Chapter 13
I said it.
I wanted to become a Hunter.
Of course, the answer was exactly what I expected.
“……I’m against it.”
Seo-ha’s opposition was stronger than I had anticipated. For a full thirty minutes, she explained in detail why I wasn’t suited for a Hunter’s life.
“Just imagine going out onto the street right now and trying busking. Do you think you can manage when you can’t even properly interact with a single person?”
“W-Well, if I tried hard enough…….”
“Once you become a Hunter, there will be countless situations that are incomparable to something like that.”
“Um…….”
“If a dispute breaks out between party members, you won’t even be able to say a word, will you?”
“Ugh.”
“What are you going to do about the communication that’s the most important part of clearing a dungeon? If you can’t even have a conversation, obviously you won’t be able to form a party.”
“…….”
“Everything has steps. If you can’t even handle a simple part-time job, how exactly are you going to become a Hunter?”
To be honest, I’d expected her to simply say that it was dangerous for me.
But Seo-ha’s arguments were logical and organized.
It was such a merciless barrage of facts that I could have believed she’d run countless simulations in preparation for this very moment.
After being beaten down repeatedly until I was thoroughly battered, Seo-ha asked me once again,
“……Why do you want to become a Hunter?”
“…….”
There was genuine sincerity in her question.
I answered in a dejected voice.
“Because I want to live like a human being.”
How long was I supposed to continue living like this?
I had once stood with a million soldiers beneath my feet, and yet here I was now.
At present, I was truly no more than a scrap of stone lying by the roadside.
By my standards, I didn’t even deserve to be treated as human.
My words seemed to shock Seo-ha quite a bit.
“……So you really want to overcome this that badly.”
She then fell into her own thoughts and pondered for quite some time.
Eventually, the answer she gave me was the exact opposite of her passionate persuasion until then.
“I understand how you feel. I won’t stop you unconditionally.”
Then she added one more thing.
“Instead, there’s a condition.”
Her explanation was simple.
I had to complete the Hunter training program operated by the government and make three friends there by building relationships with other people.
“If you can do that, I’ll stop opposing you and help you.”
Hearing that, I thought carefully.
Three is a bit much…….
Judging by how casually she said it, my little sister really must have been a pure-blooded social butterfly ever since her school days.
The purpose of the Hunter training program was simple.
It existed to reduce the already high death rate among Awakened and help them establish themselves as Hunters more quickly.
There were tons of advertisements for it, too.
True to South Korea’s reputation as a powerhouse of private education, there were even academies throughout Seoul offering highly advanced curricula.
However, most aspiring Hunters preferred the programs operated by the government.
After all, the tuition at the famous academies was ridiculously expensive.
[Congratulations! You have been selected for the Third Quarter 2021 Apprentice Hunter Training Program!]
Seven years ago, the Hunter Registration Act had been revised, establishing that licenses would only be issued to people who possessed the minimum required level of combat ability and knowledge.
Since obtaining a license wasn’t particularly easy, most aspiring Hunters took the government training course before taking the qualification test.
As a result, applying for the training program only required a simple verification process.
“…….”
In accordance with my promise to Seo-ha, I also applied for the government-funded Hunter training course.
And fortunately, I passed on my first attempt.
I don’t want to go…….
Four whole weeks of training.
To make matters worse, the final week involved group accommodations.
I genuinely found the whole thing troublesome.
“Oppa, are you really going to be okay?”
“I-I’m fine.”
But once a man drew his sword, he had to at least cut a radish with it.
Having prepared myself mentally, I headed to the training center.
And during the very first theory class, I went to the bathroom twice.
I feel like I’m going to throw up…….
After the incident with Helena, my aversion had improved another level.
But even so, enduring an hour-long lecture hall filled with dozens of people was still beyond me.
So I decided to pull out my ultimate secret weapon.
“Curse Blind.”
Touching the magic stone in my pocket, I quietly whispered the incantation.
In an instant, my vision began to blur.
It was a simple curse spell that I normally didn’t use, but right now, it served as an excellent shield.
If I couldn’t see anything, then there was nothing to be afraid of!
I was invincible!
“Let’s have Trainee Number 13 answer this time.”
“Ah! Um, I…….”
And I was promptly called out for my poor attitude during training.
I’m not going to fail the course because of this, am I?
It had been two years since he retired from active duty and took up the position of training the next generation.
Lee Cheol-soon, a former B-rank Hunter with a respectable career, had recently become concerned about one particular trainee.
“She looks like a middle or high school student no matter how I look at her…….”
Of course, under the current laws, anyone aged seventeen or older could obtain a Hunter’s license after the law had been revised.
Still, seeing a girl who was constantly lacking confidence and shrinking into herself made him worry no matter how he looked at it.
As a first-generation Hunter, he had seen countless young people go out into the field like that and die helplessly.
That was why, during the combat training course, he deliberately paired the girl with another trainee.
Kim Seung-min, a promising frontline-type Hunter who was receiving considerable attention for his outstanding practical abilities.
Rather than letting her suffer an incident in a dungeon, it’s better to let her realize her limitations here and quit.
Of course, someone might criticize such an action.
But after surviving countless brushes with death, Lee Cheol-soon knew one thing.
No matter how bad it was to roll around in a field of shit, being alive was always better.
And two weeks later, one of the trainees came to Lee Cheol-soon looking completely dejected.
It was Kim Seung-min.
“Instructor…… is this really the right path for me?”
Faced with this inexplicable situation, Lee Cheol-soon could only blink.
“What do you mean?”
Lee Cheol-soon was one of the few high-ranking Hunters at the training center, so he had a lot of responsibilities.
As a result, he wasn’t particularly familiar with the individual progress of the trainees.
Kim Seung-min continued in a voice that sounded almost resigned.
“It may be embarrassing to admit this, but until now, I thought I had talent.”
“…….”
Lee Cheol-soon found the situation even harder to understand.
From anyone’s perspective, Kim Seung-min was undeniably talented.
Honestly, Lee Cheol-soon had no doubt that he would reach at least B-rank.
But Kim Seung-min merely gazed wistfully at the ceiling with a smile that seemed to have given up on everything.
“There was a difference as vast as heaven and earth.”
“What on earth happened?”
“I realized the limits of my talent. I’m quitting being a Hunter.”
Lee Cheol-soon desperately pleaded with Kim Seung-min and barely managed to stop him from leaving.
Then he abandoned what he was doing and headed to the training grounds.
He needed to find out exactly what was happening.
Are they doing physical training?
It wasn’t difficult to find Baek Eun-ha, the girl Kim Seung-min had said made him feel the gap between them.
After all, while everyone else was running, she was the only one lying beside the instructor with a wet towel covering her face, groaning miserably.
……I really don’t understand.
Lee Cheol-soon spent the entire day watching her training afterward, but there wasn’t a single remarkable thing about her.
If anything, it only strengthened his belief that being a Hunter really wasn’t suited to her.
She was truly a mystery.
Training was absolutely brutal.
I had to spend all day under the scorching sun, surrounded by other people, and somehow endured the week while suffering both physical and mental exhaustion.
The most difficult part of all was the one-on-one sparring sessions.
“Everyone, begin sparring and continue until I give the signal to stop.”
Standing face-to-face with another person and meeting their serious gaze made my stomach churn and my head throb.
So I deliberately avoided looking at my opponent and kept turning my head away while sparring.
Clack! Clack!
Perhaps to prevent overheating, the sparring sessions were conducted by alternating between attacking and defending roles.
The person assigned to defense wore specially designed protective equipment and focused on blocking attacks. If they allowed a valid hit, the opponent received a point.
Because of that, it was actually fairly manageable for someone like me, whose physical abilities were lacking.
The objectives of both sides were clear.
While training like that, one day, the person I had sparred with approached me.
“……What did you think of today’s sparring? I want an honest answer.”
He had been paired with me repeatedly since the beginning of the training, and among the trainees, I considered him to be fairly skilled.
Without looking at him, I cautiously gave him my assessment.
“……It. It was t-terrible.”
“…….”
“I don’t really want to say much about it…….”
It really was exactly as I said.
Even though I had been a necromancer, compared to my prime, my current level was truly beyond words.
I was trash now.
Nothing but completely useless trash.
Perhaps sensing my sorrow, the man didn’t ask any further questions and simply walked away.
Feeling dejected, I got into Seo-ha’s car, which had come to pick me up, and trudged home.
“Um, Oppa. Even if things don’t work out, I still think you’re more than worthy of being proud of…….”
“…….”
I still had zero friends.
Now was truly the time when I had to show her something.
The first thing Kim Seung-min felt after sparring with the girl, Baek Eun-ha, was a strange sense of incongruity.
Something’s strange.
How should he describe it?
It felt like something wasn’t fitting together properly.
Perhaps it was because they were simply repeating artificial attacks and defenses according to their assigned roles.
But that strange feeling remained even after a day had passed, leaving Kim Seung-min confused.
Then, during their next sparring session, Kim Seung-min focused on his opponent rather than his sword and realized something.
His opponent, Baek Eun-ha, wasn’t looking at him at all.
In fact, it was strange that he hadn’t noticed it sooner.
Baek Eun-ha wasn’t devoting even the slightest bit of attention to him.
And yet the sparring was completely even.
Kim Seung-min immediately understood what that meant.
……Is she merely playing with me to make up the numbers?
Of course, it wasn’t that he was being overwhelmed in the traditional sense.
There wasn’t even a clear winner or loser in these sparring sessions to begin with.
But the more times they sparred, the more he could sense it.
The difference in skill between them.
……It’s overwhelming.
To be honest, there was absolutely no force behind Baek Eun-ha’s sword.
It felt like fighting a roly-poly doll that had no impact behind its attacks.
Yet his own sword was repeatedly deflected with ease or simply broken apart, and he could barely land a single valid hit.
I can’t even imagine a scenario where I beat her.
At this point, no matter what anyone said, she was deliberately holding back.
She clearly didn’t think he was worth using her full strength against.
What Baek Eun-ha was doing right now was practically equivalent to fighting an enemy with her eyes closed.
Shocked, Kim Seung-min eventually asked Baek Eun-ha what she thought of their sparring.
The answer he received was, in a way, only natural.
“……It. It was t-terrible.”
“…….”
“I don’t really want to say much about it…….”
The pity contained in those words made his heart ache even more.
Kim Seung-min completely lost his confidence and refused to continue training.
In the end, he remained only because the instructor persuaded him to stay.
Several days passed like that.
Then, one day after training ended, Baek Eun-ha came looking for him.
It was literally the first time she had ever shown any interest in him.
Unable to meet her gaze, Kim Seung-min heard Baek Eun-ha speak.
“Um. I-I…….”
“……Go ahead.”
“Could you…… b-be my friend?”
Kim Seung-min was stunned.
She had suddenly brought up something he hadn’t expected in the slightest.
“Um, please. A relationship where we can help each other even after the training ends…….”
Her voice was quiet and gentle, but Kim Seung-min’s awakened senses allowed him to hear every word clearly.
In other words, could this be interpreted as her wanting to build a connection with him?
Kim Seung-min asked Baek Eun-ha, still unsure.
“Why?”
“……Um. I-I think it would…… be helpful.”
Kim Seung-min blinked in surprise.
He couldn’t even imagine hearing such words from her.
Did she acknowledge my ability?
There had been many people who admired Kim Seung-min and praised his talent.
But hearing those words from the person who had made him realize his own limitations felt more meaningful than he could have imagined.
Kim Seung-min felt some of the confidence he’d lost returning to him.
“Is that…… okay?”
“Y-Yes. Of course.”
With ability like hers, all the trainees here probably looked insignificant to her.
And yet she had chosen him as someone to maintain a connection with in the future.
That meant she must have sensed some potential in him.
Swish.
“T-Then. Could I have your phone number……?”
That night, Kim Seung-min slept soundly for the first time in a very long while.
