Chapter 54: Entrance Ceremony (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 54: Entrance Ceremony (3)
Breakfast was wonderful.
After eating alone every day, the simple joy of sharing a meal made even familiar dishes taste fresh and new.
“Here, try this too.”
Her mom, who placed a side dish on my spoon every time I took a bite, was nothing short of perfect.
“Hah, anyone would think you’re her son, not me.”
Shin Yu-jeong, who was glaring at me with a jealous, crooked gaze, was also a welcome sight.
She was getting this jealous over a simple side dish. I wondered how she’d react when she found out I was sleeping with her mother.
The thought of having both mother and daughter together, layered on top of each other, sent an unbearable sense of depravity surging through me.
Thinking back on my old self, it felt like I was acting so recklessly now that I might be broken somewhere. But I didn't care.
I’d lived a moral life for nearly fifty years, so wasn’t it fair to live an immoral one for fifty years as well?
“Thank you for the meal.”
The meal finally ended after I’d polished off two tightly packed bowls of rice.
Shin Yu-jeong, who had finished first and was waiting with her chin propped in her hands, shot up the moment I was done and pulled on my arm.
“Hey, let’s go now.”
“Alright.”
I felt I should at least help with the dishes after enjoying such a delicious meal that I’d eaten with just the movement of my fingers, but her mom just waved me off, saying it was fine.
“Mom, I’m heading out.”
“I’ll be… back?”
Something felt off.
I wasn’t a member of this family. Was it right for me to say I’d be back?
Hearing my words, her mom approached with a smile. She straightened my slightly rumpled collar, which her apron had messed up, and said to me:
“Have a good day.”
A strange, ticklish feeling fluttered in my chest.
Sometimes she felt like a wife, and other times, a mother.
Just as I was about to get swept up in the tender emotion between the two of us…
Shin Yu-jeong yanked my arm hard.
“Hey, I said let’s go!”
“Ah…”
That mood-killing brat.
“Do you like my mom that much?” she asked as we walked toward the bus stop.
“Of course, I do.”
Even setting aside any sexual feelings, her mom was a good person.
At my words, a sly smile crept onto her lips.
“Then you must wish my mom was your mom, right?”
“Well… I guess so?”
At first, I did think it would have been nice if someone like her had been my mother, but not anymore.
Our relationship had become something much better. Why would I want to change that?
“Hehe, I think there’s a way, you know? A way for my mom to become your mom, too.”
“…Is that even possible?”
I wondered what trick she was pulling, and here she was, daring to play the marriage card in front of me.
Hah!
Marriage is hell!
“Think re~ally hard about it. It’s a great idea, isn’t it?”
Still, she seemed too shy to say the word “marriage” herself.
I was ready to blast her with a Fireball the moment she said something like, “If you marry me…”
You got lucky, Shin Yu-jeong.
“Ah, the bus is here.”
The bus arrived right on time.
As I stepped on to tap my card, she blocked my hand.
“Two people, please.”
She paid for my fare as well, then shot me a grin.
What was I supposed to do with that…
She was acting like a shy guy who wants to impress a girl but doesn't know how, so he just tries anything and everything.
But her face was so pretty that the contrast was actually quite charming.
“Hey, over here.”
Pat, pat.
She patted the seat next to her in the two-person row.
I quietly sat down, and she immediately slung her arm around my shoulder.
“What’s the first thing you want to do at the university?” she asked.
“Hmm, let’s see…”
As I’ve mentioned, Korea University is the nation’s first specialized Hunter training institution.
Its curriculum is designed for the sole purpose of cultivating outstanding Hunters.
But just like anywhere else people live, everything outside the curriculum isn’t all that different from a regular university.
There are clubs, drinking, and campus couples.
I gazed at Shin Yu-jeong for a moment before coming up with a suitable answer.
“Date?”
“Wha… D-Date?”
It must have been a completely unexpected answer, because her face flushed bright red.
But it looked less like she was embarrassed and more like she was angry…
“Hey! What kind of bastard who wants to be a Hunter has time for dating?! Huh? You should be studying one more page, conquering one more dungeon in that time, shouldn't you?!”
Her voice rose, and I could feel the eyes of the people around us turning in our direction.
Why was she being so embarrassing?
But embarrassment aside, her intense reaction was amusing.
Maybe I should poke her a little more.
“Still… if I had a girlfriend who was also a Hunter-in-training, we could study and do practical training together.”
As I offered my rebuttal, she suddenly smacked me hard on the back.
Smack!
“How dare you talk back? If I say no, it means no. Got it?”
“Ugh… Y-Yeah, I got it.”
She can’t win with words, so she resorts to violence.
Just you wait.
I’ll make sure that habit of yours is thoroughly broken.
After that, most of our conversation was about Korea University.
Things like how the food was incredibly cheap and delicious, and how it was a good idea to get to know students from other departments.
It wasn’t exactly life-changing advice, but it was decent enough to keep in mind.
“Hey, I can see it over there.”
She, who had been chattering away excitedly, pointed out the window.
In the distance, tall buildings began to appear one by one.
Korea University was built on the land of Yeouido, a place that held a sad history.
No, to be precise, the entirety of Yeouido had become the campus grounds for Korea University.
To me, those massive buildings looked like something else entirely.
“Cenotaphs…”
Yes, cenotaphs.
Thirty years ago, a massive dungeon had appeared in Yeouido.
Its estimated rank was SS.
It was a dungeon of the worst kind, one that required at least five S-rank and twenty A-rank Hunters to even have a chance of clearing it.
At the time, the Republic of Korea had a total of three S-rank Hunters.
Naturally, the dungeon conquest ended in failure. The dungeon, having surpassed its mana threshold, spewed the monsters it had confined within out into the world.
It was pandemonium.
As giant monsters rampaged, Yeouido was destroyed in an instant.
At this rate, not just Yeouido but all of Seoul faced near-total annihilation.
It was then that countless Hunters from all over the country flocked to the city, led by the three S-rank Hunters who had returned injured from the failed conquest.
And they fought back.
To cut to the chase, the Hunters were victorious, preventing the monsters from taking a single step outside of Yeouido.
In exchange, of the thousands of Hunters who had gathered there, only a hundred barely survived.
One of them was me.
C-rank Hunter, Son Si-woo.
That day was also the first time in my life I had ever come close to dying.
Yeouido had become a city damaged beyond recovery.
It was then that Choi Kang-cheol, the last surviving S-rank Hunter of the Republic of Korea, proposed to the government that a school be built on this site.
He argued passionately that now, in an era where Hunters were the measure of a nation’s strength, an institution for systematically training Hunters was necessary to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again. The government accepted his proposal.
And so, Korea University was established.
It is one of the Republic of Korea’s points of pride, ranking third among the world’s specialized Hunter educational institutions.
In fact, of the five currently active S-rank Hunters in Korea, two are alumni of this university.
“Hey, let’s get off.”
“Ah.”
I had been lost in thought and hadn’t realized the bus had already arrived at the stop in front of the university’s main gate.
I hurriedly followed Shin Yu-jeong off the bus.
Countless students walked past us in groups of two and three.
When I turned my head, I saw the massive campus entrance.
Several banners were hanging in the air.
Nonsensical phrases congratulating the start of the semester, banners welcoming the specially admitted students, and so on.
“This is strange…”
This wasn’t my first time here.
I had passed through this place several times in Son Si-woo’s body to give special lectures.
So why did it feel so unfamiliar, so exciting?
Perhaps it was because of the difference in my position.
Back then, I was a one-day guest lecturer, just passing through. Now, I was a student who would be attending for years.
“Hey, your entrance ceremony is about to start. Let’s hurry, I’ll take you there.”
“Oh… okay.”
She took my hand and led the way.
Then, as if to show everyone, she began swinging our joined hands wildly.
What was this about?
Was she marking her territory, letting everyone know I was taken so they shouldn’t touch me?
As we entered the campus, I could feel gazes landing on us.
The ratio was about eight men to two women.
The men were obviously looking at Shin Yu-jeong, and the women… they were looking at me!
“Heh heh…!”
Yes, this was it!
The effort I put into completely overhauling my body with the Secret Art of Metamorphosis was finally starting to pay off.
“Hehe.”
I was stealing glances at the fresh-faced girls staring our way when Shin Yu-jeong suddenly squeezed my cheeks hard.
“Hey, stop rolling your eyes around.”
Her voice was chilling.
“Yes, ma’am…”
If I kept it up, I might end up like that one-eyed captain from the old cartoons.
“Where did they say the entrance ceremony was?”
“Hoguk Hall.”
Hoguk Hall.
Surprisingly, that was the name of the university’s auditorium.
It couldn’t be helped.
This was a national university, after all.
The influence of old-geezer politicians who, at the time, wanted to protect the nation with nothing but patriotism, was smeared all over this place.
After walking for a while, I saw a large auditorium in the distance.
And surrounding it, a tight perimeter of people dressed in black suits.
When we arrived in front of the auditorium, Shin Yu-jeong earnestly warned me.
“Hey, if anything happens, you hide behind those people. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
“You promised. Do not step forward, no matter what!”
Shin Yu-jeong worried over me like someone leaving their child by the water’s edge.
She told me not to act up several more times before finally turning to leave for her own lecture hall.
“Hmm.”
I looked at the auditorium entrance, which was under strict control.
The entrance ceremony for specially admitted students was always held under such tight security.
There was only one reason for it.
There were groups who would try to invade this place to target the specially admitted students.
“I hope nothing happens…”
I really hoped there wouldn’t be any major problems.
“Haa.”
I don’t know why I have such a strange, tingling feeling of unease.