Hunter Academy’s Battle God

Swish- Swish-

Shin HaYoon walked down the beach and smiled as she listened to the sound of the night sea.

"Lee Hyuk, do you know that?" She excitedly called out to Hyuk and began talking about something she only ever mentioned when she was in high spirits.

"They say that there are extremely few chosen people in the world that are born with memories from their past lives. Have you heard of such a thing?

Hyuk didn't reply or comment. It wasn’t really intended for him. Rather, it was just something she brought up when she was feeling good.

"Do you believe in that story?" HaYoon wanted an answer, so he touched his chin and acted as if he were thinking.

"Hmm… isn't that the type of story people often like? After all, such a thing is often interesting to think about."

"Fufu, I knew you'd answer like that. I'll change the question. If a being like God or the Tower created such a human, what do you think the reason would be?

Hyuk brushed off HaYoon's difficult question with a laugh.

"That’s not something I’ve ever thought about. I’ve never believed in God, after all, but there is something I know…

"What?"

"There are outstanding irregulars in this world like you, around whom the world revolves.”

HaYoon laughed. "Pfft… are you trying to please me?"

"I just spoke the truth," Hyuk said in a serious tone.

HaYoon raised a hand as she looked out at the sea.

They were on a silent island devoid of artificial light. Nobody was there to watch her. Swoosh.

WHOOM-

A wave incomparably louder than before crashed down. Hyuk laughed in disbelief at the scene that unfolded before him.

PAA-

The wave artificially split around them.

"You're truly…" Lee Hyuk couldn't say anything further. It wasn't just that her Trait was strong.

'Most hunters’ Telekinesis have clear weaknesses.'

A hunter might have more mana than others, but there was a limit to the human brain. People weren't computers, after all.

'Such a thing is obvious when you think about it.'

The location of the object you wanted to move, the weight of what you wanted to move, the distance between the object you wanted to move and yourself, the amount of mana you would use, and the distance between the objects… There were tens of parameters you had to consider.

On top of that, there were other variables as well, such as the concentration of mana in an area. It made the calculations that much more difficult.

HaYoon's expression didn't even change when she used her Trait.

"Just as the legends say, there really is something called the Sea King's Curse. As expected, Lee Hyuk, your information network is impressive." HaYoon smiled.

The water vanished where she was looking, and stairs appeared on the ocean floor.

HaYoon was about to walk toward the stairs when Hyuk spoke. “There's something I want to know…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you revealing your carefully-hidden strength to me?"

Was he receiving special treatment from Shin HaYoon? It was his personal wish to be special to her, so he hoped such a thing was the reason.

HaYoon's answer was too much like something he expected her to say.

"You are more competent than others in school, and you are good at calculating."

HaYoon telling him he was competent made it sound like he was someone to be feared. It didn't sound like praise. Rather, it seemed like she was saying he couldn’t betray her because he was capable of thinking things through.

'It's all true.'

HaYoon and he had a give-and-take relationship. It was like a crocodile and a crocodile bird. They were just using each other.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel bitter.

"Hyuk? Let's go. We have to get the Sea King's Curse."

Hearing her call his name, he began walking.

* * *

* * *

One could say that the Shinsung Group’s luxurious residence had everything.

[Tower's 10th Floor Strategy Meeting!]

Sumire knew that EunAh had picked the place, but she never imagined that she would've prepared a banner and asked people to hang it.

"Woah… so it's… really starting."

As Sumire and Adela entered the meeting room, the lights turned off, and then YuSung walked out of the darkness.

"Then, I'll start explaining." As YuSung moved his hand, a hologram reflected on the wall.

[On the 10th Floor, you must do a party quest.]

[Quest Name: World of Innocence! Protect the Toy Kingdom!]

[Minimum number of members required: 6]

[Penalty: Everyone will become 10 years younger.]

"The most important thing here is the penalty."

The explanation might have sounded cute, but it was something that could be cleared only if you were a rank 5 or higher. They couldn't relax, so all the party members listened attentively.

"We don't know if our abilities will change to become comparable to a seven-year-old’s or if we will just become younger in age."

The Tower's penalty set the age of the participants at seven years old or used its own criteria to cut their age.

"Based on how the penalty is applied, we’ll have to figure out who the strongest are."

"If we really have the capabilities of children, who will be considered stronger?"

YuSung thought about EunAh's question. "Probably SiWoo and me. After all, we've been training since we were kids. And Adela. If it's the latter, Sumire and EunAh, and then Adela and me."

Adela had been using her abilities since she was five, so she was incorporated in either case.

Compared to them, EunAh and Sumire had normal childhoods, so the difference would make a huge difference.

"In the worst-case scenario, there's a chance that EunAh and Sumire won't be able to use their Traits properly."

"Definitely. If we end up being seven years old and without our Traits… We would have no fighting capability, so protecting ourselves would be hard."

Sumire nodded at EunAh's words. "Me too. I'm not confident without my Trait."

The best outcome for the two of them would just be to only be seven in appearance. As the party members understood the potential problems, YuSung mentioned the other important thing.

"Next is mental capability and thought patterns. In this case, I think that there are three possibilities."

Paf!

As Shin YuSung pointed to the hologram, Amy's powerpoint appeared.

[This is very important!]

[Star: ★★★★★]

[1 - Mental capability also becomes that of a seven-year-old child!]

[PS: If… this is right, we're doomed ㅠㅠ. We'll just have to eat popcorn.]

[2 - Mental capability and memories remain intact!]

[PS: Let's celebrate! Let's end this in just 10 minutes!]

[3 - Maintaining our memories and mental capabilities, we slowly become seven-year-old children.]

[PS: It's weird if it's good or bad… but in terms of balance, this seems the most probable?]

Amy began smiling.

"In point three’s case, there's nothing we can do, so I hope it's number two…"

As Adela said, they could do nothing about memories and mental capabilities.

SiWoo raised his hand. "But… if I turn seven, I won't be able to use a real gun because of the recoil."

As SiWoo pointed out an unexpected problem, EunAh narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Then how did you practice shooting when you were a kid?"

SiWoo took something from his Pocket as if the answer were obvious.

"This, obviously."

He was holding an air gun. The more time passed, the harder it seemed the subjugation would become. EunAh grabbed her forehead.

"Huh…?"

She remembered something at that moment. If she really returned to being a seven-year-old child, there was something she absolutely couldn’t forget.

"Hey, YuSung… we need to talk about something," EunAh said with a pale expression.

Sumire noticed the change in her atmosphere and quickly organized the situation. "Then…! Should we leave it here and take a break?."

"Yes! EunAh's house is really big! There's a big bath and even a golf course! Let's take a look!" As Amy, sitting next to her, agreed, EunAh dragged YuSung elsewhere.

* * *

YuSung ended up in EunAh’s room. She had never brought anyone there, but it was the perfect place to reveal her secret because of that.

"Hey, YuSung, I… have something to say…"

She couldn't help but cough. It seemed like she was embarrassed that she'd brought YuSung to her room.

Tap, tap.

"Take a seat here, for the moment," she said while patting the bed, "This is going to be a long story."