17. Club Activities

* * *

Korea Hunter Association

Around the time when the Hunter community and academy anonymous boards were heating up over the Black God Cult issue, Vice President Jung Na-yoon of the Hunter Association felt something off about this incident.

“This is strange. For just a training dungeon, the miasma is unusually thick. Even if that monster Kim Seung-jun leaked it, it shouldn’t be something a human can withstand.”

“Huh? But those girls managed to hold out, didn’t they?”

After all, the hunters Kim Bbeopmi and first-year cadets Reina and Han Suji from Hanseong Academy who entered that dungeon came out unscathed.

“According to Han Suji and Reina, they barely survived by fighting desperately while Yoo Eun-ha fought alone.”

“Couldn’t Yoo Eun-ha just be more exceptional than we thought?”

She was already the insane cadet who scored 9999 against wooden dummies on the first day.

Rather than being Yoo Jin-seok’s little sister, she might be superior to him-enough that guilds are already eyeing her.

Rumors are even circulating that villain organizations want to recruit her, so that says it all.

“Archers or mages like Reina or Kim Bbeopmi could take down Kim Seung-jun from a distance if they’re B-rank or higher, but Yoo Eun-ha is a close-combat type. She had no choice but to face the miasma directly. And yet, she chased down the monster at speeds even veteran hunters couldn’t track.”

In fact, if you ignore raw strength and focus solely on speed, she’s already surpassed Yoo Jin-seok.

That’s what bothered the vice president.

“Didn’t she collapse after fighting? Couldn’t it be because of the miasma?”

“Han Suji said it was due to nicotine withdrawal, and Reina said it was from overusing her abilities. A girl her age wouldn’t collapse from nicotine withdrawal unless she was a chain smoker, so it’s probably the latter-which means she wasn’t affected enough by the miasma to restrain her ability usage.”

Normally, miasma interferes with a person’s mana circuits, disrupting their unique abilities or skill usage.

The longer one is exposed, the more their mana circuits become corrupted, eventually awakening as a monster.

So what exactly are you trying to say?

“Come to think of it, what’s your point?”

“The miasma detected in that dungeon is at a concentration even A-rank hunters can barely withstand. No matter how talented she is at her age, she shouldn’t have S-rank capabilities-and if she did, she wouldn’t have collapsed.”

At Vice President Jung Na-yoon’s words, Association President Choi Cheol-sik’s face turned pale.

She’s beating around the bush, but her point is clear.

“So you’re suggesting Yoo Jin-seok’s little sister, Yoo Eun-ha, might be a monster?”

“Not necessarily, but it wouldn’t hurt to have skilled hunters from the Association or guilds monitor her. Especially since there’s a possibility the Black God Cult might retaliate. Hunter Yoo Jin-seok would understand.”

“Yoo Jin-seok won’t be happy when he hears the truth.”

Choi Cheol-sik sighed.

Of all people, why did Yoo Jin-seok’s sister have to be suspected of being a monster? But given the suspicious circumstances, they couldn’t just ignore it either.

In that case, the Association could send hunters under the pretext of protecting her from Black God Cult retaliation.

“What about Kim Seung-jun’s family?”

“His mother was left in a vegetative state after being attacked by Kim Seung-jun the morning of the incident. His older sister, Kim Ji-seon, works at the Association office and said it was a relief that her troublemaker brother, who’d become a monster, was finally dead. Apparently, she’d been bearing the full burden of his tuition because of their mother.”

Kim Seung-jun came from an ordinary family. He wasn’t particularly talented as a hunter either, so he had to enter the Hunter Academy through the general admissions process-which meant hefty tuition fees.

After pouring all that money into her brother only for him to become a Black God Cult monster, her reaction was understandable.

“At least that’s something. Make sure to send them some condolence money.”

“Understood.”

Even if he was a monster, he was still a son and a brother. It was only natural for the Association to offer condolences.

Though, of course, Yoo Eun-ha received a much larger reward for eliminating him.

* * *

In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to ask the protagonist anything.

This world is too distorted compared to the original. I was afraid of hearing an answer I didn’t want.

Surely not.

There’s no way the protagonist regressed. At least, not in the original story I know.

Even after being discharged, the doubts remained unresolved.

What could I even do if I found out?

“It must just be a coincidence.”

Maybe I should just read a book.

Come to think of it, the previous Yoo Eun-ha must have been a bookworm-her shelves were packed.

What kind of novels did she even have?

Curious, I pulled one out.

It was about mythology-European myths, religions originating from Persia and Iran, that sort of thing.

“What the hell? Was Yoo Eun-ha always this into religion and mythology?”

Atropos? Nyarlathotep? What is this? Why would she research such boring things?

Azhidahaka, the Evil Dragon?

What even is this? No. I shouldn’t read this. My head hurts. I don’t need to delve into such profound topics.

My own life is already hard enough-what does it matter what the old Yoo Eun-ha knew?

-Don’t come to the academy for a while. Got it? I’ve already told everyone else.

I don’t know what Choi Si-woo told them, but Reina and Han Suji kept messaging me.

And all of them were overflowing with affection.

As someone who doesn’t belong in this world, I don’t deserve their love. So I deleted all the affectionate messages.

“So we still don’t know when the main event will happen.”

Kim Seung-jun’s transformation into a monster marks the true beginning of the story.

From that point on, Choi Si-woo starts growing stronger in the academy.

Surely taking down Kim Seung-jun alone didn’t leave me weakened. That bastard Choi Si-woo worries too much-that’s the real problem.

“Come to think of it, the atmosphere outside is weird too.”

I’m not oblivious.

Since being discharged, I haven’t left the house.

I’ve practically turned into a shut-in.

From the day I was discharged, I could tell someone was watching me outside.

If it’s the Black God Cult, they might be here for revenge after I killed one of their followers. Or maybe it’s someone from the Association.

“Forced leave isn’t so bad.”

What about Choi Si-woo? If I want to survive, he needs to fulfill his role as the protagonist properly.

Wait, why should I listen to him?

Logically, there’s no reason for me to stay home, right?

The fact that they haven’t raided my house means those presences outside must be Association guards.

Shouldn’t I be the one keeping an eye on Choi Si-woo?

Right. As a third-party observer, I have a duty to see how the original story unfolds. So I need to go to the academy.

Who does he think he is, treating me like an invalid and telling me not to go?

“Why am I suddenly pissed off?”

I changed into my discarded academy uniform and left the house.

* * *

By the time morning classes were about to start, I arrived at the academy-fashionably late.

I casually glanced around the students in Class 1-A.

My story had spread in various ways, so many eyes were on me.

Some held goodwill and admiration, others lingering discomfort, and a fair number of wary gazes.

“Huh? Weren’t you supposed to stay home today?”

“Oh, Class President. Hey.”

A bespectacled girl with a bob cut greeted me.

I couldn’t be bothered to remember the names of extras, but she had the face of a natural class president.

“Are you okay? That must have been traumatic.”

“I’m fine.”

Kim Seung-jun was doomed anyway.

Killing him before the Black God Cult could retrieve his core was the right move.

If anything, I should proudly cement my reputation as Class 1-A’s hero.

“Yoo Eun-ha, are you alright?”

“That must have been rough.”

The students’ reactions were split between extremes.

One side saw me as the hero who defeated a monster. The other saw me as a ruthless girl who killed a fellow student, monster or not.

The latter were probably just jealous of my achievement. But even so, killing a classmate would still bother them.

The former were mostly second and third-years.

First-years are still rookies-they don’t fully grasp what it means to be a hunter or how twisted this world is. But second and third-years are more prepared and aware of the Black God Cult’s existence, so they admired my feat.

“Oh, Eun-ha. Are you interested in joining a club?”

The class president followed me, asking.

“Not opposed to it.”

Club activities are the essence of school life, aren’t they?

Of course I’d want to try it.

I never got to when I was younger.

“You can form a new club with five members or join an existing one.”

“We can make one?”

“Budget isn’t an issue. The Hunter Association covers it.”

Still, joining an existing club wouldn’t be bad.

The list included swordplay clubs, magic research clubs, magical gear research clubs, movie clubs, gaming clubs, and more.

“Streaming’s still popular even in this era, huh.”

An internet streaming club.

Not just regular gaming or mukbang streams, but streams tailored for hunters.

Well, it is a Hunter Academy club, so that makes sense.

Sounds fun. They probably just film themselves exploring dungeons, right?

“This looks interesting.”

“Streaming? Didn’t expect you to be into this.”

I’m not particularly into streaming.

Well, I used to watch gaming streams, but I realized they were a waste of time.

“Is this one popular?”

“Not really. It’s on the verge of shutting down. Because of the Black God Cult. Rumors say they’re appearing in dungeons, so now they can only film in guild dungeons-but the costs don’t justify it.”

“Ah, the Black God Cult.”

Those guys are nothing but trouble.

Maybe it’s better to just do nothing. Wait-

Hold on. The internet streaming club. The club president is Lee Yu-jeong.

Lee Yu-jeong is one of protagonist Choi Si-woo’s heroines.

In the original, Choi Si-woo joined the streaming club under the pretense of dungeon exploration and formed a bond with her.

Despite the Black God Cult’s threats, they stubbornly relied on the Divine Sword and explored dungeons together, gradually falling in love.

Eventually, their relationship escalated to… rolling around in the clubroom.

“…That bastard.”

I’m so jealous it pisses me off.