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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Hunter Management Bureau (1)
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Hunter Management Bureau, Director's Office.
"Director-nim! Director-nim! Have you seen this!?"
An odd-eyed girl fluttered her phone towards the blue-haired woman, who sat with her arms crossed on the desk.
"…You're distracting me. Ji Soyeon. I told you to be quiet in the Director's office."
"But it's boring everywhere else."
"And I'm the Director, not 'Chiefy'."
Kim Jiwon, the woman called Director, chided her in a cold voice, but Ji Soyeon, the odd-eyed girl, continued without losing her high spirits.
"No, no. Just look at this! Dogfight and Cheonhwa, they're only first-years, but they've already formed a party!"
"Well, they were always promising talents…"
"But the surprising thing is! It's *him*! This boy surpassed both of them and became the party leader! Even Cheonhwa said he's stronger than Dogfight and herself!"
"Hmm? Stronger? A boy?"
Only then did a flicker of interest appear on the blue-haired woman's face.
"Yeah, yeah! Look at this!"
Ji Soyeon zoomed in on the photo she was looking at and thrust it towards her.
"He's super hot right now! They say he's really handsome!"
Kim Jiwon, the Director of the Hunter Management Bureau, narrowed her eyes with a sense of déjà vu, as if she'd seen the black-haired boy on the screen somewhere before.
"I want to see him in person… I wonder if he's as handsome in real life? Or is it just the photo?"
"Tsk, stop worrying about useless things."
"Come to think of it, today's the day the Demon Extermination Squad report comes in from Velvet Academy, isn't it? Oh, I should contact Seolhee!"
"Ji Soyeon! You, what are you doing again… arbitrarily…! You're going to call Baek Seolhee here!?"
So flustered was Kim Jiwon that she uncrossed her arms and hastily tried to stop her, but Ji Soyeon hid her phone and stuck out her tongue.
"I already sent it~ I wonder if Seolhee can bring him? I hope she does~!"
Haaah—
Kim Jiwon leaned back in her chair and sighed.
"If the Slaughter Maniac comes… I'll have to tell the Demon Surveillance Team to halt their schedule and keep quiet. The aftereffects from last time probably haven't faded yet…"
Then suddenly.
'Wait a minute, come to think of it, the face that appeared in the last two demon incidents… That boy's face just now…?!'
Kim Jiwon belatedly realized the source of her déjà vu and her eyes widened.
* * *
"N-Next page… P-Please turn to it…"
The weekend passed, and Monday arrived again, bringing me to Instructor Yoo Mira's "Introduction to Monsters" class.
It was a class for the entire first-year, meaning all party members attended together, but Kang Dohui sat alone, far away. She didn't even spare a glance in my direction.
'I guess I went a bit too far yesterday.'
Kang Dohui was someone with a very strong personal space, so it was hard to even approach her unless you forcefully pushed your way in.
So I deliberately crossed the line a bit, but then, of all things, *that* scene had to come on TV.
—It's only natural to save your party members when they're in danger.
The scene where I extended a hand to the endangered male quota students.
—O-Oh, don't misunderstand!
—Oh yeah?
—Th-This, this is a video that was sent to me before regarding the Demon 'Oh Yeah'—no, 'Misunderstanding' incident! I checked it a long time ago and then kept the TV off, but it seems that video was still playing! Let go, let go! Let me turn off the screen! Ah, let go of me!!!!
Kang Dohui, flailing in my grasp, babbled various excuses nonsensically.
It was a rare sight to see her acting like a puppy, so I got a bit excited, you see.
—It's only natural to save your party members when they're in danger.
To make matters worse, the video was on repeat.
After I had beaten up those male students about thirty times, and saved the quota guys about thirty times.
Only when Kang Dohui started begging me to let her go did I release her.
'Ugh, why does she swing her fists so fiercely?'
I almost died, for real.
Even with a healing potion, it still aches.
I rubbed the back of my neck and looked at Instructor Yoo Mira, who was conducting the class at the front.
For some reason, she looked quite intimidated.
"…So. You can only… t-touch this monster twice. Y-You only have two hands! Ahahaha…"
It seemed like she'd just tried to make a witty remark, but her voice shrinking made the atmosphere awkward.
My eyes suddenly met with the instructor, who had a tearful expression.
At that, she quickly averted her gaze, looking startled.
'Why is she like that?'
"…N-Next page! Th-The characteristics of the monster you're seeing now are…!"
It's all stuff I already know, so it's boring.
Well, they're the guys I always saw in games, you know.
If you've read the Velvet Sra Monster List Namuwiki about 10 times, you can recite this much even with your eyes closed.
"Are you bored?"
As I doodled and slacked off, Shin Sehui whispered softly from beside me.
"Hmm, a little, I guess… It's all content I already know."
"Heh heh, I thought as much. Still, please bear with it a little longer. There's not much class time left."
I gazed at Shin Sehui for a moment, then, a question popping into my mind, I asked her.
"Come to think of it, your name got out a bit during the Utopia party activities this time. Doesn't the Shin family say anything?"
"It's fine. The Shin family never really liked me being in the spotlight anyway."
"Oh?"
"Originally, the family's stance was that only my older sister was needed, but I fought tooth and nail to achieve what I have."
"Ah."
"But with me stepping back as Utopia's manager, it created a picture of me taking a step back. So the family mistakenly believes my sister has put me in my place. And that the Utopia party belongs to Shin Suyeon."
"I see."
I nodded.
Shin Sehui suddenly wore an apologetic expression.
"Um… I have something to apologize to Jin Yuha-ssi about concerning that."
"…Apologize? If it's about Shin Suyeon misunderstanding that she owns our party, then it's fine?"
"No, that… This time, Jin Yuha-ssi's name became known as the Utopia party leader, right?"
"Yeah."
"So, the Shin family… has been talking about Jin Yuha-ssi as… my sister's son-in-law who marries into the family…"
"Son-in-law who marries into the family?"
Me? Shin Suyeon's?
As I made a questioning expression, Shin Sehui continued her explanation.
"Well…"
According to her, the Shin family seems to have arbitrarily misunderstood me as the man Shin Suyeon had her eyes on.
And so, they consider my position as party leader, despite me being a man, as preliminary work to ensure I wouldn't be outranked when I eventually marry S-rank Hunter Shin Suyeon.
"I'm sorry… You must be offended, right?"
Shin Sehui said in a timid voice.
'This is turning out to be more interesting than I thought.'
"No, not at all. If they misunderstand like that, it's actually more convenient for us."
"Huh?"
"The Shin family. You plan to take it over eventually, don't you?"
I smiled, looking at Shin Sehui.
"…Yes, I'm slowly preparing for it behind the scenes right now."
"Then it's more convenient for us to be known as Shin Suyeon's party for now. The Shin family won't interfere unnecessarily, will they?"
"Thank you for saying that."
"When you're cleaning up the Shin family later, call me too. I'll cooperate."
At that, Shin Sehui's lips trembled as she stared intently at me.
Shin Sehui pressed her lips together tightly, as if holding something back.
"…Thank you, Jin Yuha-ssi."
"By the way, what's Shin Suyeon doing now?"
It was just a casual small talk question, but suddenly, she flashed a bright smile.
Her expression changed so abruptly it sent shivers down my spine. Sehee, Sehee.
But our Sehee, she's clearly smiling, so why do I feel a chill?
"…Do you *really* want to know? There's nothing I can't tell Jin Yuha-ssi…"
Shin Sehui said in a low voice.
Somehow, if I answered yes here, I had a feeling I'd be dragged into something deep.
Like, say, a basement.
"…No, well. I'm sure you're handling it just fine on your own."
I subtly avoided her gaze as I replied.
A wise man doesn't get close to dangerous things, after all. Hmm.
And soon, the class concluded.
"Oh, that's all for today! Th-Thank you all for your hard work! I-I have something urgent to attend to, so I'll be going!"
Instructor Yoo Mira… Did she order something from Coupang delivery?
She even transformed her feet into monster form to run off.
* * *
Crrrk—
"Aaaaaargh—!"
Today's second class. Major, Instructor Baek Seolhee's "Basic Swordsmanship Class."
After attending a swordsmanship class today that could hardly be called 'basic' in difficulty.
I was learning grappling as an extra lesson.
Two legs pressing down on my body. And my arm tightly caught between them.
Commonly known as an armbar.
No matter how I tried to free it, the tightly held arm wouldn't budge.
"Kuaaaaa, aaargh!!!!"
I was still far from being able to contend with the instructor with my strength alone, but with Baek Seolhee putting her weight into twisting my arm, my elbow felt like it was bending backward and about to pop off.
Tap, tap, tap!!
In the end, unable to endure, I tapped her thigh three times.
"Oof—"
That's not broken, is it?
I massaged my elbow, examining the area that had just been held.
"Jin Yuha."
I turned my head to see Baek Seolhee looking down at me.
"…Yes?"
I cautiously edged my body back as I replied.
"I plan to visit the Hunter Management Bureau after class today, would you like to come along?"
"…The Hunter Management Bureau?"
"Yes."
Huh? The Hunter Management Bureau, suddenly?
That's a place you only go in the game when you're suspected of being a demon or when you're receiving a reward after a chapter ends.
"Why there?"
"Hmm, I'm visiting for personal reasons, but there's someone there who wants to see you."
'They're suddenly calling for me there?'
Hmm, I thought the tutorial boss subjugation was over with receiving a reward from Director Lina, but is it different because this is reality and not a game?
I pondered for a moment, then asked in a serious voice.
"…Are they calling me because I defeated a demon this time? Or because of the previous incident where I was mistaken for one?"
At that, Baek Seolhee's eyebrows twitched.
As expected, there seems to be something to it.
"No. My colleague there just saw your face trending on the internet and asked me to bring you if I could, because she wanted to see you."
"…"
I looked at Baek Seolhee with a blank expression.
"Come to think of it, that did happen. The Hunter Management Bureau might be uncomfortable for you. I had a lot of personal matters and briefly forgot."
That was still just a while ago, though.
I feel a little disappointed.
"Alright, if you don't want to, I won't force you. However, it would still be good for you to meet that person…"
'That person? Is there someone at the Hunter Management Bureau who could be helpful?'
"…Hmm, what the heck, let's go."
And so, I ended up going to the Hunter Management Bureau with the instructor.