Hunter Academy's Battle God

Within Academy City's only Association branch, Mei Lin found herself busily going through countless documents.

"How many days has it been of document work…?"

Although she'd spent half the day taking care of documents, a whole pile was still on top of the table. Mei Lin sighed and spoke to her Pocket.

"Check the passing list."

She'd concluded she would rather check the hologram than keep looking at documents—there was also a subject she was interested in.

"Subject, Shin YuSung."

[Shin YuSung - Pass list]

[Tower Floor 2 Clear]

[Hidden Stage Found (Room of Time)]

[Hidden Stage Challenge (Room of Time)]

[Hidden Stage Clear (Room of Time)]

[Reward: Trait Fortify]

Mei Lin looked at the hologram with a blank expression.

"Huh…?" Her eyes widened. "A h-hidden stage?"

Mei Lin gulped at YuSung’s unreal achievement. She was in charge of the Academy City's hunter branch, so it was weird for her to get so surprised, but YuSung's record was that shocking.

"He… really found the hidden stage and cleared it? On the first day?"

Based on the record, Shin YuSung had cleared the 2nd floor and fulfilled the conditions for the hidden stage to appear. That in itself was already impressive. 

"Is something like this even possible…?"

The problem was that he’d challenged and cleared the hidden stage without even a hint of fear.

Gulp.

Just who was he?

'As expected, he's Korea's peak… No, he's soon going to be even more than that.'

Mei Lein glanced at the documents she was tired of looking at and stood up.

YuSung was still a 1st-year student, yet he'd cleared a hidden stage and obtained a Trait fortification as a reward.

'I'm going to inform the Association President.'

The documents weren't as important as what YuSung had done.

* * *

Gaon's hallways had a clean beige and white design.

Tap, tap.

Shin YuSung looked around as he walked down the hallway and frequently overheard conversations he had no interest in.

"Even if we went with an active hunter, wouldn’t that be dangerous? How could we hunt a rank 3 boss?"

"We just have to watch from a distance. Like that, we’ll see a line in the reports saying, ‘During their 1st year, they hunted a rank 3 boss!’.

"That would be helpful for when we applied to a guild."

"What's up with the S class’s atmosphere? It seems like they fought."

"You didn’t hear? Lee ChaeHyun and Min SungHyuk aren't getting along."

"Are they fighting over who should be class representative…?"

"You know~ In a place with no tigers, the fox is the king~"

YuSung fell into thought as he heard the class B students conversing.

'Is it because Adela went to Italy…?'

He’d heard that Adela had decided to participate as Italy's representative.

If it wasn't a simple one-on-one duel and was a match at the International Competition, he couldn't guarantee that he’d be able to beat her.

'Still, I have the strength of my new Trait and the power of the Thousand-Year-Old Jade…'

The problem was that he had to help his other party members get stronger. Thankfully, Sumire had been chosen by Laplace and obtained a huge amount of strength.

'I should help Sumire with the strategy aspect so she can use more of the witch’s fragment’s power…'

Sumire had already become stronger than before, so he didn’t have to do much as the party leader when it came to her.

'Then the one that needs to get stronger is EunAh…'

Working on EunAh's potential seemed more effective to him.

Although her Trait was A-rank, the potential of her electric Trait was S+. Her destructive power was especially impressive.

The problem was the concentration it took to safely control that strength.

'What EunAh lacks are things I can teach her.'

YuSung was planning to give Kim EunAh personal training.

'As expected, for EunAh…'

Surviving in the wild, having a waterfall pour down on you, and using mana to fortify your body to resist the cold…

Shin YuSung thought of the training techniques he'd learned from the Fist King.

'That training should be the best.'

A certain technique came to his mind.

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

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* * *

Sunlight poured into the clubroom, and Kim EunAh was looking at a box of chocolate with a nervous expression on her face.

'H-how did it come to be like this…?'

It started with a TV drama she'd been watching with Lee SuHyun. The male protagonist gave a diamond ring to the female protagonist.

[Sniff, Mr. TaeSoo! I…]

[She's so happy to have received a ring? Her life was at risk because of him… To be honest, I can't understand why they're dating,] Kim EunAh said, an uninterested expression on her face as she saw the female protagonist crying in the man’s arms.

Lee SuHyun sighed. [Miss, of course she'd like it. It isn't the gift that's important but the feelings behind it.]

Lee SuHyun took a glimpse at Kim EunAh and shook her head. [Miss, you have too much money, so you probably wouldn’t feel the sincerity behind something like a diamond ring, but…]

[Sincerity?] EunAh asked back with uninterest. 

[Then… what would you consider a sincere gift?] SuHyun said as if it was just in passing. She had already figured out Kim EunAh's thoughts.

[In your case, miss, wouldn’t it be something handmade? Like chocolate or a scarf, for example.]

Her situation was a result of having been deceived by that. Kim EunAh looked at the chocolate box with a serious expression on her face.

"Did I go too far…? No matter how much I think about it, I feel like chocolate is too weird."

Although it wasn't Valentine's Day, chocolate was usually given to someone you liked of the opposite gender.

'I felt bad for not being there, so I wanted to give him a present…'

She hadn’t found it weird when she’d been preparing it. The chocolate was shaped like a caricature of YuSung’s face. It was supposed to be a friendship gift.

When she imagined giving it to him, she couldn't help but feel her heart tickle.

'What should I say as I hand it to him…? It would be weird to give it to him out of the blue. He might misunderstand things…'

While Kim EunAh had fallen into thought, the club's door opened.

"EunAh, so you were here." YuSung greeted her like always.

EunAh was surprised and hid the box.

"Huh? I… I also just got here!"

As she hid the box, she couldn't help but think that her actions were weirder.

'Why am I afraid of giving a box of chocolates?'

She bit her lips at the embarrassment she was feeling.

"You…  went to the Tower, right?" EunAh asked.

"Yes. It was easy because it was just the 2nd floor," Shin YuSung replied while grabbing banana milk from the fridge.

He sat on the sofa and told her what he'd experienced. "I plan to clear up to the 5th floor because you cannot activate the warp before that and clear it with the party from there. Of course, we must also prepare for the next International Competition match…"

"Really? Well, I guess it will be okay. They say that even rank 3 or 4 hunters can clear up to the 5th floor…" EunAh was still looking at him cautiously.

She was thinking about when to give him what she'd prepared so it wasn't weird. It was a nerve-wracking moment.

Tap.

Kim EunAh placed the box of chocolates on YuSung's knees.

"EunAh, this…"

EunAh blushed and turned her head away.

"It… it's just chocolate. I felt bad about the International Competition… and you also cleared the Tower…"

Kim EunAh gave all sorts of reasons; then she spoke in a careful tone. "You like sweet things…"

Shin YuSung liked sweet things more than anything, so she'd prepared it based on his tastes. 

YuSung smiled and then said her name. "EunAh…"

"What…?"

She was already getting embarrassed. It was the type of situation she always hated in TV dramas and called cheesy, but as she was put in a situation like that, she couldn't help but nervously fiddle with her fingers.

YuSung expressed his gratitude to her. "Thank you."

Considering Kim EunAh's usual personality, her giving a gift was unthinkable. When she heard his thanks, her expression relaxed a bit.

Thanks to that, she even made a profound expression and began speaking. "It's nothing…" 

Shin YuSung just silently smiled.