Damn Hunter Life Chapter 52
Despite being younger, Jin Seol-woon led the joint training session with quiet authority, befitting his status as a senior successor.
“Position-wise, the leader and Myo Cho-hui-ssi won’t have much overlap in movement with that side. Those two will focus on combat as the wings of our formation, while Ja Hyeong-woo-ssi and I will be protecting Gyeon Gang-hyeon-ssi.”
Jin Seol-woon took a few light steps backward and stood at a distance. Soon, a massive shadow fell across the training ground.
From behind him, a huge dragon poked its head out. Jin Seol-woon stroked the horns protruding from the dragon’s head a few times.
“Gyeon Gang-hyeon-ssi is particularly slow-moving and prone to falling, so think of it as relying on the dragon for movement.”
“Don’t put emphasis on ‘particularly.'”
Dragon familiars boast the absolute highest utility among all familiars. Outstanding in size as a tanker, able to move their long bodies freely while also capable of flight, and being earth-attribute, they can even burrow underground. And above all, they look cool.
Since everyone is still inexperienced, the dragon familiar stays on the ground taking on the role of protecting each teammate one by one, but in the latter half of the original story, Jin Seol-woon eventually fights in the sky alongside his dragon.
“I don’t need it. Hae Mi-jun rode your dragon just fine in actual combat without practice.”
“Hae Mi-jun-ssi and Gyeon Gang-hyeon-ssi are different. And that was an emergency situation.”
“How am I different from Hae Mi-jun?”
Before Jin Seol-woon could answer, his gaze drifted to around my waist level, and he smiled faintly.
“Your body is different.”
Is that bastard mocking me?
“Let’s say a monster attacked Gyeon Gang-hyeon-ssi. Then I’d see it and do this.”
The dragon, thicker than my waist, coiled around me.
I obediently let my arms and legs go limp and entrusted myself to the dragon. Lifted up by the dragon, I was moved a few steps back. My feet lifted off the ground briefly, then touched down again.
“Your body relaxed well for a first time.”
“You really have zero expectations for my body, don’t you?”
“Well, you are weak.”
Jin Seol-woon, sharing senses with his dragon familiar, muttered and then approached to examine me more closely.
“Does it hurt?”
“No?”
“It’s not too tight?”
“It’s fine.”
It felt cozy and warm somehow. Much more comfortable than Myo Cho-hui’s brutal wooden vines.
Just as the dragon was smoothly unwinding and pulling away, the training ground door opened from outside.
Ja Hyeong-woo walked in confidently, even though this wasn’t his training ground.
“Get out. This is the earth-attribute training ground.”
I glared at him like looking at a man who’d entered a women’s restroom.
Ja Hyeong-woo pretended not to hear my words and looked back and forth between Jin Seol-woon and me, the only two in the training ground. He stood closer to me.
“I need to coordinate with you too.”
Did you call him? I glanced at Jin Seol-woon. Jin Seol-woon shook his head no.
I thought the only thing I needed to agree on with Ja Hyeong-woo beforehand was not picking fights… but apparently there was other work to do.
Support-type tanker Jin Seol-woon’s dragon familiar usually protected the healer. No matter how good Ja Hyeong-woo’s physical abilities were, he couldn’t maneuver like a tanker or dealer.
‘But with someone even more hopeless than the healer getting involved, Jin Seol-woon now has two people to cover with his dragon.’
“Assuming monsters attacked the center and rear simultaneously, try extracting both me and Gang-hyeon.”
Ja Hyeong-woo presented the scenario while looking at Jin Seol-woon.
Jin Seol-woon’s gaze traced a line through the air. The dragon writhed and flew over.
“Ah!”
The dragon smacked my back with its tail, then sent me crashing into the chest of Ja Hyeong-woo, whose eyes were shaking in confusion.
Before I could even lift my head, the dragon’s body tightly squeezed my waist. I was lifted up while pressed against Ja Hyeong-woo.
We managed to evacuate from our original positions with minimal movement and time, but my mental state took damage in the process.
My feet didn’t touch the ground immediately. It was because Ja Hyeong-woo was holding me.
“…If it were truly an emergency situation, it couldn’t be helped, but otherwise, please consider moving us separately.”
Ja Hyeong-woo spoke quietly in a voice that seemed to be suppressing something. The guy who was usually as calm as lake water was being unusually emotional. He must have really hated it.
The culprit, Jin Seol-woon, was stroking his chin with his large hand while staring at us intently.
Having accomplished the goal of moving two people, he should have remained composed even after receiving Ja Hyeong-woo’s criticism. He actually looked that way too.
But instead of arguing back, Jin Seol-woon continued to stare while saying:
“You’re right. It looks…”
Somehow he was agreeing with Ja Hyeong-woo’s opinion, and then:
“…not good.”
The latter part flowed out after a moment of silence.
By then, I had finally succeeded in escaping from Ja Hyeong-woo’s arms. Ja Hyeong-woo left me beside him and suddenly turned his body toward Jin Seol-woon.
“Why do you say it looks not good? In what sense?”
The gazes of the two at similar eye level clashed. Jin Seol-woon’s pupils harbored suspicion as they slightly rolled inward under his eyelids.
“I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“…I see.”
Why is that bastard Ja Hyeong-woo nitpicking at his teammate? He never did that in the original story. It was strange, so I interjected.
“Hey. What context are you picking at his words for? Looking for someone to take your anger out on?”
Ja Hyeong-woo’s gaze briefly lingered on me as I sat naturally on the floor resting, then fell away.
“…Sorry. Seol-woon-ah. If my words just now sounded sharp, it was because I was annoyed by Gang-hyeon.”
That bastard knows how to insult people indirectly too? …Was that intentional?
Ja Hyeong-woo, who had suggested taking a short break, left the training ground. His retreating figure, donning the black durumagi hanging on the coat rack and swiftly exiting, drew considerable attention.
‘Is it really because of me? I wasn’t being annoying just now, was I? Has it gotten to the point where even physical contact with me is irritating?’
Even after the blue trouser hem disappeared, my mental processing lingered at the doorway. Then I realized Jin Seol-woon’s presence and flopped down flat.
“Looks difficult.”
Jin Seol-woon’s muttering, without specifying a subject, still managed to get on my nerves.
I mouthed ‘mind your own business.’ I was confident Jin Seol-woon had read my lips properly without even looking.
Right, this is why being around Ja Hyeong-woo is awkward.
Just now it was fine because it was Jin Seol-woon, but if it had been kids like Hae Mi-jun or Won Ha-ri, I would have been self-conscious from the start. Because of how Ja Hyeong-woo becomes somewhat distant from his usual composure when I’m around.
That’s why I’m a bit scared. When the stage footage is released, the public will naturally see us, and I can’t predict how the media will portray the relationship between me and Ja Hyeong-woo.
‘Squeaky. You absolutely must not interfere during the stage either. Whether I get hurt or not, don’t step in.’
In truly dangerous moments… Ja Hyeong-woo will help me eventually.
{Master won’t care about that.}
Squeaky whispered secretly from Jin Seol-woon.
That’s right. Ja Hyeong-woo has cut himself off from the internet. He’s not the type to listen to people who aren’t right in front of him.
‘I’m the one who cares.’
Even though Jin Seol-woon probably had plenty of stamina left unlike me, when I rested, he also sat on the bench and spent time.
I heard the sound of quiet humming.
“Don’t dare hide, 눈을 떠, 바라봐, what you have missed—.”
He skillfully crafted a song with a unique rhythm, singing without accompaniment while looking at the lyrics on his phone. Soon Jin Seol-woon lifted his head at my gaze.
The song cut off at that verse. Jin Seol-woon looked embarrassed.
“You told me to sing.”
“I didn’t say anything. I’m listening.”
“Why are you listening?”
“Because it’s good.”
Jin Seol-woon blinked his eyelashes once.
His singing ability really is something. No matter how outstanding his abilities as a hunter, it’s true that his singing talent is too good to waste.
Jin Seol-woon, who had put down his phone, said we should finish practice if I was done resting.
Ja Hyeong-woo also returned with an indifferent expression as if nothing had happened. For several days, he kept leaving and returning like that, participating in training.
The raid day dawned.
==
*You’re going to become a pervert who will go down in hunter history.*
==
“Ah shit, really. How long are you going to keep saying that? Is your mindset from the Joseon era? It’ll get boring if you keep it up!”
It’s a misunderstanding. I’m not a pervert. I just went to the Hunter School headquarters and told them to confirm my official successor outfit as sobok.
[Enhancement effects will now be applied to the sobok you wear. Do you approve?]
“Yeah.”
No matter what anyone says, I’ve decided on sobok as my fixed hunter outfit.
I won’t deny the fact that this deathly pale look matches my image…
And white clothes like this show stains well. Whether it’s monster blood or my own blood.
‘Even though my awakening was late, I need to show off how hard I’m working as a hunter.’
I turned around with my perfect plan in mind, only to find four successors waiting to head to the stage entrance with me.
…Why are they all looking at me like I’m pathetic, except for Jin Seol-woon?
Jin Seol-woon was even smiling faintly. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like he was laughing at me for being ridiculous.
Thud, thud, multiple footsteps were heavily imprinted in the passage leading to the stage entrance.
Among them, my footsteps sounded the loudest.
Recording begins from the threshold of entering the stage.
Through that recorded footage, I would be fully exposed under people’s gazes. Combat appearance and attitude, bearing, even appearance. Everything would be placed on the evaluation table.
I knew better than anyone how much attention the first public combat debut of this piece-of-shit delinquent would attract.
“Entering Stage 30.”
Woo Sae-geon, positioned on my left—the western wing—quietly communicated with the association.
Since we were solemnly heading into battle, no one spoke lightly. Even I maintained silence, but then a one-on-one chat notification popped up.
==
Dragon Successor > Me: Don’t overdo it. You’re always in my embrace, so don’t be scared.
==
It’s the dragon’s embrace, not yours.
Jin Seol-woon, in the front position—walking ahead of me—sent the message through chat without looking back at me.
But after a slight time delay, another notification rang.
==
Mouse Successor
==
‘Ja Hyeong-woo?’
The original protagonist who never used chat. The guy who… hates me.
==
Mouse Successor > Me: Whether you twist my words now or whatever, do as you please.
Mouse Successor > Me: I’ve been waiting for a day like today.
Mouse Successor > Me: Fight to your heart’s content. Try everything you can do.
Mouse Successor > Me: I’m the one behind you.
==
The strongest healer in the country.
…He was right behind me, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around. I felt like I’d been deceived somehow. I couldn’t believe that Ja Hyeong-woo had sent such a chat while staring at the back of my head.
I felt confused somehow. Thinking that my expression upon entering might look like fear to others—I entered the gate.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
