Chapter 76
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: 74. Shinohara and Ping Tao
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Shinohara Main House
Shinohara Yuzuki finished her classes at the academy and returned to the main Shinohara residence via portal.
Soaking in the bath to ease her fatigue, she cautiously asked Mariko, who had appeared ninja-like from behind.
"Did you find out anything about the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"No. Nothing at all."
"What about the Korean Hunter Association?"
"They seemed completely clueless about the Seven Deadly Sins as well."
So, nothing after all.
"Hmm, are they really that ignorant?"
"Even if President Ha Jeong-seok doesn't know, the Korean Hunter Association is famous for being clean."
She knew that much. But no one comes out spotless under scrutiny. At the very least, Japan should know about the Seven Deadly Sins issue too.
It wasn't just about distrusting Korea. Take the Chaos Oni incident—even that had escalated early on because of madmen dreaming of imperial revival, delaying the initial response.
As a result, Eastern Japan had been turned into a wasteland.
The only area in Eastern Japan left intact was Tokyo, garrisoned by Japan's elite hunters.
"We can't forget the Chaos Oni crisis. Father always said it: Be wary of looming threats. Protect Japan. There's no guarantee the Seven Deadly Sins outbreak in Korea won't cross over here."
That's why they needed to dig into the Seven Deadly Sins, even a little. Just as the Korean Hunter Association had announced, information on them was extremely scarce.
"Association President Choi Cheol-sik wouldn't hide it. But approaching Yoo Jin-seok directly feels awkward. So, that leaves Yoo Eun-ha."
Yoo Jin-seok probably knew nothing about this Seven Deadly Sins incident from the start. Which made Yoo Eun-ha the target.
Eun-ha's own reaction had been rather lukewarm, though.
She might know more about the Seven Deadly Sins than anyone lets on. The Korean Hunter Association seemed to be avoiding digging into Eun-ha because of Jin-seok, but if played right, this could yield info even they didn't have.
"Did you look into Yoo Eun-ha?"
"Yes. But there's a bit of a problem."
"A problem?"
Was Yoo Eun-ha a villain or something? What kind of issue could there be?
"Well... Yoo Eun-ha, the academy cadet, she's... a lily."
Mariko had once dungeoned with Yoo Eun-ha. She hadn't noticed back then, but learning the girl was a lesbian was quite the shock.
She'd agonized over whether to tell the family head. But after checking the academy's anonymous board, she had no choice.
The head was a woman, after all—and called Japan's top beauty.
Falling into Yoo Eun-ha's trap could be dangerous.
"A lily? Like the Korean Lily Guild?"
She'd heard of the Lily Guild.
A Korean guild made up solely of beautiful female hunters.
Rumors said its master, Noah of Flowers, would recruit any pretty woman—even civilians—and practically force them into becoming hunters.
Yoo Eun-ha in a guild like that...
"No. I mean, women loving women. Like, lesbian."
"Oh. Really?"
Lily. Lesbian.
The Divine Sword's little sister. One of Korea's most promising cadets. A lesbian?
The cataclysm had changed the world a lot. Shinohara Yuzuki wasn't narrow-minded; she believed love was love, even between same sexes.
But a girl she wanted to get close to turning out to be one...
"Yes. To win over Yoo Eun-ha, you'd have to seduce her as a woman. Rumors even say Dean Lee Young-hee got eye-raped by her."
"Crazy."
The word "crazy" slipped even from the lips of Shinohara Yuzuki, the epitome of nobility. And the being responsible was none other than Yoo Eun-ha.
Thinking back, during their conversations, Eun-ha had kept glancing back and forth between her face and chest, even sweeping her eyes over her legs.
Wait, this might be dangerous.
"On top of that, Eun-ha's already dating Flame Spear Han Su-ji and Spirit Arrows Reina, and she's turned the second Divine Sword user, Choi Si-woo, into a woman—"
"Why?"
"The anonymous board speculates she turned Si-woo into a woman to make her a lesbian lover. Of course, it's just rumors, but the academy paper said this."
"Go get it."
Shinohara Yuzuki stepped out of the bath and took the Hansung Academy newspaper from Mariko.
Her eyes caught the headline splashed across the front page.
—U Choi Si-woo's Sex Change Has Nothing to Do With Me... Irresponsible Words and Deeds. Is This What a Bad Woman Does?
"...No, this is weird no matter how you look at it."
"Right? It's not a U, it's a Y. She just used the family name as an alphabet letter."
"Not the name."
No, it was just like politicians' excuses.
Shinohara Yuzuki, who had become head of the family at a young age.
From childhood, she'd been raised for her clan and Japan—genius education, imperial studies, hunter training, the works.
Even she was shocked.
'Turned a Divine Sword user into a woman just to claim the sword? Not content with a man, she wanted a woman as a lover?'
As Japan's de facto powerholder—the head of a clan already called the Shinohara Shogunate worldwide—she faced her first real impasse.
She rolled her fingers, deep in thought, weighing the gains.
Either way, Eun-ha had crushed the Seven Deadly Sins. Beyond that, she might lead Korea someday. They needed to get close.
'Right. For Japan's national interest. Purely for Japan. And with looks like that, it's understandable why women fall for her. Just look at the anonymous board.'
Shinohara Yuzuki pulled out her phone and checked Hansung Academy's anonymous board for Yoo Eun-ha threads.
Title: Yoo Eun-ha is so fuckable.
I wanna rub up against her so bad! Fuck! I'm straight but that bitch turned me gay!
—So you did?
—Nah, just seeing her face got me horny outta nowhere. Wanted to rub ever since.
—Why are there so many lily villains? Hansung really is a villain academy. Fr.
—Shut up. Go rub your clit or something.
Yeah, posts like that were popping up.
If it was this level, maybe it wasn't a big deal? Play it right, and she could even make Eun-ha one of Shinohara's own.
Of course, rumors unverified by her own eyes couldn't be fully trusted.
So, observe for now.
But prepare in advance.
"So, to get close to Yoo Eun-ha, I need to learn about lesbians?"
"Pardon?"
"Mariko. Bring me some lesbian novels or comics for now."
"Yes, understood."
Alright. Time to learn about Yoo Eun-ha.
Friend, foe, or something else. Exploring her while probing the Seven Deadly Sins wasn't a bad idea.
Hansung Dormitory
In Hansung Academy's girls' dorm, a short-haired woman in a cheongsam was conversing in Chinese via magic gear.
Ping Tao. Unlike Japan's Shinohara Kotone or America's Rosemary, she was a foreign cadet who hadn't blended into the class at all.
Trained solely for China, believing it supreme, she saw no need to befriend Koreans or other foreigners.
—Digging into the Seven Deadly Sins?
"Yes. But Korea seems clueless right now too."
—They don't have sneaky spies like those little Japanese anyway. The Seven Deadly Sins probe was just formality. You know why I'm calling.
The Seven Deadly Sins were a formality. No need to unearth what even the World Hunter Alliance didn't know. China had bigger priorities now.
"It's about Yoo Eun-ha."
—A puny peninsula nation's Divine Sword user Yoo Jin-seok already edged out our grand unification. If his sister outshines him, it tarnishes Zhonghua's face. Can you win?
"I don't know her well yet, but she has tons of openings. Naive enough to allow surprise attacks anytime."
To Ping Tao, Yoo Eun-ha was full of gaps—easy to topple with one strike. She figured Korean media and academy just overhyped her.
Ping Tao didn't know Eun-ha was confident enough to win even ambushes.
—What about Divine Sword user Choi Si-woo?
"Si-woo has no gaps if hostile, but around Eun-ha, she's like a lovestruck girl. Hardly a warrior."
Divine Sword user. Blessed by the constellation Divine Sword with swordsmanship and vast holy-attribute skills. A true martial artist.
Yet Choi Si-woo melted around Eun-ha, oblivious even to a blade at her throat.
Korea’s top rookies like that? Other hunters would notice.
The Yoo Jin-seok generation of Korea was gone.
—So you can win sometimes.
"Yes."
—Win spars or whatever. Never lose to Si-woo or Eun-ha. Shinohara's annoying enough; Zhonghua can't lose to barbarians again.
"Yes, General!"
Ping Tao ended the call and bowed toward the west.
Ping Tao. Hunter under Beijing's warlord faction. Her goal: Beat Choi Si-woo and Yoo Eun-ha, revive Zhonghua as heaven's center in this hunter era.
A few days after returning to the academy. Hansung Academy Class A focused only on practicals and guild studies.
The remaining students all knew the basics anyway. So why bother with academy at this point?
Should she just drop out and go full villain?
No. She needed to balance hunter and villain. Use Jin-seok's generation guilds to face the Seven Deadly Sins.
With Choi Sia and Villain Org Lily White handling Incheon villains—absorbed or eliminated—it was time for other regions.
"Alright, dungeon practice today."
Blazing Bat finally announced a decent training plan.
Probably Association orders anyway.
"Dungeon?"
"A bit different this time. Your level's too high. Sending you to a guild dungeon."
Guild dungeon? At this point, only Lily Guild.
"A guild-owned dungeon?"
"Lily Guild's Glass Dungeon."
Lily Guild. If Cheonsan Group sponsored Hansung now, Lily had ties from the school's founding.
The school emblem was even modeled after a lily.
Glass Dungeon was one of theirs.
Monsters made of glass appeared.
Nothing special. Except the boss, just hordes of mobs. No maze like a mech dungeon.
In the original, it was the first guild dungeon Choi Si-woo entered.
But it was swarm tactics galore. Overwhelming numbers.
"Glass Dungeon—the one with insane waves?"
"Yeah. You already know roughly?"
She knew a bit.
Even remembered the treasure chests being glass, disappointing Si-woo and the heroines.
"Yeah."
"Then no need to explain with Eun-ha here?"
What, you bitch?
"Hey. Instructor."
Handing everything off to her? Total salary Lupin lately.
Talented kids even poached by guilds separately. But wasn't instructing her duty?
"Dismissed after class. Lily Guild van'll take you to Glass Dungeon."
"You?"
"Me? Playtime."
Was this woman human? Where'd she plan to goof off?
"Hey, you're the instructor."
"Whatever. Got Seven Deadly Sins stuff, heading to Association."
Blazing Bat declared unilaterally, flung open the window, and leaped out.
Yeah. She bolted.
That woman's getting punished someday. Definitely.