Chapter 41
Had it already been twenty days?
So many things had happened during those twenty days.
Kang Ha-min hadn't even realized that much time had passed.
"Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, isn't it tiring to climb the Tower every day?"
"It doesn't particularly matter. From now on, I could probably climb it alone if necessary. But more importantly..."
Baek Cheon-myeong seemed concerned about something else.
Kang Ha-min had become stronger in his own way, but Baek Cheon-myeong still felt uneasy leaving him alone.
That was why he wanted at least one more person to stay beside Kang Ha-min.
"It would be better to have another guard capable of protecting Master."
"Woof!"
Aji, who had been rolling around on the sofa, barked as if saying he was confident.
Instead of answering, Baek Cheon-myeong gently patted Aji's head.
He was endlessly cold toward enemies and people he disliked, but strangely kind to animals.
"So that's why you want me to use Grave Mountain?"
"Yes. Having one more should be better."
Another corpse would rise from Grave Mountain.
Baek Cheon-myeong didn't know who it would be, but for Kang Ha-min's safety, he wanted two people guarding him.
Kang Ha-min agreed with that part.
Baek Cheon-myeong was taking longer and longer to clear the Tower.
That meant the Tower's difficulty was rising sharply.
So Hell difficulty really isn't just a name.
Safety first.
While Baek Cheon-myeong climbed the Tower, Kang Ha-min also needed a way to protect himself.
I am training too, but...
There was no telling what might happen.
Especially after meeting Iziris, a Towerfolk from a ruined world, Kang Ha-min's worries about the destruction of the world had grown even worse.
These days, whenever he lay down to sleep, he spent so much time worrying about the future that he had trouble falling asleep.
"Tomorrow, after you come back from the Tower, I'll go straight to Grave Mountain."
"Do that."
Ding!
At that moment, a notification sounded from a phone.
Surprisingly, it wasn't Baek Cheon-myeong's phone.
It was Kang Ha-min's.
There's barely anyone who contacts me.
Other than his mother, father, and spam messages, there was almost no one who would contact him.
For some reason, he felt awkward as he picked up the phone.
Why was he hurting his own feelings all of a sudden?
His tiny social circle was depressing.
Still, what could he do?
No matter how many relationships he built, there were always times when he got hurt.
Once he became disappointed in someone, the entire relationship started feeling meaningless.
So he had cut people off first far too many times.
Even Kang Ha-min's relationships were very Estrogen Man-like.
With a bitter feeling, he opened the message.
His eyes blinked when he saw a name he hadn't seen in a long time.
[Eom Ji-ho: Hey, Ha-min, you doing well? It's Ji-ho. Some of the guys from high school are getting together to eat and catch up. Even people who usually don't come are showing up this time. Want to join us?]
Eom Ji-ho.
A friend he had been fairly close with in high school.
Our high school classmates meet regularly.
There were a few people, including Eom Ji-ho, who organized things like this.
Because of that, the classmates met fairly often.
And...
Our class had a weird number of successful people.
There was someone who had gotten a perfect score on the CSAT and gone to a SKY university.
Another one was currently working as an actor.
For some reason, a lot of them had become unusually successful.
Maybe that was why they tried to stay in touch.
I kept refusing because I was so busy studying for the civil service exam.
After that, people gradually stopped contacting him.
This time, though, it seemed a lot of classmates were attending.
They always invited me, so I did feel a little bad about refusing every time.
Other than Baek Cheon-myeong's Tower schedule and his own training, Kang Ha-min had plenty of free time.
If he rejected them again this time, he felt like the relationship would truly disappear.
It's not like there aren't people I dislike.
Before Kang Ha-min entered society, his timid personality had been even worse.
Among teenage boys, someone weak in personality was easily targeted.
There had been classmates who subtly looked down on weaker people.
But that was a long time ago.
Now that he was older, he could probably just ignore it.
It's also been too long since I lived without any real friends.
Maybe because he had experienced so many crazy things lately,
he suddenly missed an ordinary life filled with ordinary people.
[All right. I'll come. Send me the place and time.]
This time, Kang Ha-min accepted the invitation.
He could simply set aside a little time and go.
Maybe because he would be seeing old friends for the first time in years,
Kang Ha-min felt slightly excited and gave an awkward smile.
"Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong, I'm going out for a while today."
"All right."
"Are you coming with me?"
"Obviously."
Of course.
Kang Ha-min hadn't actually expected to go alone anyway.
"Then let's get ready and head out."
There was nothing more to think about.
He might as well go.
It had been a long time since Kang Ha-min had shown himself to his old friends.
So he made a real effort to dress nicely and checked himself in the mirror.
A clean navy shirt without any unnecessary decoration,
and black slacks.
After his Rebirth, his body had improved and his skin had become flawless.
Even simple clothing looked quite good on him.
Still, there was something disappointing.
I should've bought some new clothes.
Maybe because he was still wearing clothes from his civil servant days,
even when he tried to dress up, they looked a little old.
He had plenty of money now.
He should buy new clothes soon.
Well, I'm only meeting friends anyway.
There was no reason to dress too seriously.
"I'll stay inside your shadow."
Baek Cheon-myeong disappeared perfectly into Kang Ha-min's shadow.
Kang Ha-min could feel that he was there,
but couldn't see him at all.
He called a taxi.
The taxi immediately headed toward the restaurant.
In the past, Kang Ha-min would definitely have taken the subway.
Apparently, he really had earned a lot of money lately.
He never thought the packed hell of the subway would someday feel like a distant memory.
You really have to live long enough to see things.
He briefly considered buying a car.
But then again,
what would someone without a driver's license do with a car?
Besides, I have Mr. Baek Cheon-myeong.
Kang Ha-min had already become used to being carried around by Baek Cheon-myeong.
Soon,
the taxi stopped in front of the restaurant.
A sign outside read:
[Gyomyeong High School Reunion]
"A reunion..."
It still felt like he had graduated from high school only recently.
Had enough time really passed for them to use words like reunion already?
Feeling strangely awkward, Kang Ha-min carefully opened the door.
Faces he hadn't seen in years filled the room.
Estrogen Man trait, things get awkward when meeting people after a long time.
