The World After the Bad Ending - Chapter 68



67 – The Heroine Approaches the Truth

Aaron Sea Beach Walkway.

“Who are you?”

Isabel’s low voice echoed.

In front of her stood a boy.

The boy, who was short for a man, blinked at Isabel.

“Who am I? It’s Hanon.”

Hanon looked at Isabel with eyes that said he didn’t understand.

Then, a sharp aura emanated from Isabel.

“Don’t lie.”

Isabel glared at him with a serious face.

Hanon scratched the back of his neck with an embarrassed expression.

“Well, this is strange. I’m really Hanon, but you say I’m not.”

He had clearly stated his name, yet he was being treated as a fake.

Hanon let out a laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Well, let’s leave it at that.”

Hanon looked at Isabel with a wry smile.

“How did you know?”

All he had done was call out to Isabel.

Yet, as soon as Isabel saw Hanon, she realized he was not the person she knew.

For Hanon, it was a very curious thing.

After all, he looked exactly the same.

“That person doesn’t make that kind of expression.”

“Expression, huh.”

Hanon touched his face.

Even a slight change in expression can alter one’s impression.

Though the face may be the same, the marks of time are evident.

Isabel had accurately seen through that difference.

“The look in his eyes is different from the start. Do you think he would send me a gaze full of mockery like yours?”

To Isabel, Hannon was always a serious person.

Although he sometimes acted with a bit of exaggeration.

He was fundamentally upright and considerate of others.

He would never show such frivolous behavior as he does now.

“Besides, his posture is different too.”

Unlike the Hannon who always stood straight and confident.

The Hannon before her was slouching with one leg bent.

After hearing the whole story.

Hannon was impressed.

“I see, it’s not easy to impersonate someone else. I’ve learned something.”

He admitted his mistake.

“Even considering that, your observation skills are abnormal. What kind of relationship do you have with him?”

What kind of relationship.

Upon hearing that question, Isabel quietly fell silent.

If asked what kind of relationship she had with Hannon.

Isabel couldn’t define her relationship with him.

She considered him a rival in her own way.

But apart from that, she found herself psychologically leaning on Hannon more and more.

It was a complex emotion that even Isabel herself couldn’t define.

“Are you in unrequited love or something?”

Hannon asked with a beaming smile.

Unrequited love.

As soon as she heard those words, Isabel felt a deep, suppressed sensation inside her chest.

“…No.”

Isabel laughed self-deprecatingly.

“It’s not something as beautiful as that.”

Swoosh-

The sea breeze brushed past Isabel.

Perhaps it was because of the shade of the trees created by the sun.

It seemed that no light was reflected in Isabel’s eyes.

“It’s complicated.”

Hanon couldn’t fathom Isabel’s emotions.

The chasm of emotions cast over her was incredibly deep.

This is not something to meddle with.

Hanon decided to stop playing around.

Instead, he resolved to extract the information he wanted.

“So, tell me. Before he appeared, was there anyone you were involved with? Someone who declared they would help you?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Isabel stared at Hanon with a face that said she couldn’t understand.

“He wouldn’t have come to the academy without any purpose.

But the first thing he did on the very first day was to clash with you, Isabel.”

Based on the information he had gathered, Hanon made his own inferences.

So when Hanon asked this question, Isabel stood still without answering.

But Isabel’s eyes were trembling.

Because she had also subconsciously thought about it.

That person always insulted Lucas and tried to scrape her down.

As if forcibly trying to draw out anger.

At first, she clashed without thinking, driven by the thought that Lucas was being insulted.

But as time passed and today came, Isabel had been watching him all along.

He was not someone who would recklessly slander others.

Rather, he was someone who had many similarities with Lucas.

It was hard for her to easily accept that such a person would insult Lucas.

But.

Really.

Really, if by any chance.

If he insulted Lucas to save her?

Hearing Lucas’s insult, Isabel revived with anger as her driving force.

She had climbed out of the abyss of death with all her might.

Isabel felt no emotional turmoil unless it was Lucas’s insult.

Even when Isabel looked back, that was the only thing that could move her.

Who was the person who insulted Lucas like that?

‘It was him.’

In the process, Isabel realized that what she had done was indeed an insult to Lucas.

That’s why Isabel collapsed miserably once again.

At that time, who was the person who came to her side and lifted her up again?

‘It was him.’

Isabel’s eyes shook violently.

At the same time, yesterday’s events came to mind.

The fear that bloomed in her heart as soon as she heard that he was dating Hania.

Like her brother and Lucas.

He might leave forever.

He would no longer pay any attention to her.

As soon as she thought that, she fell into an indescribable fear.

Possessiveness and obsession.

Another form of separation anxiety.

At that time, he appeared in front of her once again and comforted her.

Thump-

Isabel felt something pounding in her chest.

She didn’t know what it was yet.

One thing was certain, whenever Isabel was about to collapse, he always lifted her up again.

Isabel’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

If this is true.

‘Why on earth.’

Why did he try to lift her up like this?

Isabel saw Hannon for the first time in her second year, first semester.

Of course, she had no connection with him until now.

Did such a person recognize her condition as soon as he saw her for the first time and slander Lucas?

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Even if coincidences piled up one after another.

There were many strange things about his actions.

‘Above all, he seemed to know about Jerion Academy from the very beginning.’

From the first day of school, he had a complete grasp of Jerion Academy.

That’s not all.

He also knew in detail about the second-year students.

That would have been impossible unless he deliberately looked into the second-year students in advance.

Someone who knows Jerion Academy well and can investigate the second-year students.

Isabel lifted her head.

She met Hanon’s eyes once again.

Hanon said with his own mouth that he was the real Hanon.

She didn’t believe his words right away.

There was always a missing piece in the thoughts she had before.

But if Hanon is not the real Hanon.

Rather, if he was a fake from the beginning.

The missing parts are filled.

Isabel’s pupils dilated as her thoughts reached that point.

Hanon grinned accordingly.

Then who on earth is he?

‘…Someone who knows me?’

And someone who would come to the academy to save her.

Isabel’s lips moved slightly.

She didn’t jump to conclusions.

There is no law that says everything Hanon says in front of her is true.

It could be a story he made up to confuse her.

So Isabel first brushed off the various doubts that came to her mind.

“I don’t know for what purpose you’re saying such things.”

Isabel slowly drew the sword she had brought for training.

The blade shone eerily in the sunlight, indicating it was a real sword.

“I won’t entertain any more nonsense.”

Whether what Hanon said was true or not.

His appearance was sure to cause trouble for that person.

The truth could be asked after capturing Hanon.

“Oh, how scary.”

He didn’t look scared at all.

Isabel immediately stomped the ground with a slightly irritated face.

The distance between Isabel and Hanon narrowed in an instant.

She turned her sword and swung it at him without a moment’s hesitation.

Her plan was to knock him out by striking his chin with the flat of her sword.

Just before her sword touched him.

Hanon bent his back to the limit with incredible flexibility.

She expected him to dodge.

Isabel didn’t stop and continued to swing her sword at Hanon.

But Hanon avoided all her consecutive attacks.

‘What kind of movements are these.’

Hanon displayed a breathtaking acrobatic evasion with reflexes and flexibility, as if performing a circus act.

He’s quick.

It’s like dealing with a squirrel.

That person relies on the strength of their body and engages in fierce physical clashes.

In contrast, Hanon had no intention of taking even a single hit.

Both had completely different fighting styles.

Hanon repeatedly tumbled and landed back in place.

“100 points!”

That light-hearted action was enough to make anyone angry.

But Isabel acknowledged it.

This couldn’t be done without sincerity.

“Come on, calm down. I don’t want to fight. I just came to ask something I’m really curious about.”

“After provoking me so much, you say that?”

“Provoking? I was just trying to get closer to you!”

Isabel felt that there was no longer any value in continuing the conversation.

Isabel took a deep breath.

A different aura began to emanate from her than before.

As soon as he saw this, Hanon tilted his head and made a decision.

“Alright, I have something to do, so I’ll be going now.”

With those words, Hanon turned and sprinted away without hesitation.

Isabel immediately ran after him, but the distance between them widened in an instant.

Hanon’s running feet were no longer visible.

“What.”

Isabel’s face momentarily froze in astonishment.

No matter how fast, that was too fast.

She doubted whether that speed was even possible for a human’s legs.

“What on earth is going on.”

Isabel cast aside her complicated thoughts, sheathed her sword, and ran.

＊＊＊

On the beach promenade.

Hanon was running at an incredible speed, kicking up dust.

Even at this speed, he didn’t seem to tire, stretching his legs out further.

‘I originally planned to deceive and extract information.’

He never expected his identity to be discovered so quickly.

He had chosen the wrong first target, and chosen very poorly.

‘Who should be next.’

There was certainly the daughter of the Blue Tower Lord.

Just as he was thinking he should meet her.

Hanon realized that the area above his head had suddenly brightened.

When Hanon looked up, beams of light were pouring down.

“Oh.”

Hanon made a sound without thinking and immediately changed direction.

Then, beams of light crashed down where Hanon had been.

Boom!

A beam of light tore through the path.

As soon as Hanon saw its power with his own eyes, he increased his running speed even more.

He zigzagged to avoid all the beams of light.

Meanwhile, Hanon’s eyes reached the sky.

There, holding a staff, was a girl leisurely flying in the sky.

Sharin Sazarith.

She was the daughter of the Blue Tower Lord.

“It seems they’ve already revealed their identity over there.”

He should have headed that way from the beginning.

Feeling regret, Hanon turned towards the forest.

The forest had many cover points.

Sniping from above had its limits.

Sure enough, Sharin’s sniping magic stopped.

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Hanon ran freely inside the forest.

‘Isabel and Sharin, both of them.’

He couldn’t understand why Jerion Academy was so violent.

The information was disappointing, but with the Blue Tower Lord’s daughter chasing him, he couldn’t gather more information.

Just as Hanon decided to escape as it was.

A hand suddenly protruded through the tree beside him.

“Huh.”

Could a hand really pierce through a tree like that?

Hanon momentarily wore a blank expression.

And beyond that tree.

There was a man with gleaming eyes.

Thud!

Hanon was grabbed by the neck along with the broken tree.

It was too late to escape.

His body plummeted vertically in an instant.

“Ugh.”

Hanon’s arms and legs stretched out and then went limp as he hit the ground.

The man looked down at Hanon.

Bikamon cracked his neck.

“Got you.”

Bikamon exhaled deeply.

“I understand your position, and I’m sorry for using violence. But I couldn’t catch you otherwise.”

“Too bad. I was just starting to have fun.”

Hanon smiled as he recovered from the impact of the fall.

Whatever Bikamon did, it seemed to amuse him.

Bikamon clicked his tongue briefly.

“Sorry, but business hours are over.”

It’s time to clock out.