Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 92

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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 092

 

“Huff… Huff… Seo,… *gasp*. Seo-ro.”

 

I could taste blood in my throat.

 

It was because I had practically run up the mountain in the middle of the night wearing only pajamas. And on top of that, how heavily it had been raining.

 

My hands holding the child were soaked with rain and sweat.

 

“…Teacher?”

 

Rainwater flowed down my eyelids, obstructing my vision. But I could clearly confirm that large eyes were looking up at me.

 

Seo-ro is safe.

 

“Phew…”

 

The strength left my legs. I crouched down on the dirt ground while still holding the child.

 

“Seo, Seo-ro! Seo-ro! Are you okay?!”

 

Right behind me, I heard Kang Sa-gwa’s urgent voice as if she had just arrived.

 

At her words, I barely managed to lift my head and quickly scanned Seo-ro’s entire body. Then I noticed a red mark on the child’s neck.

 

“…!”

 

“…”

 

Kang Sa-gwa and I looked at the male students without much agitation. Then they too hesitated and looked this way.

 

Even now, it’s vivid enough to make my hands tremble.

 

The moment when the child was thrown down the slope by the student’s hand.

 

‘I want to give them a piece of my mind right now, but…’

 

I held back since they were already getting thoroughly scolded.

 

“Do you want to die? Throwing a kid? Should I throw you too?”

 

“N-no… That’s not what happened.”

 

“What do you mean that’s not it. I saw it.”

 

“…”

 

“Tell me if you want to crawl down from here.”

 

Hunter Bae Je-il.

 

He was soaked by the rain, his expression hardened as he scolded the students.

 

It was fortunate that we encountered Bae Je-il, who had followed us to the campsite for security purposes after the dungeon exploration.

 

‘He said he happened to be on patrol again.’

 

I gently touched around the child’s neck and asked.

 

“Seo-ro, are you okay?”

 

“…I’m okay.”

 

‘I woke up and the child wasn’t there, and the tent entrance was open.’

 

I hurriedly woke up Kang Sa-gwa who was sleeping in another tent, and while frantically searching the area, I happened to encounter Bae Je-il who was on patrol and was able to ask for his help.

 

Bae Je-il’s ability is ‘Clairvoyance,’ and he’s an Awakener who can see through distances that ordinary human eyes cannot confirm.

 

…Thanks to that, we were able to find Seo-ro quickly.

 

I held back a sigh and turned my gaze back toward the problematic group.

 

“In the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, minors secretly climb mountains? Explain the reason.”

 

“…Well.”

 

“Speak quickly.”

 

“No, it’s just that those camp staff members were secretly trying to steal the MVP Prize among themselves, so we were like agents of justice, you know, like Hong Gil-dong…”

 

“Hey. Didn’t you learn Korean in school? Just get to the point.”

 

“…Yes.”

 

At Bae Je-il’s fierce demand, the relatively smart-looking male student began to explain the whole incident in summary.

 

“Uh… I, I’ll speak instead. Actually…”

 

Roughly, the staff members’ behind-the-scenes scheming and what they themselves had done, thus the reason they ended up climbing the mountain in the middle of the night, and finally some excuses.

 

They even clasped their hands together, making pitiful excuses.

 

However, Hunter Bae Je-il, after hearing all of this…

 

“So in the end, you guys were trying to do the same thing and ended up like this.”

 

“…Yes, that’s right.”

 

completely ignored it and dismissed it with a single word.

 

For reference, I already knew that the staff members were scheming behind the scenes regarding my MVP reward because Kang Sa-gwa had called me aside to inform me.

 

‘I was planning to handle it quietly by myself later, but I never thought things would get this complicated beforehand…’

 

Moreover, I never imagined that Seo-ro would chase after them alone to retrieve it.

 

Kang Sa-gwa was also rubbing the back of her head with a dazed expression.

 

I looked around at the momentarily quiet surroundings and stood up. Then I wrapped the blanket that Kang Sa-gwa had thoughtfully created with her ability around Seo-ro’s body and hugged him again.

 

Meanwhile, Bae Je-il seemed to be quietly contemplating, then soon waved his hand dismissively as if everything was bothersome and said.

 

“…See that tent at the end over there? You guys go in there. And stay put with your heads down on the floor until I come back.”

 

“What? …Huh?”

 

“…I don’t want to repeat myself.”

 

“Are you dense? Shut up and go to the tent and keep your heads down!”

 

With those words, the students began running down the mountain in a line. I could see them quickly descend the entire mountain and disappear into a tent in an instant.

 

“…Lee Seo-ro, are you okay?”

 

Bae Je-il, who had turned his gaze away from the tent, finally asked Seo-ro about his condition.

 

“Yes…”

 

“Good, you’re tough. That’s how you need to be to become a hunter.”

 

“Yes, I’ll work hard.”

 

“Take it easy.”

 

Watching the two converse so calmly, Kang Sa-gwa and I exchanged glances with blank eyes.

 

‘Is this right?’

 

‘I don’t know.’

 

Bae Je-il aside. Seo-ro, why are you so calm…?

 

‘Ah, my stomach hurts.’

 

Thus, the commotion over Seo-ro’s disappearance that occurred in the middle of the night quietly came to an end.

 

***

 

However, the campsite where everyone had been asleep, or rather, where everyone was now awake, was in an uproar.

 

Due to the theft of the MVP prize that occurred in the middle of the night.

 

“My goodness, they took all that money and were trying to steal the prize too?”

 

“They’re crazy, absolutely crazy.”

 

Bae Je-il immediately reported the current situation to headquarters as soon as he came down the mountain.

 

The headquarters staff, who heard about the more serious situation than expected, drove to the campsite even at night and raided the scene.

 

The camp staff tried to come up with some plausible excuses while panicking, but it was already too late.

 

Kang Sa-gwa’s testimony about the staff’s scheming and the recording made by the glasses-wearing male student.

 

 

‘That glasses-wearing student unintentionally left decisive evidence.’

 

And even the appearance of the campsite that didn’t match the scale of the sponsorship money.

 

Everything visible and audible was evidence.

 

Additionally, when participants voiced their complaints about the camp schedule that had remained unchanged for years, the atmosphere turned completely chaotic.

 

“Well, cutting off sponsorship is obvious, and I think headquarters might file a lawsuit.”

 

Bae Je-il said to me as he quietly entered while folding up the tent canvas.

 

“That’s good. Um… So do we wait here for now?”

 

“It seems like we’ll have to call another bus. These guys were planning to announce tomorrow that everyone should find their own way home to save on bus rental costs?”

 

This is insane.

 

Shouldn’t they at least send us home? That’s common sense.

 

Kang Sa-gwa, who was sitting next to me, shook her head with a disgusted expression.

 

“Last year I also went home by taxi… What memories.”

 

It’s almost dawn now, and with packing and organizing, when will we ever get home?

 

I pressed my tired eyelids with my fingers. Bae Je-il watched me intently, then pointed outside with his thumb and said.

 

“Then, get some rest. I still have work to do. Ah… Sa-gwa? The company is asking for a bit more testimony.”

 

“Ah, I’ll go now. I’ll be back.”

 

Following Bae Je-il, Kang Sa-gwa also left the tent.

 

….

 

I looked around the tent that had suddenly become quiet, then approached the figure crouched in the corner wrapped in a blanket.

 

“Seo-ro.”

 

“….”

 

“Why have you been so dejected since earlier?”

 

“….”

 

Since coming down from the mountain, Seo-ro hadn’t said a word. He just kept his head down like someone who had done something wrong, keeping his mouth tightly shut.

 

Of course, I had a good idea why the child was acting this way.

 

‘He probably thinks he ruined everything.’

 

Even though that’s not actually the case.

 

‘Status Window’

 

-Ding

 

 

I don’t know what thoughts drove Seo-ro to climb that mountain through the rain.

 

However, judging from the information in the Status Window and the child’s usual words and actions….

 

‘It was probably for my sake.’

 

So that the MVP Prize would properly go to its rightful owner.

 

And that was probably what Seo-ro considered ‘Hunter’-like behavior.

 

Fair and just, helping citizens, kind, and brave Awakener.

 

Knowing this, I didn’t yield the MVP to Seo-ro despite Kang Sa-gwa’s suggestion. Of course…. there was also the matter of Nabi.

 

‘Seo-ro is a child who would rather prefer losing.’

 

Even if defeat was bitter, he was a child who would use it as nourishment to rise again.

 

So…. he shouldn’t be this dispirited.

 

‘He did something good.’

 

“Seo-ro, you did well, so why are you like this?”

 

“…I didn’t do well.”

 

“No, you did well. From what I heard, Seo-ro did this for Teacher. Right? You were trying to find the prize that Teacher should receive.”

 

“But… I failed!”

 

“Hmm? Why is that a failure? Teacher received the prize properly, didn’t I?”

 

“…!”

 

That’s right, I was able to get the MVP Prize that was supposed to be awarded tomorrow morning ahead of time.

 

And I was able to skip the process of racking my brains over how to get it back.

 

This was truly, without exaggeration, only possible thanks to Seo-ro’s help.

 

“If it weren’t for Seo-ro, Teacher wouldn’t have even known that the prize was buried on that mountain, right?”

 

“…Really?”

 

“Of course, though I was startled when Seo-ro suddenly disappeared while sleeping….”

 

“That…. I’m sorry.”

 

“Yes, it’s fine as long as you understand. So Seo-ro, could you show Teacher your face for a moment?”

 

…Oh my goodness.

 

Your face is a mess.

 

The child’s pale face that emerged from the blanket was covered in tears.

 

With a heavy heart, I gently wiped his face with a handkerchief and said.

 

“You worked hard. What if our Seo-ro catches a cold? Your throat must hurt too….”

 

His throat hurts….

 

Ah.

 

Wait a minute.

 

Come to think of it, I didn’t get an apology from those guys, did I?

 

Those three delinquent youths, I mean.

 

‘Just thinking about how they threw the child like that still makes me angry….’

 

I pondered for a moment.

 

Seo-ro was also in a terrible mood, and from what I could see, those students showed no signs of remorse whatsoever…

 

After a brief moment of consideration, I made my decision.

 

I looked at Seo-ro and grinned.

 

“Seo-ro, shall we go get an apology from those older boys?”

 

This much revenge should be fine.

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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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