NOVEL WEB Chapter 27 - A Foolish Dream
Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
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[ Chapter 27: A Foolish Dream (2) ]
[Yoo Ji-eun – S-Class]
[Main Weapon – Sword]
[Team Leader, Dungeon Strategy Division, 2nd Team, Ability Management Bureau]
[Advisory Committee Member, Global Support for Unconquered Dungeons]
[Conquered Dungeons]
– Gyeonggi-do Hwaseong 2 Dungeon (B)
– Gyeongbuk Uljin 11 Dungeon (C)
– Gyeongbuk Gunwi 8 Dungeon (B)
– Jeonnam Yeonggwang 1 Dungeon (A)
…
Total: 709 Cases.
* * *
There was much talk about Yoo Ji-eun’s career.
It wasn’t bad talk. Not many people spoke ill of Yoo Ji-eun. After all, she was the proud Hunter of the Management Bureau and a direct disciple of Hong Seok-young, striving to conquer dungeons.
However… there were many who said that Yoo Ji-eun should play in a bigger league than the Bureau.
Lee Mi-sun would also ask her every time they met.
“Did they put honey on the Bureau? Someone of Yoo Ji-eun Hunter’s caliber should play in a bigger league. How about it? Won’t you join our guild?”
The conditions Lee Mi-sun proposed were updated every year, always for the better.
But Yoo Ji-eun consistently refused Lee Mi-sun’s scouting offers. Lee Mi-sun, as if she expected it, would just shrug her shoulders and move on.
Many guilds besides Lee Mi-sun’s made offers to Yoo Ji-eun each year. When she first conquered an S-class dungeon alone, it was a huge deal.
However, as the refusals continued for over ten years, the offers waned. Only those like Lee Mi-sun, who frequently visited the Bureau, persistently asked.
If Yoo Ji-eun had intended to join a guild, she would have done so right after graduating from Hunter Academy.
But she didn’t. Yoo Ji-eun became a second-generation Hunter of the Bureau. She wasn’t a first-generation Hunter because the Bureau was established during her senior year of high school. Yoo Ji-eun joined the Bureau as soon as she could.
After joining the Bureau, Yoo Ji-eun never left. Even after it became customary for Academy graduates to work at the Bureau for about a year before being scouted by guilds.
So, there was a lot of talk.
A promising Hunter was tied down at the Bureau.
But it wasn’t as if she was forced to stay. She wanted to be there, so what could anyone do? Fire her? If Yoo Ji-eun staged a protest against wrongful dismissal in front of the Bureau, it would be an even bigger issue.
Thus, Yoo Ji-eun worked diligently at the Bureau for over ten years.
In doing so, I inevitably got to know Yoo Ji-eun well.
“I heard you saved my sister!”
But there was no record of Yoo Ji-eun having a family in her personnel files. Much less a deceased sister.
I wouldn’t forget such a fact, even if I didn’t know anything else.
There was only one possibility. The Director.
Considering that Yoo Ji-eun’s deceased sister, Yoo Hye-eun, was a student at the Pilot High School, the Director must have intervened.
“Thank you, teacher!”
The young Yoo Ji-eun bowed deeply to me, showing the back of her head.
Watching the back of her head made me feel uneasy.
I briefly parted my lips and finally replied.
“No, I was just doing what I should.”
“Even so! These days, many people don’t do what they should. My dad, for instance….”
“Yoo Ji-eun! Stop talking nonsense!”
Yoo Hye-eun interrupted, horrified. Yoo Ji-eun looked at her sister and then quietly closed her mouth.
I hate getting involved in complicated family matters. There must be a reason why Yoo Ji-eun, even the future Yoo Ji-eun, never mentioned her family. I pretended not to hear anything.
Moreover.
“…Yoo Ji-eun, right?”
“Yes!”
I couldn’t get used to this.
Yoo Ji-eun with sparkling eyes? Yoo Ji-eun speaking formally to me?
Is it okay for something like this to exist in the world?
I forcibly suppressed the twitching at the corners of my mouth. There were many kids around, including Kim Chae-min. I shouldn’t act suspicious. Just be normal. Normal….
In this situation, how would an ordinary teacher behave?
“Why are you here?”
I glanced at Yoo Hye-eun.
“To see your sister?”
“Well, I did come to see my sister!”
Yoo Ji-eun said cheerfully.
“I also wanted to greet you, teacher. Ah! They say you should bring something like a drink on occasions like this! I’ll definitely bring you one next time.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Eating something Yoo Ji-eun bought would definitely make me sick. One hundred percent.
“Oh, but, um, can I get, what was it? Counseling? Can I get some counseling?”
“Counseling?”
Yoo Ji-eun nodded energetically.
“Yes!”
I looked at Yoo Ji-eun dumbfounded. When our eyes met, she started grinning.
I felt dizzy.
No, I shouldn’t be like this. I have to see this Yoo Ji-eun as a completely different being from the one I know.
“Yes! I awakened!”
“What?!”
The scream came from Yoo Hye-eun next to her. Yoo Ji-eun looked at her sister and repeated.
“I awakened!”
“Aw… when?!!”
“This morning!”
“You… you…!”
Yoo Hye-eun was at a loss for words, her mouth opening and closing without sound.
Awakening is usually genetic. If the parents are Awakened, there’s a high chance the children will be too. It’s also not uncommon for siblings to awaken one after another.
“I awakened during PE class this morning.”
“So, the teacher told you to go see your sister?”
“Yes! They told me to talk to my sister and register quickly.”
Yoo Ji-eun chattered to her sister about the awakening. She mentioned kicking a soccer ball and it being torn to shreds.
As she talked, other kids started to slowly gather around Yoo Ji-eun, asking her various questions. Since she was a friend’s sister, they seemed to already know each other. Yoo Ji-eun answered them cheerfully, without any awkwardness.
“You tore a soccer ball? Then you must not be a healer.”
“It’s fine because I’m not good at stuff like that, unlike my sister!”
“It does seem like physical stuff suits you better.”
Han Eun-young and Yoo Ji-eun laughed together. Then Yoo Ji-eun turned her head and asked Oh Hyun-wook.
“Oppa, how was it when you awakened?”
Oppa? Oppaaa?
Yoo Ji-eun calling Oh Hyun-wook ‘Oppa’ and not ‘piglet’?
“Me? Mine was ordinary.”
Oh Hyun-wook, who almost never talked to me or only threw out words bluntly when he did, responded in a rather gentle tone. It gave me chills.
What? Yoo Ji-eun and Oh Hyun-wook had a bad relationship? Was it that? They were close when they were young but grew apart as they got older, like one of those bittersweet relationships?
He felt nauseated.
Well… Yoo Ji-eun could have had her own youth too. When he first met her, she was gloomy and hollow-eyed.
Ah. That was it.
If her sister had died, it was enough to drive her mad. Was that why she joined the Bureau?
Yoo Ji-eun had never answered the question of why she didn’t leave the Bureau. He, who had watched her for a long time, roughly guessed it was because she wanted to be close to the Director.
That guess probably wasn’t entirely wrong.
If Park Seo-hyun had become a witch after failing to manage her mental state post-Myeong-dong, then Yoo Ji-eun, who was now smiling brightly, must have also received a huge shock.
The guild that managed the Myeong-dong Dungeon had been dismantled for their past wrongdoings, but Yoo Ji-eun’s vengeance for losing her only family didn’t stop. Thinking about how Yoo Ji-eun was fervently involved in not just dungeon raids but also uncovering the illegal activities of the guilds, it seemed right. If she stayed close to the Director and the Bureau, she could handle everything legally.
It was just his guess. It might not be true. There was no one to ask if it was right.
“But when registering as an Awakened, minors need to go with a guardian.”
Seo Han-seong interjected into the conversation. At those words, Yoo Ji-eun looked at her sister.
“Who did you go with?”
“Me? I went with the principal.”
“I also went with the principal.”
“I went with our master.”
Soon Soon-jin also added a word.
“If it’s not a guardian, a Hunter ranked C or above can accompany them. It’s fine even if they’re not blood-related.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Even the magic teacher or Woo teacher can do it. I don’t know Woo teacher’s rank, but judging by his cruel handwork, he’s definitely not a D-rank.”
Cruel handwork? That’s harsh.
“It’s the teacher’s kind consideration for your future.”
Seo Han-seong and Soon Soon-jin looked at him as if they had heard something ridiculous.
He kindly explained.
“You’re still able to walk, aren’t you?”
“…Anyway! Tell the teacher and go register quickly. If you don’t do it within a week, you’ll have to pay a fine.”
“There’s a fine too?!”
Yoo Hye-eun asked, surprised, to Soon Soon-jin.
“I registered way after I awakened? I’ve never heard of such a thing?!”
“You said you went with the principal?”
“Y-yeah.”
“The principal must have paid or handled it for you. Seo Han-seong, the principal took care of everything for you too, right?”
“Yeah. Sued the guild and got settlement money.”
The kids who had been talking about Yoo Ji-eun’s Awakened registration started talking about how Hong Seok-young had solved their personal matters.
Listening, it seemed everyone except for Lee Seung-yeon and Soon Soon-jin had received help in some way.
While letting those words flow in one ear and out the other,
He looked at Kim Chae-min.
Kim Chae-min was also looking at him.
He moved his lips to ask Kim Chae-min.
‘Take her and get her registered.’
Kim Chae-min also moved his lips to answer.
‘Me?’
‘Then should I go?’
‘I’m a mage….’
‘What does that matter? As long as the registration goes well.’
Kim Chae-min’s hand moved swiftly. Adding the hand signals frequently used among Hunters, the conversation flowed seamlessly.
‘I’m an S-rank, you know?’
Was he boasting?
‘If my name gets listed as the guarantor, it could cause a stir. Journalists are good at digging these things up. Hong Hunter told us to avoid drawing attention while at the pilot school.’
Kim Chae-min drew a circle on his palm, a signal used by mages to indicate a rune.
…He understood what Kim Chae-min was trying to say.
If attention was drawn to him, there would also be talk about the runes, which could disrupt what Lee Mi-sun was planning.
That’s why he suggested using Hong Seok-young’s name openly…
‘Teacher Woo, you go.’
But…
Isn’t this woman too comfortable with him? Did she really see him as just a colleague?
Well, it was beneficial for him if she let her guard down, but wasn’t she supposed to be a Grand Mage? Shouldn’t she be thinking more carefully?
He sighed, made the same signal for rune, and moved his lips.
‘Bangju.’
He also needed to avoid drawing attention.
Besides, he wasn’t sure how his current status had been handled. Even though Hong Seok-young vouched for him, he didn’t know if it was just a recommendation or if they had created a new identity for Hunter Woo Hee-jae.
He didn’t want to mess up the future of a promising S-rank Hunter by putting his name forward.
Kim Chae-min, realizing his mistake, apologized with a regretful expression.
‘Then should we wait until Hong Hunter arrives?’
‘He should have been out of that dungeon by now. Try contacting him.’
‘I still feel it might be a disturbance…’
‘Did he go to clear the dungeon? Even if he did, he’d be out by now.’
‘You try contacting him, Teacher Woo.’
‘I can’t. You do it, Teacher Kim Chae-min.’
‘Why should I do it if you can’t?’
‘I don’t have a phone.’
‘…….’
Kim Chae-min apologized to him once more.
“…….”
Meanwhile, the surroundings had grown quiet without him noticing.
He realized it belatedly. The kids were looking at them with curious eyes.
“…What?”
“No… just having a casual conversation.”
“…….”
“…….”
While the kids exchanged glances, trying to figure out what was happening between them.
Yoo Ji-eun still looked at him with sparkling eyes.
“Um, teacher.”
“…Yes. What?”
“I’ve been thinking while coming here.”
Yoo Ji-eun was Hong Seok-young’s prized student. Naturally, like her mentor, thinking a lot often led to unfavorable conclusions.
“Uncle Hong… no, the principal said that only high school students can enroll here.”
That made sense. It was a high school after all.
“But I’m still sixteen….”
According to plan, Yoo Ji-eun would enter the pilot school next year.
“So….”
He had a bad feeling.
“Can you accompany me for the registration?”
“Student. Wait….”
“And take me as your apprentice!”