Chapter 557: Our Hayan Has Changed (1)

“Hayan.”

“Yes? Yes?”

“How are things going these days?”

“I-I am working hard. Yes…There are a lot of books in the Magic guild. There are also a lot of fun things… yes.”

“Well, are there any problems?”

“There’s nothing that could particularly be a problem… it’s the same every day. Everyone is nice to me… Moreover, even after Lindel turned into ruins, they preserved the books very well…”

“Um…”

“W-Why?”

“No, it’s nothing. Shall we go out together today?”

“What? What? Really?”

“Yeah, I was curious about how you were doing these days. Since we’ve been busy, we didn’t have a lot of time to see each other. After coming back from break, how are you doing?”

“Yes, I-I’m doing well. I’m doing well.”

‘I think you should check this again.’

Including Kim Hyunsung, I knew the guild members’ opposition would have to die down eventually. Our regressor knew what needed to happen, and he knew he had to make such a choice in the end.

He had to know better than anyone else that he had to place someone he trusted in the position that could control the entire continent.

He could only oppose for a little while. In a month, probably, he would change his mind. However, I was surprised at Jung Hayan’s problem.

‘Why’d her growth stop?’

So far, there had never been a time when Jung Hayan’s growth remained stagnant. I had doubted if she was really human because she kept showing me monstrous growth.

After the next day and the day after that, I checked her status window and saw that everything was the same. She had the same stats, magic, and same unique ability.

Only Jung Hayan’s growth was stagnant. Even talentless Park Deokgu’s stat increased by 1 in a useless area.

‘What is the Magic Guild doing? Is there a problem with communication? Is there even a person who can help?’

I began to think it was a mistake to send her to the Magic guild.

‘This isn’t supposed to happen.’

Of course, I didn’t have to feel anxious yet. There was still time left, and I could say that Jung Hayan was still among the strongest players.

But it was hard to watch her stagnate when she still had a lot of room for growth.

… Especially after hearing the extent of her power in the 1st Timeline from Kim Hyunsung.

‘She was a wizard strong enough to be called the incarnation of magic itself. Maybe if it weren’t for her, the long war wouldn’t have ended like that. Her power was overwhelming enough to think that if she had been a regressor, the problem could’ve been solved more easily.’

It was an evaluation that didn’t need more sophistication. Jung Hayan was the first one Kim Hyunsung had sought out as soon as he woke up again, and she didn’t fail his expectations by having grown so steadily up until recently.

She was the only magician who was able to teleport and penetrate through Semi-Mythic Grade magic.

‘Of course, I remember her being much stronger than she is right now. She must still be growing, so I think it won’t be bad to send her to the Magic Guild to train.’

I saw her continuing to smile as if she was so happy to go out with me.

It was our first time spending time together like this after the boat incident.

Of course, we were hanging out as part of work, and we didn’t have another schedule, but she still looked delighted.

After getting out of the Guild Hall, I bore witness to Lindel’s reconstruction again. In contrast to the time where there had been few people, it seemed full of energy at that moment.

The Heren business, which I went with Kim Hyunsung to do, turned out to be a complete success. The city had suddenly turned into a representative tourist destination, so I thought most people would have gathered there. However, it seemed like Lindel hadn’t lost its place as the hometown of adventurers.

Even if the place was in ruins, there were still a lot of people.

Adventurers with architectural skills were currently taking part in the restoration work.

Considering that the other part of the continent was spreading the news about an apocalypse, the difference in atmosphere was stark.

‘They’ve definitely gone through a lot.’

If they were going to falter just at that, they would’ve become ruined a long time ago. They probably had memories of pain in their hearts from the events when they fought the 27th Corps, but they most likely became stronger through that incident.

Their mentality had hardened, and they must’ve felt proud that they could protect their land.

“We are looking for people to hunt with us.”

“The Natural Guild decided to move to Heren. We have a lot of items on sale, so please take a look.”

“Travel package to Mirror Lake and Heren is open for application. There’s space available because of a sudden cancellation. Apply now!”

“We’re searching for party members to go to a Rare-grade dungeon. We prefer someone who can lead us.”

“We’re disposing of a potion made by the Blue Guild. Due to urgent financial reasons, we’re selling it for a much lower price than what is on the market.”

“We’re selling Hero-grade food ingredients. We also have regular ingredients, so take a look around.”

“How a Genius Swordsman and Alchemists Loves, revised versions… Oh! Please don’t push others! Don’t push. We only have enough copies for three.”

The square and the marketplace hadn’t been fully restored yet. It was operating like a pre-market with tents, but it didn’t look all that bad. It looked a bit nostalgic, and most of all, everyone looked happy.

As I walked along the street with Jung Hayan, I saw people bowing to greet me.

Some told me that they supported the Continental Protection and Management Committee, and others told me to cheer up. It felt like I was a celebrity. It indeed seemed that the friendly image I had built up so far was helpful.

The empire, as a whole, looked peaceful.

Besides discussing the Goddess’s prophecy or showing interest in the committee’s candidates, they all went on with their daily lives. In a way, I thought that there was still a lack of a sense of crisis, but considering that they were all living for the next day, I was very satisfied with the current atmosphere.

Humans fought to protect what they had and what they had to do. In places where many people gathered, such as bars and squares, the most popular topic was obviously about the committee.

‘Overall, standards have gone up…’

It was noticeable that people’s average stats had risen incomparably from the time before the 27th Corps desecrated the Federation.

Of course, it couldn’t compare to when they were in the First Timeline, where they were going through war after war, but I could guarantee at that moment that there was certainly nothing like the mess of a guild that I had seen during my ‘bitch’ Kiyoung time.

Even Lee Cheol-woo and Kim Daegun from the Friendship Clan, who I didn’t even remember well, had achieved tremendous growth. One could tell by the fire in their eyes. They wore the faces of adventurers who had endured hellish training to survive.

It was a pity that Hayan’s growth of all people had been put on hold.

Sun Hee-young, Elena, Kim Ye-ri, Cho Hyejin, Kim Chang-ryul, Yoo Ahyoung, Ahn Ki-mo, and the rest of the guild members had been focusing on training since they returned from vacation.

Even Han Sora was slowly regaining her previous senses and was achieving the biggest growth in the guild. Her face had brightened accordingly… and it felt as if she had completely freed herself from her fear of Jung Hayan.

How could I not be worried that a person was stuck in place while everyone else was moving forward? And it wasn’t as if the person was just anyone. It was Jung Hayan.

“Oh. O-Over there. I recently had lunch over there with the Magic Guild.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”

“I-It was really good. I wanted to come with you, Oppa. I guess we can g-go today.”

“Was it that good?”

“Yes. Ah… the tower has changed a lot. I thought the restoration was completed extremely quick, and there were many interesting items.”

“How do you usually train and study?”

“They gave me the very top floor of the guild. I tried to refuse it… but they insisted. I- I heard that there was the most magic there. I usually stay there and read magic books. O-Oppa told me to read books, after all…”

“Good job. Did you read a lot?”

“The books there… Um… a-about half.”

“Were you able to understand them?”

“Yes, there were some basic information and some difficult parts…”

“Well…”

“I-Is there a problem?”

“No, nothing.”

She looked a bit anxious. It seemed like she started to think she did something wrong since I kept asking about the training.

However, I couldn’t just tell her, ‘I think you’re not making any progress these days, so I’m asking you what’s going on.’

If she was going through something like a slump, such words could have a negative impact.

‘Maybe she’s just playing hooky.’

That was most likely. Since Hayan had reached a certain level and no one was comparable to her, she must’ve been getting a bit lazy.

‘That was the most likely reason.’

However, after I entered the magical tower and talked to the grandpas there, I had no choice but to admit that I was wrong.

“You mean Jung Hayan?”

“Yes.”

“Excluding mealtime, she shuts herself in the tower. Even when she comes out to eat, she has an ancient magic book under her arms. There are many times when she just skips the meals altogether, so I don’t know how I should say this… but I’m a little worried about her. Hehehehe.”

“She really is this empire’s blessing. Even if all the Magic Guild magicians are geniuses, no one can compare to Jung Hayan-nim.”

“And although she’s given us a hint to the formula for the famous teleportation magic, we haven’t made any progress in our research yet… Seeing that she created such magic, it’s not enough to call her magic’s incarnation.”

The army of old grandpas in the Magic Guild was looking at Jung Hayan as if she was their only granddaughter.

Just in case, I kept my eyes on Jung Hayan, but she continued to stay in her room and kept reading books.

I wondered if she was pretending to study like a student whose parents were attending class, but that didn’t seem like the case. Of course, I felt that way to some extent, but the appearance of her messy, large room, which wasn’t properly organized, seemed to show how hard she had worked so far.

“We thought about calling someone to organize the room, but in the end, we decided to leave it alone. It looks like a mess, but Jung Hayan-nim seems to have her own well-established system. There was a time when a new guild member tried to clean up her room without knowing anything and was severely scolded by her. Heheheh, She was so stressed that she threw items at the guild member while telling him to get out. Not only is her talent impressive, but her passion for magic is also the best. She is the GOAT! Kids these days are dope! The dopest!”

I could understand a grandfather’s desire to get close to Jung Hayan by using slang terms that only young people used, but no one even used those slangs anymore. It was embarrassing all in all.

She certainly did look like a genius as she sat on the sofa, reading books or writing magic operations. When I snuck inside the room and looked around, I strangely felt a very familiar feeling.

‘So, you shut yourself in a room like this even in the First Timeline, huh?’

Although she glanced at me from time to time, Jung Hayan seemed to concentrate on her studies from the start to the end. Hayan probably thought that she could gain some points from me if she showed how concentrated she was.

As the grandfathers had said, there were many books randomly scattered around the floor.

[Understanding Magic Fundamentals]

[What is Advanced Magic?]

[Deep Processes in Magic]

[Stories That I Understood in Practice, But Not in Theory]

[1,023 Things About This Continent’s Magic Laws]

[The Magical Secret That Even The Great Wizard Didn’t Know]

From basic books published in the continent to ancient books found in dungeons, there were books that I couldn’t fully understand. But at the same time, some items stood out.

[Oppa 1. avi]

[Oppa 2. avi]

I didn’t know what they were, but I pretended like I didn’t see them. They were also in the corner of the room as if she wanted to hide them.

‘It isn’t because of that, right?’

I felt like a parent caring about their children’s education.