Damn Hunter Life 31

Damn Hunter Life Chapter 31

Why the hell does this attribute ability only get under control after an accident happens?

The ground tremors had finally settled. With a deeply uncomfortable feeling, I had been burying my face into Ja Hyeong-woo’s shoulder, but once the shock to my head subsided, I lifted my head.

Ja Hyeong-woo, who had been lying on his back against the ground, also raised his face at the same moment.

Our faces were so close I could count his individual eyelashes. Ja Hyeong-woo’s eyes widened.

“…Are you hurt?”

The moment our eyes met, Ja Hyeong-woo bit his lips. His pupils wavered.

It must be because of our terrible position.

“Do you hate it that much? I hate it too. You damn mouse.”

Anyone could see this was the timing when I should apologize. But true to my role as Ja Hyeong-woo’s anger trigger, I replaced the apology with curses.

Suddenly, I got pissed off at the fact that even though I was putting my full body weight on him, Ja Hyeong-woo didn’t seem heavy at all. I deliberately pressed down on his thigh with my butt with a thud before getting up.

I quickly gave up on the dirt-colored white traditional clothes and was contemplating how to clean up the dirt that had spilled all the way to the corridor outside the door when—

Someone was standing across the corridor.

A person who looked like they’d just popped out of a historical drama.

The current eldest member of the Twelve Zodiac, a figure precariously standing at the edge of the age range that Hunter School accommodated, had spotted both the pile of dirt and me. I thought I could hear the sound of him clicking his tongue in disapproval.

Woo Sae-geon picked up a long tree branch that had been carelessly placed nearby.

Rustle—

Along with a heavy wave that even I could feel, the energy of the stick changed.

From Woo Sae-geon’s hand, the tip of the stick began sucking up the dirt. Like a vacuum cleaner.

The annoying task that I had been seriously considering bringing a broom for was finished in just a few seconds.

‘…Woo Sae-geon isn’t the leader for nothing.’

He had just turned an ordinary stick into an earth-attribute weapon on the spot.

He imbued it with a specific skill, used it just to clean up some dirt, then discarded it without another glance.

It might have been a weapon that could be useful to someone else, but by Woo Sae-geon’s standards, it was a worthless object of no use whatsoever—something he could make dozens more of.

For the first leader of the successors, high-density attribute manipulation was this easy.

His dress shoes walked straight toward me as if he wasn’t conscious of me standing there in a daze. He glanced briefly beyond the open training room door.

“The worst.”

Ja Hyeong-woo, who had been spaced out until then, immediately sat up upon hearing his voice. But the other party had already seen Ja Hyeong-woo fallen over.

“There’s even a bastard who team-kills his teammate—and a healer at that.”

Then his cold gaze turned toward me. His tone was bored, as if he were talking about something trivial.

“My fate of having to use even this kind of bastard for raids is the worst of all.”

Today, Woo Sae-geon’s black irises seemed even deeper.

After Woo Sae-geon suddenly gestured with his chin for me to enter the training room, the other successors came through the door one after another as if by appointment.

What the hell is happening?

Won Ha-ri, who had been in another training room, was also summoned along with us.

Woo Sae-geon sat alone in a chair placed in the center, crossing his legs. With him in the middle, the existing successors stood behind him in a structure where they observed me and Won Ha-ri.

‘Ah, is this a mid-term evaluation for newcomers?’

Since they need to consider the newcomers’ positions too, that’s why they brought all the other successors?

Hae Mi-jun timidly waved his hand by his waist, but that was all. Despite having nine kids at an average age of 20.2—an age when they should be chattering away—the surroundings were as quiet as a tomb.

Due to the atmosphere that Woo Sae-geon, perfectly dressed in a topknot and scholar’s robe, inflexibly spread around.

Won Ha-ri, who was only in middle school, had completely frozen up.

Whether the new youngest member, a girl 9 years younger than him, was stiffening into perfect posture because of him or not, Woo Sae-geon seemed to pay no attention to such things. With ice-cold eyes, he openly read through Won Ha-ri’s training records in front of the person in question.

In the lengthening silence, Won Ha-ri could barely breathe.

Soon, Woo Sae-geon opened his mouth.

“Myo Cho-hui.”

Won Ha-ri flinched as if her name had been called.

“Yes.”

“You take charge of teaching her. Your characteristics are most similar.”

Woo Sae-geon had been supervising all the successors’ training. When necessary, he would point out flaws mercilessly. To him, fellow successors weren’t colleagues but subordinates.

Even so, no one raised objections to him.

They hadn’t been like this from the beginning either. When the successors first gathered, they went through lengthy conflicts, but eventually acknowledged the stability that came from placing Woo Sae-geon above them.

“If you want to use a bow as a secondary weapon, shoot more. That’s all.”

“Thank you!”

Won Ha-ri bowed deeply in gratitude. Even though Woo Sae-geon’s words weren’t particularly meant to give guidance—he had simply read the training records and shared his thoughts in front of the successors.

Next, it was time for my training records to be revealed.

Before starting, Woo Sae-geon raised his eyebrows as he confirmed me—the only other person sitting on the floor besides himself. His cold eyes were as sharp as needles being stuck in.

Soon, my condition was recited.

“Attribute manipulation is average. Physical strength is below ordinary people. Swordsmanship is hopeless. You must rely entirely on skills.”

I didn’t respond. Woo Sae-geon didn’t demand a response either.

“Earth attribute is usually for tankers, but… there’s no way you could hold out. You can’t handle weapons other than long-range bows. With a body that collapses after firing one attack skill…”

Woo Sae-geon, who had been muttering, finally defined me like this:

“Gyeon Gang-hyeon, no matter how well you do, you’re nothing more than a disposable cannon.”

Hmm, well. I agreed with that assessment. I wasn’t as regretful as Hae Mi-jun, whose face had turned pale.

However—

‘I feel like picking a fight. Is it time to update my troublemaker achievements?’

So I looked at Woo Sae-geon and said:

“You’re also a tanker but don’t tank and focus on attacking instead, so why only me?”

Actually, I knew the reason better.

Woo Sae-geon’s ox familiar wasn’t large enough to serve as a proper tanker, and his tremendous attribute affinity showed its true value more in offensive rather than defensive forms.

It wasn’t that he disliked being a devoted tanker like Jin Seol-woon, but that he simply followed greater efficiency.

I threw this out there knowing all this.

Woo Sae-geon stood up from his seat. Following his movement, the hem of his robe rustled.

Woo Sae-geon, who had stridden over directly, grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up. In front of everyone, his back blocked me from their view.

He hung me close enough that my face could be reflected in his jet-black pupils, engraving each word into me letter by letter.

“Don’t take your position lightly. If you have no intention of fixing that mindset in the future, you might as well ask me to kill you. The successor behind you would be better than you.”

It was a familiar way of speaking. Of course it was, since I’d seen it in the original work. Woo Sae-geon’s motto and the attitude he took to turn kids into heroes.

“I hope you’re a bastard who understands what he’s told.”

…I’m fine with it, but what about the atmosphere?

The place where Woo Sae-geon is present is always like this. Except for the crazy Sa Ye-ho, no one can call him hyung or oppa and they all use extreme honorifics.

But Sa Ye-ho is absent alone, doing who knows what somewhere…

Looking at the front of my jeogori that was pulled taut in Woo Sae-geon’s grip, I suddenly had an interesting thought.

‘Squeaky. Do it now!’

Squeaky exuded an aura of utter exasperation with his whole body. But anyway, he moved as I instructed.

The moment Woo Sae-geon let go of my collar.

The fabric he had been gripping came loose smoothly, and the tied strings also slipped off slyly.

As the two sides of the jeogori opened, cold air immediately rushed inside against my body. Woo Sae-geon’s eyes fixed on my bare chest.

“Ah, seriously!”

I screamed first. Won Ha-ri was startled.

Taking a step back and cleverly showing my appearance to everyone, I covered my chest with my palm and made a fuss.

“Even so, you’re going to strip my clothes off? Do you strip people when scolding your juniors? What kind of person does that!”

Even I was impressed by my own masterful troublemaker acting!

Only covering with my hands without grabbing or tying anything back up, making a commotion to draw aggro!

In an instant, Woo Sae-geon, who had become a molester, looked at me with a face as if he’d been slapped, a face with his soul drained, while my jeogori fluttered dramatically for all to see.

Hae Mi-jun covered his mouth with both cheeks completely red as if he had been the one doing the stripping. The other reactions were unclear, but Yang Pyo and Ma Cheon-ah, who usually got scolded by Woo Sae-geon the most, were biting their lips and quietly holding back laughter. From what I glimpsed briefly, Ja Hyeong-woo seemed to have a truly ridiculous expression.

“Kuk.”

Then someone’s suppressed laughter burst out.

Hahaha, Jin Seol-woon slightly lowered his head and covered his forehead with his palm while laughing heartily.

Since the person who seemed least likely to laugh was laughing, the atmosphere became even more bizarre. More than anything else, I was curious about Woo Sae-geon’s response. I looked up at him fervently.

Sorry for framing you, but actually I’m not sorry at all.

‘Woo Sae-geon, it’s been months since the gates first opened, isn’t your discipline still too harsh?’

I understand that you made the current successors by grabbing clueless kids by the collar and putting them through hell, but you should loosen up a bit by now.

I’ve been reluctant to show my unsightly body to others, but for now, I don’t mind displaying it. Honestly, I think I could strip completely naked if it meant screwing over Woo Sae-geon.

However, Woo Sae-geon was indeed a formidable opponent.

Thoom—

From the sharp sword tip that Woo Sae-geon stabbed into the ground came an unbelievable sound, as heavy as a rock being driven down.

“Quiet. I haven’t finished talking.”

No explanation. He seemed not to feel any need to explain. He exuded an aura that said he wouldn’t adjust to anyone’s rhythm, regardless of what anyone here thought.

‘He doesn’t even blush when people are openly laughing behind him. I have to acknowledge this.’

Being someone with ghost-like intuition, there’s a high probability he knows I’m acting and is putting up with it.

He returned to sit with his short sword slung over his shoulder like a baseball bat. The blade protruding beside his head flashed—reflecting light.

Let’s stop fooling around now.

But I put my heart into the acting until the very end while retying my clothing strings.

At this moment, a chat request appeared in the status window.

==

Dragon Successor>Me: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Dragon Successor>Me: What did you do to that white traditional outfit?

==

Jin Seol-woon was standing back there without even making eye contact. He was as calm as if he had never laughed.

Still just a guy secretly chatting during class time.

==

Me>Dragon Successor: Is your leader a pervert?

Dragon Successor>Me: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Dragon Successor>Me: If you get involved with Gyeon Gang-hyeon-ssi, you should be prepared to fall together.

==

Come to think of it, this was the first time a successor had initiated a one-on-one chat with me. (Hae Mi-jun contacts me by phone.)

I couldn’t send a reply to Jin Seol-woon’s last message. While I was briefly distracted, Woo Sae-geon had made a major announcement.

“Soon, when a D-grade gate appears among the regular gates, I plan to take Won Ha-ri and Gyeon Gang-hyeon for observation.”

To rapidly develop successors, he puts them into practice immediately.

I wasn’t surprised since I’d seen Won Ha-ri do this with Myo Cho-hui in the original work. It was just that I had been added to it.

“Won Ha-ri will be guided by Myo Cho-hui accompanying her. As for Gyeon Gang-hyeon…”

The rest didn’t come out right away.

Woo Sae-geon suddenly pressed his nose bridge with his thumb and index finger as if he had a stress headache.

“Anyone can go along. Have them play rock-paper-scissors and whoever loses goes. Or pair him up if there’s a similar combat type.”

* * *

A few days later, news came that a suitable D-grade gate had opened, so we prepared to move.

As Woo Sae-geon instructed, Myo Cho-hui accompanied Won Ha-ri. The two petite girls stood close together.

On the other hand, my assigned supervisor hadn’t arrived yet. I didn’t even know who it was.

‘Which unfortunate successor is coming to clean up after me?’

Soon I felt a presence behind me. I quickly turned around.

…It’s you?

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus