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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“An academy chick with all her stamina drained. A guy whose arm is busted but seems to know a thing or two.”
It was an accurate analysis.
“Foolish bastards. Both of you refuse to leave. Your skills seem decent, but I guess your brains don’t work.”
Once again, a white sphere that had broken my arm began to form in the guy’s hand.
“I can’t waste any more time either, so let’s end this quickly.”
It looked about twice the size of before.
If it split like earlier, there would be at least 4 or 5 of that size…
“Go! Hurry! I can’t fight while protecting you!”
She shouted at me as she held my forearm.
“…I’ll make you win. Just do as I say.”
I spoke to her again in a low voice.
Honestly, if she kept ignoring my words, there was no good solution.
If it were me, I naturally wouldn’t follow a stranger’s orders out of the blue.
Ji-eun, who had been looking at me with an unreadable expression for a moment, nodded.
“…Tell me.”
“First, you have to accurately see and dodge his next attack.”
There was a huge difference between predicting and evading an attack and seeing and evading it.
Predicting the opponent’s movements and responding by moving first was an ability that could be gained through experience, but seeing and evading was not on that level.
Pure dynamic visual acuity.
And the agility to react to it immediately.
These two factors were the foundation for reaching the pinnacle as a hunter and also the elements that made many people give up.
Unfortunately, this was not a matter of effort.
Innate combat sense.
If she was truly a genius, she would have understood my words.
The greatly enlarged sphere began to fly towards Ji-eun.
And as expected, the sphere began to split rapidly in front of her.
At a glance, it seemed like there were at least 8 of them.
Would it be possible?
While preparing to dodge the flying spheres, I looked at her with worried eyes.
And miraculously, she…
Showed insane flexibility like a person without joints and dodged all the attacks.
Even the last sphere that flew towards her in a trajectory that was absolutely impossible to evade was torn in half by her sword.
“…What’s next?”
She slightly turned her head back and raised her sword.
I felt like I could see Si-hwa in her back.
No. Rather than Si-hwa, that was…
Similar to my appearance holding a sword.
“You dodged this?”
The Seolhwa Church bastard seemed startled that his most confident blow failed to land a hit.
But it was only for a moment. The guy began to create the sphere again.
“You’re lucky bastards.”
The guy seemed to think that she dodged it by getting beginner’s luck, but far from it.
I was convinced of victory.
“The attack just now. You can dodge it again, right?”
Ji-eun nodded.
“As soon as you dodge, strike immediately. Concentrate all your mana on the tip of the blade in advance.”
The sphere flew towards us once more.
“Now!”
Ji-eun, who had dodged the attack again by bending her waist more than 90 degrees, quickly regained her balance and leaped towards him.
She executed the command exactly to the level I wanted.
Now it was my turn.
Injecting all my remaining mana into the sword, I threw it at the guy with all my might using my left hand.
It was because I had squeezed out all my mana to the point where I really couldn’t dodge the next attack, so it was on a different level from the attacks I had shown him so far.
Even though his expression couldn’t be seen beyond the mask, I could feel his surprise from here.
He had no choice but to create an opening as he forcibly twisted his body to dodge the sword.
And the finishing touch was, of course…
The tip of Ji-eun’s blade drew an elegant curve.
Unable to dodge her attack, he collapsed to the floor powerlessly.
And I also plopped down on the floor.
If there were reinforcements, this would have been the end for me.
She, who had wiped out the Seolhwa Church group, ran towards me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Don’t worry about me now and go back to save your friends.”
“What about you?”
“I can take care of myself. There’s no time. The longer they’re trapped in there, the worse the situation will get. Hurry.”
Her eyes trembled.
“…What’s your name?”
She asked me.
“…It’s a secret.”
I didn’t want to become a topic of conversation, and if this news spread widely, my ex-wives would definitely not leave me alone.
“Tell me quickly. I’ll go as soon as I hear that.”
“My name isn’t important at all. Listen to me.”
“Then just tell me this.”
Ji-eun looked straight into my eyes.
“…How old are you?”
Although I’m a much older guy than you.
Thinking that I had to send her away and that age didn’t matter, I opened my mouth.
“Twenty. Is that enough? Now go for real.”
“Don’t go anywhere and stay here. I’ll be right back.”
With those words, she started running down the corridor.
After making sure Ji-eun was gone, I got up from my spot.
I could feel my legs trembling, but I had to leave the scene quickly.
Putting on the gown again and adjusting my glasses, I left the building with quick steps.
And that evening.
The [Seolhwa Church Yangjae Mado Tool Workshop Raid Incident] was reported as a special news feature, and from this day on, people knew Ji-eun as the most famous student among all 1st-years in hunter academies.
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“Are you in your right mind? Are you?”
Ye-na slapped my back with a loud smack.
“Well… I fell down the stairs…”
“Don’t make excuses that don’t even make sense.”
Once again, a crisp sound echoed in my room.
“Fine. Let’s say you fell, giving you the benefit of the doubt. Why is your mana bottomed out?”
…How did it come to this?
After hurriedly leaving the workshop, I went straight to the hospital.
Since it wasn’t a hospital specializing in treating hunter patients, the doctor took a CT scan and put a cast on my arm like any other patient.
“Please absolutely refrain from strenuous activities.”
Nodding at the doctor’s request, I left the hospital.
Not wanting to cause a commotion by showing my parents my cast, I tried to quietly sneak into my room.
But there was an unexpected visitor waiting at home.
Shoes that were too ladylike to be Mom’s.
As I entered the hallway past the entrance, I heard Mom’s voice and a familiar voice.
“No, not at all~ Ms. Mom~”
“Oh my. Thank you, young lady. For taking care of our In-wook.”
…It was Ye-na.
It was obvious that she had come to our house because of me.
Sigh…
Letting out a deep sigh, I spoke in the most nonchalant voice possible.
“I’m home~”
“Hey. In-wook. Your guest is here.”
As expected, Mom’s eyes widened when she saw my arm.
“What? You said you were going to meet a friend, but what happened to your arm? Is it broken?”
It wasn’t just our mom who was surprised.
Ye-na was also looking at me with a dumbfounded expression.
“Choi In-wook. Are you sure you went to meet a friend?”
“Of course~ I went to meet an old middle school classmate.”
Ye-na narrowed her eyes and called our mom.
“Ms. Mom. Would it be okay if I take a look at In-wook’s condition?”
“Why are you asking for my permission for that? That’s up to In-wook. Is it okay, son?”
I wanted to refuse, but I nodded reluctantly under Ye-na’s sharp gaze.
Naturally following me into my room, Ye-na changed as soon as she closed the door.
And that was the current situation.
“The reason my mana is bottomed out is probably because of Egeon… right?”
Not wanting to reveal the truth, I blurted out whatever came to mind.
Still, I had chosen the most plausible excuse among the various excuses that suddenly came to mind, but Ye-na’s expression became very serious.
“If what you’re saying is true. You’re in a very critical condition right now. You need to be hospitalized again immediately…”
“No, no! I used mana today. I went out and used it all, so I don’t have any left!”
The words that popped out of my desire not to worry her seemed to make her worry twice as much.
When I confessed the truth, Ye-na slapped my back with a full swing.
“Seriously. I can’t live like this.”
Her storm-like nagging continued.
“I even sent you a text message this morning telling you to rest, but where were you running around like that?”
“Then why aren’t you coming to the academy? Are you not going to meet your friends?”
Since she had nursed me so devotedly, I thought Ye-na had every right to scold me.
Perhaps having said everything she had inside, Ye-na was silent for a while.
“…So. Are you not going to tell me what you were doing until the end?”
“It was nothing.”
When I didn’t open my mouth until the end, she seemed to give up.
“…Stretch out your arm this way.”
As I stretched out my cast arm towards her, warm mana began to flow from her hand.
“It will probably be fully healed by the time you return to the academy.”
The doctor had said it would take about two months.
It was a remarkable ability, even though it wasn’t the same as her previous life’s skills.
“I’ll get going now. I feel like I’m imposing if I stay too long.”
“…Thank you. Ye-na.”
In this life, she always nagged at me but continued to take care of me.
I tried to at least take her to the bus stop after she said goodbye to Mom, but she strongly refused, saying where a patient would crawl out to.
“Choi In-wook.”
Wearing her shoes, she spoke while holding the doorknob.
“Don’t get hurt.”
She was the kind of person who would say what she wanted to say and leave without listening to my answer today as well.
I didn’t know if it was something Ye-na meant for me to hear, but I clearly heard the last words that flowed from her mouth before the door closed.
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