Chapter 268: Designated Request (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 268: Designated Request (1)
A family of four was gathered cozily around a large dining table, enjoying a pleasant meal.
Kim Eun-bi, however, wore a gloomy expression, barely touching her food as she stared down at her smartphone.
‘He’s late with his reply again today….’
The screen displayed her chat with Kim Do-jin.
The number ‘1’ next to the message she’d sent in the afternoon still hadn't disappeared, even though it was now evening.
“Haaah.”
A sigh of frustration escaped her.
Watching her, small sparks of anger flared in Kim Jeong-hun’s eyes.
A curse spilled out from his burning insides.
‘That bastard.’
Of course, the curse wasn't directed at her.
It was for Kim Do-jin, the very cause of his sister’s sighs.
That bastard was none other than him.
‘How dare a parentless orphan like him… make a move on my sister!’
He hated everything about him.
The way he’d gotten arrogant just because his face changed, the way he was shamelessly hitting on his sister.
And on top of all that, he couldn't even be bothered to reply to her messages on time.
If he had his way, he’d beat him to an inch of his life like he used to, but he couldn't do that anymore.
He barely managed to use his chopsticks with his trembling hands.
“……”
“Ahem.”
With their son and daughter acting like this, what parent wouldn't notice?
“Jeong-hun.”
The head of the family, Kim Yong-un, who was sitting at the head of the table observing his family, called to his son in a stern voice.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Kim Jeong-hun lifted his head.
“Yes? Yes, Father.”
“Is something troubling you? You don’t look well.”
“Uh… No. Nothing’s wrong.”
“Hmm, is that so.”
Kim Yong-un backed off.
Anyone could see something was on his mind, but what could he do if the boy himself denied it?
He turned his head to the side, where his wife, Ahn Joo-ri, was asking their daughter something.
“Sweetie, don’t you have an appetite? You’ve barely touched your food.”
“Oh, no, it’s not that. It’s just…”
“Oh my, could it be because of that boy you mentioned the other day?”
“Mooom!”
“What, what is it? Huh? Tell your mother.”
“……”
Listening to the mother and daughter’s conversation, Kim Yong-un’s face hardened.
A topic he had hoped not to hear for at least the next ten years had finally come up.
‘My daughter… is heartbroken over a boy?’
Kim Yong-un’s hand, holding his chopsticks, clenched into a fist.
He’d been careless.
He had been relieved that she showed no interest in boys even after turning twenty, but to think a bug had gotten to her in the meantime!
‘A miscalculation. My daughter is no ordinary girl…!’
Considering his daughter’s beauty, he should never have let his guard down for a single moment.
‘I can’t let this be.’
He knew he couldn't keep her single forever.
So, as a second-best option, he wanted the finest man in the world to be by her side.
A man who would reliably protect her even after he was gone, a man who would ensure she never had to lift a finger. [Lit. let a drop of water touch her hands]
“Daughter… do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, his tone laced with disappointment. Kim Eun-bi’s face flushed as she shook her head.
“N-no, it’s not like that yet….”
Yet.
She said yet.
Wasn't that a word that left the door wide open for their relationship to develop in the future?
“If it’s ‘not yet’… does that mean it could happen soon?”
Ahn Joo-ri pointed out her choice of words with a mischievous smile.
“Oh, Mom.”
Kim Eun-bi grabbed her mother’s arm and whined playfully.
A fond smile appeared on his face at the sight, but the thought that he would have to share that sight with some other punk made his anger surge.
“Hoo.”
Kim Yong-un took a deep breath, calming his emotions.
In a much calmer tone, he asked.
“Would you tell me what kind of man he is?”
“W-well, he’s…”
As she squirmed and hesitated to answer, Ahn Joo-ri beat her to it once again.
“He’s younger than her. He’s even one of Jeong-hun’s high school classmates, and I heard he’s doing incredibly well these days. What was his name? Kim, Kim…”
As she fumbled to recall the name, a quiet voice spoke up from the side.
“…Kim Do-jin.”
“Ah, that’s right! It’s Kim Do-jin, dear.”
Upon hearing the name, Kim Yong-un fell into thought.
Kim Do-jin.
‘I’ve heard that name before.’
He was a businessman himself, with one foot in the Hunter society.
Naturally, he kept a close watch on how the industry was faring, and the name Kim Do-jin was one that had been popping up constantly in recent news.
“Kim Do-jin… so the man you like is that Kim Do-jin, the one hailed as a top prospect recently?”
“…Yes, Dad.”
Kim Eun-bi nodded, her face shy.
“Haha.”
He had wondered what kind of arrogant punk it was, but it turned out to be Kim Do-jin.
The publicly known information about him surfaced in his mind.
The youngest B-rank Hunter at twenty-one, and a man with a high probability of soon breaking the record for the youngest A-rank Hunter as well.
‘His family… I believe he doesn’t have one.’
There had been a scandal with Han Ju-yeon, who recently promoted to S-rank, but it was proven to be false.
“Hmm.”
In terms of ability alone, the man was flawless.
No, beyond flawless—he was overwhelmingly superior to any of his peers.
The thought occurred to him that he might not be such a bad son-in-law after all.
It wasn't because of his outstanding abilities.
Rather, the fact that he was an orphan with no family was what sounded more appealing to Kim Yong-un.
‘What if I have him marry into our family?’
If he were the son of a family with parents, they would have vehemently refused, but for an orphan like him, wouldn't it be a good thing?
He would be able to feel the warmth of a family, which he had never experienced before, from them.
On top of that, he wouldn't have to be separated from his precious daughter. It was truly killing two birds with one stone.
“Hahahaha! Yes, there’s a way! Hahahaha!”
Laughter burst out of him.
Not only would he gain a capable son-in-law, but he also wouldn't have to part with his daughter.
His laughter stopped abruptly as his gaze shifted to his daughter.
“When are you going to start dating him? It would be nice if you brought him home sometime.”
“D-Dad!”
Seeing his daughter blush at the thought of another man no longer angered him.
What did it matter?
He would soon be like his own son anyway.
“W-we’re not in that kind of relationship yet. He’s been so busy lately, we haven’t even been able to meet much….”
Kim Eun-bi pouted.
“You can’t meet because he’s busy? Hmm… he certainly has been making a name for himself lately.”
He was active everywhere, appearing in the newspapers almost daily, so it was only natural that he was busy.
He didn't particularly like that the man prioritized work over his daughter, but it was also unsightly for a man to be wrapped around a woman's finger.
‘A real man must prioritize his work at times, of course.’
They were still a young man and woman.
To make their relationship a done deal, they needed to create more opportunities for them to interact, starting now.
‘What would be a good way?’
Should he use him as a model for the company's advertisement?
‘No, no. That would only increase his contact with the company.’
What he wanted was contact with the family.
To do that…
“Ah, right. How about we have him tutor Jeong-hun?”
Finally understanding her husband’s intentions, Ahn Joo-ri clapped her hands lightly in agreement.
“Oh, that’s a great idea! Eun-bi, what do you think?”
“Why are you two being like this, really?”
As she squirmed and chided her parents, a faint smile she couldn't quite hide graced her face.
It seemed she liked the idea.
After putting on a show of protest, she carefully opened her mouth to speak.
“I-if it’s possible, please set it up so I can get credit for it too, Dad….”
“Hahahaha! Of course, I will. Let’s see… then if I commission the tutoring as a designated request…?”
Kim Yong-un chuckled heartily, muttering to himself.
Kim Jeong-hun, who had been watching blankly, shot up from his seat in alarm.
“F-Father! What about my opinion…!”
“Are you saying you don’t want to do it?”
“…T-that’s not it, but.”
“Then it’s settled.”
Drenched in the happiness of his future plans, Kim Jeong-hun’s opinion was summarily dismissed by his father.
* * *
“Everyone, you’ve worked hard.”
“Worked hard? Hunter Kim Do-jin took care of every monster that appeared!”
“If you need a front-liner next time, please give us a call anytime!”
After finishing a B+-rank dungeon clear with a party he wasn't particularly impressed with, he checked his smartphone.
His chat rooms were flooded with messages.
“I haven’t checked for just a few hours, and this is what I get?”
What on earth did women have so much to talk about?
No, it wasn't even that they had a lot to say.
It was just about what happened today, what they did, what I did, and so on.
Most of it was just them talking about their day and asking about his.
The flood of messages, something he’d never experienced in his life, made his head spin.
“Is this the life of a popular guy…?”
He wasn't cheering at the sight of the piled-up messages.
What was surprising was that they didn't go away even if he didn't reply diligently.
“Let’s see.”
He checked his dungeon clear count through the ‘Hunters’ app created by the Hunter Association.
[D-rank or lower dungeon clears: 38]
[C-rank dungeon clears: 45]
[B-rank dungeon clears: 25]
It was a decent number of clears for a new B-rank Hunter.
But it was no big deal.
Dungeons like these were a dime a dozen, so increasing the count was easy if you had the time.
The part to pay attention to was at the very bottom.
[Cataclysm-rank monster subjugation: 1]
“Yesss, this is it.”
A single line added in recognition of his contribution to the Kraken raid.
Although all the Hunters who participated in the raid were recognized for their efforts, not everyone received a line like this.
The only ones who got it were the S-rank Hunters who went inside the Kraken’s body, and me.
“This is why scandals break out.”
The power this one line held was immense.
It earned a lot of points needed for promotion, and it could be written on a resume.
Since this single line was valuable in many ways within the Hunter industry, and it was known that Hunter Han Ju-yeon had personally picked me, it was no wonder people misunderstood and thought we were dating.
“I think I should be able to reach A-rank soon….”
He had been busy racking up dungeon clears, and on top of that, he had a cataclysm-rank monster subjugation on his record.
His recognition was already at the top among B-ranks… it wouldn't be strange if he were given the qualification to challenge the A-rank promotion exam right now.
He wanted to climb the ranks as quickly as possible.
“Should I ask Ms. Ji-an?”
Just as he was about to look for her number to ask roughly how much longer it would take, his phone rang.
Ziiiing—
“Oh.”
It was a call from her.
He immediately pressed the call button and brought the phone to his ear.
“Ms. Ji-an? I was just about to call you.”
—Huh? Oh… our minds must be connected. I’m happy about that… no, that’s not it.
Cute.
“What’s up? Did you just miss me?”
—W-well, that’s true, but I have something to tell you.
“What is it?”
—A designated request has come in for you, Mr. Do-jin.
“A designated request?”
—Yes.
A designated request, huh.
“That came at an unexpected time.”
A designated request was, as the name suggested, a request where the client specifically named the Hunter they wanted to carry out their task.
Most of them were tricky, so they usually went to A-rank Hunters. To be nominated as a mere B-rank…
What on earth could they want?
“What’s the content of the request?”
—They’d like you to… tutor a Hunter aspirant.
“…Tutor?”
—Yes.
Tutoring.
An industry that had recently been emerging as one of the trends in the Hunter world.
That made it even more surprising.
That field was supposed to be dominated by retired A-rank or higher veterans.
“What’s the pay?”
—Once a week, for three hours. The pay is ten million won per session.
“Whoa… that’s a lot, isn’t it?”
—I know. This is pretty much the highest level in the industry.
Entrusting the tutoring to a young buck like him, and on top of that, offering ten million won per session, the highest rate in the industry.
Something smelled a little fishy.
The real objective might not be the tutoring, but Kim Do-jin himself.
“So who’s the client that requested the tutoring?”
—The client is Mr. Kim Yong-un.
“Kim Yong-un…?”
The name sounded familiar, but at the same time, it didn't.
Since his memory wasn't clear, it was either an unimportant person or a name he was hearing for the first time.
Yoon Ji-an’s supplementary explanation followed.
—He’s the president of ‘Eunbit,’ a corporation whose main business is processing monster byproducts.
“Eunbit…?”
Wait a minute.
Eunbit… wasn't that the name of the company Kim Eun-bi’s dad ran?
That meant the client, Mr. Kim Yong-un, was Kim Eun-bi’s father.
And the person I’m supposed to tutor… could only be their son, Kim Jeong-hun, right?
In that case, there was no need to think too deeply.
“I’ll take it. That request.”
His dry mouth began to water.