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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Misunderstanding (1)
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A high sum of 50 million won for a mere investigation request with a no-approach clause.
However, for a Fiend, that amount was only natural.
Fiends wielding supernatural abilities with intelligence.
Their danger level was on a completely different dimension compared to monsters.
They were predators who hid among humans and hunted them.
"And that quota system punk, he's a Fiend...?"
It felt as if her sleep vanished in an instant.
Kang Do-hee collected herself and began to thoroughly read the information she had received.
The title written at the very beginning.
[E-rank Gate, Carmela's Forest Report. —Hunter Administration—]
Kang Do-hee's finger paused as she was about to skim through the content.
Jin Yu-ha – Hunter Rank F
"No way."
Jin Yu-ha.
From their first meeting, she didn't like how he acted overly friendly and clung to her, but
Kang Do-hee secretly acknowledged his abilities regardless.
She couldn't help but.
His physical abilities were right behind hers, and his swordsmanship was so exceptional it made her eyes pop.
There had been no man before, and there would be none in the future, who could display such abilities in a male body.
She hadn't understood why he possessed such abilities yet entered through the male quota system until now...
Now, everything made sense.
Goosebumps prickled Kang Do-hee's arms.
'If it's the male quota system... then he can definitely avoid the status window inspection, which is a mandatory requirement for the entrance exam.'
The male quota system, which granted admission simply because one was male.
It was a damnable system born from the Guild Master's sacrifice.
A worthless, trashy system with no real effectiveness or value.
Kang Do-hee was already sick and tired of the Hunter Administration's behavior, acting as if they had done enough by creating such a thing.
"But a Fiend bastard used that system to infiltrate the academy..."
Kang Do-hee's eyes moved faster and faster.
"The previous records and the records from Carmela's Forest are excessively different... strongly suspected to be a Fiend."
Indeed, the achievements were strangely abnormal for an F-rank Hunter.
Furthermore, Jin Yu-ha was recorded as the one who contributed the most in that gate.
Then, she recalled what the instructor had said when he first displayed his swordsmanship.
— Is this your first time holding a sword?
— You don't seem to know how to use your body. Have you not used your body much until recently?
Sudden growth.
Unrefined, strange power.
Alluring, inhuman appearance.
All were characteristics of a Fiend.
"...Jin Yu-ha, that guy. He was a Fiend."
Kang Do-hee bit her lip.
"That's why I received a named request. Because they know we train together."
Normally, she wouldn't even look at a request from the Hunter Administration, who had put the Guild Master in that state.
But this time was different.
She had to accept this request.
This was a Fiend infiltrating by exploiting the loophole in the male quota system.
In other words, it was an incident that desecrated the Guild Master's sacrifice.
Just then.
*Ding-dong—♬*
Her phone rang once more.
"...What is this now?"
Sender – Black Serpent.
"Black Serpent?"
She knew the person.
A client who, though sometimes giving very troublesome tasks, paid quite well.
That person had sent her an email.
The email subject was "Jin Yu-ha Video".
"This bastard, he was from the Administration...!?"
To think she had been cleaning up after that snake bastard all this time without knowing.
Kang Do-hee's blood boiled.
In truth, the initial request was from the Hunter Administration, and the video was sent separately by Shin Se-hee.
However, due to the coincidence of both sending information about Jin Yu-ha at the same time, Kang Do-hee couldn't help but misunderstand.
That 'Black Serpent' was a person from the Hunter Administration.
"Damn it. I'll never accept a request from this snake bastard again."
Still, since she had decided to accept this current request, Kang Do-hee opened her mailbox and played the video.
* * *
"Secretary Kim, may I ask why you proceeded with the operation so hastily, Lady Shin Se-hee?"
Secretary Kim asked in a flustered voice.
"...The plan was ruined."
Shin Se-hee, seated at her desk, pressed her temples.
"I was trying to create a scandal now, to keep Jin Yu-ha by my side later..."
The reason Shin Se-hee continuously ate with Jin Yu-ha in front of others.
It was partly to annoy Kang Do-hee, but more importantly, it was to intentionally create points of contact with Jin Yu-ha.
A strategic move to keep that man by her side in the future.
Although she had made an equal deal with him, Shin Se-hee had no intention of giving up on Jin Yu-ha.
He was a man with abilities so desirable.
However,
That plan was ruined from the start by the sudden appearance of one woman.
Yi Yu-ri.
"What on earth is it? That magic power that draws attention..."
Shin Se-hee pondered, eventually concluding that it must be the unconscious manifestation of a 'skill.'
"Even though I have a body sensitive to magic power... most skills are usually devoured by me."
This meant that the skill possessed by that ordinary girl was powerful enough to overwhelm even her.
Shin Se-hee bit her lip tightly.
"It's frightening."
The fear that just a casual encounter could expose all the secrets she had carefully hidden and kept concealed.
Shin Se-hee felt dread at this unfamiliar sensation.
"...Until I devise a proper countermeasure against that woman, I shouldn't touch Jin Yu-ha."
"That woman, you mean?"
"Secretary Kim, you don't need to know. Just think of it as me having no hobby of poking beehives."
"Yes, ma'am."
"So, have all the Jin Yu-ha videos been sent to Kang Do-hee?"
Originally, she had planned to drag Jin Yu-ha's feelings to rock bottom and
overlay the Guild Master onto Jin Yu-ha, watching her squirm, but
That was merely a hobby.
Now, nothing else mattered.
If she did something Jin Yu-ha disliked, he might bring that monstrous woman in front of her again.
"No, ma'am. Only the edited videos have been sent so far."
"...Tsk, I just gave Kang Do-hee a good deal. How annoying."
Shin Se-hee clicked her tongue.
"Well, it's fine. Send them sequentially as they're completed. That was the deal from the start. Let's quickly connect the two and finalize the deal. We also need to catch the unidentified necklace thief."
"Yes, ma'am!"
*Clack— Clack—*
Secretary Kim began her work according to Shin Se-hee's command.
* * *
Things have been a bit strange lately.
First, Shin Se-hee no longer approaching him.
He understood that.
She seemed to feel an unusual fear towards Yi Yu-ri.
'...But what's wrong with Kang Do-hee? Her eyes are completely deranged.'
She glared at him as if he were her sworn enemy.
To the point where his 'Intuition,' which warned of boss monster appearances, rang an alarm.
Of course, Kang Do-hee only watched from hiding and didn't approach him directly.
But he couldn't help but be bothered.
When someone glared like that, his 'Detection' was forcibly activated.
So, personal training was out of the question today.
He couldn't concentrate on swinging his sword.
'Did Shin Se-hee's trickery get to her?'
Even though he had given her a preventive shot beforehand, its effect didn't seem to have appeared yet.
'If she can't stand it, she'll come out and talk to me then.'
In any case, Shin Se-hee's strategy seemed to have achieved some success.
Initially, her gaze was like looking at a roadside pebble, but now she was looking at him so intensely, which was something.
"Still, this is a bit tiring."
"Tiring?"
Instructor Baek Seol-hee, who was personally overseeing his sword practice, spoke when he couldn't focus on his training.
"Oh, I wasn't talking about the training."
"Starting this weekend, you have sparring scheduled with other groups. Last week was for everyone to form their groups, wasn't it?"
"Yes."
"I've overlooked you doing personal training during joint training hours until now, but starting today, you'll need to participate in joint training."
'Overlooked...? I wanted to participate in joint training from the beginning. Was I not excluded?'
When he glared at Instructor Baek Seol-hee with that meaning, she frowned.
"Student Jin Yu-ha. It's natural to be ambitious about personal growth, but you must control the extent of it."
"..."
"No matter how strong you become alone, you can never match a group formed into a party."
Baek Seol-hee admonished him sternly.
"This instructor has been very accommodating to your convenience until now. So, abandon your ambition and participate in training with your party members as well."
"...Yes."
Honestly, he had a lot to say, but he swallowed it down and nodded his head.
*
"Alright, we'll begin joint training. We'll go with a practical approach. Both special admission students, please wear this magic tool."
A magic tool that limits magic power.
It seemed to be the penalty imposed on Shin Se-hee and Kang Do-hee.
"...What about Mr. Jin Yu-ha?"
"The male quota system students do not wear it."
Shin Se-hee asked in a voice full of complaint, but the instructor dismissed her words.
"That's incredibly petty."
"If you feel wronged, enter through the quota system."
Shin Se-hee grumbled but immediately put on the magic tool.
On the other hand, Kang Do-hee looked at him and the magic tool back and forth several times with an uneasy gaze before reluctantly putting it on under the instructor's stern look.
And so, the joint training of the male quota system student + special admission students began.