The Shimazu Heiress
『Takahiro-san!』
Renka’s voice rang out once more—neither loud nor particularly forceful, yet laced with unmistakable displeasure. The mana that had been roiling from the guild members only moments ago visibly subsided.
『……Yes, my lady.』
『Shirabayashi-san will be my classmate from now on. Mind your words and conduct.』
As she spoke, Renka’s eyes flashed as though sparks might fly from them. The guild member who had been glaring at me released his grip on his sword hilt and bowed deeply to her.
『My apologies. I have caused you trouble, my lady.』
『The apology is not for me. Offer it to Shirabayashi-san.』
『…….』
After a brief hesitation, the man reluctantly turned and bowed to me as well.
『I’m sorry.』
It was clearly a forced apology, but once it was given, I could hardly press the matter further. I let my mana settle and answered with a simple nod. Renka inclined her head toward me.
『Please forgive his rudeness, Shirabayashi-san.』
『Yeah.』
『I shall see you at school, then. If you will excuse me.』
With that, Renka spun on her heel, her long hair whipping behind her, and climbed into a sleek black luxury car that looked far too expensive for these streets. The other guild members followed her lead and departed. The gate still lingered, but no more monsters emerged; only a handful of cleanup personnel remained, cordoning off the area.
That gate would likely fall under the ownership of the Shimazu Gumi. It was the same procedure I remembered from the 21st century—suppress the gate and monsters, explain the situation to the police when they arrived, and collect a reward commensurate with one’s contribution.
Just then, two columns of policemen in mustard-yellow uniforms came jogging into view from down the street, marching in perfect step. Song Byeong-o cursed under his breath.
“Damn it, the police.”
He immediately took off running in the opposite direction. I followed him into the narrow alleys between buildings without question. Only after we had put considerable distance between ourselves and the scene did he finally stop, panting.
“Whew, we barely got away.”
“Wait—huff—why the hell did we run?”
I understood why someone might distrust Japanese police, given how they were often portrayed as villains in films and dramas, but we hadn’t done anything wrong. Song Byeong-o gave me a look of disbelief.
“What? You fought so well earlier, yet you’ve never seen how things work on the ground? Even if you’re from a bourgeois family, you’re hopelessly out of touch with reality!”
Who was calling whom inexperienced? Still, it was true that I didn’t understand how this era operated with gates and all, so I kept quiet and listened.
“Tch! We’re Koreans without hunter licenses. Nothing good comes from being seen by the police. Obviously.”
He kept glancing nervously over his shoulder as he spoke.
“They say it’s our duty as ability users to slay monsters, but they don’t give a single won in reward. Instead, they drag you to the station and grill you all day. If you’re unlucky, they’ll even blame you for damaging nearby shops and make you pay for it!”
Song Byeong-o let out a long sigh.
“So if you don’t want to be treated unfairly, you have to succeed. Once you graduate from the hunter academy and get your official license, then we can walk with our heads held high……”
From what he said, unlicensed Korean ability users were treated as nothing more than societal threats. It didn’t make sense. Risking your life to save civilians, only to be discriminated against because you were Korean?
‘This really is hell Joseon.’
Everyday discrimination against Koreans was bad enough during the colonial period, but now there were gates and monsters on top of it. This was truly hell Joseon. How the hell had I ended up in this godforsaken world?
But what was done was done. Since I had fallen into this era, I had no choice but to survive it somehow. Just like Song Byeong-o said—if you’re wronged, climb higher. Success……
I changed the subject.
“By the way, that Japanese girl earlier. Renka, was it? Is she someone famous?”
When Renka had approached me, Song Byeong-o had looked like he was about to say something but ended up choking instead. He clearly knew something.
He pushed his glasses up with an incredulous expression.
“Wait, are you seriously planning to become a hunter?”
“Huh?”
“Shimazu Renka! She’s the only daughter of Duke Shimazu! A member of the peerage! And she’s the branch leader of the Shimazu Gumi’s Gyeongseong division……”
Duke, peerage—Japanese nobility, then. Even so, the weight of it didn’t quite register. Just how high up was she? A duke was the highest rank in the peerage system, so that was significant. And branch leader…… like the head of an overseas franchise of a major guild?
While I was mulling it over, Song Byeong-o clutched his chest and exhaled in relief.
“Speaking of which, I thought you’d lost your mind earlier! Facing off against a Shimazu Gumi hunter, and right in front of that peerage girl…… I thought my lifespan had shortened by ten years!”
He was referring to the standoff with the young guild member. I had my own thoughts on the matter.
“The bastard kept calling me ‘Chosenjin’ this and ‘Chosenjin’ that. It pissed me off. Besides, I wasn’t exactly lacking in confidence.”
I hadn’t been afraid of fighting that guy. I was a veteran hunter who had walked the line between life and death for nearly a decade.
……But honestly, I had been nervous. No matter how experienced I was, my current body had pitifully low mana reserves and no proper techniques to utilize them. The guild member, who looked like an executive, probably had plenty of combat experience himself. And all I had was a wooden stick barely infused with mana—nothing compared to a real sword carrying B-class mana. I might have landed a critical hit if I got lucky, but I would have been badly injured in return.
“Still……”
Song Byeong-o had been scolding me, but suddenly grinned.
“You’re the first Korean I’ve seen who stands tall in front of Japanese people—especially in front of the peerage. I thought you were just another bourgeois collaborator, but you’ve got a side to you I didn’t expect. I apologize again for misjudging you.”
He extended his hand for a handshake. I accepted it. The misunderstanding that I was a pro-Japanese collaborator had been cleared up. Though, to be fair, the Baek Chulyeon he had seen at the preliminary muster a few days ago really had been one.
Well, all’s well that ends well.
“Anyway, I’m heading home. See you at school tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“It’s the entrance ceremony. Good grief, didn’t you even read the notice? I’m off, then.”
Song Byeong-o pulled his cap down and disappeared down the alley. Left alone once more, I leaned against the wall for a moment before pulling a crumpled piece of paper from my uniform pocket.
Gyeongseong Hunter Academy, 34th Class Entrance Ceremony
Showa 14 (1939), April 5th
If tomorrow was the entrance ceremony, then today was April 4th. I hadn’t even known the date when I left the boarding house.
‘Tomorrow’s the entrance ceremony……’
But as I stared at the notice, doubt crept in.
‘Should I even go to this school?’
Everything had turned out completely different from what I had expected. When I first woke up in this era, I thought I could live a life completely unrelated to gates or hunters. Just coast along using future knowledge to live comfortably. But this world already had gates, and the “Hunter Academy” I was supposed to attend was exactly that—a hunter academy. Was I fated to never escape the life of a hunter, no matter how many times I died?
Well, even if I accepted that—after all, I had died as a hunter in my previous life too—there was still the problem that the existence of gates might change the course of history. That meant the “future knowledge” I had painstakingly acquired could become useless. I couldn’t even be sure whether Korea would be liberated in a few years anymore.
Even if history unfolded exactly as I remembered, there was another issue. This was the Japanese colonial period. Hunters, being useful in combat, might get forcibly conscripted into the Japanese army if unlucky. Was it really okay to attend a hunter academy under these circumstances? Did I even have to?
Or should I just……
‘Forget the academy and just leave Joseon for good?’
I gripped the entrance notice with both hands. Yeah. I should tear it up, leave this cursed land, and immigrate to America. Whether I became a hunter there or opened a laundry, I’d find a way to survive……
Just as I was about to rip the paper apart, I hesitated.
……I couldn’t do it.
In my previous life, I had awakened late and lacked talent, so I never got into an academy. That regret had haunted me throughout my hunter career. If only I had awakened earlier, if only I had attended an academy, I wouldn’t have remained stuck at C-class.
‘But this time…… maybe it’s possible.’
Unlike before, I could develop my abilities at school and grow stronger. Reach greater heights. This was an opportunity that would never come again. Was I really going to throw it away just because the future was uncertain?
‘Giving up? What kind of stupid idea is that?’
I smoothed out the crumpled notice and carefully tucked it back into my pocket.
‘I’ll attend the academy for now.’
Even in the 21st century, academy graduates were treated as valuable talents. The same would be true here. In a world with gates, the skills and status gained from the academy would be crucial for surviving the turbulent times ahead. How could I turn down such an opportunity? No matter what happened—no, precisely because I didn’t know what would happen—I had to get that diploma.
‘The only real concern is forced conscription into the Japanese army……’
I reviewed my historical knowledge again.
‘They started accepting Korean volunteers in 1938, but forced conscription of students didn’t begin until 1944, near the end of the Pacific War.’
It was currently 1939. If I graduated from this three-year academy, it would be 1942. Even if history followed its original course, I would have plenty of time to escape Joseon before conscription.
‘Right. I’ll attend school, hone my abilities, and leave for America right after graduation. Escaping Joseon can wait until after I get my diploma.’
Having made my decision, I headed back to the boarding house. A white moon had risen in the darkening afternoon sky.
***
Beneath the full moon in the night sky, somewhere in Gyeongseong.
Water trickled along a bamboo channel, flowing into a bamboo tube below. When the tube grew too heavy, it tipped over, striking a stone with a clear clack and spilling its contents before righting itself to catch more water. The rhythmic sound continued endlessly.
Beyond the bamboo fountain lay a well-tended garden with a potted cherry tree, and beyond that stood a refined Japanese-style mansion. Under the clear full moon of April, a figure in a yukata walked alone through the garden where cherry blossoms drifted on the breeze.
She was no woman yet—more girl than lady. Long black hair cascaded down slender shoulders, and her body still held the soft curves of youth. But beneath the straight-cut bangs, sharp eyes, a high nose, and a delicate jawline gave her an allure that belied her age.
She was Shimazu Renka—only daughter of Duke Shimazu, who had ruled Kagoshima for generations, and at just seventeen years old, the branch leader of the hunter guild Shimazu Gumi’s Gyeongseong division.
Now dressed in a crimson yukata, she recalled the events of the afternoon when she had worn her navy sailor uniform.
When the report of a gate opening came in, she and the Shimazu Gumi had been visiting Changgyeongwon Zoo. They arrived quickly at the scene—Myeongnyunjeong 2nd Street intersection.
Three mid-tier monsters, Takoashi, had just emerged from the gate. No other hunters had arrived yet—only two students stood facing the beasts. Their uniforms marked them as new students of Gyeongseong Hunter Academy, just like her.
『Students won’t be able to handle them. We should move in immediately, my lady.』
Takahiro, her personal attendant and vice-branch leader, drew his sword. But Renka stopped him.
『Wait.』
This was a rare opportunity. A chance to observe the abilities of the other students she might one day cooperate or compete with.
The two students began to move. From their shouts, both appeared to be Korean. One drew a gun; the other picked up a wooden stick.
‘Hmm.’
The student with the stick fought the mid-tier Takoashi with surprising skill. He moved as though he had faced such monsters before, executing a clear strategy. But in the end, the mana in his makeshift weapon wasn’t enough to destroy the monster’s core, and his companion’s panicked shooting ruined the plan.
Takahiro snorted.
『Typical Chosenjin.』
Renka, however, thought differently. If that student had held a proper weapon instead of a stick, and if his companion hadn’t missed, he might have actually defeated the Takoashi.
‘How was he able to fight like that?’
She herself had received rigorous training from childhood to inherit the family business, and upon awakening had become branch leader with skills and experience rivaling veteran hunters. But that was because she was an exception. For an ordinary boy her age to display such boldness and judgment—comparable to a professional hunter—was shocking.
‘And that confident attitude……’
His combat ability was impressive, but what surprised her even more was his unexpected demeanor. When she approached to shake hands and introduce herself—
—I’m Renka. Shimazu Renka.
In colonial Korea, especially in Gyeongseong, anyone aspiring to be a hunter would know the name of the Shimazu family and their guild. Yet he had accepted her handshake without the slightest hesitation.
—Baek Chulyeon.
He had even deliberately spoken his Korean name in full, despite the Japanese surname on his name tag. And when facing Takahiro in that tense standoff, he hadn’t backed down an inch.
All of it was difficult for her to comprehend.
Most Japanese people around her, including Takahiro, habitually claimed that “Koreans are servile before the strong and arrogant before the weak,” blaming the character of the Korean people. Renka didn’t agree with such racist prejudice, but after arriving in Korea and repeatedly witnessing “submissive Koreans,” she had come to think it was inevitable, if not their fault.
But Shirabayashi—no, Baek Chulyeon—was different from any Korean she had met. There was no trace of the gloomy resignation typical of Koreans. Instead, she sensed the proud bearing of someone who rightfully belonged to this land. It wasn’t the empty vanity of a common thug, nor was it a performance to prop up false pride.
Suddenly, Renka recalled the people she had encountered while traveling through Europe and America with her father as a child. Baek Chulyeon’s confident, free-spirited attitude resembled that of citizens from advanced Western nations.
Just who was he?
Renka gazed up at the full moon hanging over Gyeongseong’s night sky and murmured softly.
『Shirabayashi-san. What exactly…… are you?』
***
“Am I an idiot……?”
The next morning, on the day of the entrance ceremony. Just as I was about to leave the boarding house, I froze in place, struck by a realization so obvious I couldn’t believe I had missed it.
‘How could I not know that? Shouldn’t I have checked beforehand? What an absolute moron.’
I had no idea how to get to the school.