Chapter 285: Tempering (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 285: Tempering (1)
Inside the car on the way home after a busy schedule.
The middle-aged gentleman in the passenger seat, Hwang In-guk, held out his smartphone to her.
“Miss. Would you please take a look at this?”
Without a word, Han Ju-hee took the phone he offered.
He knew better than anyone that she preferred to rest undisturbed in the car, so for him to hand her something meant it was important.
Displayed on the smartphone was an internet news article.
【Kim Do-jin ♥ Han Ju-yeon, Romantic Sparks Flying Between the Picture-Perfect Couple】
A dungeon raid with a B-rank and an S-rank—a combination that looked strange to anyone.
Han Ju-hee frowned as she looked at the article, which included a photo of them returning in the same car after the raid.
“Haa… Again?”
She’d lost count of how many times dating rumors had flared up between the two.
It was partly the fault of the reporters, who were ecstatic to have some juicy material to sink their teeth into for the first time in a while, but the fundamental cause lay with the two people at the center of the rumors.
‘Why do they keep meeting?’
Right after the rumors broke, they had actively denied being in a relationship via social media.
Normally, after something like this, they should have refrained from meeting until the interest from the press and the public died down.
‘But just when the interest starts to fade, they meet again, adding fuel to a dying fire.’
Han Ju-hee pressed her throbbing temples and steadied her breath.
In truth, articles like this were meaningless.
‘That is, if there wasn't a single speck of emotion between them.’
What concerned her were their feelings for each other.
‘Something’s not right.’
Kim Do-jin was still ambiguous, but Han Ju-yeon definitely had feelings for him.
‘She's never shown any interest in men before, so why now….’
She just couldn't understand.
Why her sister, who had always coldly pushed away any man who approached her, had changed so suddenly.
And of all people, why did it have to be someone younger than her, someone Han Ju-hee found incredibly difficult to deal with?
“Haa.”
She didn't want to meddle in her grown sister's love life.
She had trusted that her sister, who was exceptionally smart, would choose a man who was a good match for her.
‘No… is that why she chose him?’
Perhaps it was a wise choice after all.
Looking at his abilities alone, there was no one with a more promising future.
‘Still, no.’
She came to a firm conclusion.
Anyone but Kim Do-jin.
Abilities aside, there was something unsettling about him.
‘It was strange how he tried to dig up my personal information in exchange for the experiment…’
But what was strangest of all was the look in his eyes.
To be precise, it was the peculiar gaze he directed only at her whenever their eyes met.
Whenever she met that gaze—a mix of so many emotions she couldn't tell what was what—her body would stiffen, and her heart would beat a little faster.
‘What on earth is that look?’
Her curiosity, which had steadily built up every time she heard Kim Do-jin's name or his exploits, had reached its peak.
She wanted to call him in right away and uncover the source of his abilities through various experiments, but the reason she held herself back was because of those eyes.
“We've arrived.”
Lost in thought, she had arrived home.
“Good work.”
She gave a brief farewell, got out of the car, and went inside.
The living room, usually quiet, was bustling with noise.
The TV was blaring, and her younger sister, Han Ju-yeon, was roaring with laughter as she watched it.
“Oh, you're home, sis?”
Spotting her older sister at the entrance, she scurried over, waving her hand.
“Welcome home, sis! You worked hard today.”
“…Hardly.”
Han Ju-hee replied awkwardly to her welcome.
This was perfect timing.
“Ju-yeon, I need to talk to you for a minute.”
“About what?”
“Let's go to the study.”
The second-floor study.
Upon reaching her personal space, filled with magic tomes, she turned to her sister who had followed her in and asked.
“Did you go on a dungeon raid with Kim Do-jin last weekend?”
“I did. Why?”
After answering readily, she asked back, then her expression changed to one of realization as she continued.
“Ah! You saw it, didn't you, sis? The article.”
“I did. There are more dating rumors about you two.”
“It's so weird, isn't it? I'm sure there was no one around when we came out after the raid. I wonder where they were hiding to take that picture.”
As she chattered on playfully, Han Ju-hee's brow furrowed.
“Han Ju-yeon.”
“Yeah?”
“Stop seeing him.”
Han Ju-yeon's expression hardened at her sister's firm tone.
“…Why?”
“You and he are not a good match.”
“That's a lie.”
“What?”
Han Ju-yeon showed her photos on her smartphone of herself and Kim Do-jin standing side-by-side.
“Everyone's going crazy about how good Do-jin and I look together!”
Han Ju-hee shook her head at her sister, who was protesting with her cheeks puffed out.
“I'm not talking about appearances.”
“Then what's the problem?”
“Everything is a problem. You and that man come from completely different worlds.”
One is a dirt spoon, abandoned by his parents at birth and raised in an orphanage.
The other is a gold spoon, who grew up getting everything she ever wanted.
She used their different backgrounds as an excuse, but this only gave her sister an opening to counterattack.
“What about you and your husband?”
“……”
Because the very person saying this had married a man from a completely opposite background.
She tried to make an excuse, forcing a calm expression, but…
“Your brother-in-law was at least exceptionally skilled.”
“You know Do-jin's abilities are nothing to scoff at either, right, sis?”
It was completely useless.
On the contrary, every point she tried to make was countered and shut down.
Angered by this, Han Ju-hee's eyebrows shot up as she called her sister's name in an irate voice.
“Han Ju-yeon, you listen to me.”
“Gh…”
Han Ju-yeon flinched for a moment.
Whenever Han Ju-hee got angry, she had always backed down.
She was quite scared of her older sister, who was several years her senior.
But not this time.
“No.”
She was scared of her sister who sometimes got angry, and she also admired her sister who was beloved by all and had risen as a promising star.
It's no different now.
Her angry sister is still scary, and she still respects her sister who plays a pivotal role in the Republic of Korea.
But it wasn't enough to make her give up something precious to her and back down.
“I'm not a child anymore, sis. I can take care of myself.”
“Ju-yeon, you…!”
Cutting off Han Ju-hee before she could unleash a greater fury, Han Ju-yeon continued.
“I'm sorry. I'd follow you on almost anything else, but I can't do this.”
“……”
With that, as if to say she didn't want to talk anymore, Han Ju-yeon turned and left the study.
Han Ju-hee bit her lower lip, watching her sister's retreating back.
She couldn't bring herself to stop her.
“…I didn't expect this.”
I thought her feelings were still shallow enough to be stopped, but I was wrong.
Her feelings for Kim Do-jin seemed so deep that it felt too late to intervene.
She frowned, lost in thought.
‘Since when?’
It was baffling.
They hadn't even known each other for long, so how could she have developed such deep feelings?
At the same time, she realized.
That even though she had done nothing, her points of contact with Kim Do-jin had increased significantly.
‘I can't let this continue.’
She made a decision.
She would resume the meetings she had been avoiding because of that unsettling feeling.
The reason for that burdensome gaze, and the true nature of the man named Kim Do-jin.
She would dig up every last detail and change her sister's mind.
* * *
A week began after the dungeon raid.
I began the tempering in earnest.
“Elena. I told you, you can't just keep your shield up. You have to see the enemy's attack, angle the shield, and deflect the force.”
“Mmm… It is difficult.”
“Of course it's difficult. But nothing about being a Hunter is easy. Let's keep practicing, okay?”
“…Do-jin, I wish you would return to your old, innocent self.”
“He's already dead.”
“Gasp.”
Leaving the shocked Elena behind, I moved on to the other tanker, Shin Yu-jeong, and started nagging her.
Her shield work is great, but her swordsmanship is still lacking.
“Yu-jeong. From now on, let's train with a 4-to-6 ratio of shield work to swordplay.”
“…Okay.”
Yu-jeong agreed without talking back.
She wasn't always like this.
Whenever she came at me with a ‘What do you know to be lecturing me?’ attitude, I beat her down with facts.
Oh, and I beat her physically, too.
Every time her rebuttal failed, she got her ass spanked in my room at night.
She fucking loved it when I spanked her while I was fucking her.
Next up… Im Na-eun.
“Na-eun, you… need to start over with stamina training.”
“Ehh…!”
I whispered into her ear as she pouted.
“Your stamina is shit. That's why you can't even last a few hours and pass out whenever we have sex, you bitch.”
“Hahh… I'm sowwy.”
The bitch Na-eun trembled and submitted at the sudden appearance of her Master.
I gently stroked her head and continued in a soft voice.
“So let's work hard on our stamina training, okay?”
“Yess, Master…♥”
Alright, she's taken care of.
The only one left is Seo-yeon…
“…What should I do?”
Her eyes sparkled, hoping I'd give her a solution too.
Truthfully, even if I left her alone, she'd pass the qualification exam with ease.
It was just bad luck that something that triggered her trauma appeared in the final exam. Her stats are already high enough to fight on par with most active Hunters.
And since she has the ‘One with Aptitude’ trait, her potential to blossom from now on is limitless.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah.”
“If you stay as you are, Sunbae, you'll soon fall behind.”
Her face stiffened at my rather harsh criticism, and she asked me.
“Tell me what the problem is.”
The problem.
There are several, but if I had to pick the biggest one, it would be…
“Your swordsmanship is the biggest problem, Sunbae.”
“What…?”
She heard me just fine, but she asked again. I repeated myself, enunciating each word.
A little more forcefully this time.
“I said, that pathetic excuse for swordsmanship of yours is the problem.”
At that, a subtle anger crept over her stiffened face.
The swordsmanship she mainly used was what she'd learned by watching over her father's shoulder.
Did she take my insult to her swordsmanship as an insult to her father?
She pushed her exhausted body up from training, leveled her sword at me, and asked.
“Can you prove that?”
Heh.
Look at this one.
She doesn't even realize she's the one disgracing her father's swordsmanship. Who is she trying to take her anger out on?
I nodded at her as she provoked me, emitting a faint fighting spirit.
“Anytime.”
Of course, you brat.