After a few days of being relentlessly hounded, my frayed mind finally recovered.
Was it because people’s interest was finally starting to wane?
No.
Their interest in me was still very much ongoing.
A fan cafe, something a mere Hunter aspirant should never have, had popped up. At school, some lunatics started secretly taking pictures of me and subtly posting them on social media.
It was a huge pain in the ass.
Not only did more people try to act like they knew me, but they’d ask for autographs I didn’t have or for pictures.
It felt like I was reliving that time all over again.
The time when the name Son Si-woo was nearing S-rank, and I was the center of the nation’s attention.
Back then, I didn’t know any better and just waved happily at everyone, thinking it was all great.
Once I got high on the fame, I started acting like I was hot shit, even sticking my nose into things that didn't concern me.
And all the while, my skills were improving by leaps and bounds until I finally became an S-rank Hunter. That was the absolute peak.
Before I knew it, I had become the Nation’s Hunter, and people were busy praising me as a hero whenever they saw me.
I thought it was a good thing back then.
Money, popularity, honor—I had all three. I deluded myself into thinking it was a successful life.
But living this second life, I finally understood.
I understood that all of that crap was completely and utterly useless to me.
“Right, Kkam-seul-i?”
As if agreeing with me, Kkam-seul-i hopped up and down.
Ah, Kkam-seul-i is the name of the black slime I picked up from the rift that opened in Yongsan.
In any case, since I took it in and decided to raise it, I figured it should at least have a name.
So, after mulling it over for two days, I just kept it simple.
Black Slime, Geomjeong Seullaim, became Geom-seul-i.
But that sounded a bit weird, so I made it cuter and more adorable: Kkam-seul-i.
“Sigh, my dear Kkam-seul-i. If you hadn’t eaten my keys, you’d be twice as loved right now.”
After bringing it home and spending a few days with it, I realized it was truly worth raising.
It doesn’t cause any trouble, and whenever I say something, it hops around as if it understands me.
Even feeding it is simple.
It eats anything I give it.
It’s not picky about food at all. It even digested the keys, so I gave it a small piece of metal, and it gobbled that right up.
It’s on a whole different level from the dog, Poppy, that I had at my old house.
“Anyway.”
Thanks to all this, I’d been suffering from a headache for the past few days.
I even found myself shivering under the covers, terrified that I would be led around by others again, hailed as a hero, and forced to repeat my past life.
But after a few days, I realized it was all pointless.
As long as my will remains firm, none of that will happen, right?
No matter what others blabber on about, all I have to do is lightly step over them and ignore them. I don’t know why I was so worried.
“I even gave them a warning, hmm.”
At the ceremony where I received the plaque of appreciation, I made it clear.
I told them I couldn’t be the good person they thought I was, so they shouldn’t waste their feelings on me.
I went that far. If they get hurt after fawning over me as they please, it’s not my fault.
“Kkam-seul-i, you have to be a good boy today too, okay?”
Hop, hop!
“You’ll be in trouble if you eat random things around the house.”
Hop, hop!
Cute little guy.
With a much lighter heart, I left the house.
After taking the bus and arriving at the university, I could feel gazes sneaking glances at me from all directions.
Click!
I heard the shutter sound of an amateur who hadn't bothered to set their camera app to silent.
When I turned my head, I saw a female student sitting on a bench, her face pale with shock.
“Excuse me.”
“Ye-Yes?!”
“This is a warning. Don’t take pictures of me in secret. If I catch you, your smartphone gets smashed on the spot.”
“Ye-Yes… I-I’m sorry.”
The student was thoroughly terrified.
I gestured for her to come over as she stood there, fidgeting.
“From now on, if you want a picture, let’s just take one together and get it over with cleanly.”
As I said that, I snatched the smartphone from her hand, opened the camera app, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and snapped a friendly-looking selfie before handing it back.
“Ah… th-thank you! You’re so cool, Oppa!”
“I told you clearly, I’m not a good person.”
“Aah, what do I do…! I love tsunderes so much.”
“…You should get going.”
“Yes, Oppa! Thank you! I’m going to show this off to all my friends!”
See that?
This is the art of taming fans.
After a harsh scolding with a sharp whip, you toss them a small piece of carrot to make them forget the pain.
It was one of the pieces of wisdom I’d learned from living as the Nation’s Hunter.
If you just scold kids like that, they turn into anti-fans and start spewing all sorts of shit.
It’s better to manage them moderately, even if it’s a bit of a hassle.
“Things have gotten a little easier after a few days.”
There were still many people interested in me, but the general public’s attention had certainly died down from the initial frenzy.
This meant that aside from the die-hard fans who joined the fan club, the number of people loitering around me had decreased significantly.
That’s just the nature of attention and popularity.
Unless you become a superstar whose name is mentioned even when you do nothing, if you stay quiet, the hype quickly cools down and you’re forgotten.
As I entered the magic department lecture hall, a familiar face waved at me.
“Dojin, over here!”
Im Naeun, the only person in here who could treat me casually, pointed to the seat next to her.
As I sat down beside Naeun, she spoke to me in a teasing tone.
“Hello, Dojin-oppa!”
Lately, she’d seen the girls who followed me around calling me ‘oppa’ and kept doing this to tease me.
“Hah, you’re really going to get it if you keep that up.”
“Hehe… how are you gonna punish me?”
She playfully pushed her cute face closer. I flicked her forehead with my finger.
Thwack!
Maybe because my body is in such good shape, it made a surprisingly loud sound for a light tap.
“Ouch!”
Her eyes went wide as she clutched her forehead.
“You…!”
“You said you were curious how I’d punish you.”
When I said that with a smile, she couldn’t say much back and just puffed up her cheeks.
When I bicker with her like this, it feels like I’m talking to a younger sister who’s a year or two my junior.
“Hmph, whatever. Don’t talk to me for the rest of the day.”
She then spun around in her seat.
She seemed a little angry, but that didn’t mean she actually wanted me to stop talking to her.
On the contrary, she was craving attention.
How did I know?
She did this once before, and when I actually didn’t talk to her, she just glared at me with an even more dissatisfied expression.
“Naeun, don’t be mad.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, stop being mad.”
I kept pestering her until I subtly poked her in the side.
“Eek…!”
Im Naeun let out a sharp cry and jumped.
“Hey!”
“Still not going to stop being mad? Huh?”
I continued my non-coercive coercion, lightly poking her side, which was as good as a weakness for her.
And then…
“Kyahahaha! O-Okay! I surrender, I surrender!”
“Huh? I told you to stop being mad, not to surrender.”
“I’ll stop! I’m not mad anymore!”
…it naturally resolves itself like this.
Easy, right?
“Haa… you’re so mean.”
She shot me a glare as she straightened out her clothes, which had gotten disheveled during her little tantrum.
“You know my sides are my weak spot, but you keep poking them…”
“It’s a weak spot? I thought you were dying of pleasure.”
“N-No, I wasn’t!”
Seeing her blush at this timing, I don’t think it can be seen as just a weak spot.
It occurred to me that it might not just be a weakness, but also an erogenous zone.
Without realizing it, my gaze drifted to Im Naeun’s profile as she focused on the lecture.
A slender waist and sides, without a hint of fat.
If she reacted like that to a light poke through her clothes, I wondered what would happen if she were naked.
A dark curiosity settled over me like a thin fog.
…I wonder if the day will come when I can find out.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
After all the classes were over.
I was in a personal practice room, helping Naeun manifest her magic.
“That’s right. This time, try drawing the stroke a little faster.”
“Okay, got it.”
My magic operates on a fundamentally different principle from conventional magic, but I was still able to help her.
Thanks to intensively studying the mana arrangement they produce for more stable implementation, and the strokes they draw to complete magic circles, I was more knowledgeable than most.
Above all, I had eyes that could directly see mana.
I could see which part of the spell’s manifestation failed and what factors were lowering its completeness.
While others could only feel it, I could see it all clearly with my own eyes.
“Should we call it a day?”
“Yeah, thank you so much! I’ll buy you a meal next time.”
“One meal won’t be enough to cover the tuition fee.”
“Hehe… then ten meals!”
“Okay, deal.”
It’s always good to create excuses to meet up naturally in advance.
That’s how you make your move smoothly.
After cleaning up the practice room, I parted ways with Naeun.
“You go on ahead! I still have more to study…”
It was already getting dark. I wondered how much longer she planned to stay.
I thought about offering to help, but I didn’t bother asking.
If she needed my help, she would have asked me herself.
“I’m heading out then?”
“Yep! See you tomorrow~”
“Yeah, take care.”
With the blazing red sunset at my back, I headed for the university’s main gate.
As I walked aimlessly, the thought that it would be nice to have a car grew stronger.
It would be convenient for many things, whether for dates or just for commuting to school.
“I think I have enough money…”
I had received a hefty sum of compensation money this time as well.
Apparently, Yoon Ji-an had passionately argued to Manager Kim Seongtae that preventing what could have been a catastrophe without any casualties was a huge contribution.
The amount I received was a whopping 30 million won.
If I added that to the money I’d saved up so far, I’d have more than enough to buy a decent car.
“Guess I should go look at some cars this weekend.”
But who should I go with?
Jeong-hee, Yujeong, Yoon Ji-an, Im Naeun…
“Hmm.”
Listing them in the order of my most recent dates, it would be Shin Yujeong, Jeong-hee, Yoon Ji-an, and then Im Naeun.
Since I hadn’t gone on a proper date with Naeun at all, she could be considered an exception.
“Then maybe Naeun this time…?”
I considered using this opportunity to finally break the ice with Naeun, whom I had never met with one-on-one outside of school, but then I changed my mind.
“Let’s just take both Jeong-hee and Yujeong.”
I decided to think about it differently.
If I were to buy a car, who would ride in it the most?
Probably Yujeong and Jeong-hee.
In that case, since I was buying it anyway, it seemed like a good idea to add their opinions to my own.
Also… since I’d gotten off to a good start with both of them, it was about time I started laying the groundwork for that mother-daughter threesome.
It was still a distant goal, but the earlier you prepare, the better.
If we look at cars together, have dinner, and increase the time we spend together, an answer will probably present itself.
Just as I was organizing my thoughts and about to leave the main gate.
“Mr. Kim Dojin?”
A middle-aged man in a suit with a monocle over one eye suddenly appeared and blocked my path.
But this man… he looked somewhat familiar.
As I stared at him with wary eyes, the man continued.
“There is someone who wishes to speak with you directly, Mr. Kim Dojin. Would you be willing to come with me for a moment?”
The man bowed politely and gestured with his arm toward a black sedan parked not far away.
I didn’t sense any hostility from him.
At the same time, a strange curiosity arose from the familiar face of the middle-aged man.
“…Where are we going?”
“The Magic Tower.”
“Well, for fuck’s sake.”
Whoops.
I was so flustered that I’d blurted it out instead of just thinking it.