Chapter 106: If It Doesn’t Exist

When Yoo Jinhyuk hit me on the head, it didn’t hurt that much.

So much so that I thought I could keep fighting.

But as it is, pain is something that comes later.

Twitch—

The pain slowly crept up, and my head throbbed.

As if I had been tortured.

I collapsed onto the training ground floor, clutching my head, and Yoo Jinhyuk, the one who inflicted the pain, was approaching me.

‘Oh, he’s coming…!’

Yoo Jinhyuk reached out his hand.

To attack an opponent who had lost the will to fight.

He was a man who deserved to be called a devil.

I quickly prostrated myself on the floor, curling up into a ball.

As I felt my tail hairs bristle and trembled, someone placed their hand on my head.

“W-Who is it?”

I could only mutter without raising my head.

Hoping that the owner of the hand was Jinhyang.

“It’s me. Can you look up?”

Ah.

It was Jinhyang’s voice.

I quickly raised my head, and the first thing I saw was Jinhyang’s legs as she squatted down.

“Boss.”

I reached out to grab Jinhyang’s ankle, but she first slipped her hands under my armpits.

“Is your head okay?”

At the same time, Jinhyang helped me to my feet.

I couldn’t pretend to be weak as a man here.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m invincible.”

Ahem.

To show that I was really okay, I put my hand on my hip and puffed out my chest.

However, my head hurt so much that my eyes twitched.

At the same time, a tear trickled down my cheek.

“Are you saying that while crying?”

“Ah, no. It’s sweat.”

“That’s not likely.”

“It’s true. It’s because I’m too hot from sparring.”

I fanned myself for no reason.

To emphasize that I was sweating because I was too hot.

Jinhyang looked down at me and silently wiped away my tears.

“…So, how was it?”

“What do you mean?”

“The sparring, I mean.”

Sparring, huh.

It was a shame.

It was a fight I could have won.

“It was a waste.”

“A waste?”

“Yes. You saw it too, right, Boss? I almost won.”

“…That’s what you call almost winning?”

Jinhyang frowned.

She clearly doubted me.

I clearly showed my overwhelming power, so why was she acting like that?

In frustration, I sharpened my claws.

“I was, like, like! I attacked like this, like this!”

Swish, swish—!

I waved my hands wildly to show Jinhyang.

Each of my gestures was so powerful and threatening that it could have been fatal.

“Okay, okay, stop it. You’ll tear your clothes.”

“Yes.”

I shouldn’t tear my clothes.

They’re expensive designer clothes.

I quickly put my hands down.

‘It’s a shame. It’s a shame.’

If I hadn’t been careless at the end, I could have landed a hit.

That one hit could have been fatal, and I could have won the sparring.

“Boss, did I lose?”

“Yeah. You lost.”

“I see.”

My shoulders slumped in disappointment, but I quickly regained my spirits and could laugh with a hee hee.

Accepting defeat is true ‘coolness’.

Jinhyang’s eyes widened as if she was surprised by my calm appearance.

“You lost, but you’re okay?”

“Yes. I lost by a hair’s breadth, so I’m okay.”

“A hair’s breadth…?”

“Yes. And he’s supposed to be super strong.”

I looked at Yoo Jinhyuk as I spoke.

When our eyes met, I couldn’t help but turn away.

“Yeah. He’s probably the strongest among teenagers right now.”

Jinhyang’s gaze turned to Yoo Jinhyuk.

At the same time, the corners of my mouth turned up.

“Woo-hoo!”

“Why are you laughing again…?”

“I was fighting for the title of the strongest, but I lost so narrowly.”

I lost, but it was really by a hair’s breadth.

It was because his skill and mine, the ‘strongest’, were similar.

‘Well, whatever.’

Overwhelming power is just boring.

It wasn’t bad to have a rival to compete for the title of ‘strongest’.

**

Lunchtime.

Harang skipped her meal and fell asleep in Silver’s arms.

Silver was looking around, as if protecting Harang.

‘She must have been very tired.’

Harang was curled up like a ball in Silver’s arms.

Her long tail was wrapped around her belly, touching the top of her head.

‘That kid is too positive.’

I was going to show her the power of a Hunter through sparring.

But even after losing, she was giggling about fighting the strongest person and almost winning.

Jinhyang was at a loss for words because it was such an unexpected result.

‘Will she be okay?’

Jinhyang didn’t want Harang to grow up with a conceited personality.

Jinhyang was a little worried, but she decided to trust Harang’s natural disposition.

She was such a kind child that she wouldn’t make people angry.

‘Should I watch her for now?’

If it doesn’t seem right, I can fix it then.

As Jinhyang approached Harang with that thought in mind.

Click—

Click—

She had no choice but to stop in her tracks at the sound of photos being taken from all directions.

“She’s so pretty.”

“She looks like a princess in a fairy tale.”

People were taking pictures of Harang with their smartphones.

Jinhyang wondered if she should stop them, but decided to let it go.

Photos always follow celebrities, so it was much better to let her get used to it.

Although it was a little much to take pictures of her sleeping defenselessly.

I’ll keep an eye on it and stop them if things get serious.

As Jinhyang thought that, Yoo Jinhyuk approached her from behind.

“Excuse me, Instructor.”

“What.”

“I have a question, can I ask you?”

“A question?”

Jinhyang looked at Yoo Jinhyuk, but his gaze was on Harang.

He said he had a question, but it was a question about Harang.

Jinhyang became wary of  Yoo Jinhyuk.

“You said Harang isn’t a Tamer, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then how does Silver Tiger follow Harang?”

“…She’s just like, a guardian.”

“A guardian?”

Do monsters protect people?

As Yoo Jinhyuk was looking at the side of Silver Tiger’s face.

“Dad…”

Harang snuggled into Silver’s arms as if she was sleep-talking.

Yoo Jinhyuk could only stare at Harang’s back for a long time.

“Dad…?”

Calling Silver Tiger Dad.

Was that what she meant by guardian?

Yoo Jinhyuk compared Harang and Silver with surprised eyes.

‘They’re similar.’

The shape of their ears and tails, and the color of their glossy silver fur, were exactly the same.

‘Was she born between a Silver Tiger and a human…?’

A hybrid of human and monster.

It was heinous, but not impossible.

Orcs and goblins sometimes coveted humans.

‘Wow…’

Yoo Jinhyuk didn’t watch the news.

He didn’t use the internet either.

It was no surprise that he didn’t know about ‘Sudden Conversion Syndrome’.

‘Amazing.’

If her father is a Silver Tiger, then her mother must be human.

Life is so mysterious.

As Yoo Jinhyuk admired Harang, he realized one thing.

“Could it be that her mom is…!”

Is it Jinhyang?!

Yoo Jinhyuk widened his eyes and looked at Jinhyang.

At the same time, Bang—!

Something struck Yoo Jinhyuk’s face.

It was a fist.

It was Jinhyang’s fist, packed with enough power to keep had unconscious for a day or so.

**

“Hehe.”

In my sleep, I rubbed my cheek against something soft.

It was so soft and nice.

Enough to make me open my eyes.

‘What is it?’

I blinked my eyes with effort and looked at the soft thing.

It was someone’s belly with white skin.

“Is it Delphine?”

“Yeah. It’s me.”

I must have been lying on Delphine’s lap.

It had been so long that my tail was wagging wildly.

I was too tired to move anything but my tail.

‘Oh, what should I do?’

I was so happy to see Delphine after so long.

I wanted to rub my cheeks against her, lick her body here and there, and hug her tightly.

But I had just woken up and it was hard to move.

I was afraid that Delphine might leave me, so I felt like I had to say something.

The things I like the most.

“Churu! Box! Catnip!”

“Churu?”

“Yeah!”

It was my way of expressing affection by saying what I liked.

“Those are all things cats like, right?”

“Yeah. But tigers like them too.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Delphine chuckled and stroked my head.

Then she opened her mouth again.

“Harang, how did you know it was me without even looking at my face?”

“That? I just knew by looking at your belly?”

“How can you tell just by looking at my belly…?”

How did I know?

Delphine was special, so I could tell just by the touch.

“Delphine has a belly.”

“Be-Belly…?”

“Yeah. It’s soft.”

I used my tail to lift Delphine’s top.

As her slightly visible belly was fully revealed, I could see her soft belly fat even more clearly.

“Ha, Harang!”

“Yeah?”

Delphine huffed and pulled down her top, but it was already too late.

Because I had buried my face in her soft belly fat.

“Harang! This isn’t even considered belly fat!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I’m super skinny! Harang has this much too…!”

Delphine said as she lifted my top.

It seemed like she wanted to check my belly.

“How is it? Do I have belly fat too?”

“Wa, wait a minute…”

Delphine silently rubbed my belly.

Her fiddling hands groped my belly for a long time, then started to move up to my ribs.

“The, there’s fat here.”

The place Delphine was pressing wasn’t my belly.

It was my underboob.

“Delphine, that’s my chest. Of course there’s fat there.”

“I don’t ha- have…”

“What did you say?”

“I, I don’t have any…”

Delphine’s hand, which had been poking my underboob, stopped.

Her expression wasn’t good, so I must have made a mistake.