Chapter 203: Gaze (1)
“Exemplary, highly responsible. Diligent. Model behavior. Calm and dedicated. Strong sense of duty.”
The reports all said the same things.
Outstanding grades, no history of trouble—he had been the perfect student.
Song Taewon.
“This is way too much information.”
I hadn’t originally planned on looking him up since it was personal data, but after calling Do Hamin to ask if he could investigate one more person, he just told me to search online.
So, I did.
And sure enough, everything was there.
Basic personal details, property holdings—was that supposed to be public information?—his career history, education, hometown, family relations, and various evaluation reports.
It was so detailed that it felt excessive.
Probably because there had been a lot of debate when an S-Class Hunter was appointed to a high-ranking government position, leading to all this information being made public.
“He was pretty much the same in high school too.”
He was already ridiculously tall back then.
Though he looked much younger, his expression and demeanor in the photos were almost identical to now.
…Shouldn’t that be different?
He did seem a little more relaxed as a student, but still.
“There’s really nothing questionable. Not that it’s a bad thing, but…”
Given who he was, this level of strict conformity felt unsettling.
A life that never strayed from the expected path.
His family consisted of his parents and a younger brother. He had also lived with his grandfather.
His mother and younger brother had died in an accident, while his father was killed during a dungeon break.
I had known he didn’t have any family left.
Since he was still relatively young, I had assumed they had either passed due to an accident or illness.
“This must have had an impact on him.”
There were no details about the accident.
Nothing about his romantic life or friendships either.
I tried searching just in case, but there was too much Hunter-related information about him, making it impossible to filter anything out.
Or maybe I was just bad at searching.
And even if I found something, would it really tell me anything?
‘…I’m not a therapist.’
Honestly, he really should get professional counseling.
I tossed my phone onto the couch and sprawled out.
Chirp and Belare were spinning around on the robot vacuum, going in circles.
Cute little things.
“This is really frustrating.”
Confronting Song Taewon like before was no longer an option.
Not because of my safety—but because his life was at stake.
If I provoked him the wrong way, he might try to protect me and—ah, damn it.
“…I was talking about leashing him, but now I’m the one on a leash.”
I had no idea what to do.
But I also didn’t want to give up.
I didn’t want to see the same ending.
Or anything even close to it.
“Would it just be easier if the entire system, if Awakened people, disappeared? …No, it’s not that simple.”
Maybe I should show him that there are even greater monsters out there.
That S-Class Awakened are actually nothing in comparison.
But I had no idea how he would react.
Hoping for something like, Oh, so the real monsters are out there! That means S-Classes are just ordinary humans in comparison!
Yeah, that was way too optimistic.
‘Choi Seokwon was practically beyond classification back then, so maybe I should bring that up. But what if it’s a landmine?’
If I did ask, I’d have to do it over the phone.
Rubbing my forehead in frustration, I picked up my phone again.
Ah, seriously, Chief Song.
Should I ask around? Maybe his college days…
“…Oh.”
On impulse, I searched Chief Song’s college.
There were probably way more unrelated results for Chief Song than for Song Taewon, so I tried again.
And in the image results, I saw a familiar face.
It was a photo of Song Taewon with a group of young children.
Clicking on the related post, I found out that he had done volunteer work during his college years.
— Look at the size difference between Chief Song’s hand and the baby’s hand, I’m swooning.
— Whoa, where did you find this photo?
└ A friend’s older brother was his classmate and had it.
— He looks so much more at ease back then 😭😭😭😭😭
His expression was noticeably softer, just like the comments said.
But where was this?
The entire thread was dedicated to Chief Song or related topics.
It was full of posts about him, packed with photos.
And all of them were written with admiration.
…Ah.
This must be some kind of fan site.
There were even posts worrying about whether he was overworking himself, saying they had seen him carpooling.
Going further back, I found pages filled with people mourning the loss of his small car.
Clicking on one of the more popular older posts—
— He’s officially a pedestrian now 😭😭😭
The comments were flooded with crying emojis.
I felt like I was about to cry too.
“…Seriously, why do you live like this?”
Couldn’t he just get a new car?
A big one.
I knew the Awakened Management Office provided work vehicles, but carpooling for his commute?
And on the rare occasions he actually went out—though, to be fair, he probably didn’t go out much.
Letting out a sigh, I bookmarked the site before exiting.
“Pets, huh.”
Among the posts, I had seen a picture of him with a police dog.
Looked like it was from some event.
Even in that photo, his expression was noticeably gentle.
That post had sparked a debate—
— Shouldn’t Chief Song get a pet?
— How would he take care of one when he’s already so busy?
I glanced at Chirp and Belare.
-Chirp!
Chirp flapped one wing.
So cute.
Having adorable creatures around really did help with relaxation.
Wasn’t there something called animal therapy?
Maybe I should get Chief Song a monster mount.
A small, fluffy, and soft one that could shrink in size—something he could pet.
‘If I frame it as a donation to the government, it might work. I should look into it.’
A dog would be fine. A cat too… A rabbit might unexpectedly suit him as well. It wouldn’t be ideal as a monster mount, but if it were a state-owned one, the burden would be lighter.
…But now that I thought about it, Yuhyun probably had a fan site too.
Chief Song’s site had such a nice atmosphere—maybe I should check.
I hadn’t done anything to get cursed out recently, so as long as I avoided older posts, it should be fine. The media had been consistently showing us as close siblings.
A place full of people who liked Yuhyun…
I hadn’t thought much about it before, but after seeing Chief Song’s site, I got curious.
All that worry and affection… It was really nice.
“If I search ‘Han Yuhyun fan site,’ will something come up?”
Hmm… Nothing.
Then, Han Yuhyun fan club.
Still nothing.
Haeyeon Guild Leader fan site? Also nothing.
Could it be… that there wasn’t one?
That made no sense.
My Yuhyun was handsome, cute, and exceptional in so many ways.
Even Seong Hyunjae had fans who put up birthday ads—there was no way Yuhyun didn’t have a fan site.
As I debated how to search for it, my phone rang.
It was Yerim.
[Mister! I’m heading straight to the rooftop garden.]
“Oh, okay. I’ll be there too.”
As I got up to leave, Chirp floated after me, and Belare crawled along.
With Peace gone, leaving the two alone would surely lead to trouble.
So, I took both of them with me to the rooftop garden.
The sun was still strong—not quite autumn sunlight yet—casting long rays down.
Then, for a moment, the light was blocked.
A pair of enormous wings descended silently, effortlessly.
Standing before me was a massive griffon.
Its head, four legs, and the tip of its tail were milky white, while its body and wings shimmered with a soft golden hue.
Its beak, a deep golden color, opened wide.
-Kyauuu!
Blue let out a powerful cry, her bright blue eyes gleaming as she looked down at me.
Even fully grown, her playful gaze remained unchanged.
After sending Yuhyun off yesterday afternoon, I had applied a skill to Blue and started her final training.
Since I had played with her often, staying up an entire night was enough for her to complete her growth.
[Rank 2 Griffon Species – Golden Griffon Blue
Current Stat Grade: S
Potential Stat Growth: A~S
Optimized Initial Skills:
— Ruler of the Wind (S) Acquired
— Golden Arrow (A) Acquired
— Wind Resistance (A) Acquired
— Sharp Roar (B) Acquired]
With her stats now at S-grade and all her initial skills unlocked, she had grown magnificently.
-Piiyak.
Chirp, nestled in my arms, gaped at Blue in shock.
Maybe he was startled by how much she had grown overnight?
Then, he suddenly spread his tiny wings wide and let out what he must have thought was a powerful cry.
-Piiyaaak!
…Was he copying Blue?
Belare, who had been watching Chirp from where she was wrapped around my wrist, suddenly lifted her head high.
-Shiiiik!
Guys, what are you doing?
Blue, no—don’t do it.
Daddy’s ears can’t handle this.
“Blue’s really all grown up now!”
Yerim called out as she descended from the direction of Haeyeon’s guild building.
Excited, Blue pranced toward her, her tail accidentally snapping a small tree in half.
…I should use Grace just in case.
B-grade should be enough.
“Yeah, Blue! You look amazing!”
-Kyaaak!
Yerim threw her arms around Blue, bouncing up and down excitedly with her.
Please, be careful.
The tiles in the garden were starting to crack.
“Blue’s so lucky. She grew up so fast! Why am I not growing faster? Myungwoo shot up in just three months.”
Yerim pouted, dissatisfied, even though she had gotten taller.
“You’re still a minor. If you awaken before twenty, the most you can expect is slightly faster growth than normal. And Myungwoo was a special case.”
Among Hunters with mid-to-high stat grades, most already had above-average builds before awakening.
Moon Hyunah had been close to 180 cm before her awakening, and even Choi Seokwon—before he died—had a listed height of over 180 cm.
Awakening typically added about 5 cm at most.
For defensive-type Hunters, it could be more—sometimes over 10 cm.
Even if someone had good physical attributes, it wasn’t a guarantee that their stat grade would be high.
But professional athletes were usually at least E-grade before awakening, which was why professional sports had collapsed worldwide.
An Awakened League would likely form soon.
Myungwoo, however, had been F-grade before.
His growth had already finished, so when his stats changed, he had rapidly shot up to match them.
This kind of case hadn’t even happened in my past life.
There were instances where stats increased over time, but the process took years.
Noah had been like that too.
“Blue, we’re going to a dungeon together today.”
-Kyau.
“But didn’t she stay up all night training? Will you be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve pulled all-nighters before too. And I got some sleep in the morning. For an A-rank dungeon, if Blue gets sleepy midway, she’ll just take a nap.”
Since Blue had grown at just the right time, she was joining Yerim’s dungeon raid.
Until she found a proper partner, she would primarily accompany Yerim and Moon Hyunah.
I had already discussed it with Moon Hyunah yesterday.
Since she was my property, I was entitled to a share of the dungeon raid profits.
At first, I hadn’t thought it was necessary, but Moon Hyunah insisted it was better to make things official, so we even drafted a contract.
“Is all the prep done?”
“Everything’s ready. It’s not dangerous anyway—this is just to practice teamwork.”
Yerim grinned, saying there was nothing to worry about when they had two S-Classes.
“Blue’s transport container truck is ready. The container’s roof can be partially opened—about half. There are bars, but they’re mostly just for show.”
The bars were just a stay inside marker. If Blue wanted, she could break through them effortlessly.
After checking on Blue’s condition, I headed over to Haeyeon Guild.
In the guild’s private parking lot, I spotted the container truck Yerim had mentioned.
When I handed her the proof of ownership, Blue tilted her head in curiosity.
“Blue, I’m counting on you!”
Yerim raised her hand high, and Blue lightly tapped it with her beak.
She showed no hesitation or resistance, which was a relief.
The team was still small.
Aside from the healer, there were two support-type Hunters, two defense-types, and one attack-type, totaling six members.
Ha Eunha, whom I had seen during the last ranking match, was also there.
All of them were older than Yerim.
“We recruited based mainly on Hunter Park Yerim’s preferences, except for the healer.”
Seok Gimyeong approached me and explained.
With high-ranking healers being rare, there wasn’t much room for selection anyway.
“I did advise that it would be best to form a team primarily with female Hunters.”
That reminded me of what Moon Hyunah had once said.
“I think that’s a good idea too.”
“It makes sense. Hunter Park Yerim is particularly young, so it’s easy for people to underestimate her.
Even if they act polite in front of her, they often try to pull things behind the scenes.
We had to weed out quite a few in the early days of our guild as well.”
Seok Gimyeong gave a wry smile, adding that plenty of people had mistakenly assumed that because Yuhyun was young, they could hold real power instead.
“The industry is still in a transitional phase. Given time, the Hunter world will prioritize rankings over age or gender.
Of course, that will come with a new set of issues—like discrimination based on rank.
Even now, there’s already significant bias between different grades and roles.”
He sighed, as if acknowledging that perfection was impossible.
“That’s why laws and order exist, right?
To acknowledge differences while minimizing discrimination.”
Like with Kim Minui and the support-type Hunter issue—Seok Gimyeong seemed to have a genuine interest in discrimination within the Hunter community.
…Hearing that from someone who had given me a hard time felt a little strange, though.
Since I had no real interaction with Seok Gimyeong before my awakening, maybe back when things were tough for Yuhyun, he had been aware of our situation.
Perhaps that’s why he had deliberately acted cold toward us.
…It would be nice if that were the case.
Since I had only inherited fragments of Yuhyun’s memories, I didn’t know the full picture.
“All right, let’s go! Wait, I mean… let’s depart!”
Yerim laughed at herself, saying she still wasn’t used to giving commands.
Blue stepped into the container, and I followed in case she felt uneasy.
“Yerim, why are you coming in here?”
“She’s my temporary mount, isn’t she? Of course, I should take care of her.”
That was an admirable attitude.
When I met the new recruit, I would definitely have to ask about both Yerim’s and Song Taewon’s potential mounts.
Soon, the container door shut, and the truck started moving.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt