NOVEL WEB Chapter 11 - Hunter Development High School
Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 11: Hunter Development High School (2) ]
Two days later.
“That sword is nice.”
Hong Seok-young spoke from the driver’s seat.
“It even chooses its owner. Thanks to that, several people ended up in the hospital.”
I glanced at Yoo Ji-eun’s sword, lying idly on the back seat.
“Is that so?”
“There aren’t many swords that picky about their owner.”
Yoo Ji-eun’s sword was notorious for being as temperamental as its owner. If anyone other than its owner tried to wield it, they would be burned.
I originally couldn’t use it either. Yoo Ji-eun’s mana didn’t align well with mine. Naturally, the sword disliked me.
“Is it your sword?”
“No.”
“Then whose is it?”
“It belonged to someone I knew.”
The reason I could use the sword now was that Yoo Ji-eun had transferred ownership to me just before she died.
“Did you steal it?”
“If I had, I’d have been burned too.”
“True.”
Hong Seok-young didn’t ask further. I had no intention of giving him more information anyway. It wasn’t a pleasant story.
I turned my gaze to the window. The streets were still in chaos, likely due to the aftermath of the Myeong-dong Dungeon incident.
Even though I managed to minimize the damage, casualties were inevitable. At this point, not only were the rights of the Awakened lacking, but everything else was as well. It was hard to even get an accurate count of civilian casualties. This situation would likely continue for a while.
“So….”
Hong Seok-young broke the silence again, apparently uncomfortable with it.
“Have you thought about what you’re going to teach the kids?”
“You told me to teach runes.”
“I did.”
“Then I’ll teach runes, of course.”
“No, I mean what kind of runes… Hmm.”
Hong Seok-young pointed at the sword on the back seat.
“You’re not upset because I didn’t give it back, are you?”
“Even if you gave it back, I couldn’t use it because of the mana control device.”
“You’re upset.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“I said I’m not.”
Hong Seok-young chuckled.
“Even if you can’t draw on its power, a blade is still a blade. At our school, blades are prohibited. During lessons, we use blunt ones.”
It was the same at the Hunter Academy.
But that was….
“It’s not just for the students?”
“No. Even I use a blade without an edge at school.”
When I looked at him in surprise, Hong Seok-young looked back at me, equally surprised.
“A blunt blade is enough when teaching the kids.”
“Well… I guess so.”
“Anyway, since you’re teaching runes, you won’t need any weapons.”
“Just say you don’t want to hand a weapon to someone suspicious like me.”
“It’s not exactly that.”
But he didn’t completely deny it either.
He really was a troublesome person….
Of course, if I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t hand a weapon to someone like me either.
I sighed inwardly.
While exchanging short conversations, the car sped along the road without stopping.
The scenery outside the window gradually changed. The dense forest of buildings disappeared, the height of the buildings decreased bit by bit, and eventually, they were no longer visible.
The road changed too. Instead of a straight asphalt road, a bumpy dirt road appeared.
…Was the road to the Development High School always like this?
The Hunter Academy hadn’t changed its location from where the Development High School was situated. Although the location itself was a bit away from Seoul, it wasn’t this… rural. If anything, the commercial area should have developed around the academy.
Hmm.
I kept comparing it to 2041. This was 2021. It made sense for there to be nothing around since the Development High School had just been established.
Even considering that, it still seemed too empty.
“Is this the right way?”
Feeling uneasy, I asked just in case.
“Yes.”
Hong Seok-young answered promptly. His response was so quick that it made me even more uneasy.
He wasn’t tricking me and taking me somewhere else instead of the Development High School, was he?
“This area has a lot of dungeons, so development is restricted. That’s why it looks like this.”
“Ah.”
That was true.
Before the magic meter was invented, areas near dungeons were avoided. No one wanted to live next to a surprise box where monsters could pop out at any moment.
But it was perfect for training hunters. It made practical training convenient. People who were skeptical about the establishment of the Development High School simply accepted it when they heard about its location. Who would oppose hunters residing next to a dungeon?
Twenty years later, all the dungeons in this area were closed. So, I had forgotten about it.
“We’re here.”
Hong Seok-young stopped the car.
It was long after the winding dirt road appeared.
“…Is this the place?”
I hesitated as I got out of the car.
Given such circumstances, the Development High School didn’t receive any support and was funded privately by the director. That’s why the director sometimes referred to that period as volunteer work.
No matter how profitable the hunter profession was, a school was always a bottomless pit.
I knew that much. But even so.
“Haha. It’s too empty, right?”
Hong Seok-young laughed heartily beside me.
Calling this empty didn’t suffice. It was so empty that there was nothing.
It was an open field with a wide expanse of reeds growing densely around it. Somehow, a chilly wind was blowing from somewhere.
The field was wide. It seemed they had cleared out the randomly grown reeds, as bundles of cut reeds were gathered nearby. And next to them, three containers were placed side by side. All three were office containers with windows.
“The buildings will start going up next year.”
“This is… really a school?”
“It’s a temporary building.”
“And you want me to teach here?”
“All beginnings are humble.”
“……”
This wasn’t even in the textbooks. The director never mentioned this.
These… containers were supposed to be the school?
Hong Seok-young chuckled.
“Welcome to the Hunter Development High School, Teacher Woo.”
* * *
“Alright, attention.”
There were eight kids huddled together in the container classroom. Five of them were familiar faces.
A short boy sitting in the front row fidgeted. Lee Seung-yeon glanced between my face and Hong Seok-young’s. His face was flushed.
It seemed my… gesture had deeply impressed him. Otherwise, I would have felt wronged.
“From today, Teacher Woo Hee-jae will be in charge of Seo-hyun and Jin-woo. Some of you might already know him, but don’t give the teacher a hard time. Got it?”
Hong Seok-young casually introduced me.
Frankly, he summarized it too much. After all the trouble I went through to save these kids, he could have made it a bit more… dramatic.
“Teacher!”
Fortunately, it seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as Lee Seung-yeon raised his hand high.
At the same time, Oh Hyun-wook, who was sitting with a sullen face, also raised his hand.
“Yes, Hyun-wook?”
Hong Seok-young naturally ignored Lee Seung-yeon and called on Oh Hyun-wook.
“I saw that man using a sword. He’s not a mage.”
“Hmm. That’s right. Teacher Woo is not a mage.”
“Then why is he in charge of Seo-hyun and Jin-woo?”
“Because he’ll be teaching runes. I went through a lot to bring him here.”
At this, Choi Jin-woo raised his hand high. Lee Seung-yeon still had his hand up.
“Runes for magic shields? Or new runes?”
“New ones. They will be more than helpful to both of you, so pay attention and don’t doze off.”
“Isn’t that really amazing? Is it okay to teach us such important things?”
“Of course, it’s okay. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have decided to teach you. Why, do you not want to learn?”
“No!! I really want to!!!”
Then, an unknown student sitting next to Choi Jin-woo interrupted.
“Teacher, can only mages attend that class?”
“It’s not restricted, but… only Seo-hyun and Jin-woo can draw the runes, right?”
When was the magic pen invented again? Should I just reveal that too?
Even if a proper magic pen is too much, I can certainly teach them the primitive methods hunters use in emergencies.
Even that would be more than sufficient for this era.
“Anyone who wants to can attend. Our school allows flexible class schedules, after all. Learning anything would be beneficial.”
Lee Seung-yeon raised his hand again. This time, he didn’t wait and just jumped in.
“Teacher, did you get hurt back then?”
What a kind boy. He was worried about my safety. A world of difference from the hunters twenty years from now.
Lee Seung-yeon spoke with a tearful expression.
“How could you leave like that! I was really worried about you!!”
“That’s right. We were really worried.”
Yoo Hye-eun, who had been with Lee Seung-yeon in Myeong-dong, also joined in with concern.
They were innocent children. So innocent that even Hong Seok-young couldn’t anticipate their words and widened his eyes.
Hunters typically didn’t check in on each other like this. In their world, if you died, it was your fault, and they’d claim your earnings; if you survived, it was thanks to them, and they’d take your share.
There was even a student from the first cohort who got betrayed and killed by a party member in a dungeon… if I remember correctly. It was such a long time ago, though, I’d have to look it up later using the Magic Watch.
“We asked the teacher to find out, but he wouldn’t tell us anything! And my aunt didn’t know either….”
“I was really worried something happened to you….”
“Are you really okay? You didn’t get hurt?”
Lee Seung-yeon and Yoo Hye-eun were chattering incessantly, showing no sign of calming down. After a moment, Choi Jin-woo also joined in. Oh Hyun-wook stood with his arms crossed, simply watching without intervening… and Park Seo-hyun.
“……”
What’s wrong with her?
Park Seo-hyun, who already had a pale complexion, looked ghostly white as she sat in the corner. The long hair that had appeared so healthy in Myeong-dong was now disheveled. Her lips were cracked and scabbed, likely from being bitten.
That appearance was not the same as the Development High School student Park Seo-hyun I saw in Myeong-dong… She resembled the grim woman, Witch Park Seo-hyun, that I knew.
It had only been about ten days since Myeong-dong. What on earth had happened?
* * *
“Oh no. Mages, you drew that wrong.”
The man who had been lying unconscious on the floor of the building till recently spoke from behind them.
Park Seo-hyun gritted her teeth and erased the rune she had been drawing. Next to her, Choi Jin-woo crumpled his paper as well.
Just six. They only needed to draw six correctly.
She didn’t want to belittle her friend, but she had at least learned magic from her grandfather. Jin-woo, on the other hand, had only awakened last year and hadn’t properly used magic before entering the Development High School. She had to do better than Jin-woo.
If this rune really concealed magic as that suspicious man claimed, it would create a huge impact.
“Seo-hyun, can you check the rune I drew?”
“Um… I think this part is a bit off.”
“Really?! Oh, you’re right. Should I fix it like this?”
“It seems okay… Did you ask that guy?”
“I wanted to ask you first.”
Seeing his shy smile made it hard for her to say anything harsh.
Park Seo-hyun just nodded and focused on the rune she was drawing.
The blank paper was filled with runes. Though they weren’t complicated, she couldn’t afford to draw them carelessly since her friends’ lives depended on them. She drew, corrected, and redrew the runes several times before finally drawing the runes on her friends’ foreheads.
“Jin-woo, are you okay?”
Park Seo-hyun watched Jin-woo drawing a rune on her forehead while sweating profusely.
“It’s really hard to move the magic. You made it look easy.”
“My grandfather taught me when I was young. You draw up to Hyun-wook. I’ll draw Seung-yeon’s rune.”
“Won’t it be too tiring for you? I’ll do it.”
“I’ve been a mage longer than you. Don’t worry. Besides, we need to use shields later, so we can’t get exhausted before we even start.”
Earlier, the man had clicked his tongue while watching her draw. It was proof that she was doing it right. So she… I should be the one…
She had been overconfident.
Her grandfather had said so too – Pride ruins everything.
Park Seo-hyun was leading the group. Since there were many civilians, the line was long. She didn’t hear the commotion from the back.
She only found out what happened when they reached City Hall, after seeing her friend’s tear-streaked face.
“The rune didn’t activate?”
Pride ruins everything.
Seung-yeon reassured her, saying he was fine and that, thanks to her, everyone was safe, but she couldn’t forgive herself.
“From today, Teacher Woo Hee-jae will be in charge of Seo-hyun and Jin-woo.”
The man who saved Seung-yeon that day and disappeared into the crowd – She followed the teacher into the room.
“You drew that wrong.”
The voice that had haunted her for the past ten days echoed in her ears again.
Park Seo-hyun bit her lip. Fresh blood oozed from the unhealed wound.