Chapter 86: Little by Little (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 86: Little by Little (2)
The conversation returned to the main topic.
Just what kind of class should we add to the party?
“Ultimately, what we need is a melee dealer and a tanker.”
Countless classes exist in the Hunter industry.
The higher the rank of the dungeon, the more one’s understanding and combination of these classes can cause the speed of the conquest and the perceived difficulty to fluctuate wildly.
The same was true now.
The tanker and melee dealer I mentioned were not specific classes, but rather more comprehensive roles.
In other words, the important thing was to decide which specific class, among those who fit the needed roles, we would choose for our team.
“Hmm…”
Countless faces were displayed on the tablet screen resting on the table.
All of them were first-year classmates available for team formation.
The ones grayed out had already been assigned to a team.
As I scanned the faces of the students who were still available, a familiar one caught my eye.
Son Seo-yeon.
Why was she included here?
“…Isn’t she a second-year?”
I asked, feigning as much indifference as I could. Shin Yu-jeong gave me the answer I was looking for.
“Oh, this senior? I heard she doesn’t have any practical training experience, so she’s doing it with the first-years this semester.”
“I see.”
It made sense that she wouldn’t have any practical experience.
The Magic Tower was a place solely for learning and researching magic.
While its curriculum was far superior to Korea University’s when it came to magic alone, it was a place where one could learn almost none of the other basic skills required of a Hunter.
It would be the same for Seo-yeon.
She may have learned magic masterfully, but she would have learned next to nothing about being a Hunter.
Im Na-eun, who was sitting next to me, chimed in.
“But did you know? This senior is taking classes in the magic department, as well as Basic Swordsmanship and Basic Melee Combat.”
…Swordsmanship on top of magic?
Did she want to become a magic swordsman or something?
That would be nearly impossible.
Decades had passed since Hunter society had established itself.
In that time, a fair number of geniuses had been born with talent in both sword and magic.
Not wanting to let either talent go to waste, they all boldly challenged themselves to catch two rabbits at once, but not a single one of them ever managed to climb even to the vicinity of A-rank.
“I heard that’s incredibly inefficient.”
The answer to that lay in Shin Yu-jeong’s blunt remark.
The fact that it was, indeed, inefficient.
In Son Si-woo’s body, I had spent nearly thirty years honing the sword and nothing else.
During those years, I had slain tens of thousands of monsters, swung my sword alone for tens of thousands of hours, and crossed blades with masters thousands of times before I finally grasped not the end, but merely the edge of mastery.
Magic was no different.
Just as I had, Han Ju-hee had also spent decades polishing only her magic to reach the level she was at now.
And that was despite both of us being considered people with innate, genius-level talent in our respective fields.
Furthermore, the methods for learning the sword and magic were just too different.
Mastering a single discipline was already a monumental task; attempting to train in two different ones simultaneously didn’t just cut your efficiency in half—it was no different from slashing it down to a quarter.
A person’s time is finite, yet the amount to be learned would double, no, triple. They would either die or give up long before achieving mastery.
So how could anyone not call it inefficient?
With countless failures piled up over the years, no one in the modern era harbored the foolish dream of becoming a magic swordsman.
If someone possessed talent in both, the vast majority chose the path of a mage.
After all, mages were a class where the supply was far less than the demand, so you could get good treatment just by being decent.
“But that magic swordsman thing, is it even really possible?”
“Umm… I don’t think so.”
Im Na-eun shook her head at the question Shin Yu-jeong had posed.
“It’s this hard just learning magic. Learning the sword on top of this…”
“True… I’m dying just trying to handle a sword and shield together. Sword and magic must be even harder.”
The two of them exchanged opinions, their expressions skeptical.
I was of the same opinion, as anyone would be.
A magic swordsman—a true, honest-to-goodness magic swordsman—could never be born through conventional means.
So, was it possible through unconventional means?
It was.
In my opinion, there were only two ways to become a true magic swordsman.
Either be born with a level of talent that couldn’t even be categorized as genius—the kind that makes you wonder if heaven accidentally let them be born on earth.
If not that, then you could just live twice.
Spend your entire first life mastering either the sword or magic, die, and then in your second life, dedicate yourself to the other, right?
That way, you could achieve mastery in both.
Of course, harmoniously utilizing both in combat would be another matter entirely.
The two girls’ conversation continued.
“But when I saw that senior last time, she was really good with the sword.”
“Yeah, I was shocked when I saw her too.”
“In my opinion, I don’t know about others, but that senior might actually be able to do it.”
“Why?”
Shin Yu-jeong answered Im Na-eun’s innocent question with a look of frustration.
“What do you mean, why? Don’t you know who her parents are?”
“Ah, Hunter Son Si-woo and Hunter Han Ju-hee!”
“Exactly. She’s the daughter of the two S-rank Hunters that no one in our country can match when it comes to the sword and magic. Since she inherited both of their genes, can you imagine how much talent she must have? Right?”
“Yeah, now that you mention it, that could be possible.”
Im Na-eun’s gaze suddenly turned to me.
“Do-jin, what do you think?”
All eyes focused on me, who had been listening quietly.
What I thought, huh.
“Well…”
The Water Flow Sword Style that Seo-yeon had displayed last time was still vivid in my mind.
As I’d said before, I had never taught it to anyone, including my own daughter.
If she had truly learned my swordsmanship just by watching, then she would fall into the first of the two unconventional methods I mentioned earlier.
If that was the case…
“Maybe it’s possible?”
Just as I voiced that faint possibility.
Screeeech!
Along with the jarring sound of a wooden chair scraping against the marble floor, I felt an intensely powerful presence from behind me.
At the same time, the eyes of Im Na-eun and Shin Yu-jeong, who were sitting across from me, widened, and they abruptly shot up from their seats.
“S-Senior!”
“Ah…”
Seeing their dumbfounded expressions, I turned my head. Son Seo-yeon, the very center of our conversation just moments ago, was staring at us with a stoic expression.
Considering the sound of the chair and its location, she must have been sitting right behind us.
“S-Sorry! We really didn’t know you were here!”
“…My apologies.”
The two of them bowed their heads, offering words of apology.
…What’s with them all of a sudden?
Was there anything in our conversation that could have offended her?
“Why the sudden apology?”
When I asked out of curiosity, the two of them shot me a look that screamed, Read the room, you idiot!
Wait, did I do something wrong?
Just as a sense of injustice began to well up, Seo-yeon, who had been staring blankly in our direction, finally opened her mouth.
“Do-jin… junior is right. You two did nothing wrong.”
See?
The person in question says I’m right, so why are they getting scared for no reason?
That aside… being called “junior” by my own daughter feels incredibly strange.
It felt like a nail being hammered in, confirming that we were no longer father and daughter.
It wasn’t a good feeling, but it was hard to call it bad, either.
The only word that came to mind was “strange.”
I was staring blankly up at her when our eyes met.
Her gaze was somewhat empty, devoid of emotion.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop… but I heard you were looking for a team member.”
“…Yes.”
Her voice was cold.
“That spot… would it be okay if I filled it? As a melee dealer.”
“……”
Why do my bad feelings never miss?
A dilemma had arrived.
Thinking rationally, Seo-yeon was undoubtedly an outstanding resource among the remaining melee dealers.
In a pinch, she could also be used as a ranged dealer, so it would be more accurate to see her not just as a melee dealer, but as an all-rounder.
And although it was only once, the swordsmanship she displayed back then was far superior to that of most first-year swordsmen.
Looking at it this way, it would be strange not to recruit her…
The problem was that I still couldn’t look at this child comfortably.
I knew.
I had already become someone else, and as long as I had decided to live as Kim Do-jin, she and I were nothing more than strangers, not father and daughter.
But when was the human heart ever something that could be cut and tied off just by deciding to?
I still needed time.
Time to look upon the connections of my past—or my previous life—with a bit more detachment.
So, it was a shame, but I had to refuse her offer for now.
“I’m afraid that would be a little diffi—”
“I’m in favor!”
“With a senior of your skill… there’s no reason to refuse.”
“Then that’s two votes in favor, so it’s decided! We’re looking forward to working with you, Senior!”
“We’ll be in your care this semester, Senior.”
“…I’ll be in your care as well.”
The three of them shook hands and exchanged warm greetings, as if the decision had already been made.
…So it was decided by majority rule?