Chapter 111
By now, school life had started to settle into a normal rhythm. The hectic hustle and bustle at the beginning of the semester had all passed, and things had become just like an ordinary school.
It was during second period, in the middle of math class.
ㅡknock, knock, knock
“Base times height divided by 2... a trapezoid is the top base plus the bottom base times...”
I was so focused on class that, even though there was a visitor outside, the teacher kept going with the headache-inducing math lesson, so the boy by the door called out to her.
“Teacher, someone came to see you outside.”
“Huh? Really? Just a second..? Everyone, sit quietly and review what you've learned~”
Teacher Kim Hyunji sat the kids down in her usual gentle tone and went out through the front door, but of course that wouldn't work on a bunch of nosy little elementary-schoolers.
“What is it? Who is it?”
As the teacher's conversation dragged on, the kids in class started getting up one by one and walking over to the hallway window. They avoided the wall window with the frosted glass and crowded around the small window set into the sliding door, peering out into the hall.
“Isn't that Teacher Baek Sangjun?”
“It is.”
The one who had called Teacher Kim Hyunji away in the middle of class was none other than the famous Teacher Baek Sangjun, one of the Hunter Class teachers everyone knew. Once they realized it was a face they rarely got to see unless they were Hunter Class students, even the kids who had been unusually well-behaved for grade-schoolers jumped up and crowded against the classroom's front and back doors.
“Hey, move for a second.”
“Come on, the people who already saw him step aside. Let the next person look.”
I didn't know why they were making a whole line and taking turns to look at something that was so exciting, but that's how grade-schoolers are. In the end, I even quietly cracked open the frosted wall window a little and peeked through the gap.
ㅡclack, clack....
The sound of dress shoes came from beyond the slightly opened window.
“Damn, it's Yu Chaerin.”
“Quit lying and come out here.”
“No, I'm serious.”
“Then come out if it's real. I want to see too..!”
At that, Choa and I, who had been sitting quietly, both perked up.
“What would Hunter Yu Chaerin be coming here for?”
“Exactly..?”
“Eve, didn't you say you knew Hunter Yu Chaerin?”
“Ah, um... yeah, that's true.”
As Choa and I were talking, some of the kids nearby came over too and started chiming in.
“Did she come to see you, Eve?”
“No way, really? An S-rank?”
“Or did she come to see Choa?”
“I don't have any connection with Hunter Yu Chaerin.”
“Eve, you said you're close with Hunter Yu Chaerin. Go talk to her.”
“That wasn't a lie? It was real?”
“I-I wasn't lying... We do know each other.”
The kids in my class seemed to be only half-believing me. If I were them, I'd probably feel the same. I mean, how impressive could a fourth grader possibly be, to be friends with one of Korea's strongest hunters?
ㅡrattle...
By then, Teacher Kim Hyunji had finished talking, and when she came back in through the front door and gave them a scolding, the kids clinging to the window hurried back to their seats.
“Ah! I told you to sit quietly, didn't I! And... Eve? Can you come out for a moment?”
“Me..? Ah, okay...”
“Okay, let's continue class~ Everyone, please hurry and take your seats~”
“Teacher, who called Eve?”
“I can't tell you that~”
Of course, since everyone had already shoved their faces right up to the window and seen it together, there was nothing to keep secret anyway.
And then, to really drive it home.
ㅡrattle....
“Eve~”
“C-Chaerin unnie?”
“Hey, Eve. Pack up your bag and everything else and come out.”
“Huh? I'm going home?”
“Yeah.”
Chaerin unnie poked her face through the open door to greet me, and Teacher Baek Sangjun told me to pack my bag and come out. The moment I said I was going home, my classmates all started going, wow, I'm jealous, damn, I want to go home too, that's awesome, amazing, and so on, showering me with envious looks.
I remember being really jealous of kids like that back when I was in school.
‘Heh-heh, I'm going home, guys!!! Jealous, aren't you!!!!’
I wanted to bounce around with excitement inside, but showing it openly would be a little much.
“Dangdang, wake up. We have to go.”
ㅡbeep..?
I woke Dangdang up from sleeping in the corner of the desk too, and headed home. To be honest, I wasn't really sure whether we were going home or somewhere else.
* * * * *
“So... I'm going to Yongsan now?”
“Yeah.”
“You too, Teacher?”
“Yes. Do you think it's okay to keep making your teacher come all this way?”
“No, I mean, did I do that...?”
We rode Teacher Baek Sangjun's personal car down from the school main building to the foot of Cheonggyesan. It was funny how the car had this weird old-man smell. A dried-up diffuser was wedged into the back-seat cup holder, but it didn't give off any scent at all.
“Eve, your uniform really suits you. Is school life fun?”
“Um, I think it's pretty fun.”
“Does Teacher Sangjun treat you well?”
Chaerin unnie, who was sitting in the passenger seat, reached her hand back to pass me a chocolate and struck up a conversation. In the rearview mirror, Teacher Baek Sangjun's middle-aged-looking face was visible.
“U-um...”
“Look at that.”
When I hesitated to answer, the teacher just rolled down the window on my side. I shivered at the cold air blowing in from outside, and Dangdang, who had been sitting in the middle of the back seat, wriggled his way into my lap.
“Sangjun, that's taking it too far with a little kid.”
“I'm just kidding. Eve, have I ever done anything wrong by you?”
“I don't think you've really done anything for me...”
“Get out, brat. Walk.”
I was headed to Nova because of the formation of the pre-survey raid team for Silence Laboratory. Apparently the other side had filed some kind of objection to me being registered on the pre-survey raid team, since I was a student and still so young.
Normally, that wouldn't have been a problem, but apparently it had been submitted to the International Dungeon Management Association yesterday.
“Ha, why do these bastards keep nitpicking at me.”
“Teacher, if you've seen them for about a year, aren't you close by now?”
“Don't even say such nonsense. The longer I look at those guys, the more I can't stand them.”
“Sangjun, why do you talk so harshly in front of a child?”
“Eve, do you like China?”
“N-not especially...”
It looked like the Chinese Dungeon Management Association, which had been eyeing a stake in the Silence Laboratory auction, had picked a fight and was trying to push me out somehow.
Just because the dungeon is in Korea doesn't mean only Korean hunters can handle the pre-survey. China has more high-rank hunters because of its population, so if Korea's survey team falls apart, they're trying to use that as an excuse to step in and conduct the survey themselves.
“Who are they sending from China?”
“Apparently a few people have already come. Why would I bother memorizing the names of every Chinese bastard?”
In the end, a few people from China came too, along with people from the International Dungeon Management Association, so things got pushed through a bit hastily. Nova had originally planned to defend the matter using my achievements so far, but things had been going smoothly until they suddenly got overturned and ended up like this.
If my abilities at the Yongsan Rating Assessment Center seem good enough for this raid-team assignment, they might approve it. If I do poorly, I may have to pull out of the pre-survey raid team.
“Oh right, I need to call Ophelia.”
Just as I was rummaging in my pocket for my phone, Ophelia called at the perfect moment.
ㅡring ring, ring ring
“Hello? Ophelia?”
“Princess, are you traveling together with Hunter Yu Chaerin?”
“Yep. Where are you, Ophelia?”
“I am currently heading to the Yongsan Rating Assessment Center in one of the company's cargo trucks.”
“Huh? Why a truck?”
“Because it seems likely that during the demonstration of your abilities, there may be a situation where Sir Galahad will need to be called.”
“I see.”
Come to think of it, if they wanted to gauge my combat power right now, Grandpa Galahad would definitely be necessary. But if he were called to the assessment center and couldn't get back, the house sprites in the forge would be stuck too, and all the work would stop.
It sounds like they've been working incredibly hard lately. I did see them yesterday while the broadcast was on, too...
“What about Minyum and Suri?”
“They're currently out of the gate and waiting at the factory with the soldier golems.”
It was pretty much certain that Suri and Minyum would be called too. If things went badly, would I even have to show Ophelia's abilities as well?
“All right, Ophelia.”
“Yes, please travel safely.”
* * * * *
“It's not as good as the Tongzhou Assessment Center.”
“Is there any need to compare something like that? It's just because of the difference in population. This place is plenty good enough.”
“Yanan, be honest. You came here because you like Korea, didn't you?”
“I'll pass on answering that.”
“Annoying.”
People from the Chinese and Korean Dungeon Management Associations, including two S-rank hunters from China, and about fourteen people from the International Dungeon Management Association as well. Altogether, around thirty people had gathered at the Yongsan Rating Assessment Center.
“I like that there aren't people walking around shirtless in Korea.”
“Even in this weather, nobody walks around shirtless in China either?”
The female S-rank hunter Yanan, who secretly liked Korea, and the Chinese S-rank hunter Haoran, who found Yanan irritating.
Both of them were low-ranked among S-rank hunters, but under the International Comprehensive Rating Assessment Manual, they had been granted S-ranks that could only be given to people selected by the International Rating Assessment Center near Arlington, Virginia, in the United States.
‘What tremendous aura...’
‘So they're S-rank, even if their ranking is low.’
The many awakened people visiting the Yongsan Rating Assessment Center could feel their presence. Sensing the gazes of passersby, Yanan waved and smiled with her eyes.
“Hi~”
“Yanan, don't greet the Koreans.”
“Whatever.”
Before long, the person who had become the center of attention arrived at the Yongsan Rating Assessment Center.
Aegis had sent Korean A-rank hunter Baek Sangjun, in the interest of student protection, along with Yu Chaerin, the only one of Korea's two S-rank hunters who was active publicly.
“Princess, please give me your bag.”
“Ah, I should've left it in the teacher's car. Please take care of it.”
“Understood.”
And then, a white-haired girl walking behind them.
“Haoran. I think she's coming over there.”
“Hm? Where?”
Though she was wearing a school uniform, she was clearly still a child, and one little girl was trotting along behind her guardian.
“That's her? The one Nova kept coddling so much because she's an S-rank they got from them? To think they'd shove such a tiny little girl into a dungeon. Korea really is ruined. And they even stuck a maid on a child.”
“Hmm.”
Even the Chinese Hunter Management Association, which had no real need to send the Korea-friendly Yanan, had its reasons for reluctantly putting her in this group.
‘What a cute little kid. Let's take a look.’
Among S-rank hunters, she possessed the rare S-grade skill Starlit Insight (星辰眼界). Since it wasn't a combat skill, Yanan's own S-rank placement was low, but its power was unmatched even within China.
The ability to pierce through the true worth of whoever she looked at with her skill. Through extraordinarily honed insight, she could even derive the outcome of a battle with a target she had previously seen through. In combat alone, it was an ability approaching foresight.
‘What is this...’
The tiny white-haired girl's opponent was Jing Tongxuan, the world's No. 13 and the strongest among China's S-ranks. The future peak he might one day reach, as Yanan had seen it before, collided in her mind with the potential hidden in the girl.
“...Haoran. Something seems wrong.”
“Why? What is it now.”
And the result was...
“...Jing Tongxuan is dead. He didn't even get to lift a finger.”