I Became the Must-Have Character of the Academy City - Chapter 65



64 – Voluntary Surrender

[Quest completed.]

[You have obtained rewards.]

[Distributing clear rewards according to contribution.]

[Conducting full party recovery.]

A notification window emerged within the crumbling dungeon.

The urgent voices of Sion and Clara seeped into his ears, but Rohan, with his mind growing hazy, couldn’t even read the words and closed his eyes.

The thought that it was somehow resolved brought a sense of relief.

Rumble!!!

Magic power pressed and gripped his entire body.

And then, in an instant, he felt his body lift.

A notification window appeared in Rohan’s mind, who had his eyes closed, informing him of the situation.

[There is no designated return point.]

[Returning to a random location.]

Then, his back touched something.

He felt the wind.

It was not the hot and humid air that had been unpleasantly clinging to his skin until a moment ago.

It’s cool…

Then, light returned to his consciousness, which had been fading due to blood loss.

Familiar everyday noises pushed into his ears.

Rohan! Rohan…! Open your eyes!

Brother! Get a grip!

The clear voices of Sion and Clara.

Rohan suddenly opened his eyes to a sensation of calmness enveloping his entire body.

?!

The faces of the girls looking down at him and the sky visible between them. Rohan blinked repeatedly.

Then he asked what came to mind.

Clara. Are you okay from the mana exhaustion? Sion, are you alright too?

Clara couldn’t bring herself to speak and nodded with a tearful face.

Sion also bit her lower lip with a complicated expression and indicated that she was fine.

After a pause, he asked the most important question.

Rohan how, how is your arm?

Sion swallowed hard and waited for Rohan’s answer. Clara was also staring intently at Rohan.

The girls didn’t know why Rohan’s severed arm was still attached.

Before celebrating their return from the unknown world, they just hoped that it was as fine as it appeared.

My arm? Ah, my arm right.

Rohan felt a sense of doubt at the sensation from a part that shouldn’t exist.

He then willed it to move. He raised his arm in front of his eyes.

This isn’t some kind of phantom pain, is it?

It was attached without any issues. It was really attached.

The arm that had been blown away by the boss’s thorn was perfectly fine.

The Orion Academy uniform was torn from the shoulder, but the arm remained intact.

The clothes were torn here and there like rags, and they were covered in blood. However, there were no visible scratches on the skin from the thorny vines.

‘Yes. That’s right.’

He understood the situation through his hazy consciousness.

So this is what complete recovery feels like. Now I feel a bit more clear-headed.

“You’re fine. Lucky, aren’t you?”

That was the end of his thoughts.

The actions taken to protect Sion were not done with the expectation of recovery as a reward.

It was a reflexive movement, too quick for such calculations. It was, after all, a momentary action.

“Ha, your reaction is really…”

“Brother. Still, let’s go to the hospital, okay?”

Rohan, who smiled silently at their reactions, raised his upper body from where he was lying.

He looked around with a satisfied expression.

“Anyway, it seems like we made it back safely. Good job, everyone.”

The place where the three had fallen was presumed to be the rooftop of a restaurant.

The smell of food and the voices of people were wafting up from below.

Turning his head, the tall buildings and distinctive structures indicated that this was Academy City.

“…Rohan.”

“Huh?”

Sion stood up, took off his goggles, and bowed deeply with utmost courtesy.

Rohan and Clara watched him with surprised faces.

“Thanks to you, I was able to return without any trouble. I’m really grateful.”

“Grateful? I also received help, didn’t I?”

“And at the end…”

“Speak comfortably. In the end, you’re fine, aren’t you?”

Sion straightened his bent back.

When Rohan showed his clenched and unclenched fist as if to show off, Sion let out a hollow laugh and sat back down.

“Even though I noticed the signs and drew my weapon, it would have been too late if I had responded with a stick. I would have surely been injured. If it had pierced my heart or head, I would have died instantly.”

“Really? I’m glad it wasn’t a pointless act.”

Sion felt it.

Even though the wound had healed without him knowing, there was a possibility that he wouldn’t have returned if he had died.

“I’m really glad my arm came back, but what would you have done if it hadn’t…”

“I didn’t move with a particular reason in mind. Well, you can live with one arm, can’t you?”

Rohan tried to lighten the mood in his own way.

But Sion’s expression did not lighten. It was still heavy.

“Sion.”

“.”

The girl, who had been bowing her head like a sinner, lifted her head and met his eyes.

Rohan had many things he wanted to say. But for now, he couldn’t say everything.

“Even though we fought for three days straight, sweating and not eating or washing properly.”

“.”

“Even though it was that hard, did you enjoy it?”

At Rohan’s question, Sion quietly looked at Clara, who was sitting still.

She smiled at him. It felt like his heart was warming up.

Then he looked back at Rohan.

Sion shared his thoughts.

“…I enjoyed it. Enough to do it again if asked.”

“But that thought will soon disappear.”

“Why?”

“Because you have to live more joyfully from now on.”

“…!”

He felt the determination to soon take him out of the dreadful cage.

The promise of freedom.

Understanding Rohan’s true intention at once, Sion couldn’t find any words to respond and closed his mouth.

After witnessing the unwavering sacrifice, the weight and sincerity of those words soared to the sky.

‘This man…’

As he looked at Rohan, a ticklish feeling and a pounding heart arose.

Sion even felt a strange sensation of being burdened by Clara’s gaze.

In that moment of awkward silence felt only by the two girls.

Bzzzz!!! Bzzz!!!

Rohan and Clara’s smartphones started to receive signals and get a location fix.

As the broken time returned to normal, missed calls poured in.

‘Wow, I think I worried them too much.’

Rohan, looking at the phone trembling with incoming vibrations, instinctively felt that the upcoming events would be more exhausting than expected.

There were over a hundred missed calls from various people, including Joo-yeon.

Messages from friends in Class 1 asking what was going on and where he was since lunch break had ended were also piling up.

“Oh, oppa! The date hasn’t passed yet…”

“Right. Sion said there were about 5 hours of spare time, right? Then it should still be okay?”

Clara, who had jumped up from her seat, sat next to Sion and showed the time and date. The elf girl slightly opened her mouth in surprise.

The time Rohan had measured with the timer had been distorted too much.

“No matter how many times I look back, it’s hard to believe…”

Sion seemed quite perplexed by the abnormal phenomenon she was experiencing for the first time.

After being dragged to another place and struggling for over three days, she returned to find that only a day had passed as she had hoped. Naturally, it wouldn’t be easy to accept.

‘Still, this is an incredible stroke of luck.’

If they go back now, they won’t be late.

Even though it was uncomfortable not having showered for three days, they could do that once they returned.

Apart from the mental fatigue, their physical condition was fine.

Seeing Sion get up and start gathering her equipment, Rohan spoke up.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I have to go back. Now that the opportunity has come, I will move diligently. I must stay until I uncover the truth.”

“Indeed, I also need to let them know that I’m back. It would be troublesome if the police got involved.”

Sion showed pure curiosity at Rohan’s words.

Surely, it was something that would attract interest here and there.

“Is it okay if I don’t get involved?”

“If it comes up, I’ll try to gloss over it somehow.”

“Thank you. Really, for everything…”

Rohan joked that there was no need for gratitude.

Clara, who had been silent, called out to Sion.

“Sion unnie.”

“Hmm?”

“You’ll come again, right? Next time, let’s just have fun…”

“Even if I don’t come, Rohan said you’d meet soon. Isn’t that right?”

Sion looked at Rohan with a playful smile.

Clara’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between them.

“Rohan.”

“Yes.”

“Did you tell Clara about me?”

“No. I didn’t leak that information.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Then please explain it well.”

This time, Rohan was the one who was surprised by Sion’s words.

“I don’t mind, but… is it really okay?”

“I just want to tell Clara a little more about myself. And Clara will be involved in the future, won’t she?”

“How did you know that?”

Sion ended his words with a smiling face, saying it was just an intuition.

He handed over the reward received from the dungeon to Rohan. All three of them who escaped the dungeon knew what this fingernail-sized item was.

“Then, both of you stay healthy. Rohan, make sure to visit the hospital.”

With those words, Sion disappeared across the building.

Rohan watched the quickly receding figure and then shifted his gaze.

He saw Clara sitting next to him, pouting her lips with a complicated expression.

“I’m going to the police station now, what about you, Clara? If it’s too much, you can go home, wash up, and rest. I’ll explain it somehow.”

That question.

If it were Clara’s original personality, she might have avoided the situation.

But now, she felt she shouldn’t.

“I-I want to stay with you, oppa…!”

The girl reached out and grabbed the tattered collar.

*

Juyeon, who had been searching alone around the academy city and its vicinity, received contact from Rohan and the police station.

At the same time, Juyeon shot across the sky of the academy city like a meteor.

A huge flame descended on the police station.

Clang!

Guided by the police officer, Juyeon opened the door and saw Rohan wearing a messed-up cadet uniform.

Seeing him, a bright smile spread across his face.

An emotion difficult to describe. There was relief, but it felt like his heart was being torn apart.

“Instructor!”

“.”

Juyeon silently strode towards Rohan, who was sitting down.

He hugged Rohan tightly.

“!!!”

Clara froze in place as she watched the scene.