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Translator: uly
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Childhood Friend (7)
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Long ago, on the day Jin Se-jeong awakened.
Following her family's traditions, she had formed her mana core with the help of Jin Yu-ha, the matriarch of the Jin family and her mother.
One method noble families used for their direct descendants to form mana cores was the 'guiding' technique, where the family head channeled their own mana into the child to forge the foundation of the mana core.
It was the safest way to create a sturdy mana core, widely used among prestigious houses, and the Jin family employed this 'guiding' method as well.
Thus, Jin Se-jeong felt an endless blue ocean unfolding within the mana flowing into her from Jin Yu-ha, trembling before its sheer vastness and depth.
To Jin Se-jeong, who had awakened just hours earlier, Jin Yu-ha's mana—like a azure sea—served as her goal, true to the name 'guiding.'
She resolved to gain a strength like the ocean, just like her mother, and bring glory to the Jin family name.
'Uh... Huh? Huh, huuuh?'
And now, as she held hands with Yang Woo-bin to check his mana, Jin Se-jeong could vividly feel that overwhelming power she had once sensed from her mother.
It defied common sense for a mere ten-year-old superhuman—especially a male one—to wield such staggering power.
That was why Jin Se-jeong could only ask, breaking out in cold sweat.
"H-Huh? How is this possible? When exactly did you awaken?"
Superhumans from noble families typically awakened around age thirteen on average; the earliest was ten, and the historically fastest was eight.
Yang Woo-bin was currently ten years old. Even comparing him to the fastest recorded superhuman in history, it hadn't even been two years since his awakening—yet he wielded this much mana? It made no sense.
'Is this guy Yang Woo-bin actually some monster in disguise who's faked his age? Did he drag me to this empty training hall to eat me? What if that's true? He's way stronger than me...'
Once her thoughts reached that point, Jin Se-jeong began to see Yang Woo-bin as a monster.
A overwhelmingly powerful monster who had fought her ten times without even grazing her clothes, delivering one-sided defeats.
Being just a ten-year-old kid, Jin Se-jeong trembled in fear, her mind going blank as she froze in place.
'Am I... am I going to get eaten just like this...? Ugh, ugh. I ran to the Yang family to survive, but it turns out this was the tiger's mouth...! There's no paradise in the place you flee to...!'
Just as her mind filled with anxiety and she began succumbing to despair,
"Hmm, yeah, it'll be fine. I was planning to tell you anyway. I awakened at five. The mana being a bit unusual? That's because of my trait."
Unexpectedly different words came from Yang Woo-bin's mouth.
"Huh?"
"It's called Solar Body. A utterly cursed trait. Not only does it make my mana hypersensitive, it also turns it flammable. I've been struggling desperately just to survive this insane trait all these years. ...Ugh, damn. Even thinking back gives me chills."
Yang Woo-bin shuddered briefly as he recalled the past, looking nothing like the monstrous figure Jin Se-jeong had imagined.
It's human nature to grow curious when you see a human—especially a vulnerable—side from someone you feared.
The already simple-minded kid that she was, Jin Se-jeong's interest was piqued by Yang Woo-bin's human side, and she cautiously asked,
"...C-Can you tell me about it?"
"Huh? Tell you what?"
"How... how you've lived until now."
Jin Se-jeong had always thought she was the most pitiful person in the world.
What could be more tragic than a life nearly ended by her one and only older sister?
But after meeting Yang Woo-bin and sparring with him, she began to think he might have lived an equally pitiful life.
A once-in-history genius who awakened at age five—three years younger than the previous record holder—making that face and saying he'd 'strived to survive.'
His strength, the depth in his eyes beyond his years, the faint resentment in his voice—none of it belonged to a kid with a happy life.
"Tell me, Woo-bin."
So Jin Se-jeong looked him straight in the eye and calmly made her request.
"...Yeah, sure."
And his response was a calm acceptance.
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The story of my life that the kid wanted to hear wasn't all that long.
After all, I'd just been trapped in the family, living a repetitive daily routine without anything special.
Summing up my ten years of life took exactly ten minutes.
"Ugh... Hic, snif. Woo-bin's so pitifuuul...!"
And those ten minutes were more than enough to turn the kid's cute face into a puddle of tears and heartbreak.
I had opened up seriously to gain her favor, but I hadn't expected such an visceral reaction.
"Hey, why are you crying? Is it really that bad?"
"Of course it is! How could the first words you hear after being born be 'Any defects?' What kind of mom says that to her own kid?! Hic, snif. Just talking about it makes me sad again...!"
Afterward, she kept bawling with things like 'So talented, yet only learned housework? So pitiful!' or 'Solar Body? Trained just to not die? So pitiful!'—way harder to deal with than during our spars.
I wanted to pat her back to comfort her, but my hands were still tightly gripped in hers from earlier, so I couldn't.
In the end, all I could do was wait for her to stop crying.
"Huuuuh..."
"...Done crying?"
"Yeah... All done..."
About thirty minutes later, right around bedtime, the kid finally stopped her tears.
My name is Yang Woo-bin, age ten.
During this prime growth period, sleep is crucial, so to wrap up what I needed to do quickly and head to bed, I got straight to the point.
"Alright, now it's my turn to say my piece. Remember that wish bet we made earlier?"
"Huh? Oh, r-right. Y-Yeah, I remember."
"Heh heh heh. And I secured a decisive victory. So from now on, you have to do what I say. Right?"
"Y-Yeah."
Perhaps due to the weight of the word 'wish,' I heard her gulp nervously, her face full of tension.
But even if she was trembling in fear and swallowing hard, I had no mercy when it came to achieving my goal.
"Kuhuhuhu, well then, here's my wish."
"U-Ugh."
I grinned at the anxiously shaking kid and issued the wish—no, command—that she had to accept.
"From now on, every day, spar with me like we did today."
"Huh?"
Room-based bodyweight exercises had their limits for training.
I was hitting a wall with bodyweight training, meditation for body, mind, and mana core.
What I needed was this training hall, and to use the Golden Man's domain freely, I needed the kid who had free access to it.
"In other words, us pitiful folks should get strong together."
Even though we'd bet on a wish, if the kid clammed up and left, I'd be out of options—so leveraging the newfound sympathy I'd built by opening up, I added,
Phrases like 'us pitiful folks' and 'get strong together' were perfect for building camaraderie as I tried to gain her allegiance.
"..."
But contrary to my expectation that she'd cave easily, the kid just stared blankly at me without responding.
Damn, did I come on too strong too fast? Should I have sweet-talked her more and slipped it in slyly?
I absolutely needed to use this training hall, making her—the holder of its usage rights—the absolute top dog here.
'Sigh, should I kneel and beg, fluttering sensation in her chest' As that thought flashed through my mind, the kid's tightly shut mouth slowly opened.
"...Okay, I'll do it. Woo-bin."
"Huh? Th-Thanks."
"Then, I'm off to bed. Bye."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, go on in."
The kid agreed, then turned her back to me and trotted out through the training hall door.
Once she left, no one else was allowed to remain, so I quickly exited too.
What was that? If she was gonna say yes, why the long pause?
With that small question lingering, I rinsed off the sweat from the training hall with a light shower and went to bed.
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Shwaaaaa—
After parting with Yang Woo-bin, Jin Se-jeong showered to wash away the dirt and sweat from the training hall.
The warm water eased the fatigue accumulated over the day, and the seeping heat naturally relaxed her body, but her mind remained tense.
Not because of her precarious situation, having fled to a distant place with her life targeted by kin.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Ever since hearing his words, her heart had been pounding wildly without stop.
"Us pitiful folks... get strong together..."
Clutching her racing chest, Jin Se-jeong replayed what he'd said to her.
Too young to understand the cause of this throbbing, she felt only confusion—but she didn't dislike the turmoil stirring in her heart.
"Hehe..."
For the first time since fleeing the Jin family, she felt like she wasn't alone.
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And three years passed.