Chapter 56

I looked at the unfamiliar man with suspicion.

“Who are you?”

As soon as I threw the question at him, his eyes widened, and he suddenly leaned in, pushing his shoulder toward me.

Wondering what he was doing, I leaned back, and he made a sound, “Huh?”

“Are you dodging?”

“No, of course, I’m dodging.”

Then, suddenly, I remembered someone related to shoulders.

Ah, it’s that guy who shoulder-bumped me on the first day, looking like a real-life version of Kim Tae-yang.

“Judging by your expression, you must have remembered.”

A triumphant smile spread across his face.

“Lee Soo-ho, why aren’t you coming?”

“Oppa, I’m a C-class!”

At that moment, two men and a woman suddenly started approaching him.

It seemed like they were his acquaintances from the waiting area and the girlfriend I saw last time.

But more than that, with that rugged face, his name is Soo-ho?

He couldn’t even protect his own face, so what is he protecting?

At that moment, the girlfriend looked at me and immediately frowned.

“What’s this? Why are you picking a fight with my oppa again?”

Sorry, but it was him who started it.

She looked to be in her early twenties.

She seemed like someone who thought the world revolved around her boyfriend.

“Hey, it’s this guy. The one who snitched to the instructor.”

“A snitch?”

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-ho pointed at me and snitched to his friends.

“This guy’s an F-class.”

“F-class? Crazy, isn’t that just a civilian?”

“Wow, F-class really exists. What a loser.”

It seemed Lee Soo-ho had bad-mouthed me to them, as they started openly mocking me.

Then, Lee Soo-ho looked at my face and smirked.

“Why so pissed? What else can an F-class loser do besides snitching?”

I asked him indifferently.

“What class are you?”

“Haha, kid, don’t get scared. I’m a C-class. A potential B-class, you know.”

“Oh.”

If I hit him with Thunderbolt, he’d die.

I need to be careful.

“What makes you think you can act tough in front of me?”

At that moment, Baeksan spoke to me with a genuinely confused expression.

Thanks to Baeksan, I can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Returners based on pure output alone.

Perhaps that’s why both Baeksan and I couldn’t help but look at him with pity.

Reality is cruel, after all.

“So, is that all you wanted?”

I patted his shoulder sympathetically.

Then, Lee Soo-ho’s face started turning red and purple.

He seemed to interpret my sympathy differently.

“All? You little…!”

“Wow, A-class! Congratulations!”

At that moment, a commotion broke out behind us.

When I looked over Lee Soo-ho’s shoulder, Eun-namu was standing there.

Eun-namu, who had just removed her hand from the testing machine, was walking over casually as if it was nothing special, and when our eyes met, she gave a lazy smile.

“Ha-chan.”

As Eun-namu called me and approached, Lee Soo-ho and his gang started looking nervous.

“She’s an A-class, huh?”

“Hey, hey, she’s coming this way.”

“Are we gonna get caught in the crossfire?”

They started backing away as Eun-namu approached.

In the Hunter world, rank equals power, so they were clearly intimidated by her level.

“Damn, you’re lucky.”

With that, Lee Soo-ho left me with a warning and left with his gang.

Then, his girlfriend, who was about to follow him, turned to me and said.

“Stop picking fights with my Soo-ho oppa.”

“Then you should manage your boyfriend better.”

“Huh? What a sight. Really.”

As if it was a habit, she left the same words as last time and followed Lee Soo-ho.

“What’s going on?”

As I stared at her retreating figure, Eun-namu, who had approached, asked.

“Eun-namu, can you smack those guys on the back of their heads when you get a chance?”

“Sure.”

Eun-namu might actually be kind.

As I thought that, I glanced at Baeksan.

“Eun-namu is probably controlling her output just like you.”

Eun-namu was also deceiving the testing machine.

Given that she’s been assassinating Returners, she must be quite high-ranked.

‘Is it because I’ve been hanging out with Returners that the ranks seem so trivial lately?’

Besides, Seo-ho and Si-ho are both S-class Hunters.

Even Ji-eun is a Hunter with A-class potential.

So, Hunters of lower ranks started to feel like nothing.

‘This is a big deal. My sense of reality is starting to dull.’

Even by civilian standards, being a C-class makes you an outlier.

No wonder Lee Soo-ho thought it was funny to push his shoulder at me as a C-class.

I felt like I needed to regain my senses at the Hunter Training Academy.

“Hey.”

At that moment, someone started walking toward us with footsteps.

Just as Lee Soo-ho had left, I turned my head to see a woman wearing only the top of the instructor’s uniform.

As soon as I saw her, I knew who she was.

That unique eye smile was unmistakable.

“Uh, Imoogi?”

“Ahahaha, thanks for recognizing me. It’s funny when you call me by my nickname, but I wonder why Ha Seo-ho hates it so much. Call me Josia.”

She was none other than Josia, an S-class Hunter with a name you had to be careful pronouncing.

As I widened my eyes at the fact that she was here, Josia was looking at Eun-namu, not me.

“Is it you?”

She stroked her chin and shifted her gaze with thin eyes.

Her gaze landed on Seo-ho.

‘She must have come here because of Seo-ho.’

As I caught on to why she was at the academy, she looked back at me with her eyes closed.

“Probably not you.”

Her gaze fell away from me coldly.

I’m hurt.

Meanwhile, Seo-ho glared at her with wide eyes.

Josia snorted and suddenly put her arms around Eun-namu and me.

“Nice to meet you, rookies.”

At her action, I recalled the relationship between Seo-ho and Josia.

The two, who were high school classmates and Hunter Training Academy peers, had been rivals for a long time.

In fact, Josia had publicly stated to the media, “Seolsan Iri and I are rivals.”

‘Then her current action…’

It was highly likely an attempt to provoke Seo-ho.

But she probably didn’t expect that Seo-ho had come to the academy just for an F-class Hunter.

‘So she must have mistaken Eun-namu for being related to Seo-ho.’

After all, Eun-namu came out as an A-class Hunter.

I was probably just treated as someone who happened to be next to her.

‘But the Returners immediately noticed that I was something.’

Perhaps it’s a difference in experience, but Josia didn’t seem to see through that.

“Wow, it’s Josia.”

“Uh, really!?”

Meanwhile, another commotion started around us.

People who recognized her late started making noise here and there.

“Hi, everyone, hi.”

Then, she waved her hand slyly, greeting everyone, and released the shoulder hug she had given us.

“Um, this is for later. Ha Seo-ho’s eyes look very scary.”

With that, she gave Eun-namu a slight eye smile.

“See you later.”

With those words, she left.

Far away, sparks flew from Seo-ho’s eyes, but she seemed to enjoy it.

“That guy over there is an A-class.”

“Must have been scouted. He’s quite handsome, isn’t he?”

“Wow, by Imoogi.”

And Josia’s actions seemed to have caused a misunderstanding, as Eun-namu quickly became the center of attention.

She seemed a bit bothered by the stares and subtly hid behind me.

Despite being disguised as a man, her small frame allowed her to hide completely behind me.

“Then who’s that guy? Josia did a shoulder hug with him too, right?”

“Don’t know?”

“Earlier, they said he’s an F-class. He must have just been next to her by chance.”

And before I knew it, I started being treated as a background character.

Why does my situation seem to get worse as time goes by?

“Then just shoot Thunderbolt at the ceiling. It’ll change in one shot.”

I decided to take Baeksan’s advice with a grain of salt.

The next place we moved to was the ability testing area.

As a Hunter Training Academy operated with significant national investment, the facilities were brand new.

Just looking at it, you could tell how much the country cared about Hunters.

‘Well, there was a time when Hunters in our country were treated so poorly that they all left for other countries.’

It was a case of closing the barn door after the horse had bolted.

Still, for a small country, we consistently produce S-class Hunters.

And above all, the president of the World Returner Association is Korean.

‘I wonder how much those at the top really know.’

As I mentioned before, the president of the World Returner Association has always been shrouded in mystery.

While the acting president frequently appeared in official settings, the real president, Baek Seol-hyang, had never shown her face.

So, even I, who could be called a Returner enthusiast, didn’t know about Baek Seol-hyang’s existence.

‘Come to think of it, I should have asked.’

Although not much time had passed since I met Baek Seol-hyang, I could confidently say that we had become close.

After exchanging numbers, it became routine for her to send me messages like, “You worked hard today. Get some rest.”

‘From my perspective, Baek Seol-hyang is an angel.’

With her looks, abilities, personality, and character, there’s nothing lacking about her.

It’s still surreal that I’ve become close with someone like that.

The kindness Baek Seol-hyang shows me sometimes makes me misunderstand.

‘But why is Baek Seol-hyang called the Iron-blooded Empress?’

From my perspective, it’s hard to understand why she’s called that, so I crossed my arms and pondered for a moment.

Does Baeksan know?

When I glanced at Baeksan, he was picking his ear and then looked at me and said, “What?”

Never mind.

“Brother Ha-chan.”

At that moment, Seo-ho’s voice was heard.

He must have sneaked a word to me while everyone was focused.

“You can keep watching from the front. I just wanted to say something.”

“It’s about Josia, right?”

“Yes, our relationship is somewhat antagonistic, so she tends to bother me about things related to her.”

Seo-ho is quite popular.

But if I say that, he might get angry, so I just nodded.

“I’ll handle it personally, so don’t worry too much. If she approaches, just ignore her.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Since Seo-ho is her acquaintance, it’s right to listen to him.

“Uh, and.”

Did he have more to say?

As I tilted my ear as if to ask what, Seo-ho scratched his head and spoke.

“Si-ho might come looking for you.”

“Si-ho?”

Why is Si-ho suddenly coming up?

I stopped trying to turn to Seo-ho and scratched my head.

“Why?”

“She’s been throwing a fit saying she wants to go alone. Knowing her personality, she’ll probably show up out of nowhere, so if she comes, please talk her into going back.”

“Okay. I’ll send her back properly.”

As I nodded appropriately, Seo-ho apologized and left.

“Then let’s begin the ability test.”

And the ability test began.