Chapter 212 Teacher and Student (1)

TL: SHW

April 1.

April Fools’ Day!

It was just the first day of April, so I had no idea what everyone was making such a huge fuss about. Everyone at school was going crazy, and so was my sister. Seriously, what a pain.

Still, I'm the mature one, so I have to humor them. That's why I only pretended to fall for my sister's stupid pranks. Seriously, where else would she find a little sister like me?

The only thing she said today that wasn't a lie seemed to be that she'd cut her hair. She'd spent all winter going on and on about wanting to cut it, so that part wasn't surprising... But seriously, who uses magic to take a picture of herself bald just to mess with her little sister? Is she insane? And why were Seo-hyun and Jin-woo helping her? Didn't they say they were busy getting ready for Field Training? They had time for that?

I was annoyed, so I didn't tell her the haircut looked good on her. Maybe I should cut mine into a bob too.

April 2.

My sister spent the whole day walking around with a grin on her face. When I asked why she was smiling so much, she said she couldn't wait to go on Field Training.

Does she really want to go into a Dungeon that badly?

I didn't really get it. On TV, Dungeons always looked insanely dangerous, but listening to my sister and Uncle, they didn't seem all that bad. Maybe Uncle was just way too strong.

Still, when I thought about it again, my sister seemed pretty tame compared to the others. The other guys were completely out of control. Men, seriously. No wonder Eun-young couldn't stand them.

But Eun-young didn't like going into Dungeons either, and she didn't even like practicing or Sparring. I wasn't really sure why she wanted to become a Hunter when she didn't even like Dungeons... Was it for the money? But wasn't Eun-young's family rich?

Whenever I asked, Eun-young would say Seung-yeon was the one who was really rich. Come on. If you're using him as the standard, you might as well say there are no rich people in South Korea.

To be honest, I wanted to make a lot of money too. But that didn't mean I wanted a job where I had to risk my life. Since this is my diary, I'll be honest. I'm glad my sister is a healer. She can work safely at a hospital. She can barely kill an ant, let alone a monster.

If I'd undergone Awakening too, could I have gone into Dungeons with my sister? Didn't they say genetics had a big influence on Awakening? Since my sister went through Awakening, maybe I will too.

If I do undergo Awakening, I want to be a healer like my sister. Though being able to fight like Uncle would be pretty cool too. Maybe I'll ask him to teach me some self-defense someday.

Self-defense lessons from the strongest Hunter in South Korea. That sounds seriously cool.

April 3.

Seo-hyun came over, cooked for me, and left. Honestly, wasn't she about as good at cooking as I was? I kept quiet because I appreciated her making the effort, but wouldn't ordering delivery have been better???

Uncle Hong came over too. He'd said he was busy lately, so I hadn't seen him in a while. I asked how long they'd be in the Dungeon, and he said that since it was only Field Training, they'd be back out in a day. Just as I thought, all that crap Hyun-wook had said about whether they'd Raid the Dungeon or not was bullshit.

Still, just to be sure, I asked if Dungeons weren't dangerous. It wasn't like Uncle was going in with them. If he'd been the one going in, I wouldn't have worried.

Uncle told me not to worry. He said the people going in with my sister were people he knew well. They were incredibly strong, so there was nothing to worry about. Honestly, I wondered whether there was even anyone in South Korea stronger than Uncle... Well, if Uncle said it was fine, it was probably fine.

April 4.

I happened to glance at the clock and saw that it was 4:44. The time with the most fours all year. When I said that, Hyun-wook told me it only really counted if it was 4:44 in the morning instead of the afternoon. What a show-off. So annoying.

I watched my sister pack her bag. When I asked why she was bringing so much stuff, she said she needed all of it.

Yesterday, Uncle said it was closer to an experience than actual Field Training, and that they'd only be inside for a little while before coming right back out the same day... So why did she need energy bars? Was she planning to feed them to the monsters?

Hmm. Hmmmmmm.

Fine. She might get hungry. Pig. People do sometimes spend a whole month inside really dangerous Dungeons. Uncle goes into Dungeons for long stretches every once in a while too.

Of course, the Dungeon my sister was entering for Field Training wasn't that kind of Dungeon, but maybe she just wanted to get into the spirit of things.

When I told her that, she hit me. Then she said she'd gone easy on me because I'd die if she actually hit me for real. Healers aren't even that strong. I know that much.

Now I'm definitely going to Awaken, even if it's just out of spite.

Anyway, Field Training or experience or whatever, going into a Dungeon was still going into a Dungeon, so I hoped my sister would do well. When she got back, I was going to tell her we should order fried chicken.

I want tteokbokki too.

And jokbal.

I want udon too.

And sweet-and-sour pork.

I'll make my sister buy it all for me.

April 5.

April 6.

April 7.

April 8.

Uncle said he'd make sure we could hold a funeral.

April 9.

Why

April 10.

My sister.

What am I going to do without my sister.

April 11.

I miss my sister.

April 12.

Sis, sis, sis.

Sis.

You went through so much.

You must've been so scared.

My poor sister.

Goodbye.

*

“...Ji-eun.”

“No.”

“......”

“Don't say you're sorry.”

“......”

“It wasn't your fault, Uncle. Those people were the ones at fault. My sister was just unlucky.”

A hand reached for her. The thick, rough hand hesitated before settling carefully around her shoulder. Yoo Ji-eun barely managed to hold back her tears as she lifted her head. Her sister was behind her. Now that her sister was gone, she had to keep herself together.

Unlike the commotion outside, the empty funeral hall was quiet. Yoo Ji-eun took it all in. The warm hand on her shoulder was her only comfort.

“If you tell me you're sorry, then I'll have to resent you. So don't. I've only ever had reasons to be grateful to you. It's all because of you that my sister and I didn't have to live with Dad.”

“Ji-eun...”

“I don't want to hate you, Uncle.”

“......”

“So instead of telling me you're sorry, promise me something.”

“...What?”

“My sister. My sister, Seung-yeon, and Jin-woo.”

“......”

“Please kill whoever did this to them.”

Yoo Ji-eun didn't know whether such a person even existed. She had heard that the guild managing the Dungeon her sister had entered had falsified the Dungeon's rank.

She had also heard that most of them had died after being swept up in the Dungeon Break as well.

Even so, Yoo Ji-eun said it.

Purely because she wanted someone to blame. Because she wanted Uncle to have someone he could blame instead of himself, too.

At those words, Hong Seok-young, who had lost his student...

“......”

Yoo Ji-eun lifted her head. Unlike her, who couldn't bring herself to face her sister and had turned her back, Hong Seok-young had not looked away even once.

As if he were burning the price of his sins into his memory.

Yoo Ji-eun faced forward again and waited for visitors at a funeral hall no one had come to.

“Thank you.”

Yoo Ji-eun clenched her teeth.

*

Click.

Click. Click.

Click-click-click-click......

“Yoo Ji-eun!”

“Look over here for a second!!”

“Hunter Hong Seok-young, how do you intend to take responsibility for this incident?!”

“Will Pilot High School remain open?!”

“Yoo Ji-eun!!”

“Look over here!!!”

Curses and shouts flew back and forth like a madhouse. No, even an actual marketplace would probably have been more civilized than this.

Camera flashes burst bright enough to make his eyes ache. Reporters were everywhere. Even when he glared at them with Killing Intent, they only flinched for a moment before holding their ground. He wanted nothing more than to knock every last one of them unconscious, but that would only create an even bigger uproar. They were already attracting attention they never should have had on them.

It was the final journey of a child. He only wanted them to show the bare minimum of human decency. But no one holding a camera seemed to have any intention of staying quiet.

“Hunter Hong Seok-young! Because of you, innocent civilians...”

At last, one particularly brazen reporter shoved a microphone and camera right up to his face. The reporter's face gleamed. His lips were stiff and rigid, but his eyes crinkled as though he couldn't bear to miss a scoop. Almost as if he were smiling.

“Ack!”

Hong Seok-young thrust out a hand and grabbed the camera. The reporter reflexively pressed the shutter button, but before he could even check the shot, Hong Seok-young crushed the camera in his grip with hardly any effort.

“What the...!”

The reporter opened his mouth, ready to explode in anger. But he never finished the sentence. Every hair on his body stood on end as he began to tremble. Only then did he remember that the man standing in front of him was considered one of the strongest Hunters in South Korea.

He was also one of the Hunters who had killed the S-rank Minotaur during the Dungeon Break in Myeong-dong.

Gulp.

The ear-splitting shutter clicks grew sparse, then stopped altogether. The reporters exchanged wary looks and slowly edged backward. Only then did Hong Seok-young open his hand. Pieces of the shattered camera clattered to the ground.

“If you want compensation, please contact Daseon Guild.”

“......V-violence!”

But the reporter couldn't let this moment slip away. Hong Seok-young, who had never shown so much as a single opening until now, had finally given him one. The story of Hong Seok-young's dead family was well known too, but because they had been U.S. citizens, the press couldn't touch that angle.

But now was different. Pilot High School had never enjoyed what anyone could call a good reputation to begin with, and innocent civilians had died with them. People loved to gawk at tragedy, and views meant money. So.

“So.”

This time, Hong Seok-young grabbed the reporter by the shoulder. As the scarred hand came toward him, the reporter barely managed to suppress a scream.

Crack.

The reporter stared, his face drained white, at the hand on his shoulder. Veins stood out grotesquely along it, but he felt no pressure on his shoulder at all. Realizing that one wrong move could leave that hand crushing his shoulder, the reporter snapped his mouth shut.

“Daseon Guild.”

The reporter's head began to spin.

“Contact them.”

For one instant, Hong Seok-young failed to contain himself, and his Killing Intent spilled outward.

Ordinary civilians weren't as sensitive to Mana as the Awakened, but even they could feel Mana as cold and sharp as a blade.

“......”

The reporter's mouth went bone-dry.

“Understood?”

He found himself staring into eyes that had gone still and feral, like those of a beast that had lost its young.

Unable even to swallow, the reporter nodded rapidly.

“If you have any more questions.”

Hong Seok-young watched him and spoke in a low voice.

“Take them to Daseon's master, Hunter Lee Mi-seon.”

At the names Daseon and Lee Mi-seon, alarm bells began ringing not only in the head of the reporter Hong Seok-young was holding, but in everyone else's as well.

Among the Hunters who had died was the youngest grandson of Daeyeon's chairman.

The reporters there slowly turned their heads.

Behind the girl holding her dead sister's portrait stood a woman in a black suit. Her usual warm, easy smile was nowhere to be seen. The expressionless woman gave off an inexplicable sense of pressure.

“Contact her.”

“......”

“......”

“Uncle.”

The girl holding the portrait called to Hong Seok-young.

Hong Seok-young silently met the reporters' gazes, then let go.

“Ji-eun, let's go.”

“Yes.”

Yoo Ji-eun examined the faces of the reporters one by one, as if promising herself that she would never forget a single person holding a camera there.

The black hanbok began moving again.

Yoo Ji-eun gripped her sister's portrait tightly against her chest.

It was a funeral for someone whose body they had not even managed to recover properly.

***

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