I silently rejoiced in my heart, trying my best to suppress my joy.
If there’s a change in my voice, Cha Domin will definitely notice.
Although I was happy, I was also slightly nervous because I didn’t know what condition Cha Domin would impose.
He was such an unpredictable guy, which made me even more anxious.
I just hoped it wouldn’t be something strange.
-Please do me a favor later.
It was an undesirable condition.
An uncertain condition made me uneasy.
Although I didn’t want to agree, I had no choice.
Right now, I needed to escape the immediate danger first.
“Alright.”
I answered and ended the call.
***
After the call was disconnected, the beeping sound from the phone echoed loudly.
In a room where not a single beam of light entered, only the computer monitor was shining.
On the desk, the remnants of cup ramen from several days piled up.
Cha Domin leaned back and rested his body against the chair.
Dark circles were heavy under his eyes.
‘Sigh… I never imagined a day like this would come.’
He never imagined the long-awaited contact would bring news of his teacher’s terminal condition.
The thought of his teacher dying was unimaginable.
In Cha Domin’s memories, the teacher was a strong hunter.
People called him an E-rank hunter, but Domine believed that was because his teacher hid his true power.
He was like a reclusive master living with concealed strength.
Only the teacher could take care of the higher-ranked hunters like them.
“Mana Syndrome…”
Domin tapped on the keyboard and rubbed his chin.
There was no cure for it; modern medicine could only slow its progress.
Once contracted, mana syndrome was always fatal.
“This is maddening.”
He ran a hand over his face and sighed again.
Forgery wasn’t that difficult a task for him.
He could make the documents in just 10 minutes; it was easy for someone like him.
Falsifying a doctor’s testimony could be done with just a bit of money.
‘I wonder how the others will react to this.’
The problem was the other hunters who had grown up under their teacher’s care.
Some of them had such an obsession with the teacher that they would challenge the Hongyeom Guild to a fight.
It was all to bring the teacher into their guild.
‘But it should be fine if I only tell the other students, right?’
What the teacher was worried about was the potential harm to the Hongyeom Guild.
Even if the other students found out, it was unlikely the Hongyeom Guild would be hurt.
No matter how obsessed some of the students were, they would never harm the teacher just to get him into their guild.
“The other students always listen to the teacher perfectly, but not me.”
Unlike Domin, the other students would give up anything for the teacher’s sake.
If the teacher had asked them not to tell anyone, they would obey.
“I’m only telling the students, so it should be safe.”
Later, if the teacher got mad, Domin could always use the forged documents about the mana syndrome diagnosis as an excuse.
It didn’t take long for the forged diagnosis to arrive.
He barely held back his laughter, though his lips kept curling up.
Domin was skilled at these things, but even he hadn’t expected it to be done this quickly.
As he carefully placed the documents into his jacket to keep them from getting wrinkled,
***
“Teacher!”
Just as I was planning my next move, a child of around ten years old jumped toward me.
“Here you are!”
The child jumped up, and while it seemed like a simple hug to the abdomen, to him, it was different.
“Ugh! Seong Ganglim, I told you not to hug me like that!”
“Heh heh.”
The feeling of a blunt force hitting his abdomen made me gasp for air.
Then, a sharp pain tightened around my waist.
It wasn’t the strength of an ordinary child.
Domin tried to break free, but Seong Ganglim’s arms didn’t budge.
“Ugh! Looks like Ganglim’s biceps got even thicker since yesterday.”
“Yeah! I followed the training the teacher told me about, and I think I’ve gotten a lot stronger already!”
Seong Ganglim was a future hunter being trained by the Hongyeom Guild.
His predicted rank was an S-rank.
***
Name: Seong Ganglim
Predicted Rank: S-rank
Trust: 82%
[Stats]
Strength: 40
Agility: 30
Stamina: 42
Mana: 35
Senses: 20
Investment Limit: 60 points
Current Investment: 30 points
***
Half of his investment limit had already been used.
The amount of points a person can invest in their stats is limited by a set threshold.
When a person is young, the limit is low, but as they grow or their trust rises, the limit increases.
That’s why he was getting ridiculously strong every day.
He had invested 30 points evenly, and now he was flying.
‘My ribs hurt…?’
I barely managed to keep my legs from buckling.
He was still young, so it was fine for now, but growing stronger was a problem.
If he got even stronger and hugged me like this again, my body would be ruined.
I didn’t want to end up on the news as the person who died from a hug!
“Go play with the other kids.”
The kids should be in the training room by now.
Since Seong Ganglim was here, it seemed like he had snuck out of the training room again to come see me.
“I wanted to see you quickly, teacher!”
Sure, it was cute, but I wished the hugging would stop.
My waist was being squeezed so hard that it felt like it would break.
Just when I was about to lose consciousness, a voice of salvation came from behind.
“Seong Ganglim! You escaped again!”
Seol Ahyeon ran up and separated Seong Ganglim from me, letting out a relieved sigh.
“I told you not to bother the teacher!”
Seong Ganglim pouted as she scolded him.
[You’ve escaped the threat to your life.]
[You have gained experience.]
[You leveled up.]
[You gained 3 points.]
What?
Was this for real?
Just from a child hugging me, I was escaping a threat to my life?
If just this could level me up, then I was nothing more than a mayfly in front of these kids.
***
Name: Kim Onyu
Rank: E-rank
Status: Tired
Remaining Points: 20 points
[Stats]
Strength: 15
Agility: 20
Stamina: 10
Mana: 10
Senses: 25
Investment Limit: (Locked)
Current Investment Points: (Locked)
Currently, my abilities were slightly above the average for an E-rank.
I could only lick my lips in regret.
If I had been invested in, maybe I could have become the strongest Hunter.
The thought of being the strongest Hunter was a sweet one.
‘Now that I’m older, I just want to live peacefully.’
But still, it wouldn’t be true to say I had no regrets.
There had to be some way to increase my abilities.
But everything turned out to be in vain.
In the end, I decided to focus solely on raising the children.
“Teacher, I’m sorry. I got distracted for a moment…”
“What are you apologizing for? You just became the Vice Guild Leader and are busy now.”
Seol Ahyeon, the Vice Guild Leader of the Hongyeom Guild, was one of the S-rank Hunters I had raised.
I honestly felt like thanking her.
If I had been a moment late, my back would have been folded like a folder.
‘At least Ahyeon is helping to manage the kids, so that’s a relief.’
The aura of an S-rank Hunter was more than enough to keep the kids in check.
“Okay, let’s go back now.”
“Tch!”
Seong Ganglim, who was hanging on to my shirt, stuck out his lips and clicked his tongue.
With his bright, pleading eyes, he looked as if he was asking for help, but I deliberately ignored him.
If I saved him here, I really might end up with my back folded.
At that moment, Seol Ahyeon opened her mouth as if to ask something.
“Teacher, is it true that you’re retiring?”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Well… I overheard it when you were talking to Lee Hogyul.”
Of all things, she heard that!
I pressed my furrowed brow with my index finger and suppressed my emotions as much as possible.
‘I need to answer carefully here.’
Seol Ahyeon was one of the more well-behaved kids—at least in terms of Hunters.
“Ugh, ugh…”
“Teacher!?”
“Sorry. I haven’t been feeling well lately. I’ll try to hang in there… ugh!”
I continued coughing while covering my mouth.
Only then did Seol Ahyeon look pale and start to panic, not knowing what to do.
“Sorry, but can we talk about this later?”
“Of course! Please rest well, Teacher!”
Once Seol Ahyeon disappeared, I let out a sigh of relief.
I think I might be good at acting.
If I’m not actually retiring, maybe I should consider trying to be an actor.
I quickly left the scene.
A short while later…
“Alright, now I need to control my emotions.”
Standing in front of the Hongyeom Guild Leader’s office, my heart began to race.
I took a deep breath and tried to recall the most painful memories.
Yes, the past few years had been filled with nothing but the pain of being pushed around by the kids.
Knock-knock!
“Come in.”
I knocked twice on the door, and a soft voice called from inside.
The door opened, and I could see Hongyeom Guild Leader Yoon Kanghyun working.
Upon noticing me, Yoon Kanghyun pushed aside the towering pile of papers.
He was the S-rank leader of the Hongyeom Guild, one of the top 5 guilds.
To be honest, it was unbelievable that I, an E-rank Hunter, was even standing in front of him.
“Oh, it’s Kim Onyu. What brings you here?”
His gentle voice and warm smile made me feel at ease.
I had never seen Yoon Kanghyun angry, even while working together.
He had even torn up my resignation letter with a smile.
“By the way, I won’t be accepting any resignation letters.”
He cut off any possibility of me submitting one before I could even mention it.
Was he just good at reading the atmosphere, or did he really read my mind?
I had a feeling he might have done both.
He was smiling, but why did I feel like there was an aura of anger?
Cough!
“Guild Leader, please take a look at this.”
I coughed once more and handed over the Mana Syndrome diagnosis.
After taking a look at the document, Yoon Kanghyun’s smile gradually faded.
“Is this real?”
“Yes, I wish I didn’t have to believe it, but my remaining lifespan is said to be 3 years. Originally, I wanted to work more in the Hongyeom Guild, but now I just want to go to a quiet countryside and spend my remaining years there.”
The words flowed out smoothly.
I ended with a cough, as if punctuating the sentence.
I had to make sure to maintain my performance until the end.
But unexpectedly, Yoon Kanghyun took an unexpected action.
“I’ll need to call the hospital directly to verify this.”
Yoon Kanghyun began dialing the number of the hospital listed on the document.
“This is Yoon Kanghyun, Guild Leader of Hongyeom. I’d like to access the patient information for Kim Onyu. The person has consented.”
He handed the phone toward me as if asking for my confirmation.
The tension made sweat trickle down my back.
If they found out my information wasn’t there, they’d probably force me to undergo a Mana Syndrome test.
The call didn’t last long.
After hanging up, Yoon Kanghyun carefully observed the situation.
“Phew… of all things, you had to Mana Syndrome.”
Yoon Kanghyun put down the document.
Based on his reaction, I realized my lie hadn’t been exposed.
‘Cha Domin must have hacked the hospital system and inserted my information. My clever and meticulous kid!’
Yoon Kanghyun, seemingly in pain, pressed his temple, frowning.
He took out some chocolate from his drawer and put it in his mouth.
He must have been quite shocked.
Yoon Kanghyun didn’t like sweet foods.
But oddly enough, whenever something stressful or troublesome came up, he always ate chocolates or candy.
Eating chocolate was a sign that this situation was really troublesome.
“You’ve done countless things for our guild, so we can’t just keep you… You said you wanted to live in the countryside, right?”
“…Yes.”
“…It can’t be helped. You’ve made contributions to the guild.”
With tightly clenched lips and eyes lowered at a 45-degree angle, it was a perfect example of someone trying to hold back their sadness.
I was sure of it.
But inside, it was already a festival.
I started to think about how to rest when I finally get to go to the countryside.
I can’t believe this day has come for me!
How much I’ve suffered until now.
The colleagues at work, all of them were envious of me for being the guild master’s favorite.
I won’t have to hear the harsh words from the parents anymore!
Now I’m forever free from those kinds of gazes.
[You have successfully performed an act of acting.]
[You gained experience points.]
It became so familiar that every little action earned experience points.
But honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore since I don’t even have a place to spend the points.
“Wait a minute… Kim Onyu, you said you wanted to work with us more, right?”
“…That’s right?”
At that moment, I should have realized something.
If I had seen the ominous smile on Yoon Kanghyun’s face, I would have known.
“I’ll accept your resignation. We’ll support you so you can live quietly in the peaceful countryside.”
“Really!?”
“Yes, but in return, you’ll have to take on a contract job.”
Huh…?
This seems like something is wrong here…