TFGSR 09

Chapter: 09

She found out where the teachers’ office was by stopping a passing student and asking.

After knocking, she opened the door. A middle-aged man sitting by the window immediately gestured toward her.

“Lee Sihyeon? You, come in here.”

‘Is that Mr. Baldy?’

Sihyeon walked straight over to him.

“Hello.”

“Lee Sihyeon, is a proper greeting all you can do? And you’re not even wearing your uniform. What’s gotten into you lately?”

“I’m sorry. I got blood on my uniform, and I couldn’t get it out.”

The teacher’s hand, which had been reaching for a pen, stopped.

“…Blood?”

“I got hurt while awakening.”

The teacher looked Sihyeon up and down through his glasses. The scolding expression disappeared from his face, replaced by a sudden serious look.

He lowered his voice.

“Sihyeon, don’t tell me you did that dangerous thing again?”

“Did what?”

“That thing where you try to awaken by yourself no matter what, even if it wrecks your body. How many times have I told you that you could get seriously hurt doing that?”

‘…Again.’

So this wasn’t the first time.

Perhaps taking her reaction for the embarrassment of someone caught in the act, the teacher leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

Recently, the number of “awakening accidents” among poor students had been increasing.

This had happened ever since research revealed that awakening was closely connected to situations in which a person’s life was in danger.

Since they couldn’t afford awakening assistants, which cost astronomical sums of money, they were taking matters into their own hands and gambling their lives on a miracle.

“What were you going to do if you failed to awaken this time, huh? Do you want your teacher to have to attend his student’s funeral?”

Sihyeon didn’t know what to say.

If he meant a funeral, then she had already held one.

He was simply the only one in the room who didn’t know it.

What could have been so desperate that she kept trying despite being warned so many times?

Was it because she had no parents? Because she had no money?

Could everything really be explained by that alone?

“I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Sihyeon continued slowly.

“But I’m okay now. I awakened.”

She handed him her Awakened registration card.

Lee Sihyeon
S-Rank / Summoner / Hunter

The teacher’s eyes widened when he saw the rank.

“You awakened as an S-rank, Sihyeon?”

“Yes.”

“…Dragons can still rise from a stream, I guess.”

However, after checking her class, he clicked his tongue.

“Ah, it would’ve been even better if you weren’t a Summoner.”

Sihyeon bristled at the dismissive remark about Summoners, but she didn’t argue.

‘You’ll find out soon enough.’

Rather than wasting time getting into pointless arguments with people every time, it was faster to simply show them.

The teacher handed her registration card back.

“Since I’ve confirmed it, I’ll process your absence as a special leave. But you still have to come to your graduation ceremony, okay?”

“Graduation… I don’t really need to—”

Sihyeon changed her mind.

There was no reason to make Lee Sihyeon a middle-school graduate like herself. She only had to attend the graduation ceremony for one day, after all.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“And, Sihyeon. About that matter…”

The teacher’s voice dropped another level.

“The school violence committee is meeting this week. Everyone involved with Kang Hayul has been placed under separation measures, so they won’t be coming to school for the time being. They can’t contact you either.”

“……”

No parents.

No money.

And now there was one more thing.

“So don’t think about trying to handle anything yourself. The adults will take care of it according to procedure. Understood?”

“……”

She had no intention of doing anything.

She was now an Awakened, while the other side consisted of unawakened minors.

Since the teacher said he would handle it, she would trust the process for now.

“Lee Sihyeon?”

“…Yes.”

Sihyeon obediently nodded.

‘Though I’ll have to make sure it’s actually handled properly all the way to the end.’

The teacher waved his hand as if their business was finished.

“Make sure you take all your things, and don’t come back later saying you lost something.”

“Yes. Thank you for everything.”

Sihyeon bowed her head and left the teachers’ office without hesitation.

The teacher stared at the closed door for a moment before clicking his tongue.

‘I’m going to miss her.’

He should have been relieved that the troublesome student wouldn’t be coming anymore.

Then the door opened again.

“Teacher.”

Sihyeon poked her head through the gap in the door.

“About that…”

She seemed hesitant, as if she were about to ask something embarrassing.

Still, she was a kid after all, so the teacher smiled and asked,

“What? Are you sad to leave just like this?”

“No. Which class was I in again?”

“……”

“I’m wondering if I lost my memory from the impact of falling from the building.”

“You don’t even remember your class, yet you somehow managed to find this place?”

“I asked the students where Mr. Baldy was, and they told me.”

Now she was openly calling him bald right to his face.

Seeing his student, who had always been so polite, teasing him so shamelessly, the heat seemed to rise to his bald crown.

“…Lee Sihyeon.”

“Yes?”

“You’re in Class 3. Now go home. Please, just go.”

‘Miss her, my ass.’

If she disappeared, maybe he could at least preserve the few strands of hair he had left.

Sihyeon opened the back door of Class 3 and entered.

“Lee Sihyeon?”

The teacher, whose class had been interrupted, glared at her sharply.

“I’m sorry. I’ll just grab my things and leave right away.”

The classroom stirred for a moment.

But there were no surprised or worried faces.

No one pretended to know her, and no one asked if she was okay.

When their eyes met, they quietly looked away, and some even turned their heads toward the window.

There were empty seats scattered throughout the classroom.

They were probably the seats of students who had been removed as part of the separation measures.

Sihyeon slowly looked over the empty seats and the remaining students.

There was no malice.

They didn’t look hateful or worried either.

They simply wore expressions that said it was someone else’s problem.

Sihyeon picked up the bag hanging from an empty chair and gathered the things inside the desk.

Textbooks and workbooks.

Crumpled handouts.

As she sorted through the papers one by one, her hand stopped.

At the very bottom, she saw a familiar neon color.

《NEW TOP 50》

Recruiting New Hunter Survival Participants

It was the same poster she had seen at the Seongyeon office.

Every empty space on the poster was filled with tiny handwriting.

Awakening assistant → At least 30 million. Impossible.

Self-awakening → Hunter registration → Apply for the survival program.

If I appear on TV, they’ll see me too.

I want them to envy me.

One particular date had been circled several times.

August 27. Turning 18. No guardian consent needed.

Beside the circle, a small note had been added in slightly different handwriting.

My birthday. The perfect day to start over.

The Association employee’s words came back to her.

Sihyeon stared blankly at the circle for a while before moving her hand again.

Behind the poster were several sheets of material about natural awakening.

A few lines describing successful cases had been underlined.

Sentences warning about the dangers had been crossed out.

Short notes had been left between them as well.

Emergency recovery activates immediately after awakening → As long as I awaken, I can survive.

Behind the gym. Sandy ground. Falling from the third floor won’t kill me. (Looked it up.)

Sihyeon couldn’t take her eyes off that line for a long time.

Behind the gym.

The sandy ground.

That was where she had opened her eyes.

Even a B-rank Hunter would mean I’d never have to worry about money again.

If my rank is high, could I even go to places like Gihwon?

I need to become good enough that I won’t be ashamed to stand next to Suho.

There were also sentences that had been erased and rewritten several times.

The world helps those who help themselves!

And on the final sheet, written with unusually heavy pressure:

It’s okay, Lee Sihyeon. You’re someone who will shine someday.

Sihyeon stared at that sentence for a long time.

<‘The Dead’s Wish’ has been activated.>

The words she had seen when she first opened her eyes overlapped with them.

Sihyeon slowly smoothed out the crumpled poster with her palm and placed it inside her bag.

She would leave the school matter to the adults and keep an eye on how it was handled.

But that stage was different.

That was something she could do herself.

Sihyeon slung the bag over her shoulder.

‘Lee Sihyeon. I said I’d make your name shine, didn’t I?’

She hadn’t known last night where those words should lead.

But now she thought she understood.

‘Let’s go. All the way to the highest place you dreamed of reaching.’

Before leaving the classroom, she turned around one last time.

Still, no one spoke to her.

No one said goodbye.

No one said they would see her again.

Sihyeon didn’t wait any longer and closed the back door.

《NEW TOP 50》 Production Meeting Room

Dozens of applications were scattered across a round table.

“The application period is closed, right?”

Executive Producer Kim Taeseok tapped his pen against the table.

“Sort through the applications and check the basic information first. Since there’s only one spot per guild, if a guild submitted several candidates, we’ll choose one ourselves based on their rank and class.”

Kim Taeseok turned to the head writer, Oh Jihun.

“Are there any applicants that stand out?”

“There are two.”

Oh Jihun placed two profiles on the table.

“Do Suho.”

His fingertip passed over the first profile before stopping on the photograph of the second.

“And Lee Sihyeon.”