Chapter 36
freewebnov(e)lThe reason why there were only a few mind healers was because their abilities were rare and they had a low survival rate. The Eight Evils and the Eight Virtues and other guilds competed fiercely to recruit them, and the problem arose from there.
New mental healers were suffering from traumas from the Trial Tests but had to take care of the new Awakened and those already existing. While the mind healers were scarce in number, there were so many Awakened who needed their help.
An excessive psychological link was considered an extremely dangerous phenomenon in psychology and psychiatry. It occurred when the mental healer focused on the patient so much that the healer themselves became overpowered by the patient’s emotions and was unable to detach their own selves from them.
Furthermore, mind healers could interact with patients’ feelings and memories with their abilities without verbal communication, and those they had to care for were the Awakened, who were traumatized from killing. The existing ones were skillful psychopaths, and the new ones were just inept psychopaths. They were mentally exhausted due to the Trial Tests, and most Awakened were thrown into the world, freshly traumatized by the horrors of the Trial Tests.
It was perhaps inevitable that the minds of the Awakened were filled with survival instincts. Mental healers had to share such minds, which was unendurable. Therefore, they tended to die out after awakening as they couldn’t heal each other. Their mental damage was so severe that it worsened when they shared their sufferings with each other.
My homeroom teacher, Woo Yeon-Hee, was a pre-Awakened with these exact powers. Even if she survived until the Day of Advent, she would have to face the horrible torture that mind healers experienced. Since I had never heard her name in my past life, her life may have ended badly.
***
The next morning, I met Woo Yeon-Hee during homeroom. She usually had a shadow in her smile, but today was different. This change happened after our conversation, and even the other students could notice the changes in her during ethics class. Apparently, she must have felt that yesterday’s conversation was effective. I didn't know how the mental healer’s abilities develop, but she had no other reason to be happy other than talking to me. She didn’t have a boyfriend, friends, a good relationship with her family, and her pay was slipping away.
It was the end of the school day.
“Okay, could you please be quiet?”
My classmates didn’t listen to Woo Yeon-Hee as they thought of her as a pushover. However, she still maintained a quiet tone with her usual smile on her face.
“I’m not going to tell you about your next year’s class assignment if you guys keep talking.”
Woo Yeon-Hee shook the paper in her hand, and my classmates had mingled feelings of joy and sorrow when the class assignments, which ranged between ten classrooms, were revealed. Then, it became silent when my name was called. Those who got into the same class with me were not happy. I didn’t know anyone’s name, but I could tell who was going to be in my next year’s class by their stiff faces.
No one fought in this class because of me, and bullies spent more time in other classes during breaks to avoid me. And now all of those bullies got put into the same class with me. Students were usually assigned to classes based on their grades to balance out the class average, but this one had many different intentions behind it.
The school decided to put the troublemakers into one class, then put me in since they didn’t talk back or fight against me. I was like an S-class boss monster to them. The class atmosphere brightened because other students were happy that they didn’t have to worry about being in the same class with the troublemakers. Even in a small society of adolescents, children learned survival instincts. They pretended otherwise, but they were scared of stronger ones and allied for mutual protection.
It was the same in any society that existed amongst the Awakened during Trial Tests, and between the civilians and the Awakened after that.
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The guys in the same class as me were busy avoiding my gaze. Spending time with these babies would make me tired of this world.
I thought middle school was my limit and thought about ways to avoid going to high school without disappointing my parents.
“I’m glad everyone likes their classes,” Woo Yeon-Hee said with a big smile.
At that time, my eyes met hers again.
“Stay safe during the summer, and I’ll see you after,” she said after turning towards me.
“But you are in charge of the first grade,” one of the students said.
“I’ll be in your grade, too. I’ll see you again!” She replied.
The boys loved it since they liked anyone in a skirt. Also, in their eyes, Woo Yeon-Hee had outstanding beauty. She was cute like a small puppy, not pretty, but the boys didn’t care.
Woo Yeon-Hee took me to the office again afterward. This was why there were strange rumors about us, and these rumors made her the subject of the boys’ sexual fantasies. I was about to mention that while following her.
“If you take me to your office every time in front of all my classmates…”
Then, Woo Yeon-Hee interrupted me.
“Sorry, but would I ever call you if your school life was not worrisome?”
Then, she changed the topic.
“By the way, are you interested in playing basketball?” She asked.
“No,” I answered.
“Well…I felt like I still had to tell you. Seongil Middle School wants you to come to school during the vacation. Do you know that we have a basketball team?” She questioned.
“Haven’t I already told you that I’m not interested in sports?” I must have seemed annoyed.
“You’re not?” She asked again.
“No,” I replied.
She responded, “Don’t lie. I’ve seen you using pull-up bars during every lunch break.”
I repeated myself, “I’m saying that I’m not interested in sports like basketball.”
“All of them?” She asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“As you know, your physical abilities are incredible, and you are getting taller, too. I’m planning to talk to your parents. Would that be okay?” She questioned.
I replied, “My father is busy, and my mother works, too.”
For a moment, I could tell that she felt relief. If she was that transparent with her feelings, anyone could read her. She was actually curious about my family affairs, not about my interests in sports.
Since layoffs were common during the IMF crisis, she must have been checking that my father hadn’t lost his job. Woo Yeon-Hee brightened after that, and she stopped as I did. Then, she looked at the CD I took out of my bag.
“Do you also play computer games?” She asked as if she didn’t expect that.
I questioned her back, “Do you not?”
“I haven’t in my life,” she answered.
I wasn’t sure what worried her, but she had followed me to this school because she was concerned about me.
“Try it when you’re bored. I heard that teachers also take break?during the vacation,” I said while forcing the game CD into Woo Yeon-Hee’s hand.
“Anyway, I’ll phone your parents,” she said.
“Okay,” I responded.
She would install the game just to become closer to me, and she might learn how to call the status window by playing. That was all I could do to intervene since she had to take care of her own life.
***
Everyone was curious why the status window and ability development of the Awakened were similar to games, especially those with random boxes. According to the Eighth Virtue, it was the most acceptable, intuitive and effective method during that time, and the absolute being was taking care of us through this method.
***
My phone rang in my bag as I went into my office. After rummaging through my bag, I found it in the school uniform that I had changed out of while I was in the washroom of the subway station.
<Jonathan: It’s done.>
It was Jonathan.
<Seon-Hu: Did we get Blue Rock?>
<Jonathan: Ah, I bent my pride. When they asked for shares while bragging…Ha! There were so many moments that I wanted to raise my middle finger and quit everything. Oh, have I told you that I’m from Texas? You know how Texas guys are real men, right?>
<Seon-Hu: Thanks for your efforts. I know it was hard even though you don’t tell me everything.>
<Jonathan: How?>
<Seon-Hu: Because it took a while.>
<Jonathan: Anyway, the problems start from the next step. I have to give them work so they don’t notice our secrets. Do you have anything in mind?>
<Seon-Hu: Wait a second. Have you solved all the other issues? What about the time leftover in their contracts?>
<Jonathan: There will be a lawsuit, but I’ve got a plan.>
<Seon-Hu: Who will you give it to?>
<Jonathan: RGI.>
<Seon-Hu: But they are specialized in crimes.>
<Jonathan: Hey, let me finish. That dream team has an economic partner team specializing in business law. Let’s talk about the details later. I thought of something when I heard these guys complain…>
<Seon-Hu: Yes.>
<Jonathan: We want to expand our company by buying Bluestone Group, right?>
<Seon-Hu: That’s right.>
<Jonathan: Why don’t we do it in the opposite way? We should grab the client funds that the Bluestone Group sold to Blue Rock and purchase additional funds from other operators.>
<Seon-Hu: For example?>
<Jonathan: There is something in Pittsburgh that meets our standards.>
As soon as he mentioned ‘Pittsburgh’, one word popped up in my mind: ANC Financial! My eyes widened because Jonathan’s thoughts reached that far.
<Jonathan: Sun, let’s bring ANC’s client funds, too!>
Jonathan’s voice was brighter than Woo Yeon-Hee’s. He must have been seeing what would happen next after Blue Rock and ANC brought in the client’s fund deposits! That was why Jonathan was as excited as we were when we bet in Thailand and Hong Kong. There was no reason to stop him from jumping into a bigger battlefield. He had to regain his former self as soon as possible.
<Seon-Hu: Could you come to the pub we went to the other day? Right now.>
<Jonathan: I’m already on my way since you just finished your classes.>
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