I’ll Retire After Saving the World

Chapter 61: (Advertisement) Help Me (1)

“This isn’t Jeong-hoon.”

― Isn’t this Jeong-hoon’s phone?

“Yes, it is not.”

― You fucking bastard. Don’t lie to me. Fuck, if you don’t pay back by the end of this month, you’re dead.

“I’m telling you, this isn’t Jeong-hoon.”

― Do you think I can’t do it? Huh? You just wait. I’ll come right now….

“Ah, fuck. I’m telling you, it’s not.”

― What? Fuck? Are you cursing at me, you bastard?!

I’ve told them kindly enough times that this isn’t Jeong-hoon’s phone. How many times do I have to say it?

I just got this phone with a random number, and this is what happens. Why did I have to end up with some debtor’s number?

It was quiet when I first got the phone, but it’s gotten worse over the past few days. I block the numbers as soon as they call, but the calls keep coming. I don’t know if the same guy is asking other people to call or if Jeong-hoon borrowed money from several people and then ran off.

“……”

The phone rang again.

I blocked the last number right after the call ended. Did he get another phone already? Impressive.

There aren’t many people who would call me. Hong Seok-young, Kim Chae-min, and Lee Mi-seon are the only ones in my sparse contact list. The kids? I see them all day at school, what more….

The kids did ask, but when I said I didn’t have a phone, they just mumbled that I should just say so if I didn’t want to tell them and didn’t ask again. Honestly, I really didn’t have one back then.

“……”

The phone kept ringing persistently.

“Teacher Woo? What are you doing not answering? Are you busy?”

Kim Chae-min, who was passing by, asked with a curious look. I waved my hand dismissively.

“The person who used this number before seems to have been a debtor. I keep getting debt collection calls….”

“Ah, I see…. So? Did you block them?”

“They keep calling from different numbers.”

Is there any reason to stick with this number while going through all this trouble?

But somehow it feels like losing.

“Still, you can’t just not answer it. Either hang up…. Ugh.”

Kim Chae-min shook her head slightly, took my phone, and answered the call instead.

“Hello, this is Woo Hwijae’s phone.”

Kim Chae-min spoke calmly.

“Yes? No, this is not…. The teacher is not available at the moment, can I take a message? Who is this? Hello?”

As I stared at her looking bewildered, Kim Chae-min quickly put the phone down.

“Here. Maybe there will be fewer calls now?”

“That would be nice….”

But barely a moment passed before the phone rang again. Kim Chae-min frowned lightly.

“I’ll answer it one more time.”

Without waiting for my response, Kim Chae-min pressed the call button immediately.

“This is Woo Hwijae’s phone. The teacher is not available at the moment….”

Kim Chae-min stopped talking. She nodded as if listening intently to the other person and then looked at me with wide eyes.

“Oh….”

What is it?

“Student, what’s your name? Yes, Kang Tae-woo. Student Tae-woo.”

Kang Tae-woo? Number 3?

I urgently reached out to Kim Chae-min, signaling to give me the phone.

Kim Chae-min lightly tapped the back of my hand and continued talking calmly with her back turned.

“The teacher will be here soon… Yes, I’ll tell him to call you right away.”

She ended the call.

I asked, dumbfounded.

“What was that?”

“Isn’t that the kid from Ark?”

“Yes. Number 3.”

Kim Chae-min frowned. I frowned too.

“Why did you hang up?”

“So you were going to take it right there?”

“I should have!”

“No way!”

“Why not?”

“Usually, you have to make the one who is in a hurry wait.”

Is that something you can apply here too?

I looked at Kim Chae-min incredulously, but she didn’t seem to care.

“What did number 3 say?”

“Don’t call him number 3… He just said he had an urgent matter.”

Something urgent, huh.

Anyway, sitting and thinking together won’t solve anything. I reached out to retrieve my phone from Kim Chae-min’s grip.

Kim Chae-min deftly avoided me. For a mage, at least….

“Well, it seems that Teacher Hong being admitted to the hospital did have an effect, didn’t it?”

It’s exactly one week today since Hong Seok-young was hospitalized.

If Ark was planning to make a move, now would be the perfect time.

“It worked really well on our kids too. What are we going to do about that?”

Kim Chae-min pointed at the classroom container.

Though we couldn’t see inside, a gloomy aura hovered around it. Was it just my imagination? No, it wasn’t just my imagination.

Well, to be honest, both Kim Chae-min and I did stir things up a bit.

Whenever they asked how the principal was doing, if he was alright or not and I answered irritably, avoiding a direct response. Usually, when you do that, people tend to assume the worst.

Kim Chae-min, not wanting to lie, didn’t respond at all. Honestly, she was worse than me. Her frustration towards Hong Seok-young made her appear as if she was hiding bad news, which led to misunderstandings.

I didn’t mention this to Kim Chae-min.

Still, I felt sorry for Yoo Hye-eun. Her family situation seemed complicated, and it looked like Hong Seok-young was somewhat of a guardian to her and her sister. With their protector in the hospital, it made sense for them to feel uneasy. That’s why I let Yoo Ji-eun skip school to stay with her sister.

‘Teacher! Am I holding the sword correctly like this?’

…Unlike her sister, she was full of energy.

I don’t understand why she keeps clinging to me. Your master is Hong Seok-young, not me.

“That’s something Teacher Hong will have to deal with.”

I replied indifferently.

Right now, I’m busy trying to figure out how to turn these kids into capable Hunters.

I eyed my phone in Kim Chae-min’s hand again.

“…Come on, it’s my phone!”

“You’re going to make a call right now, aren’t you!”

“I need to, right?”

I said, exasperated.

“There’s no point in us talking about this when we don’t know why he called.”

“But we should at least discuss what we’re going to do!”

“So….”

I recalled the conversation I had with Hong Seok-young when I visited the hospital a few days ago.

The hospital is in Seoul, and I don’t have a license. I don’t even have a car. Visiting Hong Seok-young requires help from Daseon or Kim Chae-min, so that visit was probably my last. Besides, it was hard to leave the kids for long.

While Kim Chae-min was putting on a show with artificial tears at the hospital entrance.

Hong Seok-young had said to me:

‘I think if Ark makes a move, they’ll come to you.’

‘…To me?’

‘You know, that National Heart….’

‘Yes, that.’

What Hong Seok-young said made sense.

After all, I had used my connection with the big-shot Hunter, Hong Seok-young, as bait to lure them. Now that I’ve gone to all that trouble, it should pay off.

‘I heard a bit from Hunter Lee. But is there a specific reason for wearing a mask? Well, it’s fortunate no one recognizes your face, but isn’t it inefficient for running an organization?’

‘…Faces aren’t important.’

‘Not important?’

‘Masked individuals are usually monitors. Sometimes, they have to pretend to be regular members to ensure the organization’s protocols are properly followed, so it’s better if their faces aren’t known.’

I had anticipated that telling Lee Mi-seon would lead the information to Hong Seok-young. I explained casually.

‘And there aren’t completely no people who know my face. There were separate management roles.’

It was also to prevent members from ratting each other out.

Listening to my explanation, Hong Seok-young scoffed as if it was absurd.

‘Even criminals do such things?’

‘…Well.’

‘I’m not criticizing you. It’s just that Ark people mimic even the most trivial things.’

Hong Seok-young shook his head and said,

‘Whether it’s that student from the research lab or someone else, if they contact you, I’ll give you full authority. If you need to leave, inform Teacher Kim or Hunter Lee. Report if you discover anything.’

‘Full authority?’

‘You’re not an inspector, so maybe the term sounds strange. Just understand it roughly.’

Finally, I managed to snatch my phone from Kim Chae-min’s hand.

“With these things, you shouldn’t overthink them.”

Kim Chae-min narrowed her eyes.

“We can’t even guess what the matter is about. You just have to trust yourself and go for it.”

“I know this. Gamblers say things like that all the time.”

“…This is different from that.”

I cleared my throat.

“And what if they run off because we made them wait too long? You have to catch the bait when it looks most appetizing.”

“…Ugh, are all men like this? You sound just like Teacher Hong.”

Well, I did grow up under him.

I smiled shamelessly and turned on my phone. There was an unfamiliar number in the recent call log.

Waving my hand at Kim Chae-min, I dialed the number.

Before the ringing even started properly, Number 3 picked up the call.

“…T-teacher?”

A trembling voice.

Number 3, you’ve gotten much better at acting.

“Tae-woo? I heard you called.”

“Yes, yes! T-teacher! Help, please help me!!”

* * *

Kim Chae-min forcibly suppressed her dissatisfaction.

“Tae-woo? Calm down for a moment, okay?”

Contrary to her soft voice, her face was cold.

Kim Chae-min didn’t know Woo Hwijae well. To be precise, she didn’t know what Woo Hwijae had gone through with Ark.

He paid delicate attention to the students at the pilot high school, despite his bluntness, but was harsh towards Number 3 from the research lab, who looked like a peer to the kids. She didn’t even know if Kang Tae-woo was his real name, but a name is a name.

But Woo Hwijae stubbornly called him Number 3.

‘Was he the kid who bullied his brother?’

It was only natural to have such suspicions.

Though he usually had a sullen face except when teasing the kids, Kim Chae-min couldn’t forget the expression she saw in the basement of the abandoned training center.

The eyes that looked at the broken window Hong Seok-young had shattered as if it was detestable. The frantic hands searching the room where the children stayed. The face filled with joy and relief when he found the bundle of papers.

‘Even if he pretends otherwise, he must have been worried about his brother.’

Of course. Who wouldn’t worry about a brother trapped in such a place? Especially when you don’t even know where they are now.

Thinking that way made her own frustration seem childish.

When you can’t even be sure if your brother is alive, other matters naturally take a back seat.

If she put herself in his shoes….

She would have already raided several Ark bases and strung up those involved.

‘Ah! Is that why Teacher Hong didn’t take me with him?’

Kim Chae-min regretfully clicked her tongue.

“Hmm. Right. But still…. No, it’s fine. I said I’d help, didn’t I? I don’t go back on my word.”

Woo Hwijae continued his phone conversation with a serious tone.

Though she could have eavesdropped by focusing her senses, she didn’t because it seemed uncool.

Kim Chae-min sprouted a small leaf from her fingertip and played with it between her fingers. When Woo Hwijae’s call didn’t end even after that, she made a rose bloom next.

By the time there were enough roses on the parasol table to make a bouquet…

“Are you done talking?”

Woo Hwijae ended the call.

“…What’s with your expression? Did it not go well?”

“You didn’t listen?”

“I don’t eavesdrop on personal calls.”

“Well, it wasn’t exactly a personal call, you should have listened.”

Woo Hwijae slowly stroked his chin.

“Number 3 told me something interesting.”

“Interesting?”

Woo Hwijae smiled with one corner of his mouth lifted, looking like he was genuinely thrilled.

“He said he’s awakened.”