247. Shin Family (2)
247. Shin Family (2)
Shin family (申家)
A prestigious hunter family of Korea.
In a world where Awakening occurred at random, they were a family famous for the peculiarity of reliably producing powerful hunters.
Using the desires of the wealthy and the politicians who craved hunter power as their fuel, they built staggering wealth and renown.
'But that prestige has faded considerably by now.'
Because, after all, Rina had established Velvet Hunter Academy, the world's finest hunter education institution.
Of course, you couldn't ignore the bond of a hunter group connected by blood.
No matter how many hunters a family produced, in the end, what truly mattered was the strength to fight monsters and Demonized Humans.
There was a time when the Shin family and Rina were called the two pillars of the Korean hunter industry.
But once the academy entered a stabilization phase and its graduates started making their mark in the Gates, the Shin family's influence was steadily waning.
Hunters from the Shin family had such obvious flaws.
They wielded immense destructive power based on massive Mana reserves.
But their actual combat ability was pathetic.
And the insularity—once you belonged to the Shin family, you could never leave.
You could see it clearly just by looking at the case of Shin Se-hee's older sister.
The S-Rank Hunter, Shin Su-yeon.
Even if she was completely drained of Mana back when I ran into her,
at the time, I was still a rookie who'd only been in the academy for a month.
And yet, Shin Su-yeon was beaten one-sidedly by me and ended up locked in Shin Se-hee's solitary confinement cell.
Anyway, for those reasons, the Shin family's past glory had faded; they were now on a bottomless downward spiral.
Would people like that ever calmly watch the situation unfold and humbly accept it?
No way.
'We will raise the Shin family to stand at the summit of the world.'
They were lunatics who would commit human experimentation for that single ambition.
However, even for such a wildly ambitious family, they weren't so thoughtless as to mess with Rina without fear.
So they cast their eyes elsewhere.
A landmass too vast for even Rina's gaze to fully cover.
A place teeming with people suitable for human experimentation.
A country not too far from their home base in Korea.
China (中國).
The Shin family had now set up their base in China.
"How's the Shin family been lately?"
I asked Shin Se-hee, recalling the information I had on them in my head.
Just in case there was something I didn't know.
"Mm... Strange."
"Strange?"
"Yes. In the past, they gave me a lot of trouble."
Shin Se-hee touched her lips as she spoke in a flat voice.
"Back when Shin Su-yeon came looking for me... I had to make her believe she'd succeeded in capturing me, disguised Utopia as an organization under Shin Su-yeon's command... Hmm, I had a hard time making sure the family didn't catch on each time."
"Oh."
I let out a murmur of admiration at her words.
I'd thought the Shin family's total lack of response was a bit too quiet.
Apparently, Shin Se-hee had been secretly pulling this and that behind the scenes all along.
Like I thought, in these matters, I could just blindly trust Shin Se-hee.
"...The problem was that our name value got too high this time, so it caused a little trouble. Our reputation as an organization under Shin Su-yeon made no sense anymore, since our weight class grew far too big."
"Well, that would happen..."
She had a point.
We'd competed with active-duty Hunters in the U.S. and produced overwhelming results.
Then we returned to Korea and suddenly broadcast the Fire Dragon Head for everyone to see.
'Now that I think about it, we really did pull in every possible bit of aggro.'
"...But then, I didn't even need to worry about it, because all contact from the Shin family just got cut off one-sidedly."
"When was that?"
"Right around the time we accepted the U.S. Monster Subjugation Request. Back then I just thought that was a good thing and let it slide... But did something happen?"
I nodded at Shin Se-hee's question.
"Yeah. The Shin family is probably going to cause a major incident this time."
At that, Shin Se-hee let out a deep sigh, as if she didn't find it surprising at all.
Only pure exasperation surfaced on her face.
"...Ha. So we have to stop it, right?"
Nobody knew better than her what kind of family the Shin family was.
"Yeah. This time, we're all going together. You included."
"Yes, understood. I'll get things ready and time it accordingly."
Shin Se-hee nodded with a stiff expression.
* * *
A few days later.
The entire Utopia Party, fully geared up, had gathered in front of the Spatial Movement Formation heading to China.
"...Aren't we skipping classes way too often? At this rate, we'll barely attend any classes and still graduate."
"Yeah, I transferred into the academy, but I spend more time living outside."
The diligent Lee Yu-ri spoke with a look that asked if this was really okay.
Ichika added her own bit.
I smirked and answered.
"That's just how the academy is. Look at the third- and fourth-year upperclassmen. They barely attend class and focus entirely on personal training and hunter activities."
"...B-But we're first-years? Ah, except for one person."
"Yu-ri hoobae? Please, no age attacks...! I'm sensitive about that already!"
The only second-year in the Utopia Party, Im Ga-eul, said with an aggrieved expression.
"The third- and fourth-year upperclassmen are probably the ones who have the hardest time believing we're first-years."
"Honestly, lately the upperclassmen keep using formal speech with me and asking for autographs or photos more and more..."
Clap—
I clapped my hands to cut through the chaotic mood.
"Anyway, like I said, we're heading to China now. But this time, you'd better be on your toes. We'll be going up against a massive family called the Shin family. And... unlike in Japan, the sentiment toward us in China won't be friendly."
"That's right... After the humiliation China suffered during the U.S. Monster Subjugation Request..."
Shin Se-hee nodded as if to agree that made sense.
Ling Xiao.
The Chinese Hunter who targeted Utopia during the U.S. Monster Subjugation Request, only to trip herself up and fall flat.
A trash Hunter who had deliberately left a Gate in Jiangsu Province uncleared, causing massive casualties, and then later showed up to play the hero.
Of course, her atrocities were unforgivable even within China,
so the China Hunter Association dragged her off to be punished.
But at that time, her ugly past was exposed to the entire world, and China's face and prestige were utterly crushed.
And the accepted consensus was that the root cause of it all was Ling Xiao picking a fight with Utopia and racking up unfavorable stacks.
So how could their feelings toward us Utopia possibly be good?
That was why, this time, our goal was to enter quietly, take care of business, and leave quietly.
'Well, I dunno if that's possible...'
I'd set that goal, but honestly, I wasn't confident.
Either way, a buoyant mood was a bad idea, so I once more gave my party members a strict warning in a stern voice.
"Absolutely no actions or words that draw people's attention. We go quietly, and we come back quietly. Quietly."
* * *
"Kyaaaaaaa! Jin Yu-ha!"
"Finally! Jin Yu-ha has come to China!"
"Kyaaaaah! Wave! Wave your hand, please!"
"You're so handsome!!!"
We were surrounded by women in front of the Spatial Movement Formation.
Click— Click—
Flashes burst along with the sound of camera shutters, lighting up our faces.
It seemed my plan to go quietly had failed right from the very start.
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
"......"
The party members sent icy glares in my direction.
"...What? Jin Yu-ha. We were supposed to go quietly?"
Lee Yu-ri shot me a sidelong glance.
But I was innocent here.
'Is this my fault?!'
"Th-This, this is Utopia! It's because our party's name value is so high! You can't say this is just because of me!"
I raised my voice and protested my innocence to my party members.
"Jin Yu-ha! Could I please get an autograph?"
"Jin Yu-ha! Me too!"
"A picture! Can I take a picture?"
"I love you! Jin Yu-ha!"
The women who started swarming in paid no attention to the other party members and only flocked to me.
"...Popular, aren't you, benefactor."
"Does the Yellow Dog remember what it said a few moments ago?"
"We absolutely must not draw people's attention, but Jin Yu-ha, your face is drawing it anyway."
"Should I just mix in with them and take some pictures myself?"
"The hoobae's got it good. Young, and so popular..."
Each of my party members tossed out a comment with an icy glare.
I stared into empty space with dead eyes.
'No, but seriously, how the hell did they even know and manage to find us?! We really didn't leak any info at all this time!!'
Just then, the woman standing at the very front cried out in a high-pitched voice.
"Jin Yu-ha! Everyone else said no, but we believed!"
"Huh?"
"We believed that Jin Yu-ha would definitely visit us in China someday! So we've just been camping out here the whole time!!"
Ah.
I didn't know that.
So you just eat and sleep here until the person comes, no matter when it is?