A Public Servant Hunter Who Exploits Skill Combinations – Chapter 4
Translated by: Hanzo
Chapter 4: Admission (2)
Currently, Eom Deok-gu is a second-year student.
It seems that, unlike new students, he didn’t attend the entrance ceremony and had already settled into the dormitory beforehand.
But why was he telling me to bring his stuff for him?
Does he have a habit of bossing around those he deems beneath him?
I don’t know who came first in the past, but judging by the lack of any major incidents, it seems they obediently complied.
But why should I?
“No, thanks.”
At my response, his brow furrowed.
“...Hey, aren’t you a freshman?”
“I am.”
His frown deepened further.
“Then why are you talking like that?”
“You started it.”
Crunch.
I could hear the sound of him grinding his teeth all the way from below.
It was one of his habits.
This guy has likely had a rotten personality since childhood.
‘Right. That’s how it is. People don’t change easily.’
Dressed in a tracksuit, Eom Deok-gu jumped from the second floor straight down to the first.
Thud.
The sound that reverberated from his large frame hitting the ground was equally massive.
This kind of behavior was predictable.
It was just an attempt to show off.
But I wasn’t scared at all.
I already knew everything about him.
“Hey, freshman.”
“What?”
“Do my words mean nothing to you?”
“I usually listen to people whose words make sense.”
At my reply, Eom Deok-gu’s eyebrow twitched.
He must think I don’t know what I’m doing.
“Ha.”
His expression, laughter, and gaze radiated mockery.
In the past, it might have fazed me, but the current me wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.
Maybe it was because the air around us felt heavy?
Before I knew it, people started gathering around one by one.
It looked like he wanted to assert his dominance over me.
But what should I do? It seems he picked the wrong opponent.
As I remembered the things he had done to me in the past and thought about my chance to get revenge, I couldn’t help but smile.
Seeing my smile, he couldn’t bear it any longer. Grinding his teeth, he growled,
“Tighten your stomach.”
At the same time, his fist flew toward my face.
Even though he started a year earlier, he’s only a second-year student in the end.
There’s no way someone who once ate from the same pot as me and was on the same team could surprise me with his moves.
Besides...
‘Too slow.’
Thunk!
I caught his fist in my hand.
The area below his eyes twitched momentarily.
It was as if he were a caterpillar crawling along the ground, only to be stepped on by someone.
“...What, what the...? You little...! Y-you blocked my punch?”
To Eom Deok-gu, I was nothing special.
Just a new student who showed up today, clueless about everything.
The fact that I casually blocked his punch caused his face to flush red with embarrassment.
He had assumed I’d be an easy target since I was a freshman.
Usually, if you tell someone to brace their stomach and throw a punch at their face, it’s a surefire way to make them stumble.
It was one of his go-to methods.
But realizing that I, a freshman, had seen through it would probably make him feel something was off.
Moreover, he was trying to pull his fist away from my grip, but I wasn’t letting go.
“W-what’s going on? Let go!”
The number of onlookers steadily increased.
‘I’d better wrap this up quickly.’
Without changing my expression, I gripped his fist tighter as if to crush it.
“Argh!”
Eom Deok-gu howled in pain.
What had I been doing until now, before entering the academy?
Did I really just spend my time idling?
In fact, I had been honing my body, focusing on mana refinement and physical reinforcement.
Naturally, there was no comparison between us.
“Ah, damn it, let go, you bastard! It hurts!!!”
Watching Eom Deok-gu groan and whine pathetically filled me with a strange sense of satisfaction.
I had mastered the basics 30 years ago, while he had only just completed the first-year curriculum.
‘There’s no way he can beat me.’
If I’m currently at D-rank, Deok-gu isn’t even at F-rank yet.
Moreover, a D-rank from 30 years in the future is on a completely different level from a D-rank now.
Over time, advancements in refinement stages and related skills had further improved.
“Arghhh! Let go! Let go! I was wrong! Please, stop!”
Even Eom Deok-gu 30 years from now wouldn’t be able to handle me as I am now.
I considered breaking his fingers entirely but decided against it.
Causing a big incident would harm my reputation at school.
‘I should hold back... There will be plenty of opportunities to torment him later.’
Using the strength in my shoulder, I forced Eom Deok-gu to kneel.
Pathetically, he ended up on his knees.
“Ugh!!”
“Stop whining.”
“It really hurts!!”
“Deok-gu, listen.”
“...?”
Rubbing his hand with a face that looked like he was about to cry, Eom Deok-gu glanced at me in confusion.
“Carry my luggage.”
Reluctantly, he stood up and picked up his own belongings.
“No, not your stuff. Leave that for later. Carry mine.”
Looking at his dumbfounded expression, I turned away and added,
“Take it to Building A, Room 302. I’m off to grab an iced Americano.”
I felt proud of myself for resisting the urge to send him on a coffee run too.
***
‘What the hell is this guy...?’
For Eom Deok-gu, it was a strength he had never experienced before.
It felt like being squashed by an elephant while he was just a bug.
‘How is a freshman that strong? Are his parents Hunters I don’t know about?'
Eom Deok-gu prided himself on knowing all the details about freshmen whose parents were Hunters. Yet, he had no memory of a freshman with a face like his.
Still clutching his aching fist, he sulked in his dorm room.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and his roommate, Kim Chang-seok, walked in.
“Hey, I heard you got owned by a freshman.”
“Huh? How’d you know…?”
“Dude, the whole school knows. How are you going to live down the embarrassment?”
“...”
“They say you even carried his bags for him.”
“Damn it…”
Eom Doek-gu's face scrunched up in frustration.
“Do you know what’s up with that guy?”
“Not everything yet. But I was on duty today, cleaning the teachers’ lounge, and I overheard some stuff…”
***
A sharp-featured man, Choi Jung-gang.
He was the instructor for the "Senses and Theory" course and was known among students as the disciplinarian because of his meticulous care.
“Mr. Choi.”
“Yes?”
“You seem unusually cheerful today. Something good happen?”
“Well, yes. I found an interesting kid among the new freshmen.”
“What kind of kid?”
“His name is Jung Tae-sung.”
“Jung Tae-sung? Is he from a well-known family?”
“No, just a regular civilian, apparently.”
Teacher Lee Jong-hee picked up a coffee cup from the table and looked at Choi Jung-gang.
“If he’s a regular civilian, then—”
“I picked a random kid earlier and used my Thorn Vine skill on him, just to set the tone.”
“Ugh, you do this every year… Why do you bully the kids like that?”
“It’s better to establish authority early on. Makes them easier to handle for two years without causing trouble. But here’s the thing—he blocked it.”
Lee Jong-hee, familiar with Choi’s Thorn Vine, remembered last year when Eom Deok-gu had been its target for being too cocky. The memory of him screaming in pain was still vivid.
“What? He blocked your Thorn Vine?”
“Yes. Didn’t even flinch.”
“You’re saying he’s already activated and began refining his mana?”
“Most likely.”
“Is that true?”
Lee was shocked for a specific reason.
If a freshman’s parents or acquaintances were Hunters, they might have learned some basic refinement skills. But to block a skill like Thorn Vine, the refinement level would have to be considerably advanced.
“We’ll know more in time.”
“How long has he been awakened?”
“I checked—it’s been two weeks.”
Lee nearly spat out his coffee.
“Two weeks? He refined his mana to that extent in just 14 days?”
“Apparently.”
“You know the average time for self-activation is two to three months, right?”
“Of course, I know. I’m a teacher.”
Even during the early days of the Gates, prodigies with natural talent didn’t achieve this level of progress so quickly.
“Even the current S-rankers took at least a month.”
“Exactly.”
“How many stages of refinement do you think he’s reached?”
“At least stage three… maybe even stage four.”
“Good heavens… That’s unbelievable…”
***
“What? That guy’s at refinement stage three?”
“The teachers aren’t entirely sure, though.”
Eom Deok-gu’s clenched fist trembled in frustration at Kim Chang-seok’s words.
After a year, he was barely approaching the threshold of the second stage of refinement. The ache in his hand, courtesy of that freshman, was a painful reminder.
“Damn it. Does he think I’m going to let this slide?”
“How are you going to beat someone at stage three when you’re barely at stage two?”
“Who says I have to fight him head-on?”
“Huh?”
A sinister smirk spread across Eom Deok-gu’s face, oblivious to how dangerous it looked.
Though he boasted in front of his friend, deep down, Eom Deok-gu was scared.
“Stage three… Damn it.”
***
Back in the dorms, Choi Jun-hyuk was unpacking his belongings.
“Hey.”
“...”
“Why are you still sulking?”
“I heard my face looks like a disaster.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Leave me alone.”
He was just pretending to be upset. By tomorrow, Jun-hyuk would forget all about it. Especially since I had something he loved.
“Wanna drink?”
“What? Booze? No way! Drinking in the dorms?”
Jun-hyuk had always loved alcohol. In the past, we’d shared countless funny and wild experiences because of it. I’d often thought he was one of the reasons I survived my previous life.
“Of course, it’s against the rules.”
But breaking the rules is half the fun.
“Oh man, this is gonna be so good!”
Jun-hyuk’s personality was as simple as ever.
***
The next day.
“Oh? When did you wake up?”
I was sitting cross-legged on my bed when Choi Jun-hyuk spoke.
“Not long ago.”
“You meditate?”
“Yeah.”
In truth, I hadn’t slept a wink. I’d spent the entire night refining my mana. The faster I regained my old mana strength, the smoother everything would go.
“They’re assigning classes today, right?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Hope we end up in the same class.”
“...Uh, yeah, sure.”
After one drinking session, he acted like we were best friends. His friendly nature hadn’t changed a bit.
But being in the same class as him would be inconvenient.
In the past, we had been in the same class.
The 4th Hunter Academy cohort had 530 students. It was impossible to teach them all at once. So, they divided the students into ten classes of about 50 each.
While everyone had different daily lectures, the system ensured they eventually attended the same lessons over a week.
Today’s schedule was all about class assignments.
The top 30 students would be placed in a special class.
The special class was essentially an elite group.
In the past, I’d been in Class 10, but this time, I was aiming for the special class.
“That way, I can get more skill cards.”
......
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