Could It Be Me?
"Sua noona, I have a favor to ask."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Could you sign your name as my guardian on some documents?"
Guardian signature. The kind you sometimes had to provide when the school handed out notices. As an outsider, signing on his behalf felt a little presumptuous. Still, it wasn't something she was unqualified to do. After all, Na Sua was the one who would eventually become Kang Sian's guardian. She was even willing to sign a blank promissory note if asked. In terms of acting as his proxy, her qualifications were more than sufficient. Whether she could protect him in the literal sense was another matter, but that wasn't the point right now.
Anyway, Na Sua gently patted Kang Sian's head, touched by the fact that he'd come to her instead of his aunt. Then she gave him a look that clearly asked where the paper was.
"It's… not actually paper."
"Not paper? Then do you need some kind of online certificate?"
"Yes…"
Kang Sian trailed off, clearly reluctant to ask. She didn't need to press him, but the way he was acting made it obvious he wanted her to ask anyway. Na Sua kept her tone kind and gentle so he wouldn't feel pressured.
"Is it something awkward? You can tell this noona anything. Just say it."
"It's… I need to fill out a Minor Hunter Activity Request Form."
"A Minor Hunter Activity Request Form?"
Legally, minors couldn't become hunters. The profession was steeped in violence, and teenagers were considered too impressionable. Just look at how many kids dreamed of being hunters only to end up with far more ordinary lives if they'd never gotten involved. The fact that his childhood friend had thrown away the chance at a peaceful life with him was proof enough of how stimulating and dangerous the job could be.
Still, the government couldn't completely suppress the desires of kids who fantasized about slaying dinosaurs. They'd left a narrow loophole. Minors couldn't hold the title of hunter, but they could engage in limited hunter activities through the Minor Hunter Activity Request Form. That was how special schools like Hunter Middle School and Hunter High School existed, and how early training programs for the next generation of hunters could proceed without issue.
Of course, as a minor, the restrictions were quite strict.
"It doesn't just need any guardian. It needs a hunter guardian… Wait, Sian-ah, did something happen?"
"Just a small incident."
Basically, my childhood friend tried to kill me. Thanks to that bastard's help, I barely survived. Then I trained like hell under the bastard so I wouldn't die at the hands of the girl who went from childhood friend to enemy. After nine years of living together, the bastard somehow became my childhood friend again. Training turned into playing around, so now I'm trying to hunt monsters to put some tension back into my slack life.
It really was a minor incident. Aside from the fact that he'd finished all his college entrance exam studying in his first year of middle school and then given up. Aside from the fact that Cheon Mari kept causing trouble at school and he'd nearly developed a neurosis from cleaning up after her.
"Sian-ah? You're not even a student at a hunter school right now, are you? I don't think you really need this…"
"I have something I personally want to try in a gate."
"Besides, if you submit this, there will be all kinds of restrictions on your daily life. You might end up regretting it out of curiosity."
Monster hunting limits, gate access restrictions, periodic reflection reports, full physical examinations after every injury, regular personality education sessions… It would carve up his everyday life with obligations. From Na Sua's perspective, Kang Sian was basically an ordinary person with no proper hunter training. The request itself felt less like a reasonable plan and more like a suicide attempt.
"What about the monsters?"
"I have enough strength to hunt monsters beyond the gate. You don't have to worry too much."
But Kang Sian had already made up his mind. He was prepared to endure all of it. After all, he'd been preparing for this very moment.
"Even so, I know what your hunter aptitude test results were—"
"Take a look at this."
Kang Sian pulled a file from his bag and opened it, revealing a recently measured aptitude test result.
The numbers had increased dramatically compared to two years ago. His superpower remained the same, but his physical stats were several times higher. It was remarkable growth—if you could call such an abnormal development "growth." The numbers weren't exactly normal.
'Estimated hunter rank D to… C?'
In reality, most of his stats were only F to E rank by adult standards. The reason the result showed D to C was because his Mana Efficiency stat was absurdly high.
"H-How did you…?"
"How about it? This should be enough to hunt monsters, right?"
It meant he had talent, and therefore room to grow further, whether big or small. Especially after high school, C-rank might become his minimum rather than D-rank. Hunters grew the most during their high school years.
Na Sua's hands trembled as she held the documents. The results were completely different from the information she'd secretly gathered, and far too outrageous for a minor. She wondered how on earth he'd reached these numbers. One possibility came to mind.
"Sian-ah, have you been going to Nartika Corporation not to play around, but to receive hunter training?"
"Yes."
Good heavens. He was telling the truth. No wonder he'd sometimes come back sweaty—it hadn't just been from playing. His muscles were strangely well-developed for a middle schooler, too.
"Was I… not supposed to?"
"No, it's not that it's bad…"
Of course it wasn't a bad thing. The exotic scent of his sweat and the way her emotions boiled over whenever she touched him had helped release her desires. It was just strange. Kang Sian's incomprehensible choice.
"Why did you do it in the first place?"
"Well… two years ago, a private company's aptitude test said I had some talent. You know how the tests they give at school are pretty crappy~"
"Even if you have talent, you didn't start out thinking about this, did you?"
He'd always been good at studying, so the path to a good university had been open to him. There were even rumors he'd been learning high school material since elementary school. Kang Sian's talent was clearly academics. The safe path was clearly academics. At least, that was what all the information up until today had suggested. And yet he'd made a complete U-turn just because some private company aptitude test said he had talent? It was strange. Far too strange. Could a middle schooler really make such a bold decision? Leaving a hunter middle school for a regular one, then deciding to become a hunter again—did that even make sense? Even his aunt seemed to think he was a model student. Everyone around him had thought the same.
'Don't tell me it was that little Cheon Mari… No. There's no way that rabid dog could have given such a sophisticated persuasion.'
No one had suggested it to him. He'd pursued it purely of his own will. Kang Sian must have begged Cheon Mari for training. A childish arrogance wearing the mask of self-determination. It looked like the delusion of someone heading down a thorny path. The problem was that this "delusion" had actually produced these results.
"Well, it's an opportunity to become a hunter."
"An opportunity?"
"Yeah! If I become a hunter, I could earn more than studying and getting a job, protect my family from bad people, and repay my aunt and uncle for raising me…"
And then. Kang Sian shifted his gaze to Na Sua's face. He didn't continue. He simply stared at her snowflake-like beauty. After some time had passed, he suddenly turned his head away, looking slightly flustered.
"Anyway, since I got this opportunity called talent, I decided to become a hunter!"
His words were evasive. He'd clearly stopped right before something important could come out. Na Sua understood exactly what that unspoken part was.
'Me? Could it be me? Did Sian work this hard all this time because of me?'
It sounded like a delusion, and it was a delusion. But to Na Sua, the evidence was clear. He'd started training two years ago—the same time he'd first met her. He could have asked other hunters, but he'd specifically asked her. And he hadn't said it outright. He'd just looked at her in silence. There was no doubt. Kang Sian had feelings for her. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to wag his tail like this.
Na Sua smiled at the waterfall of emotion pouring over her.
'How adorable.'
Her choice had been correct after all. How could her engagement partner, who liked her this much, possibly be the wrong choice? The twenty-year engagement period suddenly felt unbearably long. A greedy desire to have him just a little, just a little sooner, welled up inside her.
Na Sua barely held back a sigh and gently stroked Kang Sian's head.
"Call me when you're filling out the documents. I'll sign as your guardian."
"Th-Thank you, noona! I didn't have anyone else to ask since only hunter guardians are allowed…!"
"It's fine. If Sian wants to become a hunter, of course I'd vouch for you."
There had been some strange parts, but nothing that would cause real problems. After a short conversation, Kang Sian got out of the car, and Na Sua left, convinced her efforts had paid off.
Under a sky where not even a single star was visible, he let out a sigh of relief that his request hadn't been rejected.
"Whew, I couldn't think of any more excuses. Still, somehow it worked out."
The truth behind why he'd stopped mid-sentence was rather anticlimactic. From now on, he'd prepare several plausible excuses in advance—Kang Sian made that resolution to himself.