.｡.:✧ Chapter 5 ✧:.｡.

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Please don’t pretend to know me.”

The Ye-na from my previous life never spoke in that way.

Rather, she was the kind of person who treated strangers even more kindly.

Or could it be that I mistook Ye-na for someone else?

But there was no way I could forget the face of my wife whom I married, especially the last person I married.

That was definitely Ye-na.

And so, I just stared at her back with a dumbfounded face.

Her single statement, which strangely resembled the expression she gave me coldly after submitting the divorce papers, made me feel a sense of guilt creeping up from a corner of my heart that I had forgotten.

No… There are many cases where people’s personalities change as they grow up…

“…Did puberty come late?”

Although I understood in my head that it was quite some time past the age to call it puberty at twenty, I had no choice but to find an excuse to hide my embarrassment.

* * *

After returning home, I felt the need to organize the core parts of my memories from my previous life while they were still vivid.

As this life progressed, I would gradually lose more and more memories of the future anyway.

That’s why, at this point when my memories of my previous life were the most vivid, I proceeded to record various pieces of information that would happen in the future.

First, there was no need to separately record combat techniques as a hunter.

Although my body couldn’t perfectly reproduce the skills from my previous life yet, this was a matter that could be solved by simply increasing physical training.

I had fought against monsters, risking my life dozens of times.

That experience would remain in my body more vividly than any record.

That’s why I thought it was important to describe the information about the monsters that would appear in the future in as much detail as possible.

I still remember.

The year I entered the academy. In the summer.

Busan was taking steps to be erased from the map of South Korea.

Humans quantified the danger of monsters and classified them as levels.

The weakest level was 1. The level considered the most dangerous was 5.

But on that day when Busan turned into ruins, humanity faced a level 6 monster for the first time, which was difficult to designate as level 5.

Since I was told that the time given to me was 4 years, I specified the monsters that I could remember within that period for now.

There were a total of 8 types of high-level monsters that would appear soon.

I diligently recorded their strategies one by one.

Looking at the notebook filled densely with letters, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

…Do I have to go this far?

In my previous life, I was thirsty for the obsession and sense of achievement to become stronger.

Especially when I first met Si-hwa, even after a bloody battle with monsters, I would come home and continuously review the situations without resting, writing notes like this.

It felt like that was the only way I could survive.

It felt like that could fill the sense of loss from losing Ha-rin.

The result of living like that might be considered valuable by someone, but it wasn’t full of only good things.

Every time I got divorced, numerous reporters chased after me.

[Hunter Choi In-wook! There are rumors of an affair by Hunter Yoon Ha-rin. Is it true?]

[It’s not like that.]

[I’ll ask a question too! The hunter industry was abuzz about the birth of the strongest hunter couple ever, Hunter Choi In-wook and Hunter Yoo Si-hwa, but what’s the reason for getting divorced in less than 3 months?]

[We can’t answer due to our personal issues.]

[Hunter Choi In-wook! Currently, on the internet, you’ve been given the nickname ‘S-rank Beauty Killer.’ Have you seen the post listing candidates for your next wife?]

[I didn’t even know there was such a nickname, and I have no plans to see such posts in the future either.]

…It was tiresome.

Numerous speculations were rampant on the internet, and I didn’t like being talked about as content by others.

It was annoying to have to wear a mask even when going to buy a cup of coffee.

If it were a job like a celebrity who made money from fame, it would have been a little less unfair.

If I were the type of person who enjoyed this attention, I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet Ye-na in that remote rural village.

Sigh…

Thinking about that time made me sigh deeply.

Then, should I try to live a life that doesn’t stand out in this life?

I also pondered whether I should not get involved with the monsters I had organized in my notebook, just like in my previous life.

But… I couldn’t do that.

It wasn’t for a hypocritical reason like preventing a lot of casualties, like some incompetent peace organization’s nice-sounding words.

If what the primordial spirit said was true, and my child was born within 5 years…

I didn’t want my child to live in this land that had turned into a wasteland.

Starting with Busan, several cities had turned into seas of fire, and numerous casualties occurred.

What I could do as a father, and what I could do as a hunter who was called the strongest.

It was to make this place, South Korea, a safer country.

Then, should I compromise by defeating the monsters that would appear in the future without revealing my identity?

Yeah. Still, I should at least go on a trip to Haeundae with my daughter and visit the beach.

I didn’t want to describe that beautiful sea to my child in a tone as if I were the only one reminiscing.

Daddy will do his best.

My child, whose name I don’t know yet.

And so, after checking the notebook one by one to see if there was any missing content, I finally fell asleep.

* * *

This morning, a light rain was falling.

I think watching the rain itself is romantic, but when I had to walk in that rain, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

Despite using an umbrella, I couldn’t hide my discomfort at the sensation of my slightly damp uniform.

Arriving at the academy, I discovered promotional posters posted here and there.

These are… club promotion posters…

In my previous life, I didn’t join any clubs.

That’s because I was very skeptical about school activities as I thoroughly wanted to focus only on hunter activities.

With a mindset that I’d rather hunt one more level 1 monster than spend time with them after school, of course, things like clubs never caught my eye.

But in this life, I wasn’t impatient at all about my achievements.

Getting an S-rank was a piece of cake, and honestly, the training I used to devote most of my time to after school now had no reason to do as much as back then.

Hmm… Should I try doing something?

Since I became young again, I also started to think that I wanted to live enjoyably rather than swinging a sword.

And so, I went up the stairs, scanning the posters with my eyes.

Arriving at the classroom, I found myself automatically looking towards the window.

Ha-rin was staring out the window filled with dark clouds, resting her chin on her hand.

Her expression was gloomy, as if she had something troubling on her mind.

Soon, the bell rang and the homeroom teacher came in.

“Now, let’s start the classes in earnest. As we’ve done every year, the first semester will be conducted in pairs.”

Pair. It meant that instead of one person, two people would act as one team.

Who was I paired with in my first year… I couldn’t remember well, so it seemed they weren’t a particularly important person.

“Then, I’ll call out names by drawing lots fairly. That person will designate the person they want to pair up with.”

Actually, during this time in my previous life, I didn’t know anyone in the academy, so I had the mindset that it didn’t matter who I was with.

Whoever I ended up with, I would grab them by the collar and drag them to get 1st place.

It was a time when I had such a bold attitude.

The homeroom teacher began drawing and shuffling papers with students’ names written on them.

“Yoon Hye-seul.”

“I’ll go with Park In-ha!”

“Kim Da-hye.”

“Um… I’ll… go with Park Ha-min!”

Some people answered right away as if they had an agreement, while others hesitated and called out names after looking around.

Almost everyone had found a partner, and there were only a few papers left.

Her name was called.

“Yoon Ha-rin.”

My first love raised her head and looked around the classroom.

There were male students here and there looking at Ha-rin with eyes desperately wanting her to choose them.

Instead, I turned my head and looked out the window as if I wasn’t interested.

Until I firmly decided on a marriage partner, I refrained from contacting my ex-wives on my end.

The homeroom teacher asked again.

“You’re saying you’re pairing with Choi In-wook, right?”

Then, a male student sitting next to Ha-rin who didn’t have a partner yet spoke to her.

“I’m actually pretty skilled, you know? How about going with me instead of that guy?”

Ha-rin turned her head and looked at that friend.

“Sorry. I… have to be with In-wook.”

Although she spoke in a gentle tone, the content was quite shocking.

What are you thinking, Yoon Ha-rin?

She gave me an awkward smile.

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