That evening.
After returning home, Kim Seo-jun spent quite a while searching the internet for information about the Jaeger.
But there was nothing.
All he could find was that they were a “special unit specializing in dealing with vicious villains,” but no more detailed information existed anywhere.
Just in case, he asked his father—who had just finished working late—if he knew anything about Jaeger.
The answer he got was at least better than what he’d found online.
“Jaeger? There’s a rumor going around among Hunters that it’s a completely insane group. Even though they’re under the government, they kill people as easily as eating breakfast, and their skill at gathering information is legendary—they’re said to know everything. Still, their internal regulations must be extremely strict, since not a single secret has ever leaked out. Purely my own speculation, but some say many Jaeger members are on par with Choi Cheol-hyung of the Rift Management Bureau, Korea’s strongest Hunter.”
Kim Seo-jun was rather surprised at Kim Joo-hyuk’s words.
More than anything, it was the fact that there were supposedly many members in Jaeger who could match Choi Cheol-hyung’s strength.
But he still had doubts.
It was almost certain that Choi Kyung-moon was an official member of Jaeger, but when he had secretly checked his stats with his Insight earlier that day, the results were somewhat disappointing.
[192/Elite]
In terms of magic power alone, he was at the high end of B-rank.
Even that was a formidable stat, but compared to rumors that Jaeger members rivaled Choi Cheol-hyung, it seemed relatively low.
‘Is there a difference between what you see and the reality?’
Maybe yes, maybe no.
Detective Choi Kyung-moon might indeed be a Jaeger, but he could just be one of the weaker members.
Kim Seo-jun predicted that the real powerhouse of Jaeger must be someone else.
‘Anyway, what should I do?’
Kim Seo-jun lay on his bed, wrestling with his thoughts.
Should he become a member of Jaeger, or refuse and live quietly as an ordinary Hunter?
To protect his family’s happiness and the safety of his loved ones, becoming a Jaeger was absolutely the wrong choice.
But if the bleak future Kim Seo-jun anticipated was really coming soon, joining Jaeger would actually be far more advantageous.
If the world was ending, simply staying at home to guard his family wouldn’t do anything to ensure a happy life.
Rather, it might be far better to use Jaeger’s cutting-edge information network directly to prepare for danger and actively protect his family’s safety and happiness.
And besides, with a high salary, a great house, and even a luxury car all offered at once, it was hard to just kick away such an opportunity.
‘The part that bothers me most is that they know everything I’ve done.’
Choi Kyung-moon—or rather, Jaeger itself—knew that it was Kim Seo-jun who had killed Lee Hyung-mo and Lee Han-soo. That was a deadly weakness.
They hadn’t used it to threaten him, but from Kim Seo-jun’s point of view, it was like carrying a ticking time bomb.
‘Sigh… I should think about it a bit more.’
Since he still had ten days left, Kim Seo-jun decided to think it through carefully.
*****
A week passed in a flash.
Other than the rift that opened yesterday afternoon—Thursday—in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, causing over forty deaths, it was an ordinary week.
This rift appeared in a particularly unusual place: over a river.
The monsters pouring from the rift fell into the river and scattered in all directions.
More than thirty Hunters were already waiting nearby, but they couldn’t set up a blockade across the entire river, so the number of casualties increased.
They managed to eliminate all the monsters within two hours, but some had already attacked the nearby homes, making losses unavoidable.
The Academy was abuzz with yesterday’s rift incident as well.
With rifts now appearing unpredictably, the importance of Hunters was greater than ever, and there were even some who made strange speeches about how “we should take the lead in slaying monsters ourselves.”
Most people didn’t care, but a few foolish ones agreed with the nonsense and even suggested forming vigilante squads.
When Friday afternoon classes ended, Professor Shim Jae-deok gathered all the students to deliver an announcement.
“You all know that the first semester’s final evaluation is coming up soon, right?”
At the mention of the final evaluation, students’ faces turned gloomy.
Those who hadn’t done well in the midterm evaluation let out deep sighs, looking particularly dispirited.
“Up to now, the first semester’s final evaluation for first-years has always been conducted through sparring with professors. However, starting this year, we’re using a new method.”
At Professor Shim Jae-deok’s words, the students who’d hung their heads suddenly looked up, eyes shining.
If it wasn’t sparring against professors, there was hope for getting good grades.
But the next words sent them crashing back down.
“This final evaluation will be conducted as a tournament involving all grades across the entire Academy. And that includes students from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Academies.”
This caused an uproar.
It was bad enough to mix all the grades, but now they had to compete against students from both the 1st and 2nd Hunter Academies—some began to think sparring with professors would have been better.
In the past, an inter-Academy tournament was held only once every two years right before winter break, but now it was being held much earlier, under the pretext of a first semester final evaluation, so everyone was tense.
“So, next Wednesday, our 3rd Academy will hold an internal tournament first. We’ll select five representatives from each grade, for a total of twenty per Academy, and then sixty will be chosen to compete in the combined inter-Academy tournament.”
At least, within each Academy, the preliminary selection would be by grade, which was a relief.
“In every match, three professors will serve as judges. Regardless of the outcome, you’ll be graded on how well you use magic and Mystery, and on your resourcefulness in combat.”
“Then, there’s no particular merit to winning, right?”
At a student’s question, Shim Jae-deok shook his head.
“Of course not. Students who win receive bonus points, and if you’re selected as a grade representative, you’ll receive a scholarship for the next semester. And if you win just two matches in the inter-Academy tournament and make it to the top 16, you’ll receive a recommendation letter written personally by the Academy Director as well as a student grant of 200 million won.”
“Wow!”
“Whoa, that’s amazing!”
Everyone started murmuring in anticipation.
Then, a student raised his hand and tilted his head.
“Professor! If each Academy sends twenty representatives, how do you get a round of sixteen?”
There were three Hunter Academies.
If each sent twenty representatives, that made sixty students. Winning two matches would leave fifteen, so there couldn’t be a round of sixteen.
“Hmm, good question. Sixty alone wouldn’t make a top sixteen. So this time, four specially invited students from world-famous academies will also participate.”
With four invited students, there would be sixty-four, making a top sixteen possible.
“Special invitations?”
“From which countries?”
“How strong are the invitees?”
Everyone’s tension was palpable.
Korea’s Hunter Academy was already considered strong on the world stage.
But compared to certain countries, it still lagged behind. If any of those countries were sending students, it was obvious the tournament winner would come from them.
The top examples were the United States, Germany, and France.
These three countries were regarded as Hunter superpowers, and students from their heavily supported academies were said to be stronger than veteran Hunters from ordinary countries.
“Students will be coming from the US, China, France, and Japan. With the US and France in the mix, it won’t be easy.”
“Ugh, we’re doomed!”
“Why does it have to be the US…”
“At least leave out France.”
When the students started to complain, Shim Jae-deok narrowed his eyes.
“Talking big for people who won’t make the cut anyway.”
“Aw, but our class has not one, but two who could represent us, right?”
At that, everyone’s gaze turned to Kim Seo-jun and Joo Gwang-sik.
Shim Jae-deok nodded and looked at them as well, especially giving Kim Seo-jun a look full of boundless trust.
‘That look… It’s too much pressure.’
Kim Seo-jun didn’t particularly want to stand out in the tournament or anything; he just wanted to get average marks and keep things quiet.
If he got outstanding grades and attracted attention, it would mean saying goodbye to the peaceful life he desired.
‘Tsk. Still, that scholarship and the 200 million are really tempting.’
Money was always the problem.
Be one of the five representatives for your grade, and you get a scholarship. Win just two rounds in the inter-Academy tournament, and you get a 200 million won grant.
Thinking about it, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to step up just this once.
“I’d be very happy if we had a representative from our class. Anyway, prepare well over the weekend and do your best in the grade tournament next week. That’s all for class.”
As Shim Jae-deok tapped his notebook on the lectern and left, the students began pouring out of the room.
Most of them passed by Kim Seo-jun and Joo Gwang-sik, clenching their fists as if to say, “Good luck!”
“Hey, Kim Seo-jun. Things were getting boring lately, so this is great. As long as we don’t run into each other in the early rounds, we should both have no problem making the team, right?”
When Joo Gwang-sik nudged him and spoke, Kim Seo-jun just chuckled.
“Don’t you know the world is perfectly ruled by Murphy’s Law? Now that you’ve said that, you and I are bound to face each other in the first round.”
“What? So if I hadn’t said that, we wouldn’t have to fight early?”
“Maybe. Thanks to you, we’re cursed now.”
Kim Seo-jun teased Joo Gwang-sik and started gathering his things.
“Don’t jinx it. Hey, want to practice sparring together for the tournament this weekend?”
“No thanks. That’s something you should do alone.”
After struggling to shake off Joo Gwang-sik, who kept pestering him to train together, Kim Seo-jun headed straight home.
*****
That evening.
Kim Seo-jun sat at his desk in his room and turned on his computer.
Since this final evaluation would be held together with students from the 1st and 2nd Hunter Academies, he wanted to look up some information about them.
He hadn’t cared before, since there was never any reason to be involved with those students—but now, things were different.
He started by checking out the 2nd Academy’s website.
The atmosphere wasn’t much different from the 3rd Academy, but judging by the posts on the free bulletin board, the students there had an unnecessary sense of superiority over the 3rd Academy.
-For this final evaluation, the 3rd Academy kids are our lunch, right?
-Call it 3rd Academy, but they’re just third-rate.
-None of the 3rd Academy will even make the top 32, right?
-Can’t we just leave them out? They lower the level.
More than half the posts were bashing the 3rd Academy.
Since the actual abilities of the 2nd and 3rd Academies were similar, the rivalry was all the fiercer.
The mood was the same in the 3rd Academy as well.
‘A battle of acorns.’
The funny thing was, while they bickered with each other, no one said a word about the 1st Academy.
That was how much stronger the 1st Academy’s students were.
Kim Seo-jun logged onto the 1st Academy’s website.
It was different right from the start.
The site was so well-designed you could tell money had been poured into it, and there weren’t any trashy posts, showing it was well managed.
Reading through various posts on the board, Kim Seo-jun found something surprising.
-It’s obvious the inter-Academy tournament winner will be a third-year.
-There’s a monstrous first-year this time, so you never know.
-But is there anyone who could beat ‘Fierce Dragon Empress Kim Yu-ra’?
-First-year Choi Dong-hyun’s awakened Mystery is A-rank, right? Still can’t beat third-year Kim Yu-ra.
-Kim Yu-ra’s Mystery is S-rank, right?
-It’s not official, but rumor says it’s true.
-Kim Yu-ra or Choi Dong-hyun, that’s the question.
The 1st Academy students didn’t even mention the other academies.
Their posts were filled only with talk about their own students, convinced one of the two would win.
But seeing those two names, Kim Seo-jun was shocked.
‘Kim Yu-ra, Choi Dong-hyun?’
Those names were exactly the same as his comrades from his previous life.
Kim Yu-ra was the same age as Kim Seo-jun and had such a fiery personality even guys couldn’t handle her.
But she was also as beautiful as Han Se-ah, the Academy’s top beauty, and had mastered the unique martial art “White Flame Art,” making her exceptionally skilled.
On the other hand, Choi Dong-hyun was a year younger than Kim Seo-jun and so naturally arrogant it reached the heavens.
He had a self-centered personality that didn’t even listen to the eldest, Park Dae-man, or the second brother, Yoo Ho-sung.
Still, he was strangely obedient to whatever Kim Seo-jun said.
‘So these two are 1st Academy students?’
He had been wondering how to find his remaining comrades, and now the answer had come so easily.
It wasn’t impossible that these were just people with the same names, but Kim Seo-jun was almost certain they were his old comrades.
‘Yu-ra awakened at seventeen and enrolled right away, so she’s a third-year. Dong-hyun must have awakened at seventeen too, then.’
Both being in the 1st Academy—it was a strange twist of fate.
Now, there was only one comrade left to find.
His friend of the same age, Jung Wook.
Although Kim Seo-jun saw Jung Wook as a friend and companion he shared his heart with, to others Jung Wook’s ruthless nature was enough to be mistaken for a demon.
Thinking of him, Kim Seo-jun was curious to see what kind of life he was leading here.
‘At any rate, I’ll be seeing Yu-ra and Dong-hyun in the upcoming tournament.’
Confirming that Kim Yu-ra and Choi Dong-hyun were at the 1st Academy, Kim Seo-jun resolved to make it at least to the round of 32 in the inter-Academy tournament.
Winning the scholarship and grant was important, but more than that, he sincerely wanted to meet his two old comrades face to face.
He couldn’t just barge into the 1st Academy and say, “You, become my comrade!”
‘I’ll use the tournament as an opportunity to reconnect.’
With the thought of seeing his old friends again, Kim Seo-jun ended his day in high spirits.