Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 80
"Hey, misters, got some business with me?"
September 11, 2031.
Second day of the Hunter Auction.
Ayeon, having safely finished her chip earning, stopped her steps in a deserted alley.
Before her stood three foreign hunters, including Verde.
Their purpose was quite obvious.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"I mean, you stole my items."
Verde blocked Ayeon's path, his face looking as if he already knew everything.
Ayeon, with an unphased expression, lifted her head and then openly burst out laughing, "Pfft."
"I knew it would be like this. Didn't I tell you to watch your pockets carefully?"
"Stop playing innocent and hand them over quickly."
"What are you talking about? Do you have any proof that I stole them?"
You don't, do you?
Beneath the baseball cap, her deep pink eyes curved with an innocent air.
"I can't think of anyone else but you."
"Hey, mister. That's suspicion, not proof, you know."
Sigh.
Shaking her head, Ayeon crossed her hands to form an X.
"Anyway, it wasn't me. Absolutely not."
Just as she was about to pass them.
Grrrrr— Woof! Woof!
A large dog suddenly appeared, baring its teeth as if ready to tear Ayeon apart at any moment.
Two, three, four...
Large dogs, which hadn't been there just moments ago, began to multiply.
'There's a Tamer.'
A hunter with summoning traits.
Among them, hunters who handled animals were commonly called Tamers.
This fight is going to get annoying if it drags on.
Summoning-type hunters, as long as their mana remained, were said to be able to summon entities ranging from a minimum of ten to tens, and a maximum of even thousands, depending on their rank.
For Ayeon, who specialized in one-on-one combat, they were truly a natural enemy.
Besides, there were three opponents.
Ayeon knew A-Class hunter Verde's unique ability was plant manipulation.
The rank and unique ability of the remaining hunter were unknown.
Meaning, she couldn't even predict the matchups.
In that case, there was only one course of action to take here.
Ayeon spun around.
"Your dog, mister? Cute, but I'm a cat person."
And then.
"...?!"
The girl vanished like smoke.
A startled Verde quickly scanned his surroundings.
The girl was nowhere to be seen.
Above? No.
She had literally 'disappeared'.
As if she had teleported.
He didn't know if she had run away or simply hidden herself.
But either way, it didn't matter.
"Chase her."
One hunter muttered as if chanting a spell.
As if that were the trigger, the large dogs scattered in all directions.
'That Kang Ayeon in Class 2. She's a basic livelihood security recipient.'
'Her parents died in a gate accident when she was young, and she grew up in an orphanage until last year, right?'
'Really? A friend from Class 2 said she smells weird too. Sitting behind her, whenever she moves, a sour smell apparently fills the air, ugh. And she always wears the same socks.'
'Probably doesn't have running water at home.'
Ugh, gross.
'Did you hear? Class 2 got robbed during first period gym class.'
'Robbed?'
'When they returned to the classroom after first period, all their wallets were gone. And all the unlocked lockers were open too.'
'Huh, wow.'
'But you know what's creepy? While everyone was freaking out about their missing wallets in the classroom, Kang Ayeon was reportedly watching from the back door of the classroom and smiling.'
'Crazy. What the. So scary.'
'She always says her stomach hurts during gym class and goes to the nurse's office, right? Doesn't that just make it obvious?'
—It's Kang Ayeon, what else.
'Ayeon. Can you just tell Teacher honestly? Why did you do it? If there was something you needed...'
It wasn't me.
'Yes, Mr. Hwang. No matter how much I ask, she insists it wasn't her to the end. Well... Ayeon doesn't have parents, you see. If she's already like this now, I don't know what will become of her in the future... My head hurts too. Yes, I'll try to talk to her properly first. Yes, yes. Understood.'
...I said it wasn't me.
'Ayeon, is it true you received an S-Class rating?'
'Are you free after school today? We're going to a cafe with some older guys from the neighboring school, and they said to bring you too.'
'Ayeon, want to get friendship bracelets with us?'
'Here. Study notes. I'm only showing this to you.'
We're best friends, aren't we?
'Thanks to Ayeon, our school is even on TV. Teacher is truly so proud of our Ayeon.'
'So, Ayeon. If it's alright, could you perhaps help a little with filming a school promotional video? It would be really great if Ayeon appeared in the video.'
You're the face of our school, you know.
Ayeon.
Our Ayeon.
Ayeon.
Kang Ayeon—.
...
...
Drip, drip...
The raindrops, falling one or two at a time, gradually intensified.
Thick raindrops began to mercilessly pound her face.
"...Cough."
She coughed.
A metallic taste spread throughout her tongue.
As she blinked slowly, the pressure on her cheek intensified further.
"Give them back now. The items."
Squeeze.
The feel of a shoe sole on her cheek was damp.
No, perhaps it was the feel of the wet asphalt.
Ayeon, still collapsed on the ground, slowly lifted her gaze to stare at Verde, who was looking down at her.
"...Don't want to."
Thwack!
Verde kicked Ayeon's head with his shoe as if kicking a ball.
The force was enough to shake her entire brain.
Her vision spun wildly.
But Ayeon could do nothing.
'Careless... I was...'
She never imagined the last hunter would be a 'Blocker'.
She had heard of Blockers, but this was the first time seeing one in person.
They nullified some of the enemy's skills.
It was commonly known as countering, but it was closer to 'sealing'.
The principle was unknown.
Because the method of 'achieving' the 'condition' varied for each Blocker.
But her guess was that this hunter's condition was probably...
'Arrow.'
There was a high probability that the arrowhead he shot had some kind of poison that sealed skills.
An arrow she barely managed to dodge, her attention diverted by the attacking summoned dogs.
Since being grazed by that arrow, Ayeon's skills had been sealed.
'Though it's too late to realize it now.'
In a battle between hunters, what influenced victory or defeat were rank, compatibility, and also 'information'.
To grasp victory, knowing the enemy first and hiding oneself was the most basic of basics.
This was also effective in battles against monsters.
However, Ayeon had been careless.
She had trusted her rank too much.
Though she didn't want to admit it, that was precisely the cause of her defeat.
Ayeon looked straight ahead with unfocused eyes.
[Trait ▶ 'Nimble Movement' Activated.]
[Failed.]
[Abnormal Status 'Silence'. Trait and Skill usage restricted. Remaining Time 5:49]
Though 5 minutes still remained on the duration, she predicted that if she could knock out the Blocker, the status effect would be lifted.
Meaning, there might still be a chance of winning.
However, the Blocker was currently with two colleagues.
And if you even included the summoned dogs, Ayeon was facing 1 against 10, or even more enemies.
As long as those guys were wide awake, approaching the Blocker and knocking him out wouldn't be easy.
Especially in this state with her abilities sealed.
"I remember now."
The Blocker muttered.
"I was wondering where I'd seen her; that kid was on the news a few years ago."
"On the news?"
"Yeah."
The Blocker, taking out his phone and searching for something.
Soon, he thrust the screen towards his colleagues.
"Look. Korea's fourth S-Class."
"Huh, her face looks a bit different now, though...?"
"No. Look closely. It's her."
They compared the face of the young girl in the screen with Ayeon's face.
One of Ayeon's traits, 'Disturbance', could cause confusion to the opponent not only in battle but also in daily life, if Ayeon wished it.
For instance, making it difficult to properly recognize faces.
However, even that seemed to have been dispelled now that her skills were sealed.
Verde, staring intently at Ayeon's face, strode closer.
"Is this you?"
"..."
Ayeon didn't answer.
Verde, staring blankly at Ayeon's mud-stained face, soon laughed out loud as if amused.
"Haha, look at you rolling in the mud, and that habit of casually putting your hands in other people's pockets."
Swoosh. A voice descended, as if whispering in Ayeon's ear.
"Korea's S-Class is quite a masterpiece. I can see why Maestro abandoned Korea for the United States."
Thwack!
The moment the words ended, the kicking resumed.
Ayeon endured it without even letting out a small groan.
Tsk, no fun.
Through the noisy rain, the sound of a tongue clicking was heard.
His excitement seemed to have cooled due to her lack of resistance.
Then, abruptly stopping his kicking,
"...With Baekya himself being a living corpse, for the next generation's young S-Class to be at this level. Koreans are truly pitiful."
Click, click.
The sound of a camera shutter followed.
Ayeon, who hadn't moved, only rolled her eyes to look at them.
They were taking pictures.
Capturing the image of Korea's S-Class hunter, beaten to a pulp and뒹굴고 있는 on the muddy ground, in their album.
"This photo, how many likes will it get, I wonder."
Click, click, click...
The shutter sound continued ceaselessly.
Ayeon, staring at them with unfocused eyes, spotted an unfamiliar figure beyond them.
A passing pedestrian had stopped and was looking this way.
Whip. Verde turned around sharply, as if glaring.
"What?"
The pedestrian flinched, then hid his face under his umbrella, pretending not to have seen anything.
Thump-thump... receding footsteps.
A red umbrella disappearing into a dot without a single backward glance.
"..."
On the dirty mud, Ayeon laughed soundlessly.
She hadn't expected it.
Not at all.
Most people don't step up for someone whose name they don't even know if there's no benefit, no purpose.
That was perfectly normal.
Because,
she was the same.
"────"
She could no longer hear what the disgusting foreign hunter bastards were blabbering about.
Stomach, back, shoulder.
The kicking still continued.
Ayeon slowly closed her eyes.
"—rde, that person over there──"
"—so? ──Let's just pretend and go."
Suddenly, the kicks that had been relentlessly battering Ayeon's body stopped.
What happened?
Lifting her closed eyelids slightly,
Click—
The tip of a black shoe approached before her eyes.
Despite the weather, not a speck of mud stained it.
Ayeon, as if drawn, lifted her gaze.
Pouring rain.
Pitch-black night sky.
Under a pitch-black parasol,
"..."
Eyes darker than that.
Ayeon fumbled, parting her lips.
"...Un-Unnie?"
Was it her imagination?
A faint golden light seemed to flash in the black irises.
"Hey, you. I told you not to interfere. Can't you hear me?"
Swaaaaaaah—
The raindrops intensified.
For Ayeon, the world was originally like that.
Cold, selfish, and pragmatic.
"The pamphlet, I came to return it."
But perhaps...
"I've memorized it all too."
—it wasn't always just like that.
