Chapter 511: Childhood Friend (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 511: Childhood Friend (5)
With each passing day, I realized it more keenly.
Yoon Si-hoo and Jin Ha-rin.
The decision to train them together was, without a doubt, the best choice I could have made.
“Sunbae-nim… how should I block attacks coming up from the ground?”
“Channel mana into your feet and stomp hard. The mana will spread through the ground and cleanly eliminate the ice spikes rising around you.”
“Ah, so that’s how!”
He took another step forward with the solution he’d gained through thought and inquiry.
“Sunbae-nim, you gave Si-hoo the answer again.”
“…Well, I’m the one teaching him.”
“Still.”
“This is how you get stronger, too. Every time your move is countered, you discover a new one.”
“That… is true.”
She boldly discarded the countered move, equipped a new one, and took a step back.
A constant distance, maintained endlessly, as if they could touch but never quite did.
“Here I come!”
A fervor desperate to close the distance.
“Stay back!”
A venom born from a desperate refusal to be reached.
CRASH!
It constantly spurred their growth.
Watching them makes my mind go blank.
“…I don’t even know anymore.”
Two trains that were running on a set track have derailed and are now careening wildly across the land.
They've far surpassed my expected growth rate, and they're still on a steady upward trajectory.
Because of that, their future has become impossible to predict.
Just where the two of them will stand in a few years’ time.
At the same time, I feel a sense of crisis.
“…I’m going to have to push my own kids even harder.”
I can’t let our kids, who’ve been training for years longer, get complacent.
* * *
Three months flew by in a flash.
During that time, the lives of the guild members, including myself, were exceedingly monotonous.
Classes, training, and dungeon raids.
Of course, within those three simple words were countless incidents and accidents.
The two trainees' steep growth curve had a profound impact on the existing guild members as well.
The sense of crisis—that they might actually be overtaken if things continued this way—was a whip at their backs.
Thanks to that, an unexpected training craze swept through the guild, and as a result, the “celebrity sickness” I had been worried about never materialized in anyone.
With no signs of stagnation, the guild's internal solidarity only grew stronger, so in many ways, it was a positive development.
Amidst all this, the day they had been waiting for finally arrived.
The second quarter Hunter License Exam.
The morning of the very day Yoon Si-hoo and Jin Ha-rin had set as their first goal.
“We're off!”
“We'll be back.”
The two of them left the house after an especially hearty breakfast.
“Ugh… aren't you nervous?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Both of them looked visibly tense.
One was overly emotional, while the other was overly subdued.
That's how important this day was.
I had boasted, ‘With your skills, you two could pass with one arm tied behind your backs,’ but you never know.
What if some ridiculously skilled person appeared out of nowhere, or what if they made a series of mistakes due to excessive nervousness?
There were plenty of disastrous situations that could arise from being complacent.
They were walking down a quiet residential alley.
“This suddenly reminds me of the old days.”
“…When?”
“When we started university.”
“Ah, right.”
“Back then, I thought the Hunter License Exam was something I could only attempt right before graduation.”
From then until now.
For Yoon Si-hoo, everything felt like a dream.
Joining the guild after catching the eye of the one at the very top, despite his skills being so poor it was faster to count his rank from the bottom.
Growing so rapidly under his tutelage.
And growing enough to confidently apply for the Hunter License Exam as a mere sophomore.
“This isn't a dream, is it?”
Sometimes, he was afraid. Afraid that this was all a dream, an illusion that would vanish the moment he opened his eyes.
It had even become a daily routine to check for the previous day's scars and calluses every morning when he woke up.
“Don't worry, it's not a dream.”
His childhood friend, on the other hand, was cool and composed.
Lately, it seemed she'd become even more so than before.
Some might dislike her coldness, but Yoon Si-hoo knew.
He knew that she had merely wrapped herself in coldness as a means to survive, to be stronger than anyone else.
So watching her made him feel both pity and admiration.
But things that are too rigid are bound to break someday.
Yoon Si-hoo had always wished. That she could sometimes lean on his shoulder and rest comfortably.
But that was easier said than done.
‘I want to become someone she can truly rely on.’
He wanted to be the shade where his childhood friend could rest at ease, the pillar that would support her.
That was the starting point that had made Yoon Si-hoo who he was today.
Watching himself grow so rapidly amidst the harsh training, he gained courage.
‘If it's now...’
Now that he was strong, and still getting stronger by the moment.
If he could pass the Hunter License Exam and become a full-fledged Hunter.
He might just be able to offer her his shoulder.
“Hey… Ha-rin!”
“What?”
“Um… if I pass the exam, there's something I want to tell you.”
“…Something you want to tell me?”
“Yeah! So, um… could you give me some time?”
“……”
Jin Ha-rin's indifferent gaze turned to the fidgeting Yoon Si-hoo.
It was obvious. What he was about to say.
So obvious that probably 90% of the women in the world could tell just by looking at his face right now.
“Alright, fine.”
She readily accepted his proposal.
It was perfect timing, actually.
“Because I had something I needed to tell you, too.”
“Oh, uh, you do…?”
Because she also had something she absolutely had to tell him on the day she became a Hunter.
“Let's hurry. We can't keep the sunbaenims waiting.”
“R-Right!”
The two of them began to walk faster, their steps heading toward the exam site.
* * *
Finally, the day of the exam arrived.
A massive crowd had gathered in front of the exam site, forming a sea of people.
Half of them were the examinees for the second quarter Hunter License Exam and their families and friends.
The other half, coincidentally, were people who had nothing to do with the exam and had gathered because of us.
“Hey… look at all those camera flashes.”
“It's like there are dozens of suns in the sky.”
“Superstar Elena… I shall graciously accept this attention. Huhu.”
The kids chatted nonchalantly amidst the endless barrage of flashes.
They were being a total nuisance.
“I told them they didn't have to come, but they all showed up anyway.”
I clearly told them not to come, yet they all made time to be here.
The reason being.
“It's our little chicks' first exam! We have to give them a huge morale boost!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Now our little chicks… are going to become chickens.”
What can I do? They said they wanted to support their direct juniors.
Just then, I saw Yoon Si-hoo and Jin Ha-rin approaching in the distance.
Shin Yu-jeong immediately started waving her hands wildly to signal them.
“Hey, guys! Over here!”
Spotting us in the crowd, Yoon Si-hoo and Jin Ha-rin approached with bright expressions.
“Sunbaenims!”
“You all came?”
“Of course we had to come to an event like this!”
“We came to help you relax a bit.”
“Just go smash the skulls of everyone you meet, OK?”
Who the hell keeps teaching Elena these weird ways of talking?
After the senior guild members finished their advice, it was finally my turn.
I said just one thing to the kids looking up at me with their sparkling eyes.
“Fail, and you're kicked out.”
“Gasp.”
“…You're joking, right?”
The color drained from their faces, turning from pale white to blue.
“Hey! What kind of nonsense are you spouting to kids about to take their exam!”
“You idiot!”
“Have you no sense, Do-jin?”
Smack! Thwack!
“Oof…!”
I think my back turned blue, too.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The exam was held over three days and two nights.
To get straight to the point, Yoon Si-hoo and Jin Ha-rin passed the exam with flying colors.
Not only that, they achieved a B-rank, the highest grade obtainable in the license exam.
I left the monitoring room, which I'd gotten access to with Director Kim Seong-tae's help, and greeted the two as they came out after finishing the exam.
“You both worked hard.”
“Sunbae-nim!”
“Were you watching?”
“Yeah, you both did great.”
They deserved the praise. Even though it was a real test, they didn't get nervous and showed off everything they'd practiced.
“It's all thanks to you, Sunbae-nim!”
“That's right. It was only possible because you taught us.”
These kids were really making me look good.
My ego naturally swelled with pride.
Ahh, this is why you teach juniors.
I'm feeling generous.
Maybe I should take these kids who suffered through tasteless Association food for three days out for something delicious.
“You must be hungry. Want to go grab something good to eat?”
“We're sorry, Sunbae-nim!”
“Uh, um.”
I was rejected flat out.
“Actually, Ha-rin and I have something to talk about, just the two of us. Right, Ha-rin?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah…”
She looked at me with an apologetic expression before lowering her head.
“I'm sorry, Sunbae-nim. We really have something we need to discuss.”
“Oh, is that so…?”
I wasn't hurt by the rejection.
I was just curious.
What on earth are those two planning to talk about?
“I'm going to grab my stuff and come out, so I'll see you at the entrance, Ha-rin.”
“Okay.”
“Sunbae-nim! We'll be taking our leave first!”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure.”
Yoon Si-hoo walked away with a bright smile.
The moment he was gone, Jin Ha-rin quietly approached me.
We were so close that if I focused just a little, I could see every one of her delicate pores.
This must be proof that she feels that comfortable around me.
She opened her mouth, her expression full of worry.
“Sunbae-nim.”
“Yeah?”
“What should I do?”
What should she do? Out of nowhere.
“…About what?”
“About Si-hoo. I think he's planning to confess to me today.”
I was speechless.
That kid, Si-hoo. How bad at controlling his expression do you have to be for someone to read your mind before you even confess?
While I was still dumbfounded, she asked me.
“Sunbae-nim, what should I do?”
“……?”
Why are you asking me…?