Hunter Academy’s Battle God

Though the modern-looking building he followed her into had a simple, square design, the interior was mind-blowing.

Huge art pieces that could have come from a museum hung near the entrance, while the white spiral staircase and diamond chandelier were overwhelming to look at. Despite all of the luxurious items before him, there was one thing, in particular, that caught YuSung’s interest.

"Could you tell me something, EunAh?"

"What is it?"

He looked at the indoor swimming pool, which was much too large for a single family to ever make full use of.

"Why are there two swimming pools…?” He asked. “Wasn't there one outside, too?" He remembered seeing an outdoor swimming pool during their walk through the residence’s private golf course.

One swimming pool was already a luxury, so what was the point of having two?

"Hmm. Shouldn’t you have one for winter and one for summer?” She asked as if it were obvious. “Also, an outdoor pool couldn’t be used in bad weather conditions, right?”

Maybe it was already too late for him to point that out as weird. He’d seen all sorts of other unbelievable things during their trip as well, such as a pond that was the size of a lake, the private golf course, a botanical garden, and more.

He gave up on trying to apply common sense to what he was seeing.

"I don’t often come down to the 1st floor because the spas on the 4th floor are better,” EunAh said.

YuSung nodded as if none of it surprised him anymore, while EunAh suddenly stopped as if she’d thought of something.

"D-do you want to go with me?" She asked.

"Are you talking about spas on the 4th floor?"

"We can just put our feet in if you don’t have swimming trunks," she excitedly said.

Someone's head turned the corner at the end of the staircase they’d been walking up.

"EunAh, that's not possible," JunHyuk said. He seemed happy to see his little sister, and he descended the stairs with a relaxed smile on his face.

"We’re having a family gathering today,” he said. “Grandfather would be disappointed if you just played around with your boyfriend~"

"My boyfriend?!” EunAh shouted. “What are you talking about?!"

JunHyuk was having fun teasing her. "Huh? You didn't know? We’re all gathered here to formally meet the future member of the family.”

EunAh rushed up the stairs. "Are you out of your mind?! Should I send you back to the hospital?!"

It was just the way one would expect a pair of siblings to behave. YuSung smiled as he watched EunAh blush and chase after JunHyuk.

Her happiness was only possible because he’d saved her brother. If he’d been weaker than Cheat, the Rebellion member, or never followed them to the hospital, then he would’ve never seen that side of EunAh.

'I'm glad…'

When EunAh turned and saw the smile on his face, she misunderstood. "Hey! Wh- why are you smiling?! My brother’s just kidding!" Since she wasn’t able to catch JunHyuk, she turned her frustration on the innocent YuSung.

Despite how flustered the girl clearly was, YuSung calmly said, "Hm…? I just like seeing this."

His words could be easily misunderstood, and EunAh’s mind blanked as she subconsciously said, “Wh… What?”

Of course, YuSung meant to say that he liked going to her house and seeing how happy she was with her brother, but her face turned completely red as she seemed to be thinking about something else.

She turned her head away and said, "Wh-what are you saying…?"

BZZT- BZZT-

JunHyuk smiled when he saw the electricity flowing from her body. "Ah, it's electricity. EunAh, it seems that you’re more than a little flustered~" He laughed out loud and extended his hand to YuSung in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Shin YuSung."

EunAh didn’t have the energy left to argue. Instead, she just glanced at YuSung and stopped them from exchanging a handshake.

After his greeting, JunHyuk looked between the two of them. “I never thought my savior would also end up becoming my brother-in-law. How wonderful.”

"YuSung is probably tired after all of the time we spent traveling,” she said. ‘So let's leave the greetings for later." Then, she pulled on YuSung’s sleeve and dragged him the rest of the way up the stairs.

JunHyuk made no move to follow them and smiled. He felt a weird mixture of emotions. When had his little sister grown so much? He was a bit sad that he hadn’t been there for her, but he was also glad that YuSung had managed to take care of her in his stead.

He had no issue with his sister getting into a relationship with YuSung, but…

'I guess Grandfather is going to be the problem…'

Shinsung President SeokHan, unfortunately as it may be, didn’t have a positive opinion of YuSung and was especially against her working as a hunter.

EunAh had inherited her grandfather’s strong personality, so she wasn’t likely to back down.

'Well. If anyone could pull it off, I guess it would be her.'

* * *

* * *

Everyone sat around a huge marble table with SeokHan at the head. Of course, the main characters of the day, EunAh and YuSung, sat closest to him.

"They didn’t know your preferences, so I heard a lot of everything was prepared. Let me know if something doesn’t suit your tastes,” EunAh said to YuSung.

YunHa smiled when she saw how her daughter was caring for the boy. "I never imagined my EunAh would be caring for someone!”

"O-obviously,” EunAh stammered. “He's a guest! You always told me to take care of guests, right, Mom?"

YunHa smiled and wondered when her daughter began following her advice.

SungHan, on the other hand, didn’t look too happy. "Before we eat… YuSung, thanks for accepting our invitation. We didn’t think we’d get an opportunity like this with the start of the competitions.

"It's nothing,” YuSung said. “You’re my party member’s family, so it’s only normal that I come to greet you.”

"Right. We’re all here today because of EunAh. I heard you asked her for that favor after you saved JunHyuk.”

Unlike YunHa, who naturally smiled, SungHan had a poker face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking as he said, "Of course, it’s only normal for her to pay back her debt by accepting your request and joining your party. The Shinsung Group certainly doesn’t forget its benefactors, but…”

EunAh narrowed her eyes at her father as he continued to speak in a dry and cold tone.

"Wh-what's up with this atmosphere?" She asked, shattering the dark mood SungHan had created. "You didn't call YuSung here just to say that, right?"

Just when she was about to stand in annoyance, her brother quickly stopped her.

"Haha! O-obviously not!” JunHyuk said, “Dad just wanted to ask a few things."

EunAh still gave her other family members a disapproving look.

SeokHan began to speak before things could get too tense. "Ehem! They've come a long way, so let's have dinner first."

Even the legendary Kim SeokHan was just a normal grandfather in front of his granddaughter.

"SungHan…" he said.

"Yes, Father?"

"It’s best to soften your tone like your wife does sometimes when talking with people. YunHa, you should take things from here.”

"Of course~ I’ll speak in his stead. Should we start the dinner in earnest?"

Clap!

She clapped, and butlers started to bring out silver plates.

'What an impressive variety of food…' YuSung thought. It was like an entirely new world to him, but there was something else that surprised him as well.

"We brought the appetizers and main dishes out at the same time,” The head chef kindly explained. “What you see in front of you are salmon canapes and caviar, traditionally served cold.”

YuSung had no idea what he was talking about.

'C-canapes…? Appetizers?'

EunAh seemed accustomed to the situation.

"What about the soup?" She asked.

"It's a cream soup with clam and crabs."

"Ah, that’s too bad,” EunAh said. “A beef consomme would have better fit his taste."

“I removed the beef from the soup because it was too similar to the main dish."

"Ah, is the main dish beef? That's great. Cook YuSung's again and make it medium well-done.”

Everyone looked at EunAh, and YuSung was surprised at how smoothly she ordered the chef to recook the food for him. Meanwhile, her family was surprised that she seemed to know exactly how he liked everything.

'So EunAh had such a side to her…' JunHyuk thought in surprise as he looked at everyone else’s reactions.

His mother, YunHa, smiled as if she liked what was happening, his father kept a blank expression on his face as he held a fork, and his grandfather, SeokHan…

'Grandfather really doesn't seem to like YuSung…'

Maybe it was understandable that he couldn’t help but see YuSung as a thief after his granddaughter ordered for him with a smile on her face. Having saved JunHyuk’s life wasn’t enough for him.

Unable to endure it anymore, SeokHan coughed to give them a warning, but YuSung and EunAh didn’t seem to notice.

"It looks like you’re used to eating like this, EunAh."

"Yes~ Well, that’s why I’m helping you. You’re our guest, after all."

"EunAh, what's this cookie thing?"

"It has cheese and tomato puree. Go on and give it a try, you might like it."

The two talked as if they were the only ones in the room. Meanwhile, SeokHan turned to the chef and said, “Our guest is curious about the food. Go on and explain it to him with as many details as possible!”

"Yes! Understood!"

The innocent chef stiffened after he received such an important figure’s attention, but EunAh was only just getting started.

After YuSung received his steak and started trying to cut it, EunAh let out a sigh. “Ah… You’ll take forever to eat it at that rate.”

JunHyuk gave her a nervous look. 'You aren’t thinking of doing what I think you are in front of Grandfather, right…?'

Was it because she just wasn’t embarrassed by such things, or was it maybe because she reasoned she was helping him? She stood and walked toward his chair.

"You dummy,” she said, “give it to me."

She helped him hold his fork and knife properly.

"Hold the knife like this and cut with your index finger."

SeokHan gave her a disapproving look, but she didn’t stop there.

“Go ahead and try it with the carrot puree as well,” she said.

"Thanks, EunAh."

She even fed it to him. "How's the taste?"

"It's delicious. The meat's melting in my mouth."

Finally, she wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Pft. It might be delicious, but you should try to stay cleaner as you eat. What are you, a kid?"

SeokHan was at a complete loss for words. "Y-you…"

"Oh, my, EunAh~ Come and sit. You also have to eat."

"Okay, Mom~ Just one more thing."

Despite what she said, EunAh continued to stand next to YuSung.

SeokHan called for the chef and mumbled, "Next time… Bring out a bowl of water with rice to ensure our guest can eat in comfort.”

"Ah, yes! Understood, President!"

"What did you understand…? I was just joking."

Even the innocent chef was starting to struggle until YunHa gently put her silverware down and softly said, "As I expected, I believe YuSung can become very good friends with EunAh.”

Though her tone was soft, her words cut deep. "It doesn’t seem like you even need to do dangerous hunter work together or be in the same party.”

"What are you saying?” EunAh asked. “Didn’t we already discuss this?"

"Yes, but we’ve only given you a temporary allowance. EunAh, you're a member of our family, and your relations are also a family matter. Doesn’t it only make sense that I make decisions for the good of the family?”

She wasn’t only talking to her daughter. There was another reason they'd invited YuSung to their residence.

"I'm sorry for mentioning this so suddenly,” she said in a businesslike tone, “but we never sent EunAh to the Academy to become a hunter.”

EunAh gave her mother a stiff look. "Mom, I—"

"EunAh, we just wanted you to gain the requisite foundation for your experience and abilities. Even those in administration need to understand what happens in the field as hunters become more and more common.”

EunAh looked over at SeokHan. As her grandfather, he usually sided with her, but his eyes met hers as he calmly said, “Everything has its limit, and I don’t want my granddaughter to be doing such dangerous work. I ask this as a representative of the family and promise we’ll properly reward you for saying JunHyuk, so could you remove EunAh from your party?

That’s when she realized that her grandfather was the one to organize the entire get-together and she’d never seriously convinced anyone in her family other than her mother.

Although some might think they were being overprotective, nobody in her family wanted her to work in such a dangerous field.

"Did you call us here…" EunAh gave her family a resentful look. "To say that?"

JunHyuk made a bitter expression and avoided her gaze before promptly getting up. "I'm full. Thanks for the food."

SeokHan nodded and said, "Yes, I also think that I'm full."

Then, as if they’d arranged it beforehand, EunAh’s mother and father both stood up.

"Mom! I already told you! I—!"

YunHa lifted her index finger. "No… I'll listen to what you want to say tomorrow, okay? I need to give you some time to organize your thoughts." With that being said, they left.

JunHyuk, who’d remained behind for a few moments, looked at YuSung. "I hope you’re able to rest well during your stay here. No matter what happens, it’d be nice if you could maintain your close friendship.”

Eventually, everyone else left the table.

"I hate you all…" EunAh mumbled.