Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 49

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 049

 

They were caught.

 

As that thought occurred to her, Yu Jin-chae immediately came up with two alternatives in her mind.

 

Though risky, facing the two men below by herself.

 

Or taking the other two men and fleeing back upstairs with all their might.

 

However, once again, before she could make a decision, Na Hwi-yeon took action.

 

He grabbed the shoulder of An Param, who was now turning pale, and slowly approached the railing. Then he gestured with his chin, pointing downward.

 

Yu Jin-chae was about to stop them but hastily bit her rolled lips and chose to remain silent.

 

…He seemed to have some plan.

 

Na Hwi-yeon began moving his lips while alternately looking at An Param’s eyes and mouth.

 

Each word clearly and distinctly.

 

As if hoping to be understood even without sound.

 

Yu Jin-chae easily caught the words his lips were forming.

 

And so did An Param.

 

‘Stay calm.’

 

‘You don’t know anything.’

 

‘Focus on getting out of this situation.’

 

“…!”

 

A realization close to hope quickly flashed across An Param’s frightened face. Then he clenched both fists tightly, fidgeted a few times, and shouted as if he had made up his mind.

 

“H-hey, Mister! I’m that Param…!”

 

Fortunately, it sounded quite decent despite the slight trembling that could be felt.

 

“…How long have you been there?”

 

“That Little Kid who’s supposed to be an Awakener?”

 

The men downstairs chattered to identify An Param’s details. In the meantime, Na Hwi-yeon looked back at us and gestured upward with his chin.

 

‘Is he telling us to go back up?’

 

At the same time as the signal, Yu Jin-chae killed her presence and stepped up the stairs.

 

They just needed to avoid being caught.

 

If they kept creating distance like this…

 

“Hey!”

 

Stop.

 

At the sharp voice heard again, everyone froze for a moment. An Param answered again with a deathly expression.

 

“Y-yes, yes!”

 

“But why are you here? I’m sure you were told not to go above the 4th Floor.”

 

“Uh, uh, sorry! I wanted to listen to music quietly… I’ll go down right away!”

 

‘That lie is quite plausible.’

 

For the first time, Yu Jin-chae looked at the back of An Param’s head with satisfaction. Until now, she had been determined to slam this guy down the moment they got out of here, but with this display of quick reflexes, she changed her plan to end it with just a headlock.

 

His efforts looked a little pitiful too.

 

“Is that so? Well, yeah, you could listen to some music here.”

 

“Haha, yes yes, that’s right.”

 

The moment Yu Jin-chae felt the tense atmosphere relax briefly and stepped onto the stairs heading upward again.

 

She saw something heavy rising vertically from above to below.

 

-Whoosh.

 

At reflexive speed, she stretched out her arms, grabbed the clothes of the two men standing on the stairs ahead of her, and pulled them forcefully behind her.

 

“Aaaaah!”

 

“Ugh!”

 

Due to the slope of the stairs, the two men tumbled straight down to the staircase landing one step below.

 

-Thud!

 

Behind them, Na Hwi-yeon and An Param let out screams, but that wasn’t what mattered.

 

Her brain was spinning rapidly and strength filled her thighs. She could feel the blood in all her vessels circulating quickly.

 

‘It’s coming.’

 

-Whoosh.

 

As soon as she caught her breath, a fierce attack struck her right cheek. Heavy and with considerable force behind it.

 

Yu Jin-chae easily dodged it. And after dodging it, she could tell for certain.

 

‘One person jumped up.’

 

What had risen vertically as if levitating just moments ago was undoubtedly one of the men who had been at the bottom of the stairs.

 

-Whoosh.

 

While dodging another punch aimed at her left cheek, Yu Jin-chae grabbed her opponent’s arm.

 

“Hey. You weren’t listening to music alone after all.”

 

The opponent whose arm was caught right in front of her nose muttered in a low voice.

 

‘Now that I hear it up close, I can tell for sure. That’s right! Those kidnapper bastards!’

 

At the man who was sneering with the corners of his mouth raised, she lifted her right leg and kicked his stomach hard.

 

-Bang!

 

With the attack landing precisely, the man clutched his abdomen and was slammed into the wall. The old wall couldn’t withstand the impact and cracked with a splitting sound.

 

Yu Jin-chae, who had been quietly staring at that sight, tilted her head to the side and asked the man who was groaning while holding his stomach.

 

“How did you use your ability?”

 

Just moments ago, the man jumping up as if flying was clearly a trace of using an ability.

 

‘But for someone whose ability was supposed to be suppressed, it seemed quite stable and fast.’

 

…Could it be that he’s an awakener with a high enough grade to ignore the Ability Suppression Skill?

 

A chilling assumption came to mind for a moment, but…

 

“Ah~ This is an item, an item. Today there are restrictions on ability use because of the precious sacrifices.”

 

The man lifted his foot to show the sole of his shoe as he spoke. The shoe sole was thickly coated with special fluorescent material.

 

“Aha.”

 

Yu Jin-chae, who usually didn’t rely on items, inadvertently exclaimed in belated realization.

 

I didn’t think of items.

 

“…But that’s probably not what’s important?”

 

The man, who seemed to be in pain and couldn’t get up easily, grinned as he looked at Yu Jin-chae.

 

Eyes that had perfectly adapted to the darkness by now read the face of the man slammed into the wall. More precisely, the direction his eyeballs were facing.

 

“…!”

 

The moment she turned her head at the chilling thought that struck her, what she immediately saw was…

 

“Teacher-!”

 

Na Hwi-yeon and An Param caught in binding rope.

 

An Param with his face turned pale blue and Na Hwi-yeon with a serious expression.

 

They had been kneeling on the floor looking down at the binding rope wrapped around their torsos, but now raised their heads to look at Yu Jin-chae.

 

“Damn it.”

 

She had seen that binding rope once before. Wasn’t it the ‘Suppression Binding Rope’ that was said to work even on A-grade awakeners?

 

To think she forgot about the other guy while paying attention to the one who attacked her.

 

Another man who was panting while gripping the binding rope smiled at Yu Jin-chae.

 

Two hostages.

 

‘This is the worst.’

 

What would happen next was easy to predict. The guy behind me now would quietly approach and thrust a weapon or something at me.

 

“Stay still. This is also a really expensive item.”

 

Just like this.

 

At the sharp sensation touching her back, Yu Jin-chae raised both hands with palms facing outward and said.

 

“I surrender!”

 

Surrender first.

 

***

-What? Now that I look, they’re the sacrifices, aren’t they? Huh? We would’ve been completely screwed if we’d lost them?

-It worked out better this way. The time was almost up anyway, so let’s take them now.

 

With those words ending… we are now being dragged along tied up in binding rope like borrowed barley.

 

With two rough-looking men surrounding us at the front and back respectively, and the three of us standing in a line in the middle.

 

I whispered quietly toward Yu Jin-chae who was behind me.

 

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t be of help…”

 

“No, it’s not your fault. I should have been more careful.”

 

I definitely thought I was doing well though.

 

I was still trying to grasp the situation until the moment I was suddenly pulled backward and nearly slammed into the staircase landing.

 

Then, when I opened my eyes that I had squeezed shut from pain so intense I wondered if my tailbone had broken, I saw Yu Jin-chae still on the stairs.

 

She was fighting barehanded against a man who looked more than twice her size.

 

Only then did Na Hwi-yeon understand the situation.

 

…The quick-witted Yu Jin-chae had tried to fight alone instead of me and An Param.

 

Of course, she seemed to fight incredibly well. It was clear that her training in Close-Range Combat wasn’t a lie.

 

Still, I got up to provide even the tiniest bit of help as a human being.

 

‘But then the Binding Rope just had to come flying at that moment.’

 

Before I could do anything, I was tied up by the Binding Rope and slammed back to the floor.

 

…Actually, just before the Binding Rope touched my body, a helping hand was offered.

 

[ Want help? ]

 

Nabi asked while charging toward the neck of the man throwing the Binding Rope. And I was the one who frantically grabbed her back.

 

‘No matter what happens, we can’t kill people.’

 

She’s already someone whose Dopamine Threshold Control isn’t working as well as expected, and now accidental murder on top of that?

 

This isn’t just asking her to open a door or something…

 

At least until I determined there was absolutely no way to escape from this place, I had no intention of accepting help like murder or assault.

 

Besides, there’s a minor here anyway.

 

‘I need to avoid bloodshed as much as possible.’

 

[ You asked for help earlier. ]

 

[ I freed you from the Restraint Device and opened the door. ]

 

[ And I got candy for it. ]

 

[ I want more candy! ]

 

With my hands tied by the Binding Rope, I kept pressing Nabi’s main body back into the doll as she tried to emerge.

 

The White Dog Doll with its torn back looked like it would cry out for mercy at any moment.

 

[ Why? Don’t like it? ]

 

[ Don’t tell me you like being tied up? ]

 

As if!

 

[ You like this kind of thing? ]

 

No! Not at all!

 

[Choo-choo, you like playing train.]

 

No, this isn’t playing train.

 

I just shook my head frantically in frustration.

 

The men continued taking us downward.

 

The floor numbers kept decreasing.

 

Just as we entered the 4th Floor, Yu Jin-chae, who had been quiet until now, spoke to me.

 

“You might think it’s a bit strange for me to ask this question in this situation, but I’m too curious to hold back.”

 

“…Ask anything. It’s good to relieve tension.”

 

Tension aside, I actually felt sorry and wanted to do something for Yu Jin-chae.

 

‘She worked so hard fighting alone, but got caught because of us.’

 

Right now, I was ready to gladly tell her my bank account password if she asked.

 

“Um… You said you’d show the Male Student a demon and took him away. What exactly did you show him to make the kid so well-behaved?”

 

Fortunately, she’s not asking for my account number.

 

But this is really hard to answer…

 

When my answer didn’t come immediately, Yu Jin-chae hurriedly added an explanation.

 

“I mean, you talked for about 5 minutes? But the kid suddenly became polite.”

 

“…”

 

“Anyway… I wondered if you had some winning Education method for dealing with teenagers. I almost threw a punch just from a brief conversation.”

 

“It’s really nothing much…”

 

I just showed him a demon for a moment and it was resolved.

 

“Ah, I know the demon just said that on purpose to cheer me up. And I’m curious why Teacher is particularly harsh with male students. I thought Teacher would soothe that male student like you do with kindergarten children.”

 

No, the demon is real though.

 

But… I definitely was harsh with An Param.

 

But this is what Yu Jin-chae says because she doesn’t know kids these days well.

 

I looked at An Param’s flat back of the head as he sniffled in front and chuckled.

 

“I just scared him a little. And kids these days don’t listen even if you gently coax them. They’re different. Different.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Ah… well, just look over there once.”

 

I was about to explain in detail but just pointed at the sniffling guy in front of me.

 

Just then, An Param, not knowing we were watching him from behind, started clinging to the man at the front.

 

“Mister, no, hyungs! I have nothing to do with this lady and mister!”

 

“…”

 

“Please save me! These people threatened me and brought me here. Huh? I really got caught by coincidence! Huh? Yeah??”

 

“You be quiet-“

 

“You’re not really going to kill me, right? These bad people tempted me to come out here! Looking at you, awakener mercenaries? Or maybe… bodyguard hyungs? How about saving just me with hearts as cool as your cool profession?”

 

What smooth talking.

 

Yu Jin-chae, seeing An Param almost wailing pleadingly to the man…

 

Nodded with a pathetic look in her eyes.

 

She understood perfectly.

 

“As you can see, kids these days are like this. When the situation changes, he’s trying to sell out even the Cult Leader…”

 

“That’s scary. For faith to be as thin as paper like this.”

 

While answering Yu Jin-chae’s question, we had reached the 1st floor before I knew it.

 

The emergency exit door opened… and a space emptied to a desolate degree appeared.

 

It was like an abandoned building that had been deserted long ago and where not a single person would live now.

 

But what caught my eye first was the transparent main gate leading outside.

 

‘If it were up to my heart, I’d want to run out right now.’

 

However, I couldn’t move because of the binding rope that was made of who knows what, preventing me from taking even a single step as I pleased.

 

‘I can’t go with the door right in front of me.’

 

“Hurry up and follow.”

 

Pulling the end of the binding rope hard, we were helplessly dragged along with the man trying to go straight down the stairs leading underground.

 

I couldn’t easily take my eyes off the main gate with regret.

 

[ Want to go out? ]

 

Ah, I’m wavering a bit. If only this rope could be untied…

 

…Wait a minute.

 

Why didn’t I think of this?

 

“Nabi. Can you untie this rope without those people knowing?”

 

Right, even if I can’t get that kind(?) of help, I can get this kind of help!

 

[Hmm… I don’t want to! I don’t want to touch that rope.]

 

“Why, why?”

 

[ It just feels bad. ]

 

This is maddening.

 

[ Just give them Eternal Rest. And give me candy. ]

 

‘Is candy more important to you right now?’

 

Nabi stubbornly stuck out only her index finger from the doll with a sulky voice and pointed back and forth at the men dragging us.

 

This time I really rejected Nabi’s proposal with a heart-wrenching feeling.

 

“No, let me try it once first and I’ll call you later if I need you, Nabi.”

 

Since Yu Jin-chae has both eyes wide open, I can’t openly call Nabi to knock out those two men…

 

As I was whispering quietly to the doll while being cautious, An Param, who was about to talk to me, turned his head.

 

“Cult Leader, no, Teacher! No, do something! Bring out that demon again…!”

 

Then he saw the black fingers protruding from the Doll’s back and shut his mouth tight.

 

“It doesn’t want to come out right now. So just look ahead.”

 

At my words, An Param turned his head forward again with creaking sounds.

 

“Wow, seriously what am I supposed to do! Die? I’m going crazy. Neither this side nor that side has anyone on my side!”

 

‘What should I do about that… kid.’

 

After descending the dark Stairs for quite a while longer, we finally stood before a heavy door.

 

From behind the door came the sound of pounding drums.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“The sacrifices.”

 

“Oh, those rumored people? But didn’t they say there were two?”

 

“Don’t know, thought there might be an additional sacrifice.”

 

“Ah.”

 

After the Man and someone who seemed to be staff exchanged words, the door in front of us suddenly opened wide.

 

And as soon as the door opened, deafening cheers assaulted our ears.

 

-Waaaaaaaah

 

-They’re coming! They’re coming! They’re coming!

 

Dozens of people in White Robes could be seen in a frenzy.

 

Behind them, massive Snake Sculptures seemed to climb up the four pillars at each corner of the Underground Building.

 

A Red Carpet leading up to the Platform.

 

On that Platform stood a Young Man wearing a Crown, smiling.

 

“This is insane.”

 

It was a scene that made these words come out naturally.

 

But what was even more shocking than that.

 

Was the shape of the floor we were stepping on.

 

“Th, the sky?”

 

I grabbed An Param’s side as he was about to collapse to the floor and steadied myself.

 

I too held back the urge to sit down and looked down at the floor.

 

…It really was the sky.

 

Clouds floating, occasionally birds passing by, and tall buildings visible between them…

 

“Crazy.”

 

So, are we floating in mid-air right now?

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