Leave the Hero's Ex-Girlfriend Alone! - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Leave the Hero’s ex-girlfriend alone!
EP16
It was strange.
A reward on this kind of scale.
The quality was so high that the first thing you’d want to do was question who had planned it.
Round-trip business class tickets, a five-star hotel, and a private shuttle bus.
Thanks to that, the entire PR Team was now staring at the sea together on our reward vacation.
“Wow. What’s going on here?”
“Right? Since when does the company send us abroad for a reward trip?”
“Still, it’s pretty nice.”
The PR Team members took turns adding their own remarks.
I looked around.
I couldn’t be certain, but there was only one person in my life capable of pulling off something this outrageous.
A man sprawled on a sunbed under the shade of a palm tree, sunglasses on, looking utterly at ease.
With his shirt buttons undone to about the second button, he lay there as if the world had nothing to ask of him. I strode straight toward him.
“This.”
“Hm?”
The guy turned his head.
“It was you.”
“What was?”
“This reward vacation. Anyone can see it doesn’t add up.”
“Did I have that kind of influence?”
Of course. More than enough.
He got off the sunbed he’d been lying on and sat on its edge as he spoke.
“You’ve been through a lot.”
I shifted my gaze to the side.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected him to bring that up.
“Yeah, I’ve been through a lot.”
I grumbled for no real reason as countless memories flitted past.
The PR Team members were lost in a selfie frenzy in front of the waves.
“Still… it’s not as bad as I thought.”
I muttered, still gazing at the beach.
We had plenty to say to each other, but it was better not to say it right now.
Both he and I seemed to understand that much.
“Haesoo-ssi!”
A familiar face was waving from a mat spread out in the shade of a parasol.
It was Assistant Manager Jeong.
“There’s a spot free here.”
“Put on some sunscreen before you come over. You’ll really burn. Your skin!”
She could be a little scatterbrained, but she was one of the few people at Halo who looked out for me.
I nodded slightly and slowly made my way over.
“Oh! I didn’t think you’d really come. You always say ‘No, thanks, I’m good’ every time, Haesoo-ssi.”
The Assistant Manager mimicked the way I usually talked and giggled.
“When did I ever do that every time?”
I wore a dumbfounded expression as I brushed the sand off and sat down on the mat.
Once I sat down, the Assistant Manager pulled a sparkling water out of the cooler and handed it to me.
“Here you go. This one’s really good.”
“Thanks, I’ll enjoy it.”
I twisted off the bottle cap and took a sip.
The carbonated bubbles, mixed with the sea breeze, prickled sharply up my nose and faded.
The beach was full of laughter.
Cheers erupted from the beach volleyball court with every point won or lost, and at the next parasol, people seemed busy inflating a tube.
I closed my eyes, then slowly opened them and gazed past the horizon.
Yeah. This feeling wasn’t bad at all.
It was a peaceful stretch of time I hadn’t had in a long while.
“Haesoo-ssi.”
“Yes?”
Assistant Manager Jeong picked up a beach ball lying beside her and spoke.
“We’re about to get started for real. Would you like to join in?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
“See?”
At my words, Assistant Manager Jeong giggled again.
“That’s so like you, Haesoo, always turning people down with the same line.”
Her laughter was contagious, and I found myself smiling too.
“Well, if you change your mind, just let me know.”
With that, she headed off toward the beach volleyball court.
Left alone again, I started to feel a little bored.
Since I’d come all this way, I figured I might as well see the sights, so I brushed off the sand and got to my feet.
I walked along the shoreline and then turned toward the resort shops.
Past the noisy beach and the rows of parasols, I stepped into a small store selling souvenirs and daily necessities.
The moment the cool air-conditioning hit my skin,
“Ahh, saved.”
The words slipped out on their own.
There was plenty to look at, but nothing really caught my eye.
Even so, I ended up holding a wave-shaped fridge magnet I didn’t need.
When you’re in a good mood, you end up buying useless things.
So I suppose I’m doing pretty well right now.
After paying, I stepped outside, and the hot air clung to my skin again.
The sun was blazing straight overhead, and I could see people at the beach stands buying drinks.
Thaimoban.
It was the drink you just had to try in a country this hot.
“Guess I’ll get one too.”
I turned toward the direction where my colleagues were.
I’d remembered seeing a small mobile drink stand on the way over.
I soon reached a makeshift booth lined with fruit juices and fizzy coconut drinks.
There was no line, and not too many people, so there was no need to look for another stand.
I stepped up to the counter, just about to order a drink.
“Um… what are you doing here?”
It was a question born from pure disbelief.
What on earth was this person doing here?
Behind the counter, I saw Zero arranging drink ingredients.
And he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, no less.
“As you can see, I’m on a mission, right?”
“A mission? Here on the beach? And dressed like that?”
I pointed at him outright and picked apart the absurdity of the situation, one piece at a time.
“Well… I went for local style so nobody would suspect me. What do you think?”
Zero, the mastermind behind the Halo intrusion incident.
A villain, and he’s just standing out in the open in a crowd like this, is that really allowed?
I sighed and shook my head.
“I’m just going to go somewhere else.”
“Wait, hold on. Haesoo! I make a pretty good one, so please just try one.”
“No thanks. Why would I trust anything you make?”
“Excuse me? Are you seriously suspecting me right now? That’s hurtful. Why would I have any reason to harm you?”
Zero grabbed onto my clothes and clung to them, pleading.
“Ugh… let go of me!”
Kwoong-!
“Hm?”
“?!”
At that moment, a rumbling vibration reached my ears.
“…What was that just now?”
Zero turned his gaze toward where the sound had come from.
Not far off along the shore, the waves looked strangely dragged backward.
I watched the sea, where something unnatural was happening, with tension knotting my chest.
It didn’t sound like waves breaking so much as something surging up from beneath the surface.
The vibration grew louder and louder.
My eyes went wide.
The seawater was draining away at an unbelievable speed.
The seabed had been exposed all the way to the area near the shore, and the water was being sucked away over the sand as if absorbed.
“…What is that?”
When I spoke, Zero narrowed his eyes.
“Probably a Power User, then.”
“Huh?”
“If the water is pulling back like that, it means it’s coming back.”
The words had barely left his mouth when a column of water shot up in the distance.
A massive wave.
With a roar, the sea surged toward the shore.
People screamed and scattered, and the stalls were already being tossed about by the wind.
That’s when it happened.
Someone familiar came flying toward me from far away, moving like a madman.
“W-when did you get here–”
Before I could finish, he reached me and scooped me up in one sweep.
“Where have you been wandering off to?”
“I was just looking around…”
“Could you please tell someone when you go somewhere?”
So he’d been searching for me.
His face showed a relief he didn’t seem to know how to hide…
“Let’s get out of here first.”
Alpha tried to lift me and take to the air.
Just then, a scream rang out.
“Seon-yeong!”
A woman standing right beside us cried out toward the beach.
A little girl was running toward us from the sand, her face streaked with tears.
“Mom, Mom–”
Plop.
The girl tumbled onto the sand.
Behind her, a colossal wave was bearing down.
Oh no, what do I do? If things stay like this…
I looked from the girl to Alpha and made up my mind.
I gave his shoulder a light shove and spoke firmly.
“Save the child first.”
“I’ll get you to a safe place first, and then… after that.”
Ah, I really hate this.
It would be a lie to say I’m not scared, but this guy has no time to worry about me right now.
“Go. Save the people. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“…”
“I’m fine.”
This spot is a fair distance from the beach where the villain is wreaking havoc.
I can get away easily enough.
“Go.”
I said it once more.
Even I know how foolish this is.
I know how truly he cares about saving people.
Of course I’d wanted him to quit being a hero, but if this is what he’s chosen in the end…
Then he shouldn’t be standing here like this.
He clenched his fists tight. His face was still lost, unsure of what to do.
I laid my hand over Alpha’s fist.
“Don’t worry. I’m good at running away.”
I said it with such certainty that Alpha finally took a step back.
“Run as fast as you can. I’ll come for you without delay.”
He looked at me once more, swallowed hard, and dashed toward the beach.
I ran toward the cluster of buildings to seek shelter as well.
All I had to do was get somewhere higher than the crashing waves.
But since this was a seaside area, nearly all the buildings were single-story.
Then, ahead, I spotted a ten-story building.
‘Thank goodness, just a little farther…!’
My breath caught in my throat.
But just then–
Over my head, a wave so massive it blotted out the sky came crashing down.
There’s no way I can dodge this…
In that moment, one person came to mind, the one I was bound to find.
Our eyes met, but it was only for an instant.
Kwaaaaah-!!
The current swallowed my waist, then rose over my chest.
My body lifted off the ground, and with no sense of center or direction left, I was swept away.
Breathing grew harder by the second.
The world flipped before my eyes, up and down tangled together.
‘I-Is this how I die…?’
Then someone seized my arm, firm and unyielding.
He held me close and was forcing his way through the waves.
But in the next instant, the water column that had enveloped us swallowed everything whole.
Blink-
My consciousness went out like a snuffed candle.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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