Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 168

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 168

“I hate your face so much.”

The Seat of Discernment—he was seething with quiet rage.

“….”

That anger seemed low and deep, as if it had been carefully accumulated from long, long ago.

It was like looking at a lake that appeared perfectly calm on the surface, while the abyss beneath churned violently.

However, having received that complete anger that Sang-jwa seemed to let slip for just a moment, I could only react like this.

“Ah… I see.”

I didn’t know how I was supposed to react to that.

‘What, am I supposed to tell someone who hates my face that I’ll get plastic surgery right now?’

Sang-jwa’s thin eyebrows furrowed at my simple response, but I didn’t bother to retract my answer.

‘Seriously, what does he want me to do?’

It’s not like I can change it right away, and he’s the one who went through the trouble of barging into my house just to look at this face he hates.

Besides, I might be mistaken, but it doesn’t seem like he genuinely hates my face…

‘It’s more like he’s projecting someone else onto me.’

Because if I were truly the source of his anger, he would normally say ‘I hate you’ instead.

I unconsciously crossed my arms.

“How unfortunate that you hate my face.”

“What?”

“But you’re the one who came here to look at this face you hate so much.”

Suddenly, I could smell faint sand in the air of the room.

“….”

At the same time, the sound of fierce wind began to reach my ears.

Tension flowed as if a sandstorm might strike at any moment.

I uncrossed my arms and ran my hand through my hair with a sigh.

Then I opened my mouth in the most gentle tone I could manage.

“Still, we’ll be living together as family for a while, so you’ll probably grow fond of me if you keep looking.”

Yes… I’ll admit it.

I was annoyed for a moment too.

My head was already complicated with so many things to think about, and then this non-human bastard appeared, even putting brainwashing on my family members.

I didn’t want to cause trouble for Aunt and Hyung with problems that should end with me.

Shouldn’t I avoid causing harm to those who became my family for my sake when I had no one by my side, even if I can’t help them?

‘Honestly, even Nabi is a risk.’

I could only manage her because she was simple and listened to me well.

But this guy?

Is it right to live together in this house with this bastard who’s twisted somewhere and hides his true intentions?

…However, there’s no other way.

I have no method anywhere to push away an unknown existence that transcends humans—no, Awakeners.

‘Persuading with words also has its limits.’

Then there’s only one method.

‘At least I need to make sure he won’t try to kill me just for slightly getting on his nerves.’

I need to build a friendly relationship.

Fortunately, looking back at what I’ve experienced so far, Sang-jwa’s anger threshold seemed higher than I thought.

‘Somehow, this reminds me of when I first met Nabi.’

I deliberately extended my hand in a performance-like gesture.

As if asking for a handshake.

“If you really hate my face that much, should I wear a mask for you?”

At my playful question, I could see his slightly hardened expression soften.

Please, I hope you’re as simple as Nabi too.

After a moment, a cool and pale hand lightly grasped mine.

“As always, you’re all talk.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

At this point, I want to ask about my memories again.

‘Looking at his attitude, he probably won’t tell me easily.’

If I throw a direct question like I did earlier, I’ll probably hear a hundred reasons why he doesn’t like my face.

‘It’s annoying, but should I subtly probe around?’

The Seat of Discernment slowly withdrew his hand and lightly scanned the surroundings as he spoke.

“If it weren’t for my friend’s promise, I wouldn’t have come to a place like this.”

I don’t know what he means, but is he saying coming to our house wasn’t his own will…

I nodded as if I was sincerely listening to his excuse. Then, a question suddenly came to mind and I spoke again.

“Then, should I call you ‘Yu-seong’ while you’re here?”

I think he directly said he was ‘Yu-seong’ who works at the Intersection Candy Bank.

The Seat of Discernment nodded slightly.

“Yes, the surname was ‘Kim.’ ‘Kim Yu-seong,’ I think.”

What does he mean by ‘I think’?

Didn’t he name it himself?

“It’s a pretty name.”

‘Maybe he saw it in some drama and liked it.’

Then, the Seat of Discernment smiled contentedly.

And his golden eyes lightly swept through the air as if recalling the past.

“Yes, it’s a pretty name. It’s the name of the first human I killed.”

“…”

If everything I ask is a landmine, what exactly am I supposed to do?

Flustered, I looked at Nabi sitting quietly on the floor.

‘But why are you nodding too!’

“Honestly, the name isn’t bad.”

Your vocabulary has really improved by leaps and bounds, hasn’t it?

I was confused by the empathetic discussion between these non-human beings while feeling dazed.

“It has deep meaning.”

“That’s right!”

How is that right!

I couldn’t bring myself to show my feelings and was only screaming internally when it happened.

My mobile phone rang.

The caller was Kang Ho-won.

I answered the phone at lightning speed.

‘Kang Ho-won, nice timing.’

***

“You carry stuff like this around too?”

“There are times when I need to hold light ceremonies, so I carry snacks like these every day.”

“But… why do you talk like that?”

“Until just before awakening, I only served the child deity.”

“Ah.”

What kind of conversation is that?

Kang Ho-won listened to the phone’s ringing tone while glancing sideways at those chattering behind him.

His colleague Choi Un-seong and two suitable hunters he had called for altar exploration.

In the brief moment while Kang Ho-won was contemplating alone and making decisions, they had made themselves quite comfortable in the middle of the labyrinth.

They had spread a foil picnic mat on the floor and were eating snacks.

‘I heard special class hunters were peculiar, but this is really too much.’

But what is Un-seong doing joining them there?

Kang Ho-won let out a small sigh.

It seemed like they couldn’t reach that altar, or rather, that piece of land where the altar was located, through normal methods.

Thus, as a result of his direct request to the company, the right people had come.

So, these two were the individuals selected by the Assignment Team, whom he didn’t quite trust.

S-rank Creation-type Hunter Yeong Won-ha and… D-rank Inspiration-type Hunter.

Yeong Won-ha was an S-rank Creation-type Hunter with a skill to see essence, so that made sense… but why the hell did that guy come?

D-rank Inspiration-type Hunter, Yu Ba-da.

‘Inspiration-type Hunter’ was such a rare ability that the term itself had only recently become an official designation.

It meant a Hunter who could communicate with the dead, that is, with spirits.

Kang Ho-won unconsciously watched Yu Ba-da with eyes filled with distrust.

A man wearing a pink shirt with a huge teddy bear drawn in the center and jeans.

The bag he brought was also adorned with all sorts of doll keyrings.

‘That guy, he’s not a fraud, is he.’

“That hyung seems to dislike me~”

“Ho-won senior? No, that bastard just has naturally nasty-looking eyes.”

“No, our spirit friend says that hyung thinks I’m a fraud!”

“!!”

Shit… so he wasn’t a fraud?

Kang Ho-won hastily turned his head away from Yu Ba-da, who was pointing at himself with his finger.

The phone’s ringtone continued.

Anyway, after those two briefly examined the altar with Kang Ho-won’s help, their conclusion was this:

-“The wooden totem on that altar seems to have created a defensive barrier… We’d need one more to remove the barrier. Three are needed in total, and I have one.”

-“Later… could you give that one to me?”

The wooden totems, known to total three pieces.

These items, each said to have different symbols and effects, had appeared in the world three years ago – just one piece that was auctioned off for an astronomical amount at an item auction.

At that time, Yeong Won-ha, who barely managed to obtain the totem, later searched for the remaining two but couldn’t find out where they were.

‘I wondered where I’d seen it before – I remember Yeong Won-ha going around stirring up field Hunters for a while, asking if they’d seen that totem.’

But coincidentally, one of them was right there on the altar.

And the remaining one… I happened to know about it too.

‘Na Hwi-yeon.’

He remembered seeing it in Na Hwi-yeon’s jumper pocket during the relay race at the company sports festival.

-Click.

The ringtone stopped.

Before a moment of silence could settle, Kang Ho-won spoke first.

“Teacher, hello. Have you been well?”

-…

“It’s nothing major, but I wanted to ask you something, haha! It’s nothing serious, I’m currently on a mission and there’s this strange altar here-“

-Ah, yes.

You’re listening well.

He cleared his throat once and continued.

“Geez, this altar has black legs and gems and all sorts of chaos, but I can’t even approach it because there’s a barrier, you know?”

-…Legs?

Right, it would be fascinating for a civilian to hear.

“Yes yes, but to approach this place, we need a special item, and it seems like you have one of them…?”

-Really, are they black legs for sure?

“Huh? Ah, yes of course. They look like monster corpses too, ah well, they say if you carelessly touch this place, flesh will come flying…”

-“Even after removing the barrier, you need to be careful. The spirit of a skeleton that died here says if you carelessly touch that thing, you’ll get hit by flesh and die~”

Well, some of it was true anyway.

“So what I’m saying is, if you could just lend me that item, I could quickly go there alone and return it!”

He could get that totem item from Na Hwi-yeon, check it out, quickly resolve things, and return it.

‘The totem, he probably got it as a gift from somewhere.’

Whether this innocent kindergarten teacher knew it was an incredibly expensive prize was not really his concern.

While we’re at it, it would be nice to build friendships along the way of exchanging totems.

Surely, that was Kang Ho-won’s ambitious plan.

However, about 3 hours later.

He found himself stepping into the Labyrinth Dungeon with a bizarre combination of people.

“Wow, there are so many people!”

“Where did you get this from?”

“Th-this totem? I received it as a gift…”

“Great! I love it here!!”

“Hey, no, Nabi, be quiet.”

“Senior, let’s go.”

Wait, hold on.

Is this right?

Kang Ho-won looked around at the people who had just entered the gate with him.

Choi Un-seong, Yeong Won-ha, Yu Ba-da.

Up to here was okay, but!

…Even Na Hwi-yeon standing right next to them and those people who are supposedly their family?!

‘That kid is Teacher’s younger brother, right? And this person here is a friend?’

How did things end up like this?

“No, wait, when did I give permission for me to go like this?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————