After that, Hyun-Jae went back to Soomin and helped her to sit down. The girl was still crying silently while covering her face. Even though she had a hard front, Soomin was in reality a very soft girl with a very soft heart.
She worries the most about the people she cares about and would feel great pain in seeing them suffer let alone die. So, Wan Yong's death hit her hard.
However, Hyun-Jae still talked with her at length and tried to calm her down. Talon watched that interaction without trying to eavesdrop. He didn't want to shove his nose where it didn't belong and that was certainly one of those cases.
"Do you think they will overcome this?" He suddenly asked Acrypha with a blank expression, clearly still deep in thought from what happened.
"I wonder. In my lifetime, I have seen people lose their loved ones and many of them get crushed under the weight of that loss. Especially that short kid, he took the harshest blow." She said.
"You mean Shin-Il?"
"Yeah, he will need a miracle to recover from the mental blow." She added.
"... I see."
In reality, Talon knew what she was talking about. Shin-Il was probably blaming himself for Wan Yong the most. After all, he was the one that Wan Yong saved from death and sacrificed his life instead.
'Whether he can really stand up again or let that completely crush him... It's up to him.' Shaking his head with a long sigh, Talon looked up again.
Surprisingly, Hyun-Jae seemed to have calmed Soomin down enough for the girl to stop crying. She started listening to Hyun-Jae as she faintly nodded her head every now and then.
Her hands were shaking still, but she seemed to have reached some kind of conclusion. Hyun-Jae, on the other hand, continued to speak to her for a while longer.
Finally, when she was done with her words, Soomin suddenly jumped on the girl and hugged her tightly. Hyun-Jae seemed surprised at first as she didn't know what to do before she awkwardly patted her on the back.
After that, Hyun-Jae finally stood up and excused herself before she approached Talon.
"Is she going to be ok?" Talon asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It will take some time. But, she will move on, I'm sure of that."
"If you say so..." Cracking his neck, Talon finally pulled himself away from the crater. "What about Shin-Il and your vice president?"
"We need to find them. I'm sure they didn't go that far aw-"
Before she could even finish her sentence, two silhouettes appeared inside the warehouse. Shin-Il and Chin-Hwa came back. Surprisingly, their expressions were calm and collected.
Talon squinted his eyes as he watched them approach him and Hyun-Jae.
"Shin-Il? Are you ok?" When she noticed the two, Soomin stood up and rushed toward them.
Shin-Il looked at her for a moment before he nodded his head and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for running away. I... I just didn't know what to do at that moment."
Shin-Il's face was a mix of awkwardness and sadness, something that really squeezed Soomin's heart.
"It's ok... It's ok... We will definitely get out of here alive and fulfill Wan Yong's wish!" She said as she hugged the boy tightly. The latter was surprised at first but then hugged her back and closed his eyes.
"Mmm... We will..."
Meanwhile, Chin-Hwa approached Hyun-Jae. The latter looked at him confusedly. "What did you say to him?"
"I said nothing. I found him standing outside alone and then he told me that he wished to do something."
"Hah..."
Hyun-Jae didn't understand what he meant by that. But, her confusion didn't last long Shin-Il finally approached them along with Soomin.
"I have a request, president..." He said.
"What?"
"Can you... Can you please train me!!" He yelled in reply.
"Train you?"
"Yes, I want to learn how to become stronger. I grew tired of being the one to be protected. It only harms the people I care about. It's too much to bear. That's why, I want to be helpful to everyone! I don't want to stay like this! Just another heavy burden to stress about."
Everyone was surprised to hear his words. Shin-Il was known to be a very gentle individual. So gentle in fact that he would hesitate to even hurt a fly let alone hurt someone. Yet, that same kid was now asking to be taught how to fight.
"And here I thought it would take him a lot longer to come to that realization if he was ever destined to," Acrypha said with a subtly impressed tone.
"More like 5 minutes..." Talon replied as he blinked with surprise.
"If that's what you want... Then I will help you." The beautiful student council president replied.
Shin-Il's face lit up visibly when he heard her words and could feel the excitement rising in his heart. Only to be pulled back to reality the next second.
"However, you have to find something you can excel at even with your weak physique. Something that doesn't require close contact with the target." Hyun-Jae added.
"... But, what would that be?"
Everyone fell into deep thought for a good while.
"I think I have an idea for that." Soomin suddenly spoke. "You could learn how to use guns."
"Guns?" Chin-Hwa was the one to ask. "Where are we going to find guns?"
His question was justifiable. Getting access to real firearms is really hard as it is in South Korea, it was even harder now with how the world was basically a chaotic mess.
"Guns, or the easier choice here, a bow and arrows."
"A bow and arrows is actually a good idea." Talon snapped his fingers as he realized something. Looking around him, the whole warehouse was riddled with small shiny stones of different colors.
"Maybe we can find a bow in one of these stones." He said. Then, he looked at Acrypha. "Is that possible?"
"Those stones contain weapons from all dimensions. There is always a chance to get a bow."
"Good." Talon nodded his head before he looked at everyone. "Let's first close this place and secure it and then give Wan Yong a proper burial."
"As you heard him, we don't have time, let's move." Hyun-Jae quickly started assigning tasks to each person.
Talon and Hyun-Jae were to go out and try to close the gaps in the surrounding walls of the warehouse. Chin-Hwa and Shin-Il will bury Wan Yong and finally Soomin will collect the stones that the monsters dropped.
"Come on, help me carry him." Chin-Hwa signaled for Shin-Il. The latter looked at Wan Yong's dead body and shuddered. The man had a subtle smile on his face that was hard to ignore. Shin-Il felt a complicated feeling within him at that moment.
"Shin-Il?"
"... Uh, I'm sorry..." Rubbing his face harshly, he finally stepped forward, took the other side of Wan Yong's body, and slowly lifted him up.
When he did that, he realized something that truly made his brain halt. Chin-Hwa also noticed it and he stopped and looked at the dead man he was carrying.
Neither of them spoke, but they shared the same look of pure astonishment. After all, what they felt at that moment was not normal at all.
Tears welled up in Shin-Il's eyes as he fought the urge to cry. Even Chin-Hwa's cold face crumbled slightly.
"What happened? Is everything ok?" Soomin noticed that and asked worriedly.
"Wan Yong... He..." Shin-Il tried to reply between his sobs.
"What?"
The one to answer was Chin-Hwa instead. "His body feels light..." Even as he was saying it, he couldn't believe his own words.
"Wan Yong is helping us carry him..." Shin-Il continued Chin-Hwa's words.
In reality, Wan Yong weighed at least 100 KG. Carrying him was bound to be hard even if Shin-Il and Chin-Hwa worked together. Yet, for some reason, at that moment, it didn't feel heavy at all. It was as if Wan Yong was not throwing his whole weight on them. As if he didn't want to burden them even in his death.
Soomin stood there motionless as she stared at Wan Yong. She couldn't find any words to say and what would she even say at such a moment?
Only silence could truly describe how she felt at that moment.
"Let's go, Shin-Il," Chin-Hwa said as he started moving. Shin-Il also walked with him as he wiped his tears, his face was still completely crumbled. But, he didn't want Wan Yong to stay like this any longer, he wanted him to rest properly, once and for all.
The two walked outside and moved behind the warehouse where there was a dirt area that seemed like it was being constructed with all kinds of construction tools thrown everywhere.
Apparently, the university was intending to do some expansions for the warehouse. Luckily, the two had everything they needed there to bury Wan Yong.
So, they immediately went to work, digging the ground with the shovels. After a while, they were done. Then, they simply carried Wan Yong down the hole and slowly put him down. Everything went very smoothly without a hitch.
After that, they climbed up and took one final look at Wan Yong. Then, they slowly returned all the dirt right to
"Do you have anything to say?" Chin-Hwa looked at Shin-Il for a second.
The latter nodded his head before finally bowing toward Wan Yong. "Thanks for saving me... I will definitely become stronger, WAN YONG!! So please watch me!! I will fulfill your wish!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
He was still deeply scarred and he will probably never heal from this scar. But, Shin-Il was ready to make that scar his purpose to become stronger. To fulfill his dream and his friend's dream... To survive.