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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: A Real Lesson
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'…What in the world is this guy?'
Shin Suyeon stared at the man standing before her with an incredulous look.
Black hair, black eyes.
A contemptuous glare.
He was definitely a man.
And despite being a man, he had a sword at his hip.
"Ha."
Shin Suyeon let out a hollow laugh.
"Well, you look cute, so I was going to be nice… but it turns out you're quite a fiery one, aren't you?"
He stood firm, not even flinching at an S-rank Hunter's mana discharge.
And the name of the Shin family seemed to mean nothing to him.
Of course, if she wanted to teach him a lesson, she could do it any time.
But now wasn't the right moment.
'…Tsk, that was mana I'd saved to use if Shin Seehee rebelled.'
She glanced sideways.
Shin Seehee flinched in fear when their eyes met.
But then, as if to protect the man, she met Shin Suyeon's gaze directly.
The girl who couldn't even meet her eyes before leaving home had, in that short time, absorbed something that made her stare back defiantly.
Shin Suyeon's eyebrows twitched with displeasure.
'…This one truly needs re-education.'
Soon, when they returned home, she would thoroughly engrave the neglected lessons back into her.
'First, I'll deal with this guy.'
She looked back at the man.
"From what you just said, it seems you already know who I am… Child, are you truly sure you won't regret this? Crossing me. That's akin to crossing our entire family."
Shin Suyeon spoke in a cold yet relaxed voice.
However, Jin Yuha picked his ear as if he'd just heard the most ridiculous nonsense.
"What's so scary about crossing that pathetic family?"
At this point, Shin Suyeon couldn't help but feel that things were going strangely.
'Is there really something to him?'
"...Your name?"
"Jin Yuha."
"...Hmm, Jin Yuha. Jin Yuha… No, I've never heard of him."
No matter how much she racked her brain, there was no information about a person named Jin Yuha.
For now, she would go back, investigate this name, and then punish him thoroughly.
She had no intention of forgiving this man who dared to be so insolent to her.
"Consider yourself lucky. You'll be the first to walk away unscathed after daring to treat me with such insolence."
Even without digging, there was a source where information would surely surface.
'Especially since he seems close to Shin Seehee.'
She turned her head towards Shin Seehee again.
"Seehee. Let's stop playing around now and go home…"
And the moment she reached out a hand towards her.
SMACK!
Suddenly, the sharp sound of flesh hitting flesh exploded.
Her vision flashed, her head snapped sideways.
A stinging pain flared on her cheek.
'…Huh?'
Shin Suyeon couldn't believe what had just happened to her.
'Did I just… get slapped?'
She touched her cheek. The burning heat told her that this situation was real.
"Still trying to sneak your hand out? Didn't I warn you? Don't lay a hand on Shin Seehee."
Jin Yuha snapped, his face contorted in annoyance.
The Hunter family, Shin (申).
Mana Sword. Shin Suyeon.
Known as an S-rank Hunter who crushed enemies with overwhelming mana, this was truly the first time she had been treated like this.
For a moment, she was so flustered that Shin Suyeon's eyes trembled, but her unique ability, "Performance", allowed her to maintain a composed expression.
"...Are you really something special?"
She asked the question.
But the answer to her question was.
SMACK!
"...!"
Another sudden impact.
She staggered backward, clutching her other cheek against the unfamiliar, surging pain.
When she turned her head, Jin Yuha was looking at her with a chilling expression, his palm raised.
"...You insane bastard!"
Maintaining her composure was no longer an option.
Shin Suyeon's eyes widened furiously.
"Hey, did you think I'd be scared just because you unleashed some mana you've painstakingly hoarded and blabbered about being from the Shin family? You're just a half-baked S-rank Hunter."
Instantly, murderous intent flashed in her eyes.
'How did this guy know that…! No, no. He doesn't know the real secret yet!'
Of course, even so, there was no change in the fact that she had to kill this guy here and now.
She reached for the sword at her hip.
However. The next moment.
Her face went blank.
WHOOSH!
Because Jin Yuha vanished from his spot with a tearing sound of air.
And suddenly, his fist was right before her eyes.
WHAM!
"Guh!"
Her head, struck by the fist, snapped backward. At the same time, her upper body flew into the air.
CRASH!
Shin Suyeon, unbefitting of her S-rank Hunter title, rolled on the floor after being hit by Jin Yuha's fist.
"If you were really that strong, you'd have appeared as a main story villain, not a personal story one, you pathetic bitch."
"...Wait!"
"Being a personal story villain means Shin Seehee alone is more than enough to deal with you."
She raised her head.
This time, a shoe was in front of her face.
THWACK!
A heavy impact landed mercilessly on her head.
"Gah!"
A single scream echoed.
THWACK!
THWACK!
THWACK!
Jin Yuha infused his foot with mana, kicking and stomping Shin Suyeon as if she were a soccer ball.
Her initial composure had long since vanished.
All that remained was pure malice.
'Even if I, no matter how little mana I have…! By a man!?'
She had noticed he had a certain momentum since he endured her mana discharge.
However, the battlefields she had traversed were not so easy that she would be unilaterally beaten by a mere man.
"...You!"
She tried to get up, sparks of fury in her eyes.
THWACK!
But Jin Yuha was already close, and her chin was kicked by his foot.
CRUNCH!
Her body flew back again, smashing through a display case.
Shin Suyeon, her vision reeling, filled her eyes with venom and glared up at him.
"...I'll kill you. I'll definitely kill you in the name of our family…"
Jin Yuha scoffed and chuckled.
"Go on, try."
"...What?"
"But can you do that without Shin Seehee?"
Shin Suyeon looked up at him, her face bewildered.
No, surely not…
"You've been sucking dry your cousins', your relatives', even your sister's mana and squandering it while pretending to be an S-rank. Do you really think you're a true S-rank?"
"...!"
THWACK!
Another kick landed.
"You, an S-rank, getting beaten by a mere student like me when your mana runs out?"
Shin Suyeon was engulfed in confusion, unable to collect herself.
'How on earth does this guy know our family's secret…!'
"Shin Seehee went to the academy, so you must have been frantic, huh? Why, you don't have any mana comparable to Shin Seehee's, do you? Is that why you rushed out in such a panic the moment you heard Shin Seehee was outside, you pathetic bitch!?"
THWACK!
***
The Hunter family. Shin (申).
There's a reason I called this family a bunch of infuriating bastards.
They weren't demons.
But in some ways, they were worse than demons.
In the Gate Era, where it was still unknown who would awaken, when they would awaken, what excellent qualities they would develop, or how the awakening process occurred.
In such a world, it was clearly unusual for a renowned noble family to consistently produce excellent Hunters.
They packaged this as being a chosen family, but in reality.
'It's a method of funneling mana to one awakened person among their blood relatives.'
That's why the Hunter family Shin (申) indiscriminately adopted awakened orphans.
The world praised this as the noblesse oblige of a prestigious family, but their true motive was mana acquisition.
I looked down at Shin Suyeon with cold eyes.
A few teeth were missing, and her face, bruised and battered, looked like a rag.
I shuffled towards her.
Then, she recoiled in a pathetic manner, shrieking, her initial composure nowhere to be seen.
"You, you, you don't know who I am!?"
"The self-proclaimed S-rank Hunter, Shin Suyeon."
"That's right! Damn it! I'm Shin Suyeon! Shin Suyeon of the Shin family!!!"
"So what?"
"Our family won't let you get away with this!!!"
Hearing those words, I let out a scoff.
"Hmm, really?"
"Yes!!! Ou-our family can squash a guy like you like an ant…!"
I shook my head, cutting her off.
"Well, that's all well and good, but."
And then I leaned down towards her.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
I whispered in a low voice into her ear.
"The child you've been gaslighting since childhood. Now that she knows, do you think she'll just stand by?"
At that moment, Shin Suyeon's eyes darted behind her.
There, as if she had heard something unbelievable.
Her own younger sister stood, her eyes wide with shock.
'…No, no! How could I have, until now…!'
"And I intend to make that even easier for her."
RIP!
I reached out and tore her clothes.
In an instant, Shin Suyeon's top was ripped off, leaving her in her undergarments.
And embedded in the center of her chest was a blood-red jewel.
"Heh. Guess you really didn't want to lose it. You actually embedded a mana absorption artifact into your body."
Shin Suyeon's eyes bulged.
"...Wa-wait!!"
But my hand was faster than her restraint.
The red jewel was clutched in my fingertips.
CRACK!
The red jewel slowly began to crack.
She looked down at her chest with a distraught expression.
"No…"
She grabbed my arm, trying desperately to pull it away, but.
CRUNCH!
I crushed the jewel embedded in her chest with my hand.
"...No, no, no… NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
Shin Suyeon's desperate shriek filled the luxury store.