The Worst Reunion
What does it mean to be the world’s strongest? Literally speaking, it probably refers to the single strongest person alive. So then, what exactly does someone have to do to become the world’s strongest?
“...Heh.”
Given the situation, the fact that I was even entertaining such thoughts made me let out a hollow laugh. Being the world’s strongest meant standing at the absolute peak of a field. Reaching that summit required far more than ordinary effort or talent. Effort could at least be replicated, but the wall of talent was something you could never overcome no matter how many times you were reborn. I could say that with absolute certainty because I knew the person who had reached that peak better than anyone.
“...”
Yeah. This was seriously ridiculous.
I let out a heavy sigh and looked once more at the message floating before my eyes.
Make Min Soyeon the world’s strongest.
*Failure will result in the destruction of the world.
This is insane. Seriously.
In an era where beasts burst out of Gates and people could spit fire, seeing a message like this wasn’t exactly strange. But the content was the problem. The Min Soyeon I knew was the only one in the world. My one and only daughter, Soyeon.
To turn that fragile child into the world’s strongest… and on top of that, she wasn’t even my daughter anymore.
The ‘me’ who had been Min Sungjae, Soyeon’s father, had died long ago. Three years ago, I died during a mission. About two years after that, I came back to life. And the suddenly resurrected me had spent the time since then in vain attempts to prove that I was really ‘me.’
In the year after my death, all of my family’s contact information had already changed, and the house had been emptied out. Hoping against hope, I tracked down a few close acquaintances, but they only saw me as some kid impersonating the dead man and brushed me off. In a situation where I couldn’t even get close, there was nothing I could do.
It was only a few days ago that I had finally accepted that bitter reality and decided to live this second life. And now they were telling me to go to Soyeon…?
Wasn’t this a bit much?
I glanced at the familiar design of a school uniform hanging on one wall. How long had it been since I last wore one?
Even after so much time, the design hadn’t changed much, and somehow that filled me with deep emotion. Fourteen years. It had already been fourteen years since I graduated from the Academy. Who could have guessed that I would end up wearing this uniform again? Life really was unpredictable.
“...”
I let out a short sigh and picked up the uniform. With movements that felt both familiar and strangely awkward, I changed into it, then glanced at my reflection in the small mirror attached to the door.
“This is crazy…”
The sight of myself in the mirror finally made it sink in that I was really going back to the Academy.
The Awakened Mandatory Education Institution. Commonly known as the Academy. It was a national educational facility established to match the modern era in which Gates had become part of everyday life. Anyone with abilities was required to receive at least three years of education, and during that period they could be assigned missions according to the rank they were given. Once they completed their education and received an official rank, they gained the legal right to enter and exit Gates, and would be officially recognized in society as a Hunter.
In my previous life, I had been an A-rank Hunter. Paired with my wife—who had been called the strongest—I had accomplished quite a few feats. In the end, though, I still died…
Having resolved to live a new life, I once again began searching for information about my daughter after encountering that mysterious message. Relying on the only window available to me—the internet—I spent several days digging around and finally found out that she was enrolling in the Academy.
When I calculated her age, it matched the timing for Academy admission. I hurriedly prepared for enrollment myself, and fortunately managed to get accepted alongside her. If I had enrolled any earlier it might have been fine, but if I had been just one year later, I would have ended up in the bizarre situation of being my own daughter’s junior.
“...”
Since I didn’t know when I would meet her, I was carefully adjusting my clothes when my eyes caught on the name tag pinned to my chest.
[ Yu Jihwan ]
The name of Yu Jihwan, which had become familiar by now… my current name was written there. Not Min Sungjae, but Yu Jihwan.
I fiddled with the name tag for no particular reason and let out another heavy sigh. Then, steeling my resolve, I finished preparing for school.
On the way to the Academy.
I was walking while staring blankly at the ground when the students from another school walking ahead suddenly stopped and began whispering in low voices.
“...Let’s go that way.”
“Suddenly? Why?”
They called it whispering, but it was loud enough for me, walking right behind them, to hear clearly.
“That alley is where the delinquents smoke.”
“...Oh, r-really?”
Smoking? The students ahead turned and slipped into a side alley, and I continued walking forward without thinking much of it.
A short while later, I found the alley the students had mentioned. A narrow path shaded in a peculiar way. It certainly looked like a good spot to secretly smoke.
...Well, smoking was relatively tame. At least they weren’t beating people up or extorting money, so they were probably on the milder side of delinquents.
With that pointless thought in mind, I was about to quietly pass by the alley when—
Flick—
A clear metallic sound came from inside the alley. It sounded familiar, like the lid of a lighter being opened.
Reacting unconsciously to the sound, I turned my gaze toward the alley and spotted someone lighting a cigarette. Long black hair and the flickering flame of a lighter. She was wearing clothes that looked somehow familiar, a cigarette between her lips.
...Huh?
She was also a student at the same Academy as me.
Tsk tsk, already smoking… There was a student sneaking a smoke right before heading to school. I’d probably need to keep an eye on that. I couldn’t let her have a bad influence on our Soyeon.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and was about to start walking again when—
“...”
My eyes met hers—the girl with the cigarette in her mouth.
Large, slightly sharp eyes and a small mole near her lips. And… the jacket that proved she was an Academy student, along with the name tag hanging on her chest.
...Huh?
“W-wait…!”
I pointed at her in shock, and she casually spat out the cigarette she had been holding in her mouth.
“...What do you want?”
A natural, confrontational tone. Clearly not her first time. Anyone would see her as a total delinquent, and on the chest of that girl was written a name that absolutely should not have been there.
[ Min Soyeon ]
My long-awaited reunion with my daughter was the worst possible one.