NOVEL WEB Chapter 33 - Faculty Meeting
Translator: FenrirTL
Editor: KYSOIWDI
================
[ Chapter 33: Faculty Meeting ]
2029.
“Uncle.”
“Mm?”
“Do you think I should get a Hunter license?”
The man stopped scratching his belly. The neatly uniformed boy looked at him disdainfully and asked again.
“A Hunter license. Should I get one?”
“…Didn’t you say you wouldn’t become a Hunter? Did someone at school say something? Are they bullying you? Should I go to the school?”
“What are you talking about? It’s not that.”
The boy picked up the remote control that had fallen on the floor and turned off the TV. As the loud noise from the TV ceased, silence filled the house.
The man cautiously watched the boy and then slowly sat up. The boy put down his backpack and sat on the sofa.
“Public servant competition is too intense.”
“It was like that twenty years ago, too.”
“That’s the problem.”
The boy sighed.
“…Do you want me to get you a job?”
“What are you saying? These days, that would cause big trouble. Do you want to be dragged into a hearing again?”
“No, well…”
The man mumbled and avoided the boy’s eyes.
“Anyway, I’ve been thinking, I’m an Awakened.”
“That’s right.”
“I heard Awakened individuals get extra points when taking the test?”
“Mm. Hunters generally prefer working with other Awakened individuals over non-Awakened ones.”
“So, wouldn’t getting a Hunter license give me even more points?”
“Mm?”
“If they prefer Awakened over non-Awakened, wouldn’t it be better to be a Hunter?”
The man blinked stupidly and answered.
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re the highest authority there.”
“It’s a bit much to say it like that.”
“Isn’t it true?”
“It’s not untrue, but…”
The man scratched his head.
“I’m not the one hiring, so I don’t really know, Hee-jae.”
“Uncle, what do you know?”
“I’m confident in fighting…”
The boy looked at the man with a disgusted face. The man laughed heartily and said.
“I’ll look into it. There should be something.”
“You sound like there’s nothing.”
“Usually, if you get a Hunter license, you become a Hunter, not a public servant. There are only a few Awakened employees.”
“I’m not the usual case.”
“Whose son are you?”
“Foster son.”
“Just because we’re related by blood doesn’t automatically make us family. And even if we’re not related, we can still be family.”
The man reached out to the boy who had a sulky expression. Despite the boy’s complaints, he ruffled his hair and laughed softly.
“So, you should get the Hunter license?”
“…We don’t know if there’s any extra points yet.”
“There will be. If you’re getting one, aim for a high rank.”
“No, it’s too bothersome. I’m just going to get a D-rank.”
“Hey. You’re my son, and you want a D?”
“Say it’s because I’m an adopted son and can’t inherit your skills.”
The boy scoffed. The man groaned.
“If you keep saying that, you’ll be attacked for character issues in a hearing.”
“You said you were confident in fighting. Win the hearing and come back.”
“My confidence isn’t in that kind of fight, kid.”
However, the man couldn’t help but smile as he looked at his playful son.
“Anyway, get at least a B.”
“Why?”
“Hunters have big egos and won’t listen to someone weaker than them.”
“…You’re a Hunter too.”
“That’s why I’m the highest authority in the Management Bureau, right?”
* * *
Present.
2021.
“I’m not Hong Hunter’s secretary or anything like that.”
“Oh. You’re not?”
“No, I’m not.”
I spoke firmly.
Anyway, I knew very well that Hong Seok-young would not pretend to listen to what I was saying.
But surprisingly, Hong Seok-young responded logically.
“It’s field practice. Planning things like this is usually what a teacher does.”
So, I responded logically as well.
“Wasn’t I supposed to be like a student teacher? Which school in the world makes a student teacher plan field practices?”
“Student teacher? You’re that… that thing.”
“That thing?”
“Homeroom teacher for the magic class.”
“……”
“……”
I really wanted to punch him.
I always kind of wanted to punch him, but it wasn’t this bad when I worked at the Bureau. Had he calmed down because he got older?
But honestly, he’s not that young now either. Shouldn’t he have a serious side by now?
“There are only two kids in the class. What kind of homeroom teacher am I?”
“That’s how it is in rural schools.”
“Is this a rural area?”
“It’s not the city, is it?”
…This guy, he’s being logical today.
“If you’re going to make me a homeroom teacher, at least raise my salary. You must have a lot of money.”
“Look, Mr. Woo.”
Hong Seok-young lowered his voice. I glanced at his face. He was still joking.
There was no more testing me, but the joking was the same.
“Running a school costs a lot of money.”
“It’s not like you have many students.”
“We have to build the building, too.”
“Everyone says that but doesn’t do it.”
“People don’t want to come here because there are a lot of dungeons nearby. So, we have to pay hazard pay.”
“Then you should conquer the dungeons.”
“That’s why we’re doing this.”
Amazingly, the conversation circled back to the beginning.
I looked at the documents I was holding. These were the ones Hong Seok-young got from Lee Mi-sun.
A brief report and strategy guide on the dungeons near the Pilot High School… were written there.
Even if it’s related to Bangju, he’s making Lee Mi-sun do even these things? Did he have some kind of leverage on her? Maybe it’s because she entrusted her nephew to him.
I took my eyes off the report and looked at Hong Seok-young. Still, I had the same thing to say.
“It would be much faster if you just handled it yourself.”
“No.”
Hong Seok-young shook his head.
“This time, the kids have to do it.”
“…Is there a reason?”
Hong Seok-young stood up from the sofa. He familiarly poured coffee mix into a paper cup, filled the coffee pot with water, and pressed the button.
“This is a Pilot High School. A school created as a trial.”
“Well… that’s true.”
“It’s a school I created using my name. There were many people who questioned why hunters even needed a school.”
That too, in twenty years, no, it would change if it lasted about three years. Maybe about five years, considering the Hunter Academy would be established.
“They all backed down because I was the one doing it. It’s still a long way to go.”
Not knowing that fact, Hong Seok-young scratched his chin with a displeased look on his face.
“To sum it up, we need results.”
Hmm.
“Do you think dungeon raids will help the school’s survival?”
“Even though the number of Awakened individuals is increasing every year, the number of skilled hunters isn’t growing, is it? Wizards are becoming more and more reclusive… and regular hunters are starting to follow the same pattern as wizards. If things continue like this, we won’t make it.”
“Do you think you can change that alone?”
“I don’t think that highly of myself either. That’s why I built the school. At the very least, to protect the kids who are just beginning to Awaken.”
There was a click from the coffee pot. The water had finished boiling.
“So, we need results, even if just for show.”
Hong Seok-young looked at my face briefly, then took out another paper cup and poured in the coffee mix.
“This school absolutely cannot fail.”
A sweet scent filled the air. Hong Seok-young handed me a paper cup. I had gotten used to the taste of this cheap coffee by now.
“In fact, there is a simpler way.”
“What is it?”
“Announcing that the newly revealed runes will only be taught at the Pilot High School.”
I felt a momentary shortness of breath.
“That’s a bit much.”
“Right?”
That would cause a whole different kind of chaos, not just about the results. It would disrupt my plan to release the runes and then step back.
I picked up the report I had been reading.
“So the kids just need to raid the dungeon?”
Seeing that I was ready to accept the task calmly, Hong Seok-young chuckled.
“We need proof that the kids are learning well. Inside the dungeon, no one knows what happens, so even if I did it together with them, well… you understand, right?”
If Hong Seok-young raided the dungeon and said the kids did it, there would be no evidence.
But that wasn’t Hong Seok-young’s goal. He genuinely wanted to train these kids to become hunters.
“Of course, people aren’t stupid, so if I go in with them, they’ll think I did everything.”
“So you want me to go in with them?”
“You. You’re a hunter.”
“…Thanks to you.”
It was Hong Seok-young who had thrown the hunter license at me along with my resident registration card.
Hong Seok-young clicked his tongue.
“I told you to renew it.”
“I need to have the time to renew it.”
“Want to renew it now? I’ll take you there.”
“No, thanks.”
Hong Seok-young chuckled.
“If you’re a D-rank hunter, no one will think you’ll raid a C-rank dungeon alone.”
“You want me to raid it?”
“No, not that.”
Hong Seok-young spoke seriously.
“The kids will raid it. I just don’t want to arouse unnecessary suspicion. If the leader is a D-rank hunter, who would think something significant would happen in a C-rank dungeon?”
Hong Seok-young grinned mischievously.
“In fact, Dasun did a preliminary sweep once.”
“Isn’t that cheating?”
“Leaving a dangerous dungeon as it is wouldn’t be right, so let’s call it for the public good.”
“And for the public good, the students will raid the dungeon?”
Hong Seok-young shrugged as if he didn’t hear me and continued talking.
“Dasun checked it once, and we already took care of the dangerous boss. We’ve also pinpointed the dungeon core’s location… Even if it’s rated C-rank, it won’t actually be that tough.”
“Does the guild master do such trivial tasks? It’s not even related to Bangju.”
“It’s related to the education of his nephew, isn’t it?”
“You could handle the preliminary clearing yourself. Isn’t that the teacher’s role?”
“You’re a teacher too, aren’t you?”
“And there’s also Mr. Kim Chae-min.”
Well, whether Lee Mi-sun was helping out of genuine concern for her nephew or for some other reason wasn’t my concern.
Living in ignorance might be better for my mental health. Lee Mi-sun was Uncle’s reliable… assistant for the past twenty years, after all.
“An inspector will be coming on the practice day.”
“That’s serious.”
“He won’t go into the dungeon. You’ll go in with the kids, help them with the raid, and if, by any chance, something dangerous happens, you’ll step in.”
“Just like this?”
I tapped my knee, the one with the magic suppression device.
“I’ll release it for that day.”
“Releasing my magic… and you’ll leave me and the kids alone? Without any supervision?”
Hong Seok-young shrugged nonchalantly.
“I trust you.”
“……”
“With your skills, you could easily handle the kids even with the suppression device on. If you had any bad intentions, you’d have caused trouble long ago.”
For some reason, I felt a tickle of irritation.
I clenched the paper cup in my hand, biting my lip, and then, as if I had just remembered, I asked,
“Come to think of it.”
“Yes?”
“Did you find any clues in the Bangi-dong dungeon? You left in such a hurry.”
“Unfortunately.”
Hong Seok-young shook his head.
“As Mr. Kim said, there was a person.”
“…There really was someone?”
Then it’s not that there were no clues?
“But they took their own life.”
“Was it because they were about to be caught?”
“No. They were already dead by the time we found them.”
With a bitter expression, Hong Seok-young shook his head slowly.
“The more we chase Bangju, the less we understand about him.”
“……”
“Dasun said they’d investigate further, so we’ll have to wait for now. And we need to prepare for the dungeon raid.”
The topic returned to the kids’ dungeon raid.
I looked at one of the documents on the table, not the Dasun report I had been reading.
‘Field Practice Plan.’
The date was written below.
June 15th.
It’s a tight schedule to prepare for their first dungeon raid.