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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“What…? You were… on the same team… as my parents…? Professor…?”
“Yes. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”
“I… I… This is… a bit overwhelming…”
Han Min-ha stammered, her eyes darting around, unable to comprehend the situation.
“We worked together around the time you started middle school. Your father was my senior at the academy, and your mother was my classmate.”
“Really…?”
I took out my phone and showed her,
“I have pictures of your parents’ and my academic records here. Take a look.”
Seeing the childhood photos of her parents, Han Min-ha’s eyes welled up, and large tears started streaming down her face.
“Sob… sniffle…”
Tears dripped onto the phone screen as she sobbed quietly.
I sat still and watched her cry.
She looked pitiful and heartbroken, but I didn’t feel the emotions strongly.
It was because of my incredibly strong Mental Barrier.
This Mental Barrier worked well but had the side effect of making me feel like a psychopath.
Well, it wasn’t perfect anyway.
It had wavered several times already.
Especially in the archives, it had shaken so violently that I had lost consciousness.
The times my Mental Barrier had wavered were all related to Han Min-ha’s parents.
The first time was when I first heard their names from Min-ha, and the second was when I read their academic records.
After the first time, I kept having the same strange dream, and the second time, I saw a clear vision of the past.
Then, could I obtain new information by completely disabling my Mental Barrier?
Ironically, I couldn’t disable it at will.
It was always active, like a passive skill in a game, but I, the user, had no way to deactivate it.
What a ridiculous skill.
As I was lost in thought, Han Min-ha stopped crying and let out a shaky sigh.
“Sigh…”
“Here’s a tissue.”
I pushed the tissue box on the round table towards her, and Han Min-ha grabbed a handful of tissues and wiped her tears and the slight runny nose.
It was the first time I saw her without her glasses, and I was surprised by how pretty she was.
Her glasses had thick lenses which made her eyes look smaller.
“You can blow your nose.”
“Okay…”
Han Min-ha covered her nose, sniffled a few times, then tried to stuff the used tissues into her pocket.
“The trash can is over there.”
“Okay…”
She threw the tissues in the trash can, sat back down, adjusted her glasses, and opened her phone again.
“Professor… fingerprint authentication…”
“Here.”
I unlocked my phone, and Han Min-ha blinked a few times before slowly swiping through the pictures.
Her movements were incredibly slow, as if she was trying to imprint the precious images in her mind.
After staring at the records for a while, she returned the phone to me.
“Do you believe me now? Of course, this isn’t definitive proof, but there’s no other way to prove it. There are no records of their hero activities.”
“I believe you.”
Han Min-ha nodded as if in understanding.
“But… Professor… do you know… what happened to my parents…?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know that much.”
“Oh… okay…”
I was curious too, but there was no way to find out right now.
Secreto’s activity records were probably kept secret somewhere within the Administration.
Somewhere inaccessible to an ordinary professor like me.
“Min-ha, Secreto is an organization that works for the safety and peace of the world. And your parents were heroes who worked for that organization.”
I spoke slowly.
“Secreto selects graduates with the judgment and mental fortitude to carry out dangerous missions. In other words, Secreto heroes are far superior to other heroes. You inherited that talent from your parents. Your poor performance is absolutely not due to a lack of innate ability.”
“Yes…”
“Your parents’ disappearance is… regrettable. But it must have happened while they were pursuing a noble cause. Because that’s what Secreto is. And only heroes with that kind of will join Secreto. You need to know that your parents were such people.”
“I understand…”
“So, think carefully. What kind of daughter would your parents want? A daughter who refuses to become a hero because of their unfortunate incident, or a daughter who proudly becomes a hero, inheriting their talent and will?”
Han Min-ha kept her mouth shut and just nodded.
Would this be enough for her to overcome the trauma of her parents’ disappearance and control her Aura?
I didn’t know.
As her advisor, I could only lead her to the water; it was up to her to drink it.
But Han Min-ha would drink.
Because there was nothing but desert if she turned back.
“I’ve said what I needed to say. Tell me if you have anything you want to say.”
“No… I don’t. I need some time to think…”
“Alright. Drink your coffee.”
We drank our coffee in silence.
“Then, Professor… I’ll be going. It’s time for training…”
After finishing her coffee, Han Min-ha awkwardly stood up.
“Goodbye. I’ll post the schedule for our next meeting in the group chat.”
“I understand.”
After Han Min-ha left the lab, I cleared away our coffee cups.
I thought I needed to find out what happened to her parents.
Aside from everything else, Han Min-ha deserved to know at least whether her parents were dead or in a coma in a hospital somewhere.
I would figure out how to find out later.
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Han Min-ha hurried back to the dorm and changed into her training clothes.
She had taken longer than she thought and was almost late for training.
Being late for training meant penalty points, and she was supposed to be training with Yoo Hee-won.
Although she had just heard a shocking story from Professor Kyo, she didn’t have time to dwell on it.
She had already decided to stay at the academy.
At lunch, when she told her training assistant, Bae Ye-bin, that she would be training with the upper-class students, Bae Ye-bin was happy but also concerned.
She was glad that Han Min-ha, who had been struggling to adapt to the academy, had made friends, especially upper-class friends, but she was worried about whether Han Min-ha could keep up.
However, Bae Ye-bin also knew that Han Min-ha possessed a strong Aura but couldn’t properly manifest it.
She thought that perhaps training with the upper-class students might bring about some change, so she had given her permission.
Group training for freshmen was conducted with all students gathered on the training grounds.
This group training, led by instructors dispatched from the Maroon Berets, a special forces unit specializing in hero rescue, was notoriously intense.
This type of group training was an old-fashioned, almost barbaric method from the military, yet the academy insisted on using it for freshmen.
To foster camaraderie and to quickly weed out the weaker students.
“Why are you so late?”
Yoo Hee-won, already on the training grounds, snapped at her.
“Sorry… I’m a little late…?”
“Whatever. Stand here.”
Han Min-ha hurriedly stood behind Yoo Hee-won and her clique.
“Hi, Min-ha.”
Among the awkward greetings from the followers, Song Do-yoon stared intently at Han Min-ha with her cold eyes.
Uncomfortable under her gaze, Han Min-ha lowered her eyes to the ground.
The whistle blew, signaling the start of training, and they began stretching.
After stretching, they would run 10 kilometers, followed by circuit training at different stations.
“Don’t fall behind. It’s embarrassing.”
Just before they started running, Yoo Hee-won turned to Han Min-ha and threatened her.
“Uh-huh…”
Yoo Hee-won’s upper class was at the very front, and Han Min-ha felt so nervous she thought she might throw up.
But before she could do anything, the instructor at the front blew the whistle.
At the signal, the students all started running.
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Had they run about halfway?
Han Min-ha felt like she couldn’t run anymore.
Even completing the full distance was usually a struggle for her, and the pace of the leading group was beyond imagination.
Up ahead, Yoo Hee-won and her followers were running without even breaking a sweat.
Yoo Hee-won’s neck, exposed with her long hair tied up tightly, didn’t have a single drop of sweat on it.
Her stamina is superhuman… I can never keep up…
As that thought crossed her mind, Han Min-ha’s pace noticeably slowed.
Other students overtook her as she fell further and further behind.
She collided hard with someone’s shoulder and stumbled to the side.
I guess… I can’t run anymore today… I’ll tell Hee-won and run at the back tomorrow…
“What are you doing?”
Yoo Hee-won, who had somehow come to the back, was looking down at her with a look of utter disdain.
“Did I tell you not to fall behind or not?”
“H… Hee-won… I can’t run anymore…”
“Cut the crap and get up!”
Yoo Hee-won grabbed Han Min-ha by the scruff of her neck with surprising strength and pulled her up.
“Run.”
“I can’t… maybe from tomorrow…”
“And the day after tomorrow? And the day after that?”
“I need to… build up my stamina…”
“That’s what you’re doing by running!”
Yoo Hee-won frowned in annoyance.
“Does anyone start out perfect? No one here did, except me! Stop making excuses and run!”
“But, really…”
“If you can’t overcome it once, you’ll never overcome it! Run like you’re going to die today, you idiot! That’s how you’ll be able to overcome it tomorrow!”
Yoo Hee-won grabbed Han Min-ha by the collar and started dragging her along as she ran.
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