Hero, Go To School! - Chapter 15 - In a Time of Peace, Heroes Are… 1

“Did I change the water this morning before I left?”

I kept checking the time on the bottom of the computer screen out of habit. It was well past quitting time, and already nearing 10 PM. The new project I had taken on had been making me work late frequently, but today was the peak.

I was worried about the cat waiting for me alone at home. When I got home after work, I was always so tired that I rarely played with it, and the guilt followed me, as usual.

The food I poured this morning was probably all gone by now.

“Sigh.”

Maybe Luongi would have been freer and happier as a stray cat. The self-reproach about bringing it home crept up on me again.

I’ll make sure to play a crazy hunting game with Luongi today, even if it means exhausting myself.

After finishing the report that was due tomorrow, I closed my laptop. With a snap, my senior, who had been sitting across from me, looked at me with a tired expression.

“Leaving?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve worked hard till late. But it’s almost the weekend, so don’t think too badly of it.”

“Things should get better after the project ends. I’ll head home now. Please review the report tomorrow.”

My senior furrowed his brow, looking displeased.

“Even if we’re both suffering together, I’m not your friend, am I?”

“……”

“You should say hello properly. Let’s keep some manners.”

I quietly stared at my senior’s face, who said this with a bitter smile. The late nights over the past few days were all because he didn’t get his work done on time, and now I was supposed to show him more courtesy?

The things I’d been holding back until now finally cracked. When I stood holding my bag, my senior raised an eyebrow.

In a brief moment, countless thoughts rushed through my mind. Luongi, waiting alone in the dark room, and the disappointed voices of my parents calling to ask when I’d be home. And, of course, my completely ruined work-life balance.

“…What an inconsiderate kid.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to do all the things you couldn’t do in school at the office, and your skills never improve. That’s why you’re always in this state.”

My senior let out a helpless sigh, glaring at me.

“Hey, Yoon I-young!”

“I’m going home first. You can keep spinning in circles.”

I vented my frustration without holding back. My nails dug painfully into my palm.

Thud-.

Just as I felt a faint pain, my senior’s face, previously flustered, changed. His irritated gaze swept over me from head to toe.

“Not leaving?”

“……”

I snapped out of my thoughts and belatedly bowed my head.

“…I’m going home.”

I adjusted my bag and stepped out of the dim office. The cold winter night air pierced my nostrils. As the biting chill seeped into my brain, my fuzzy mind finally cleared.

What part of all that was just in my head? Based on my senior’s reaction, it seems like everything after I cursed was definitely just a fantasy.

Reality isn’t like a novel where everything wraps up with a refreshing ending. The brief sense of relief would only bring worse consequences, keeping me up at night with even bigger headaches.

“I should quit.”

With every breath, white steam rose into the air. As I pulled out my wool gloves from my pocket and put them on, I felt the cold tips of my fingers slowly warming up.

Once my frozen hands finally moved, I picked up my e-bike battery from the charger.

“Ugh.”

At the moment my fingertips touched the battery, I felt a strange energy spread from my palm.

“…Huh?”

That was when it happened. A flash of pure white light blinded me, and it felt like an explosion surrounded me. Along with the light, a burning heat spread from the top of my head down to my toes.

The intense heat spreading across my skin caused my body to stiffen, and before I could scream, my body swayed backward and collapsed to the floor.

I felt the cold floor’s energy against my back.

What lay before me was a sky, completely devoid of clouds, rising high above. Against the backdrop of the black sky, dim building lights flickered here and there, and amidst the swaying of my vision, dizziness washed over me.

…Ah, I should have properly cursed at least once.

My body grew heavier, and with a brief moment of regret, my consciousness was sucked into deep darkness.