Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 010
Chapter Title: How to Hook Baek A-rin, Daughter of the Snow Mountain Clan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Confirmed three victims. No injuries beyond minor bruises.
Anomaly: Two of them appear to be the children of Snow Mountain Clan Chairman Baek Ho-yun.
The Anomalous Gate was swiftly cleared by Inferno Clan hunters who arrived shortly after.
It was a dungeon that only spawned monsters like Horned Rabbits from the start.
Once a proper hunter showed up, it was only a matter of time.
As Baek A-rin kept apologizing profusely,
a hunter in a suit from Inferno approached us.
'Kim Do-hoon the hunter?'
He seemed to recognize me and was heading my way.
But Baek A-rin appeared to have misunderstood something.
"Hello, I'm Baek A-rin of the Snow Mountain Clan…."
"Ah, yes, I know. We've already contacted the Snow Mountain Clan."
'She thought he came to pick her up.'
Kim Do-hoon gave a light greeting,
then passed by Baek A-rin—ignoring her flustered expression—and came straight to me.
"Hello. Kim Si-woo, student. We meet again."
"Haha… It just sort of happened that way."
Kim Do-hoon eyed me with a hint of suspicion as he continued.
"Anomalous Gates aren't exactly common… And yet they keep popping up lately. Do you know something about it?"
"Even if you ask me, don't you already know everything I could tell you, Hunter?"
Is he suspicious of me?
Kim Do-hoon smiled and replied.
"Haha, just routine questioning for the record."
"I see."
I was there during the last Anomalous Gate incident too.
Meeting again here like this—it's natural he'd find it suspicious.
But what can he do? No evidence.
I'm innocent, after all.
"It was pure coincidence. No need to suspect me."
"Pardon? Suspect you? I've just grown fond of seeing you around so often, Kim Si-woo."
…Bullshit. His eyes are full of doubt.
As I chatted with Kim Do-hoon, Baek A-rin approached and asked,
"Are you two acquainted or something?"
"Sorry, I can't disclose that to outsiders per regulations."
Baek A-rin furrowed her brow slightly in response.
"…I see."
'Playing it strictly by the book….'
Any other clan might hesitate, but someone of Kim Do-hoon's rank in Inferno had no reason to cower before Snow Mountain's daughter.
'Even Kim Do-hoon the hunter is helping me out.'
Baek A-rin's mind was probably doing calculations right now.
Why was a high-ranking Inferno hunter having a confidential chat with me?
She must be dying to know who I really am.
'She wants to uncover what a mere academy examinee with a single skillbook is hiding.'
Kim Do-hoon smiled and said,
"Whew… Looks like the cleanup's mostly done. Our investigation team will head back now. If you need any help, just let me know."
With that, Kim Do-hoon handed me his business card.
Then, staring right at me, he added,
"Especially you, Kim Si-woo. Feel free to contact me anytime."
Kim Do-hoon turned and left after saying that.
"Feel free to contact anytime…."
…He probably meant it as a subtle warning since he suspects me.
But Baek A-rin's eyes filled with even more suspicion.
She looked completely lost in thought.
'Thanks, Kim Do-hoon Hunter!'
I sent a silent heartfelt thanks to Do-hoon for the unwitting assist.
Meanwhile, Baek Yu-ri grabbed my hand with her small one.
She gazed up at me with shining eyes.
"Oppa is so cool! Like a prince. Oppa, are you some amazing person?"
"Haha… Something like that."
Does this kid even realize she almost died…?
Baek A-rin snapped out of it at her sister's words and turned to me.
With Kim Do-hoon gone, her earlier cold demeanor vanished.
She apologized again, politely and sincerely.
"I'm truly sorry. I'll make sure to repay you for this."
Baek A-rin surely knew she couldn't have saved Baek Yu-ri herself.
I've put her in quite a debt.
'Should I ask her to introduce me to Baek Ho-yun now?'
…No.
No matter that I saved his daughter, Baek Ho-yun is ruthlessly pragmatic when it comes to Snow Mountain Clan matters.
My goal is to get Snow Mountain researching a cure for 'mana incompatibility' through them.
Baek Ho-yun wouldn't mobilize the clan for personal favors.
'Not the right time yet.'
So, approach Baek A-rin first.
Her obsession with inheriting Snow Mountain is intense.
To convince Baek Ho-yun, I need her support.
She won't risk her heir position to back me just yet.
No rush.
Use her obsession with Snow Mountain.
And the root of it—her deep respect for her grandfather.
'Approach slowly and carefully.'
For now, I've planted the bait to pique her interest.
That's enough.
She'll come around and support me in time.
I smiled at Baek A-rin and said,
"Repayment… Nothing comes to mind right now."
"As you know, I'm still Snow Mountain Clan royalty. If there's anything you need…."
Her tone carried a hint of pride in her clan.
Classic Baek A-rin.
I pretended to think it over, then grinned amiably.
"Hmm… Well, if you insist, how about your contact info?"
Baek A-rin looked a bit taken aback by my response.
"Pardon?"
"Your contact info?"
"I get what you're saying, but why…."
"Just so I can hit you up for a meal later."
I handed her Si-woo's phone with a smile, and she absentmindedly entered her number.
Baek A-rin wore a puzzled expression.
"Is this really okay? If you need anything…."
"If you insist that much, I'll let it slide as a debt for now. But you have to buy me that meal, okay?"
Baek A-rin nodded at my words.
Is this enough?
No way in hell.
The moment she gave me her number, she stepped into the antlion pit.
I'll squeeze every bit of value out of it—worth at least one blank page from my book.
I kept those triumphant thoughts buried deep and flashed another smile.
"I'll hit you up later."
Baek A-rin was a little flustered.
'Kim Si-woo….'
The guy who saved her little sister Baek Yu-ri today.
She clearly remembered him because her instincts had pinged him.
He was Kim Si-woo, the one who faced off against Lee Seong-hyeon in the entrance exam.
'What is he? Wasn't he just a regular guy?'
She'd dismissed that gut feeling as a mistake.
But today's events were anything but ordinary.
"This is weird… I just don't get it…."
Her social circle—and the world at large—was fixated on the birth of once-in-a-generation genius Lee Seong-hyeon.
Rumor had it multiple clans were already courting him.
'Probably offering top-tier treatment right after academy graduation.'
Compared to that, his opponent Kim Si-woo.
His movements were decent, but that was it.
Something felt off, but if not for Lee Seong-hyeon, she wouldn't have noticed.
'So why is an Inferno investigator paying him that much attention? What secret is he hiding?'
It was strange.
Today's events were undeniably strange.
'Not just today, though.'
During the academy practical exam.
Kang Hwa-yeon had taken note of Kim Si-woo too.
And apparently, even Chairman Kang Young-ho was interested in Kim Si-woo, not Lee Seong-hyeon.
'There's something there… I can feel it.'
Above all, what shook Baek A-rin most was her own intuition.
She admitted her siblings outshone her.
But one thing—her talent for reading people, acknowledged by her grandfather.
She prided herself on that.
'I saw it clearly up close today….'
Kim Si-woo has something special.
He brushed off her offer to leverage Snow Mountain like it was nothing.
Who turns down repayment from Snow Mountain with a smile?
A guy dreaming of becoming a hunter, no less?
Ridiculous.
Aspiring hunters would kill for a connection to Snow Mountain.
"Overwhelmed…?"
No, he seemed too calm for that.
'More like he doesn't need Snow Mountain's backing….'
Unlike only-child Kang Hwa-yeon, Baek A-rin had two older sisters, an eldest brother, and a younger sister.
She knew her place perfectly.
Moderately smart, moderately strong skills and talent.
'Moderate' would never make her Snow Mountain's heir.
Unlike her siblings chasing raw hunter power, she focused on connections.
She'd hidden her true self behind masks.
Seeking talent to cover her weaknesses.
'Objectively, it's hard to offer Lee Seong-hyeon enough to pull him to my side.'
But what if overlooked Kim Si-woo was the joker card?
Click-click—
The gears in Baek A-rin's head started turning.
Her instincts screamed it.
Whatever it was, she couldn't let it slip away.
"I need to look into him first."
Baek A-rin pulled out her phone and started typing a message.
From: Baek A-rin
Thank you so much for today. As you said, I'd love to treat you to a meal. Please contact me when you have time….
A polite, lengthy message revealing Baek A-rin's personality.
She took the bait.
Baek A-rin is intrigued by me now.
She'll test if she can use me as a card.
I just need to keep drawing her in until she's convinced.
"Whew…."
No need to meet her right away.
I have to give her more solid reasons to trust in me.
The first exam after the entrance ceremony should do it.
I hear we're in the same class at Seoul Hunter Academy. I'll contact you after the entrance ceremony if time allows.
That should suffice.
Now, the true start of Awakening to SSS Hunter Academy.
The entrance ceremony.