TFGSR 07

Chapter: 07

“…Ms. Lee Sihyeon?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Jeyeon smiled. Before that smile could falter, she lowered her gaze.

Her hand resting on the desk came into view.

The fingers were slender, and the skin was soft. There wasn’t a single callus on them. They were the kind of hands that probably had only ever held a badminton racket.

Only eighteen years old.

A girl with neither parents nor a guardian had died on her birthday.

Jeyeon knew nothing about how it had happened or what had occurred in her final moments.

She had simply been too young.

And now Jeyeon was breathing through that girl’s body.

Should she apologize?

Or should she be grateful?

Unable to choose an answer, Jeyeon slowly spread her fingers the rest of the way.

When she withdrew her hand and raised her head, the employee cautiously asked,

“Ms. Lee Sihyeon, I just have one more thing to confirm. Is registering as a Hunter really your own decision?”

“What?”

“Has anyone around you encouraged you to register or offered to handle a contract on your behalf?”

“No. I just want to become a Hunter.”

“I see. Understood.”

“Why are you asking?”

“There are people who target underage Awakened individuals without guardians, like you. Relatives and close acquaintances aren’t necessarily exceptions.”

The smile disappeared from the employee’s face for a moment.

“Sometimes they force them into unfavorable contracts, take away their dungeon earnings, or send them into dungeons beyond the legally permitted working hours. They may even encourage them to awaken through dangerous methods. If you ever experience anything similar, please report it.”

“…Yes.”

Jeyeon nodded awkwardly.

Back in my day, whether you were seventeen or not, they worked you to the bone.

Back then, if you were weak, people took advantage of you, and if you were unlucky, you died. That was why Seongyeon had been created in the first place.

Rather than feeling wronged, Jeyeon was simply glad that the world had changed for the better.

Come to think of it.

She had felt it ever since waking up, but wherever she went, the government systems seemed to be functioning properly.

Convenient and efficient administrative services. Cleanly maintained buildings and roads.

There seemed to be multiple layers of safety nets for vulnerable people, too.

It was a much more stable and livable world than it had been ten years ago.

Yes.

Except for Seongyeon.

For everyone else.

She may have been the one who had saved the world from extinction, but who deserved the credit for creating a society like this?

“Your registration is complete. And if you look here, there’s also a housing support program for underage Awakened individuals. The requirements aren’t very strict, so I recommend applying.”

The employee warmly smiled as they handed her a pamphlet.

“You can also have your Hunter ID issued immediately on the first floor, so make sure to pick it up. It’ll probably take about thirty minutes.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Without realizing it, Jeyeon bowed deeply at the waist before walking out into the hallway.

“Sihyeon, are you done?”

“Yes. They were pretty fast. They said I can get my registration card immediately on the first floor.”

“The Association is famous for being good at handling paperwork. It’s infuriating.”

Jena grimaced after saying that.

She seemed to feel as though she were polishing Ryu Seongho’s reputation.

“Where are you going now, Sihyeon?”

“I can’t raise my level right away because of the survival program, so I’ll go home for now.”

“Really? Then I should get back to work too.”

“What kind of work?”

“I’ve got a dungeon part-time job and some loading and unloading work lined up today.”

…Damn. That’s really pathetic.

She couldn’t tell her to quit right now, which only made Jeyeon feel more frustrated.

Noticing the silence, Jena deliberately made a joke.

“Our youngest is going to win those dungeon bidding rights for us soon, so I’d better start saving money!”

“I told you, I’m going to buy it with the prize money.”

Jena casually brushed off Jeyeon’s words and laughed.

“Very reassuring. Very reassuring. Then I’ll get going first. You know, right? You can treat the guild like your own home!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there again tomorrow morning and sit around all day.”

“…Sihyeon.”

“What?”

“You’re still a high school student. Students are supposed to be at school.”

“Oh, right.”

“And today was the same.”

“That’s true too.”

At Jeyeon’s complete lack of guilt, Jena gave her a Buddha-like smile.

Be honest with me. You’re not the studious type, are you?

While waiting for her Awakened registration card to be issued, Jeyeon looked around the Association building.

Awakened Capability Enhancement Center?

These days, the Association even provided basic training for Awakened individuals. It was essentially taking over work that guilds used to handle.

We didn’t have anything like this in my time. The world really has gotten better.

Jeyeon accepted a free café latte distributed by the Association and sat down on a sofa in the lobby.

But where do I go after this?

The impoverished Seongyeon guild didn’t have housing for its guild members, and she had no idea where Lee Sihyeon’s home was.

Maybe there’s some information.

Just in case, she took her phone out of her pocket.

Once again, that same photograph appeared on the screen.

A photograph of a boy sitting across from someone at a café table, apparently taken while he was looking at his own phone.

How do I change this?

Jeyeon had never been very good with machines. Back then, it hadn’t really been inconvenient.

Whenever there was something she didn’t know how to do, she could simply hand it to Gitaewon, who was nearby, and it would be solved.

“…This is annoying.”

Now she had to learn how to do things herself.

It was just then, while Jeyeon was struggling with the phone, that the lobby began to stir.

“Isn’t that Do Suho?”

“Wow, he’s handsome.”

Everyone seemed to be looking at someone and expressing their admiration.

Jeyeon instinctively raised her head and saw the man everyone was watching.

Huh? Same school?

He was wearing the same school uniform design as Lee Sihyeon, but he was at least a head taller than the other kids around him.

But why does he look familiar?

Jeyeon narrowed her eyes.

He was definitely a stranger, yet somehow his face seemed familiar.

As if she had just seen it moments ago…

Wait.

Jeyeon raised the phone with its screen lit up in front of her.

The face on the screen and the boy standing before her.

…They’re exactly the same.

At that moment, Do Suho’s gaze landed on Jeyeon.

“Lee Sihyeon?”

He frowned slightly before immediately walking toward her.

Watching Do Suho approach with long strides, Jeyeon instinctively realized something.

…He must be Lee Sihyeon’s boyfriend.

Do Suho quickly closed the distance, folded his arms, and asked,

“What are you doing here?”

Rather than sounding happy to see her, his tone seemed almost accusatory.

Jeyeon asked a question to figure out what he wanted.

“Why? What are you going to do if you know?”

Do Suho gave a hollow laugh.

“Why do you think? Didn’t you come here because of me?”

That tone—as if it were obvious that Lee Sihyeon had come looking for him.

Jeyeon was convinced.

He really is her boyfriend.

Why else would she have set a picture like that as her wallpaper if they weren’t dating?

The picture also looked exactly like something taken while they were on a date.

Definitely.

Jeyeon had never dated anyone herself, but she had enough common sense to figure that much out.

Come to think of it, did this guy even know that his girlfriend was dead?

She couldn’t tell him the truth.

This is troublesome.

Besides, Jeyeon couldn’t continue this relationship.

I’m not Lee Sihyeon.

More importantly, she had far too many things she needed to do.

Since I’ve met him, I’ll just ask him one thing and get it over with.

Having made up her mind, Jeyeon stood up.

“Hey, I have a question too.”

“…I asked you first.”

“Answer my question and I’ll tell you. You know where I live, right?”

It’s faster to ask her boyfriend.

It absolutely wasn’t because she was having trouble using the phone.

But the response she received was completely unexpected.

“How would I know that?”

“Huh? You don’t?”

“Why would I need to know that? What, do you want me to start taking you all the way home now?”

What kind of boyfriend is this guy? He’s got absolutely no consideration.

Jeyeon instinctively got irritated and asked,

“Hey, do you even know that today is my birthday?”

“…Why does that matter?”

Judging by Do Suho’s uncomfortable reaction, it seemed like he had known.

“What about a cake or a present? Did you at least prepare a little letter?”

“…Why would I?”

“You knew it was my birthday.”

“Hah. Didn’t you say you’d buy me a meal sometime and asked me to just eat with you? You really know how to change your story.”

Do Suho wore an expression that seemed to say, Here we go again.

That was the face he made on his girlfriend’s birthday?

You really had terrible taste in men.

If Sihyeon were still alive, Jeyeon would have told her to break up with him immediately.

What an insensitive bastard.

If he had written even a single letter, Jeyeon would have placed it on Lee Sihyeon’s memorial altar with her.

For a girl who had only lived nineteen years and left nothing behind, surely she deserved at least that much.

Jeyeon swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of her tongue and instead looked Do Suho over from head to toe.

What on earth had she liked about this guy?

He was tall, and his face was certainly handsome. But a student wearing piercings in his ears?

And what was that scar running across the edge of his eyebrow?

He even got a scratch there just to look cool.

Apparently, that kind of thing was fashionable among kids these days.

Being handsome isn’t everything.

Jeyeon clicked her tongue and straightened her posture.

“You asked why I came, right? I awakened.”

“Awakened?”

“Yeah. So I’m busy now. Let’s break up.”

“…What?”

“I said let’s break up as of today.”

The expression disappeared from Do Suho’s face.

He didn’t expect to be dumped, I guess.

Seeing his face somehow made Jeyeon feel refreshed.

But Do Suho had frozen for a slightly different reason.

Something’s different, isn’t it?

That was the only thought in his mind, to the point that he hadn’t properly heard what Lee Sihyeon had just said.

Lee Sihyeon had always been unable to make eye contact with him and would become timid and awkward around him.

But now she looked exactly like an angry Chihuahua.

As he tried to figure out the source of that sense of incongruity, the words he had just heard finally struck him a beat late.

Let’s break up?

…Who was dating whom?