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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Ji-eun. I’m healthy. I wish you wouldn’t make such remarks, even as a joke.”
I couldn’t believe I had to say this to someone I had barely seen a few times.
I also felt pathetic for flinching at her words.
“Right? Hey, everyone was just joking~ You all got so serious, I thought I had made some mistake~”
…It was a mistake, actually.
Sighing deeply, I tried to send Ha-rin back to the classroom first.
“I’ll just show her around the training ground a bit and come back. Ha-rin.”
“I can go with you too, though?”
“I have some personal matters to discuss with Ji-eun.”
At my somewhat firm words, Ha-rin nodded and left first.
“Huh? You want to talk to me alone, don’t tell me…!”
Ji-eun cupped her cheeks with both hands.
“In-wook. I had a feeling you were being cold only to me… I knew it, you…”
I really wanted to punch her just once.
I had never thought about hitting a woman in this life or the previous one, but today I wondered if it would be okay.
“Sigh… Ji-eun. Listen carefully.”
She nodded with expectant eyes.
“I heard briefly from the principal that you transferred to our academy on the condition that you could be with me.”
“Well, that’s because In-wook said you would become my teacher if I did that.”
As expected, the answer I had anticipated flowed from Ji-eun’s mouth.
“No. I told you that was the bare minimum condition. I’m busy. I have a lot to do. I already said I’m not skilled enough to teach others.”
At my somewhat cold answer, Ji-eun bit her lip tightly.
“In-wook… I need to become strong.”
She continued speaking with a serious expression.
“I didn’t mention it, but two days ago. Those guys from Seolhwa Church wearing fox masks came to find me again.”
At her unexpected words, I began to grasp the seriousness of the situation.
The fact that they revealed themselves in front of Ji-eun even though it wasn’t the time to cause trouble meant their internal policy had changed differently from my previous life.
“I was lucky to somehow escape from them, but there’s no guarantee the same thing won’t happen next time.”
She was right about this.
“Did you report it to the outside?”
“Of course, I told the Hunter Association.”
“So what did they say?”
“They just told me to wait a bit. That there’s nothing they can do for me yet…”
Knowing the association’s way of handling things well, I could clearly see how they would have responded to Ji-eun’s words.
No matter how much of a spotlighted hunter trainee she was, she was still just a twenty-year-old kid.
Without even a proper rank.
There was no way the association would pull out personnel for her or properly investigate.
And above all, even if they assigned hunters to protect Ji-eun, there was a high probability they would be B-rank or lower.
They wouldn’t be able to protect her from the fanatics.
Rather, she would be lucky not to suffer a terrible fate.
“Anyway, that’s why… I thought it would be faster for me to become strong…”
Her words made me think of all sorts of things.
The structural problems of the hunter world.
The movements of Seolhwa Church.
My academy life.
After pondering silently for a moment, I reached a conclusion.
“…I can give you some time after school.”
Ji-eun’s expression, which had been fidgeting her fingers anxiously, gradually brightened.
“Does that mean! In-wook, you and I…!”
“Listen to the end. I’m not done talking yet.”
I preemptively blocked her mouth as she seemed about to spout more nonsense.
“This is. Only because you became a target of Seolhwa Church, I’m accepting the proposal.”
Ji-eun still seemed happy and nodded her head vigorously with her mouth tightly shut.
“I can’t do it inside the academy. I can’t neglect my own life to take care of you.”
I had to take responsibility for the student council, club activities, and things I had started.
“Where do you live?”
“I live in Changcheon-dong!”
…What.
That’s my neighborhood?
“Then do you know Shinwon Gym?”
“It’s right next to my house?”
To think the gym I always went to for training was next to her house.
“Then go and register there today after going back.”
“Huh? Master, you live in our neighborhood too?”
Ugh. Master, really.
My body had a rejection reaction to the expression that seemed to come out of some manhwa.
“Since we’re the same age, don’t call me by embarrassing titles like master or teacher.”
I thought it was a very easy request on my part, but Ji-eun’s reaction was unexpectedly strong.
“That’s unacceptable! In-wook!”
“Wha… What’s unacceptable?”
“Do you think it’s good for people who have formed a bond as teacher and disciple to call each other informally without affection? Even if we’re the same age?”
“…Isn’t it not a big deal?”
“No, it’s not!”
She shouted at me.
“You’re going to teach me various techniques and secret arts, so I can’t be that rude to you.”
There are no secret arts.
Geez.
I clicked my tongue at her emphasizing the importance of titles to an excessive degree.
Okay. Fine.
If you really want to show that much respect.
“Then. You should show that much respect to your teacher.”
I smiled and looked at her.
“Um… I saw this in a manhwa… Master… Don’t tell me you’re going to do something to my body too…!”
…Just what kind of manhwa have you been reading, student Ji-eun?
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of her naturally wrapping her arms around her body.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but first bow to me. Disciple.”
“Bow?”
Ji-eun stared at me with a dumb expression, blinking her eyes.
“Yes. If you’ve decided to become a disciple, you should bow, right?”
Honestly, I had no intention of seriously receiving a bow from her.
I just thought a mischievous disciple who called me a eunuch earlier needed some punishment.
…It was sensitive, that nickname.
“Ah! That’s what you meant! This disciple lacks knowledge and failed to understand Master’s words!”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the sudden speech that seemed to have popped out of a martial arts novel.
Should I play along a bit more?
“Then hurry up and pay your respects.”
When I spoke to her in a voice like a village school teacher, Ji-eun really knelt down in the academy corridor.
I did it as a joke, thinking she would just go along with it to a certain extent, but when she actually knelt down, I had no choice but to be mindful of the other students passing by.
“Isn’t that Choi In-wook?”
“The girl kneeling in front of him is… Oh my gosh! Isn’t that Lee Ji-eun? The one from the news!”
“But why are they doing that? Did she do something wrong?”
“They’re a couple, but did Ji-eun cheat on him or something?”
At the passing students’ words, I wanted to make Ji-eun stand up right away.
“Hey. Get up. What are you doing on the floor? This is.”
“Master. Please accept my bow!”
She suddenly bent her upper body and bowed.
It seemed like her forehead was touching the floor…
I could feel the cold sweat running down my neck.
“Okay. Okay. I get it, so get up right now.”
That’s when it happened.
“…What are you doing, Choi In-wook?”
Ah. I’m really doomed.
The heavens are really heartless.
Why at this timing.
Ji-eun bowing to me with her head on the floor.
Yoo Si-hwa chewing on the straw stuck in a banana milk.
And me in an awkward posture trying to make Ji-eun stand up.
My whole body froze at the sudden situation, but first, I had to do something about this poor disciple.
“Ji-eun. If you don’t get up right now, what I said earlier is canceled.”
As soon as I spoke, Ji-eun hurriedly got up from the floor.
Even though her hair seemed to be covered in dust, she smiled at me with a silly grin.
“Hey~ I even bowed to develop a special relationship, so it’s disappointing if you say that~”
“…Special relationship?”
One of Si-hwa’s eyebrows went up.
Ji-eun.
Please stop talking.
Just don’t open your mouth.
Please.
“Huh? Who is this person?”
Ji-eun, who had been brushing the dust off her skirt, turned her body towards Si-hwa, who was looking at us with displeased eyes.
“…Choi In-wook.”
It felt like a cold wind was blowing from Si-hwa’s words.
“Explain.”
At this point, wasn’t it me who should be kneeling instead of Ji-eun?
“Well…”
I was thinking about what to say to make that situation from earlier as convincing as possible, but surprisingly, it was Ji-eun who answered.
“Who are you to speak so rudely to my master?”
Ji-eun straightened her chest and replied to Si-hwa in a confident voice.
Ji-eun… That’s not it.
Please don’t look at me with eyes begging for praise.
I felt my head going numb at Ji-eun’s unexpected action.
“…Choi In-wook.”
Si-hwa approached me without even responding to Ji-eun’s words.
“You look like you’re having a great time after rejecting me so heartlessly?”
“What… I think there’s some misunderstanding, Si-hwa.”
“Was it your thing to make a girl bow to you on the street? You should have told me. I can do it 10 times right now too.”
I could feel my shirt inside my uniform getting soaked with cold sweat.
Is lunchtime not over yet?
It seemed there would be no miracle of the bell ringing this time.
“Don’t bother In-wook even though you were rejected!”
Ji-eun, perhaps feeling humiliated by being ignored, shouted at Si-hwa again.
Hey… Ji-eun.
Let’s meet at the gym today.
“…Do you want to say that again?”
Si-hwa, who had been treating Ji-eun as if she didn’t exist, looked at her with chilling eyes.
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