Chapter 42: The Same Old Bastard (3)

Maybe he had heard my voice, but Berald, still clutching the crumpled door in one hand with a triumphant grin on his face, turned his gaze toward me. The moment he spotted me, his eyes sparkled like stars. “No way! Is that you, Brother Dale?”

He strode toward me. “

Heh!

I’ve been hearing all kinds of rumors about you lately. What in the world’s been going on?”

Berald was the only person with whom I had any real connection before my regression, though it wasn’t exactly a good kind of connection. We had first met in last year’s supplementary classes during the academy break. Both of us had flunked one of the core general education courses: Principles and Understanding of Mana.

I guess failures recognize their own. He, infamously nicknamed “The Scoundrel of House Ryu,” and I, known as the eternal bottom-ranked cadet, naturally gravitated toward each other.

Berald rattled off the stories about me. “They say you knocked out Professor Kane with a single punch and made the Sword of the Holy Empire kneel with just a flick of your hand.”

He trailed off mid-conversation, clearly having a hard time believing those words, then continued regardless, “And during the recent demonic monster attack, I heard you sliced through a whole swarm of them in one swing. Is that true?”

“More or less,” I replied nonchalantly.

Berald’s eyes widened in disbelief. “More or less? So, you’re saying it’s not just complete nonsense? Did you find some elixir stashed behind the academy and drink it or something, or what?”

His reaction wasn’t unreasonable. Knowing the version of me from before, I perfectly understood why it would sound utterly ridiculous.

“Nah, nothing like that.” I paused, wondering how to explain it in a way that Berald would accept. But then I realized, I didn’t need to overthink it. “Let’s just call it a moment of enlightenment, I guess.”

“

Oooh

! Enlightenment!” Berald’s eyes gleamed as he let out a low whistle.

“Enlightenment” was a term often used when a hero stuck at a bottleneck suddenly broke through to new levels of strength. It was a ridiculous excuse, I knew. No matter how profound enlightenment was, it was an absurd explanation for why someone who had spent their entire school life scraping the bottom of the rankings had suddenly grown strong enough to knock around a professor.

However, Berald wouldn’t question such an explanation. It wasn’t because he was dumb and definitely not because he was naive. The reason I knew he wouldn’t doubt me was simple: this guy had always placed some inexplicable trust in me.

Berald’s nostrils flared as he clenched his fists with excitement. “

Haah

! I knew it! Brother Dale, I just knew you would pull it off!”

“Really?”

“Of course! Didn’t I always say, from the moment we met, that I get this feeling from you? That you are destined to become a great hero, greater than anyone else?”

Even now, I had no idea why he thought that. In my past life, too, when I graduated dead last in the rankings, Berald never stopped saying things like

“Don’t worry! You’re bound to become a great hero one day!”

There was no logic behind it. No evidence. Just pure, unshakable belief. That was why I was confident that even a lame excuse like “enlightenment” wouldn’t raise any red flags for him.

Berald enthusiastically patted my shoulder, as though he were the one who had just undergone a breakthrough. “

Ahahah

! I feel like I’ve been reborn just hearing that! You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you, Brother Dale?”

“Yeah. Thanks, man.”

After giving me a few hearty slaps on the shoulder, he shifted his gaze to the person beside me. “By the way, who’s this?”

“

Oh

, this is Jules Kang. A friend of mine.”

He gave a wide grin and held out a hand the size of a manhole cover. “

Oho

! A friend of Brother Dale! Pleased to meet you, I’m Berald Ryu!”

“

Huh

? Oh,

um,

I’m Jules.”

“

Heh

. So, how do you two know each other?” Berald asked out of curiosity.

“

Um

...” Jules’s face stiffened.

I smirked and casually activated my Hero Watch. “Let’s see... This guy has a rather unique hobby.”

“

Eek

! No! Don’t!” Jules shrieked the moment the screen lit up, as if I had hit a nerve.

I turned toward his panicked expression and laughed under my breath. “What? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Y-you promised to keep that a secret!”

“

Hmm

? Now I’m curious. What kind of hobby could it be for him to react like that?” Berald said intriguingly.

Jules frantically waved his hands in denial. “I-it’s nothing! Really! But wait! You said your name is Berald Ryu? As in the Ryu family? The same as Headmaster Ryu?”

Known as Thunder God, Lionel Ryu was the headmaster of the Hero Academy and a hero ranked third in the current Tri-Nation Hero Rankings. Basically, he was a living legend.

“The Ryu family, huh.” A brief shadow passed over Berald’s face. But that only lasted for a moment. He quickly put on his usual boisterous smile and nodded. “That’s right. Though, I’m from a branch family, so I don’t really have any close ties to Lord Lionel.”

Jules gazed at Berald with admiration. “Oh, really? Still, being part of House Ryu is pretty amazing.”

While Jules’s family held decent status within the Republic, it couldn’t compare to the prestige of House Ryu. The Ryu family stood shoulder to shoulder with the Bastion family of the Empire, renowned for producing generations of powerful mages. They had cemented their name as one of the Republic’s top noble houses since the time people first crossed over from that old world called “Korea” some five hundred years ago.

“Is that so?” Berald let out a quiet sigh and trailed off, his smile tinged with bitterness.

Jules didn’t seem to notice, but with the memories of my past life still intact, I could clearly read the look in his eyes.

Of course, he wouldn’t be thrilled to hear praises for his family,

I thought.

From a young age, Berald had been treated like dirt by his family for one simple reason: he had no aptitude for magic. As a member of a mere branch family without much traditional weight to begin with, he didn’t stand a chance. It was how he had earned that nickname: the Scoundrel of House Ryu.

This nickname was bestowed upon him for ignoring the rich tradition and legacy of a family known for producing generations of great mages, all because he obsessed over nothing but throwing punches. It was no wonder we were close in my previous life. The lowest-ranked hero and the disgrace of a prestigious family—honestly, could there be a more fitting pair?

Berald shifted the topic. “But anyway, did you already have lunch?”

“Yeah. You?” I replied.

Berald patted his stomach with his thick hand. “Heh. I just finished a hearty meal myself.”

“What did you eat?”

“Why, spicy pork stir-fry, of course.”

“

Ha

! Now that’s the choice of a man who knows what’s good,” I said happily.

Berald grinned widely at me. “

Hehe

. Did you have spicy pork stir-fry too, Brother?”

I nodded without hesitation. “If you’re from the Republic, spicy pork stir-fry is a must.”

Berald burst out in hearty laughter and threw an arm around my shoulders. “

Bwahaha

! See? I knew you and I were always in sync!”

He bounced like he was dancing, our shoulders pressed together. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sensation as his muscles felt like stone. But it brought back some memories.

Back when we roamed the continent to stop the resurrection of the Demon God, we used to sit around a campfire like this, drink shoulder to shoulder, and laugh without a care—Berald and I, laughing and throwing back drinks like idiots; Yuren quietly stepping in to scold us; Sophia off in the corner, quietly reading; and Iris, looking over all of us with her warm, gentle smile.

“Come on now. Down the hatch, Big Bro!”

“Hell yeah! Let’s drink ‘til we drop!”

“Haha! Not like you wouldn’t come back even if you died!”

“You all do remember we’ve got an early start tomorrow, right?”

“Ehh! Don’t be such a stiff, Yuren! Come join us for a drink!”

“Berald, shut it. You’re ruining my reading.”

“Tch. No wonder you’re not growing taller, Sister Sophia. Always reading late into the night like this.”

“Do you want to die?”

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Haha! Drink moderately, everyone. Like Yuren said, we’ve got to get up early.”

“Hehe. So, Sister-in-law, does that mean you won’t be joining Big Bro in his tent tonight?”

“Oh my! That’s an entirely different discussion.”

“Hahaha! How’s a single guy like me supposed to survive watching this?”

“

Tch!

” I clicked my tongue at the flood of memories in my head.

It was just a fleeting moment in time, ordinary but precious, a page torn from a cherished memory, never to be mended. If that page had been torn, all I had to do was make new ones. That was all there was to it.

Can’t mope around forever. I’ve got the chance to do just that now

, I thought.

I looked at Berald, who was still grinning from ear to ear, and my eyes sharpened. With his booming laughter, anyone would think he lived a life free of worry. But they didn’t know the true Berald. I did. I was the only one who knew just how much he suppressed himself beneath that boisterous smile.

Berald smiled wryly. “

Ha!

Anyway, since you’ve had your big ‘enlightenment,’ I guess we won’t be seeing each other in supplementary classes anymore. I’m a bit embarrassed to say it, but I think I’m going to fail again this time.”

“Come on. The semester just started,” I replied.

“

Haha!

That’s true.” A deep sigh slipped between his lips. “I’ve been learning magic for years now, and I still can’t even make a proper Mana Bullet...

Heh

, I guess that’s a kind of talent too, isn’t it?”

A self-deprecating smile spread across his face as he continued, “Well, at least you’ve finally found the spotlight. I’m happy for you, brother.”

I fell silent, watching his shoulders slump with defeat. It made me recall that Berald hadn’t started learning real hand-to-hand combat in this life yet. Sure, he used to throw punches all over the place, but that was nothing more than wild brawling with brute strength; there was no technique, form, or discipline.

This could be the perfect chance.

I had been planning to find my old companions soon anyway,

and now, right on cue, Berald had appeared before me. In Iris’s words, this would be a moment of “divine guidance from the Seven Gods.”

Originally, I was going to sweet-talk Jules into helping me pay for a private training room, but this was far more important. So, I asked Berald. “Hey, you got any plans after this?”

“

Hm

? Nah, nothing in particular.”

I let a slow grin curl across my lips. “Good. Then...”

Another memory from my past life resurfaced. It was the time Berald had taught me hand-to-hand combat. Even though I was horribly uncoordinated and had to be shown the same technique over and over again, he never once complained. He just kept flashing that big, goofy smile and patiently guided me every single time.

In that case, now, it’s my turn to guide you, my friend

, I thought.

I said, “How would you like to learn hand-to-hand combat from me?”