Chapter 17

A scheduled meeting with the Korean branch of the Hunter Association.

The meeting room for the top-class hunters of Korea was located in the building with the best view of Sky Town.

A gorgeous view was displayed on the other side of the thick glass. Even though Kang YuChan was an old man with gray hair, he exuded mana from his entire body—as if establishing his place as the head of the Association.

“Yu WonHak…” he muttered.

Even though the hunters that had gathered in the meeting room were all widely-known active hunters in their own right, they stiffened up at the presence of the mana from Kang YuChan’s body.

But the person who had created such an atmosphere in the first place—Fist King Yu WonHak—only laughed. “Kuhuhhuh!”

As he did so, president Kang YuChan turned his head towards the other man and began to shout.

“You bastard, Yu WonHak! You made me, your comrade who went through thick and thin with you, wait over a dozen years for you?”

The other hunter had bewildered expressions on their faces at the sudden display of emotion from the usually collected Kang YuChan. But what was present in his shouting was not rage but fondness.

“Haha, sorry! I did think that I should show my face every once in a while, but I got way too into raising YuSung!”

“You call that an excuse, you asshole?!”

Despite Kang YuChan’s grouchy words, he couldn’t hide the happiness that had crept into his expression.

The two giants of the hunter world looked at each other and began to laugh; the other hunters in the meeting room started to fidget and catch each other’s looks.

In fact, the subject of the meeting was the [Academy Dungeon Raid Competition] event that was being hosted by the Association.

The hunters had gathered here so that they could recommend any students that had caught their eye during the meeting that was going to be held. But Yu WonHak had, essentially, cut in line.

“YuChan-ah. Can an old friend make a request?”

At that one phrase, the atmosphere of the room became frosty. But there was not a single hunter brave enough to speak up against Yu WonHak. More than anything else, Yu WonHak was an irreplaceable friend to the person on the highest rung of the Association, Kang YuChan.

“Wahaha… sure! Go ahead! I’m the president of the Association; there’s nothing I can’t do!“

It was an act of suicide for any run-of-the-mill hunter to oppose him. Yu WonHak scanned the room, looking over the other occupants.

“For the raid competition that’s going to be held soon… I want to know what artifacts have been hidden in which dungeons in advance.”

“For your disciple, right?”

“Yeah. The Black Dragon’s Hide was an artifact that I provided to the Hunter Association in the first place. There’s no problem in YuSung taking it back with him, right?”

Kang YuChan began to show some interest at Yu WonHak’s words.

“You really are doting on him, how unlike you. Is it because he’s your first disciple?”

“What, are you finally getting curious about him?”

Yu WonHak’s words were playful.

But the response that Kang YuChan gave him had the other hunters freeze in their spots.

“I am. I’ll have to take a look at this disciple myself since you treasure him so much.”

It was no small news for Kang YuChan, someone who was rarely seen even during Association events, to personally visit the Academy.

The Academy City branch manager, Mei Lin, eventually stepped in and tried to discourage him.

“B-but Mr. President… he is just a student! If the president of the Association is seen with him, there will definitely be an uproar…”

But Kang YuChan lightly waved off Mei Lin’s concerns.

“Wahaha! Talk about too much racket around someone who’s just visiting his friend’s disciple! I’ll be back quickly. Don’t worry about it!”

Fist King Yu WonHak.

President Kang YuChan.

The hunters gathered at the meeting place started thinking to themselves as the two strongest hunters of South Korea showed interest in the same student.

‘So he’s that promising?’

‘If I get closer to that student, I can make connections to Fist King-nim through him.’

‘Maybe I should send a scout after him?’

It was the moment when, despite being a first-year student, the name of Shin YuSung was etched into the minds of top-class hunters.

* * * *

The peaceful newsroom of K Channel.

Yu HanNah looked like she was in a good mood, as her stories on Shin YuSung had continuously brought in high ratings.

“Jurutjurujaja~”

As if to prove it, she hummed a weird melody under her breath. She sucked a mouthful of fresh fruit juice through a straw. But just as she did so…

Bam!

“Breaking news! Breaking news!”

The head producer rushed into the waiting room while slamming the doors open. Yu HanNah, surprised, spit out the juice in her mouth.

“H-hack! Gag! Hey—cough! Producer-nim! W-what’s the big deal, so suddenly?”

Yu HanNah spent a good while coughing, then wiped her nose with a tissue and started to glare at the other person.

“…Shit! Some strawberry seeds flew out of my nose.”

Her expression was one of complete annoyance. But the head producer ignored her and began to desperately wave his arms.

“Hey! The strawberry seeds are not the problem right now!”

“…If what you brought with you isn’t important, I’m going to stuff this tissue I wiped my nose with down your gullet. You understand?”

The head producer took a step back at Yu HanNah’s threat as she started waving the tissue at him. Words began falling rapid-fire out of his mouth.

“The Fist King Yu WonHak and President Kang YuChan! The heads of the hunter world are traveling to Gaon Academy right now!”

“No way, really?” Yu HanNah asked with a shocked expression on her face.

“Really!” replied the head producer with a sincere expression on their face.

One of the hunters who had participated in the meeting had given them the tip. Of course, the head producer did not hear the reason as to why those two were going to the academy, but Yu HanNah was quick on the uptake.

“…Yu WonHak and Kang YuChan at Gaon Academy? No matter how you see it, this combination of people definitely means that they’re going to visit Shin YuSung, right? Right! Since he’s the disciple of Yu WonHak!”

Words began to fall out of Yu HanNah’s mouth rapid-fire as well. The head producer pointed at the tissue in her hand with his finger. With a livid expression, she threw it in the trash can.

“Tch, I’ll admit it’s big!”

The head producer gave Yu HanNah a smug smile.

“What are you doing, just sitting here? Gather up a crew and make your way there!”

At the head producer’s words, Yu HanNah and other top employees of the news station gathered up their equipment and prepared to leave. They had another piece of news that Yu WonHak and Kang YuChan didn’t know…

It was also the day of the spar between Shin YuSung and Park SuHyun.

* * *

* * *

An official spar with a staggering 150SP (School Points) on the line. Even though Park SuHyun had looked down on the F-rank Shin YuSung in front of Kim EunAh, he ended up thoroughly preparing for the match.

“All of the settings have been prepared just as I asked, right?” Park SuHyun asked while adjusting his glasses with a finger.

Nod.

A man in formal wear with the presence of an underling hurriedly took out a carefully bundled armband from his coat pocket.

“Yes, young master! This is the item you requested!”

Instead of a response, Park SuHyun placed the black band around his wrist.

Clack.

The band that he had ordered looked plain, but its effects were amazing.

[Rechargeable Portable Shield]

A shield barrier that even hunters on active duty used was installed onto the armband.

It was an item that could block a good portion of attacks from monsters, provided that the wearer had enough mana.

‘You aren’t allowed to use artifacts during a spar, but the rules don’t say anything about Hunting Gear.’

Smirk.

Park SuHyun began to laugh as he stared at the band around his wrist. No one had ever brought Hunting Gear, which were worth hundreds of millions of won, to a spar before. Park SuHyun took advantage of that oversight.

‘Even if he manages to close the distance, the portable shield can block him, and that’s that.’

Park SuHyun arrogantly placed his feet on the office desk. Right then, the phone in his pocket began to vibrate.

“Ah~ professor! This is Park SuHyun speaking!”

He answered the call, a smile spread over his face. On the other end of the call, the voice of a timid man rang out.

–Y-yes! I… chose the arena that you told me to pick. The money will be wired right away, right? As you promised?”

Park SuHyun snickered, mocking the other man. As he did so, the phone in his hand vibrated, and a message appeared.

[The location of the match has been decided!]

[Time: 1:00PM]

[Location: 4th Sparring Arena (Ocean Dome)]

Park SuHyun had consulted with the professor in advance to choose a stage that was advantageous to him. While the arena was supposed to be chosen randomly for the sake of fairness, Park SuHyun had the weapon called money on his side.

“Yes~ professor~ thank you very much. My secretary will deposit the cash right away.”

After saying that, he ended the call without even listening to the other man’s reply. With a cocky expression, he slowly rose from the chair.

“As expected…”

Park SuHyun took off the glasses he was wearing. His complexion was something that could be called handsome, even at first glance. A cruel smirk appeared on his face.

“One has to use both his head and money.”

* * * *

Ten minutes before the start of the match.

Shin YuSung watched the clear water flowing around the swimming pool, fascinated.

‘So Gaon Academy owns five sparring arenas just as big as this one?’

No two hunters had the same Trait, and among them were many with unique strengths.

Gaon Academy’s five sparring arenas were fittingly diverse.

‘The place where I’m going to fight against Park SuHyun is…’

The 4th Ocean Dome sparring arena.

It was a location where yellow buoys were spread out across a gigantic pool large enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a killer whale show being hosted there.

Splaaash!

On top of that, man-made waves would periodically rock the buoys.

‘If I land on one of them too hard… I’ll probably fall in.’

To a fighter like Shin YuSung, who primarily used his own body to fight, an arena like the Ocean Dome was much too disadvantageous for him.

‘I won’t be able to expend much power, either…’

Shin YuSung tried to analyze the arena in the scant amount of time he had. Right then, the doors to the arena slammed open.

“So this is the place the news channel is gonna be covering?”

“Sure is. To be honest, I don’t think watching this is going to let us get a good grasp of their combat abilities…”

Leading the D Class students were the ones who Shin YuSung had helped on Jewel Island–-Jin MinAh and Sung IkHyun.

“Hey, it’s YuSung!”

“S-Shin YuSung-ssi!… I’m here, too!”

Right after—Lee SiWoo, who was flippantly waving his arm, and Sumire, who was carefully gathering her courage, entered the arena with the other F Class students.

But the stream of students did not end there. Even those considered the elites of Gaon, the A Class students, confidently strutted in.

The D Class and F Class students shared glances with each other.

“It’s A Class…”

“Are they here because of Park SuHyun?”

Of course, among the A Class students, the one who stood out the most was the annoyed face and crossed arms of Kim EunAh in the middle of the group.

“Ugh, this sucks. It’s too damp here! I think I can smell the rank water…”

Second place in the first year students rankings in South Korea’s top academy, Gaon. On top of that, she was the granddaughter of the CEO of the Shinsung group—the greatest corporation in the nation.

It was obvious that, even among these elite A Class students, she was their leader.

Plop.

Kim EunAh sat on one of the front-row seats with one leg crossed over another. She tossed her hair behind her and smirked.

“Why don’t we go ahead and watch his third-rate skills?”

But the subject of focus during this match was not the loudly boasting Kim EunAh.

Bam!

The doors to the arena opened again, and Yu HanNah rushed towards it with the news crew. A flurry of questions was aimed at the people who entered.

Fist King Yu WonHak and Association President Kang YuChan.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The sparring arena was swept up in shock as the two larger-than-life figures arrived to watch Shin YuSung.