026. Misunderstanding (1)
026. Misunderstanding (1)
Even with direct contact prohibited, fifty million won was a huge payout for a mere investigation request.
But when the target was a Demonized Human, the amount made perfect sense.
A Demonized Human—an intelligent being wielding supernatural powers.
Their threat level was on another level entirely from monsters.
Because they were predators that hid among humanity and hunted humans.
"So that quota student is... a Demonized Human...?"
It felt like her drowsiness evaporated in an instant.
Kang Do-hee snapped to attention and began scrutinizing the information she'd received.
Right at the top was the title.
【 E-Rank Gate, Camela Forest Report. ─Hunter Management Bureau─ 】
Kang Do-hee's finger stopped as she scrolled through the contents.
Jin Yu-ha ─ Hunter Rank F
"That's ridiculous."
Jin Yu-ha.
From their very first meeting, she hadn't liked how he acted all chummy and glommed onto her,
but putting that aside, Kang Do-hee had secretly acknowledged his abilities.
She'd had no choice.
Because his physical ability was right on her heels, and his swordsmanship was eye-poppingly brilliant.
No one in a male body had ever shown that level of skill before, and she doubted anyone ever would again.
Until now, she hadn't understood why someone with that kind of ability had entered through the Male Quota System, of all things...
But now, everything made sense.
Goosebumps prickled along Kang Do-hee's arms.
'The Male Quota System... means he could avoid the mandatory status window inspection required for the entrance exam.'
The Male Quota System granted admission based purely on being male.
It was a truly shitty system, built on the sacrifice of her guild master.
A garbage system with no effectiveness, no value whatsoever.
Kang Do-hee was already sick to death of how the Hunter Management Bureau bastards had cooked that up and acted like they'd done enough.
"And that Demonized Human bastard used that system to infiltrate the academy..."
Kang Do-hee's eyes moved faster and faster across the screen.
"Due to the excessive discrepancy between previous records and records from Camela Forest... suspected Demonized Human."
Sure enough, those accomplishments were far too extraordinary for an F-rank Hunter.
And on top of that, the person recorded as having contributed the most in that gate was Jin Yu-ha.
Then she remembered what the instructor had said when that bastard first showed his swordsmanship.
─ Is this your first time holding a sword?
─ You also seem clueless about how to use your body. Hasn't been long since you started using it, has it?
Sudden growth.
Unrefined, bizarre strength.
An inhumanly captivating appearance.
All of those were traits of Demonized Humans.
"......Jin Yu-ha. That bastard was a Demonized Human."
Kang Do-hee bit down on her lip.
"So that's why I got a nomination request. Because they know I'm training with him."
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even glanced at a request from the Hunter Management Bureau—the very people who'd reduced her guild master to that state.
But this time was different.
She had to accept this request.
Because this was a Demonized Human infiltrating through a loophole in the Male Quota System.
In other words, it was an incident that spat on her guild master's sacrifice.
That was when it happened.
Ding─♬
Her phone rang once more.
"......What now?"
Sender ─ Black Snake.
"Black Snake?"
She knew them.
A client who sometimes gave her incredibly annoying jobs but paid quite handsomely.
That person had sent her an email.
The email subject was: 《 Jin Yu-ha Footage 》
"That son of a bitch was from the Management Bureau...!?"
All this time, not knowing that, she'd been cleaning up that snake bastard's messes.
Fury seethed inside Kang Do-hee.
In reality, the initial request had come from the Hunter Management Bureau and the video had come separately from Shin Se-hee, each sent independently.
By sheer coincidence, both had sent material about Jin Yu-ha at the same time, so Kang Do-hee couldn't help but misunderstand.
She assumed that 'Black Snake' was a person from the Hunter Management Bureau.
"Ah, fuck. Just let that snake bastard try to give me another request."
Still, since she'd already decided to accept this particular job, Kang Do-hee opened her inbox and played the footage.
* * *
"Shin Se-hee, may I ask why you've moved forward with the operation so hastily?"
Secretary Kim asked in a bewildered voice.
"......The plan fell apart."
Shin Se-hee, seated at her desk, pressed hard against her temples as she spoke.
"I was going to manufacture a scandal now to use later, to keep Jin Yu-ha by my side..."
The reason Shin Se-hee had kept eating with Jin Yu-ha in front of people.
Part of it was to torment Kang Do-hee, but more importantly, it was to deliberately create points of contact with Jin Yu-ha.
A foundation stone, for keeping that man at her side in the future.
She'd made an equal trade with him, but Shin Se-hee had no intention of giving up on Jin Yu-ha.
He was a man who possessed that enviable a level of ability, after all.
But,
that plan had been wrecked right from the start by a woman who'd appeared out of nowhere.
Lee Yu-ri.
"What on earth is it. That eye-catching Mana..."
As she mulled it over, Shin Se-hee eventually concluded that it must be the unconscious manifestation of a 'skill.'
"Even though I have a constitution highly sensitive to Mana... ordinary skills actually get devoured by me, you know."
Which meant that ordinary girl's skill was so immense it could overwhelm even her.
Shin Se-hee bit her lip hard.
"How terrifying."
Just a light brush against her, and it felt like all the secrets she'd buried and kept hidden for so long would be laid bare.
Shin Se-hee felt fear at this unfamiliar sensation.
"......Until I've established a proper countermeasure for that woman, I mustn't touch Jin Yu-ha."
"That woman, you mean?"
"Secretary Kim, you don't need to know. Just assume I don't have a hobby of poking hornets' nests."
"Yes."
"So, did all the Jin Yu-ha footage get sent to Kang Do-hee?"
Originally, her plan had been to dredge up Kang Do-hee's feelings about Jin Yu-ha from the very bottom,
to superimpose her guild master onto Jin Yu-ha, and to watch Kang Do-hee lose her grip on how to handle it.
But that was nothing more than a hobby.
Right now, none of that mattered.
If she carelessly did something Jin Yu-ha didn't like, he might bring that monster of a woman before her again.
"No. For now, I've only sent the completed edits."
"......Tch, so I've only done Kang Do-hee a favor. How thoroughly irritating."
Shin Se-hee clicked her tongue.
"Well, whatever. Send them in sequence as they're finished. That was the deal from the start. We'll connect the two of them quickly, close the deal, and we need to catch that unidentified necklace thief as well."
"Yes!"
Tap-tap─ Tap-tap─
Secretary Kim began working according to Shin Se-hee's orders.
* * *
Things had been kinda weird lately.
First, Shin Se-hee wasn't approaching me anymore.
That I understood.
She seemed to feel an abnormal level of fear toward Lee Yu-ri.
'...But what's up with Kang Do-hee? Her eyes look completely messed up.'
She was staring daggers at me as if I were her sworn blood enemy.
Enough to make 《Intuition》 blare a warning about an approaching boss monster.
Of course, Kang Do-hee was only hiding and watching—she didn't actually approach.
But it still got under my skin.
When someone glares at me that intensely, 《Detection》 gets forcibly triggered, you see.
So today's personal training was a wash.
Like I could possibly focus on swinging a sword.
'Did she get dragged into one of Shin Se-hee's schemes?'
I'd even given her a preventative heads-up, but it didn't seem to have taken effect yet.
'If she keeps this up and can't stand it anymore, she'll come talk to me then.'
Either way, it looked like Shin Se-hee's operation had achieved results in its own way.
Her gaze used to pass over me like I was a rock on the roadside, so having her stare at me this fervently was, in a strange way, something.
"Still, this is a bit tiring."
"Are you tired?"
Instructor Baek Seol-hee, who'd been overseeing my personal swordsmanship, spoke when I failed to concentrate.
"Ah, I wasn't talking about the training."
"Starting this weekend, sparring with the other groups is scheduled. Last week was time for everyone to form their groups."
"Yes."
"Until now, I have tacitly allowed you to conduct personal training even during joint training hours, but starting today, you must participate in joint training."
'Tacitly allowed...? I wanted to do joint training from the start. So I wasn't being ostracized?'
When I stared fixedly at Instructor Baek Seol-hee with that meaning, she furrowed her brow.
"Cadet Jin Yu-ha. It's only natural to have ambitions for personal growth, but you must learn to moderate them."
"......."
"However strong you become alone, you will never match a collective formed into a party."
Baek Seol-hee pressed me as if lecturing.
"I've already made plenty of accommodations for you. So set aside your greed and take part in training with your party members as well."
"......Yes."
Honestly, I had a lot I wanted to say, but I swallowed it down my throat and nodded.
*
"Now, joint training will begin. We'll proceed in a practical manner. The two special admission cadets, wear these magic tools."
A Mana-Restriction Magic Tool.
Apparently, that was the penalty imposed on Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee.
"......What about Jin Yu-ha?"
"The male quota student does not wear one."
Shin Se-hee asked in a tone full of complaint, but the instructor dismissed her words immediately.
"That's incredibly unfair."
"If you feel it's unfair, enter through the quota system."
Shin Se-hee grumbled, but she put the magic tool on right away.
Kang Do-hee, on the other hand, shot uncertain glances back and forth between me and the magic tool several times, then finally put it on as if she had no choice under the instructor's gaze.
And so, the joint training of the male quota student and the special admission cadets began.