Ch.6823. Ainz Alumni Association (2)

Seo Ha-eun felt her heart sink. And she was extremely surprised.

‘They’re holding hands and entering a hotel together like that?’

But she quickly erased that foolish thought from her mind. It’s true that hunters often use hotels rather than ordinary lodgings.

After all, hunters earn far more money than ordinary people. There’s no need for them to meet their lovers in lower-grade accommodations like motels.

‘I, I’ve never been to a hotel for that kind of purpose though…’

Of course, this is the hotel where the Aince alumni gathering is being held. Those two couldn’t be here for that kind of purpose.

Seo Ha-eun had devoted herself solely to missions to become an S-rank hunter, not just at Aince but even after graduation.

Although Sigurd’s PR team and the Hunter Association’s PR department had promoted her extensively, she never had the luxury to enjoy the glamorous hunter life portrayed in the media.

Her claim of being single all her life, which she had mentioned during a random interview, was absolutely no lie.

‘And there wasn’t any man I liked either…’

High-ranking hunters exposed to the public are essentially celebrities. That’s why countless hunters, regardless of gender, have messy romantic relationships.

They think nothing of two-timing or three-timing. Despite receiving advances from numerous male hunters, she could never develop romantic feelings for such people.

And whenever male hunters tried to seduce her, there was always one man Seo Ha-eun would unconsciously think of.

‘Minsu…’

The time she spent with him at Aince after meeting him as a junior was only a year. But even saying they “spent time together” wasn’t quite accurate. In fact, they didn’t have much interaction.

All she did was pretend to run into him by chance while waiting for him, and occasionally buy him snacks at the school store.

But the manly image Minsu showed during that security volunteer activity was close to her ideal type.

At that time, Minsu had properly taught a lesson to the hunters who were sexually harassing her and Soso. Even though they were hunters that Aince cadets couldn’t normally handle.

From that incident, Ha-eun felt her heart flutter for a man for the first time. Not just from that incident, but Minsu’s behavior throughout those weeks of volunteer work was truly manly.

However, she couldn’t approach him actively because she noticed that he already liked someone else.

‘Anyone could see that Minsu liked Yuri.’

Even after she graduated, she went to watch the exchange competition Minsu participated in a few times. He even won that competition as Yuri’s pair.

She could tell by a woman’s instinct. Even during that exchange competition, Minsu’s eyes were always on Yuri.

So Ha-eun gave up her feelings for Minsu. She didn’t think she, inexperienced in love, could somehow change the heart of a man who looked at a woman with such loving eyes.

‘But… what on earth is this?’

Soso’s outfit was shocking. A red Chinese dress. And her thighs and black band stockings were revealed along the side in a provocative style.

Her shoulders and arms were completely bare, and even her upper body was accentuated… Ha-eun would never wear such clothes out of embarrassment, or rather, lack of confidence.

And this Soso was holding Minsu’s hand tightly as they entered the hotel.

‘What’s going on? Not Yuri but Soso?’

Of course, they must be heading to the alumni gathering, not going to enjoy a secret rendezvous. But that makes it even more surprising.

The fact that they’re holding hands without caring about others’ gazes means they must already be lovers. They were even interlocking their fingers.

But for Minsu, who had been so devoted to one woman, to now be with another woman was quite a shock to Ha-eun.

‘Then… maybe I could have had a chance too.’

But of course, there was no such opportunity. When she met Minsu at the Association headquarters a few days ago, she pretended not to know about his recent situation.

Ha-eun had visited the hospital where Minsu was staying several times. Of course, she was repeatedly turned away because his condition was too poor for visitors.

She heard he had been discharged later, but his contact information seemed to have changed, so she couldn’t reach him. Perhaps during that time, things had progressed between him and Soso.

‘Well… maybe it’s not strange. During the Aince days… Soso clearly liked Minsu too.’

Minsu seemed completely unaware, but Ha-eun, who had bought snacks for Soso at the school store a few times, knew.

Just as Ha-eun had romantic feelings for Minsu, Soso must have felt the same. No, Soso’s feelings were deeper.

If what Ha-eun felt was attraction, she could sense that Soso was already deeply in love with Minsu.

But Soso always seemed to lack confidence because of her appearance and personality at that time.

‘The Soso then and the Soso now are so different.’

Back then, Soso was extremely overweight. She wore horn-rimmed glasses and always had a somewhat gloomy expression.

Of course, now she’s a famous beauty in the hunter world. And since it became known that she’s the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi, she’s even more popular than Ha-eun, who’s promoted by the Association.

Back then, Soso was so shy that she could barely have a conversation with people. She probably wouldn’t have said a word if Ha-eun hadn’t bought her food at the school store.

But even then, Ha-eun knew that Soso would become incredibly beautiful if she took care of herself. Her skin was snow-white, and her features were distinct. She had told Soso that to encourage her.

‘She took my advice. Soso did.’

Soso had changed remarkably. And she had finally won Minsu’s heart.

But thinking about that fact made Ha-eun’s heart feel strangely heavy.

‘What am I thinking?’

Ha-eun shook her head vigorously from side to side and calmed herself down. Then she carefully followed the two into the hotel hall where the alumni gathering was being held.

***

‘Phew. I hope no one saw us.’

I arrived at the hotel hall for the alumni gathering with a nervous feeling.

When I first heard about the alumni gathering, I thought it would be at a bar near Hongdae. Everyone was in their early twenties, college age.

And it wasn’t a general alumni gathering held at Aince itself, but a social gathering of close graduating classes.

‘Only about three graduating classes are attending anyway.’

The 18th class, which includes Senior Ha-eun. The 19th class, my peers. And only the 20th class, one year below us, was participating.

‘Thank goodness Arin’s class isn’t part of this gathering.’

Arin is two years below me, in the 21st class. If that class had been invited, Arin would have found a way to come along. So the venue was too luxurious for a gathering of young people.

Right now, Soso and I were sitting at a table in the hall. It was a spacious and splendid hall, like viewing an auction room at Pyongyang’s VIP exchange.

“This is quite grand for an alumni gathering.”

Soso said, sipping the wine placed on the table. Even the casually placed wine looked very expensive.

‘This is definitely not an ordinary alumni gathering.’

Of course, I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a place like this.

I was practically a voluntary loner at Aince. From the beginning, I always spent my free time on outside activities to gain Gi-yeon or earn money.

While at Aince, I spent all my time with a very small circle of relationships—Yuri, Soso, and perhaps Siwoo or Arin.

I could count the number of cadets I could call friends at Aince on one hand.

And two of them were dead. All because of my inadequacy. I momentarily pushed aside the habitual guilt that was welling up again and continued to focus on the current alumni gathering.

Soon the gathering began. Naturally, Senior Ha-eun took charge as the host. The cadets cheered every time she spoke, as she had been their idol.

But I was more focused on the banner above her than on Senior Ha-eun herself.

‘Huh? That banner…’

Although it was just a friendly alumni gathering of three graduating classes, there was a banner installed in this large hall.

And in the corner of that banner was written the name of the sponsor.

‘HE Investment?’

I’ve heard of it. A group that owns a fashion brand popular among young people recently.

And I know it’s a company that’s rapidly expanding by actively using famous hunters as models.

The moment I confirmed that name, I had a feeling something was up. In the original story, there was an incident where Senior Ha-eun and young hunters turned into villains.

And I’d heard that HE Investment was actively sponsoring young and promising hunters, so it might be a suspicious company.

The alumni gathering continued. As alcohol was passed around the tables, the atmosphere naturally heated up.

No one had come to our table yet, but people at other tables were actively moving between seats.

‘The social butterfly culture is still burdensome.’

As I was quietly sipping orange juice, Soso suddenly spoke.

“Hmm. Rather than wine, I prefer hwa-ju or bamboo leaf liquor…”

As she said this, Soso gently placed her hand on my thigh. Fortunately, it was hidden by the table so others couldn’t see.

Since the last meeting, Soso’s attitude had been clearly changing. Today’s provocative outfit was part of it.

Soso was actively trying to seduce me.

“Minsu, Lee Minsu? It’s been so long!”

At that moment, a man approached our table. I couldn’t remember his name, but his face was familiar. He seemed to be a classmate from Aince. Soso removed her hand from my thigh.

The classmate suddenly bowed to me in greeting.

“I heard you were seriously injured. I’m glad to see you’re doing well now. I wanted to thank you so many times, but I couldn’t reach you. You’re my lifesaver, no, the lifesaver of that graduation ceremony.”

He gave me such an overwhelming greeting. Not just him, but other classmates as well. I had to endure those burdensome greetings for a while.

After receiving greetings from about five classmates, my table finally quieted down. Soso seemed satisfied with their reactions.

“As expected, you’re amazing. Worthy of being the man this lady… has her eye on.”

She said it so casually and then blushed. Soso’s attitude was definitely strange.

‘Could it be… that her confession in the meeting room was real?’

Soso had suddenly confessed that she liked me. Of course, I knew to some extent that Soso had feelings for me since Aince days.

But her suddenly changed attitude was disconcerting. The alumni gathering started and the atmosphere grew more relaxed.

But I couldn’t bring myself to leave this table where Soso was.

Of course, it’s not strange for someone like me who never cared about socializing, but with the current Soso, she would surely stop me.

‘She emitted a terrifying killing intent when a female classmate came to greet me.’

That’s not an exaggeration. Soso is a first-class swordsman. Moreover, she’s a high-level awakened one who has mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique.

And after Soso awakened the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, it became known throughout Aince that she was actually the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi.

If the daughter of one of the Five Great Heavenly Sages had an unpleasant expression, no one, no matter how bold, could easily approach this table.

‘Even Senior Ha-eun tried to come over but turned back.’

However, Soso seemed to enjoy the atmosphere of monopolizing me. I seriously thought about her behavior.

I hadn’t thought about it seriously because I was busy adapting to Flame and moving around. Or rather, I had been avoiding that complicated issue.

My somewhat alleviated PTSD, and the complicated issues with Yuri, Soso, and Arin. It was time to think about them seriously.

‘To replace Siwoo and Min-ah, I need all three of them.’

I had to take revenge on the Red Lake. That’s why the characters from the original story gathered in Flame.

But since all three are emotionally entangled with me, a seed of anxiety might be growing again, like the tragedy at Aince.

‘I need to prepare myself to some extent. Even if… it’s a selfish and cowardly action.’

And Soso seemed to have something she wanted to say to me. She kept fidgeting with my hand and glancing at me.

Finally, when the strong hwa-ju she had ordered arrived from the waiter, she drank three glasses straight in a row. And a moment later.

Soso, who seemed to have made up her mind, squeezed my hand tighter and said:

“This lady wants to hear your answer… to the confession I made to you.”