C4: Transcension Academy (1)
Someone said life is a comedy seen from a distance, and a tragedy seen from close up.
To truly laugh, you have to know how to endure pain, and furthermore, you have to know how to look far away so I held it in.
In a world where there was nothing to rely on, I endured even if I was tired and exhausted. I also looked far away. Although my daily life felt like a wheel on a treadmill, I didn’t see it.
Instead, I entered Hunter Academy one day, passed the professional Hunter exam and saw my future as a hunter.
undefinedI endured and looked at it for nine years but just when I was getting close reality struck.
“The nerves on the leg were necrotized. When the bone was broken and regenerated, it seemed to be stuck to the nerve. Since you’re an awakened, you’re quick to recover…”
Someone said life is a comedy seen from a distance, and a tragedy seen from close up but for me the comedy was far away and the tragedy was too close.
It was only now that Seo-joon realized the true meaning of that expression.
“If you were an ordinary person, you might not be able to use your legs for the rest of your life, but if you do an operation, you will be okay.”
The doctor smiled as he spoke but Seo-joon wanted to rip the doctor’s mouth off if he could.”
The cost of the operation is 40 million won, equal to how much Seo-joon saved over the past 9 years.
He went to the head of the work team and protested. Because it was an accident during work he wanted the company to support the treatment fee. However, Kim Tae-soo, the head of the work team, kicked Seo-joon out with anger.
“Shouldn’t you have gone to the hospital right away? I paid you to go to the hospital and get treated, but you didn’t go, so why are you arguing with me now?”
Seo-joon protested. It was only one day. Not a month but only a day. However, Kim Tae-soo was stubborn.
The people who worked with him turned away from Seo-joon, looking at Kim Tae-soo, and only Man-cheol shouted like Seo-joon, but it was useless.
The world did not listen to Seo-joon and Man-cheol’s cries.
“If it’s too late, the nerves and bones will stick together and it’ll be irreversible. You need to have surgery soon.”
He eventually underwent surgery and lost nine years.
“Good things should flow to people like you. The world is really… fucking going around.”
Man-cheol plopped down on the chair in the hospital room. He made a loud noise as he sat down, but since it was a single room, the only person who could hear it was Seo-joon, who was lying on the bed.
“Kim Tae-soo is such a jerk. He was shooting his mouth at the cost of a single room. Seo-joon if you’re going to do it, do it until the end. What’s a week?”
The more Man-cheol thought about it, the more he cursed at him.
Man-cheol looked at Seo-joon lying in bed after cursing several times. He had a bandage wrapped around his leg and wore a patient’s uniform.
Seo-joon’s eyes were somewhat empty and Man-cheol decided to think so because it was right after undergoing major surgery.
Man-cheol took a small envelope out of his arms and he casually handed it to Seo-joon, who was lying down.
“What is this?”
“What do you mean? It’s an envelope.”
Seo-joon opened the envelope gently and saw a bunch of money in it. Seo-joon was surprised and returned the envelope to Man-cheol.
“No, sir. You’re having a hard time, too. Most of all, Suyeon needs to go to college.”
Man-cheol had a daughter who was just graduating from high school. His wife died 10 years ago and raised his daughter alone.
As Man-cheol knew Seo-joon’s situation well, Seo-joon also knew Man-cheol’s situation well, so Seo-joon could not bear to receive this envelope.
“Take it.”
However, Man-cheol didn’t take the returned envelope.
The scuffle continued, and Seo-joon was able to give the envelope back only after threatening that he would never see Man-cheol again if he did not receive it.
“…thank you mister.”
“Thank you very much.”
Man-cheol said, raising his voice tone slightly.
“If you’re thankful, shake it off and get up. We can collect all that again.”
“Yes, of course. I’m fine. The surgery went well, and I can do it again as you said.”
Seo-joon put a smile on his face.
‘Kid, if you complain that you’re having a hard time, there’s no one to blame.’
Man-cheol had a lot to say, but he quit.
“…I’m going now. Take care. I’ll drop by often.”
“Yes, sir. Go home safely.”
As Man-cheol left, silence fell in the hospital room. Seo-joon was thinking about the nine years he lost while dreaming about becoming a professional hunter. It was also the time he lost his parents in an accident and started living alone.
Seo-joon’s family was not very wealthy. In fact, most people’s families are not wealthy, so they live with debt in the name of loans. Seo-joon’s family had only a little more debt than others and Seo-joon, who was young, just didn’t know that.
That was the only crime Seo-joon committed in his life, the sin of not knowing.
It was when Seo-joon was 20 years old after graduating from high school that he first learned and learned the word debt collection, and so he took all of his parents’ debts.
He appealed to the court, but to no avail because he had plenty of time to waive inheritance but the court ruled that those who sleep on rights do not deserve the rights.
It was unfair and hopeless, but Seo-joon did not fall. He was a natural awakener and had a stronger body than others, so he could get up again at any time.
As he paid off his parents debts by carrying the monster bodies, he saved money step by step. And now after nine years, Seo-joon was lying in a hospital room.
“It’s okay. I can do it again. Fortunately, my body is fine.”
Can I do it?
Seo-joon stopped thinking and questioned himself.
If he started again it would take him another 9 years and he would be 36 years old at that time.
Will I be able to do it then?
Last year, the competition rate for the pro hunter exam was 197:1 and it will only get higher in the future. The competitors will become younger and fiercer and will continue to fall behind as he gets older.
Can I do it again?
“···”
Seo-joon couldn’t answer the question for the first time.
It was then.
“Ring, ring, ring.”
Suddenly, there was a loud notification that a message came from his smartphone. Seo-joon reached out to the side and found his smartphone on the table.
“What is it? Is it Man-cheol?”
It occurred to him that maybe it was the debtors sending him a message to urge him to pay the rest of the money even though he had surgery since debtors get such news faster than anyone else.
Seo-joon checked the contents of the message. However, the content was far from Seo-joon’s expectations.
<The past of transcendents is always sad!>
<A very special price discount event for beginners!>
<If you sign up now, you will receive a free pass ticket!>
“What should I say?”
Seo-joon turned off his smartphone feeling drained but after a while,
“Price discount and free pass?”
Seo-joon couldn’t resist curiosity and turned on his smartphone again. He accessed the link that came with the message.
Then, the Transcension Academy site that he saw last time and tried to find later but couldn’t find appeared along with a pop-up window.
<We are measuring the appropriate membership fee for user by calculating the causal rate··>
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.
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<Current membership fee: 3,000,000 ￦>
(We would like to inform you that the tuition fee after joining the membership may vary depending on your situation and causality.)
3 million won?
“Didn’t you say it was 40 million won the day before yesterday?”
Seo-joon checked the envelope given by Man-cheol. One, two, three million won exactly.
“How do you do this? Are you asking me for everything I have rather than a fixed amount?”
In this way, 40 million won was the same.
For some, 40 million won could only be money, but for Seo-joon, 40 million won was everything that contained Seo-joon’s dream.
“…”
Seo-joon could find himself hesitating for some reason. He was worried about something.
“Should I just sign up?”
Seo-joon eventually decided to try signing up for membership. Still, the idea of a fraudulent advertisement remained unchanged, but it was because he was a little curious.
Above all, there was no money left in the current account and there was no way to withdraw money from him immediately.
<Membership registration process in progress··>
<We collect your information based on the causal rate.>
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.
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<Final Confirmation – Do you agree to join the Transcension Academy?>
<If you agree to the final confirmation, the membership registration will be completed.>
“I don’t have to create an ID?”
Seo-joon once again pondered, but now his curiosity was too intense to turn back.
The moment when I pressed the consent button for membership a sound came from the envelope that Man-cheol gave.
Seo-joon checked inside the envelope but,
“Huh? Money in the envelope…”
The envelope was empty.
<Congratulations for becoming a member of the Transcension Academy!>
It was then.
<Nice to meet you! Are you Kim Seo-joon?>
“Wow!”
Suddenly, a small person popped out of the smartphone screen, a man so small that one might think that he is like a citizen of the country of dwarfs in Gulliver’s Travels.
He was translucent as a hologram, but his appearance was clear.
<Did I appear too suddenly? I guess I was excited because it’s been so long since we’ve had a human member. Hahaha.>
He smiled like that and scratched his hair.
Seo-joon asked, swallowing his bewildered feelings as much as possible.
“Excuse me, who are you?”
Then the little man said, bowing his back and head like a pleasant gentleman.
<Ah! My introduction is late. Nice to meet you! I am Mentor, a mentor in charge of Kim Seo-joon’s early guidance.>
