RE: Player again

261

[Chapter 088] [A Night Where Fireworks Sound Seeps In (2)]

Afterwards, Busan firmly established itself as the second largest city in South Korea.

This was because it was able to quickly recover from destruction by utilizing the South Coast area known to be rich in mana content.

Above all, Busan's damage was also less.

Large-scale distortions that occurred simultaneously worldwide, .

Monsters that appeared all over South Korea coveted the mana of living things and indiscriminately destroyed everything in sight.

Naturally, monsters appeared in the South Coast area too.

However, people desperately blocked monsters from coming onto land, protecting the city unlike Seoul.

Therefore, there was strong pride in one's hometown where they were born and raised in the South Coast area.

As well as admiration for Players.

"...Is this really just for us to use?" """"Wow...""""

The club members were greatly impressed upon arriving at the beach.

Although people who came for vacation were crowded on one side of Haeundae, there weren't many people on the beach they were guided to.

It was a beach exclusively for Players.

Besides that, people equivalent to Players could use resorts provided by Donghae Group and KK Group at discounted prices.

The resort rented by the Cultural Exploration Club was also one of the resorts owned by Donghae Group.

It made sense for the club members to be speechless after hearing this.

"That's right! Now we'll begin the Cultural Exploration Club's summer training camp! Everyone jump into the sea─!!"

""""Yay─!!!!""""

The club president was excited.

Eun-ha couldn't help but be dumbfounded that the club president was wearing swimming trunks instead of underwear.

There was one more Jin Parang.

The actions of the club president who would become a high-ranking official in the Mana Management Organization in the future felt very unfamiliar.

"Captain, should we go change into swimsuits too?"

"...I'm good. I'll just watch from here."

"Come on, Captain! How can you do that? Now that we're here, we should have fun in the sea!"

"Actually, I was thinking of teaching a technique to run on the water surface since we came to the sea..."

"Min-ho! Let's hurry and change! Captain, then please watch our stuff!"

"I can go alone so don't drag me."

Meanwhile, Eun-hyeok immediately changed his words and turned his back as if he had no lingering attachment.

Mok Min-ho whose arm was grabbed grumbled as he walked across the sand with him.

"You usually do well when told, but now you're trying to skip training because we came to play?"

Eun-ha who was left under the parasol pulled up the corners of his mouth.

Actually, he had no intention of training his friends after coming all the way to Busan.

Of course, he had no intention of having fun either.

He should be able to obtain good quality mana stones in the South Coast area.

So Eun-ha decided to kill time under the shade until the time came.

"But Bae Su-bin, aren't you going to play?"

"I don't really like playing."

"You're lying."

"Want to die?"

Surprisingly, Bae Su-bin was staying behind and guarding the spot instead of going to play.

She who was reading a small book didn't give Eun-ha even a glance.

"If you had nothing to do, you should have just gotten drunk with Uncle Gi-jun and come back..."

In his previous life, Bae Su-bin was someone who loved playing very much.

She just didn't have friends.

That's why she never missed attending the Mist Flower Party's company dinners.

Eun-ha vividly recalled the memory of her crying while drunk and lamenting that she had no friends.

"Hey, you." "Huh, what?" "You sometimes say things that are hard to understand, do you know how annoying that is?"

"..."

"I don't know on what basis you're evaluating me, but please stop making assumptions as you please? Before I hit you."

"...Oh, sorry."

Bae Su-bin who turned her head from the book and thrust her fist in front of his eyes.

Eun-ha could only nod reflexively seeing her glaring at him.

He had to recognize again that the Bae Su-bin he remembered and the Bae Su-bin in front of him were different people.

The Bae Su-bin who couldn't defy him and even groveled calling him master before his regression no longer existed.

"But you do like playing, right? I heard from Min-ji recently that you guys went to karaoke together?"

"...That was then! But I'm not in the mood to play today!"

"Ah, I see. Because you can't swim."

"...That's not true."

Lie.

Eun-ha inwardly muttered seeing Su-bin react a beat late.

Even if the Bae Su-bin he remembered no longer existed in this world, parts of the Bae Su-bin he remembered remained in the world like this.

Her response was delayed by a beat when she lied.

And she couldn't swim.

She was a beer bottle.

"Want to learn swimming from me? It might be helpful if you ever need to swim later."

"That's funny. I swim well. And I won't need to swim if I just don't go near water, so what..."

He snorted at her who crossed her arms saying "hmph".

Because he knew a future awaited where they would face a 3rd tier overrank monster appearing near the South Coast in collaboration with China and Japan.

Who are you going to burden then if you faint after drinking seawater?

Before his regression, how much trouble was it then.

Who would have thought the only caster of the Mist Flower Party, Bae Su-bin, couldn't swim at all, and how difficult it was to pull her out after she fell into the sea.

That kind of thing shouldn't happen again.

Eun-ha decided to secretly push Su-bin into the sea during the training camp period.

Originally, people learn best by experiencing things themselves.

After fainting once from falling into the sea, she would realize how desperately she needed to learn swimming and try to learn it desperately.

Didn't Bae Su-bin before his regression also grit her teeth saying she would learn swimming after that?

Of course, there was also the part where she couldn't defy Eun-ha's orders.

"...It came again." "Why? Who's it from?"

Just then.

His pants pocket vibrated.

Eun-ha who took out his smartphone immediately frowned upon seeing the message.

"It's nothing."

"Somehow it seems suspicious..."

"There's nothing suspicious!"

It was a message from Choi Ga-in.

It was a message that didn't need to be read right away.

There wasn't really any reason to exchange messages with Choi Ga-in either.

Doesn't she ever get tired?

She was very curious.

She asked about him in detail.

He couldn't not know the reason.

So he deliberately sent replies late and responded curtly with short answers, but she sent messages about his recent situation like this.

Moreover, the frequency of her sending messages had rapidly increased after the end of the 1st semester closing party.

Choi Ga-in is a landmine. Don't step on it. Must filter it out.

Choi Ga-in was a very ambiguous existence.

As much as he wanted to cut off interest, he couldn't blindly be hostile as long as she had value to be used.

[I'm fine!]

"Wasn't it on vibrate earlier?"

"...I changed the signal to sound for some people."

A message arrived not long after he checked his smartphone.

There were a few more people besides family members he had set to make a sound when messages arrived recently.

「Seo-hyun」: How's Busan? (06:24 PM)

Han Seo-hyun was one of them.

He had no choice but to change her contact settings after being scolded over the phone for sending a late reply recently.

I have to do as the sponsor says...

Han Seo-hyun was among the easier ones to deal with in Sirius Group.

She could be said to be the most favorable person in the group.

This Choi Ga-in is really annoying? How many messages is she sending?

I should just change it to silent.

Eun-ha groaned seeing Choi Ga-in's messages at the top of Pine Talk after replying to Seo-hyun.

He couldn't block her yet, so he was going to change her messages to silent.

He was about to change it but.

"Eun-ha."

When he turned around, Cha Eun-woo had approached close behind.

She who was wearing a black rash guard soon tilted her head while fixing her hair that had fallen as she bent her upper body.

"...Are you busy right now?"

"No, it's fine. What is it?"

Mok Min-ho walking together with Eun-hyeok could be seen in the distance.

There's no way he hadn't seen him.

Because Min-ho was directing killing intent towards him.

Regardless, Eun-ha looked at her smiling with a face that still hadn't lost its swelling.

Now that he looked, even though she was wearing a black rash guard, she had a bright red choker around her neck.

So the choker stood out more.

"I just got a message from Ga-in... She said she's been sending you messages but there's been no reply..." "..." "I'm sorry but... if you're not busy, could you please check Ga-in's messages?"

"...Alright."

Cha Eun-woo awkwardly asking with her hands clasped.

Even if he could ignore Choi Ga-in, he couldn't ignore Cha Eun-woo.

But he couldn't help the sigh that came out involuntarily.

Eun-ha sent a message to Choi Ga-in while turning away from her who kept apologizing.

「Me」: Yeah, okay. Sounds nice. (06:41 PM)

Soon Eun-ha opened his mouth with a dumbfounded expression seeing the swimsuits Ha-yang and Seo-na were wearing.

The red rash guard Min-ji came out wearing was nothing.

☆

In the evening, there was a barbecue party on the beach.

The club members chatted while grilling pork belly over charcoal.

Eun-hyeok was flipping meat with tongs while having tissue stuffed in his nose.

"You got a nosebleed just from that..."

"...Ugh... it's not like that..."

"What do you mean it's not?"

Just then, the mushrooms were nicely browned.

Eun-ha asked Eun-hyeok for the mushrooms that were far away while smirking.

A little earlier, Eun-hyeok had gotten a nosebleed upon seeing Seo-na appear wearing an off-shoulder swimsuit.

According to him, it was because of heatstroke, but his unstable gaze while looking at Seo-na wasn't very trustworthy.

Eun-ha had laughed so hard holding his stomach then.

"Stop bullying Eun-hyeok. Are you bullying Eun-hyeok now because Parang oppa isn't here?"

"...Alright, I got it."

Just then, Seo-na defended Eun-hyeok.

She who had wrapped herself in a blanket saying the weather had gotten chilly perked up her triangular ears.

She seemed embarrassed too.

Judging by how she was pouting her lips.

"Eun-hyeok, stop just grilling meat and hurry up and eat too. I'll grill now."

"...Can I ask you to?" "Yeah. You hurry and eat too before Eun-ha eats it all."

The two had such a good relationship.

In a way, it was irritating to see.

Eun-ha who turned his eyes away from the two decided to quietly eat meat.

The night in Haeundae would soon arrive.

He needed to conserve his energy.

The reason he hadn't played all day was because of the night in Haeundae.

The South Coast area is rich in mana after all.

And there are many people too...

The reason Busan Metropolitan City was providing numerous benefits to Players was solely for the night in Haeundae.

Even after , powerful monsters endlessly appeared in the South Coast area.

It was the same now.

The mana unconsciously shed by people who came to Haeundae while the sun was up was causing distortions beyond the coastline.

"...Huh?"

It seemed Ha-yang had noticed it too.

She who was wrapped in a blanket like Seo-na stopped chewing meat and looked back at the beach.

Waves were crashing with a swishing sound.

Something was approaching from the sea submerged in night.

"It's okay. Keep eating your meat."

"...Is it really okay?"

"The Players stationed in the South Coast aren't eating and playing for free. Hand me that ssamjang."

He reassured her saying it wasn't something to worry about.

She passed him the ssamjang while still looking doubtful.

Eun-ha ate ssam with his back turned to the aura surging from beyond the coastline.

Looks like it's starting.

A firework went off with a bang.

The pitch black night sky flashed with brilliant lights.

The club members who had been eating meat all looked up at the night sky.

Fireworks kept exploding endlessly.

It was truly a spectacular sight.

To the point that people who came to Haeundae for vacation couldn't take their eyes off the sky.

Not knowing that other lights were bursting beyond the coastline.

"─Hey guys! The great Jin Parang has finally arrived! Everyone strike up the music!"

Just then, Jin Parang arrived.

He who appeared with his back to the fireworks lighting up the night sky tried to act familiar with his friends.

However, the friends who had forgotten Parang's existence didn't show much reaction.

"What! Why is there only this much meat left?"

"...If you came late, don't complain and just eat what's left." "You didn't really eat it all, did you?"

"Thanks to you, we ate well."

"Noh Eun-ha, you really...!"

When people were looking up at the night sky.

Players would be fighting desperately with monsters beyond the coastline.

In a situation where no one was listening to the howls of monsters.

Players would be quietly killing, and quietly dying.

"Just eat that. I'm going to go somewhere for a bit." "What? Where are you going at this hour?" "I'm going for a walk, why. Do you want to come with me?"

"...No, I'll just enjoy eating even the burnt meat. Good luck."

Eun-ha walked alone on the sandy beach.

The club members who didn't yet know they were living in a world premised on someone's sacrifice didn't see him leaving as they were distracted by the night sky.

But they would know too when they became Players.

That a world that was destroyed once doesn't run smoothly without sacrifice.

Cheonbo

Eun-ha infused magic into the black cloak he had brought in advance.

He quietly melted into the sky where brilliant fireworks were bursting.

Well then, shall I go get some mana stones?

Players struggling against monsters on the water's surface.

He decided to lighten their burden.