Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Godspeed vs Blue Vest
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Monday.
A new week was beginning.
It was also the day before the training camp.
"Training camp..."
I sat at the lectern, staring seriously at the tablet screen.
[Guaranteed delivery by dawn tomorrow!]
The world sure had advanced a lot.
Order something, and it gets delivered before dawn the next day.
"Maybe I should grab some stuff for the kids too."
They were supposed to pack their own gear for the camp, but even as A-rank awakeners, they were still kids.
I could already picture it: someone scrambling for motion sickness pills at the last minute, others shivering because they dressed too lightly.
"Better if I handle it than deal with that mess."
This was efficiency too.
A strategy to preempt chaos and secure my precious nap time during the day.
I bought snacks to share with the kids and various disposable items, then closed the shopping app.
"Peaceful."
I looked up and scanned the classroom.
Empire Hunter Academy, Class A.
This place that had felt like a zoo just days ago was now quieter than a study hall.
"......"
The kids were buried in their books with terrifying focus.
Even the ones who hated studying had at least brought comics to quietly build their spiritual nourishment.
All except one.
Groooo...
Seo Jin-uk sat at the back by the window, headset on, neck craned out like a turtle as he fixated on his laptop screen.
"That guy's stealth is so good now, he slips out of sight if I'm not careful."
Seo Jin-uk's stealth trait was evolving daily through extreme focus and training.
The irony was that he was growing not for monster assassinations, but for gaming.
Still, the results were undeniable.
Only someone like me could notice him; a normal person would mistake the seat for empty and ignore it.
"Told him to stay quiet, and he erased his presence entirely."
Impressive, but I worried Instructor Na Yeo-rin might mark him absent during roll call.
"Um..."
As I fretted pointlessly, a student in the front row tentatively raised her hand.
"Instructor... sorry, but could you turn up the heater a bit?"
"Heater?"
The student shivered, glancing toward the back of the room.
Following her gaze, I saw Lee Ha-eun actively emitting cold air.
Her hair, once plain black, had turned silver from the roots to the tips.
Whoooosh.
With every breath, fine snow crystals drifted down from her exhale onto the classroom floor.
She was in no state to sit through class with the others.
Great that she'd overcome her trauma during the field trip, but it had triggered a violent surge in her latent freezing mana.
They measured it at the infirmary yesterday—over double her previous levels.
Lee Ha-eun was thrilled to claim first place in Class A, but the fallout had the class enduring an unexpected cold snap training.
"Feels like the kids are evolving in weird directions because of me..."
Fortunately, Class A had a reliable human heater.
"Hup...! Urghhh...!"
Na Jin-il grunted from the seat right in front of Lee Ha-eun.
He was radiating scorching mana, heat waves rising from his entire body.
His heat clashed fiercely with her cold in an intense aerial battle.
It was such a heartwarming sight that I chuckled and asked,
"Jin-il, you okay?"
"Hrgh... D-don't worry! N-not tough at all!"
Na Jin-il shouted with bloodshot eyes.
His uniform shirt was already soaked with sweat, and three empty ion drink bottles for hydration rolled on his desk.
"Yeah? Heard Ha-eun pushed you out of first for mana output. You sure you're fine?"
"Kh, khkh... F-first is mine! Th-this is less than a fan on low!!"
The kid had class-topping—no, world-class—pride.
Maybe he'd become a bit more human.
Holding his ground like that to neutralize the cold showed the class got along pretty well.
"Nice to see."
Rivals pushing each other to grow with their abilities.
Like a scene from a youth drama.
Instructor Na Yeo-rin's face paled more with every growth spurt from the kids, but with graduation around the corner, I could only hope she'd hang in there a bit longer.
Riiiing.
As I enjoyed the brief peace, my smartphone blared noisily from my pocket.
I'd muted most notifications...
[Song Jinwoo, Association Chairman]
Sure enough, it was the chairman.
No contact since I started English tutoring—cooldown must be up.
I stepped into the hall to answer.
"Yes, Chairman."
[Congrats on the S-rank gate subjugation.]
"Thank you. Was wondering why no bonus this time. Should I check my account now?"
[You think of money first when you hear my voice?]
A hollow laugh came through the receiver from Chairman Song Jinwoo.
"Of course not. I pray for your health and safety more than anyone. So, what's up?"
[Straight to it: Can you come to the association right now?]
"I'm in class."
[Japan's Hunter Association Chairman insists on meeting you. He's in my office now.]
I furrowed my brow.
Japan's Hunter Association Chairman?
"No notice, just out of the blue?"
It was too sudden for mere thanks.
[You can refuse. But... it's about money, so I figured I should pass it along.]
"Tell me now."
[Not a phone conversation.]
"Then tell me now."
"No... when are you—"
"I'm here."
You'll see, right?
Let's get to the money talk!
I opened the door, and the chairman stared at me with wide eyes, phone still to his ear.
Across from him sat a sharp-featured man enjoying his tea.
I like that tea too.
"Looks like being chairman has its perks. Never dreamed I'd meet Korea's legendary hero, the Blue Vest, whom no one's even seen."
Japan's Hunter Association Chairman, Nakayama Kin, rose from his seat.
Neatly combed hair, suit fit like it was measured with a ruler.
Like most awakeners, he appeared frozen in his prime twenties.
Our chairman, who awakened in his forties, was the rare case.
"So that's Japan's rank two, Nakayama Kin."
He had real presence.
The air around him felt unusually chilling.
First impressions: stronger than the saintess from the kidnapping, but a notch below Yoo Na-yeon.
"An honor to meet you. Blue Vest. On behalf of hunters everywhere, thank you for clearing our long-standing headache in Japan."
"The honor's mine. I've seen you plenty on TV."
I flashed a business smile and shook his hand.
Cold hand.
Calluses thick across his entire palm.
A hand that had swung a sword its whole life, just as rumored.
We sat facing each other on the sofas.
The secretary brought tea with a tense expression.
I cut straight to it before even touching my cup.
I'd told the class rep to call if anything came up, but I couldn't leave the kids unsupervised too long.
"I heard it's about money."
Nakayama smiled at my directness.
"Good. No beating around the bush. Reports say you got nine S-rank fire mana stones from the gate spoils."
"Five left now."
Four went to the Japanese government as fees.
"Sell those five to our association. One trillion won each."
"......"
I swallowed hard.
One trillion was a solid twenty percent above recent market prices.
But today, I didn't pull out the calculator.
The fire mana stones already had an owner.
Yoo Na-yeon, naturally.
She'd saved my life of parcel drone drudgery.
Unless I'd sold my soul to the devil, I wasn't settling that debt with one restaurant meal.
"Blue Vest, refuse. I never imagined this."
The chairman cut in angrily.
"You know S-rank stones aren't just energy sources. Processed right, there's a chance for ego weapons. Could shift national power balances."
"So they say."
I shrugged and looked at Nakayama.
"Sorry, but no."
"Not enough? I can go to 1.1 trillion."
Nakayama hurriedly pulled out a blank check.
"Not about money. Got someone I want to gift them to."
"Gift...? Items worth over a trillion?"
Nakayama's face twisted.
He looked utterly baffled.
He roughly loosened his tie and sighed.
"Haa... Let me be frank. My position's precarious right now."
He dropped the elite chairman mask, speaking desperately.
"An S-rank gate Japan stalled on for thirty years, cleared overnight by a neighbor country's hunter—who's officially A-rank!"
"Isn't that good?"
I clear your threat, and you complain.
"Public opinion isn't that simple! 'Japanese hunters are cowards who fled, but Korea did it in one day.' 'Korea gets all the good from our Japanese mana stones.' 'Chairman, commit seppuku.'... Our site’s crashing from hate comments!"
Nakayama clenched his fist.
"We need those fire mana stones back to forge Japanese weapons and salvage our reputation. 1.2 trillion each... that's our limit. Please."
He bowed his head.
Pathetic.
But.
"That's your problem."
Not mine.
Why whine to me about being too scared to enter?
"I handle my stuff. Process the ones your government's holding into weapons."
My firm stance hardened his expression.
He fell silent for a moment, then slowly lifted his head.
"Then... how about a bet?"
"A bet?"
"Yes. I know you're confident in speed. Rumors of Blue Vest clearing an A-rank gate in one minute are big even overseas."
He stood, picking up the wooden sword he'd left on the sofa.
"I'm proud of my speed too. Never lost to anyone."
Nakayama stared straight into my eyes.
"Spar with me. If I win, sell me the stones."
"If I win?"
"200 million yen cash. And we'll never bother you about your items again."
200 million yen—roughly 1.9 billion won.
Easy to lose track with trillion talks, but 1.9 billion was real money.
And not for some grand mission—just one spar.
But the chairman shook his head at me.
"Blue Vest, don't listen. Know why Japan has no S-rank assassins left? They all challenged this guy and lost their heads to his footwork."
That did sound confident-worthy.
"Nakayama, really that sure about your speed?"
He smirked arrogantly at my question.
"At the upcoming international hunter forum, I'm planning to challenge that 'Zeus.' That's all I'll say."
Zeus.
Official rank one, lightning wielder.
Confirmed speed: Mach 10 monster hunter.
Mach 10. Mach 10...
"Deal."
I stood, straightening my tie.
No reason to turn down a 1.9 billion gift.