Chapter 94. Kids These Days...
Chapter 94. Kids These Days...
Lee Chae-hyun's awakening was complete, and naturally, she posted about it on the community forum.
Milking all the buildup she'd been laying out so diligently over time.
[ Author: Saintess's Foot Wiper ]
[ Title: I awakened lol ]
[ Content: (Hunter License) How's this? ]
└ ChaehyunChaehyun... No matter how bad you want it, faking an awakening was bullshit lmao
└ But I looked it up on the official site, and it's actually real?
└ Fuck, make me awaken too... I was just a baby...
To prevent impersonation crimes by hunters, anyone could visit the Hunters Association's official website and look up a hunter's basic profile.
And then, some sharp-eyed individual raised another question.
[ Author: anon ]
[ Title: Isn't Chae-hyun kinda sus? ]
[ Content: She said all that stuff on Hero and Saintess's stream and then awakened...? Hmm... ]
└ Lmaooo that plot thread's been cold for months already
└ For real, knowing Hero's personality, if awakening someone was actually possible, he'd have done it right then and there
└ In the first place, even if Hero's a total dumbass, would he seriously do that so openly...
└ The sheer brainpower on display lmaooo
└ They're just straight-up ignoring Hero lmaooo
If anything, she went around telling absolutely everyone that she had awakened.
She figured it was better to do it brazenly like this rather than desperately trying to hide it.
'They won't believe it anyway.'
[ Author: anon ]
[ Title: But if you awaken, where do you train? ]
[ Content: I genuinely don't know, that's why I'm asking ]
└ Usually you train at the Association, but if your initial rank was high, you might train at a guild.
└ OP: But her parents were in the hunter profession too, and she's Unknown Hunter's manager and all.
└ Oh right;; She was born with a diamond spoon in the hunter world.
Lee Chae-hyun personally answered that question.
└ Saintess's Foot Wiper: I decided to go to Hanul Guild.
└ Huh? Hero's not training you himself?
└ Saintess's Foot Wiper: Yeah, the director said I was too much of a small fry, told me to just get basic training and come back.
└ I mean;; Even our college professors, when they teach, don't get why students don't know this stuff lmao
Everyone wrote it off with a laugh, figuring that from Unknown Hunter's perspective, Lee Chae-hyun was someone who'd keel over from a stiff breeze.
"Chae-hyun, come this way."
"Ah, yes!"
Lee Chae-hyun was currently at Hanul Guild.
She had asked her parents ahead of time and arranged to receive only basic training.
"Hmm... Lee Chae-hyun, I heard you work as an employee at my son's company."
"Yes, that's right!"
"First, we'll assess your basic reaction speed and stamina. Mana handling practice will come after that."
"..."
At Geum Hye-jeong's words, Lee Chae-hyun nodded with a stiff expression.
Then, a woman revealed herself from behind Geum Hye-jeong.
"...?"
The woman pulled on leather gloves and held a short rubber baton in her hand.
"My son mentioned it. He said you asked to be trained hard."
"W-wait, what!?"
"We'll begin now. Don't worry about getting hurt. Even if you do, we'll heal you right away."
The moment those words ended, the woman behind Geum Hye-jeong shot forward like an arrow.
─ Bwoong!
---
"She's doing well, right?"
"My mother will take good care of her."
Some time had passed since Lee Chae-hyun began her basic training at Hanul Guild.
We came to Hanul Guild to check on her progress.
─ Smack...! Thwack...! Clatter...!
"Sounds like she's at it right now too?"
When we opened the door and stepped inside, we saw Lee Chae-hyun sparring with a woman.
She was still clumsy, but she was managing to dodge the rubber baton to some extent.
"Hmm..."
Her breathing was already ragged, and sweat was rolling down her cheeks and dripping along her neck.
But her eyes remained sharp and clear.
"We'll take a short break."
The hunter instructing Lee Chae-hyun met my gaze and declared a break.
"Huff, haah... Director, you came...?"
Lee Chae-hyun looked happy to see me and tried to greet me.
But without a word, I stared intently at her.
"...Relax your strength."
"Huh?"
And then, I threw a punch straight at her.
Slowly, but precisely aimed toward her jawline.
The speed wasn't overwhelming.
Exactly at a level she could handle.
"Oh?"
In that instant, Lee Chae-hyun's body reacted on pure instinct.
It wasn't perfect, but she didn't let it land clean.
The tip of my fist grazed past, lightly scraping her cheek.
"Still dodged it, huh?"
"Hehe..."
"Wow, Chae-hyun! You've improved a lot, haven't you?"
"Big Sis, I worked really hard!"
I glanced sideways at Laila, who was standing beside me.
Laila quietly nodded and then approached Lee Chae-hyun.
"Chae-hyun, we'll wait in the car ahead of time."
She led Lee Chae-hyun out of the training hall.
I approached my mother and the woman who had been her sparring partner.
"How is she? Doing well?"
"Hmm... I'm not quite sure yet."
"Huh?"
"On the plus side... she understands instructions well and picks things up quickly. Unusually for kids these days, she takes things pretty seriously too."
My mother turned her head slightly and looked at me.
With a gaze that was familiar yet held a faint hint of surprise.
"Son, as you know... hasn't it only been a short while since she awakened?"
"That's true."
"Just as you said, I've only given her basic training. Basic stamina training, reaction speed training, a few response techniques..."
"That much is enough."
I thought back to the battlefields I had experienced.
The days spent learning how to survive starting from absolute zero.
The days when the very concept of 'being taught' didn't exist, and I simply grew stronger by fighting and enduring.
"I got strong by just getting roughed up and thrown around. Someone like her has it good enough, don't you think?"
"...Still, with you by her side, at least she won't end up getting beaten senseless somewhere."
"You have gates owned by Hanul Guild, right?"
"Of course."
"Could I borrow just one C-rank gate?"
"C-rank...?"
"Yeah."
"That's two ranks above..."
My mother, who had been about to say something, simply let out a sigh.
"You and Laila are there, so you'll manage somehow..."
---
Feeling that the time was about right, we wrote up an announcement and posted it on Nutube.
And until we turned on the stream, the Nutube comment notifications rang without pause.
[ World's Strongest Hero: Raising a Newbie ]
[Raising a Newbie lmaoooo]
[From Unknown's perspective, aren't even S-ranks newbies?]
[Chae-hyun's got karma to settle, right?]
We were currently outdoors.
For Lee Chae-hyun's debut stream as a hunter.
"Ah, hello~"
Still a little awkward, she waved her hand and greeted the viewers.
[Huh?]
[Something changed a lot about her while we weren't watching?]
[Did she lose weight? Or did her face get more defined?]
Lee Chae-hyun had always been a slender person.
Now, thanks to training, she had put on some muscle and looked more solidly built.
"Today, I'll be bringing my manager into a C-rank gate."
[ Overflowing Holy-Power Pouch has donated 50,000 Watts! ]
- Isn't she E-rank trash lmao? Is it okay for her to go in?
"Yes, we're entering, and Lee Chae-hyun has been registered in a porter-like role, so it's fine."
Of course, I had no intention of using her solely as a porter.
Lee Chae-hyun, at the thought of finally facing real combat, placed a hand over her chest and took deep breaths.
"Alright, we're heading in now."
I pulled the orbs from my bag and tossed them, and they soon transformed into drones.
After confirming that all feeds were recording properly, we stepped inside.
Entering, a landscape different from before unfolded before us.
"A forest, huh?"
A dense forest.
But unlike ordinary forests on Earth, it was eerily quiet.
Still unable to find a weapon that suited her hands, Lee Chae-hyun carried only a short dagger.
─ Rustle...
The sound of underbrush shaking reached our ears.
When we turned our gaze toward it, a rabbit appeared.
A far-from-ordinary rabbit with a horn on its head...
[Oh, a One-Horned Cat?]
[What the hell is that, weeb]
[Whoa! You know about One-Horned Cats! If you get stabbed by the horn, it hurts like hell, and it shoots out a weak electric shock that knocks you out. Anyway, most C-ranks find it s.c.a.r.y. t.o. c.a.t.c.h.]
[Thanks, Speedwagon, you cunt lmaoooooo]
"Ah, so this is a One-Horned Cat?"
[???]
[How do you not know that;;]
[Hero: At my level, do I really need to know every little thing like that?]
─ Pabat...!
I'd let my guard down because it just looked like a cute rabbit with a horn.
But unlike ordinary rabbits, it was extremely aggressive.
"What the... this crazy rabbit..."
I grabbed the One-Horned Cat's horn mid-charge as it tried to impale me.
Just as the viewer had said, electricity was indeed coursing through the horn.
"Manager, try catching this."
I kept my distance and tossed the One-Horned Cat down in front of her.
[She's E-rank tho lmao]
[It just looks like a weak little rabbit, but in reality it's strong as hell]
"It's fine. You won't die."
And so, Lee Chae-hyun steadied her stance and prepared to fight.
"Hoo..."
─ Screech...!
The One-Horned Cat lunged at her once again.
She deftly avoided the most dangerous part—the horn—and drove her fist into the rabbit's flank.
"Nngh... I didn't put enough power into it...!"
The One-Horned Cat, struck by her fist, tumbled a few times, then righted itself and charged again.
This time, unlike before, it unleashed a faint electrical shock and came at her even faster.
─ Pssht...!
"Nnnggh...!"
Whether some special toxin was flowing through it or not, even just a graze made her leg tremble violently.
And gradually, as numbness set in, her movements slowed.
'As expected, making an E-rank take on a C-rank monster right away was asking too much, huh?'
When I looked at Laila, she let out a sigh and cast several holy magic buffs on Lee Chae-hyun.
The pain wasn't lessened, but her speed and strength increased slightly.
'She had to get used to the pain.'
After struggling desperately to dodge, Lee Chae-hyun, realizing this wasn't working, deliberately offered up her own thigh.
[Whoa, shit!]
[I clenched my groin instinctively, fuck]
─ Thunk...!
"Ggrrrraaaaghh!!!"
With its horn embedded, the One-Horned Cat dangled from her thigh.
She grabbed the scruff of its neck and forcibly yanked the horn out.
─ Squeak...?
"Hoo, got it..."
─ Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
She slammed the One-Horned Cat against the ground repeatedly until it was dead.
"Oh... our manager has a surprisingly brutal side, huh..."
Ordinary people hesitate when taking another life.
But she had undergone short yet intense training at the guild, so that hesitation wasn't there.
Blood gushed from the gaping hole in her thigh.
The wave of dizziness crashing over her made her stagger and collapse to the ground.
"Chae-hyun, you did well."
"Big Sis..."
Laila was healing her wound.
The hole pierced by the horn was slowly mending itself shut.
It was a fine debut for Lee Chae-hyun, but I watched with a slightly skeptical gaze.
'Normally, she'd be dead.'
If Laila hadn't been there, Lee Chae-hyun would have undoubtedly died from excessive blood loss.
'I needed to put her through the wringer a bit harder.'
---
As we continued the raid, Lee Chae-hyun's clothes were already drenched in blood.
─ Gruuuaaaar...
A gigantic creature that looked to be at least three meters tall.
"What are you doing? Just gonna watch?"
[You're telling her to catch that?]
[You're seriously insane lmaooo]
[Hero, this isn't a game, fuck, if you die, it's over for real]
"I'll make sure you survive."
A monster stood there, glaring at us with killing intent as it let out ragged breaths.
"Fight it."
"Huh? That thing? Me?"
Kids these days were seriously bold.
Back in my day, you just threw yourself in headfirst, sink or swim...