Chapter 14
When Jung Da-jeong, who had fallen asleep, finally woke up, it was already early afternoon.
The sizzling sound of meat cooking on the grill filled the air.
It was a rare occasion when my sibling and I went out to eat together, and we were at a samgyeopsal restaurant.
The last time we came here was probably when Jung Da-jeong got her first paycheck after getting a job, wasn't it?
Seeming very tired, Jung Da-on, who had just woken up and was yawning repeatedly, asked,
"So, did the results of the college entrance exam come out as expected?"
Even though she had never asked about the preliminary score right after the exam, it seemed like she was actually curious about the results.
I took the college entrance exam score report that I had shoved into my pocket and showed it to her. Jung Da-jeong's face lit up as she took the report.
"Wow, our Da-on is amazing. How did you study so well without ever going to a cram school? Did you inherit your brains from me?"
Being a great sorcerer isn’t just about having a lot of magic; you also need to be able to control that magic according to certain formulas, and it’s impossible to become a sorcerer without a good head. I’ve been a great sorcerer since my past life, so I’m not smart just because I resemble you... I wanted to say this, but seeing Jung Da-jeong's bright expression, I decided to keep it to myself.
"So, you met the minimum requirements for early admission, right? That's great. They'll announce whether you got a scholarship when they announce the acceptance results, right?"
"Yeah, I should get it, as long as things go well."
While her grades were good, the possibility of her receiving a scholarship was high because of the special category for socially disadvantaged applicants.
...But that was only something that could be said before the Awakened Ability Test.
I sighed deeply.
‘As expected, she hasn’t seen the news.’
That’s why she was talking about something like university, of course.
Typically, even if someone becomes a Hunter, their mandatory service can be delayed until after they graduate from college, but since I am a potential S-rank Hunter, it would be more efficient to develop my abilities quickly.
The Hunter Management Bureau, which would likely contact me soon, probably thinks that way.
And I agreed with them.
‘If someone is after my life, it’s better to quickly remove the ability limits.’
If Yoo Han-ul hadn’t come, ‘Jung Da-on’ would have probably died in that dungeon, according to someone’s unknown plan.
While I couldn’t kill unknown enemies right away... preparing to increase my stats quickly was the most urgent task right now.
Even without that, it was impossible to live a normal life with my current situation.
Though I wore a mask to cover my face while walking here for the meal, the part-time worker at the samgyeopsal restaurant couldn’t help but glance at me repeatedly.
‘I’m not a celebrity.’
Of course, my face hasn’t officially been revealed on TV yet, as they’ve pixelated my footage, but in this world of social media, it was unrealistic to hope that my personal details hadn’t spread.
Since yesterday, two videos of me have been the top trending videos on every site, so it’s no surprise that people are looking at me.
And on the lawless internet, they hadn’t pixelated properly, so it was impossible not to recognize me.
Especially in that video where I was threatening that school bully—I don’t even remember his name anymore—but the camera angle was perfect.
However, my naive sibling, who had been suffering from black companies for the past few days, was still grilling the samgyeopsal and passionately lecturing me.
"Yeah, so don’t waste your time adding part-time jobs and focus on managing your grades. It’s stupid to ruin your grades with part-time work, and if that drags out your job search, it would be even dumber, you know? I got a job now, so don’t worry about it..."
"...Hey, Jung Da-jeong."
But since I couldn’t hide the fact that I became a Hunter forever, I decided to break the news.
"About college, I think..."
Clink!
Jung Da-jeong put the tongs she was using to grill the meat down on the table with a thud and made a fierce expression.
"Da-on."
She probably thought she was making a fierce face, but to me, it was just funny. It was no different than how herbivores act when they’re annoyed.
"Don’t tell me you’re saying you’re not going? We already talked about this. Sure, nowadays, having a good university degree doesn’t guarantee success, but for someone like us, it’s still important to have a good educational background. And honestly, you don’t really excel at anything other than studying, do you?"
"No, that’s not it... Wait, what do you mean I don’t excel at anything?"
This brat...
"You should listen to your older brother. I’ve got the ability to send you to college now."
I fell silent.
It’s not like I didn’t understand why she said that.
‘...I just don’t know how to bring it up.’
To be honest, because I remember my past life, even though Jung Da-jeong and I are siblings, I don’t really feel like an older brother in the true sense.
Though we share blood and this physical body, my mind is still more connected to the Demon King from my past life.
But it’s also true that for 19 years, this kid has devoted herself to me.
Even contractors who make deals with demons and offer their hearts don’t devote themselves this much.
A contractor at least asks for their wishes to be granted, but Jung Da-jeong didn’t ask anything from me.
If she has one wish, it’s just that I remain Da-on, her younger sibling.
Because of that, I want to listen to her as much as I can, but...
‘Impossible.’
Since I became a potential S-rank Hunter, and since there’s someone out there trying to take my life, living a normal life is impossible.
At least for Jung Da-on, it was.
But I couldn’t hide the fact that I had to act as a Hunter from Jung Da-jeong.
The situation wasn’t good. We were living in a dilapidated multi-family house with bad security.
Just yesterday, we were attacked by the one who caused the dungeon break, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.
Right now, I’ve put up defensive magic circles, but with my overall level at only 12, if the enemy charged at me like last time, there would be nothing I could do.
Until I catch the unknown enemy, I had to keep Jung Da-jeong somewhere secure.
To do that, I needed to start working as a Hunter quickly. With money, I could find a new place to live.
- Yesterday, South Korea saw the 11th-ever S-rank Hunter rise.
While there was a moment of silence between us, likely because of our argument, the TV in the samgyeopsal restaurant suddenly announced the news.
"Oh, right. The Awakened Ability Test. A new S-rank? That’s amazing."
Jung Da-jeong, perhaps trying to lighten the atmosphere, spoke with a slightly higher tone than usual.
"I once dreamed that an S-rank would come out of the Awakened Ability Test."
I placed my chopsticks down and warned her.
"You shouldn’t even dream about it, Jung Da-jeong."
With her soft nature, there’s no way she could be a good Hunter. Jung Da-jeong laughed, though I didn’t understand why.
"It’s already over, anyway. Whoever they are, it’s lucky to be an S-rank. They’ll make a lot of money."
"Really?"
- The person in question is said to be a student from a high school in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, who was caught up in the dungeon break that occurred there yesterday.
"What? There was a dungeon break in our neighborhood yesterday?!"
Jung Da-jeong’s eyes widened as she heard the news.
"Don’t talk while eating. It’s gross."
"Why didn’t you contact me? Why didn’t I get an emergency disaster message?"
"Wasn’t your phone off? I thought the message would have gone through."
"Oh, right. I sent you a message, but my phone ran out of battery. I plugged it in to charge but then forgot to check it afterward. I left it plugged in and just went home."
No wonder.
It would have been normal to contact Jung Da-jeong when I got caught in the dungeon break, but I couldn’t understand why she didn’t know.
Jung Da-jeong suddenly grabbed her head in realization.@@novelbin@@
"This is bad. If they send an emergency message from the company..."
That emergency message must have been sent dozens of times already. When she checks her phone at work tomorrow, she’ll probably faint.
"Forget it. I’ll just get scolded tomorrow for whatever I did."
"Good avoidance strategy."
"Now that you mention it, I feel like I need to go back to the company right now."
"Why would you leave in the middle of eating?"
"Ugh, fine. Let’s just eat. Our Da-on has to eat, right?"
After Jung Da-jeong spent some time pulling at her hair, she placed well-grilled samgyeopsal on my plate.
"By the way, someone from the Awakened Ability Test got caught in the dungeon break right after being tested. Whoever they are, they must’ve gone through a lot. I can’t tell if it’s good luck or bad luck."
"Probably bad luck."
"Yeah. No matter how much money an S-rank Hunter makes, they still need to be trained. But, I’m sure they’ll be fine, right? From the way they’re talking about it on the news."
"They’ll be fine."
I lowered my arm under the table, covering it with my long-sleeve shirt. The burn marks on my arm were still visible under the fabric, but human perception is strange. They say believing in something unseen is fanaticism. So as long as Jung Da-jeong doesn’t see my wounds, it’s almost as if they don’t exist.
However, unlike the wound on my arm, I couldn’t hide the fact that I was the person in that news report.
Eventually, tomorrow, Jung Da-jeong would find out when she goes to work.
The time to contact the Hunter Management Bureau was also approaching.
I made up my mind and spoke up.
"Jung Da-jeong... don’t be surprised, but..."
"Oh, right! I remember now!"
At that moment, an older lady, who had been fiddling with her phone from afar, ran over to check my face.
"Is this Da-on? Oh my, you look even better in person than on screen!"
"..."
The older lady, who had been fiddling with her phone from afar, ran over to check my face.
"Is this Da-on? Oh my, you look even better in person than on screen!"
"..."
Actors on morning dramas often go through so many annoying situations when they visit restaurants, and it seems like I’m going to have to go through similar hardships.
Not realizing what was happening, Jung Da-jeong, who had no idea, suddenly got suspicious and asked the lady,
"How do you know my younger sibling...?"
"I saw it in a video my friend sent me! How impressive! So young, and you managed to take down such a big monster! You even saved ordinary people! Could you please sign something for me?"
"...Are you sure you’re not confusing me with someone else? My younger sibling is pretty, but they’re not an idol..."
"In our neighborhood, an S-rank Hunter has appeared! Shouldn’t we put up a banner or something?"
"Can you at least skip the autograph...?"
Looking at me with a dazed expression, Jung Da-jeong glanced over at me for confirmation.
"Yeah."
"Huh?"
"Get a grip."
Jung Da-jeong blinked several times in confusion.
"An idol... no, an S-rank Hunter?"
"Yeah."
"You mean the S-rank Hunter who got caught up in the dungeon break yesterday..."
"Yeah."
"Is that... for real?"
"Yeah, for real."
The chopsticks fell to the floor with a clink.
Jung Da-jeong fainted with her eyes wide open.
I calmly turned to the older lady and asked,
"Excuse me, could you please bring me a bottle of soju as a service?"
I’ll need to pour it for Jung Da-jeong.
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