SWNOVELXO Chapter 64
“It seems we’ve distanced ourselves quite enough.”
The doctor is perched atop the wrecked car.
It’s the same car that Han Si-Hoo and his group arrived in.
A vehicle ruined by the monster’s ambush.
“Why would the Academy director come to a place like this?”
Chun Yu-Seong raises an eyebrow in confusion.
He initially thought the arrival might signal danger, but upon verifying their identity, he found it was indeed the academy’s director.
There’s no oddity in seeing a professor in the vicinity.
As soon as the professor confirmed the car was half-destroyed, he grew dejected and decided to return to the battlefield.
But why has the director come here?
“Then what about you, Chun Yu-Seong? Why are you here?”
“My name…”
He knows my name.
“Most of the students remember it anyway.”
“Anyway, you mentioned being the director, but the students are in danger. Do you have any way to help? Of course, I don’t expect too much from the academy… but you are the director, after all?”
The doctor holds a specially crafted telescope in his hand.
Using this special lens, one can even see magical power.
“And what about you, Yu-Seong? Why are you hiding instead of fighting?”
“I’m on alert. Just in case someone like you appears from behind.”
“I guess you could say it’s similar.”
“Well, do you have any reason to be on alert?”
Chun Yu-Seong asks skeptically.
The doctor peers through the telescope at the battlefield.
“Yes. It’s quicker to see for yourself.”
Boom.
A shockwave from the battlefield reaches them.
And immediately after, he feels a strange sensation.
A peculiar sense of deflation.
“Is that…?”
The magical power has diminished.
Through the special telescope, the world he sees is surprisingly clear.
No magical power can be detected at all.
All the magical power is concentrated in one spot.
“That’s a widespread depletion of magical power.”
“What the heck is going on?”
“This happens when a dragon appears nearby. It absorbs all the magical power in the vicinity to gather strength.”
“So, what about those people over there…?”
“They’re fine. Among them are dragon hunters and such.”
“Did you summon those people?”
The doctor does not answer.
Chun Yu-Seong is unaware of how things are unfolding.
“It reminds me of old times.”
“Excuse me?”
“A time when there were no monsters, no gates, and no dungeons. Of course, there was a peaceful era when there were no Awakeners either.”
He continues talking, regardless of whether Chun Yu-Seong answers or not.
“A clear air without the disease known as magical power—just like now. It’s temporary here, but back then, it was constant.”
“What do you mean by that?”
I’ve never heard of magical power being called a disease.
Chun Yu-Seong realizes the academy’s executives have lost their sense of reason.
Clear water upstream means clear water downstream.
“Ah, do you know about the purification skill that Si-Hoo uses?”
“Why do you ask…?”
“It’s similar in the way it absorbs negative elements around it. But it’s not as effective as a dragon’s ability to consume magical power.”
“So you’re saying the dragon… is doing a good thing? It’s clearing the air?”
Chun Yu-Seong is already preparing for battle.
Since he was far from the dragon, he hasn’t exhausted his magical power.
However, he has lost a significant amount of it, which requires time.
Thus, preparation.
He had been on alert from the back to spot an entity like this.
Chun Yu-Seong is not as capable as his twin sister, Chun Yu-Hwa.
Yet, he excels in one thing compared to her.
Patience.
The longer he can hold out, the more powerful his attack becomes.
He couldn’t surpass his sister by fighting like her.
But if he has time, he just might surpass her once.
“Healing is needed. Seo-Ah, Si-Hoo, and even you. You’re simply carrying burdens wrapped in the term Awakener. In that sense, the academy is no different from a hospital.”
Those are not words you’d expect to hear from the director of the academy.
“In that regard, before being the director, I’m a doctor. I’m also the hospital chief… In fact, even those who aren’t Awakeners are all patients. As long as they live in this world, there are hardly anyone who can avoid magical power.”
Enrolling Yoo Seo-Ah in the academy wasn’t much different than admitting her to a hospital.
The largest and freest ward.
A mental hospital for those who mistakenly think they’re heroes.
The academy is clearly a prey to something.
A C, Advanced Care.
It provides management for Awakeners.
A D, Advanced Detention.
It also serves the role of detaining Awakeners.
E M Y, Effective Monitoring of Youth.
To effectively monitor young Awakeners.
The institution known as the academy is meant to keep Awakeners contained.
The doctor does not like this deceptive institution.
In a time when Awakeners didn’t exist, it wasn’t this way.
“So, the day when Awakeners are no longer born onto this land… that will be the day the treatment is completed.”
“Ah, so you’re a villain yourself.”
Chun Yu-Seong grasped the sword infused with a massive amount of magical power.
At this point, it resembles more of a cannon than a sword.
The moment he launches it, the released magical power will turn the doctor to dust.
“Do you know why we keep so many monsters contained? To create war weapons for battle? To conduct some incomprehensible experiments?”
He continues speaking without a care.
“Do you know the reason?”
“What’s been said isn’t entirely a lie.”
The doctor watches the dragon battle from a distance.
Black beams of light are raining in every direction.
If it weren’t for the smoke and fog, he would’ve seen it more clearly.
Since they’re far from the battlefield, this is the limit.
“However, there is one basic goal. To eliminate magical power from this world.”
“That’s nonsense…”
“The desire for a normal world without magical power, monsters, and Awakeners. I know well. It’s true that your sister is superior as an Awakener, but the truth is you, Yu-Seong, are more suited as the heir of your family.”
Gathering information on the students is fundamental.
For the effective surveillance of young Awakeners.
“I, too, wish to return to a normal world, but… I believe no means can justify the end.”
“The preparations are nearly complete. You could call it an air purifier; there’s already a method that takes advantage of the dragon’s ability to consume magical power.”
Ka-Boom!
A tremendous roar can be heard in the distance.
The dragon hunt has officially begun.
A storm is brewing on the battlefield.
“If air purifiers are mass-produced, then such loud battles will disappear. Skills that go beyond human understanding as well. You must have learned this at the academy, but without magical power, gates cannot open.”
“Even so…!”
I understand the desire to eliminate magical power.
But conducting experiments on humans is clearly an inhumane act.
“You seem dissatisfied with the process. But as I mentioned, the plan is in its final stages. What you think is evil or criminal is nearly at its end.”
“What do you want to say?”
“I’m offering you a chance to work with us.”
The doctor proposes in a gentle voice.
“Work?”
Chun Yu-Seong is taken aback by the unexpected offer.
“An Awakener who loses magical power is nothing but incompetent. It’d be good for you, Yu-Seong, to have a proper job.”
If the good job of being an Awakener disappears, what will happen to those who become unemployed?
“…What kind of work are you talking about? I don’t think I’d be of much help.”
“A new government department has recently been established. It’s a task force for dealing with the aftermath of magical power removal. Perhaps it’s when your true value will shine. It could leave a good impression on your family, too.”
The era of Awakeners fighting has already passed.
There’s no force to obstruct the doctor’s plans.
Even Han Si-Hoo, who once posed a risk, has failed to form a gathering force.
The outcome?
The doctor’s victory.
The defeat of the Awakeners.
“Have you noticed that the academy’s management has become lax lately? Like how no one cares even if you storm out of class?”
“…Is it because there’s no longer a need to manage students?”
“Teachers are starting to worry about their own earnings… including the owner of this car. They probably came here, anxious about their now ruined expensive car.”
The cost of the damaged car will be covered by Chun Yu-Seong’s side.
They have enough money in their family for that.
“But you’re also an Awakener. Why go through all this?”
Chun Yu-Seong tends to speak rather roughly, but he isn’t especially hostile towards the doctor.
He’s just on guard.
“My status as an Awakener has nothing to do with this matter.”
The doctor awaits Chun Yu-Seong’s decision.
Will he work together?
“Are you saying that purification device or whatever has been developed? Is that really… something that can easily change this world?”
“The recent absorption of magical power is proof. I thought it was a great opportunity to explain this.”
Good talent must be recruited.
Before the era of Awakeners fades away.
It’s a golden opportunity.
“Hahaha. That’s quite an interesting story. If my friends weren’t over there fighting to the death, I would have enjoyed listening to you. And that dragon over there is Yoo Seo-Ah… right? I couldn’t see clearly, but… wasn’t that your doing?”
He lifted his sword again.
The magical power he accumulated while conversing is enough to obliterate everything around him.
“That’s right. Are you going to act as a hero of justice? I can assure you that taking my hand will be more beneficial for that justice.”
The doctor speaks boldly.
He is filled with conviction.
As if the era of Awakeners is truly coming to an end.
“……”
Chun Yu-Seong hesitates.
What is the morally right choice?
But truthfully, he has never lived waiting for moral actions.
That’s something for people like Han Si-Hoo to do.
He can pretend to be righteous, but he doesn’t truly empathize with justice.
“Si-Hoo has failed. Heroics can’t change anything.”
“I wonder how many others you’ve made this offer to beside me.”
“You’re the first among the students.”
The doctor descends from under the wrecked car.
Walking towards Chun Yu-Seong, he extends his hand.
As if he knows he will accept.
“…I will accept your offer. Thank you in advance.”
They shake hands.
Boom-!
It feels like celebratory fireworks are bursting.
It’s just the sound of the ground collapsing in the distance.