I’ll Retire After Saving the World

TL: SHW

Woo I-rok’s day was simple.

First, he woke up at 7:20. He opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm, but then started nodding off while sitting on the bed.

Just as his head, tipping farther and farther forward, was about to touch the bed, there came a knock at the door.

Knock knock knock.

“…….”

If there was no answer, the gentle knocking turned fierce.

Bang bang bang!

“Woo I-rok, wake up!!”

It was his hyung’s voice.

“Do you want to be late for school?!”

“…Nooo…….”

Only after hearing the sluggish reply did the knocking stop. Woo I-rok wriggled around with his head buried in the bed, then practically slid off it.

Once he was on his feet, his head cleared. Woo I-rok vigorously scratched his hair. He was about to leave the room as he was, then stopped, turned around, and straightened his messy bedding.

When Woo I-rok first came here, he had shared a room with his hyung. The room was so large that there was still plenty of space left even after fitting two beds that looked easily twice as big as the ones they had used at the Research Lab. Back at the Research Lab, more than ten kids had shared a single room, so Woo I-rok had not minded sharing one with his hyung, but his hyung had not liked the arrangement.

‘Kids need a space of their own.’

‘Um, Teacher Woo. You’re not mistaking this place for some kind of hotel, are you?’

‘It isn’t?’

‘…….’

‘Just kidding. Anyway, you said the room I’m using now was just a conference room with all the furniture taken out and a bed put in. I’d appreciate it if you could spare one more room.’

At first, he wondered if his hyung simply did not want to live with him.

But when he actually saw the room with its bed, desk, and small wardrobe… how should he put it? He felt relieved. Woo Hwijae roughly ruffled Woo I-rok’s hair and said,

‘From now on, this is your room. You can do whatever you want… no, you can’t smash the room up or anything. But if you don’t want to be around other people, you can come here. Even hyung will make sure to knock before coming into your room.’

‘Knock?’

‘Yeah. You knock on the door like this and say you need something. If you don’t say it’s okay, I won’t come in.’

A space of his very own, for the first time.

Only after getting his own room did Woo I-rok understand why his hyung had wanted to make one for him. So his hyung had needed a space like that too.

If anyone told him now to share a room with his hyung again, he would probably shriek that he refused. Share a room with his hyung? For one thing, his hyung went to bed late, woke up earlier than he did, and nagged him about all kinds of pointless things.

‘I-rok. Hyung’s only saying all this because I’m looking out for you….’

Ugh. No.

Bang bang bang!!

“Woo I-rok!! Wake up!!!!”

“I’m up!!!”

Woo I-rok shrieked toward the door.

“Then hurry up, wash, and eat breakfast!!!”

“I said I know!!”

Woo I-rok gazed proudly at the neatly smoothed bedding, then belatedly came to his senses and left the room.

By the time he washed his face, changed clothes, and came out carrying the bag he had packed the night before, the people who were already eating breakfast greeted him.

“I-rok, did you sleep well?”

Hong Seok-young smiled gently and pulled out a chair for Woo I-rok. Woo I-rok awkwardly bowed his head in greeting and sat down. The people around the table called out their morning greetings to him. At least there were fewer people than usual today.

Hong Seok-young and Woo Hwijae, some people from a Guild called Daseon, and one Black woman who had apparently started working here not long ago. The foreign woman who had been introduced as Sandra rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned, then gave Woo I-rok an awkward smile and a wave when their eyes met. Thinking that she seemed oddly uneasy around him, Woo I-rok gave a slight bow of his head in response.

“Hurry up and eat.”

Then Woo Hwijae spoke quietly to him as he leafed through the newspaper.

Breakfast was usually something simple and quick to prepare. Woo I-rok was not a picky eater, so whatever was served, he always ate his fill. Today, the table held sugar-coated French toast, an omelet loaded with bacon, salad, and oranges.

“Here. Tell me if that’s not enough.”

Woo I-rok quickly polished off the toast in front of him. Watching him, Ji Yoo-geon placed another piece of freshly cooked French toast from the frying pan onto his plate.

“Do kids this age usually eat this much?”

“Hunter Ji. Don’t pick on the kid while he’s eating.”

“I’m not picking on him. Teacher Woo is tall, so I was just wondering if I-rok might grow tall too.”

“Ah… well. He’ll probably get to about my height, won’t he?”

“Ha, I’m jealous. I-rok, when you grow up, how about giving hyung just ten centimeters?”

Woo I-rok swallowed his French toast and replied with a face that made no attempt to hide his contempt.

“Start exercising even now. My PE teacher at school said basketball is a good exercise for growing taller.”

“If playing basketball at my age could make me taller, I’d have done it ages ago….”

Why would a grown man whine about his height?

Woo I-rok’s gaze grew even colder.

By the time breakfast ended, it was around eight.

Ji Yoo-geon stood up with the car keys in hand. Recently, Ji Yoo-geon had been the one taking Woo I-rok to school. Woo Hwijae and Hong Seok-young followed them all the way to the garage to see him off.

“Go there and listen to your teachers.”

“You say that every day!”

“And don’t fight with your friends.”

“I don’t fight!!”

“And don’t doze off in class.”

“Uncle, you used to doze off when you were a kid, didn’t you?”

“He probably skipped school without permission plenty of times too.”

“Now, now! Hwijae, don’t say things like that! What if the boy hears you and learns from you?”

“I’m not going to.”

Hong Seok-young burst into hearty laughter at Woo I-rok’s sulky retort.

Woo I-rok pouted even more as he looked at Hong Seok-young and Woo Hwijae. For the past few days, Woo Hwijae had been away over Dungeon-clearing business and whatnot, so Hong Seok-young had taken his place looking after Woo I-rok every morning.

His hyung never came into the room in the morning and only knocked on the door, but Hong Seok-young was different.

‘I-rok.’

‘…….’

‘I-rok. If you don’t get up now, you’ll be late.’

‘Mmm….’

When the fingers poking at his cheek got annoying and he burrowed into the blankets, he heard a laugh that somehow tickled his ears.

Half asleep, he found himself thinking that he wanted to hear more of that voice. Though the moment he realized it, his eyes flew open.

When he shot upright, only then did the hand poking his cheek withdraw. Hong Seok-young sat on the edge of the bed and chuckled.

‘Goodness, you must’ve slept really well.’

When Woo I-rok staggered out of bed, Hong Seok-young pushed him along by the back all the way to the bathroom.

‘Hurry up and wash. You need to eat a hearty breakfast.’

As he splashed cold water on his face, Woo I-rok found it all strangely fascinating.

‘I-rok, want to be my son?’

Not because of that line Hong Seok-young was always saying, but because everything he did for Woo I-rok was just like the fathers in the movies he had watched at the Research Lab.

Was that what a normal father was like? When he had gone over to a friend’s house, his friend’s father had not been there because he was at work. Still. Hmm. Going by the family photo in the living room, he seemed like a good dad. Unlike the people who had created him.

No, that was not it. Woo I-rok had someone who could not even be compared to those parents who were not really parents.

His hyung. The person who had told him he would do anything for him.

“Be careful and have a good day.”

Woo Hwijae waved.

Woo I-rok hesitated for a moment, then looked at his hyung and asked,

“Hyung, when are you going into a Dungeon again?”

“A Dungeon?”

Woo Hwijae rubbed his chin before answering.

“Nothing’s set yet, but…. I’ll be going into one next week. Why?”

“No reason. Just. You used to hate going into Dungeons.”

“That was….”

Woo Hwijae replied as he opened the door of the car Ji Yoo-geon was sitting in.

“Because I worried about you whenever I went into a Dungeon.”

“You don’t worry now?”

“Of course I do.”

Woo Hwijae put Woo I-rok’s schoolbag, which he had been carrying for him, into the car.

“I’ll probably worry for the rest of my life. You’re my little brother. Of course I will.”

Woo I-rok did not say that if his hyung was worried about him, then he should stop going into Dungeons. There was a reason for everything his hyung did. Stubbornly insisting on things for no reason and making things difficult for his hyung was something only little kids did.

And his hyung always came back. That was enough for Woo I-rok.

“Okay. Then I worry about you too, so you always have to be careful. Got it? The kids said going into Dungeons is really dangerous.”

“Well….”

Woo Hwijae shrugged.

When the clock showed 8:10, Ji Yoo-geon glanced anxiously at the three of them.

“Um, if we don’t leave now, I-rok’s going to be late.”

“Is it that time already?”

“I-rok, have a good day.”

Woo I-rok looked at Hong Seok-young, who was waving to him, and Woo Hwijae, who was smiling gently.

Bright morning sunlight streamed into the garage.

Woo I-rok pursed his lips, then spoke in a small voice. A faint hint of a smile lingered in it.

“I’m off.”

***

“…….”

“…….”

“About you.”

“Be quiet.”

“…….”

Hong Seok-young, who had waited until the car was completely out of sight, spoke again.

“You.”

“I told you to be quiet.”

Despite Woo Hwijae’s firm words, Hong Seok-young remained undeterred.

“How did you end up like this?”

“…Is that an insult?”

“No. I’m saying I raised you well.”

“Is that an insult?”

“Were you ever as cute as that? No, you’re still cute in my eyes, though. Well, you know what I mean, right? At that age, pretty much anything they do is cute.”

Woo Hwijae looked like he wanted to run off and wash out his ears that very second. He did not seem to realize that reactions like that were exactly why Hong Seok-young kept teasing him even more.

Well, even now, Daseon’s Hunters and Lee Mi-seon still seemed intimidated by Woo Hwijae from time to time. Probably because, whatever he was like on the inside, on the surface he was very clear-cut about where he drew the line.

Of course, Kim Chae-min was an exception. Mages had slightly strange sensibilities, after all.

“By the way, I heard Hope will be getting here sooner than expected.”

Yesterday, late at night, Gamble had sent over Hope’s schedule. Woo Hwijae said coolly,

“Looks like that guy’s in quite a hurry too.”

“I suppose he would be.”

Hong Seok-young had not heard what choice Woo Hwijae would make regarding the proposal he had made. It was true that he would support Woo Hwijae no matter which path he chose. That was why he was not particularly curious either. If Woo Hwijae chose not to tell him, that was fine too.

Woo Hwijae stood there with an unreadable expression, then suddenly asked,

“Where in the world is Teacher Kim, and what is she doing?”

“Teacher Kim?”

Hong Seok-young pictured the striking young Archmage.

“She’s scraping together every last scrap of information she can find on Michel.”

“…Even for Teacher Kim, I imagine it’ll be hard to get information on the pride of France.”

“Apparently there are some crotchety old men who think Noah Michel is arrogant. Michel, ah. You might not know this. A few years ago, she had it out with some Mages in India.”

“India?”

“I don’t know much about Mage affairs myself, but it sounds like their relationship completely fell apart. She said if she digs around on that side, something might turn up. And she has her father’s connections.”

Woo Hwijae slowly nodded.

“Hopefully something useful comes out of it. I also asked someone I know in the United States to look into things.”

“The United States?”

“We’ll grill Hope for details once he gets here, but we also have to keep an eye on the Ark organization running rampant in Central and South America….”

“Ah. True, they’re a pretty big problem there too.”

“Frankly, they’re the ones causing real problems for society right now.”

Hong Seok-young returned to the Villa with Woo Hwijae, chatting quietly along the way.

It was a morning, like any other.

***

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