I Regressed After Getting Tired of Their Obsession – Chapter 33

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

 
“Yuri!”

Choi Ah-hyun moved as if to chase after the fleeing Han Yuri.

“Ugh…!”

But she’d just finished a grueling battle.

There was no way she could move properly.

“Calm down. Your treatment comes first. We can talk later.”

“But…”

“Listen to me. What if you get complications because you delayed treatment?”

“Okay…”

I took Choi Ah-hyun to the infirmary and waited while she received treatment.

Then we rushed back to the dorm, only to find…

“She’s not here…”

“…Let’s wait until dinner.”

An hour passed, then two.

The sun began to set, but Han Yuri was nowhere to be found.

“What do we do… She’s not answering her phone.”

Choi Ah-hyun’s face crumpled as she stared at her phone.

My head throbbed.

‘What is she thinking?’

This was unexpected.

Completely different from the previous timeline.

I still couldn’t figure out what had happened.

If Han Yuri didn’t come back…

Everything would fall apart.

Everything we’d worked for would turn to dust.

No first-year teams had disbanded yet.

That meant there were no replacements for Han Yuri.

And since assignments required three-person teams…

‘We wouldn’t be able to take on any assignments.’

If that happens, I’ll be left behind at the academy—no different from an ordinary person.

The thought alone made my stomach churn.

‘I need to find a clue.’

“Ah-hyun, we applied for the recording of our test, right?”

“Yeah, for feedback… Oh!”

She seemed to understand what I was getting at.

She quickly accessed the school cloud on her phone.

The recordings of our tests were stored there.

I clicked on the file, and the video started playing.

-Haa…

Han Yuri took deep breaths as she entered the testing area.

Uncharacteristic behavior for the usually composed and confident girl.

-Vrrrrm.

The monster emerged from the summoning circle, and I cursed.

“Holy shit…!”

A monster on the border between D-rank and C-rank.

And with a special ability:

‘Physical Attack Absorption.’

Golems were already a bad match-up for Han Yuri’s meteors.

With this ability…

It was a complete counter.

‘They really overestimated her…!’

The school must have thought Han Yuri was C-rank level.

Which made sense, considering…

‘She’d challenged the D-rank test with me and Choi Ah-hyun in such a short time.’

But this was too much.

As expected…

-This is insane.

Han Yuri let out a hollow laugh and activated her skill.

Dozens of meteors rained down on the golem.

BOOM! BOOM!

A deafening roar echoed.

But that was it.

-Groooooan!

Unfazed.

Aside from a few scratches, the golem was perfectly fine.

Han Yuri bit her lip.

-Meteor!

She activated her skill again.

This time, she focused on power over quantity.

A car-sized meteor began to grow.

Compressing, condensing.

Like packing a lunchbox, she squeezed and packed more mana into it.

The result was a meteor the size of a house.

The massive chunk of rock hurtled towards the golem.

Even I felt a chill run down my spine at the sheer force of the attack.

But the golem simply raised its fist.

KABOOM!

The entire testing area shook.

Smoke filled the air and obscured my vision.

After about 10 seconds, the smoke cleared.

“…”

“…”

Choi Ah-hyun and I were speechless.

The meteor lay shattered on the ground.

And…

-GRAAAAAH!

…the Ancient Golem stood unscathed.

The outcome was clear, and the reason for her failure was obvious.

-…

Her pupils trembled.

Her mouth hung open.

A vacant expression, as if her soul had left her body.

I’d never seen her like this before.

I never knew Han Yuri, the always composed and confident Han Yuri, could make such a face.

“Yuri…”

Choi Ah-hyun reached out and touched the screen, as if trying to comfort the girl on the other side.

Han Yuri picked up a piece of rubble and stared at it blankly.

A dazed expression.

She slowly walked out of the testing area.

The end.

That was the end of the recording.

At least I knew why she’d run away.

Now I had to find her.

“Ah-hyun.”

“Yeah?”

“Wait for Han Yuri at the dorm. I’m going to look for her.”

“Okay.”

Han Yuri’s room was untouched.

That meant all her belongings were still here.

‘She’ll come back eventually.’

I had to wait for that moment.

If she’d gone to a hotel or something, there was nothing I could do.

But I had to try.

I left the dorm and scoured the Academy.

The library, the classrooms, the training rooms.

But Han Yuri was nowhere to be found.

‘Where the hell did she go?!’

It would be even harder to find her once it got dark.

But I couldn’t stop.

My mind raced.

‘Did I push her too hard?’

The constant D-rank dungeon runs and the rushed rank-up test.

We’d pushed so hard that even Lee Seol’s team couldn’t keep up.

The pressure on Han Yuri must have been immense.

That’s why she’d snapped.

‘I need to find her first.’

That was the priority.

Hours passed, but I couldn’t find a trace of her.

Not that day, nor the next.

Just as I was about to give up, I received a call.

From Professor Irena.

“Professor?”

-Is something wrong with Han Yuri?

“What?”

-I found a withdrawal form on my desk when I returned from class.

“…”

I clenched my jaw.

I could see our team falling apart.

-I heard she attempted the test several times after failing the first time, but this is… unexpected.

“Wait… She attempted the test multiple times?”

-Yes. Didn’t you know?

The testing area.

I’d searched everywhere else but there.

I never thought she’d go back without telling me.

“Professor, I need to check something. I’ll call you back.”

-Alright.

I rushed to the cloud and clicked on Han Yuri’s tab.

Holy shit…

Judging by the timestamps and the number of recordings, she hadn’t slept and repeatedly attempted the test.

And the videos were even more shocking.

-Die…! Just die already! Why… why won’t you die?! Whyyyy?!

She was crying.

Han Yuri was crying.

I’d only seen her cry once before.

‘At her father’s funeral.’

That was the only time I’d seen her shed tears.

Of course, back then, it was full-blown sobbing, unlike now.

But this was still… unsettling.

And whether it was luck or misfortune, a forgotten memory surfaced.

And with it, a solution.

But…

‘It’s risky.’

A dangerous gamble that could trigger the germination of a Witch’s seed.

But I had to do it.

If our team disbanded, we’d be completely screwed.

‘I have to trust in my father’s shield.’

The biggest part of Han Yuri’s heart belonged to her father.

As long as I didn’t touch that, the seed wouldn’t germinate completely.

With that in mind, I headed to a place I’d only visited once before.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

I am a genius.

No, I have to be a genius.

‘The daughter of the Portan Guild Leader.’

A title that shone brightly for some, but for others, it was a shackle they had to wear for life.

A common story.

Children constantly being compared to their parents.

Mediocre talent.

That was what fueled the expectations of my father and everyone around me.

If I’d been completely talentless, they would have given up and told me to find another path.

But because of that glimmer of potential, I was forced to play the role of a half-baked genius.

Han-Bus.

A nickname Choi Ah-hyun had given me.

At first, it had annoyed me, but when did it start to sound… pleasant?

Probably…

‘Because of Lee Seong-hyun.’

Expectation.

That faint glimmer of hope hidden within his sticky resentment pushed me to try harder.

Even when fighting D-rank worms.

Even when fighting golems.

Even when I felt nauseous from mana reflux, I wore the mask.

I pretended I was fine.

I pretended it was easy.

My only purpose was to kill monsters.

I couldn’t offer comforting words like Choi Ah-hyun, nor could I smile brightly like Lee Seol.

All I had… all I could do was kill monsters.

And perhaps because of that, I could see his smile.

He always treated me indifferently, his eyes filled with barely concealed disgust.

But whenever I achieved his goals, whenever I fulfilled his expectations, it was different.

A small smile.

A small smile as he looked at the fallen monsters.

That had become my sense of accomplishment.

My resolve to follow in my father’s footsteps, my goal of becoming an S-rank Hunter, had long since eroded after two years of struggling.

I…

‘I…’

I need you.

I needed him to endure these monotonous days.

I needed him to withstand the expectations and pressure from those around me.

‘I need you.’

So I tried harder.

I studied more.

But I always ended up back where I started.

My skills remained stuck at D-rank, with no room for improvement.

And at the end of those days filled with anxiety… that time came.

‘The time when I became useless.’

Failing the test.

It was like a death sentence.

A death sentence to my mental fortitude, which I’d barely managed to maintain.

‘I can’t do it.’

I couldn’t stand by his side anymore.

I couldn’t meet his expectations.

I couldn’t feel that sense of accomplishment anymore.

Now…

‘There’s only resentment.’

I couldn’t bear to face his scornful gaze.

So I hid.

In my secret place.

In this officetel that neither my father nor mother knew about.

I ran away to this lightless, sealed room.

‘This is enough.’

I did everything I could.

I didn’t do anything wrong.

I…

Just as I was about to descend into self-justification…

Beep-beep-beep.

“…?”

Someone was entering the passcode to the door lock.

A steady, unhesitating rhythm.

As if they’d been here countless times.

-Click.

The lock opened, and bright light flooded the room.

A man.

A man stood there with his back to the light.

“Hey, are you crying?”

Lee Seong-hyun with a wry smile on his face.

He was standing there.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇