Why Is Everyone in This Dating Sim Trying to Kill Me?!

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Translator: Vine

Chapter Title: A Trip with the Master (1)

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'…Ichika, will she be okay?'

I was on my way to the infirmary, worried about Ichika, who had collapsed during class due to her desire control issues.

I thought a simple head pat now and then, which was all she usually asked for, would be enough.

It seemed it wasn't.

'The kid is so bad at expressing her emotions, it's impossible to tell what's going on with her…'

They say cats don't show it when they're sick, and Ichika was exactly like that.

*Buzz—*

Just then, my pocket vibrated.

'Shin Se-hee?'

I tilted my head and answered the call.

"Oh, yeah? You want me to come for a bit? First, Ichika…"

"Ah, I already checked on Ichika-ssi's condition. She said she's fine for now."

"Oh, really? Hmm, sounds urgent, then? Alright."

Shin Se-hee's seemingly urgent summons forced me to turn back from my path to the infirmary.

Utopia's hideout.

As I stepped inside, I saw Shin Se-hee sitting at her desk as usual.

Shin Se-hee was lost in thought, unaware of my arrival.

She seemed to be pondering something, holding a pen to her cheek with her lips slightly pouting.

'Did something happen?'

With the mission window now open, there shouldn't be much urgent work at this point.

'No, well. It's not like the story hasn't gotten twisted before.'

It wouldn't be too late to hear it directly and then decide.

"Shin Se-hee."

"Ah, Jin Yu-ha-ssi. You're here?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"It's a mission."

I couldn't help but be taken aback by Shin Se-hee's abrupt mention of a mission.

"What? A mission? Didn't we say we were taking a break from missions for a while to reorganize?"

Shin Se-hee nodded, acknowledging my words.

"Hmm, that's right. At least for Utopia as a unit."

"…Utopia as a unit?"

"Yes, Jin Yu-ha-ssi. A personal designated request came in for you."

A personal designated request.

Usually, for large-scale incidents, requests are given to parties.

But for smaller incidents, a specific person is sometimes chosen for a designated request.

'But a personal designated request for me? I haven't applied for a rank upgrade at the Hunter Management Bureau, so my rank should be pretty low…'

It was probably barely D-rank.

As for me personally, not Utopia, I had only completed one mission before coming to Velvet Hunter Academy: 'Camilla's Forest' with Lee Yu-ri.

If it were a request for someone like Kang Do-hee or Shin Se-hee, who were famous as promising hunter prospects even before admission, it would be valuable.

But my rank was low, so I wouldn't get good requests.

It was like…

My personal value was quite high thanks to Utopia, but because of my low rank, the missions I could take on were small in scale, making the compensation feel disproportionate.

"…Oh, um. Well, a personal request. I'm grateful someone thinks highly of me, but… my rank is still super low, so I won't be able to get any good requests, right?"

I stated that honestly.

Shin Se-hee chuckled, as if to say, 'Did you really think I wouldn't have considered that?'

"Hmm, how should I put it? It's a rather unusual request."

"…An unusual request?"

"Yes, here. Would you take a look at this?"

Shin Se-hee handed me a mission brief.

I took it and read it with my eyes.

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[ Designated Request ] ━ D-rank Hunter Jin Yu-ha

Request Type ━ Undetermined

Request Details ━

I wish to see Hunter Jin Yu-ha solve a request without the help of other party members.

Any request is fine.

Hunter Jin Yu-ha should select a request autonomously.

Please carry out the request for 3 days.

However, during the execution of the request, please capture all scenes with a personal camera.

(An auto-tracking drone camera is included.)

Mission Completion Reward ━ 100 million won

Mission Period ━ 3 days from the date of request acceptance.

Requester ━ Nise

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'What in the…?'

I couldn't hide my bewildered expression as I looked at the brief.

So the box next to the brief was a drone camera.

"It's an interesting request, isn't it? It's a simple request where Jin Yu-ha-ssi just selects a mission you want to do, carries it out, and records it with a camera."

Shin Se-hee said nonchalantly, as if understanding my reaction.

"Just in case they might interfere with the quality of the recorded video, I confirmed with the requester, and they said that won't be the case. I even got a separate confirmation form for that part, you know?"

"…"

However, the reason for my bewildered expression wasn't the unusual content of the request.

This requester.

'Niseh'.

I knew that person.

It was an anagram of the woman right in front of me: Shin Se-Hee.

In other words, this was her other identity.

It was the name Shin Se-hee used when she needed to do something anonymously or handle shady dealings behind the scenes.

I remembered it because scenes of Shin Se-hee operating as Nise appeared quite often in the game.

'…What on earth is she thinking?'

She wouldn't have planned this to trap me.

It was then.

"Hmm. So. This. Is. A. Per. Son. Al. De. Sig. Na. Ted. Re. Quest."

A stiff, incredibly awkward voice suddenly interjected.

"M-Master…?"

It was Baek Seol-hee.

She subtly peeked her head in, scanned the request brief, then nodded and said,

"Hmm. In. Deed. It. Seems. Someone. Thinks. Highly. Of. My. Dis. Ci. Ple's. Skills. Ex. Cell. Lent. Dis. Ci. Ple."

Her usual manner of speech wasn't particularly warm, but now she was speaking almost like a robot.

'…Her acting is terrible!'

I desperately tried to maintain my expression.

"How. Ever. My. Dis. Ci. Ple's. Hunt. Er. Rank. Is. Low—"

"Even if Jin Yu-ha-ssi can choose, she can't take high-rank requests because her current rank is low."

Shin Se-hee, seeing that this wasn't working, cut off Master's words and interjected.

"However, in the case of our academy students, if they are accompanied by an instructor, they can freely select requests with approval!"

Then Master glared at Shin Se-hee, as if asking why she was interrupting her.

"Yes. I. Am. Free. For. Now."

Honestly, from my perspective, it seemed better if Master just didn't speak.

'Even if I wanted to pretend to fall for it, her acting was just too bad…'

It was the moment I realized even my Master, who seemed perfect in every way, had something she wasn't good at.

In any case, I understood Shin Se-hee's intention.

'Ah, so she means if there's something I personally want to resolve, I should just go and do it legally this time?'

Given that she even assigned Master to accompany me, her consideration was clear.

Utopia needed to reorganize for a while anyway.

This was a chance to handle dangerous missions or places that would be hard to take party members to!

'Oh, then this is a goldmine! It's Master!'

My Master, strong enough to make any munchkin or cheat code look pathetic.

With her, I could handle things that would normally be unthinkable in my current situation.

I grinned, smiling at Shin Se-hee.

Such a surprise gift was always welcome.

"Thank you for taking on this request for me."

I said that, even though I knew she was the requester.

"You're welcome, Jin Yu-ha-ssi. Go with a light heart and have a good trip."

"Yeah, I understand."

* * *

And so, Baek Seol-hee and Jin Yu-ha departed from Utopia's hideout.

"Whew…"

Shin Se-hee let out a deep sigh.

"Honestly, I didn't want to send those two away…"

But she had no choice.

The timing was critical.

It was the point where Sophia's dissatisfaction with Ichika was surfacing.

And then there was Instructor Baek Seol-hee's not-so-subtle threat.

'…Was that instructor always so brazen? I'm sure she wasn't like that when I first met her.'

Shin Se-hee let out a hollow laugh, recalling Baek Seol-hee's chilling visit the other day.

How startled she was to wake up in the middle of the night to a woman staring down at her with cold eyes.

Fortunately, the person who had bypassed all of Director Lina's ironclad security was Baek Seol-hee, not some intruder.

"You said that doing so would increase my disciple's favorability, so I played the role of an instructor, which was never in my cards, but why is there no change?"

'No, you *are* an instructor.'

And what she said next was ridiculous.

"Therefore, think of another method. The calculations still don't match."

It was true, actually.

Thanks to Baek Seol-hee, Utopia's party's standing could soar much higher.

Without her special training, they probably wouldn't have achieved such noticeable results in the recent American monster subjugation mission.

Therefore, since there was a need for internal reorganization among the party members anyway,

she had no choice but to devise a plan to appease Baek Seol-hee's dissatisfaction.

That was the personal designated request for Jin Yu-ha, accompanied by Baek Seol-hee.

To make it happen, Shin Se-hee even used her other identity.

'Well, since she asked for all scenes to be recorded, they wouldn't do anything inappropriate even if they were alone…'

Still, surely an instructor wouldn't do that to a student.

In any case.

Jin Yu-ha would be absent from the academy for a while now.

"Alright, shall we begin the internal reorganization?"

As if foretelling a coming bloodbath,

a cold smile formed on Shin Se-hee's lips.