to burst out like in orientation!?”
“No, suddenly painful memories…”
Although Gerald had achieved first place in this practical training, his treatment towards Nyhill seemed unchanged.
Nyhill blinked for a moment.
‘How interesting. Do they find training enjoyable?’
A bright smile lingered on their lips as they swung their weapons with more vigor, as if competing with each other.
Joy, passion, a sense of accomplishment.
Suddenly, ghosts of the rigorous training she had undergone to become a ghost candidate flashed through Nyhill’s mind.
The long and harsh training that took place in an unknown abandoned building.
It was a time when even a smile was hard to come by.
She wondered how the ghost candidates she lived with at that time would be if they were still alive.
If she had lived with them, would she have learned to smile like that?
‘…’
Probably not. Nyhill’s eyes, which had scanned her face reflected in the darkness, turned back to the present.
Children who had lived entirely different lives from them.
And children who would lead entirely different lives.
For an ordinary person, this might have been a somewhat awkward moment, but Nyhill didn’t pay it much mind.
Her eyes, with a hint of crimson, shifted from her past to the front.
The hands that had tightly grasped her growling stomach.
In one hand, a bag of bread; in the other, the hand of a village child holding onto her mother’s hand.
She, remembering that scene, was already accustomed to this kind of dissonance.
The once vivid jealousy had long disappeared without a trace.
…Certainly, it must have been like that.
“5th team, if any of the 8 members have something they wish for, come to my research lab.”
“Wow! A wish ticket!”
It was a few days ago, towards the end of the class.
Most of the classmates from her team seemed to have visited the Hero.
There were also a few posts on the connector.
– Hoho, I thought of a wish to ask the Hero. I’ll be back.
└ What wish are you asking for!?
└ There is something like that!
└ Please block this person….
– I never thought he would grant such a wish.
└ What wish did you ask for!
└ It’s a secret!
└ Sigh….
…something they wish for.
Nyhill pondered on that phrase for a moment.
To the ‘Ghosts,’ rewards were a distant and alien concept.
Performing the tasks assigned to them was a natural part of their existence.
Situations like this, where rewards were given for outstanding performance, felt very unfamiliar.
‘Since the Hero asked for what I wish for…’
Of course, as her real identity was not a student, such a thing would not happen.
But imagination was supposed to extend beyond reality.
Nyhill thought for a moment about what she might wish for.
‘Even me…’
In an instant, Nyhill fiercely shook her head.
The cool voice of a phantom echoed in her ears.
“Hmm, for No. 3 it’s always slow to realize. Emotions, desires, memories… who would want a tool with an inner self?”
“Burial. It’s all about burying them.”
She knew very well what the fate of an unwanted tool was.
Nyhill rigidly refocused on her original mission.
.
.
.
That night, an anonymous post appeared on the connector.
– If you could make a wish to the Hero, what would you wish for?
Amidst countless posts covering various topics on the anonymous bulletin board, a single post written with the courage of a lifetime had appeared.
Unfortunately, due to the abundance of similar posts, it disappeared without a trace, buried and forgotten.
[TL/N: Man she doesn’t deserve this….she’s a kid too.]
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