Teacher... Right?
Team leader and boss grabbed my pant leg at my declaration of quitting.
"Hey! You can't go! Absolutely not!"
"Sorry."
I turned down even the boss's offer to triple my salary. If that was possible, they should've done it ages ago. Even if they had, I still would've quit. I'd found something more important than money.
"Thanks for everything."
The appraiser Kim Siu was dead now. I left the company in a hurry, without even a farewell party. My stuff was just some random photos and knickknacks I'd brought; I only grabbed a few pictures and headed out. They'd handle the rest.
Back home after submitting my resignation, Jeong Bong-sik sunbae was waiting at my place.
"Hey, you quit your job?"
"You already knew?"
"Of course. I was just heading over to ask you to appraise something."
"Business is closed."
"Boss, give me one more chance."
He'd cling like gum if I refused. I sighed.
"What is it?"
"Nothing big. Here."
Bong-sik held out a pocket watch the size of a bottle cap.
"One of our tutors got this from a student as a gift, but something feels off."
"So you came for an appraisal?"
"Yeah. No one does it better than you."
"Not here to spy on your tutoring business?"
His smile vanished at my words.
"Two birds, one stone."
"I told you before. I won't encroach on your territory."
"I know. You're not the type to go back on your word. But... you and I both got screwed over hard in the past. The world has no absolutes."
This sunbae got it. He was wary of me stealing his market. I'd said my tutoring was different, but now that I'd quit appraising too, he was on edge.
"If you can't trust me like this, it's a problem for me too, sunbae."
"Cut me some slack. If the academy's top student hangs out a shingle against small fry like me, what can I do?"
Bong-sik sunbae laughed it off, but his expression betrayed his anxiety.
"If a lucrative student comes my way, I'll send 'em to you."
"For real?"
"Of course."
It was insurance. Daesung might've lost interest in me, but if they found out I was tutoring academy cadets, they'd make trouble. Putting Bong-sik front and center made it look like things were under his control. Greedy merchant—that was Daesung's take on him.
"Got it. But if you break that promise, I'll side with Daesung."
Petty threat, but I let it slide. The Yoo Ara incident must've shown him I had teaching talent. If I went all out now, he'd lose his market—the one he'd recommended me for. That anxiety was getting to him.
"Understood."
"Good. Appraisal results?"
Cursed Annie's Pocket Watch - Estimated Grade: C ~ A
A watch infused with the unrequited desires of Annie, who knew no love. Given as a gift to the man she once crushed on; the recipient falls in love with the giver.
"Cursed item. Love potion type."
"Using forbidden gear? That kid's lost it."
"That handsome?"
"Yeah. All the female cadets swoon over him."
How hot was he?
"Not 100% effective, though. Yoo Ara saw his face and still bombed. Desperate times."
"Why tell me that?"
"Huh? Weren't you into her?"
"...Pardon?"
"Nah, she was head over heels for you. You planned that, right?"
Bong-sik's eyes narrowed.
"Well, well, player~. Snagged that haughty Shin Seo-ah back in the day, now fresh academy girls too."
"Sunbae."
The air froze the moment that name left his lips. Of all people.
"Ah, sorry. Got carried away. Ahem."
He snatched the watch, avoiding my eyes.
"A-anyway, I'll head out. Keep the promise. Break it, and I'm Daesung's in a heartbeat!"
He bolted like a fugitive.
Damn. Bad memories flooded back. Why her, of all people? I'd finally buried it.
"Fuck...."
Shin Seo-ah. My ex-girlfriend from before I cut ties with Daesung, when I was a shooting star in Korea's hunter scene.
—Shadow Mask always treated his teammates like trash.
The bitch who betrayed me and latched onto Daesung. The slut who perjured herself in court on their side. No one questioned Shin Seo-ah's testimony—the River Gate's guardian saint who shattered the monster horde at River Gate three years ago. Because of her, I was branded a backstabbing scum who'd betrayed teammates like it was nothing.
We'd broken up months before her betrayal, but that didn't erase it.
"What a shitshow."
The curse slipped out. Sitting around wouldn't help. Time to train.
I headed to a training center near my place—a hunter-exclusive facility. With gates spawning hunters everywhere, these popped up like gyms.
"Training?"
"Yes."
"By the hour?"
"Yeah, two hours."
"60,000 won."
"Private room, please."
"Extra 40,000—okay?"
"Fine."
I'd shop around for the right spot, paying daily. After 100,000 won, the trainer's eyes glazed over. No more cash cow.
In the private room, I grabbed a sword from the corner. Centers split into general and private areas. General's like a gym—open, machines, shared. Private's sealed: no peeking in or out. Perfect.
I didn't want witnesses after so long.
"Hoo."
Eyes closed, gripping the training sword. Alien feel, but fine.
Been a while. This heavy heft.
Sensing the hilt, I swung down.
Whoosh!!
A-rank strength cleaved air like a beast.
Screeech!
Swings accelerated, slicing with menace.
Channel mana here for mana cut. Mana-laced, lethal to normals, meh on monsters. I'd honed it surgically for survival—speed and precision to hit weak points.
Swing, eject mana.
Screeech!
Boom!
Mana cut exploded into the shielded wall, rippling it. That tiny blast was how a no-active-skill guy like me survived dungeons: analyze weaknesses, kill with pinpoint tech. Shadow Mask's way.
"Huff, huff."
Barely moved, lungs burning.
"Too long off?"
First real session in two years. One year license-suspended, six months rage-frozen, six months appraising.
"Pathetic stamina. Huff, huff."
No wonder that unidentified intruder got close.
"Damn, huff, huff."
Stamina first. Wiping sweat, I gripped again. Mirror showed faded abs, chest, thickening arms.
"Train proper, shed this flab."
Hone senses, catch that intruder next time. I tightened my grip.
"Ara!"
Post-class, heading home, Lee Hye-ri called.
"What's up?"
"Oh, free today?"
"Suddenly why?"
"Just... we're teamed for prelims and finals, but never properly ate together."
"...Now?"
Yoo Ara bit her lip. Bad timing. No tutoring today, but post-Kim Siu sessions birthed a habit: rush home next day for masturbation. Revive that sensation before it faded. Skipping felt like missing out, a life wasted. Just cooling her heated body faster, nothing more.
Peak condition's a hunter's basics.
Self-hypnosis again.
"Got personal stuff. Why?"
"Oh, uh, yeah? That secret technique from before...?"
"Huh? Kinda?"
"I see... Got it. Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow? Sure."
"Cool. See ya."
"Yeah."
After Hye-ri left, Yoo Ara rushed home, peeling off her sticky panties. Nearly died holding back. Class? Zero focus, body on fire.
Just once. Exactly once.
Masturbate, then study. Stripping, mirror showed her alluring nude self-pleasuring.
Gulp.
"S-starting, teacher."
She conjured phantom Kim Siu in the mirror, legs spread, begging desperately.
"Ahhn! Yes, there...."
Yoo Ara didn't notice the watcher outside the window.
"Teacher... right?"
Lee Hye-ri.
"That's masturbation? Looks... so good."
Sex-illiterate Hye-ri stole bits of knowledge from the sight.