040. Dormitory
040. Dormitory
Velvet Hunter Academy accepted anyone who had awakened and possessed Hunter talent, regardless of who they were.
However, those who awakened special powers different from others at an early age inevitably threw themselves into the Hunter world early.
In reality, if you were lucky, a single dungeon expedition could net you both a fortune and fame at the same time.
Most students who enrolled at Velvet Hunter Academy had experienced such a rough youth.
What would happen if you crammed people like that into one dormitory without any countermeasures?
The academy was well aware of the danger that a space meant for students to recover their mind and body after training could easily turn into a living hell.
Because of that, the academy divided the student dormitories into five buildings.
Dormitory of the Damage Dealers,
[ Hall of Valor ]
Dormitory of the Tanks,
[ Hall of Perseverance ]
Dormitory of the Specials,
[ Hall of Intellect ]
Dormitory of the Healers,
[ Hall of Healing ]
Dormitory of the Supports,
[ Hall of Devotion ]
They classified accommodations by role like this.
But as the classification was based on such criteria, the atmosphere in each dormitory was vastly different.
The Hall of Healing and Hall of Devotion, where Healers and Supports lived, were mostly made up of timid men, so they had a relatively quiet feel,
and in the Hall of Intellect for Special-position cadets, the gender ratio was about half and half, but the residents had a strong tendency to stick to their own business without meddling in others' affairs, a real my-way personality type.
On the other hand,
the Hall of Perseverance for the Tank role, where most residents were women, boasted considerably tight-knit bonds.
Finally, the Hall of Valor, where Damage Dealer-role students gathered.
Here too, like the Hall of Perseverance, the majority were women, but the culture of establishing a hierarchy based on each other's strength was stronger than tight-knit bonds.
Occasionally, a male ranged Damage Dealer would come in,
but they were at the bottom of the hierarchy, and their appearance made it impossible not to realize why that man was a Damage Dealer, so the students of the Hall of Valor had never paid much attention to men entering the same dormitory.
However, this year was different.
A male Damage Dealer.
The Male Quota System.
Jin Yu-ha.
Because that man, the subject of so many rumors, had come to the Hall of Valor.
"Is he really that handsome?"
"......He's definitely ridiculously handsome. I only saw him from the stands during the team sparring finals before, but even then, his face stood out from all the way across the arena."
"So when's he getting here?"
The women who had arrived at the dormitory first were whispering in serious voices, their eyes gleaming dangerously.
"Hey, hey! There! He's coming!"
Then one girl pointed toward the dormitory entrance and shouted.
"Where? Where!?"
"There!"
All the women's gazes converged on one spot.
Step—
Step—
Step—
"......"
"......"
"......"
A heavy silence fell, as though even their breathing had stopped.
The male Damage Dealers they'd seen until now were usually hulking brutes,
or had faces that looked downright terrifying.
Or else they were completely bald.
But Jin Yu-ha.
He was somewhere between a boy and a man.
His ebony-black hair gleamed with a smooth sheen,
and his clear, pale skin was spotless.
The beauty mark near his eye stirred protective instincts, while his languid eyes gave off a dangerously seductive allure.
And it wasn't as though he was merely delicate.
He was tall, with broad, square shoulders.
His cadet uniform fit him perfectly, a sword hanging at his waist.
Unlike the other men who shrank back whenever they saw them, he carried himself confidently, his steps unhesitating.
Seen up close, Jin Yu-ha even seemed to possess an elegant, aristocratic air.
The women, who had briefly forgotten how to speak at his appearance, began whispering among themselves.
"......Wow, they say if a guy's too handsome you temporarily lose your memory."
One woman said, her mouth hanging open.
"Hey, you mean... we're sharing a dorm with him?"
"W-Well, the r-rooms are divided, obviously......!"
"Hoo. Can you hold yourself back around that? I'm not confident I can."
People gulped as they admired his face.
"......Wow, they say if a guy's too handsome you temporarily lose your memory."
"His face is really in its prime. Feels like I should harvest it now. Or no, if I wait about a year will he get even better-looking?"
"I think he's trying to seduce me right now? Fuck, he's unleashing some hardcore flirting with that face."
"Why's he even a Hunter?"
"......Wow, they say if a guy's too handsome you temporarily lose your memory."
"Knock it off, you bitch."
Smack!
The woman next to her struck the back of the head of the woman who'd been staring blankly with her mouth open.
The woman who'd suddenly been smacked on the back of her head snapped her head up, then spoke in a rushed tone.
"I-I-I just suddenly really need to use the bathroom! I'll be right back!!!"
Her friend, who'd been looking at her with pity, nodded and opened her mouth.
"......Once you're done, open the window wide and air it out. ......And text me when you're finished."
"Okay!! Got it!!!"
Scurry─
Thus, Jin Yu-ha's entrance into the Hall of Valor caused a huge stir among the students.
*
On my way to my assigned room,
I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under the gazes pouring in from all sides.
'Tch, this is... What, is everyone here a woman?'
I was pretty sure there had been a few male Damage Dealers in the Velvetsra game, even if there were no male Tanks, but somehow every single person I could see was female.
Every one of them had the face of a predator, staring at me like they wanted to devour me, which was incredibly intimidating.
'Ugh, shit. Let's just get to the room fast.'
I fixed my gaze straight ahead and quickened my steps.
Grab.
At that moment, some hand suddenly darted out from beside me and blocked my path.
"What?"
When I turned my head, I saw a woman.
"Hii─ Hey there?"
She bared her teeth in a grin and greeted me.
I twitched an eyebrow as I looked her over.
'Who's this now?'
A thick, muscular body. A gyaru-type woman with blonde hair, deeply tanned skin, and heavy makeup caked on her face.
She was a character I didn't remember.
'An extra character...? Hmm, no. There could still be a case like Instructor Baek Seol-hee, so it's too early to judge.'
Of course, given that the game was a pretty-girl game, the stronger a character was, the higher the probability she was beautiful.
But this woman who'd blocked my way was a bit... ambiguous.
'Is she a character... aimed at that kind of taste?'
The world's tastes are wide and varied, but she was far from my own taste, which was fairly normal and conventional.
'Let's just hear what she has to say first.'
I looked at her and spoke.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Kim Ok-ja, a B-Rank Hunter and Damage Dealer."
'Her parents really did her dirty with that one.'
* * *
Kim Ok-ja.
Having worked as a B-Rank Hunter before passing the exam for Velvet Academy, she had arrived at the academy with high expectations.
'Hoo, the test was really damn tough. And what's with all the basic training run-around starting three weeks ago. Tch.'
But even that was over now.
All three grueling weeks of training had ended, and she was no longer a prospective cadet but a regular cadet.
'Now I'm on the fast track as long as I graduate the academy.'
And that was when she heard a certain rumor.
'......What!? They just picked him without any test at all just because he's a man!?'
The moment she heard that news, she couldn't suppress the fury that began to boil inside her.
She had cut out the alcohol and cigarettes she'd loved, and she'd even held back from men, whom she was crazy about, just to enroll.
She'd barely gotten into Velvet Hunter Academy after going through such a grueling exam!
And now some guy got in easily simply because he was a man? It pissed her off so much she couldn't stand it.
So, originally, she'd planned to seek him out personally and teach him a lesson.
But,
─ ......Hey, don't mess with him. I heard Cheonhwa has his back.
Cheonhwa.
It wasn't a name she could possibly be ignorant of.
Even before becoming an adult, she was a woman famous for achieving feats that outshone fully established Hunters.
Of course, Kim Ok-ja believed that was all just the backing of her prestigious Hunter family,
but even so, the name Cheonhwa was intimidating, so she hadn't been able to step forward.
'But I heard he rejected Cheonhwa this time.'
An unbelievable rumor had reached her ears that she had clung to this man's ankle at a gukbap restaurant and bawled her eyes out.
Back then, she had thought it was just a groundless rumor.......
But seeing him in person, it totally made sense. With a face like that, it wouldn't be strange at all for Cheonhwa to cling to his ankle and cry.
'Hohoho, I see. So bland and nice girls aren't your type?'
Kim Ok-ja had initially come to teach him a lesson, but the moment she saw his face, none of that mattered anymore.
A face so shockingly handsome it rendered every man she'd ever seen into worthless trash.
Of course, the fact that he'd dumped Cheonhwa meant this man had enormous pride in his own looks.
Cheonhwa was too soft-natured and didn't seem to know how to handle a man like this, but Kim Ok-ja knew the methods for taking such men by force all too well.
'Men just need to be pinned under a woman and whimper. They might hate it at first, but they'll come to love it later. Heh heh.'
Kim Ok-ja licked her lips at the sight of fresh prey after a long while.
'Whoa, his ass is nice and plump too. I'd love to grab ahold of that once.'
Her sticky gaze moved toward Jin Yu-ha's lower body.
'Should I just go for it?'
Having suppressed her desires for men for quite a while, the urges inside her suddenly spurred her on.
Honestly, what she was most curious about was his front, but that would be too much in a public place full of people.
Just his ass, though. If she called it an accident, he was a man—he wouldn't be able to say anything.
"O-o-ops!"
Slip─
Pretending it was an accident, she faked her hand slipping off the wall she was leaning against.
She reached toward his ass.
Just then.
Grab.
Her hand was caught firmly, as if blocked by something.
'Which bastard is it?'
When she raised her head, eyes full of irritation,
she saw roughly tied-back red hair.
A woman with a solid build was clutching her wrist, her brow deeply furrowed.
'K-Kang Do-hee!?'
"What the fuck are you doing, you bitch?"