Episode 2. A Plan Gone Awry
Episode 2. A Plan Gone Awry
Episode 2. A Plan Gone Awry
The main story of [Hunter's Age] begins the moment the protagonist, Kim Sia, comes of age and enters the [Korea Hunter Academy].
In the original work, she undergoes countless trials throughout her academy life and is reborn as the strongest hunter in human history.
In that sense, the person I invested my time in until she came of age was Kim Sia.
I poured everything into the protagonist of [Hunter's Age], my golden rope—a guaranteed winning lottery ticket that didn't even need to be scratched—and all that 'kindness' was a thoroughly calculated investment.
"Haneul-ah, look at this. I can control my mana a little bit now!"
I remember the young Sia smiling shyly and tugging at my clothes.
Every time that happened, I would flash the kindest, most brotherly, and friendly smile in the world and pat her head.
When I brushed the dirt off her scraped knees?
My mind was full of thoughts like, 'She'll surely give me something in return later for brushing the dirt off these knees, right?'
When I secretly slipped snacks into her locker?
That was nothing more or less than a 'tribute offered to a future hero.'
When I stood up for her against the kids who bullied her?
Actually, I was scared to death.
In this world where women are naturally stronger, how threatening could a pretty-looking man be when he gets angry?
But I knew.
I knew that if I appeared at the exact timing in Episode 8 of Season 1 of the original work—the moment Kim Sia was at her lowest, suffering from the greatest frustration and rock-bottom self-esteem—the name 'Park Haneul' would be etched into her heart forever.
'Yes, this is enough. It's the perfect golden rope.'
I wasn't in love; I was buying insurance.
The reason I could appear at the critical moment every time she was in trouble, as if I had been watching over all her misfortunes, wasn't because I was some twisted stalker, but because I had the entire 'strategy guide' for this world inside my head.
Of course, it might be nice if we became lovers instead of just 'male friends'......
'Something, something is scary......'
I didn't feel this way when I first started helping her.
And understandably so, because the Sia in the original work was a righteous protagonist who would burn herself out without a second thought to protect the world.
But once, twice.
As the number of times I helped her increased, I began to feel an inexplicable sense of discomfort in the way Kim Sia looked at me.
A gaze that felt like it was scanning my entire body, sticky and intense—a gaze I could never believe belonged to the righteous protagonist I knew.
'No, that can't be. The Kim Sia in the original work isn't that kind of character!'
I desperately suppressed the anxiety rising from the depths of my heart, and even when she sent me looks that hinted at 'love,' I just thought:
'Wow, she really is the protagonist; she's so sensitive. The reward is going to be massive!'
I just cheered to myself.
However.......
"Waaa......."
"Hey, look over there. That's insane......."
The main gate of the [Korea Hunter Academy].
As I finally came of age and stepped into the entrance ceremony, the blatant gazes of female students pierced me like arrows with every step I took.
"Is he even human? Is he an angel?"
"There was a national treasure-level man among the new students? This is crazy, we absolutely have to get him into our club."
The whispers rolled in like a wave.
The power of the [Gender Reversal] world setting was even more blatant now that I was an adult.
This place is an elite training facility where only the top 10% of people with supernatural abilities in South Korea—those with enough mana for combat—are admitted.
The state defines them as the 'Shield of Humanity' and mandates their enrollment and training.
If one refuses this duty or uses their power for personal gain, they are labeled a 'villain' and become a hunted fugitive.
In particular, a villain organization called [Black Wings] was threatening the world by opposing this state control.
Kidnapping precious male resources like me was one of their main lines of work.
'Don't stand out at all, graduate quietly, and hide under Sia's shadow.'
My goal was firm.
My unique ability is [High-Speed Recovery].
It's a cheat-like ability that boasts top-tier efficiency even among healer-type hunters who treat wounds, but I tried my best to hide it.
In the hunter world, a male healer is literally the 'flower of the battlefield' and is easily targeted by every female hunter.
Not to mention, my appearance was hardly ordinary.
Even if I didn't aim to be a hunter, there were tons of women dying to take me in.
The only reason I headed to the [Hunter Academy] was because of the existence of Kim Sia, who protects this world to the very end according to my knowledge of the original work.
"Park Haneul-gun, you are assigned to the Support Department. And Kim Sia-yang is....... assigned to the Combat Department."
After checking the assignment list, I let out a sigh of relief.
The Combat Department and the Support Department are in different buildings.
The training intensity and schedules are completely separated.
'Perfect. Now I can just keep a reasonable distance from Sia and switch to a business relationship where we only contact each other when necessary.'
The effort I invested in Sia was more than enough, even overflowing, just from the time I'd poured into her so far.
'Even without that, Sia's gaze has been strange lately, so this is a good chance to......'
The moment I turned my head while thinking that.
I froze in place.
Sia, who had been standing right behind me, was staring straight at me.
But that look in her eyes was not the one of the 'righteous protagonist' I knew.
"Haneul-ah."
Sia called my name.
But her voice was low and sunken, unlike usual.
"U-uh...... d-did you call me, Sia-ya?"
I tried to answer as usual, but my voice trembled from the instinctive fear I felt.
At this point in the original story, Kim Sia should have been struggling because she couldn't properly handle her ability, [Wish].
Her awakening her ability and gaining confidence was supposed to be an episode after the first semester midterms.
But the Sia standing in front of me now was already exuding the aura of a half-completed awakened person.
"Our departments are split up, huh? They say the buildings are different."
"O-oh...... yeah. You're so strong, Sia, so of course you're in the Combat Department! Congratulations!"
The weak and timid girl who used to be helped by me in her childhood was not there.
The presence of [Wish] was on a completely different level than in the original work.
Something was wrong.
The knowledge I had of the original work had developed cracks.
I smiled awkwardly and stepped back.
But Sia took one more step toward me.
The pressure of the [Wish] radiating from her body tightened around my throat.
According to the original settings, this level of power was absolutely impossible at this point.
"I don't like it."
"Huh......?"
"Being away from Haneul, I don't like it even for a single second. Even that short distance between the buildings is too far for me."
Sia's eyes glinted in a bizarre way.
Her unique ability, [Wish].
That sacred power, which converts the hope to protect the world into energy or replaces her desperate desires with strength, was now turning into a wave of 'obsession' directed solely at me, scanning my entire body.
"......Haneul-ah, you're my friend, right? Isn't that so?"
She tugged at my sleeve.
It wasn't just the strength of pulling on clothes.
It was an overwhelming and destructive possessiveness, like a giant predator biting the neck of its prey and refusing to let go.
In an instant, goosebumps broke out all over my back.
It was an instinctive fear.
It felt as if the original story I knew, the comfortable future I had designed, was crumbling from beneath my feet.
'Wait, something is wrong here.'
No matter how much I helped Sia when she was a child.
The Kim Sia of the original work was a righteous, kind, and sometimes agonizing hero.
In short, she was a righteous figure who didn't obsess over one person but only sought to protect the world.
But the Kim Sia in front of my eyes didn't seem to care at all about saving the world.
She looked like a monster only concerned with how to perfectly taxidermy me and keep me by her side.
"Don't worry, Haneul-ah. I'll talk to the professors. Our Haneul is so weak and pretty, if I'm not there, you might get kidnapped by monsters at any moment, right?"
Sia smiled sweetly and touched my cheek.
Every time her cold fingertips touched my skin, my heart pounded as if it would burst.
It wasn't the shy heartbeat of someone fluttering from a lover's touch.
It was a threatening heartbeat that stimulated an infinitely primitive fear, as if the sharp fangs of a viper were brushing against my neck.
In this world, male students are a tiny minority.
The female monsters beyond the [Gate] use any means necessary to kidnap human men to suck their vitality for reproduction.
Even within the academy, male students are special protection targets and are always under the protection (which is just a cover for surveillance) of female hunters.
Sia wasn't wrong.
But the meaning behind her words was closer to 'quarantine' than 'protection.'
"I'll come pick you up as soon as the Combat Department class is over. Don't talk to other girls. Got it?"
She whispered in my ear.
It was a sweet voice, but it contained an irresistible command.
I swallowed hard as I watched her back move away.
My cheat-like [High-Speed Recovery] ability?
What good is that for anything?
What was threatening me the most right now wasn't the monsters beyond the [Gate], nor the villain group [Black Wings].
It was Kim Sia, the 'golden rope of my own making' that I had raised myself—the most beautiful and dangerous thing in the world.
'......Save me. This wasn't insurance, it was a ticking time bomb!'
Beyond the academy's flashy entrance, my blood-draining campus life was about to begin.