Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Ra Sihyeon.

The greatest Mage the Republic of Korea had ever produced.

She was one of only three Mages who reached 10-Star, alongside Necromancer Gain and Battle Mage Bellatrix.

In the future, Gain, Bellatrix, and Ra Sihyeon would be called [Archmages].

The problem was her personality.

Of course, the character of the Top Rankers was generally terrible, but Mages were especially famous for having utterly ruined personalities.

Ra Sihyeon was sensitive, arrogant, and had anger-control issues, so she constantly fired off magic at the slightest provocation. Her moods changed so violently that catering to her was almost impossible.

On top of that, she was notorious for her relationships with men, and she was famous for keeping several handsome men around her as if they were concubines.

Of course, that was all a story from several years later. Right now, she was nothing more than a fledgling in a school uniform.

“I am in the same cohort as Ra Sihyeon? Me?”

“Ah? Have you exchanged greetings with Miss Sihyeon?”

“Ah, no. I just remember hearing her name that day.”

“I see. That is correct. You will be in the same cohort as Miss Sihyeon.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“Pardon?”

“It is nothing.”

Come to think of it, in my previous life, Ra Sihyeon’s SFTC cohort had been two classes ahead of mine.

Both of us had Awakened around a similar time, but my registration had been delayed because I was dealing with the aftermath of Father’s death.

“As I mentioned earlier, Miss Sihyeon is a Mage. You must already know how rare the Mage Role Category is, so I will not explain that separately.”

“It is rare.”

“Ah, of course, not as rare as you, Mr. Eunseong. Haha.”

As if he had suddenly realized his mistake, Captain Im hastily added that.

Right. No matter how rare the Mage Role Category was, it would not be as rare as mine.

“In any case, I wanted to tell you that this is a good opportunity. If you build a connection with Miss Sihyeon through this chance, would it not help you greatly in your future activities?”

“I am not sure.”

It would certainly help.

The problem was whether I could put up with her rotten temper.

If someone knew what kind of person Ra Sihyeon would become in the future, not wanting anything to do with her would be the normal reaction.

Why else would I have killed her with my own hands?

“Well, I understand for now. When is it?”

“Next Monday.”

“Today is Friday, so...... three days from now.”

“If your schedule is too tight, I think we can delay it by one cohort.”

“It is fine. I will enter on Monday.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Captain Im smiled.

It seemed he had been quietly worried that I would stubbornly insist I did not want to go to SFTC.

“Oh, not at all. I am the one who feels sorry for making you come all the way here. Why not have a meal before you go? The food here is decent.”

“May I?”

“Of course.”

“Then I will accept your hospitality. Haha.”

Captain Im headed off to get a tray.

It seemed he had been carrying out missions day and night without even eating properly. Since I had indirectly made him work overtime, I felt rather sorry.

‘Entering in the same cohort as Ra Sihyeon. Heh.’

I began to think SFTC life might be entertaining.

After all, I would be able to see the past version of the villainess I had killed with my own hands.

***

After Captain Im left, I sat at my desk and focused my mind.

SWISH!

The Hunter Link board UI unfolded before my eyes.

When I only wanted to use the board, there was no need to fully access it. I could simply summon it like this.

Of course, almost no one knew that at this point in time.

[HIT!] Events That Will Happen in the Near Future 1 (75,731)

“Already 75,000.”

By my estimate, the Hunter population was roughly 100,000.

At a glance, that might seem like a lot, but it really was not.

The population of Earth was roughly eight billion, so 100,000 people would be about 0.00125 percent.

In other words, one out of every 80,000 people.

Yet there were 75,000 comments, which meant that even by a conservative estimate, half the Hunters in the world had commented.

[Necrolord] I will pay ten million dollars to anyone who reports that bastard’s identity. (4,882)

[DeadEye] It is probably a scam. (6,631)

[Paragon] If anyone believes that, they are a damn moron. (4,331)

In the midst of that, famous Hunters were revealing their callsigns and posting about me.

There was even a guy putting a bounty on me?

‘I have definitely drawn attention. I should write one more post.’

Everyone seemed to be waiting with their eyes wide open for me to appear again, so I decided to be generous and throw them a useful tip.

It was a tip Hunter Link users could make quite good use of, so everyone would probably like it.

[Your post has been registered!]

The useful tip I released was as follows.

[Info] How to Use the Board and Messenger Without Accessing Hunter Link

The reaction was immediate.

DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING, DING...... DING!

[A comment has been posted!]

[A comment has been posted!]

......

[A comment has been posted!]

Every time I refreshed, dozens, then hundreds of comments appeared.

It was morning in Korea now, so there were almost no comments from Korean Hunters. Most of them came from foreign Hunters.

‘This should be enough.’

It felt as though I had thrown a pebble into a calm lakeshore and caused ripples.

Of course, because of the pebble I had thrown earlier, a typhoon was already raging there.

And Hunter Link had never been quiet enough to be called a calm lakeshore in the first place.

‘I should avoid accessing it for a while and focus on what I have to do.’

The faster my stock of information ran out, the more the influence of the unidentified 10-Star Hunter would diminish, so I intended to condition the Hunters at a somewhat relaxed pace.

‘First, let me write things down.’

I took out a notebook and pen and began writing down my memories from the past ten years.

As a human, I could not remember everything, and recalling things instantly on demand was impossible. I judged that organizing them like this would be useful.

That way, when I released information on Hunter Link’s anonymous board, I would be able to post reliable content.

***

Three days later.

“I will be going.”

I boarded the helicopter headed for SFTC while my family saw me off from the rooftop of our home.

In my previous life, I had traveled to the assembly point and then taken a bus, so seeing them send a helicopter like this made the difference in treatment feel painfully real.

At this point, it was no different from my status shooting straight up from a peasant to a noble.

“Then we will depart.”

WHUPWHUPWHUPWHUP!

The helicopter carrying me flew straight west.

The destination was Jebudo.

I heard it had once been popular as a travel destination, but after the Transference Crisis, the Defense Strategy Department’s Special Force Training Center was established there. Now, civilians had completely stopped coming to the island.

About twenty minutes later.

• We will land briefly.

The helicopter landed somewhere in Jemulpo, Incheon.

‘Is there someone else to pick up?’

I wondered who could be receiving special treatment like me, and then a female student in a school uniform boarded the helicopter.

‘I knew it.’

Of course they would not send a helicopter unless it was for a top-tier prospect like Ra Sihyeon.

There was no way there would be another top-tier prospect like me or Ra Sihyeon in the same cohort, so being curious about who would board in the first place had been my mistake.

“Huh? You are the one from back then?”

Ra Sihyeon recognized me and acknowledged me.

She looked quite surprised.

It seemed she was surprised twice, first by the fact that there was another trainee besides herself in the helicopter, and second by the fact that it was me.

Right. It must be surprising that someone other than a Mage was receiving special treatment.

“Are you a Mage too?”

Ra Sihyeon asked me bluntly.

“No.”

“Then a Ranged Damage Dealer?”

The [Guardian] Role Category, which served as tanks, generally had large builds, so she was probably asking whether I was at least a Ranged Damage Dealer, the rarest type within the [Warrior] Role Category.

“Not that either.”

“Ah. What a letdown.”

Ra Sihyeon frowned as if she had instantly lost interest.

“I guess they let just anyone ride. It lowers the class.”

Well, well.

People said a person’s personality did not go anywhere, and it seemed she had been twisted from birth.

Seeing how openly she was already revealing her sense of privilege and superiority when hardly any time had passed since her Awakening, it meant her sprout had not merely been yellow from the start; it had been rotten through.

‘Maybe I will end up killing her again.’

Of course, unlike before, I would not be exploited by Ra Sihyeon or subjected to her verbal abuse and insults, so the possibility of a direct grudge forming between us was low.

But both Ra Sihyeon and I were destined to become top Hunters, so even if we did not travel together, we would probably see each other’s faces often.

Considering Ra Sihyeon’s temper, there would definitely be conflict. And to be honest, I was not confident I could avoid killing her.

Still, even if I did kill her, it would not be now.

If it were someone else, I might have silently killed them to cut off the sprout early, but the current Ra Sihyeon was a second-year high school student.

No matter what, I could not kill a minor.

As long as she did not cross the “line.”

‘If I watch her for a while and she really cannot be helped, I can kill her then. Two years from now.’

As if expressing her displeasure at being treated the same as someone insignificant, Ra Sihyeon put on her headset, crossed her arms, and closed her eyes.

Without even knowing that the Grim Reaper was sitting across from her.......

‘If we train together, there will be a chance to teach her a lesson.’

I had no particular desire to exchange words with Ra Sihyeon either, so I kept my eyes closed until we reached our destination.

WHUPWHUPWHUPWHUP!

After picking up Ra Sihyeon, the helicopter flew for about ten more minutes before landing at the Special Force Training Center’s landing zone on Jebudo.

“You two have arrived.”

Captain Im was waiting and welcomed Ra Sihyeon and me.

“Was the trip uncomfortable in any way?”

“Thanks to you, it was comfortable and quick.”

Unlike me, who responded to Captain Im’s consideration with a smile, Ra Sihyeon seemed to have a lot to say.

“Excuse me, Mr. Soldier.”

“Yes, Miss Sihyeon.”

“Why did I have to ride the same helicopter as a person like hi—”

Just as Ra Sihyeon jerked her chin toward me and was about to complain to Captain Im.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

From the direction of the main gate in the distance, all kinds of shouts rang out together with pterodactyl-like screeches.

“Hobin! You can do it!”

“Please look this way just once!”

“I love youuuuuuu!”

Thanks to that, Ra Sihyeon’s words were buried.

Of course, I heard them clearly.

“Haha.”

Captain Im explained the situation with an awkward smile.

“It seems it is a little noisy because one of the prospective Hunters entering today is currently active as an idol.”

“A current idol? Who are you talking about?”

“His name is Hobin. I heard he is the lead vocalist of a group called Eclipse, but I do not know the details either.”

“That host-bar bastard?”

“Pardon......?”

“No, it is nothing.......”

I had wondered if it might be him, and sure enough, it was.

Three days ago, while retracing my memories and recording incidents in my notebook, I had also written down an incident that happened at the Special Force Training Center.

Jeong Hobin.

A male idol Eunha liked.

I knew him because Eunha sang the praises of “our Hobin, our Hobin” whenever she had the chance.

That did not mean I disliked him.

The problem was that he had become part of the same cohort.

Because while training at the Special Force Training Center to become a Hunter, Jeong Hobin was swept up in a Transference phenomenon and died.