After Ten Millennia in Hell

Epilogue Chapter 39 - Summer Vacation (1)

“Lastly, a speech from the principal.”

“Ahh. Mic test. Mic test. Dear students of... students of Eonju Elementary School... I understand you are... you are excited for summer break... the break— who’s digging holes over there?!”

The bald principal’s boring speech continued in the sweltering heat. Various students were gathered on the sports field for the vacation ceremony, which every minute felt like an hour. Some were excited about the break, some were frowning because of the heat, and some were fidgeting with their feet as they wondered when this boring ceremony would end. Some were also listening attentively to the principal, standing nice and tall.

Hmm... scratch that.

A red-haired boy was the only one listening attentively to the principal among the over three hundred kids.

“Jeez... Look at Oh Kang-Hyun.”

“That’s the teacher’s pet for you. He’s like that even at a vacation ceremony?”

“I’d bet he would be in cram school even during the break.”

“For real.”

The honor student Kang-Hyun, who was so clean-cut that he made his classmates shake their heads, focused on the principal’s speech while paying no mind to the whispers around him. To be more exact, he pretended to focus.

‘Even I get bored, guys.’

Kang-Hyun sighed and clicked his tongue in his head. No one would like such a boring speech with no substance. He wanted to dig holes in the ground with his foot or look for bugs crawling around the sports field like the others.

‘But I can’t.’

Children represented their parents. If Kang-Hyun lashed out, it would reflect badly on his parents. Of course, no one would blame the parents’ education incompetency because their child wasn’t paying attention to a principal’s speech.

‘But I have to be more careful.’

No one cared about a cigarette butt in a landfill, but it stood out when it was in the middle of a spotless road. Even if Kang-Hyun were just acting like the other kids, he would draw more attention because he was known as the honor student.

“Alright, that concludes the vacation ceremony. Everyone, have a wonderful summer break and we’ll see you next month!”

WOOOOOOOO!

The deathly silent sports field suddenly roared with cheers. Kang-Hyun slowly walked to his classroom behind the other kids sprinting to get their backpacks.

Just then, an elegant voice asked, “What about today?”

“Huh?”

“Today’s training. Are we doing it or not?”

“Ohh. Of course, we are.”

Kang-Hyun had been learning from Kim Si-Ah how to control demonic energy about three days a week. Since school ended early because of the vacation ceremony, they could go for longer than usual.

“Do you have plenty of time, Si-Ah?” Kang-Hyun asked.

“I’m fine.”

“But you’d want to play with your classmates, wouldn’t y—”

“I don’t have friends.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry.”

Kang-Hyun expected it but was filled with guilt after hearing it from Si-Ah.

“It’s nothing to be sorry about. I don’t have friends because I didn’t make any.”

Si-Ah twirled her hair around her index finger and scoffed. Kang-Hyun knew she had the habit of doing that when she was either embarrassed or lying.

“In the first place, I don’t get why people need friends. Strangers approach you as if you’re family, using the sorry excuse of friendship.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Even if I did have friends, we would only make jokes, laugh with each other, and hang out. They’re just sugarcoating highly inefficient unproductive acts as things that friends do.”

“I-I see.”

“I’m not like those idiots. I know swinging my sword and training Qi is better for my future than hanging out with friends. That’s why you don’t have to feel sorry at all, Kang-Hyun. Rather, I think I should be praised for having no friends.”

‘Please... Please stop...!’

“Don’t you dare think this is an excuse for me not being able to make friends! It’s not because I hear my classmates mumbling, “Si-Ah looks like she’d be a bitch” or “She’s being so haughty just because she’s the Martial God’s daughter”! Not at all!!”

“Y-Yeah! I know that!”

‘Stop it...! It’s worse for the person having to hear it!’

Kang-Hyun was used to Si-Ah’s attitude because they were childhood friends, but Si-Ah was bad at expressing her emotions. Not only did others view her as cold or haughty, but she was even harder to approach because of her title as the Martial God’s daughter. It was only natural she would be ostracized by her classmates.

‘But that’s not what she’s like.’

She was indeed bad at expressing her emotions, but Kang-Hyun knew she was rather shy and easily frightened. He felt sorry for her, but...

‘I wonder why?’

Kang-Hyun felt relieved for some reason to hear Si-Ah had no friends. He was slightly happy that only he knew her true self. He turned to look at her with a smile.

“Then I guess I can call myself your only friend, huh?”

“Friend...?”

“Huh? You don’t count childhood friends as real friends?”

“N-No, that’s not...” Si-Ah stuttered as she touched her lips and looked away. “Yeah... Friends... I guess we’re friends.”

She nodded, looking a little sad. Kang-Hyun tilted his head in confusion and looked at her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s nothing. More importantly, you’d better prepare yourself.”

“H-Huh? For what?”

“For an ass-beating in today’s training.”

“What? Why? What did I do wrong?”

“Hmph, beats me. Just accept it.”

Si-Ah snorted and walked to her classroom. Kang-Hyun dumbfoundedly followed her.

***

The hellish, nonstop spars began. They unfortunately(?) ended up kissing during their very first spar but it was merely in the past.

“Kurgh! Gah!”

“What the hell was that? You’ve gotta add more strength to your hips!”

“H-How the hell am I supposed to add more than th— Argh!”

“Don’t look away! Focus on how the sword is moving until the end!”

“That’s not as easy as it sounds— Ack!”

As Si-Ah declared, he was getting an ass-beating. Si-Ah figured out Kang-Hyun’s exact level after a few spars and pushed him to his limit with flawless strength adjustment. Kang-Hyun, all his abilities laid bare, was helpless before the merciless violence sugar-coated as training.

Si-Ah smiled in satisfaction as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

“Phew. That’s it for today’s training.”

“Urgh... Did I do something wrong...?”

“Nope, that was just normal sparring.”

“But I felt like you were going a bit too hard...”

“Hmph. It would be meaningless if I went easy on you.”

“That’s... true, I guess.”

Kang-Hyun felt like he was being beaten senselessly for some unknown reason but couldn’t argue with his teacher’s training method.

“More importantly, how’s your demonic energy?” Si-Ah asked.

“Oh, I can use more than before.”

Although it was nowhere near the amount Kang-Hee and Lia could use, it was an astonishing improvement compared to when he first learned to use it.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s all thanks to you, Si-Ah. Thanks.”

“As long as you know...”

Si-Ah turned away from the brightly smiling Kang-Hyun. Her cheeks were so red that a white piece of paper would be dyed red if placed next to them.

“That aside, what about during the break?” Si-Ah asked.

“Huh?”

“Are we gonna keep doing this... over the break too?” she asked carefully, observing Kang-Hyun’s reaction.

Kang-Hyun nodded as if it were obvious. “Of course, we are.”

“Hmm. Really?” The corners of Si-Ah’s mouth rose. “Then when should we meet?”

“Mm. I’ll come over to your house after lunch. As for where...”

“Not here. My dad has a private training room. We can use that.”

“Whoa, for real?” Kang-Hyun’s eyes shone from the thought of the Martial God’s private training room. “Looks like there’s gonna be some special training over the break.”

“Heh. I’ll train you so hard you’ll regret it. Make sure to keep up!”

“Yes, Master Si-Ah!”

“What’s with that?” She poked his flank with a relaxed expression.

Kang-Hyun had no idea why Si-Ah had been mad before, but she did not seem to be mad anymore.

“Oh, but... I can’t next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”

“The hell? Are you skipping from the first week?”

“No, it’s not that. We’re going on a family trip.”

“A trip...?”

“Yeah.”

Kang-Hyun and his family were going to a beach resort for the break.

“Where...?” Si-Ah asked.

“Somewhere in Gangwon, I think? They said something about a massive resort that newly opened there.”

“Angel Wings Resort?”

“Huh? You know about it?”

“Of course, I do. It’s super famous these days.”

It was a luxury resort made by the guild Angel Wings. Although Angel Wings couldn’t be compared to Red Rose, it was still the number two guild in Korea.

“I’ve heard the guildmaster there is super close to your mother,” Si-Ah remarked.

“Huh? Really?”

It was the first time Kang-Hyun heard of such news.

“Yeah. Jeong Hyun-Joo of Sanarae is famous for having an amicable relationship with Red Rose.”

“I-I see.”

“I’ve heard they became close through games, but... I’m sure it’s just a baseless rumor. How could the leaders of the top two guilds of our country get close to each other by gaming?”

“...”

Kang-Hyun thought it was more than plausible.

“Anyway, you’re going next week, right?”

“Yeah. I don’t think I can meet with you on those days.”

“Got it.” Si-Ah turned around uninterestedly, her silky black hair fluttering. “That’s enough for today. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Take care on your way home, Si-Ah.”

Kang-Hyun put on his backpack and walked to the school gate.

“...” Si-Ah stared at Kang-Hyun’s back as she twirled her hair around her index finger. She mumbled to herself anticipatingly, “Next Thursday to Saturday... Angel Wings Resort...”