Memorize - Episode 38
38 To the Hollow Plane!
After reactivating the sound amplification magic, he raised his head again and looked at the new users. When the sound amplification was turned off just now, no one except the person involved could have heard Hyun-woo's words. With a dry face devoid of killing intent, in stark contrast to how he dealt with Park Dong-geol, he quietly opened his mouth.
"I know you've heard some explanations from the angels. Of course, I understand that you have many more questions. However, if we were to address all of your curiosities here and now, a week of day and night wouldn't be enough."
Of course. I, wanting to enter the user academy as quickly as possible, strongly agreed inwardly. As if reading my inner thoughts, Park Hyun-woo continued with commendable words.
"Also, as you've just passed the Trial of Passage, you must be quite fatigued. Since we've already gained your consent, I'll briefly explain the plans going forward."
He cleared his throat for a moment and then immediately began speaking.
"In the major city of Barbara, there is a building called the User Academy. Are there any new users who have received even a little explanation about this from the helper angels?"
He emphasizes the word 'helper'. Hearing Hyun-woo's words, the users looked at each other, and then one by one, they started raising their hands. There was some murmuring, but the number of hands being raised kept increasing.
At a glance, it seemed that more than half of the people had raised their hands. No, almost everyone except for a few had raised their hands. This meant that even the angels highly valued the User Academy. Judging that enough people had raised their hands, Hyun-woo signaled them to lower their hands and continued speaking.
"Good. From your perspective, this might seem like a rerun... but since it's that important and there seem to be some who haven't heard it, I'll explain once more. The User Academy is, as the name suggests, a kind of training institution that helps new users adapt more easily to the Hollow Plane and survive. And recognizing its efficiency, it has become one of the official missions granted the authority of reward points, a first for user-constructed facilities."
I don't know who created it, but that one thing was certainly worthy of recognition. It's very rare for a user's arbitrary setting to be recognized, rather than the angels' settings.
Hyun-woo began by explaining the history and purpose of establishing the User Academy. Then he detailed the benefits that could be gained from receiving training and graduating from the academy. To summarize the important points...
The training process at the User Academy takes 3 months. In the early stages, users' ability scores tend to increase rapidly. The User Academy has efficient training processes tailored to each user's ability scores and profession. Therefore, one can expect a much higher rate of ability score increase compared to haphazard training. All trainees receive a weekly wage of 20 silver. Users who complete the full 3-month course can receive an ability score reward equivalent to 4 points as a mission completion reward. This could be considered the outline.
Honestly, I'm only doing it for the 4 reward points, but for other users, there were many things that could sound quite attractive. Although it's somewhat packaged, they still feed you, provide lodging, train you, and give you money. It's killing four birds with one stone.
After explaining for a while, Hyun-woo finally mentioned that there's an upper limit to how much each user's abilities can increase. He said that while raising ability score points depends on one's own efforts, how far they can go varies from user to user. And he concluded his explanation about the User Academy by saying that the points gained as rewards are one of the few ways to raise ability scores that have reached their limit, so it's best to save them for now.
"With this, the basic explanation is over. Originally, I planned to move to the dormitories inside the academy right after the explanation... but it seems there are still some with unresolved curiosities, so I'll take about three or four questions."
As soon as he finished speaking, a female user among the ranged combat users quickly raised her hand. The urgency in her hand movement made me very curious about what question she would ask. As soon as Hyun-woo nodded, she stood up and opened her mouth with a cautious voice.
"Um... can we... can we return home alive?"
It was a question as disappointing as it was anticipated. To think that this is all she could ask. I clicked my tongue at the woman's stupidity and observed Hyun-woo's expression. As expected, he was looking at the woman who asked the question with a quite irritated face.
Her question could be likened to throwing away everything he had just explained. Hyun-woo sighed visibly and answered in a dry voice.
"I clearly stated at the beginning that we are not people who will send you back home. If you understood that, do you think I would be doing this now? That's something you new users should ponder and solve together as you operate in the Hollow Plane."
Feeling Hyun-woo's contemptuous gaze, the woman's cheeks turned red as she quietly sat down. A moment of silence passed, but soon a man from the magic talent category raised his hand. He was a male user with a neat sports cut hairstyle and an intelligent-looking face. When Hyun-woo nodded, he also stood up.
"I know that this world is called the Hollow Plane. And that ordinary people are called users. It seems this city is called Barbara, the major city, but are there only people called users like us living in this city?"
Hyun-woo immediately shook his head at the man's question and answered.
"No. As you've heard from the angels, the Hollow Plane is divided into a total of 4 continents. And Barbara is the only major city in the Northern Continent. Besides this, there are 4 general cities and 8 small cities in the Northern Continent. Users like us are distributed there as well. Although we haven't completely secured the safety of the Northern Continent yet, it's fair to say that the areas around the cities are under the jurisdiction of South Korean users."
"You mentioned South Korean users, so are there users of different nationalities..."
"Yes. The Hollow Plane doesn't only have South Korean users. The Eastern Continent is under Japanese users, the Western Continent under American users, and the Southern Continent under British users. Of course, there is some exchange between continents. But broadly speaking, that's how it can be divided."
This question wasn't entirely useless. After the male user bowed his head and sat down, Hyun-woo looked at the new users with an indifferent face. Since he said he would take about three or four questions, this question was likely to be the last one.
People seemed to know this too, as no one dared to step forward. That's when it happened. Hyun-woo pointed to someone, and as heads turned in that direction, a female user could be seen raising her hand slightly.
When that female user stood up and her face became visible, I inwardly exclaimed. The woman who stood up last was none other than Kim Han-byeol. She was staring at Hyun-woo with her usual calm and cold face. Knowing her sharp thinking ability, I was intensely curious about what question she would ask. The boredom I had felt until now seemed to disappear in an instant.
Soon, her beautiful lips parted slightly, and a beautiful voice flowed out.
"I heard that all the people here are going to train at a place called the User Academy. So what is the actual purpose of us training there?"
As soon as her words ended, there was a momentary stir in the venue. Most people were frowning, seemingly thinking it was a useless question. And those people were the ones who failed to grasp the intention behind her question. Only a few people who understood the intention behind her words were brightening their eyes with an "ah-ha" expression.
I too was inwardly impressed by Han-byeol's pointed question. Hyun-woo, being somewhat quick-witted, had a different expression than when he heard the first female user's question. The way he kept wetting his lips with saliva suggested he was quite flustered.
Han-byeol's question was that calculated. Reason and purpose are different words, and purpose and actual purpose can be viewed differently depending on the perspective. Her words were not simply "Why do we have to receive training?" It was a question that hit the core, simultaneously asking about the actual purpose of training us there and beyond that, the purpose of utilizing the User Academy.
Hyun-woo repeatedly opened and closed his mouth with a hesitant attitude unlike before. It was a very contrasting appearance to how he had been answering without hesitation until now. The new users must have felt his strange attitude too, as the venue that had been bustling instantly quieted down. Eventually, he opened his mouth with a somewhat uncomfortable tone.
"...I've already sufficiently explained the utility of the User Academy. Does the user who just asked the question have any complaints about receiving training?"
"I don't want to express complaints. And I also agree with entering the academy. What I want to hear is not the justification for the academy. Is it really just a training space with the sole purpose of helping new users adapt and assist them?"
I could see Hyun-woo closing his mouth. Suddenly, I was reminded of what she had said to me in the Hollow Plane cottage.
He too seemed to have tried to subtly change the subject, but Han-byeol's direct question seemed to have left him at a loss for words.
After chewing his lips for a while and maintaining silence, he eventually smiled bitterly. It was the first display of living emotion I had seen since entering the Hollow Plane. Could Han-byeol's question have touched his inner self to that extent?
"Anyway... you'll naturally come to know these things as more time passes. Whether you like it or not."
Hyun-woo moistened his parched lips with saliva for a moment and then continued in a low voice.